Mind-Beguiling Insect

Aside from the two times the salted meat chunks tossed by the He father and son were intercepted by other Earth Dragons at the bottom of the sand, causing minor trouble, everything went smoothly.

The three Walnut Boats cruised the sand sea at about half the speed of a galloping horse, but they made up for it with stability, endurance, and relative safety.

Whenever the Walnut Boats encountered strange and peculiar creatures, the beasts would initially be eager to strike, but the stench of the salted meat was too overbearing; after following for a while, they would be scared off, fleeing as if they regretted not being born with extra legs, let alone caring about the humans on the boats.

Although most of the people here grew up on the edge of the desert, they had never viewed the sand sea from this angle, and they all stared with wide eyes.

He Lingchuan muttered, "So this is how you play it?"

Traveling the sand sea by boat—it was a first in both his lifetimes, and he could count it as gaining some experience.

The only drawback was that the stench drifting from ahead lingered, making it difficult to breathe.

The helmsmen of the three Walnut Boats were cautious, trying their best to avoid the towering sand dunes.

The more magnificent the dune, the larger the shadow it cast.

And every person from Blackwater City understood that one must never enter the shadows in the Coiling Dragon Desert. The scorching sun, hot winds, thirst, sand bandits, and attacks from exotic beasts—none of these combined were as terrifying as the shadows in the Coiling Dragon Desert.

Yet, no matter how skilled the helmsmen were, after more than an hour, buildings began to emerge bit by bit on the distant horizon.

As they drew closer, the dilapidated high walls and city gates became clear.

This was clearly the auxiliary city located in the southwest of Coiling Dragon City, which originally served as a pincer to the main city.

Of course, it had been abandoned for a century, and only the wind and sand were frequent visitors here.

However, the city walls remained high, and the gates were shrouded in thick shadows.

If one were to peer inside from the gates, one would find several ruined buildings, unwilling to be completely swallowed by the yellow sand.

They stood against the light, and shadows were everywhere.

Having reached this point, there was no way to avoid it; the only path was to pass through the gates and traverse this ruined city.

Nian Songyu stood on the leading Walnut Boat and turned to blow three long whistles toward the rear.

This was the signal they had agreed upon at the desert post.

It was time to initiate the next step of their strategy.

The He father and son stood at the bow, shouting to their men, "Ignite the Life Fire!"

Though they called it "igniting," everyone actually pulled a small red pill from their robes and swallowed it.

Immediately, a sour and spicy sensation surged from their bellies, churning like a stormy sea.

But they had to suppress the urge to burp; it could not be let out.

Everyone felt their eyes grow hot and their noses swell, with sour water rising in their mouths, yet their bodies were hit by waves of cold. Even though the sun overhead was scorching, many soldiers began to shiver.

Fortunately, these symptoms subsided after only a dozen breaths.

Everyone looked at one another and realized that a ghostly flame had ignited above each person's head and on both shoulders.

The flames were mostly based in pale green; some were darker, some brighter, some yellower, and some bluer, but they were all small flames the size of a pinky finger, hovering tremulously as if a gust of wind would extinguish them.

Yet, the desert wind was strong enough to sting their faces, but it could not blow out these three ghostly flames.

With the three fires ignited, everyone felt the temperature around them drop by several degrees, and the heat hitting their faces was no longer so scorching.

This was the Life Fire, also known as the Life Lamp, usually hidden within the human spiritual furnace—the so-called fire of life. If the fire exists, the person lives; if the fire goes out, the person dies.

"When a man dies, his lamp goes out"—that is where the saying comes from.

After the Life Fires were ignited, the captains of each squad turned their backs and roared at their men, "Do not look back!"

From all three Walnut Boats came the uniform shouts of the soldiers:

"Do not look back!"

They repeated it three times.

This was a repeated warning to others, and to themselves.

Remember, remember, remember!

He Chunhua stood to the front-right of He Lingchuan, who asked him, "Dad, do you know your Life Fire has a yellowish tint?"

Governor He was about to shake his head, but suddenly remembered that such a movement was extremely dangerous; he quickly steadied his head and gave his eldest son a glare: "You brat!"

He Lingchuan grinned, "Just practicing, so we're ready for the danger ahead."

In truth, what he said made a lot of sense.

"Your Life Fire is yellow with a hint of red," He Chunhua smiled. "It's good to be young."

The Life Fire reflected the owner's health quite intuitively. The stronger the body and the more vigorous the blood, the deeper the color of the Life Fire.

Young people, after all, had a fiery nature.

At this point, they could no longer turn their heads left or right, otherwise, He Lingchuan would have really liked to see what color the Life Fires of Nian Songyu and State Preceptor Sun were.

As the boats reached the city, He Chunhua took a deep breath and roared, "Don't move, nobody move!"

The same warning came from the other two boats.

The three helmsmen cast their rods one last time, guiding the Earth Dragons to swim toward the city gates.

The smoke and flames of past wars, now eroded by wind and sand, have caused the once-vertical city walls to lean further forward, making them appear precarious.

Yet it has stood here for a century—tenacious, silent, and unyielding.

As they drew closer, the massive gateway resembled the silent, gaping maw of a monster. He Lingchuan could even see faint stains on either side of the gate.

Perhaps they were layers upon layers of blood, splashed on repeatedly—first bright red, then turning black and purple, only to have their ghastly hue faded by years of wind and sand, leaving behind nothing but a lingering, ghostly echo.

All clamor and intensity must eventually return to stillness.

The group's vision darkened as the Walnut Boat finally sailed into the shadow beneath the gate.

A chill of yin energy rushed toward them.

The soldiers had already ignited their Life Fire, and only then could they see wisps of smoke emerging from the darkness, lunging toward the Walnut Boat.

Only up close could one see that these wisps resembled human phantoms, possessing torsos and limbs, but no faces.

They ignored the Earth Dragon pulling the boat, but were curious about everything on the vessel, including every human and every piece of wood.

In the blink of an eye, four or five wisps of smoke surrounded each person. They drifted before and behind the humans, peering with ill intent. Although they had no eyes, everyone felt as if they were being stared at intently, causing goosebumps to rise on their skin.

These things were the Three-Corpse Insects!

In the legends of the Coiling Dragon Desert, they were vengeful spirits hidden beneath every shadow; even if travelers avoided the creatures of the desert, they would be attacked by these insects the moment they stepped into the shadow of a sand dune.

In fact, humans who did not manifest a bright Life Fire could not see these things with the naked eye, and thus had no way to defend against them.

After Coiling Dragon City vanished and the humans they loved most departed, the Three-Corpse Insects had to turn to invading various other creatures; though not their preferred hosts, they made do. Every living thing in the desert was affected by them, gradually undergoing strange mutations, such as the Earth Dragon pulling the boat ahead.

Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu were not worried, but pleased. The existence of these things served as side evidence for the existence of the Great Square Pot; their trip had not been in vain.

In the ears of every soldier, a soft, incessant whispering began to sound, as if someone were speaking directly to them.