The Snake-People Girl of Stone Desert City

Luo Yang could actually have had Hai Bodong carry him there by air, but that would not have looked very dignified. Luo Yang cared far too much about face and found it too embarrassing, so he dropped the idea.

Walking was not bad, either...

Tushan Rongrong's skirt was so long that it covered her feet and trailed along the ground behind her. It was difficult to walk in on the sand and easily got dirty, which she disliked intensely, so she had Luo Yang carry her on his back.

Wonderful. Not only could he not fly, Luo Yang now had someone to carry, too.

Fortunately, Tushan Rongrong was very light, or Luo Yang's back would have suffered. Besides, Tushan Rongrong held a parasol to shade him and used Demonic Power to block the wind and sand. With every loss came a gain.

Looking at the pair, who were ostensibly master and servant, yet had the master calling his maid "big sister" and now even carrying her on his back, Hai Bodong could not help grumbling inwardly. Which one of you is actually the master?

After just two and a half days in the great desert, Luo Yang decided he really could not take it anymore. The fire Dou Qi flowing through his body was noticeably more active and exuberant than usual.

Although he had both lightning and fire attributes, he still disliked being hot and parched all the time. He was even starting to miss the days when he had swum stark naked in the cool mountain springs of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

After trudging slowly for another few hundred meters, Luo Yang wiped the sweat from his forehead and licked his somewhat dry lips. He set Tushan Rongrong down, then took several bottles of water from his Storage Ring and spoke to Hai Bodong.

"Elder Hai, give me a hand."

Without another word, Hai Bodong released a little Ice Dou Qi and infused it into the water bottles.

Before long, all three were drinking chilled beverages that cooled them to the core.

Luo Yang had added sugar, limes, and white mint leaves, making them much tastier than ordinary ice water.

"Big Sister Rongrong, have we gone off course? Wasn't yesterday's route shorter?" Luo Yang took out the map of the Tagor Desert that Hai Bodong had provided. Although he could not quite make sense of it, his instincts told him something was wrong with their route.

"We haven't gone off course. This is the road to Stone Desert City."

Tushan Rongrong took a ladylike sip of her "chilled beverage" and spoke calmly.

"Stone Desert City? What Stone Desert City? What are we going there for?" Luo Yang was puzzled, unable to understand why Big Sister Rongrong was taking them to Stone Desert City.

Hai Bodong was equally puzzled.

He knew Stone Desert City, a town even smaller and more remote than Mo City. Mo City stood on the edge of the Tagor Desert, whereas Stone Desert City was already inside it.

The strongest person in the town seemed to be merely a Da Dou Shi.

Thump~

Seeing that Luo Yang had forgotten the novel's plot so completely, Tushan Rongrong raised her delicate hand and flicked him on the forehead.

"Ow~ Big Sister Rongrong, why did you hit me?" Luo Yang freed a hand to rub the spot on his forehead and looked at Tushan Rongrong aggrievedly.

"The moment someone mentions going to the Tagor Desert, is Queen Medusa the only thing left in that head of yours?"

Tushan Rongrong rolled her eyes at Luo Yang in exasperation.

Having made Big Sister Rongrong open her eyes, even if only a little, Luo Yang immediately realized the gravity of the situation. He hurriedly closed his eyes and rapidly searched his memory for the Stone Desert City plot in the novel "Screw the Heavens."

Stone Desert City...

The third Xiao brother had two older brothers...

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li...

The Desert Iron Mercenary Group...

A child born to a Snake-Person and a human woman...

Qing Lin!!!

"I remember now, Big Sister Rongrong. We're going to find Qing Lin."

It was simply because Luo Yang had finally remembered that part of the plot.

But Hai Bodong, listening from the side, was left completely at sea. What were this human and this demon talking about?

What green scales, white scales, purple scales?

I'm fucking rainbow scales, then!

He could not be bothered with any of it. In any case, he only needed to go to the Snake-People Tribe and help hold down the fort, serving as a mascot like a security guard. Nothing else was his concern.

After drinking their chilled beverages and taking a brief rest, the three set off again toward Stone Desert City.

More than half a day passed. Only when darkness was approaching did the outline of a city finally appear on the distant horizon.

Looking at Stone Desert City not far ahead, Luo Yang let out a long breath, and his smile deepened. The three-day trek through the desert had truly left him mentally exhausted.

The Tagor Desert was not the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Yellow sand filled the sky, the heat was unbearable, and sand frequently blew into his clothes. These days of eating in the wind and sleeping under the open sky had been quite torturous.

Compared with cities in the empire's interior, the desert city had a plainer, more solid character.

Perhaps because of its proximity to the Tagor Desert, its defenses were also much stricter than those in the empire's interior. Fully armed soldiers could be seen patrolling everywhere in the city.

After entering the city, the two humans and one demon found an inn and took two superior rooms.

They rested briefly to shake off the fatigue of their three days in the desert, while also asking around about the whereabouts of the Desert Iron Mercenary Group and Qing Lin.

After a peaceful night, Luo Yang and Tushan Rongrong set out immediately after breakfast the next morning.

As for Hai Bodong...

He had gone out early that morning, and no one knew what he was doing.

Luo Yang could not be bothered to concern himself with it. They would not need him on this trip anyway.

In Stone Desert City, aside from the Sand Mercenary Group, which had a Da Dou Shi expert, the Desert Iron Mercenary Group was the most powerful force, so finding information was not particularly difficult.

The two headed toward the south of the city. After turning down several streets, a large compound came into view.

Above the compound, a flag fluttered in the wind. The large words "Desert Iron Mercenary Group" were emblazoned across it, faintly conveying an air of iron-blooded toughness.

Outside the compound, several burly men stood ramrod straight with weapons in hand, their sharp gazes sweeping back and forth over the passersby outside the entrance.

"Stop! This is the Desert Iron Mercenary Group's headquarters. Outsiders are not permitted inside."

The burly man at the entrance stopped Luo Yang and Tushan Rongrong.

In his eyes, Luo Yang had no cultivation at all and was probably a useless fellow incapable of cultivating. The green-haired girl beside him was the same; he could not detect the slightest cultivation from her.

As for why none of them had noticed Tushan Rongrong's fox ears and guessed her identity as a "Magical Beast" the way Hai Bodong had earlier, it was simply because they all thought those ears were an erotic accessory.

Having seen little of the world, they knew nothing about Magical Beasts taking human form, and there were no folded-eared Magical Beasts on the Dou Qi Continent, either.

"I have something to discuss with your leader, Xiao Ding."

Luo Yang knew he had been underestimated. He could not be bothered with some melodramatic face-slapping routine of showing off, so he released his Dou Qi and displayed his cultivation as a [Dou Shi expert].

Tushan Rongrong stood quietly beside Luo Yang. She had no interest in such trivial matters.

Sensing Dou Qi countless times stronger than his own, the burly man, who was only a two-and-a-half-star Dou Zhe, instantly broke into a cold sweat on his forehead and beneath his crotch.

He had kicked an iron plate. Fortunately, he had not said anything disrespectful just now. Otherwise...

"Young master, please wait a moment. I'll inform our leader right away..."

All his earlier haughtiness vanished. The burly man swallowed, nodded and bowed to Luo Yang, then turned and hurried through the gates.