The midday sun baked the Western Territory Sand Sea to a scorching heat; the boots of the Youth Guardian Camp felt slightly numb as soon as they stepped onto the sand. A Mu's New Sprout Sword, its scabbard adorned with Ice-Fire Entwining Pattern, now glowed with a faint red light—not as a warning, but as it absorbed sunlight energy, subtly resonating with the Child Crystal Core fragment at his waist. In A Ya's bag, besides the Child Crystal Core fragment, were two sheepskin water pouches and a small packet of "sand moistening powder" (prepared by Liya using desert plant juices to form a thin shell on the sand, preventing sinking into quicksand). She sprinkled a little on her shoes from time to time to avoid sinking too deep. A Shi's recording board had been replaced with a lighter "sandboard" (made from a type of hardwood unique to the desert, resistant to intense sunlight), marked with a "tunneling point location map" drawn from the Icefield Crystal Dome, indicating the sand sea's tuning point was in the "center of the quicksand ring."
"Watch your step!" Loran suddenly grabbed A Shi. The sand he was about to step on was tinged with an unusual pale purple. "That's 'living quicksand,' it sucks people in!" Just then, the golden figure of the Icefield Wolf darted forward, digging a shallow trench in the sand with its claws. Tiny sand crystals, glowing pale blue like shattered stars, were visible in the trench. "The sand crystals are guiding us!" A Mu's eyes lit up. The red light from his sword sheath clashed with the blue light of the sand crystals, and a faint trail of light appeared on the sand ahead. Following the trail, the sand beneath his feet gradually changed from a scorching golden yellow to a cool pale purple.
After walking for about an hour, a ring of quicksand appeared ahead. In the center of the quicksand stood an hourglass-shaped device about two people tall. The outer layer was a translucent shell of sand crystals, while the sand crystals that should have been flowing inside had now solidified into an irregular, hard block, with only a few fine sand crystals gently swaying at the edges. Around the hourglass, the "sand needle grass" (a desert plant with needle-like leaves that can store water) that should have been growing close to the sand surface was now lying listlessly on the sand. Even the occasional "sand feather bird" (a bird with wings covered in fine sand that can glide on the sand) only dared to circle in the distance, not daring to approach the hourglass.
"That's the Energy Hourglass of the desert!" A Mu was about to step forward when a sudden sandstorm stopped him—the wind carried fine sand grains that stung his face. From behind the sand slopes on the outer edge of the quicksand ring, several people dressed in earth-yellow linen clothes emerged. They wore sand-woven headscarves and masks that only revealed their eyes, holding "sand-speaking staffs" made of sand crystals and hardwood. They warily stared at the group. "You've come to touch the hourglass? Aren't you afraid of being sucked in by the sand crystals?"
"We're here to fix the hourglass!" A Ya quickly pulled out some sand-lubricating powder and sprinkled some towards the hourglass—the powder landed on the sand and immediately formed a thin shell. "Look, we have something to deal with the sand sea." The leader removed his mask, revealing a dark face. His name was A Sha, a patrolman from the Sand-Whisper Tribe: "For the past two weeks, the sand crystals in the hourglass have suddenly frozen. The sand needle grass, without energy to nourish it, has begun to wither; the elders of the tribe say it's 'external energy' ( Child Crystal Core ) that 'froze' the sand crystals."
Following A Sha through the quicksand ring (he taps the sand with his sand-speaking staff, each tap temporarily solidifying the flowing sand into steps), we arrive at the settlement of the Sand-Whisper Tribe —the "sand cave houses" (circular houses half-buried in the sand, with skylights in the roof to collect sunlight) built outside the hourglass. An elder with gray hair, holding the "master sand-speaking staff," sits on a sand platform beside the hourglass, gently tapping the hourglass shell with his sand staff, producing a muffled "thump-thump" sound.
"Friends from afar, you've finally arrived." The elder looked up, his eyes reflecting the blue light of the hourglass. "The sand crystal is alive; it needs both sunlight and the 'guiding energy' of the Child Crystal Core. But right now, the energy from the Child Crystal Core is too 'hard,' clogging all the gaps in the sand crystal, like water frozen solid, unable to flow." He pointed to the sand crystal block solidified in the hourglass, where tiny cracks could be seen. "If this continues, the sand crystal will crack, and the hourglass will be completely ruined."