Chapter 347: Death Sahara (27)

Yu Hexuan shuddered and suddenly opened his eyes. His whole body had gone stiff with cold, hands and feet icy, that chill that seeped into the marrow exactly like forgetting to close the window by the bed on a winter night, then kicking off the blankets and waking up frozen.

The surroundings were completely dark; the campfire’s light was gone. The fire must have gone out, which explained the cold—

Wait.

Yu Hexuan’s heart clenched. They had agreed tonight that nobody would sleep, and everyone had been clustered around the fire. How could the fire have gone out?

Something was wrong.

‘Feiluan, Feiluan.’

Yu Hexuan held his breath, not daring to move, calling to his twin sister in his mind. Twins always had a strange shared sense, and since entering the Agency various titles had strengthened it. Sure enough, after a few seconds Yu Feiluan was roused by him; she too was ice-cold and badly shaken.

The two of them examined their surroundings with extreme caution, but the deep darkness swallowed everything: no light, no sound. Even the noise of the sandstorm outside had vanished. The silence was uncannily complete.

‘How did you fall asleep?’

Yu Hexuan asked his sister in his mind. This unconscious sleep was suspicious; he clearly remembered being fully alert before, just finishing his dates and about to return to drawing talismans. He couldn’t have simply passed out for no reason.

‘I don’t know either. Brother, what’s happening, where’s the captain, are Tang and the others still here? I can’t see anything.’

Yu Feiluan’s voice was small and frightened. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] She was someone who specialized in the explosive thunder-summoning talisman, yet she spoke in a soft, careful way. Their large family, particularly its preference for sons over daughters, had raised Feiluan with a somewhat yielding nature, but the siblings were very close; once Yu Hexuan was old enough to understand he had always looked after his sister, and facing danger now was no different.

‘Feiluan, hold your thunder talismans ready and don’t move. I’ll go look.’

Yu Hexuan got to his feet as quietly as possible and carefully felt his way toward where he remembered his teammates had been sitting. He found them quickly; they hadn’t disappeared, they were all still there, but the next instant something like cold water poured through him.

Every single one of his teammates was collapsed and asleep, impossible to wake no matter what. Even the ever-vigilant Captain Chen wouldn’t wake.

What was happening?

Cold sweat broke across Yu Hexuan’s back. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Just then his sister’s urgent, frightened call came to him.

‘Brother, something is coming!’

Yu Feiluan had strong intuition; growing up in a complicated large family had sharpened her ability to read people’s moods from childhood, and her sensitivity to danger and malice was particularly keen. Since entering the Agency she had gained the blue title “Sixth Sense,” which had sharpened this even further.

And right now, Yu Feiluan was hearing something that made her skin crawl.

Rustle, rustle…

Something moving over sand. The sandstorm had been blowing outside for half a day; the ground outside the fortified bunker must be all sand. Something was approaching, accompanied by heavy, hungry, malicious breathing.

A faint smell drifted toward her and Yu Feiluan’s face went white. She recognized what it was: fresh blood.

Drip, drip.

The sound of liquid falling, but thicker and more viscous than water; it sounded like blood flowing from a freshly severed neck, still warm. The smell of blood grew heavier and the breathing more rapid. Whatever was coming was moving fast, getting closer and closer, and it was coming from the northeast.

‘Brother, come back!’

Yu Feiluan’s call was urgent. Her brother was in the northeast, the place where Bai the Boss and the other powerful figures had been. He had gone to check whether they were also asleep, but now the danger was approaching from that direction.

And in the next instant Yu Feiluan felt intense fear surge from her brother’s side. What had he found? Had the creature already—

“Feiluan, get away!”

A scarlet light tore through the darkness. Yu Hexuan’s heavenly fire talismans, a dozen fireballs crashing down, but they didn’t fall toward the northeast from which Yu Feiluan had sensed the danger; they fell toward where Yu Feiluan was. As the flames fell Yu Feiluan heard her brother’s heartbroken, desperate shout, and without time to think she threw herself sideways and flung every thunder talisman in her hand.

Even at this range where the thunder talisman would injure herself as well, Yu Feiluan didn’t hesitate for a fraction of a second. Thunder and flame split the silence and tore through the darkness; Yu Hexuan was running toward her at full speed, arm outstretched, desperately trying to reach her. But Yu Feiluan was caught by another hand first.

She couldn’t escape, she couldn’t move at all. Paralyzed by overwhelming terror, she stared blankly behind herself.

In the darkness at her back was an enormous, deformed, twisted face, nearly two meters tall, drenched entirely in blood, dark red and viscous, trailing in threads. The fire and thunder talismans had done the enemy no harm. The smell of blood was overwhelming; the cold pressed in like a nightmare given form.

It was the face of the crippled giant who had killed Hao Yun and Song Feixing.

“Let her go, let her go!!”

Yu Hexuan threw himself at the giant with no thought for his own life, flung every fire talisman he had, and it did nothing. The thunder and firelight didn’t wake the others. He could only watch the giant lift his sister, two fingers closing around her head like tweezers, ready to twist it off, pull out the spine and organs; this was how the giant had eaten Hao Yun and Song Feixing.

“Feiluan—”

He screamed, voice cracking and raw, a sound like a cuckoo crying blood. Despair flooded through him; Yu Hexuan bit the giant’s hand, howling like a cornered animal.

And then in the next moment, things changed.

Clang—

The sound of a blade cutting air. In the fading light of the fire talismans Yu Hexuan saw a knife, it drove directly into the giant’s central eye. The giant let out a furious bellow of pain and flung Yu Feiluan aside to claw at the blade with both hands.

Someone else had woken besides the two of them. Yu Hexuan heard a cold, vicious voice come from the northeast.

“So loud.”

******

The Ancient Oasis. The Red Sand Giant settlement.

The sandstorm outside hadn’t let up; sand pelted the bunker walls like hail, and even with Baby Corn blocking the entrance the sand couldn’t be kept out entirely. A layer of fine cold sand had already settled on the dried animal hides spread across the ground. The cold spread further, and the campfire that had been burning vigorously shrank a few inches, its flame flickering as though it might go out at any moment.

The unsteady firelight made the surroundings feel grim, and made everyone’s faces look worse. The Yu twins, asleep with open eyes, had been moved to the center near the fire, but they weren’t the only ones who had been moved there.

“There aren’t only… only two of them.”

Medium Lily’s words made everyone’s heart clench. She lit a black candle and picked up a ritual knife, first slashing the air above the Yu twins, then heating the blade over the candle flame. Then she turned her back to the group and removed her glasses. She studied the blade surface carefully, as though a scene were playing out on it; the action made Wei Xun think of An Xuefeng’s Return Journey Saber.

But re-enactment was the Return Journey Saber’s own function; what Lily was doing was her own technique, the candle and knife were only mediums. After two or three seconds, Lily’s voice sounded again, more ethereal than before, slightly hoarse.

“I see five shadows; five, five. The three beyond these two are enemies. I see…”

Five shadows? Five people had fallen asleep? That was impossible—

Wait.

“Yin-Yang Butterfly?”

Wei Xun reacted immediately and looked up. Yin-Yang Butterfly and the Infected both had their histories with the Butcher Alliance, and at this tense moment they had sensibly stayed back from the Tourists. Yin-Yang Butterfly was sitting against the eastern wall, half in darkness beyond the campfire’s reach, apparently asleep.

But when the Infected dragged him closer to the fire, everyone saw he too was lying with his eyes open and unable to wake, the same as the Yu twins.

“I didn’t sense anything, I was eating dates.”

The Infected stated his position immediately. It wasn’t him, and in fact Wei Xun had already understood the same thing in an instant, exchanging a glance with Zhang Xingcang.

“The corresponding person.”

Wei Xun wheeled over to Yin-Yang Butterfly’s side, and his gaze fell to the blade. Yin-Yang Butterfly had been maintaining it earlier; now the edge had a faint trace of blood on it, as though he had just fought something.

It wasn’t only the Yu twins who had fallen asleep; it was three new arrivals corresponding to the three people originally fated to be swallowed by the crippled old giant. Earlier when the crippled old giant had gone mad trying to snap Yin-Yang Butterfly’s neck, Wei Xun had already suspected Yin-Yang Butterfly might be corresponding to one of the three.

Now it was confirmed.

“The other two are from the Blood Baron, Blood Wolf Rex, and the black werewolf; two of those three.”

David said seriously, pulling the Yu twins’ eyelids open to examine them.

“They can’t be woken. They’ve lost themselves in there; overstimulating them from outside might cause cardiac arrest.”

The situation wasn’t good; the Yu twins who had fallen asleep were probably not only facing the giant, they were likely also up against two enemies far more powerful and terrifying than themselves.

“Dreamchaser can try.”

Noticing “Bai Xiaosheng’s” gaze, Zhang Xingcang frowned.

“But there is no guarantee.”

Dealing with enemies in nightmares had always been Dreamchaser’s specialty, but the question was his current state. Zhang Xingcang only said “try” because Dreamchaser was in dragon form right now and might be able to use some ability; otherwise, he wouldn’t have offered even that word.

“Lily can try as well.”

The Stargazer said. Medium Lily slowly nodded, and said quietly:

“I need their blood, to let the candlelight guide their return.”

Everyone made space for Lily and the Dreamchaser dragon. Crouched beside them was also ferret Tong Hege, keeping constant watch on the Yu twins and Yin-Yang Butterfly. With outsiders present he hadn’t shifted to human form, and nobody questioned why this ferret was here or why it looked exactly like Wei Xun’s ferret; everyone was occupied.

David, centaur Katie, and the Infected went out into the sandstorm. They were going to use the Infected’s sensing to try to find whichever two of Rex, the Blood Baron, or the black werewolf had also fallen asleep; those three were unprepared and would remain so, and tonight was a good opportunity.

Half-Life Daoist had intended to go with them, and though he was extremely worried about Chen Cheng’s group, with everyone else heading out being West District people and none of his own it seemed wrong; especially since Half-Life Daoist had some bias toward the West District crowd and tended to feel these people were too cunning and not straightforward. With the Stargazer here, An Xuefeng had to stay to protect Wei Xun, and Zhang Xingcang needed to watch Dreamchaser; he was the only mobile person.

“Half-Life, come here.”

But Wei Xun didn’t let him go.

Apart from the people by the campfire, An Xuefeng, Wei Xun, and the Stargazer were all at Zhu Yuande’s side, and Baby Corn’s tendrils were being studied by all three.

Zhu Yuande, who should also have fallen asleep, was still awake; this made no sense whatsoever. Lily had also said there were five shadows in the dream, which clearly wasn’t counting Zhu Yuande.

“An ordinary worm.”

Stargazer was the first to speak.

“The key isn’t in it, it’s in fate.”

By his account, Zhu Yuande had been yanked awake at the very instant of falling into the nightmare; not a moment earlier, not a moment later, and it was simply because fate favored him; he was too lucky.

Was it really only luck?

Wei Xun didn’t think so. There were things Stargazer didn’t know.

“Half-Life, come have a look.”

Wei Xun said; on the surface he was asking Half-Life Daoist to do a reading for Zhu Yuande, but through the thread of connection he was speaking privately.

‘Feel around, is there anything different about Chen Cheng?’

Chen Cheng was sitting with Zhu Yuande, comforting him. After the Yu twins’ incident, he had quickly settled the panicked and worried group members, and once he had confirmed Lily’s side didn’t need help, he had returned to sit beside Zhu Yuande. Zhu Yuande wasn’t good with words and was still shaken, stumbling over his speech; Chen Cheng was answering for him on many points.

It was clear Chen Cheng knew his teammates very well; Zhu Yuande’s background, habits, personality, and even small details were all in his mind. As he spoke Zhu Yuande kept nodding at his side, the two of them completely at ease with each other. It was evident Chen Cheng was also trying to find something distinctive about how Zhu Yuande had stayed awake, hoping to help the Yu twins surface quickly.

Chen Cheng was a good captain who cared about his teammates, so Wei Xun needed to know: was Zhu Yuande staying awake connected to Chen Cheng sitting beside him?

He hadn’t forgotten that feeling during the battle with the old chieftain.

‘You, you mean…’

Half-Life Daoist sounded a little unsure, a little incredulous. After waking he also knew what had happened, understood that using Sword Out from Cold Mountain hadn’t been only about Wei Xun’s energy, that Captain Chen had everything to do with it.

But Half-Life Daoist had chalked it up to coincidence; the Red Sand settlement, Sword Out from Cold Mountain, the unfinished Cold Mountain Sword, the Ancient Oasis token, the Chen Cheng of the scene re-enactment, the Latitude 30 Degrees contamination, himself: all of it connected to Captain Chen.

And with An Xuefeng’s intervention destabilizing the space, under all of those simultaneous conditions, a trace of Captain Chen’s breath, strength, or awareness had been drawn through. Even Half-Life Daoist couldn’t be certain of Chen Cheng’s current state, or whether the strength had come from a real Chen Cheng or from something Captain Chen had left behind in the token or in the Cold Mountain Sword.

But Wei Xun’s words put a thread of hope in Half-Life Daoist’s heart. He immediately squeezed between Chen Cheng and Zhu Yuande, took one of each of their hands, closed his eyes, and felt carefully. A moment later he frowned and released Zhu Yuande’s hand, holding Chen Cheng’s in one hand and the Ancient Oasis token in the other.

‘There might be a little something, but I’m not certain.’

Half-Life Daoist said with frustration. He set down the token and took out the unfinished Cold Mountain Sword, gesturing with it.

‘Very faint, incredibly faint; so faint I can’t tell whether it’s coming from the token itself or whether something real has happened. I’ve been calling to him in my mind this whole time and Captain Chen hasn’t responded to me at all.’

But Wei Xun was fairly sure Zhu Yuande’s wakefulness was connected to Chen Cheng, because his own heartbeat had skipped a beat just a moment ago. He directed Chen Cheng to move and stand by the fire. Whether it was imagination or not, the color in the Yu twins’ faces seemed marginally better.

The Ancient Oasis butterfly fragment really was connected to Chen Cheng, and the connection was still close. Perhaps this was what Half-Life Daoist had described before when he said the Ancient Oasis butterfly fragment had a problem.

‘Do butterfly fragments have a special bond with their openers?’

Wei Xun had asked An Xuefeng this before, and An Xuefeng had said no. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] If there was such a special connection, Wei Xun couldn’t have reached in and pulled the butterfly fragment out of the Puppet Master at the time, and the Star Borer Insect wouldn’t have been able to take Dreamchaser’s fragment. The fragment Return had won hadn’t been kept on An Xuefeng at all.

‘Perhaps some influence, but not a bond exactly.’

Possessing a butterfly fragment made its holder stronger, even if this strength leaned toward the direction of contamination and mutation, but once you had a butterfly fragment you wouldn’t fear the contamination of your own Latitude 30 Degrees journey very much. Only someone as powerful as An Xuefeng didn’t need to keep a butterfly fragment on his person when going to the Atlantic or the Sahara.

‘But the Stargazer is an exception.’

Before seeing Wei Xun’s heart with the merged butterfly fragment, the Stargazer had been the only known exception. Rumor had it the star chart was the exclusive tool of his orange title “Stargazer”, but the Stargazer had fused his butterfly fragment with the star chart, and together they had become the tattoo on the back of his hand.

A tattoo; the butterfly tattoo on Wei Xun’s heart had a subtle resemblance to it. And this “coincidence” made Wei Xun curious about what the Stargazer had foreseen in his prophecy, whether it was connected to Wei Xun, and just how close his relationship with the Puppeteer had once been.

Without question, the Ancient Oasis butterfly fragment could stimulate Chen Cheng. And having absorbed so much contamination energy, this fragment was currently extremely active, a sharp contrast to the other butterfly fragments.

Wei Xun even felt he could stir this fragment without going into his own heart. But he had no intention of using the Ancient Oasis butterfly fragment directly for anything yet; he hadn’t understood these fragments, hadn’t fully mastered them. Besides, Half-Life Daoist’s uncontrolled sword technique earlier had made it clear that Chen Cheng and the Puppeteer who had taken his butterfly fragment were not on friendly terms; ten years later, meeting face to face would still likely mean immediate hostility.

He needed a gentler approach, something indirect, a go-between.

Butterfly fragments were connected to each other. The Stargazer’s butterfly fragment, the Ancient Oasis butterfly fragment; Stargazer, ???, the Puppeteer, Chen Cheng.

This was a workable chain of logic.

Wei Xun thought while wheeling himself over to Stargazer’s side. Seeing “Bai Xiaosheng’s” wheelchair approaching from the right, the Stargazer slowly shifted from the posture of right hand in pocket to arms crossed, right hand tucked into the crook of his left arm.

His brother had absolutely coveted the Stargazer’s butterfly fragment at some point.

Watching the Stargazer change position, Wei Xun understood. The more the Stargazer hid it, the more curious Wei Xun became, though for now he had no interest in deeply researching the Stargazer’s star chart. What he had his eye on was the fact of the Stargazer’s former close connection with the Puppeteer.

“Stargazer, fate has let me see the stars.”

Wei Xun read his expression carefully and, noticing Stargazer’s face ease slightly, immediately pressed the advantage:

“Could I have a look at your right hand?”

To Stargazer, this was roughly as outrageous as a brute saying “I just want to look” to an innocent young woman. But “Bai Xiaosheng’s” line about fate letting him see the stars had genuinely struck a pleasurable note with the Stargazer. He glanced at the campfire from the corner of his eye; Lily and the Dreamchaser dragon still showed no movement, clearly at some kind of impasse.

The longer this dragged on the worse. And with the Phoenix bird still on the wheelchair back, “Bai Xiaosheng” would need to show some restraint and couldn’t just openly do whatever he wanted.

The key to breaking through this situation might truly be in his star chart.

“Suit yourself.”

Stargazer said coldly, and extended his right hand, gripping “Bai Xiaosheng’s.”

And then in the next moment something no one had anticipated happened.

Wei Xun grabbed Stargazer’s right hand and, with a speed that left no time to react, pressed the back of his hand directly against his own chest.

“What are you doing?!”

The Stargazer pulled his hand back at full speed and demanded an answer, but Wei Xun had already gotten what he came for.

Clang—

The unfinished Cold Mountain Sword in Half-Life Daoist’s hand suddenly rang out in a clear, resonant hum.