Chapter 352: Death Sahara (30)

Even with Baby Corn’s tendrils as windbreaks, Wei Xun and the others could feel the full terror of the sandstorm. The temperature was a little higher than at night, but still biting cold, and the damp was heavier; the sand in the storm was completely wet, and when it swept down it stuck directly to Baby Corn’s outer surface, building up a thick layer very quickly.

‘Baby Corn is so happy! Father, Baby Corn is so happy!’

Baby Corn itself was delighted, the damp sandy environment reminding it of familiar life underground, which only made it livelier. It was moving above ground rather than below, but pushing through a sandstorm felt pretty much the same as parting wet soil and tunneling underground.

As for the cold, well, Baby Corn had thick skin and didn’t care about that.

The people riding on it were another matter. To keep watch and stay alert to danger that could appear at any moment, Baby Corn’s tendrils weren’t sealed fully shut but left several gaps for observing the outside. Its tendrils had grown long colorful hair, like camel eyelashes that could deflect sand particles, but the cold wind and damp came through unobstructed.

The colorful long hair was something new; Little Jade had done some “optimization” on Baby Corn. Abyss Insects were a very primitive, very stable type of demonic insect. Primitive meant its genetics were simple and Little Jade could make many modifications to it; stable meant that any influence and modification would gradually disappear as Baby Corn grew and molted, with no real permanent change. And since Baby Corn was a worm Little Jade had produced herself, the influence was also easier to introduce.

This was ideal for experimentation. After getting her hands on the ugly green moth’s and Little Rose’s genes, Little Jade had grand ambitions and wanted to put them to full use, but both sets of genes were unstable. Though the master had said he would accept ugly-green insect young, Little Jade couldn’t actually produce a batch of them in good conscience. With the master’s permission she had made some modifications to Baby Corn as a trial run for both gene sets.

The initial results were fairly promising. Colorful, soft, dense long hair had grown on Baby Corn’s tendrils, and while this hair could deflect sand and wind, it couldn’t block cold.

A lot of people were shivering. Chen Cheng’s clothes had gotten wet, the inner layers coated in condensation; he produced a backup windbreaker that was still reasonably dry, but didn’t put it on himself and handed it to Yu Hexuan instead.

“Thanks.”

Yu Hexuan said quietly, then gave the jacket to his sister. October in the Sahara was still hot by day, and most of them had only brought one or two outer layers for the cold nights. The Yu twins’ outer clothing had been burned and torn apart by thunder and fire talismans and the giant in last night’s nightmare, and was unwearable now.

Fire would have been the most efficient way to get warm, but Yu Hexuan didn’t dare invoke the heavenly fire talisman. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] They were inside a worm, and worms liked damp and dark and hated fire above all. The western man with the little fire dragon had only to let the dragon breathe a puff and he had been pushed outside. Those stronger than them could withstand the wind and sand out there, but they couldn’t, and they had no wish to antagonize Wei the Boss’s worm.

“If that bird were here it would be fine.”

Cheng Tianbao said drowsily. Chen Cheng and Tang Shuang weren’t especially bothered by the cold; Chen Cheng had the Cold Mountain Sword and Tang Shuang could do bone cultivation, making neither of them particularly susceptible. But Cheng Tianbao’s decay needed warmth and humidity, and low temperatures made him groggy and constantly on the edge of sleep.

“If the Phoenix bird were here it would get chased outside too.”

Half-Life Daoist, overhearing them, replied.

“The Phoenix bird is on a whole other level from that western little fire dragon, though. Hm, are you very cold?”

Half-Life Daoist himself didn’t feel particularly cold; it was the damp that was irritating, the inner walls of Baby Corn’s tendrils dripping with moisture without a single dry spot. Even the animal hides Half-Life Daoist had produced to help Chen Cheng’s group keep warm were soaked through very quickly.

“The sandstorm’s temperature and humidity are changing.”

Chen Cheng took his share of the hides and distributed them to the others, then walked to Wei the Second’s side and said quietly.

“Right now it’s cold and damp, but in a few hours, when the sun comes up…”

When the sun came up the temperature would climb, and cold damp would turn to hot damp; that would be the genuinely unbearable part.

“This sandstorm looks more like a journey scenic spot task.”

Up on Baby Corn’s head, Wei Xun and the others were discussing the same thing. Half-Life Daoist, Tong Hege, and Chen Cheng’s group were in the tendril shelter a section behind Baby Corn’s head, while Wei Xun and the others were at the very top; not everyone was inside the worm’s body. The Dreamchaser dragon and David’s little fire dragon were flying through the air, and centaur Katie had shifted to her half-human, half-horse form and was running freely alongside.

The damp wind and sand weren’t causing them too much difficulty; the deeper significance of what was happening concerned them more.

“Last night it was simply cold. This morning it’s cold and damp. By afternoon it’ll be hot and damp, and by noon it’ll be pure dry heat.”

Zhang Xingcang said. This was the pattern they had inferred from the sandstorm, and the reason it seemed more like a scenic spot task. A natural sandstorm wouldn’t shift this clearly and systematically, but it made much more sense framed as a journey task.

“There’s a special, rare prey that appears in the sandstorm; it’s the key to the giants’ survival through the coming death season. So when a great sandstorm arrives, the giants from other settlements also converge on the shared hunting ground.”

Wei Xun had noticed the giants raised no objection whatsoever to going out to hunt in the sandstorm; they were actually especially excited about it. He had asked a few more questions and gotten further intelligence from the Red Sand settlement’s giants; his probing hadn’t raised any suspicion, and the giants had only grown more loyal. Before setting out, every member of the hunting party had dropped to one knee and pledged their allegiance to him once more.

From the giants’ perspective, a great sandstorm arriving on the very night after the new chieftain held her coronation ceremony was nothing less than a sign of exceptional fortune, a sign that heaven approved of the new chieftain and acknowledged her, which was why the great sandstorm had come so quickly. The special prey that only appeared in great sandstorms was described by the Red Sand giants as a “great worm hidden in the storm,” and the fact that the giants called it “great” was enough to indicate how large this worm was.

This made Wei Xun think of the Star Borer Insect.

If both were worms, the Star Borer Insect was very likely going to be fought over and pursued by giants from other settlements; perhaps that could be used.

“If too many giants show up, we’ll need to add a fee.”

David said with a laugh.

“How do you say it in Mandarin, good brothers keep clear accounts. I can offer you an eighty percent discount though, right Captain?”

Right; the Metaphysics Tour Team wasn’t participating in the hunt for the Star Borer Insect. This involved a precious butterfly fragment after all. Metaphysics had no particular relationship with Dreamchaser’s side, and everybody wanted a butterfly fragment. If Metaphysics got involved, dividing the spoils would be a headache. Not to mention that if something went wrong midway, say the Star Borer Insect digested the butterfly fragment and it disappeared, the resulting suspicion would be damaging to relations.

Out of consideration for An Xuefeng’s face, Metaphysics would help on the perimeter, blocking the Silver Moon Killer or giants from other settlements.

The butterfly fragment disappearing?

Wei Xun gave the Stargazer a meaningful glance. He had the distinct feeling this person’s words were pointed at him. Surely not; the reason Metaphysics wasn’t getting involved couldn’t also be that the Stargazer suspected he would pocket the butterfly fragment and frame Metaphysics for it, so he was staying out of it entirely, right?

Was that vigilance because his brother had actually done something like that before? Wei Xun was terribly curious.

Feeling the gaze from beside him, the Stargazer’s expression didn’t change. He closed his eyes in apparent dozing.

Pointed at him? Think whatever you like.

As time passed the temperature climbed steadily. The Sahara had essentially no “comfortable” temperature to speak of; cold had barely passed before the temperature started shooting up, and hot damp was even harder to endure than cold damp. Even Baby Corn was starting to struggle and wanted to burrow down into the sand in search of coolness.

When they neared the hunting ground, the Stargazer and the others disembarked early to set up positions in the surrounding area. Wei Xun and the others continued forward with the Red Sand settlement’s hunting party.

“Going by what we discussed before, the Star Borer Insect has a habit of swallowing living prey whole. I can disguise myself as Dreamchaser’s scent and go in to kill it.”

Zhang Xingcang said; this had been agreed on the night before. Zhang Xingcang would disguise himself as a weakened Dreamchaser and be swallowed by the Star Borer Insect; An Xuefeng would activate the Return Journey Saber and simultaneously Zhang Xingcang would draw his own blade and cut his way out from inside. With luck he could slice off the chunk of flesh containing the butterfly fragment directly, and even without luck he could leave the Star Borer Insect severely wounded.

This way An Xuefeng would also not be using too much of his strength.

“Too risky; I can see the black above your brow from here.”

Half-Life Daoist interjected into their discussion, opposed. Going into a worm’s stomach was too risky. With the worm’s digestion that powerful, Zhang Xingcang might dissolve the moment he went in.

“I’m a clay figure; this doesn’t scare me.”

Zhang Xingcang laughed it off, but Wei Xun was noncommittal. Baby Corn loved eating clay above all else, and a clay figure as full of high energy as Zhang Xingcang would almost certainly have worms wanting to eat him too. Not a small danger; a very large one. Zhang Xingcang knew this too, but he wanted to draw the Star Borer Insect in as fast as possible. The situation was too dangerous, and lingering would only bring more enemies.

A nutrient-rich, weakened, clay-figure Dreamchaser; if he were the Star Borer Insect he would be tempted.

He had known from the start how dangerous this was, but Zhang Xingcang didn’t want to drag Bai Xiaosheng and the others into danger again. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Return had helped them far too much over these ten years.

But Wei Xun had his own thinking.

“The mental illusion is losing control and you’re already heavily injured. The probability of Dreamchaser going berserk is ninety percent.”

One calm sentence was enough to stop Zhang Xingcang where he stood.

“During a great sandstorm, those special great worms gather at the hunting ground for mating. They release large quantities of special fluid that drives other desert creatures into heat as well.”

The giants’ hunting season was the great desert beasts’ breeding season.

“Insect-type creatures are affected more strongly.”

Wei Xun patted one of Baby Corn’s tendrils. Baby Corn rubbed against him contentedly, still blissfully happy.

Zhang Xingcang and the others listened as Wei Xun said quietly:

“If you want to draw the Star Borer Insect out, there’s no need to go to all that trouble.”

Then he smiled slightly; a cunning smile on that androgynous ‘Zhang Xingcang’ face, which Zhang Xingcang found thoroughly aggravating. He heard Bai Xiaosheng say at an unhurried pace:

“The Star Borer Insect… is female, isn’t it?”

So many worms in the Death Sahara obeying it, living alongside it; there had to be a reason for that. Worms weren’t social creatures, unless the others were her offspring.

*******

Hot.

The Star Borer Insect, lying in the sand eating and drinking at leisure, rolled over lazily, not yet aware that a fine young worm was closing in.