After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 30: Chapter 31: Finding a Horse for the Sand Boat

Sunx Fuping gestured for Nian Songyu to wait a little longer.

The wait stretched on for nearly ten minutes.

The stench had driven away any creature hiding beneath the surface. For dozens of yards in every direction, nothing stirred but the howling wind.

”Still not here?” Nian Songyu said, his patience wearing thin. ”Time is precious.” The sun set quickly in the Panlong Desert. Night would fall in another two double-hours, and they couldn’t afford to waste any more time here.

”Not yet.” Situ Han’s forehead was covered in sweat, whether from the sun or his anxiety, it was hard to tell. ”It might be coming from far away. It’ll take time to get here.”

Hee Lingchuan chose this moment to speak up for Situ Han. ”I’ve seen it before. It’s a behemoth. I can’t be sure, but it could really carry us across the desert. It would save us time and effort.”

”’Can’t be sure’?” Nian Songyu’s tone turned sinister upon hearing those two words. ”You dare waste our time with something you’re not certain about?”

Another half-hour went by, but the end of Red Cliff Road remained peaceful.

A great gust of wind swept past, cutting through the numb crowd and vanishing into the distance with a WHOOSH.

Nian Songyu’s index finger tapped lightly on his scabbard. TAP... TAP-TAP. It was a clear sign of his impatience.

As time went on, he grew more and more convinced that the Sand Bandits, on Hee Lingchuan’s signal, were trying to mess with his men. After all, it was Hee Lingchuan who had first proposed the so-called ”fragrant balls.”

Nian Songyu’s glare grew increasingly hostile, but Hee Lingchuan pretended not to notice, even as he began to feel anxious himself.

Seeing the sun sink further and further west, even Sunx Fuping finally lost his patience. ”We’re not waiting any longer. Everyone, board the boats...”

During the wait, he had already divided everyone into three groups and assigned each to a Walnut Boat.

Time was precious. They couldn’t afford to wait any longer; they had to set off now.

But Situ Han held a finger to his lips and let out a sharp ”SHHH!” ”It’s here!”

Making such a gesture to so many important figures was incredibly rude, but he was too tense to care about etiquette right now.

The words had barely left his mouth when a great RUMBLE echoed. The desert split apart as if it were the surface of the sea, sending yellow sand flying in all directions like a localized dust storm.

A behemoth burst nearly ten feet out of the ground, a piece of cured meat in its mouth, before crashing heavily back down.

Another cloud of dust flew up.

The creature dove back down with an agility that belied its size, disappearing into the Desert Sea in the blink of an eye.

Situ Han, ignoring the sand splattered all over his face, cheered, ”It’s here, it’s here! It really came! Ugh, PTUI PTUI!” He hastily spat out a few mouthfuls of sand.

Aside from National Preceptor Sunx and a few others who had managed to raise their Protective Gang Qi in time, the rest of the crowd was left covered in dust.

At last, however, everyone got a clear look at the ”big fish” Situ Han had managed to reel in.

The creature looked like a cross between an eel and an earthworm. It was long, round, and legless, but its torso was segmented, and its coloration was nearly identical to the yellow sand. If it lay buried quietly in the desert, even a person with the sharpest eyesight would have trouble spotting it.

But unlike an eel, its mouth was shockingly large, capable of opening wider than its body’s diameter, and it was filled with dense rows of needle-like teeth. Two long whiskers grew from the sides of its mouth, apparently used to detect the movement of the shifting sands.

Zeng Feixiong cried out in shock, ”Such a huge Earth Dragon!”

That thing was a staggering eighty-five feet long!

The soldiers at the sides also took an involuntary half-step back. The oppressive feeling that came from a creature of this size was not something that could be reasoned away.

This type of Earth Dragon wasn’t the Snake Eel from the sea but a creature unique to the desert. In fact, whether living in the desert or the sea, it seemed some animals had no need for legs.

But these things rarely grew longer than ten feet in other deserts; experienced travelers even caught them for food. But this one... Zeng Feixiong had led patrols back and forth along Red Cliff Road, yet he had never seen an Earth Dragon this big!

Situ Han sighed in relief. ”And this isn’t even an Earth Dragon King... The biggest one we’ve seen was over 130 feet long.”

”Since it’s such a huge beast, one small piece of meat won’t be enough to satisfy it.” Hee Lingchuan pointed to the three Walnut Boats. ”Earth Dragons have an absurd amount of strength; pulling one boat should be no problem. Hmm, and they usually travel in groups.”

In other words, the stinking meat would attract more than just one Earth Dragon.

Children by the sea learn to fish, and the original Hee Lingchuan, having grown up next to the Panlong Desert, had fished for Earth Dragons many times himself.

Of course, he had never used such heavy bait, nor had he ever seen such massive prey.

Situ Han nodded. ”Everyone, please board the boats. We’ll just repeat the process, and then we can use them like draft horses.”

So the soldiers boarded the three boats while the boatmen at the prows of the Walnut Boats grabbed the tow ropes, tied slipknots, and waited, ready for action.

This time, everyone covered their noses and mouths, so when the Sand Bandits took out another large piece of cured meat and doused it with the stinking liquid, no one was overcome. Nian Songyu himself stepped up, speared the specially-seasoned chunk of meat on a pole, and stood at the boat’s prow, holding it high.

The boatman’s pole was part of the Walnut Boat, its length adjustable at will.

The special stinking liquid made by the Sand Bandits could drive away most desert creatures and was a last-resort Magical Treasure for emergency escapes. However, every advantage has its disadvantage, and this stuff just happened to be the Earth Dragons’ favorite treat.

In fact, strictly speaking, what Earth Dragons liked was the ”stink” itself.

They were scavengers. The rotten stench that other creatures found unbearable was, to an Earth Dragon, the fragrant aroma of a fine meal. A smell of this caliber wafting over was like the dinner bell for a village’s annual forty-eight-course feast—they would come no matter how far away they were.

Situ Han reminded them, ”They’re incredibly stupid. Just dangle the stinky meat in front of them, and the boat will move!”

Since these things had come from so far away, they wouldn’t just disperse anytime soon.

Sure enough, the moment the stinky meat was lifted, a massive Earth Dragon burst from the sand and lunged for the chunk of meat.

Judging by its size, it was even larger than the first one.

Nian Songyu’s eyes and hands were fast. With a flick of his wrist, he jerked the cured meat up, and the Earth Dragon lunged at empty air.

The boatman standing beside him threw the tow rope, looping it with incredible precision around the Earth Dragon’s neck.

Although it was round and limbless, the rings on its body were deeply indented. The knot slid down two segments before catching securely on the third.

Startled by the sudden snare, the Earth Dragon shot forward over three hundred feet. Only when the knot pulled tight and held fast did Nian Songyu lower the pole, letting the chunk of cured meat dangle just above and in front of the creature.

The fragrant aroma hit its nostrils, and with its tiny brain, the Earth Dragon immediately forgot it had been collared. Drooling, it began to ”swim” toward the cured meat.

It possessed Infinite Strength, pulling the boat and everyone on it forward with surprising ease.

And so, the boat set off.

Nian Songyu only had to flick the pole, and the Earth Dragon pulling the boat would happily follow. Below, the SSSHHHKKK SSSHHHKKK of sand scraping against the bottom of the Walnut Boat was a testament to the creature’s powerful ”horsepower.”

The helmsman’s most important task, in fact, was to constantly adjust the boat’s direction to keep both the Earth Dragon and the boat moving downwind. This ensured the stinking meat hanging up front wouldn’t asphyxiate the entire crew.

At the moment, nothing was more important.

In the blink of an eye, Nian Songyu’s boat was already over a thousand feet away.

”Our turn.” With a successful example before them, the rest of the group’s spirits soared. Sunx Fuping led his team onto one boat, while the Hee father and son and the Sand Bandits boarded the last one, repeating the same process.