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A whirlwind carrying yellow sand began to swirl and dance around Yi Han, like a vortex spreading outwards from him. Wherever it passed, withered branches snapped and fell, wooden houses creaked and rattled, and paper windows shattered. The Fire Feather Kingdom members who were about to surround him were involuntarily thrown together, letting out piercing screams. Their weapons, meant to attack the enemy, instead pierced their comrades' bodies. In an instant, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and screams echoed.

The camel ran further and further away, until I could barely make out Yihan's face. A deep fear welled up inside me. Could it be... could it be that Yihan was going to sacrifice himself? No! No, he would catch up. Yet, once this thought arose, it wouldn't leave me. I turned back frantically, shouting in a hoarse voice, "Yihan—! Yihan—!"

The storm abruptly stopped, and I couldn't see the tragic state of the Fire Feather Kingdom's people. My gaze, a mixture of sorrow and joy, was fixed on those few azure figures leaping and bounding towards me. Suddenly, a warmth and weight pressed down on my back; Yi Han had leaned almost all his weight on me. My fear vanished in an instant; I only knew that the warmth behind me and the weight on my shoulders would protect me from harm no matter what.

I steadied the camel and looked back. I saw that fewer than ten people from the Firefeather Kingdom could stand, and they were all swaying precariously. Without the camel, they wouldn't be able to catch up for at least a short time. Suddenly, my gaze fixed on a point in the distance that was getting smaller and smaller. That pure white, seemingly out of place in the human world, was a figure gracefully leaping down from the second floor of the inn.

I couldn't see his face clearly, but I knew he was looking at me, his gaze fixed on me with a cold, ambiguous look, and he parted his rosy lips slightly, saying something I couldn't quite make out.

Liu Cenfeng! I guessed his identity almost immediately. This was the white-robed Grand Tutor of the Fire Feather Kingdom, who was as famous as Lin Yu and whose reputation shook the entire Yixiu Continent. I turned around abruptly, pressing hard against the throbbing pain in my chest. What kind of feeling lingered deep in my heart? It was like pain, yet not quite pain, like fear, yet also like despair… Lin Yu… is that you? Is this still your feeling?

"Lin Yu... I'll give you one more chance..."

I suddenly looked up at Zimo, who was floating in the air at some unknown time, and was stunned and couldn't come back to my senses.

Zi Mo gave a deep, unfathomable smile, his brown pupils gleaming with excitement, as if someone who hadn't met a worthy opponent in a long time had finally found a worthy adversary. Amidst the endless yellow sand and in the face of utter despair, Zi Mo's eyes shone like stars, and with a slight curve to his lips, he said softly, "These are the words he said when he was looking at you just now."

Xiao Yi

2007.8.26 11:00

Chapter 25 Any Price (End)

Chapter 26 A Long Road Ahead

Chapter 26 A Long Road Ahead

Tarakan, in the language of Ishu, means "devil," hence the unimaginably vast region within the Tarakan Desert is known as the "Devil's Continent." I don't know exactly how big the Tarakan Desert is; all I know is that sitting on a camel, gazing at the boundless expanse ahead and the endless expanse behind, I felt nothing but despair.

When I was in Binsheng, I thought the sun on Puhua Street was intense enough, and the sandstorms were fierce enough. But once I entered the desert, I realized that it was nothing compared to the harshness of the desert itself. The yellow sand swirled constantly, and occasionally, I would catch a glimpse of a skull standing upright, half-buried in the sand, half-facing us. I would scream in terror, unable to comprehend how they died, and how we would die.

All around us was sand, nothing but sand. We knew we shouldn't walk in the desert during the day, and we knew our drinking water wouldn't last three days, but we had no choice but to continue. Zimo said the sand dunes here were moving too fast, and a sandstorm could strike at any moment; we had to leave as soon as possible to reach the canyon area or find the ancient ruins of a city in the desert.

Yi Han controlled the camel with one hand, while using the other to wrap my entire body tightly in his own clothes, protecting me in his arms. However, sand still seeped into my eyes, ears, nose, and mouth little by little. On the ground, where the temperature exceeded 50 degrees Celsius, I could clearly feel Yi Han's body gradually changing from cool to hot and humid.

Neither of us uttered a word; the sandstorm made it impossible for us to speak. I clutched Yihan's shirt tightly, burying my face in his chest. Occasionally, Yihan would bring the water bottle to my lips, letting me sip our precious water, while he himself never drank a single drop.

Darkness fell almost instantly, the temperature plummeting from scorching heat to freezing cold, but the sandstorm gradually subsided. We chose a seemingly stable sand dune, brought the camels over to shield ourselves, and prepared to rest for about an hour before continuing our journey. According to Zimo, the desert is all about "traveling at night and resting during the day," and traveling during the day with insufficient drinking water would undoubtedly be suicidal.

I huddled shivering in Yi Han's arms. The place was almost barren, and we had no way to start a fire. We walked in silence, Yi Han holding me like a baby, cold, thirsty, and terrified. Finally, in his hoarse voice, he asked, "Young Master, can you still hold on?"

I wanted to say I could hold on, but my heart ached terribly. My stomach felt empty and painful, my lips were cracked, but I couldn't eat or drink. I hadn't found enough water; eating dry food would only cause me to lose fluids and die faster. I reached out and hugged Yihan tightly, pressing my body against his, drawing warmth and comfort from him. I nodded gently, my eyes welling with tears.

Yi Han tightened his grip, his embrace strangely warm yet tinged with a poignant, sorrowful pain. I lay in his arms, my mind gradually drifting, but a gust of wind would occasionally jol me awake. I drifted in and out of sleep, looking up at the endless yellow sand that covered the sky, obscuring the moon. My despair and fear were beyond words.

"Galan, get up!" Zi Mo's voice rang out mercilessly. "We must reach the designated sand dunes and canyon area as soon as possible. And..." He paused, his voice becoming sharper, "Your Wind Guardian has already exhausted all his inner energy and is injured in all five internal organs, yet you still want him to force his inner strength for you?"

I jolted awake, looking up to meet Yi Han's pale face, his lips cracked and pale, his eyes lifeless, so weak he seemed ready to collapse at any moment. My teeth clenched, my lips pressed tightly together, I stared at him, recalling that faint warmth I'd felt just moments before, and felt an unbearable pain in my heart. And this time, I was certain it was my pain, a real, tangible heartache.

"Yihan..." I spoke in a hoarse voice, using all my strength to hold back the flood of tears, "Yihan, why did you go to such lengths for me?" After a pause, I forced a casual smile and said, "You have to live! You have to live no matter what, otherwise, how can I get out of this desert alone?"

Yi Han looked at me quietly for a long while, nodded slightly, stood up, and then bent down to pick me up and place me on the camel. I felt a warmth on my back as he jumped up and held me tightly around the waist, whispering, "Don't worry, young master, I will definitely protect you."

That clear, cool voice, that calm and peaceful tone, never changed, even in such dire circumstances.

Even now, I can't imagine how I survived those three days and three nights in that desolate, lifeless expanse of shifting sand dunes. Each day I could only drink less than a liter of water, and in the evening I'd eat a meager amount of dry rations just enough to fill my stomach. I walked constantly through the sandstorms, sometimes unable to even ride a camel, forced to walk. If I got lost, I'd try to find my way back. When it got too hot, I'd dig a hole in the sand and bury myself. Those were truly terrifying three days and three nights! If Yihan hadn't been by my side, if Zimo hadn't been pointing me in the right direction, if we hadn't had that little bit of water to sustain the camel, I think I would have collapsed long ago.

By the early morning of the third day, we were both exhausted, the camel was weak, and our water bags were almost empty. The swirling yellow sand gradually subsided and disappeared, and the sky became clear and transparent. The sunlight was exceptionally bright and dazzling. After three days and three nights of inhuman walking, we finally arrived at Pingdingshan, where the land was relatively solid and there was no sandstorm. There was a canyon not far below the mountain.

My head was throbbing with pain. I had no idea how much sweat I had lost or how much water I had produced. My sweat-soaked clothes were rubbing against my skin, and rashes were breaking out all over my body. The towel wrapped around my head felt like it had been steamed. My whole body felt completely drained, yet my heart pounded relentlessly, as if bravely announcing the approach of death.

Leaping onto a high sand dune, Yi Han took off his coat and threw it onto the scorching ground. He then placed me in the shade of two large rocks and whispered, "Young Master, please rest here. I will go and find a water source."

I leaned weakly against the scorching rock, nodding, too exhausted to even reply. The footsteps faded into the distance, and in my throbbing headache and dazed state, I heard a faint hissing sound. Before my blurry eyes could even open, I heard Zi Mo call out urgently, "Galan, be careful!"

I saw a thumb-sized, yellowish-white snake less than a meter away from me, its tongue lolling out. I screamed and rushed out from the shadow of the rock, my face pale. The sudden burst of intense sunlight made me dizzy. I staggered back a few steps, trying to find Yihan, but suddenly felt the solid ground beneath my feet give way and collapse.

"Ahhhhhh!" I screamed as I fell from the sandstone cliff, which was over ten meters high. The uneven sand walls scraped against my back, the sand grazed my cheeks, and the solidified rocks slammed into my hands and feet. The pain was indescribable.

"Galan! Cover your head!" Zimo's anxious shouts echoed in my ears.

I was suspended in mid-air, delirious with pain, yet my body continued to fall. But it wasn't a vertical descent; instead, I tumbled and slid along the rocks, which concealed sharp edges. I clutched my head, curled up, and crashed to the ground with a deafening roar. Covered in thick sand and clumps of hardened sand, I convulsed, drenched in blood, and could only groan.

"Galan!" Zimo called out to me in an even more anxious and panicked voice than before, "Galan, get up! Landslide... the sandstone above is going to collapse again... get out of here!"

Pain...so much pain! I screamed in my heart, but only groans came out. I kept my eyes tightly shut, and although I clearly heard Zi Mo's words, all I could do was cry out in pain and sob. Death might be better, that was the deepest thought in my heart.

The crackling and rumbling sounds echoed above again. I was in the sand dune, thinking to myself: Today, Lin Yu will be buried here.

Suddenly, my body felt light, and I heard rapid breathing around me. I was firmly locked in that cool, familiar embrace. After a few rises and falls, a rumbling sound was right next to me. My mouth was still full of yellow sand. I was protected and fell heavily to the ground.

"Cough cough..." We both coughed violently at the same time. Yi Han stopped coughing in a moment, helped me up, and stared at me with a look of panic: "Young Master, are you alright?"

I coughed up a mouthful of blood-stained sand, tears and snot streaming down my face, but my whole body was convulsing, and I couldn't even cry. My heart was in excruciating pain and panic, but I felt that the person holding me was even more panicked and in pain than I was. The hand that was grabbing the cloth to wipe my face was stiff and the veins were bulging, and the person wrapping me up had been trembling non-stop since the beginning.

My whole body ached so much that I had no strength left. I was exhausted and dizzy. I opened my eyes in a daze and saw those eyes filled with panic and pain. I tried to smile at him, but my head tilted to the side and I lost consciousness.

It felt like I had slept for a very long time, or perhaps just a short while. As I regained consciousness and slowly opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a familiar, sleeping handsome face, with slightly stiff black hair and beige curtains.

The room was dark, but not completely dark. I tapped my head and slowly turned around, thinking: What time is it? Should I... go to school? I was late once a few days ago because I was delivering documents to Xu Lie; I can't be late again this time.

The bedside clock showed 4:15. I breathed a sigh of relief, secretly glad that I could still sleep soundly for a long time, with a warm bed, soft pillows, and a comfortable embrace. Unlike…

I paused, blinking at the pristine white ceiling. It didn't look like anything... What was I about to say? I shook my head slightly, turned around, and my gaze swept over a very abstract Western painting on the wall. Patches of yellow and white—I never paid attention to what it depicted, but now, after a closer look, it looked like vast stretches of yellow sand. I had no idea what its meaning was.

Yellow sand? My heart skipped a beat. Had I forgotten something? What was it? What was it?

It was a fear from the depths of my heart that I didn't want to recall, but I didn't want to live in such a daze, so I slowly recalled, various scenes flashing through my mind.