Twenty days later.
Sand filled the sky, heat waves surged, and a white yacht skimmed across the vast desert, heading toward a dilapidated ruin.
The yacht came to a steady halt, and EeDechi's group of three filed out one after another. Barrett pulled out a map, glanced at it, and said, "We've reached the boundary between the outer and inner rings of the Eight Greed Kings desert. Pressing forward will take us into the inner ring area."
"Let's scout for treasure first." EeDechi rubbed her hands together eagerly.
Before them lay a sprawl of toppled ruins, with broken walls and shattered remnants as far as the eye could see. Yet many of the building structures remained remarkably intact, half-buried in the yellow sand. Every now and then, a hot gust of wind would blow through, sending grains of sand whispering against the brick and stone walls.
EeDechi put the yacht away into the bottle, Cheeko perched on Barrett's shoulder, and the three of them—plus one cat—walked deeper into the ruins.
They walked for who knows how long, picking up two silver pots along the way. After shaking off the sand, the pots gleamed as bright as new. Etched on the pot walls were images of milking cows, along with ornate Common script reading "fresh milk."
EeDechi toyed with one of the silver pots for a bit, puzzled. "These pots are for holding freshly milked cow's milk. That's odd—how could there be milking going on in the desert? Could the environment here have once supported raising dairy cows?"
"Rumor has it the Eight Greed Kings desert wasn't always a wasteland," Barrett replied. "But the Eight Greed Kings cast a world-ending spell that drained the land's wood and earth elemental energies, turning the whole place into desert."
Franco tapped the silver pot with his wand, confirming there were no engraved magic arrays on it. "Speaking of which, why use silver pots for milk? Were the residents of the Eight Greed Kings' cities all that wealthy?"
"That's perfectly normal. The nomadic tribes in the three great western realms—those horse-riding barbarians—also like using silver vessels to hold milk, though I'm not sure why," Barrett said.
"You guys wouldn't know about that, huh?" EeDechi grinned smugly. "Silver dishes release tiny amounts of silver ions, which kill the bacteria in milk and keep it from going bad."
Barrett and Franco exchanged glances, looking like they didn't quite get it but it sure sounded convincing.
They made their way to an open clearing, where Barrett unfolded the Imperial Map and pored over its glittering golden runes. He glanced around left and right, puzzled. "According to the map, there should be an entrance to the warehouse right here."
There wasn't a single building in sight—just waves of heat rippling upward, the blazing sun beating down without mercy, roasting them until sweat beaded on their foreheads.
"Why are my boots sinking into the sand?" Franco shook his foot, blowing the dust off the top. "These are crocodile leather hiking boots. If they get filthy, how am I supposed to flaunt my noble status in front of the ladies?"
EeDechi and Barrett looked down and saw their own boots covered in a layer of gritty sand, heels already buried.
"Quicksand!" Barrett realized something was off. No sooner had he spoken than the ground caved in, swallowing half his leg.
"AH!" Franco let out a bloodcurdling scream, tumbling off guard as his lower body sank into the dirt. EeDechi reached out to grab him, only to get pulled into the shifting sand pit herself.
All at once, the whole patch of sand started churning wildly, layers collapsing one after another, like some massive beast underground had opened its gaping maw. The three of them were swept into the raging whirlpool of sand.
EeDechi was buried completely. The yellow grains swirled and pressed around her like rushing water. Amid the chaotic flow, a deep voice rumbled through the soil:
"Living ones, you've finally arrived. Welcome to the creature base."
5th-Tier Magic: Earthquake! EeDechi raised her hand and blasted out a magical orb of light. The terrifying explosion ripped through the sand flow, blasting open a clear space. Then EeDechi struggled toward Barrett, grabbing his arm to keep him from being sucked deeper underground.
"Quick, protect our mage!" Franco screamed at the top of his lungs. He whipped his wand around frantically, but soon all three landed on solid ground, and Franco face-planted hard.
"Ptoo!" EeDechi spat out a mouthful of sand from her mouth. She found herself standing on a floor made of granite blocks, with a sand hole overhead. A beam of bright sunlight shone down from the hole—they'd just fallen through there.
"Living flesh, offer up your blood and meat. Submit to the Skeleton Queen."
Amid the swirling dust, a man stood before them, clad in a black leather trench coat, his head studded with rusty spikes. His skin was an unhealthy pallor, his eyelids hooked open with metal fishhooks, and an iron nail pierced his nose bridge. He looked downright terrifying.
"Offer up your own urn first!"
EeDechi glared furiously, whipping out her giant sword in one motion and stepping forward to swing it down. The man clearly hadn't expected EeDechi's speed to be so fast—he didn't even react, just watched wide-eyed as the giant sword smacked right into his forehead.
BANG!
The man instantly burst into a cloud of blood mist, vanishing without a trace. All that was left was an open gilded box rolling around on the ground—none other than the Box of Bewilderment.
After taking out that bizarre bloodthirsty fiend, EeDechi spotted Barrett lying off to the side, covered head to toe in dust. Cheeko was crouched by his head, licking the sand off Barrett's face.
After being furiously licked all over by Cheeko's wet tongue, Barrett slowly came to. He let out a long breath from his nostrils, two streams of murky yellow dust shooting out, then coughed a few times, spitting out a mouthful of sand.
Franco staggered over, conjuring a wet towel with magic and frantically wiping his face, as if terrified that the sand would ruin his handsome looks.
Right now, the three of them were in what looked like an underground passage, facing a spacious stone cavern ahead, with no light inside at all—pitch black and deep.
"Let's move." EeDechi brushed the dust off her pants, raised the glowing crystal lantern, and headed toward the cave mouth.
Along the way, they took down seven or eight weird-looking bloodthirsty fiends in a row, pushed through a long tunnel, and reached a stone door. EeDechi kicked it to smithereens, and amid the flying stone powder, she got a clear view of the room inside.
In the wide circular hall, it was total pandemonium—a huge pack of hideous bloodthirsty fiends clustered in the center. A quick scan showed at least fifty or sixty of them.
EeDechi couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath, instantly dropping into a fighting stance.
But the horde of bloodthirsty fiends hadn't noticed EeDechi and the others; they were huddled around a transparent pillar in the middle of the hall, scraping at its walls with sharp claws and bone knives. They stared up at the blood-red liquid inside the clear cylinder, their eyes brimming with endless craving.
Feeling the racket from EeDechi busting in the door, every single bloodthirsty fiend whipped their heads around in unison, over a hundred crimson eyes suddenly flaring up, gleaming with bottomless greed.
"Living people have finally come..."
"Since we can't drink the immortal dragon blood, sinking our teeth into some fresh flesh and blood to slake our thirst wouldn't be half bad..."
"The Skeleton Queen rules supreme..."
The bloodthirsty fiends muttered to each other, sticking out their long tongues to lick their lips and fangs, like a swarm of pissed-off wasps ready to erupt.
Franco had been hanging back by the door; when he caught sight of the demonic frenzy in front of him, his face went pale as a sheet, and he clutched his wand tight. Then he lunged forward a step, only to duck down and hide behind Barrett.