The three returned to the inn and tested the devices a few times. There were clearly no issues.
"This thing should be fine," Zhang Hanshan said, closing and securing the device's casing. "As he said, except for the one in my hand which has static, yours both are fine."
Mo Chuan nodded, but still felt something was amiss.
"In that case..." He Lanxin calculated her remaining funds and said, "I'll go buy emergency food for you, Mo Chuan go buy fresh water... about ten days' worth, after all, we have to travel through the sand sea for at least seven days, but it's inevitable we'll encounter sandstorms and other situations that slow us down."
Mo Chuan and the other nodded, then began to get busy with their respective tasks.
...
The next day, at the gate of the outer city.
Devinsson (the teacher in the pink suit) had found a sand sea guide, and another female teacher had driven over the military transport vehicle provided by the army. (Qing Lianzi was slacking off as usual.)
The sand sea guide was a slightly hunched old man. He glanced at the assembled students, then took out a bag and said, "Enough with the pleasantries, I'll only speak of what's most important: In the sand sea, it's common for sand to obscure the sun, but remember, no matter what, you must not lose the protective amulet I give you. Otherwise, if you get lost in the sand sea, I won't be able to bring you back."
Saying that, the old man took out various strange trinkets from the bag. Some were Buddhist prayer beads and treasures, some were sariras and celestial eye stones, some were bronze bells and small wooden fish, some were prayer wheels and vajras, but without exception, they were all Buddhist ritual implements.
Mo Chuan was assigned a string of prayer beads. Just holding it, Mo Chuan could feel a calm and gentle power slowly flowing from his wrist into his limbs.
After distributing the protective amulets, the old man looked up at the sky, his wrinkled brow furrowed, and said, "Let's go. I'll talk about the rest on the vehicle. A sandstorm is coming soon, and if the sandstorm doesn't stop, we won't be able to enter the sand sea."
With that, the old man entered the carriage first.
...
The transport vehicle sped through the desert.
Mo Chuan, inside the carriage, found the seats hard and the journey bumpy, almost splitting his buttocks into eight pieces.
Through the thick car windows and metal protective mesh, Mo Chuan could see the tall city wall of Yumenguan getting farther and farther away. The sky outside was becoming increasingly murky and yellowish, clearly a sign of an impending sandstorm.
At this moment, the old man sitting in the front seat of the carriage spoke, his hoarse voice calmly recounting the secrets beneath the sand sea:
"In ancient times, this was a famous battlefield, with countless wronged souls and malevolent spirits of the fallen. After the spiritual energy resurgence, most of the solitary resentful souls here attached themselves to the sand, causing various bizarre sandstorms. They can also use the sound of the wind and sand in sandstorms to bewitch, pollute, assimilate, and merge with humans."
"Therefore, when encountering a sandstorm in the ruins, you should immediately take out your protective amulet to guard your mind. Remember not to communicate with it. If the protective amulet I gave you fails, go find the dilapidated ruins in the sand sea immediately to guard against the erosion of the sandstorm."
"Also, there are a large number of wanderers in this sand sea. They often exploit the kindness of others to rob. If we hear voices asking for help, do not be hasty to leave the carriage."
"Next, be wary of the demonic creatures and ghosts in this sand sea, such as the common sand scorpion beasts and sand giants. You may be powerful enough to hunt them, but remember that most of the demonic creatures in the sand sea are gregarious. If you kill the small ones, the big ones will surely come."
"And then..."
The old man finished explaining the precautions one by one. Fortunately, he spoke quite slowly, allowing Mo Chuan to remember them one by one.
...
A while later, the scenery outside the carriage was completely obscured by the swirling yellow sand, everything in sight was earthy yellow.
Mo Chuan also heard what the old man called sand erosion, those distorted and absurd sentences.
His mood seemed to become agitated. Mo Chuan could only clasp the prayer beads in his hands, quietly using the power of the protective amulet to shield his mind.
At this moment, Mo Chuan saw Zhang Hanshan holding his protective amulet (prayer wheel) in his right hand, while gently stroking the scriptures on it with his left hand, trying to calm himself in this way.
Wait, right hand, left hand...
Mo Chuan suddenly understood the problem he had felt in that room yesterday!
It was the hand! The issue of habitually using which hand!
In that room, with the vise as the central axis, the tools were on the left side of the workbench, while on the right side were some miscellaneous items, such as blueprints, teacups, and keys.
What did this mean?
This meant that when the owner of this room usually worked, he always picked up tools from the left, which implied that this person was left-handed.
However, the lean man who claimed to be a corpse salvage worker behaved in a way that clearly indicated he was right-handed – he used his right hand to signal them to enter the room, used his right hand to take out matches to light the oil lamp, and used his right hand to point at the device while negotiating with Zhang Hanshan.
A sudden chill struck Mo Chuan's back. Just as he was about to say something, a deafening "boom" sounded, accompanied by ground vibrations, startling everyone in the carriage.
The old man looked at the vibrating ground with a serious expression and finally said, "It's sand scorpion beasts, at least four of them! Move! No one is allowed to leave the transport vehicle now!"
...
Qingzhou, Linfen, outside the Ye Family Mansion.
"Are you ready?" Zhang Henshui asked into the walkie-talkie.
"Group One ready."
"Group Two ready."
"Group Three ready."
"Group Four ready."
"Good," Zhang Henshui nodded and said, "Quickly complete the encirclement. We absolutely cannot let the main culprit Ye Ling escape!"
"Yes!"
Meanwhile, inside the Ye Family Mansion.
Ye Ling rubbed her temples and organized transaction statements for spiritual treasures, placing them into her bookshelf.
She hadn't had time to return to the Tang family these past few days. She had been running around busy for the King of Yama here all day.
But there was no way about it... everything the Ye family had was given by the King of Yama, and as the primary liaison, Ye Ling could not afford any mistakes.
Back then, the King of Yama found Ye Ling and asked for submission in exchange for wealth and prosperity. At that time, Ye Ling, who was being used as a tool for marriage by the Ye family, agreed without much thought.
Dominating the Ye family, marrying into the Tang family, stealing the heavens and changing the sun... behind all these schemes was the shadow of the King of Yama, and in just over a decade, the Ye family had leaped from a medium-sized spiritual treasure hunting family to the fourth most powerful family in Qingzhou.
But now the King of Yama was also starting to show signs of downfall...
This inevitably made one start to ponder matters of changing jobs and finding a new employer.
King Qin Guang... had also extended an offer of cooperation...
Just as Ye Ling was lost in thought, a roar suddenly echoed from the corridor: "Put down your weapons immediately! Stop using your supernatural abilities! Otherwise, we will take forceful measures to suppress you!"
Ye Ling's face turned pale. The pen in her hand clattered onto the desk, splashing red ink across the paper.