Chapter 6: The Terror of the Sand Screen (Part 2)

Early in the morning, Guo Shier was awakened by the noise outside. In a daze, he listened—seemingly Qi Nanshan was giving a speech about talisman beasts and such. He got up and went outside, where he saw Qi Nanshan on horseback, shouting at the group of talisman martial artists and warriors. He found Huo Bao and asked, “What is Grandpa Nanshan doing?”
Huo Bao replied, “Nothing much. He’s reminding everyone that we’re about to enter the area where the talisman beasts are active, so we need to be careful.”
Qi Nanshan said, “I’ve already explained all the precautions. Also, the areas where talisman beasts roam are often where ancient talisman humans once lived. Keep an eye on the ground. If you find any remains, don’t ignore them—examine them carefully for useful items.”
Luo Jie interjected, “If you spot abandoned buildings, report it immediately. There are often treasures inside. Remember, don’t provoke large groups of talisman beasts. With our abilities, we can handle two or three of them, but more could lead to trouble. If that happens… some of us might die in this secret realm!”
Qi Nanshan added, “Also, if you encounter people from the Mu Fu Sect, kill them without mercy. When you see them… don’t waste words—just slay those beasts right away!”
“Get ready to set off. We don’t know what we’ll encounter today, so everyone must be careful.”
Guo Shier realized that Qi Nanshan kept repeating his warnings tirelessly, indicating that the journey ahead would not be easy.
The group mounted their horses and left the camp under Qi Nanshan’s leadership, heading east.
For seven consecutive days, they saw not a single talisman beast, let alone ordinary wild animals. At first, they could still spot some herbivores, but eventually, even those disappeared. This puzzled everyone—they wondered where the talisman bear they had seen at the beginning came from.
The wild grass on the ground gradually thinned, revealing large areas of brown soil. The air was extremely dry, and even the wind felt hot against their skin. Guo Shier kept wiping his sweat. He envied his master, who was surrounded by faint talisman lights that offset the scorching heat, leaving not a single drop of sweat on his face.
On this scorching land, only Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan seemed unaffected. Even the talisman martial artists were sweating profusely.
The loud sound of horse hooves broke the silence of the land. Soon, the area became barren, with no plants or animals in sight. This land was strange—completely devoid of life.

Guo Shier couldn’t bear such silence. He rode his warhorse a few steps forward, reached Luo Jie’s side, and said, “Master, something’s strange here… I feel uneasy.”
Luo Jie replied, “Don’t worry. This is a characteristic of secret realms—the so-called changing scenery with each step. It’s not as extreme, but it’s true. A few days ago we might have been in a snowy wasteland, and now we could be in a scorching summer. Just like how a few days ago we saw a vibrant grassland, and today we’re in a lifeless Gobi desert—it’s quite normal.”
Guo Shier thought to himself that even a Gobi desert shouldn’t be devoid of signs of life. There were almost no signs of life here at all; it was like a dead land, which was definitely abnormal.
The horse caravan crossed the Gobi, raising clouds of dust. Everyone hoped to leave this hellish place as soon as possible. Guo Shier couldn’t help but recall a saying from his past life: This damned place is called Ma Le Gobi.
Luo Zhan, who was scouting ahead, returned on horseback with two martial symbol warriors. About a hundred meters away from the caravan, he shouted, “Run that way! Don’t stop… over there…” His voice was loud enough to drown out the rumbling of the horse hooves. Qi Nan Shan quickly stood up on his galloping horse and looked into the distance. A few seconds later, he sat back down and shouted, “To the left… follow me!”
A faint rumbling sound came. Guo Shier turned to look and saw a yellow-brown mass moving toward them in the sky. He exclaimed in surprise, “What’s that? A sandstorm?”
Qi Nan Shan led the caravan to turn, with his horse at the forefront.
Guo Shier once again marveled at the strength of the warhorses. They had been running for three or four hours. Although not at full speed, they still had energy left after such a long time. He asked, “Master, what’s that?”
Luo Jie’s expression turned grim. He said, “I don’t know. Anyway, it’s nothing good. We need to avoid it as much as possible.”
The rumbling grew louder, and Guo Shier kept turning to look. Children have excellent eyesight. He could vaguely see many small black dots. Gradually, he saw clearly—that were countless wild beasts charging forward, followed by a monstrous sandstorm that stretched from horizon to horizon. He shouted, “Look! It’s wild beasts… and people too!”
Luo Jie glanced over and shouted, “Ignore them! Run fast…”
Guo Shier suddenly understood that even the wild beasts were charging as if the end of the world was coming. It was easy to imagine how terrifying the sandstorm behind them must be. He slapped his horse’s rump hard—this time, truly to encourage it.

The speed of the horses increased once again. Luo Jie was no longer confident either; he kept shouting, “If the warhorse runs out of strength, replace it immediately—don’t spare the horses!” Everyone had four to five warhorses, and they kept switching them as soon as they noticed the horses were running out of strength, continuing to gallop at full speed.

Fortunately, the warhorses were strong—once they were no longer carrying the weight of a rider, they could gradually recover even while galloping. Only seven or eight warhorses collapsed and fell behind. No one paid attention to the fallen horses; everyone focused on riding fast.

With more people than horses, the sandstorm behind them advanced slowly, not very fast. So after about two hours of galloping, they could no longer see the sandstorm, only an even more desolate surroundings.

Qi Nanshan shouted, “Stop! Rest! Feed the horses water and food. Remember… give them the best high-quality feed, with some salt added! Everyone, hurry up and eat some dry food and drink water.”

Luo Jie yelled, “Go faster! Once the warhorses recover, we’ll set off right away!”

Guo Shier jumped off his warhorse, took out a long copper basin from his token bag, filled it with clean water, and gave his warhorses to drink. After hours of running and the scorching heat, the warhorses were already extremely hungry and thirsty.

Huo Bao and the others were eating marinated meat, while only Chen Hong was feeding the horses. Guo Shier called out, “Baozi! Shitou! Chen Bing… put down the meat and feed the horses first! You can eat on your horses later! Right now, the warhorses are the most important. If they run out of strength later, who will save you?”

Huo Bao and the two others immediately blushed and quickly stopped eating the meat to start feeding the horses. Almost everyone did the same—the warhorses were their lifelines.

Guo Shier used a brush dipped in clean water to cool the horses. Though young, he also had to take care of the horses himself.

Just over twenty minutes later, a rumbling sound came faintly again. Qi Nanshan shouted, “Hurry up! Eat something quickly—we’re ready to set off!”

Fortunately, they had the warhorses from the Herding Token Sect. Their warhorses were clearly stronger than those from the Northern Token Sect. It was the warhorses from the Northern Token Sect that collapsed along the way, while those from the Herding Token Sect still had strength left.

About half an hour later, the sandstorm could be seen clearly, and the wild beasts galloping in front of it could also be seen distinctly. The ground was trembling slightly. Guo Shier observed carefully and said, “That thing doesn’t seem like a sandstorm… it seems to be controlled by something.”

Qi Nanshan shouted, “On horseback… let’s go!”

Guo Shier quickly mounted his horse and said to Huo Bao and the others, “We’re light, and our warhorses are also light. As long as we stay with the cavalry, we’ll be safe. Keep changing horses frequently so their strength can be maintained for a long time. Under no circumstances fall behind!”
The cavalry set off again.
Although the warhorses hadn’t fully recovered, after a short rest, they regained their strength, shifting from a slow pace to a gallop, and the cavalry’s speed increased steadily.
Another four hours of relentless riding left the sand curtain far behind. Since setting out in the morning, nearly eight hours had passed, with only less than thirty minutes of rest in between. Not only were the warhorses exhausted, but even the riders were starting to feel overwhelmed.
Luo Jie shouted, “Da Shan, we need to rest! The warhorses are tired!”
Along the way, more than a dozen warhorses died of exhaustion mid-journey. They collapsed on the ground during the gallop, with no chance of rescue and no time to stop and help them.
“It’s already afternoon. In a few hours, it’ll be dark…”
Qi Nanshan’s tone was heavy. After all, warhorses were animals, not machines. Continuous running gradually drained their strength, and it wouldn’t take just a few dozen minutes for them to recover.
Luo Jie decisively said, “Get off the horses and rest!”
This time, they rested for a slightly longer period—forty minutes—but facing the approaching sand curtain, they had no choice but to mount their horses and flee again. Everyone was frustrated; to this point, they still didn’t know what that sand curtain actually was. When they mounted their horses, they noticed that many of the wild beasts racing ahead of the sand curtain had disappeared, becoming sparse, with a few small cavalry units mixed in, but too far away to see clearly.
Another four hours of racing resulted in nearly half of the warhorses dying of exhaustion. Guo Shier’s five warhorses remained unharmed. He assigned three of them to others because some martial artists only had one warhorse left. If they continued running and those horses died of exhaustion, they would have no horses to ride.
With less than sixty warhorses left, all the baggage on their backs was discarded. Fortunately, there were storage bags to carry supplies, so losing the extra baggage on the horses wasn’t a big deal. But the remaining warhorses were completely exhausted.
Luo Jie looked into the distance and said, “If we can find some ruins, we might be able to take shelter temporarily.”
Dusk had fallen, and the warhorses were drenched in sweat, their heavy breathing sounds heart-wrenching.
Although they had once again shaken off the sand curtain, everyone knew that as soon as they rested for a while, the sand curtain would reappear like a demon.
Suddenly, Luo Jie smiled and said, “It seems we might be saved!”