Chapter 30: Sandboat Looking for a Horse

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

This wait lasted for about a quarter of an hour.

All the creatures in the sand had been smoked away. There was no movement within several yards, only the howling wind.

"Still not here?" Nian Songyu asked impatiently. "Time is precious. It gets dark quickly in the Coiled Dragon Desert; night will fall in another four hours. We don't have much time to waste here."

"Not yet," Situ Han replied, sweat beading on his forehead. He wasn't sure if it was from the sun or anxiety. "It might be far away; it will take time to get here."

He Lingchuan took the opportunity to speak up for Situ Han: "I've seen it. It's enormous, and it might really be able to take us across the desert, saving us time and effort."

"Might?" Nian Songyu's tone turned sinister at those two words. "You dare waste our time with something you're not sure about?"

Another two incense sticks' worth of time passed, but the end of Red Cliff Road remained quiet.

A strong gust of wind swept through the indifferent crowd, whistling as it rushed into the distance.

Nian Songyu's index finger tapped lightly on his scabbard—tap, tap-tap—a sign of his growing impatience.

As time went on, he increasingly felt that the sand bandits were acting on a signal from He Lingchuan to deliberately inconvenience their group. The idea of the "foul-smelling bait" had also been He Lingchuan's suggestion.

Nian Songyu's gaze grew increasingly hostile, but He Lingchuan pretended not to notice, though he too felt a touch of urgency.

As the sun continued to dip towards the west, even Sun Fuping finally lost patience: "No more waiting. Everyone, get on board..."

In the interim, he had already divided everyone into three groups, assigning each a walnut boat.

Time was precious; they couldn't afford to wait any longer. They had to leave now.

Situ Han, however, put a finger to his lips and forcefully shushed them: "It's here!"

It was quite impolite to make such a gesture to so many important figures, but he was too tense to care at that moment.

No sooner had he spoken than there was a "whoosh," and the desert split open like water, sending yellow sand splashing everywhere, as if a localized sandstorm had erupted.

A massive creature burst out of the ground, nearly three meters high, with cured meat in its mouth, before landing heavily.

Dust flew up once more.

The creature, with agility unbefitting its size, quickly submerged and vanished into the sand sea in the blink of an eye.

Situ Han, not caring that his face was splattered, cheered, "It's here, it's really here! Ugh, spit, spit!" He quickly spat out several mouthfuls of sand.

Except for Grand Preceptor Sun and a few others who had timely activated their protective aura, everyone else was covered in sand and dust.

However, everyone finally got a clear look at what Situ Han's "long-line fishing for a big catch" had actually reeled in.

The creature resembled both an eel and an earthworm, long and round with no limbs, but with segmented rings on its body. Its color was almost identical to the yellow sand. If it remained still and buried in the sand, even someone with excellent eyesight would find it hard to spot.

Unlike an eel, its mouth was astonishingly large, opening wider than its body diameter, and filled with countless fine, needle-like teeth. It also had two long whiskers near its mouth, seemingly used to detect quicksand movements.

Zeng Feixiong exclaimed, "Such a huge sand dragon!"

This creature was eight *zhang* (twenty-six meters) long!

The soldiers nearby instinctively took half a step back. The oppressive feeling that such a massive size imparted could not be dispelled by reason alone.

This type of sand dragon was not a sea eel, but a creature unique to the desert. In fact, whether living in deserts or oceans, some animals apparently don't need legs.

However, these creatures typically don't exceed one *zhang* in length in other deserts, and experienced travelers even catch them for food. But this one... Zeng Feixiong had led patrols back and forth on Red Cliff Road but had never seen such a large sand dragon!

Situ Han, relieved, said, "This isn't even the Sand Dragon King... The largest one we've seen was over twelve *zhang* long."

"Since it's such a big fellow, a small piece of meat won't be enough to feed it," He Lingchuan said, pointing to the three walnut boats. "Sand dragons are incredibly strong; pulling one boat shouldn't be a problem. And, well, they usually move in groups."

In other words, there was more than one sand dragon attracted by the stinky meat.

Children by the sea learn to fish, and He Lingchuan's original self, having grown up near the Coiled Dragon Desert, had also fished for sand dragons many times.

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

Situ Han nodded: "Everyone, please board the boats. If we repeat the process, we can use them as draft animals."

So the soldiers boarded the boats in three groups. The boatmen at the bow of each walnut boat grabbed a tow rope, tied a slip knot, and stood ready.

This time, everyone had protected their mouths and noses, so when the sand bandits took out large pieces of cured meat and poured the foul liquid on them again, no one was affected. Nian Songyu personally stepped forward, hoisted the specially prepared meat onto the pole, and held it high at the bow of the boat.

The boatmen's poles were also part of the walnut boats, with their length adjustable at will.

The sand bandits' specially formulated foul liquid could drive away most creatures in the desert and was a last-resort escape tool; however, there was a downside: it was a sand dragon's favorite.

Strictly speaking, what sand dragons liked was the "stench."

They were scavengers, and the putrid stench unbearable to other creatures was like the aroma of a meal to sand dragons. When a smell of this intensity wafted through the air, it was like the dinner bell for the village's annual forty-eight-dish banquet—they would come no matter how far away they were.

Situ Han reminded them, "They're quite stupid; if you dangle the stinky meat, the boat will move!"

Since these creatures had come all this way, they wouldn't disperse quickly.

Sure enough, as soon as the stinky meat was hoisted, a massive sand dragon burst out of the sand and lunged towards the meat.

Judging by its size, it was even larger than its companion from moments ago.

Nian Songyu, quick-witted and agile, flicked his wrist, and the cured meat sprang up, causing the sand dragon to miss.

The boatman standing nearby cast a tow rope, perfectly looping it around the sand dragon's neck.

Though it was plump and limbless, its body had deep rings. The knot slid past two segments and settled securely in the third.

Startled by being suddenly snared, the sand dragon shot forward more than thirty *zhang* (over one hundred meters). Only when the knot tightened and held firm did Nian Songyu lower the pole, letting the cured meat hang just above the sand dragon's front.

The tempting aroma filled the air, and with its small brain, the sand dragon immediately forgot it had been ensnared. Drooling, it swam towards the cured meat.

It was incredibly powerful, effortlessly dragging the boat and its occupants forward.

And so, the boat set off.

Nian Songyu only needed to flick his pole, and the sand dragon pulling the boat would dutifully follow. Below, there was a constant hissing and rustling sound, made by sand grains scraping against the bottom of the walnut boat, indicating its powerful traction.

The most important task for the boat handler was actually to adjust the boat's direction in time, ensuring both the sand dragon and the boat moved with the wind, so that the foul-smelling meat dangling in front wouldn't suffocate the entire boatload of passengers.

For now, there was nothing more important than this.

In a flash, Nian Songyu's boat had moved more than a hundred *zhang* (over three hundred meters) away.

"It's our turn." With a successful example before them, the remaining people were greatly invigorated. Sun Fuping and Zeng Feixiong led their group onto one boat, while He Lingchuan, his father, and the sand bandits boarded the last one, following the same procedure.