They unknowingly arrived at the junction of the barrier and the desert.

But here, outside the green forest is not an endless stretch of red sand, but a towering rock mountain. It is as if the barrier directly hit the mountain when it opened, creating many large and small cracks, and half of the mountain fell to the barrier.

Above. In some places, the rocks seem to grow together with the barrier, extending outward in a perfect arc in mid-air. In some places, there is a large open space between the barrier and the rocks, and there is weak sunlight from the gap above.

came in, but the real light source came from the other side of the barrier - the brilliant golden color completely overwhelmed the red sun, and also brought a rare sense of vitality.

A kind of wheat-like plant is planted everywhere in the open space. It is not very energetic, but it is growing. People do not want to take up any space where plants can grow, so they dig out narrow passages in the rocks, layer by layer.

The stacked caves have turned half of the cliff into a chaotic but majestic town. There is actually a cave entrance high on the cliff, and water is gurgling out. The water is not big, but there is an endless stream. When it flows down the rock wall

It flows through the reservoirs on each floor along the water tanks on both sides. There are pipes outside the reservoirs connecting each cave. As long as the switch is turned on, clean water can be obtained, while the used water flows along the other side.

Some channels flow into underlying reservoirs, which are used to water plants after settling.

"...Interesting." Nia murmured.

The southwest desert of Yao Xing Realm is also short of water. Some people dig caves on the rock walls to live in, but they have not developed such an ingenious way of using water without any waste.

Moreover, the water in the high cave entrance does not look like it flows out naturally.

Even Iss watched it with interest for a while. Although the civilization here has declined... but it may not have been extinguished.

After a moment of wonder, Arcee's eyes fell on a group of dancing sand people smaller than Osha.

Then she realized that it wasn't dancing, but... a demonstration?

She was a little far away, so she couldn't hear what they were shouting, but she could see that opposite them, across the barrier, there was a green grassland on the other side, and a group of Thornman cubs of about the same size were watching quietly.

The sand man jumping up and down opposite seemed to be watching some strange show.

...She has never seen such a weird way of "getting along" with each other.

Osha followed her line of sight and looked over, and his hair suddenly stood up with embarrassment. He wished he could rush over and drive away those embarrassing idiots.

But there is still a huge gap between them.

It was like a chasm in the abyss that separated them from the lively settlement. There was a slender rope bridge across the chasm, covered with wooden and metal plates in a mess, and it didn't look like it was meant for people to pass through.

An almost biting chill emerged faintly from under the abyss, and a gray-white patch different from sandstone was exposed on the edge of the abyss. Although some metal frames and supports were rusted, they still retained the distortion when they were torn apart, stabbing the coldness silently.

of air.

It was a huge building that seemed to have been cracked open. One side was still embedded in the rock, but half of it had probably fallen into the abyss.

There were several adult Sandlanders standing beside the bridge and outside the building, and one of them was walking towards them. Behind them, the soldiers who were originally guarding the exit of the canyon had quietly blocked their way back.

.

"Tortosa!"

Osha shouted loudly and ran towards the person approaching: "Is Gao Er here? I brought a guest here! A very powerful guest!"

Arcee raised her eyebrows thoughtfully - the little guy quickly whispered to her before running over: "Don't let anyone know that you can do magic."

It seems that their previous guess was not wrong. Sand people hate magic... at least most of them do.

The sand man called Tortosa was extremely tall. He had a deep scar on his left shoulder. Because the hair had not grown back, it looked very conspicuous. It should have been a bit scary, but that face... maybe because the hair was relatively long,

He looks even more stupid than Osha.

He looked at them, a little wary and a little confused, as if he didn't see what was so good about them.

"Goyle's not here," he replied, tugging Osha's ear very smoothly. "Have you told them the rules?"

"Of course!" Osha cried dissatisfiedly, holding his head.

Tortosa then walked up to Ace and the others, and naturally missed Arcee, taking the tallest of the three, Ace, as the leader.

"So," he asked, "what are you going to pay for admission?"

He was obviously not good at words, and Yisi, who was also not good at words, just silently took out a bag from under his robe.

Tortosa took a look, and his grayish blue eyes suddenly widened: "This is..."

"It's delicious!" Osha explained impatiently, "And it can be grown!"

It was a kind of fruit only half the size of a fist, half green and half red, sweet and juicy. Arcee gave him two on the way, and he almost swallowed the core.

"Sand fruit," Arcee explained with a smile, "can be grown on sandy soil and does not require much water. Although I am not sure whether it will definitely grow here..."

She was planning to use magic to spawn a seedling before, but since Osha reminded them specifically... let's forget it.

After all, she didn't know how to use "science" acceptable to the people in the sand to explain why a seed could sprout in an instant, and she didn't want to deceive them.

"...Deal!" Tortosa almost couldn't wait to take the bag and asked them diligently: "Do you want to hire someone? We have the best warriors and the best guides...all the best.

of."

Arcee couldn't help but want to laugh. Couldn't this guy even find any good words to attract people?

Although there were all kinds of suspicions before - and there are still all kinds of suspicions now, now she really believes that these people are "fair and trustworthy"... If there is really any trick or trap, the sand man in front of her

The acting skills are also quite good.

"Of course!" Nia pushed aside the priest who was dazzled by the dog eyes and said, "We have to hire a guide. I heard that you provide maps? Three of the most detailed ones. Two more for your strength.

The older ones help us move things. Ah, by the way..."

He pointed at Osha: "This little guy said he is very familiar with the underground! Can he be the guide? We will pay the adult price."

He sputtered a bunch of words, and Tortosa was almost unable to react. He was stunned when he heard the last sentence and refused without thinking: "No!"

Osha jumped up almost at the same time and shouted: "Okay!"

He grabbed Tortosa's arm and shook it eagerly: "I can do it! You know I can! I can run farther than anyone else by myself!"

"...We guarantee his safety," Is said.

His voice was neither high nor low, and it was a bit cold and impatient, but it also had an absolute confidence that no one could doubt.

He makes people feel that he can do what he says.

Tortosa wanted to scratch his head in annoyance, but when he raised his hand halfway, he realized that this would affect his dignity, so he had to stiffly make a gesture of unknown meaning in mid-air.

He seemed to have racked his brains but couldn't think of any reason to refuse, so he finally nodded.

Osha cheered and ran to Arcee: "The guide can decide his own reward. Can I...can I have that knife?"

There was a delicate knife stuck on Arcee's waist. Although it could be used as a weapon, it was actually only used for cutting fruits and meat.

She was stunned and hesitated for a moment. This was not a particularly precious thing, but it was given to her by Madam...

"Come here, little one."

Nia shouted before Osha showed a disappointed expression.

"If you want such a beautiful knife, you want to give it away, right?" He gave the little sand man a knowing look and smiled extremely obscenely: "Come on! Pick one!"

He waved his hands and juggled eight different daggers and daggers, holding them between his fingers and spinning them around. Not only did he completely attract Osha's attention, but even Tortosa couldn't help but look at it.

come over.

In the end, they exchanged a golden dagger, two light hand crossbows made by elves, and a box full of arrows for a small guide and two strong warriors. After a short rest... and signed

After signing a contract with quite strict terms, we stood at the entrance to the underground.

"Wow!" Nia peeked in a few times, and even took a breath intoxicated, her tone full of nostalgia: "I'm starting to feel a little adventurous like I was when I was young!"

...Yes, those ruins and tombs that have been forgotten for who knows how long, hiding dark secrets, are essentially no different from the abandoned building in front of them.

But if one day he could take risks according to his own wishes, he would still want to choose a place... that would at least look more pleasing to the eye, be wider, and have fresher air.
Chapter completed!