Versatile Mage: Undying Fire

Chapter 285 Choice
At night, the desert gradually becomes extremely cold, which is a far cry from the scorching heat during the day.

At this time, the clear sky was also filled with star chains. Mo Fan walked to Lin Ran and Jiang Shaoxu and saw that they were staring at the gorgeous and bright night sky of the desert, but they were obviously thinking about other things in their hearts.

"What are you and us doing here? You've seen it before. If someone steps into a deadly place, it will be very dangerous even with Lin Ran here." Mo Fan said.

Mo Fan recalled the hunter named Da Jian. Da Jian was different from the other team members. There was no arrogance in his eyes. If Lin Ran hadn't been there, he would have been eaten by the monster.

"I just came here to experience it." Jiang Shaoxu said.

Lin Ran looked at her and it was obvious that this charming woman was lying again.

“Experience, do you really take your life for granted?” Mo Fan said.

Previously, the government had been training through relatively safe routes that provided valuable training, but the Taklamakan Desert was clearly a deadly place, and the Master Hunter could die at any time here.

"I have an older brother. He always liked to go on adventures and had an obsessive passion for ancient ruins. I don't quite understand why the feeling of walking on the edge of death is worth pursuing, and why it is more important than a stable life, a peaceful city, and a close family!" Jiang Shaoxu said.

"So you also want to try this feeling. I didn't expect you to be so naive... People are different. Some people regard suicide as an unforgettable feeling like first love. The excitement brought by this kind of death is even better than sex. Your brother is obviously this kind of person, but you are obviously not." Mo Fan said.

Lin Ran also nodded and then said, "You prefer to tease people, and like to see men show the expression of wanting but not getting. Bad women should be in the city instead of here."

Jiang Shaoxu chuckled, pushed Lin Ran coquettishly and said, "You guys are really... I'm talking about something very sad."

“You don’t have to be sad to be sad. You can also make jokes and laugh.” Mo Fan said.

“Hahaha, come to think of it, some of Mo Fan’s traits are quite similar to my brother’s.” Jiang Shaoxu was in a much better mood at this time.

"Then why aren't you obsessed with me..."

"Hahaha, Lin Ran is more handsome, but your suicidal temperament is quite similar to my brother's."

“I have always cherished life.”

"But if it's for something very important, you would risk your life, right?" Jiang Shaoxu couldn't help but smile.

"Maybe."

"Life is precious..."

"So where did your brother succeed in committing suicide?"

"I'm looking for it, probably in this desert, or maybe somewhere else. The last time I saw him, he told me excitedly that he might have found the remains of the most powerful totem." Jiang Shaoxu said.

Lin Ran and the others chatted for a long time, and then Jiang Shaoxu leaned against Lin Ran to rest.

……

In the second half of the night, the desert became very cold. It felt like walking on ice and snow. The wind blew on my frozen face and it even felt like it was about to split.

Everyone started walking before daybreak, and when the sun shone down, the warm feeling made them feel very comfortable and cozy all over. However, within an hour, their bodies, which were getting hotter, began to make them feel irritable.

The desert is like this, it doesn't give people any pleasure at all, which is why hunters always stay away from here.

"As long as we continue walking in this direction, we will see a Shaqu River. We need to follow the Shaqu River and then go downstream until we are close to the former post station." Lu Fang said as he opened the map.

Although it is called a river, it is just a deep ravine with no water in it. The sticky sand makes it very difficult for people to lift their feet.

This sand bank and river is a very important landmark. It took them a long time to find the river, otherwise they might have gone in the wrong direction.

All they had to do next was walk along the river; they didn’t need to plan the route, but the river was not as calm as it looked.

“You’ve noticed that the sand here is particularly soft and sticky. If you walk a little slower, you’ll feel your body slowly sinking… This is just the beginning. Once we get further downstream, the sand will be like a swamp, with no bearing capacity at all. So we must maintain a fast speed to avoid sinking into the mud.” Mo Fan said.

Mo Fan had collected a lot of information before and was very familiar with the situation of the Shaqu River.

"Hurry up." Lingling pinched Lin Ran's ear and said.

Lin Ran sighed, this little girl is becoming more and more naughty.

"Can't earth-type mages harden the mud and sand?" Wang Jiu Ming asked, and then his eyes unconsciously looked at the earth-type mages in the team.

The earth magicians immediately shook their heads and said, "The mud and sand here are very difficult to control. Didn't you see that we can't even use our Earth Wave spells here?"

"That's really troublesome."

"I've started to jog, but I still feel like my body is sinking straight down."

"Then run faster."

There were more than a dozen of them, leaving deep footprints in the Shaqu River. Each of their feet was covered with mud and sand. The more mud and sand there was, the heavier their steps became. If it was a short time, it wouldn't have had much of an impact, but they had already been running in the mud and sand for nearly half a day...

"Help me, pull me quickly, I'm going to sink!!" A hunter in charge of logistics suddenly shouted from the back of the team.

Everyone looked back and discovered that most of his legs had fallen under the mud and sand, and it felt like he had stepped into a mud pit in the river... "Fuck, Lao Si, what the hell are you doing? I told you to run faster. The mud and sand here are as heavy as a few pieces of paper. Without enough speed to support us, we will all sink!" Ge Ming shouted.

"I...I...Ah!!! It seems like something has grabbed my feet!!!" Suddenly, Li Sizhong screamed very loudly, like a drowning person shouting there.

Li Sizhong fell into the river because of his slow speed. Similarly, if the others stopped, they would also sink into this terrible mud river. The mud and sand here are obviously full of aggressiveness. They will wrap up everything that falls down, and then hold on to the objects tightly to prevent them from breaking free. Such suction force is not inferior to the bite force of a general-level creature. This is what makes the Shaqu River so scary!

"There's nothing in there to catch you. You're just stuck too deep. Wait for me, I'll pull you out right away!" Ge Ming maintained his speed, then made a big circle and prepared to go back to help Li Sizhong.

"Let me do it." Mo Fan immediately said to Ge Ming.

If Ge Ming waited for his turn to return, Li Sizhong's head would probably be buried under the mud and sand.

“Telekinesis·Empty Claw!” Mo Fan’s mind moved, and in an instant the silver invisible force transformed into a giant hand, which immediately grabbed Li Sizhong’s upper body.

"rise!"

Mo Fan immediately used his mind to pull him out of the mud and sand, but an extremely strong resistance instantly made Mo Fan's mind waver slightly. He was unable to drag Li Sizhong out in one breath, which made Mo Fan feel a little frightened!

Li Sizhong's body was only half sunk now. The mud and sand that sucked him was equivalent to the brute force of hundreds of evil spirits, holding Li Sizhong tightly and not letting him escape. Mo Fan thought that his telekinesis could easily pull him out, but he didn't expect it to fail!

So Mo Fan had to concentrate again and began to strengthen his will.

"Ahhhhhhh!!! It hurts, it hurts!!!" Suddenly, Li Sizhong screamed loudly, and from the expression on his face, it could be seen that he was not pretending.

“Monkey, quickly find a way to disperse these man-eating sands!” Mo Fan’s face changed, and he hurriedly shouted to Zhang Xiaohou.

Zhang Xiaohou realized the crisis, and he immediately created a whirlwind, then suspended himself in the air, and then immediately used the Eye of the Rock Demon to forcibly fight against the terrible mud and sand.

After casting a high-level earth magic, Zhang Xiaohou suddenly realized how terrifying the mud and sand below was. He also understood why Mo Fan called this sand man-eating sand, because every grain of this mud and sand seemed to have life. They were densely concentrated around the objects that fell in, just like hungry monsters madly fighting and dragging, with terrifying power.

When Mo Fan used his mind to drag Li Sizhong out, the man-eating sand immediately pulled down frantically. Then Mo Fan didn't dare to increase the power of his mind control anymore, because it would pull Li Sizhong directly into two pieces. These damn man-eating sands are not as easy to deal with as they look!
At this time, Zhang Xiaohou used the Eye of the Rock Demon to forcibly expel the man-eating sand. Mo Fan did not dare to delay at all. He immediately used his virtual claws to pull Li Sizhong out.

“Gah!!”

The moment he was pulled out, people heard the sound of bones being torn apart, and Li Sizhong fainted from the pain...

"This……"

Everyone was terrified as no one had expected that this seemingly ordinary mud and sand could have such terrible devouring properties.

"How terrible." Jiang Shaoxu couldn't help but say.

Lin Ran said, "It feels good to be carried all the time, right?"

Jiang Shaoxu smiled and nodded. Now Mu Nujiao and she both have Lin Ran's mental power. These mental powers are lifting them up and preventing them from sinking into the sand at all. This is a very delicate operation that consumes a lot of mental energy, so Lin Ran does not intend to use it on everyone. He will only help them when they are in serious danger.

"He just had a slight dislocation, it's not a big deal. The suction force of this man-eating sand is over five tons. The more you sink, the more the suction force will double. So everyone, don't sink. If the suction force is over ten tons, even if I pull you out, your body will immediately break into two pieces!" Mo Fan immediately said to everyone.

Everyone had seen the previous scene and believed Mo Fan’s words without a doubt, so they unknowingly sped up their pace, not daring to let their feet sink even a little bit.

……

"Why hasn't it reached the end yet? I feel like my legs weigh a thousand pounds." Zheng Tong screamed in despair.

Even if they were running fast enough and stepping lightly on the mud and sand, the energy they consumed was much greater than usual. If they kept running like this, they would soon become exhausted. They had been running like this for a long time, and some of them were beginning to run out of energy.

"Me too. I can hardly walk anymore." Momonga said breathlessly.

"Aren't we at the end yet?? Captain?"

Ge Ming had a gloomy face at this time. Looking at the map, this man-eating sand river was at least five hours away. If they couldn't hold on now, then they would be in real trouble later!

Although this winding river is not very wide, you can reach the shore if you walk one or two kilometers to either side. However, both sides of the Shaqu River are the territory of the Dust Grasshoppers. These Dust Grasshoppers are disaster-type monsters, and their appearances are counted in tens of thousands. They do not eat crops or plants, but living creatures!

The Duststorm Grasshopper is an extremely terrifying creature. If you are targeted by it, an endless hunt will begin. Even if there is one more super-class wizard in the team, it is difficult to guarantee the safety of the team members. Therefore, you cannot go to this shore no matter what, because going up is equivalent to delivering lunch to the Duststorm Grasshopper.

In fact, the main function of building the Tarim Basin military base is to prevent the Dust Grasshopper Tribe. The tribe is extremely aggressive, lethal and destructive. In recent decades, many cities in the west have been swept by these Dust Grasshopper Tribes. After they pass by, it becomes a real hell on earth. People, livestock, plants and even buildings, as long as the wind of the Dust Grasshopper blows through, nothing will be left!
The territory of the Dust Demon Grasshopper Tribe is very large. If you want to pass through it, you can only take the Shaqu River. However, the horror of this Shaqu River is beyond everyone's imagination.

"If we go any further, we will all sink. We have to get ashore now," said Lu Fang.

Not everyone has the physical strength as strong as Mo Fan, Zhang Xiaohou and Lin Ran. Mu Nujiao and Jiang Shaoxu felt very relaxed, and Lingling was even more relaxed because she was now being held in a princess hug by Lin Ran.

"Or, let's go ashore. I think if we keep going, we will be fed with sand." Wang Jiu Ming said.

"But it's even scarier on the shore. If we go ashore, the highly alert Dust Grasshoppers will immediately spot us..."

"This won't work, and that won't work. Are we just going to wait to die like this?" Someone has already started shouting impatiently.

(End of this chapter)