We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 209 [The Saintess of the Sand]

"Gululu..."

Xia En had only taken a few steps in the desert when a strong feeling of hunger rose from his stomach, almost threatening to overwhelm his reason.

Driven by hunger, the surrounding sand seemed to transform into some kind of delicious delicacy, possessing a strong allure.

"Is this the side effect of [Devour Evolution]?"

Xia En understood something.

This instinct for hunger may be the driving force behind his relentless hunting of deep-sea creatures.

However, for now, Xia En could only take out some stored dry food from his spatial ring and eat it hastily.

After eating it, he realized the seriousness of the problem.

After finishing all the dry rations, I wasn't even 10% full.

His stomach felt like a bottomless pit; no matter how much food he put in, there was no reaction, and the hunger only intensified.

"Hiss... So this is what binge eating feels like?"

Xia En suddenly understood what it felt like to be on the steam turbines of the Black Swan, and muttered to himself.

"From now on, be nicer to Xiaozheng..."

In fact, Xia En's spatial ring also contained many ordinary ingredients, such as dried meat and dried fish.

—Most of the prey that was hunted earlier was stored in Feiya's spatial ring.

But his intuition told Xia En that what he wanted to eat now was stronger, fresher meat!
rustling... rustling...

Just then, a strange sound came from the desert not far away.

Xia En turned his head to look.

The towering sand dune seemed to come alive suddenly, undulating and flowing like water.

Upon witnessing this bizarre scene, Xia En was not surprised but delighted, his eyes shining.

"Prey... I've found you!"

Relying on his talent of [Blood Power] and some strange instinct, he sensed that beneath the sand dunes, a creature teeming with vitality was hiding.

next moment.

Shaun's body shot off like an arrow, heading straight for the sand dune.

At the same time, a blood-red greatsword appeared in his hand, and he slashed downwards!
boom!
The wind howled, and terrifying shockwaves mixed with yellow sand spread outwards.

His newly promoted overall quality of 4.5 was fully demonstrated in this sword strike.

With a single sword strike, the towering sand dune was completely blasted apart, leaving only a ravine tens of meters long.

However, the prey hidden beneath the dunes had vanished without a trace, leaving only a few dark red bloodstains behind.

"Hmph, you run pretty fast."

Shaen said, feeling the growing hunger in his stomach.

"Today, I'm going to have you!"

……

Somewhere in the desert.

A young girl in a yellow robe stood up from the sand, shook herself, and brushed the sand off her robe.

However, even such a simple action made the girl's face turn pale.

The reason was the two gunshot wounds she had in her shoulder and lower abdomen.

The residual power of the vampire remained in the wound, continuously damaging her body.

Before the sandstorm hit, she managed to injure the powerful outsider, but this also provoked his retaliation.

That guy, risking serious injury, forced himself to fire two shots into himself during the sandstorm.

"What a crazy woman!"

The girl cursed inwardly, "Don't let me ever see you again, or I'll shoot your eyes out!"

Soon, another female native walked up to her and asked with concern.

"Lady Saint, are you okay?"

It can be heard that they are still using the common language, but the intonation and pronunciation are somewhat different from the current common language in mainland China.

It is closer to the common language of the mainland in ancient times.

The girl shook her head: "I'm fine."

"How are the others?"

The female native looked around and said, "Most people got separated in the sandstorm; only the three of us are still with you."

Before long, the remaining two natives also came to the girl's side, waiting for her next command.

"No matter what, let's go back to the tribe first."

After pondering for a moment, the saintess said, "With the guidance of the Lord of Radiance, they will find their way home."

None of the three natives raised any objections.

However, just as they were about to leave, the female native's expression changed slightly, and she looked in a direction behind her.

A strong tremor was coming from there.

This causes the sand in the desert to surge like waves, the sand dunes on the ground to constantly wriggle and deform, and plumes of dust to rise into the sky.

"Damn it, it's a giant sandworm!"

Seeing this, the girl's expression also changed: "Of all times, at a time like this..."

The giant sandworm is a special mutated creature of the Sand Island. It is huge, strong, and ferocious.

It is covered with a hard armor and can easily burrow into the sand dunes to launch surprise attacks from beneath the desert.

Even for the natives of Sand Island, the giant sandworm is a very troublesome enemy.

Every year, many indigenous people die from the giant sandworms.

Normally, the girl might not have been afraid of it.

But right now, several of her companions are separated, and she herself has suffered a serious injury, so she cannot use her best skill, archery.

Facing the giant sandworm, the odds are against them!

The three natives beside her quickly realized the urgency of the situation, and the female native immediately said, "Holy Maiden, you go first!"

"We'll cover your retreat!"

The girl bit her lip, her eyes resolute, and said, "No!"

"Our Moon-Singing Clan has never had a Holy Maiden abandon her clan and run away."

As she spoke, she pulled the dark yellow longbow from the mark on her chest, preparing to meet the rolling yellow sand that was rushing in this direction.

Moved, the three natives said nothing more and simply stayed by the girl's side.

As the giant sandworm moved, a small sandstorm swept in.

Moreover, the desert beneath their feet seemed to have turned into a whirlpool of quicksand, pulling them towards the center of the whirlpool.

An ordinary person would not be able to stand on such ground and would be swallowed up by quicksand in an instant.

The four were, after all, native residents of Sand Island and had long been accustomed to the desert environment, so they were naturally not alarmed.

The girl opened her eyes wide, trying to find the giant sandworm in the swirling yellow sand.

In her current condition, she can only fire one more arrow at most.

She had to kill the sandworm with this arrow!

At this time.

Suddenly, quicksand shot upwards from beneath their feet, and an incredibly ugly head emerged from the desert.

Rather than a "skull," it resembles the end of several split mouths, like a blooming flower of flesh and blood, filled with countless sharp teeth.

Brain, eyes, nose, ears... these organs simply do not exist on this ugly sandworm.

In an instant, the girl opened her eyes wide, drew back her longbow, and was about to shoot into the sandworm's mouthparts.

The three natives were also on high alert, preparing to use their bodies to block the sand worm's gaping maw.

What the four of them didn't expect was...

The giant sandworm had no intention of attacking them; it simply took a deep breath and then plunged headfirst into the quicksand.

Even after the sandworm's body had completely disappeared into the desert, the few natives were still somewhat stunned.

The giant sandworm is ferocious and extremely aggressive.

Seeing this group of people separated from each other, there was no reason not to launch an attack, right?

"How is this going?"

The female native looked bewildered and asked, puzzled, "Does this sandworm think we're not tasty?"

Another native speculated, "Did it emerge from the desert just to get some air?"

Reflecting on the sandworm's actions, the girl sensed a hint of haste and panic, and murmured, "Why do I feel like... it's trying to escape?"

"Is something chasing it?"

The native woman's heart skipped a beat.

This giant sandworm alone is already an enemy they can't handle. What could be causing the sandworm to flee in panic?
The girl breathed a sigh of relief: "Anyway, we're safe for now..."

Before she could finish speaking, a sudden gust of wind howled past them.

"Here we go again! Has the sandstorm not subsided yet?"

The girl turned her head, intending to use her yellow robe to protect herself, but suddenly her pupils contracted. Because she saw…

In the center of the sandstorm caused by the strong winds, a figure was rushing towards them at an extremely fast speed.

Or rather, it was that person's arrival that caused this sandstorm!

"……How can it be?"

However, the person in the sandstorm was completely unaware of the presence of these four people.

In his eyes, there was only that plump and tempting sandworm.

The gust of wind came quickly and went quickly.

The group of four saw that the gale was heading straight for the sandworm.

And very quickly, a blood-red sword light instantly traversed a hundred meters and fell directly into the desert.

The entire desert seemed to fall silent because of this sword strike.

Immediately afterwards, the sea of sand began to tremble—it was the giant sandworms struggling desperately underground.

Large amounts of yellow sand were flung into the air and then scattered down.

The unlucky group of four happened to be located within this area of yellow sand, and naturally could not escape it.

……

Not long after.

The girl struggled to climb out of the sand and quickly spat twice.

Even she couldn't help but swallow several mouthfuls of sand in that situation.

The girl rubbed her shoulder; the wound seemed to hurt a little more, and she couldn't help but mutter.

"So unlucky, so unlucky, so unlucky..."

"My luck today seems to be really bad."

Just as she was muttering to herself, she suddenly smelled a unique aroma of meat and couldn't help but swallow hard.

She left in a hurry today and didn't even have a proper lunch.

The girl looked in the direction of the fragrance, but couldn't help but be stunned.

It was visible on the leeward side of a sand dune not far away.

A man sat by the campfire, where a grill had already been set up.

A large chunk of milky-white meat sits on the grill, and as it is constantly turned over, the aroma of the meat fills the air, gradually turning a golden color.

What truly shocked the girl was that next to the man lay the enormous corpse of a sand worm.

It was the giant sandworm that had previously wreaked havoc!
"It's him?"

After seeing the other person's face, the girl pondered for a moment and quickly remembered the young man's identity.

Isn't this the outsider being chased by that crazy woman?

But he didn't seem this strong before, did he?
"Are they hiding their true strength?"

The girl thought to herself, "The adults in the clan have all said that outsiders are very treacherous and cunning, good at hiding their strength, and full of bad intentions."

"That's right, this guy is definitely that kind of person!"

Thinking of this, the girl looked at the young man with wariness in her eyes.

For some reason, another thought flashed through her mind—

"But this guy is actually quite good-looking..."

bah bah bah!
What's the use of looking good!

In the end, he was just a despicable outsider!

As the girl's thoughts were churning, the three natives who had been with her also crawled out of the sand.

Soon, they also spotted the young man enjoying a feast by the sand dunes and couldn't help but show wary expressions.

The native woman leaned close to the girl's ear and whispered, "Holy Maiden, what do we do now?"

"Do you want to take action?"

The girl shook her head: "We are no match for him."

Even the giant sandworm died without a doubt; with their current combat strength, attacking it would be suicide.

The female native asked again, "Then... should we escape?"

The girl's face showed some bitterness.

The man hadn't paid any attention to them when dealing with the sandworms earlier.

But now, she could clearly feel that the young man's gaze was falling on them from time to time, and he had obviously noticed them.

In this desert where there are no obstacles, once you try to escape, it's only a matter of time before you get caught.

You can't beat them, and you can't escape them.

This is the reason why the girl is caught in a dilemma.

After hesitating for a moment, the girl gritted her teeth and said, "Let's go and ask him directly what he wants!"

"I did help him out just now, so I might as well fight him to the death."

The three wanted to persuade her, but couldn't think of a better way for the time being, so they could only follow the girl toward the young man.

However, the closer they got to the young man, the stronger the aroma of meat became, along with a strange fragrance they had never smelled before.

The girl suppressed her craving and asked with a straight face, "Hey, you outsider over there, you..."

Xia En held up a skewer of fragrant grilled sandworm meat and asked, "Want some?"

"……what?"

The girl was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

"You think you can bribe me with this? I, Sha Jingjing, am not someone you can bribe with just a skewer of grilled meat..."

"Gulu..."

The sounds of intestinal churning emanating from the girl's stomach interrupted her confident declaration.

Even though most of her face was covered by her long robe, the slightly reddened skin faintly visible on her neck still indicated her turbulent emotions.

"Cough cough."

Xia En coughed twice and said nonchalantly.

"You really won't eat it? Consider it my way of repaying you for that arrow you shot."

With his current perception, he naturally heard the conversation between Sha Jingjing and the other natives, and also recognized their identities.

According to the vampire Twilight, it seems to be called—

【The Saintess of the Sand】!?

Shaen certainly wouldn't miss such an opportunity to build good relations with the natives.

That's how this conversation came about.

"Hmph, don't underestimate me! You outsiders are treacherous and cunning; you must have poisoned this barbecue!"

Sha Jingjing said with great pride, "Even if I, Sha Jingjing, starve to death, I will not eat a single thing from you!"

Xia En sighed, "Oh, that's a real shame. These spices are all very good stuff."

"Let alone Sand Island, you can't even buy an island under the jurisdiction of the Federation."

With that, Xia En began to eat heartily and enjoy his meal.

Spices? What are those?

Smelling the pleasant fragrance, Sha Jingjing couldn't help but ask her fellow clansmen beside her.

The local woman next to her whispered, "It's said to be something that makes food taste better; it's said to be more precious than gold off the island!"

"Holy Maiden, this guy doesn't seem to have poisoned it..."

Sha Jingjing's mind raced.

If this outsider wants to kill her, she can't escape anyway. If she can eat an extra piece of his roasted meat before she dies, wouldn't she be making a profit?
If the outsider doesn't want to kill her, wouldn't it be a win for him to get a few pieces of roasted meat for free?

Once the girl understood this principle, her mind instantly became clear.

She held out her hand and said generously, "Give me one!"

……

After a while.

Sha Jingjing held a piece of roasted meat, eating it with her mouth full of oil, looking like a little tabby cat.

"Mmm, it smells so good!"

However, Xia En's attention was drawn to the top of Sha Jingjing's head after she removed her hood.

There, a pair of furry dog ears stood upright, as if constantly listening to the sounds of the wind and grass around them.

The true identity of this "Saintess of the Sand" is actually a demi-human!?

Moreover, the three natives next to them also had similar characteristics.

Just then, Sha Jingjing spoke up, saying, "Don't misunderstand, we are not the demi-humans you outsiders talk about."

"But the noble Moon Wanderer Clan!"