The gale bellowing in his ears resembled a beast group roaring in chorus.
Coarse sand filled the gale as far as the eye could see as it crashed into Zhen Jin’s face like a knife.
The huge wind pulled from all directions, left, right, up, and down, an ordinary person would find it hard to stand still.
The ground beneath Zhen Jin was also not solid greenery, rather it was sand.
Sand was everywhere.
Sand was even flying in the air.
The verdant and lush forest was nowhere to be found.
This was a desert!
The middle of the night in a desert.
The exploration team members in camp cried in panic as the gale bellowed in the desert and sand filled the entire sky.
Zhen Jin was dumbfounded but soon reacted, his heart greatly shook as one word came to mind——
1
“Teleportation!”
“The teleportation has activated again, this time we were teleported to the desert.”
The first time Zhen Jin experienced the teleportation was when the fire bees were pursuing him. After he teleported, he shifted from the rainforest to the forest, it had indirectly saved his life.
Now he had experienced the teleportation a second time, it was like the first, there was no noise or any prior warning before the teleportation.
But this time, Zhen Jin’s luck was quite terrible.
Not only was he teleported to the desert, but he also happened to encounter a sandstorm.
“I need to bring everyone back together!” Zhen Jin was just about to shout names when sand immediately poured into his mouth.
Zhen Jin was forced to cover his mouth and could only barely cry out, his yells were obscured by the sound of the wind.
The wind became stronger.
Sand hit Zhen Jin with small but unceasing pain and caused bursts of numbness.
The vile weather became frightening.
“Is this a sandstorm?” Upon realizing this, Zhen Jin’s heart fell to the deepest abyss.
“Zi Di, wait for me!” He could only stop shouting and rush forward according to his memory.
With a huff, a tent followed the wind and flew towards Zhen Jin, it was like a bewildering grey ghost of the night pouncing from above.
Zhen Jin smoothly swung his hand, he only heard a swoosh sound, with it, his sharp blade cut the tent in two. The two sides flew past Zhen Jin, one half on the left and the other half on the right and disappeared into the gale without a trace.
The tents in the camp had been fixed with grounded stakes, but after they were teleported, the stakes that were embedded into the ground had been scattered across the desert surface.
Without anything to fasten them, the tents collapsed and were swept away by the wind.
“What terrible luck.” Zhen Jin gloomily said. He walked for a bit and found that he could not find his bearings at all.
Firstly, with the teleportation and then the sandstorm, there was nothing to reference to determine one’s direction.
Secondly, the tents were flying all over the place, nothing remained of the camp’s original layout.
Finally, the team members could not shout and contact each other in the sandstorm.
For a moment, Zhen Jin was also at a loss.
2
In addition, in a few short breaths, the strength of the wind unexpectedly doubled!
“Save me…” Zhen Jin suddenly heard a weak cry for help from above his head.
He quickly looked up and saw the dark sky above him.
Zhen Jin immediately realized that it was an exploration team member being blown away by the storm.
The power of the wind strengthened and became so terrifying that it could even blow away an adult human.
Zhen Jin subconsciously extended his arm, but in the blink of an eye, the crying exploration team member disappeared into the sandstorm.
It was too late.
“Zi Di has the lightest body weight. She is in immense danger!” As Zhen Jin thought of this, he couldn’t help but burn with anxiety.
“Zi Di, where are you?”
As if responding to Zhen Jin’s intense feelings, a sudden white light appeared in the sandstorm to his left.
The white light resembled a fire igniting the dusky horizon with flames.
On this island, low level magic and battle qi were prohibited, according to Zhen Jin’s and exploration team’s understanding, this white light could only be produced by a potion.
The blazing white ray of light clearly indicated Zi Di’s position.
“Clever!” Zhen Jin couldn’t help but praise as he immediately gazed and ran towards the blazing white light.
He ran strenuously through the gale that could blow away adult men, however, Zhen Jin was a battle qi cultivator, although he could not use battle qi right now, his cultivation made his physical quality surpass ordinary men.
In this current situation, Zhen Jin could still barely contend against this kind of wind.
But as he gradually approached, the blazing white light suddenly dissipated.
“Did the potion stop working? Zi Di, wait for me!”
Zhen Jin’s heart quaked as he became increasingly more anxious.
As he continued to walk forward and shout, there seemed a giant thing coming over the dusky horizon.
The youngster stooped and ducked at once to avoid it.
It was a rather large tree trunk, in the camp there were a few tree trunks stored which were surplus materials from making short bows and the like.
The tree trunk was heavier than an adult human, but the gale also easily moved it.
Zhen Jin could not run anymore.
Every step, he had to push down hard and stick his feet ankle-deep into the sand to contend with the wind.
What made him feel more troubled was not the storm, rather it was the whistling sands blowing in the wind.
Zhen Jin clearly felt the sand hitting his body and face. Zhen Jin’s eyes could not open completely to prevent being blinded so he looked around with squinted vision.
The surroundings became even darker.
There wasn’t a trace of brightness, it was nearly pitch-dark.
Zhen Jin could only rely on his memory to move forward, whether it was the correct direction or not, he had no confidence.
The power of nature was vast and majestic, and at this moment, the youngster sincerely felt how insignificant he was.
As time passed, Zhen Jin’s heart grew cold.
“I have walked at least one hundred paces, but I have still not found Zi Di.”
“Was she swept up in the gale or am I going in the wrong direction?”
“God, Emperor Sheng Ming…what should I do?”
Hesitation and being at a loss were like a cloud of black smoke that choked the youngster’s nose and eyes.
But in the heart of the youngster, there seemed to be a raging fire.
Of course, it was the fire of anger, unwillingness, and hatred!
“Obviously I took control of the exploration team.”
“I succeeded in the difficult hunt and gained abundant food for the time being.”
“In the blink of an eye, it changed into this!”
“Don’t tell me that I will die on this island?”
“Don’t tell me I will hopelessly watch those close to me die one by one too?”
“Don’t tell me the Bai Zhen Clan’s fall to ruin is already here?”
“No!”
“How can I, how can I let this happen?!”
Righteous indignation made the youngster go all out.
3
However, this intangible fate was like an aloof and remote god-king in the heavens, sometimes it found that Zhen Jin seemed to be a rebellious ant and would press down its finger like a mountain.
Zhen Jin wanted to raise his head, but his head drooped more and more.
Zhen Jin wanted to straighten his body, but he had no choice but to bend and stoop his body to slowly move forward.
Zhen Jin wanted to vigorously open his eyes, he wanted to shout and yell, but he could only shut his mouth and eyes in the roaring darkness and blindly fumble ahead.
The power of the wind continued to strengthen.
Very quickly, it was so strong that Zhen Jin had to use all of his strength to resist.
The youngster realized sorrowfully: at this moment, he couldn’t save anyone. Because his own life was in imminent danger!
He wanted to activate his battle qi, however, he still failed.
He wanted to transform again, but no matter how crazilly he tried, he could not sense the crystal core in his heart and never succeeded.
With no other alternatives, he could only pray to the gods.
“Oh Great Emperor Sheng Ming, thou art a God who walks upon the earth. Right now, thine believer is faced with dire straits and thine glory of the knights wilt be drowned in this sandstorm. I ask that thou hearken thine ears to mine plea, pity me, and help me break away from this predicament so I can continue to follow thine principles and show thine prestige.”
But the god did not respond.
The youngster was angry.
The youngster resisted.
The youngster grieved.
The youngster struggled.
The youngster used up all his strength and finally lost consciousness.
In boundless darkness.
A mysterious beast roared and awoke the youngster once more.
“Where am I?”
“What is this place?”
“I…who am I again?”
Darkness.
No one answered him.
There was only endless darkness.
“Hold on, did I just hear a beast roaring?”
Immediately afterwards, the youngster gradually remembered that he was a templar knight and a noble, his name was Zhen Jin, his fiance Zi Di, the dangerous island, the exploration team, the late night teleportation, and terrifying sandstorm…
Following this, the youngster’s consciousness fully recovered and became completely sober.
Afterwards, he sensed a heavy pressure squeezing his body from all directions that made it hard for him to breathe.
“So, perhaps I am buried in the sand?”
A feeling of instinctual horror attacked his heart.
No one wanted to be buried alive like this!
Zhen Jin was incomparably tense.
However, he did not immediately open his eyes nor did he anxiously get up, rather he kept calm.
As a battle qi cultivator, his strength far exceeded others, his perception did too.
Compared to ordinary people, his sight was clearer, he could see further, and his hearing was more meticulous.
Although he couldn’t see right now and could only hear the sound of his heartbeat, he could still sense which direction had more pressure.
Then, with all of his strength, he struggled using all of his limbs.
Struggle as much as possible!
Struggle at all costs!
Because the youngster knew that this was his final chance for survival.
"You know I could advance the plot naturally...or I could use the Warp Staff!"
- Uncooked Pancake
Notes
Welcome to the desert arc, we are going to be here for a while. It's a real pity that Zhen Jin’s movement has turned to shit due to the fact that he lacks flight or magic and that the only users of warp and rescue are stuck on Alm’s side of the map. Alas, it looks like Zhen Jin will be walking all the way back on his two legs.
Translation Notes
(two words in chinese) (茫然失措: at a loss (idiom) ) (义愤填膺: righteous indignation fills one's breast (idiom); to feel indignant at injustice )