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134 - The Edge of Mystery
🕑 Added 2025-01-21 18:40:04 +0000 UTC“What do you mean they are already gone?" Qin Yun screamed back as he went to fetch his extinguished torch.
In the brief moment when his sword intent impacted the rock wall of this underground chamber, a flash of light occurred, giving him just enough time to locate it. As he reignited it, the young man's voice travelled again through the newly formed tunnel.
“I mean just what I said! I followed their tracks, but as expected, they were dummy ones meant to deceive. However, I know the route they usually take to reach their next hideout, so I went and took a look.”
His voice grew closer as he spoke, and only when he finally emerged from the tunnel did light finally burst into existence, scattering off the rock walls as it bathed the chamber in its glow.
The man stopped, frowning as he looked upon the remnants of the two men Qin Yun had vanquished. Remnant was the appropriate word, as all that remained were chucks of bloodied bronze flesh scattered throughout the chamber in an arc.
“What’s this?” the young man finally said, stepping toward Qin Yun while avoiding the mess on the floor.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Qin Yun shrugged. “These people attacked me as soon as I stepped in here.”
“People?” the young man muttered, but then his eyes widened as he noticed the remains of the severed bone axe lying in the corner.
He went and picked it up. His fingers glided along the edge, threatening to cut through the skin at the slightest hint of pressure. Despite being half destroyed, the edge remained surprisingly sharp.
“You know what this is?” Qin Yun asked as he stepped next to him.
“A weapon carved from a sandworm’s teeth.”
"Thanks for the obvious," Qin Yun replied. "I knew that, but this one is obviously special. It would be worth a fortune if this thing was found within the Mainland."
“It’s priceless,” the young man replied, yet Qin Yun could feel a hint of disgust laced in his tone. “This was made from the fallen tooth of the largest and oldest sandworm ever found along the World’s Edge, as you call it. We just call it the point of no return. The legends of my people state that it is even older than the desert itself.”
“No return? Surely, some of you must have gone there and back? What do you mean, no return?”
"It means exactly what it means," the young man sighed. "Past a certain point, all oases cease to exist. All you'll find further west is nothing but sand. Even all rock formations have been ground to dust over time. It's the most desolate land in the world."
“And yet, this sandworms lives there?”
“I know, right?" the young man turned to face Qin Yun, expressing what Qin Yun could only liken to devout belief. "It's a land where no living being wishes to tread, yet this being calls it its home."
“Surely, some of your people must have gone there.”
“Some did, and they returned carrying these fallen teeth. However, they were barely at the edge of the Deep Desert. Those who ventured further were never seen again.”
“Wait!" Qin Yun exclaimed, trying to make sense of this. "Why are there rumours of the World's Edge if no one has ever reached it and come back to tell the tale?"
“Why wouldn't it be?" the young man replied, confused. "This is the furthest we ever went. Why shouldn't it be called the World's Edge? What did you think it was? Surely you didn't think it was a literal edge? How could the world possibly have an edge?"
Then, who chose that name for it? Qin Yun thought. Everything exists for a reason under the Heavenly Dao. It surely wouldn't allow this name to transcend time and be deeply embedded into two opposing cultures. We don't speak the same language, yet both names refer to the same thing. It couldn't be just a coincidence...
Qin Yun was more resolved than ever to reach that mythical edge. Only by seeing it with his own eyes could he truly know whether or not his hypothesis was correct and not just a figment of his imagination. Still, judging by all the testimony he had accrued in this journey, reaching that proverbial edge would be no walk in the park, especially considering the supposedly ancient sandworm patrolling the Land of No Return.
“Wait,” Qin Yun said aloud, pupils dilating as he faced the young man.
“What?”
“You said those weapons were made from its fallen teeth, right?”
“Of course,” the man said, not understanding what Qin Yun meant. “How else were we supposed to acquire them?”
“So, that means that thing is still alive—still roaming through that ocean of sand?”
“Obviously,” the man sighed. “What’s your point?”
Qin Yun couldn’t help but shudder as he instinctively turned to face the west. While he roughly knew of the strength of that beast from its bones alone, he could also see they were ancient—much more ancient than anything he had ever seen within the Qin Clan. If anything, it might have been the most ancient thing he had seen in this world from the start.
The only reason he had been able to cut through those bone weapons was simply that they had been ground by time for so long that they had lost most of their strength. Still, even then, they were comparable to Low-Grade Earth artifacts.
"I thought the one those bones came from was at most at the Quasi-Divine level," Qin Yun said as concern spread over his face, which couldn't help but prompt the young man to frown,
“What about it?” he said. “That is already common knowledge among the tribe.”
“Think about it!" Qin Yun exclaimed, slightly losing his calm. "You said it yourself. He is older than the desert itself. How long, do you think, it took for the desert to spread this much?"
“Stop beating around the bush,” the man replied. “What’s your point?”
“Roughly calculating from what I’ve observed, this desert is, at minimum, a million years old.”
“Wait!” the young man interjected. “A million? Are you sure you aren’t exaggerating? Did you just pull this number out of your ass?”
Qin Yun smiled as he didn't expect the sand people's language to possess expressions similar to those of the Mainland. However, his smile faded as he added, "Considering everything, a million years old is quite young for a desert. Anyway, if your legends are true, this big sandworm of yours should be more than a million years old. Don't you see something is wrong?"
“Enough with the exposition,” the man sighed. “Give it to me straight.”
“No living being can live to be a million years old,” Qin Yun stated. “The Heavenly Dao simply won’t allow it. Even if it were to become a Divine Beast in this barren world—which is improbable—it also would have to survive through the five blights, and that’s just impossible—not even immortals can.”
“So, you mean it's either already dead or—"
"—something else is sustaining its life, and we all know what that is. The question is: why does it remain at the edge of the world? If something like a Divine Beast was to attack the Great Barrier, it would have collapsed a long time ago."
Both men were silent. Despite hearing tales of this giant creature from the moment he was born, the young man had never thought of it that way. From what he knew, no sand people knew the mind of the Heavenly Dao. To them, it was merely a great evil they needed to destroy to gain the right to live. He had never thought of it more deeply than that.
The man had more questions, yet before he could voice them, he felt a strange sound originating behind him. It sounded like something crawling on the ground multiplied by a thousand—like an army of insects moving in unison.
The man turned around and lowered his gaze, only to be stunned, unable to utter even a word. Before him were the remnants of the two men Qin Yun had slain. Except their flesh had morphed, becoming indistinguishable from what they were before.
The bronze skin and the bloody pink flesh underneath had lost all colour, turning a dull grey. Tiny, almost microscopic tendrils sprouted from every cell as they burst before combining into slightly larger ones.
They tried to join themselves back together but failed to do so as a sharp intent remained fixed on the wound. However, as time passed, Qin Yun's sword intent slowly dissipated away, allowing the morsels of grey meat to finally attach themselves back together, except that its new form was in no way human-shaped.
It felt more like a formless blob of matter, barely held together with hopes and dreams. Qin Yun's strike had blasted away over a third of the two men's mass, resulting in a monstrous amalgam as the two remnants tried to fuse together to construct something vaguely resembling a human being.
However, it all failed miserably. It could barely hold itself together. Most of the flesh tendrils sprouting from the whole crumbled into parts at the slight movements.
“I know I should’ve asked sooner, but what did you do to them?” the man asked, hand firmly around his weapon.
“I did nothing! That’s your god’s doing,” Qin Yun snapped back.
“Bullshit! I know our god can bless us with the gift of regeneration, but that’s pushing it too far. This isn’t even humanoid anymore.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Qin Yun said, yet unlike the young man, he remained much calmer as he knew his sword intent would remain a little longer before it would fade entirely. “Any idea who those two were?”
The young man's eyes narrowed slightly, yet his gaze didn't leave the living blob of flesh writhing on the ground. Instead, he lifted the broken bone axe head to eye level and began deciphering the patterns carved upon its surface. Still, it didn't take long before his gaze darkened even more.
“Seems you know who they were,” Qin Yun said with a slight interest.
"Yes," the man said, attaching the broken bone piece to the side of his hip. "Every tribe has its own markings; it's a way we determine whose property it is."
"A signature, of sorts," Qin Yun acknowledged. "Couldn't they falsify it? You know, frame another tribe."
"Never!" the man almost exploded. "It would be blasphemy. These are more than mere markings; they are also a pledge to our god. It is our vows in exchange for the strength given to us. Every tribe have slightly different vows, depending on what they pledged and what they received. No one would be foolish enough to modify them or use the vows of another tribe."
Qin Yun's gaze fell downward, resting on the weapon in the man's hand, and yet, he didn't see any markings on it, unlike the axe head dangling from his hip.
How interesting...
Still, Qin Yun chose not to bring it up—not now. Something else interested him even more.
“So, who were they?” he asked. “You seemed to recognize them.”
“Although they differ slightly, I have seen them before,” the man replied after hesitating momentarily.
“Well? Don’t keep me in suspense. Where did you see them?”
The man bit his lips. Qin Yun could see his reluctance, yet after a while, he finally spoke.
“Lady Nalia,” he said. “I’ve seen similar markings on her equipment when she was thrown out of the Main Tribe. I’ve no doubt about it.”
“The Main Tribe,” Qin Yun muttered pensively. “Why now? Why would they go after the exiles at a time like this? They had all this time to do so. What are they trying to gain?”
Still, all of Qin Yun's questions lingered in the air, as neither he nor the young outsider had any answers. All they had were questions, yet one question seemed more pressing than all the others: What should they do about this blob of grey flesh that tried to regenerate even as its hosts were already long dead?
