No strange things are allowed to evolve!

Especially after Jiang Shu handed her the two beacons last night and asked her to give one of them to Wang Tiezhu, the significance of the cement became even greater.

Although Jiang Shu didn't say it, Xue Wang could tell at a glance that what looked like crystallized sand was actually Jiang Shu's fingernail.

Because Jiang Shu has paronychia, the sides of her nails are curved and dig into the flesh, Xue Wang has observed this carefully.

Therefore, after Jiang Shu left, Xue Wang immediately sealed the beacon into cement.

In this way, it is equivalent to Jiang Shu's fingers.

That's why, with the beacon in hand, Snow King seemed to be having a very difficult time taking each step in today's operation.

Not only was walking difficult, but he also seemed somewhat dazed.

Just as Snow King was lost in thought, the falcon at the very front of the group, who was standing at the highest point of a hillside, suddenly stopped and raised his right fist, signaling everyone to stop.

"Has it been found?"

Immediately, someone took three steps at a time, using both hands and feet to climb up the slope and reach the falcon.

But when he lay on the top of the slope and stuck his head out, he was immediately stunned.

Ahead lay a vast plain, surrounded by the mountains and hills the guards had crossed before, forming a basin around it.

However, the basin itself was completely empty.

Looking at the falcon again, I saw the same puzzled expression on its face.

"Logically speaking... this should be the place, right?"

He gazed at the mountain range that firmly surrounded the vast plain, utterly bewildered: "Wasn't it said that we could still see the ruins of White Cloud City? How come..."

Several more faces climbed up beside them.

"Could it be a different place?"

“No, no.” The falcon shook its head: “We’ve been through mountains all along the way, and this plain is the only one that fits the description. I thought it would be hard to find this place in the vast desert, but I didn’t expect it to be so big and so conspicuous.”

"Could it be that the terrain has changed?" someone else asked.

Falcon continued to deny it: "It's unlikely. The explorer who discovered the ruins of White Cloud City came here ten years ago. Ten years may be a long time for a person, but it's negligible in terms of changes to the world and the terrain. It's almost equivalent to nothing."

"What happened?"

There are two possibilities.

One possibility is that a sandstorm occurred after the explorers left, completely burying the ruins. However, I think this is unlikely, as sandstorms capable of burying an entire city have rarely occurred even during the most severe periods of desertification in history.

Moreover, the area is surrounded by mountains, so even with such a large sandstorm, most of it would be blocked outside, making it unlikely to completely bury White Cloud City.

The falcon paused briefly, then its tone suddenly turned serious:

"So it's more likely that the sand demon is behind it."

"Is there really a Sand Demon...?" Panic gripped the group in an instant.

The explorer had said that there were traces of what appeared to be a sand demon in the ruins, so he didn't dare stay long and only noted down the approximate location before leaving in a hurry.

This is why the major oases, which did not face such great survival pressure at the time, were not in a hurry to explore, and the Zodiac Train did not come here.

It wasn't until ten years later, when human survival was already extremely difficult, that people remembered this treasure land with its excellent terrain, surrounded by mountains that could block the wind and sand.

"Something feels off," someone objected. "We haven't seen a single sand golem, let alone a sand demon, along the way. The only ones we've seen were lying on the vehicle we brought here. If there really were sand demons, we should have been attacked by now, right?"

This skepticism was shared by most people. Whether it was out of self-comfort or because they genuinely believed it, they simply did not believe that a sand demon could exist here.

But the falcon sighed: "The Sand Demon is not a mindless fool."

He can still recall the shock he felt when the doctor reported the situation in the laboratory to him.

In the past, people only heard about the terror of the Sand Demon from the older generation. Everyone who actually saw the Sand Demon died, but the Sand Demon's abilities remained unknown.

When the logistical resources in the laboratory were destroyed, Falcon realized that if this was the case for the special sand golems, then the even more dangerous sand demons were even more so.

The most terrifying thing about the Sand Demon is not its power, but that it possesses cunning and wisdom along with that power.

If this incident hadn't been exposed, all the guards, including the Falcon, would still have thought that the Sand Demon was just a monster-like thing that was even more powerful than the Sand Golem.

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

After a long silence, someone finally asked, "So...should we go down and take a look?"

“Yes, of course we have to go.” The falcon nodded. “No matter what, we must go and find out.”

The loss in the laboratory means they now only have one chance. If they return empty-handed today, not only will the Zodiac Train lack energy for a long time, but the Guardians will also change from renewable resources to disposable items. New Guardians will only be able to be born after they find and acquire those special sand golems in the desert again.

This means that the garrison would have to travel through dangerous, unexplored desert areas without the protection of the Zodiac Train.

There's no need to overthink it; such losses would be extremely severe, and if they can't be replenished before the defenses disappear, then humanity is not far from extinction.

Unless we can use Baiyun City as our base, we can solve all the problems at once.

With that thought in mind, the falcon no longer hesitated and, amidst the astonished gazes of the other guards, slid swiftly down the slope.

Sliding down the steep slope, which was nearly 100 meters high, the guards behind him exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and followed.

Just as Xue Wang and Wang Tiezhu, who were lagging behind at the back of the group, were about to slide down,

A strange noise suddenly came from all directions...

Chapter 160 Summoner

The sound wasn't very loud at first; it was just a soft rustling, like the flow of a stream, and was almost imperceptible if you weren't paying attention.

But in the blink of an eye, the sound grew so loud that everyone could hear it clearly, transforming into a deafening roar like rolling waves.

The people in the basin were all startled by the sound and nervously looked around. However, because of the echo and the sounds coming from all directions, they could not tell what the sound was or what it meant.

Suddenly, someone cried out in surprise.

It turned out that while he was carefully paying attention to the loudest noise coming from the huge slope they were sliding down, he hadn't been watching his footing.

I don’t know when it started, but countless distorted, grotesque faces appeared on the ground beneath my feet. They were densely embedded in the mud and sand, their eye sockets empty and lifeless, and they glowed with a faint red light.

Right where the screaming man was standing, a pair of withered hands reached out from below and grabbed his ankles, attempting to drag him down.

Upon hearing his terrified scream, the other guards all looked at him, and then immediately noticed the ground beneath their feet.

Many people were so frightened by this sudden scene that they were completely at a loss.

However, some people, after a brief moment of stunned silence, immediately reacted and armed themselves with sand magic. They first broke free from the sand golems that were holding their ankles, and then shouted to their companions, "Ambush! Be careful!"

Just as they came to their senses, Falcon and his close associates had already calmly taken action, rescuing several guards who were so frightened by the scene that they forgot to resist and were almost dragged underground.

"Damn it! Everyone, be alert! They're just sand golems!"

The falcon grabbed the collar of the person it had just rescued and roared angrily.

The deep, menacing roar roused everyone.

After calming down a bit, he composed himself and joined the resistance and rescue efforts.

These guards were all old men. It wasn't that they had never seen sand golems before; they had just never seen one appear in such a bizarre way and attack them, so they were momentarily at a loss for what to do.

It wasn't until the falcon took the lead that they quickly regained their form and were able to unleash their full potential.

But soon, everyone, including the falcon, felt an increasing pressure.

While a single sand golem is not strong, to these guards, a sand golem without regeneration ability is no different from a walking corpse that only follows its instincts.

But the sheer number of them was overwhelming.

Just as a dozen or so were eliminated with ease, dozens more appeared in the spot that had just been cleaned up.

Their fearless, zombie-like behavior actually became their advantage in this situation.

Throughout history, no matter how many armies are defeated, they are not actually wiped out on the battlefield. Generally speaking, once the casualties reach a certain percentage, the army will begin to lose its will to fight and will eventually collapse.

But these sand golems will not be defeated, nor will they be afraid. Their actions are solely aimed at dragging all the enemies in front of them into the ground.

Moreover, their numbers are constantly being replenished.

Nobody knows when it will end.

Unable to see how much longer they could hold out to escape this threat, and with their strength rapidly dwindling, although the guards had not yet suffered any casualties, everyone knew that if they could not break through successfully, then total annihilation might only be a matter of time.

So everyone looked at the falcon.

They need clear instructions from the falcon so that they, trapped in a slow, insidious situation, will no longer be confused and will know what to do.

The falcon, however, was struggling.

If they retreat now, the next time the garrison returns to this place, not to mention how long it will take, he himself will certainly be gone.

If they don't retreat, they'll be fine, but their brothers might perish here. After all, human strength is limited, but the sand puppets... there's no end in sight. With one side gaining and the other losing, the already precarious balance will inevitably be broken sooner or later.

While everyone still has the strength, let's escape from here together.

Or... take a gamble?

The number of sand golems is limited, and the bet is that everyone can kill all the sand golems before running out of stamina.

But the moment those two thoughts crossed his mind, he made up his mind.

No, we still have to go!

Even if we manage to deal with these sand golems, there might still be sand demons waiting for us. By then, we'll be exhausted and won't have any chance of winning. If we don't leave now, we might never have another chance.

Thinking of this, the falcon pointed in the direction they had come from, at the huge ramp, and shouted:

"Everyone, maintain formation, proceed towards..."

But he hadn't finished speaking.

From the direction he pointed, a sandstorm carrying emerald green light suddenly surged in, instantly enveloping and covering all the guards.

At first, everyone thought this was some new threat.

But in an instant, they lowered their guard, and their initial anxiety quickly turned into ecstasy.

As they were enveloped by this green sandstorm, everyone felt a continuous stream of power emerging from their limbs and bones like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

The intensity of this replenishment is far greater than the nutrients that people capable of desertification can naturally extract from the desert. If the latter is likened to carrying mountain spring water home bucket by bucket, then the former is undoubtedly equivalent to drinking from a fire hydrant.

Besides, everyone felt a surge of fighting spirit. The worries and timidity that had been building up suddenly vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed.

Instead, it gave me a confidence I had never had before in my life.

Just moments ago, everyone was worried that they might die here with so many sand puppets, but now, everyone felt that even if the Sand Demon came, they wouldn't be unable to touch it.

The falcon looked in shock at Xue Wang and Wang Tiezhu, who were located directly above the steep slope and had not yet been able to come down with the main group before the incident occurred.

At this moment, Wang Tiezhu was standing upright at the highest point, with his hands clasped in palms and stretched straight forward.

The ever-flowing green light emanated from her hands.

"Such a miraculous effect?!"

The falcon was not unaware of Wang Tiezhu's abilities, as Wang Tiezhu had demonstrated his skills to him before.

But he never expected that Wang Tiezhu could not only heal individuals, but also bring life to an entire group!

Therefore, he had previously only regarded Wang Tiezhu as an assistant when he faced the Sand Demon alone, and never thought that Wang Tiezhu could help in the current situation, because it is difficult for one person's infinite state to change the overall situation.

It wasn't until Wang Tiezhu made her move that Falcon realized that even though he considered her one of his most important allies, he had still underestimated her.

Without saying much, the falcon immediately rescinded its order to retreat and instead said, "Keep killing! Let's see if there are more of them or more of us!"

"it is good!!"

The guards, who had already shown signs of fatigue, suddenly transformed into a pack of ferocious wolves, launching a counterattack against the layers upon layers of sand golems.

On a steep slope.

Wang Tiezhu tirelessly supplied power to the guards below.

She remained calm, intently watching the chaotic battle. Wherever there was a sign of weakness, she would increase her output, channeling her energy into the guards who were in danger. The next second, they would be full of energy again and launch a counterattack on the spot.

Behind him, the Snow King asked worriedly, "How much longer can you hold on?"

She was not blindly optimistic because Wang Tiezhu had temporarily turned the tide of the battle, because she knew that the entire burden of the team now rested on Wang Tiezhu's shoulders. If she couldn't hold on, the guards below would not only be exhausted, but would also suffer a severe backlash.

As time went on, their fighting spirit grew stronger, and they fought their way into the densest encirclement of the sand golems.

To Xue Wang's surprise, Wang Tiezhu retorted, "What do you mean by 'full'?"

The Snow King was taken aback: "You've been continuously channeling power into them, so the consumption must be enormous, right?"

"Actually, it doesn't consume much energy." Wang Tiezhu shook his head: "It's as easy as eating and drinking. If I had to say, it's actually not as strenuous as maintaining this posture right now."