No strange things are allowed to evolve!

"You've really been thinking about this all along?!"

Stab it!

Jiang Shu violently tore open the barrier made of white silk floss without encountering any difficulties.

Not to mention the support of the Heart of the Great Wilderness and the fragments of Boundless Sand, which allowed him to roam freely in the desert, the wisps of desert power that had long since dissipated were completely insufficient to hinder his progress.

Moreover, he is also very good at tearing these fibrous materials.

Having emerged from the several-meter-thick layer of silk, Jiang Shu finally reached his destination.

What came into view was the Spider Cave described by the Sand Demon, and eggshell fragments scattered all over the ground.

However, seeing the scene inside the cave with one's own eyes is still more direct and shocking than just hearing the Sand Demon's description.

After looking around, Jiang Shu asked the Sand Demon, "Is there any difference since you left? Is anything missing?"

But he did not hear the Sand Demon's voice.

Jiang Shu turned his head in confusion, looking at the sand demon on his shoulder.

The latter's eyes were filled with confusion and astonishment.

"It's not less, but... it's more."

Chapter 174 You're alive? I'm not dead!

"Too much?"

Jiang Shu's expression became slightly more serious:

"What's extra, and what's extra?"

"There, over there, that's the place where the silk threads are tangled together."

Jiang Shu looked around: "They're all tangled up everywhere. Which one are you referring to specifically?"

"You're facing directly at two o'clock," the Sand Demon stretched out his head and pointed.

But Jiang Shu still couldn't find it: "Here?"

"No."

The Sand Demon was helpless:

"If you can't, could you get me a hand made so I can point it out to you..."

He's a stick now, relying solely on his brain, so it's really difficult for him to guide Jiang Shu in an environment where the scenes in every direction are highly similar.

"Alright then." Jiang Shu nodded reluctantly and used the mud and sand on the ground to make a pair of hands for the Sand Demon. "You'll have to make do with these. They can't compare to real hands, but they'll be fine for pointing things."

The Sand Demon looked down and saw that his two "hands" were not only rough and flawed, but also had very short and thick fingers, like those of an infant. Both hands had extended index fingers, while the other fingers were clenched into fists.

This isn't just a matter of not being able to compare to a real hand; it's like they put two models on him.

At that moment, the Sand Demon felt a bit like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

But he doesn't have time to worry about these things now. Whatever it is, as long as it can be pointed out clearly, that's enough.

So he shrugged his shoulders, twisted his arms, and pointed with his right hand at a spot where white silk threads were intertwined, resembling a tumor.

The Sand Demon said, "This wasn't originally here; this area should have been quite loose."

Jiang Shu took a closer look and found that the fibrous material at the tumor site was indeed somewhat different from the others.

Although it is also withered and yellowed, and has lost its vitality, it does not look as old as other silk flosses, and seems to be from a later period.

If the Sand Demon didn't see this thing last time, it means it appeared after the Sand Demon left.

"Shall we open it and take a look?" Jiang Shu asked.

"This..." The Sand Demon seemed to hesitate.

"what happened?"

"It's nothing, I just feel a little uneasy."

The Sand Demon spoke, looking around:

"This is my third time here. Each time I come, I become stronger and have a broader perspective, but to be honest, I still find this place unpredictable and it always gives me a strange feeling."

As the Sand Demon was reverently recounting his intuitive feelings about this place, he suddenly heard a clicking sound.

Turning my head, I was immediately dumbfounded.

Jiang Shu suddenly found himself holding a bunch of weapons.

From exquisite and classic cold weapons to sophisticated and technologically advanced firearms, everything is available. Although they are all made of sand, the Sand Demon has no doubt about their power.

In particular, the small winged patterns that shimmered on each weapon allowed the Sand Demon to even sense the unique aura that Jiang Shu had previously used to suppress him and make him unable to breathe.

Jiang Shu comforted him, "All your fear stems from insufficient firepower. Now you can rest assured, right?"

The Sand Demon was stunned: "You can create these things, but you give me a hand like this?"

"Ha." Jiang Shu laughed: "Save where you should save and spend where you should spend."

The Sand Demon wanted to say something, but Jiang Shu had already drawn the Tang sword from among the weapons and slashed at the large cocoon that resembled a tumor.

The knife fell, but the large cocoon did not react.

Jiang Shu said with some nostalgia, "Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've used a knife."

"Why isn't there any response?" the Sand Demon asked in confusion.

"Don't rush." ​​Jiang Shu smiled. "It's not that you didn't react, it's just that you haven't reacted yet, because... my knife is too fast."

The voice just fell.

Like snow meeting fire.

In an instant, its outer shell was slowly separated from the middle, and the silk threads, like snapped strings, fluttered and swayed to both sides.

Wow!

The large cocoon resembles a freshly cooked glutinous rice ball that has been cut in half, with the black sesame filling inside immediately spilling out.

The sand demon shuddered.

With a single slash, even the taut silk threads didn't react immediately, demonstrating not only the sharpness of the blade but also Jiang Shu's unparalleled skill in swordsmanship.

How can he know everything?!

Faced with what was flowing out from the gaps in the large cocoon, Jiang Shu subconsciously flinched back.

But when he saw what was inside the large, unfolded cocoon, his gaze immediately froze.

"How could this be..."

The Sand Demon was even more startled.

Among them was a completely disfigured, lifeless, shriveled human corpse, or rather, two halves of a human corpse.

He was now split in two, a red line running from his forehead all the way down to his back, from which thick, black blood seeped and flowed onto the ground.

"How could there be only one person in here?" Jiang Shu rubbed his chin. "Who put him in there? What's the point of putting someone who's been split in two in there...?"

Is it possible that he wasn't originally two halves?

"You mean I accidentally chopped it just now?" Jiang Shu frowned and shook his head: "How could that be? Impossible. I was very careful. I probably only scratched the outer shell."

"But your sword..." the Sand Demon said quietly, looking at the Tang sword in Jiang Shu's hand.

There were still scattered red marks on the Tang sword.

Moreover, it wasn't at the tip of the sword, but rather in the middle section near the hilt. This indicates that Jiang Shu didn't even accidentally cut it; he was aiming to cleave the cocoon open completely, showing no regard for the consequences.

Jiang Shu paused for a moment, then said nonchalantly, "Okay, I did it, but don't blame me, because it was so smooth when I chopped it down that I didn't feel anything inside at first."

"Smooth?" the Sand Demon asked, puzzled.

Jiang Shu then explained, "No matter how fast the knife is, if it cuts into something hard, like bone, I will have a clear feeling. I am confident that I can immediately stop the knife when I feel that familiar touch from the blade. But I did not feel any hard objects inside. It was very smooth from beginning to end, so I cut straight to the bottom."

"Bones...familiar touch..." The Sand Demon shuddered, "How many people have you chopped down to become familiar with this feeling?"

"I've never killed a living person."

Jiang Shu replied, "When I was practicing swordsmanship before, I purchased a lot of lifelike mannequins from the United States. It is said that they can achieve 100% restoration of the feel of human bones. I don't know how they did it. It must be high technology. So I think the real ones should be similar."

"I see." The Sand Demon didn't ask any further questions.

Jiang Shu always mentioned the United States, but he simply regarded it as an unknown area in the oasis settlement.

"So I estimate..."

Jiang Shu stepped forward, reached out and pulled off the red thread binding the person's body, glanced at it twice, and then let go:

"Sure enough, he has no bones."

"Without bones, could it be..." The Sand Demon suddenly thought of something: "Wait a minute, try putting these back together perfectly."

As he spoke, he took a pile of bones out of his own body.

"This is the one you mentioned..." Jiang Shu remembered.

“Yes.” The Sand Demon nodded: “It’s the team member I was talking about who was just a skeleton. I took him with me back then.”

Looking at the mangled corpse, the Sand Demon's eyes burned: "If it matches perfectly, then it means that this is him."

"Ok."

Jiang Shu picked up the bones from the ground, his face resolute.

"I'll give it a try."

Thanks to the fact that the corpse was completely split in the middle, it was very convenient to stuff things inside. In addition, the dummies used in previous practice were transparent, so Jiang Shu already knew the structure of the human skeleton very well, and his movements were very fast.

Half an hour later.

"It really was you, Big Head!"

Seeing the corpse that had become plump after being filled with bones by Jiang Shu, the Sand Demon wept uncontrollably.

Perhaps he had long been accustomed to a solitary life, but didn't he also hope that one day he could see familiar faces again and find familiar figures in this world?

Upon seeing his old friend's corpse again, not as a sand golem but as a genuine human body, the Sand Demon felt a long-lost emotion welling up in his heart, and he had no way to relieve it except by crying out loud.

Jiang Shu looked at him with some emotion and reached out to pat him on the shoulder.

The Sand Demon, halfway through her crying, suddenly came to her senses and calmly asked Jiang Shu, "Did you wipe it on me?"

"No." Jiang Shu shook her head, quietly withdrawing her hands, which were originally covered in blood from assembling the bones but were now clean, and then changed the subject: "His head isn't that big, so why is he called big-headed?"

“He had a big head when he was a child. We were childhood friends, we were together from elementary school all the way to college, and after graduation we went to the same company and eventually worked on the same scientific expedition team.” Sha Mo said with a complicated expression, “At first only I called him that, but eventually everyone called him that.”

"I see." Jiang Shu narrowed her eyes. "But why is he here?"

“I don’t know either.” The Sand Demon shook his head. “He wasn’t here when I left last time. I checked every corner of this place, but I couldn’t find him. Maybe he was hidden somewhere by these damned silk threads, maybe underground. Anyway, if I had found him there then, I would have taken him away.”

With that, he bowed to the corpse: "Your remains are now intact; you can rest in peace."

But just as Jiang Shu shifted his gaze from the Sand Demon back to the corpse, he froze.

Sometime later, the corpse opened its eyes.

Jiang Shuming clearly remembered that when he first pried open the corpse's eyelids, there were only dark eye sockets inside, but now there was a pair of eyeballs.

His lips moved as if he were about to remind the Sand Demon, but the corpse spoke first.

"Finally... finally back."

Perhaps due to atrophy of the corpse's vocal cords, his voice was extremely hoarse.

The Sand Demon suddenly looked up: "Big Head?"

"Long time no see." The corpse's voice changed with each word it uttered, and by the time it said four words, its voice had become deep and magnetic.

At the same time, the silk threads that were stuck to his back and holding him in place began to expand and pulsate like water pipes, constantly sending something into his body.

As his body became more and more voluptuous, the wound on his body inflicted by Jiang Shu healed rapidly, as if it had never existed.

His face, which had looked as if it had been burned, quickly returned to its smooth and even state, revealing its original appearance.

"You're alive again?" The Sand Demon was incredibly excited.

Although he didn't understand why this was happening, nothing could make him happier than seeing his old friend come back to life.

As long as I'm alive, nothing else matters.