"Good heavens, the heavens really don't treat me badly!"
Ren Yuanhao sprinted, dodging and weaving. The poplar forest terrain was low-lying. If the sandstorm rolled in, it would be like the sky river pouring down, and they would be buried alive by the sand!
Within ten seconds, Ren Yuanhao returned to the poplar forest.
"The black sandstorm is already heading this way. Yunyan, is there anywhere nearby we can take shelter?"
As Ren Yuanhao spoke, he had already grabbed three fine horses and then slapped Sha Yunba awake from his unconsciousness.
The wind howled mournfully. Unlike a tropical storm, a sandstorm not only had extremely low air pressure but also kicked up suffocating sand. If it blocked the nose and mouth, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Hearing his young lady say that the black sandstorm had arrived, Sha Yunba immediately prostrated himself again, kowtowing, "This is the anger of the Wolf God. Someone must have angered the Wolf God!"
"To hell with your gods! Yunyan, quickly think if there's a shelter nearby!"
Mu Yunyan seemed to be racking her brains, but the raging sound of the wind and sand was like a tiger's roar. The night had completely turned black and yellow. This unusual phenomenon was like the end of days, making it impossible to concentrate.
The wind roared, the heavens and earth changed color, and the sea-like sandstorm, like a dense swarm of locusts, devoured the world. The sound waves were enough to shatter the courage of seasoned merchants.
Just then, the dozen or so fine horses tethered to the poplar trees, as if threatened by the approaching sandstorm, suddenly snorted, reared up on their hind legs, and pawed the ground frantically, kicking up a large patch of sand in an attempt to break free from the restraints of the reins!
"They say old horses know the way. In a moment of crisis, they might be able to lead us out of danger. We can't worry about anything else now."
With a swift stroke of his saber, Ren Yuanhao cut all the reins of the dozen horses, leaving only two for the two to ride on. He himself led his own not-so-tall horse.
As the group of fine horses broke free, they immediately shot off towards the southeast like a black tide.
"Follow the direction of the horses, hurry!"
"Brother Bao, why aren't you changing to a fine horse? Your horse can't outrun the sandstorm!"
Ren Yuanhao patted his horse's neck, his eyes flashing with an extremely gentle light. "This horse carried me across half the desert. I can't abandon it halfway. Let's go, I believe it can do it!"
Ren Yuanhao kicked the flanks of the horses ridden by Sha Yunba and Mu Yunyan. The two tall fine horses immediately shot forward like a black wind, quickly catching up. Ren Yuanhao also mounted his horse, infusing his gentle water-attribute true qi into the horse's body. The little horse immediately became incredibly calm. He clamped his legs, pulled the reins, and the little horse galloped forward like it was having fun, rushing towards the surging 'black cloud'.
The horses galloped wildly, the sandstorm surging behind them, covering the sky and earth. The sand constantly whipped past, making it impossible to open one's eyes. The three of them were almost entirely at the mercy of the horses' instincts as they galloped towards the unknown.
After galloping for more than ten kilometers, the three of them felt the horses' speed slowing down. Ren Yuanhao put on his wind goggles and looked ahead. He saw a fortress suddenly appearing in the sandstorm twenty to thirty meters away. Veiled by the sand, it looked like a mirage.
These fine horses, as if possessing sentience, disappeared into the fortress. The three looked back, all greatly alarmed. Ren Yuanhao had seen the tide and even felt the power of tropical storms, but those scenes were far inferior to what he was seeing now.
Dark clouds mingled with the swirling sand, making it impossible to distinguish between clouds and sand. The sand on the ground was even more exaggerated. The sand dunes that were originally static were surging wildly like layers of waves, as if what was behind them was not sand but the sea. Thus, the name "Sea of Sand" originated from this.
The sand dunes swallowed the poplar forest, merging with even taller dunes to form larger sand waves, preparing to devour the life force of these living people once more. Even more terrifying was that the sound of the sandstorm, like a grim reaper wielding a sickle, was constantly cutting through the air, emitting a chilling shriek that made one's scalp tingle and their back feel cold.
It was the wail of the grim reaper!
The three of them swallowed in unison and urged their horses closer to the fortress.
The tall city gate was almost mottled from erosion by the sand. The gate was tightly shut, and it seemed someone on the watchtower was holding a torch.
"My friends, we are travelers of the desert, children of the Wolf God. May friendly friends open the gates for us."
Sha Yunba's voice trembled slightly. The sandstorm was getting closer, and the grim reaper had already swung his sickle, waiting to reap.
"Got money?"
Sha Yunba thought to himself, we were just robbed, and even those two bags of gold coins were taken. We have nothing on us.
"It seems you have no bargaining chip for us to open the city gates. Get lost!"
The man holding the torch was about to put it away and take shelter when, unexpectedly, a cold Tang dao appeared at his neck at some unknown time!
"Now I have a bargaining chip, don't I?"
Ren Yuanhao's movement was as stealthy as a ghost. Even Mu Yunyan didn't know when he had floated onto the eight or nine-meter-high city wall.
"Open, open the gates!"
With the saber at his neck, the man had no fight left in him.
The two large gates swung open with a creak, and the swirling sand swept in like a flood, following the two people and three horses. The two men who opened the gate frantically shook the mechanism to close the gates.
"Bro, swords and sabers have no eyes. You should be a bit careful, okay?"
The man holding the torch was taken down from the tower by Ren Yuanhao. "Easy to say, lead the way."
Although the yellow sand could not directly confront the fortress, the sandstorm in the sky had already begun to rage. The group quickly entered an underground passage along the sandy street. Only then did the gatekeepers tightly close the heavy steel cover above, and the sound of the wind outside completely disappeared.
Ren Yuanhao sheathed his saber and shook the sand off his body. As soon as he finished these two actions, a group of people surrounded them, looking as if they wanted to tear the three of them apart.
"Kid, you're quite the tough guy. I, Ma San'er, have never had a saber at my neck in my life. You're something else."
The man who called himself Ma San'er beckoned, and a dark, burly man over two meters tall, carrying two broadaxes, stood in front of Ren Yuanhao.
Sha Yunba's legs turned to jelly with fright. This man's build was more than twice his size. He couldn't help but lean towards Ren Yuanhao's body.
"We're just here to take shelter, not to take a piece of your flesh. Is there any need for such a big fuss?"
Ren Yuanhao was neither humble nor arrogant. His face was completely covered by a headscarf, and his eyes, like a lion's, shone with a golden light.
"Shelter? This isn't a public area. It's reasonable to ask for a toll fee, isn't it? Moreover, this is the only path for you to survive!"
Ma San'er waved his hand, and the black giant's broadaxes scraped against the ground with a harsh noise.