"Actually, you didn't have to come with me," Echo said, walking along the banks of the Chishui River, the accumulated snow crunching under her feet.

"The city isn't safe, and this isn't Border Town," Iron Axe replied, walking two steps behind her, "Besides, His Highness instructed that if you leave the castle without other witches around, I should protect your safety."

"I knew I shouldn't have told him," she exhaled a white puff of air, "Also, you don't need to use honorifics with me."

"In my heart, you will always be the chieftain of the Aosha clan, Zoer Silvermoon."

Mentioning the word Aosha, Echo fell silent. Even though Iron Axe couldn't see her expression, he could sense her spirits had dampened. He wanted to say something to comfort her, but didn't know where to begin, so he could only shut his mouth and silently follow her slow pace.

Compared to the winding Chishui River in the wilderness, this tributary became almost a straight line after entering the city. Both sides of the riverbank were paved with bricks and stones, flat and neat. Every few dozen steps, there was a staircase leading to the water's surface, probably for people to draw water.

The snow today wasn't too heavy, and occasionally one or two pedestrians could be seen on the road. Whether male or female, they would look at Echo with surprise—obviously, Silvermoon's tall figure and light brown skin were quite unique, coupled with her blue-gray hair, making her particularly eye-catching—it was rare to see pure-blooded Sandpeople in the inland areas of Graycastle.

"Let's go to the other side," Echo clearly didn't like being stared at so much.

"Yes."

Finding an arch bridge, the two carefully crossed the frozen bridge surface and came to the east side of the fortress. Here, there were hardly any buildings to be seen, and large tracts of farmland were covered in snow, all flat at a glance. The distant blue city wall loomed in the snow, forming a sharp contrast with the West District.

"Iron Sand City never sees such a scene," Echo sighed, "Before leaving the Far South, I thought the entire continent was the same, just sand besides sand, and water and oases were resources that had to be fought for with life. But here, no one sheds blood for the Chishui River, and when you want to drink water, you can just squat down."

"But they will shed blood for other things," Iron Axe said in a deep voice, "Gold, gems, honor, status... no place can escape the struggle."

"Is that so... but Nightingale told me that she believes His Highness can stop the strife," she raised her head, looking at the gray sky, "Whether it's Sandpeople or continental kingdoms, whether it's ordinary people or witches, everyone can equally enjoy resources and live freely and unrestrained."

"This... I don't know," Iron Axe hesitated for a moment. He couldn't imagine everyone abandoning their prejudices and living together. Even someone like His Highness, who possessed the power of the gods, would probably find it difficult—he could undoubtedly conquer all enemies, but could he make them willingly accept his rule? No matter what means His Highness used, the seeds of hatred would already be planted during the conquest.

"Do you want to go back to Iron Sand City?" Echo suddenly asked.

"No, Silvermoon," Iron Axe replied without hesitation, snapping back to reality, "I have sworn to the Three Gods to forever serve His Highness Roland Wimbledon as my master, and to expand his territory for him. But don't worry, since he promised to avenge you, he will definitely do it in the future. When you return to Iron Sand City, no one will dare to disrespect you again."

"But I don't want to be the chieftain of the Aosha clan anymore," she said softly, "I like being in places where the trees are always green, I like being with Wendy and Nightingale, and I like the songs that His Highness teaches me. I hope to go back and take a look one day, but I don't want to live in the desert, constantly fighting for water."

Even so, you are still the only heir to the Aosha clan in my heart. Iron Axe ultimately didn't say what was on his mind, but lowered his head and said, "No one can force you to do anything."

The two crossed the white fields and came to a clearing. Echo stopped, "Let's practice here, it shouldn't disturb anyone."

Iron Axe knew that her ability was to create all kinds of sounds. She usually practiced in the back garden of the town castle. This time, to avoid disturbing His Highness the prince and the nobles' important meeting, she specifically came here to use her ability.

He nodded and stepped back two steps, "I will keep watch for you."

"Oh right, I wrote a song for my hometown," Echo turned around, "Do you want to hear it?"

"A song?" Iron Axe was slightly stunned.

"Yeah, using the arrangement methods His Highness taught me—mixing the sounds of multiple instruments together to make the melody more layered," Echo's expression relaxed a lot when she said this, "I only realized after trying it that a song could be so good, each timbre adding a completely different feeling to it. I don't know where His Highness learned these methods. When I was sold to the capital, I never heard any nobles talk about it."

"His Highness Roland is different from everyone else." He is the darling of the gods, Iron Axe thought.

"Yeah... no one has ever treated witches as sincerely as he does," Echo said with deep feeling, "But the names His Highness gave to those mixing techniques are too strange, it's like putting completely unrelated things together, like what electronic music, agricultural heavy metal," she shook her head with a smile, "I guess only he could come up with such names."

Before Iron Axe could reply, the singing had already started.

When the complex music flowed into his ears, he was immediately stunned in place—what an incredible melody, like sand caressing an oasis, or like orange fire leaping from the ground.

In that instant, Iron Axe felt like he had returned to the sun-drenched desert. Was this... an illusion? He lowered his head and realized that the snow had disappeared. He didn't know when, but he was standing in an oasis, and when he looked out, the scorching sand filled his entire vision. The woman in front of him had her eyes slightly closed, her singing echoing in the blue sky, her feet standing in shallow water, the ripples slowly spreading out, breathtakingly beautiful.

"Walking between sand and dust"

"Searching for traces of oasis"

"Your footprints are left in the sea of sand"

"Your figure is reflected in the clear spring"

"One day, the oasis will become a new desert"

"And a new oasis will grow in the desert"

"But the only thing that remains unchanged"

"Is the legend about you"

"One day"

"I will follow the footprints you left"

"To find your figure"

"Before dawn breaks"

"That lingering and unspoken moment"

...

As the singing gradually dissipated, Iron Axe returned to the snow-covered Longsong Fortress. Everything was like an illusion, as if nothing had happened. He couldn't help but swallow, opening his palm. A transparent grain of sand was shining in the palm of his hand.