A tall silhouette and a small silhouette were struggling forward in an endless sandy area.

There was a lot of wind and their feet would sink in the sand with each step, greatly impeding their progress.

Especially the little girl in the back. Her face had a few b.l.o.o.d.y scratches from the flying sand, but they had already dried up.

It could be seen that she struggled with every single step.

But she was still resolutely following behind Marvin, expressionless.

From her words, she wouldn't hesitate to do anything Marvin asked her to do.

And Marvin didn't lend her a helping hand.

He could see a shadow of his former friend from this girl with 18 years left to live. The path ahead would be full of hards.h.i.+p, difficult even for Marvin.

But she was confident in him. The way she was looking at him made Marvin feel responsible for her.

He had to think of a way to save her.

Thus, when he left White River Valley this time, he didn't bring anyone else, only Isabelle!

Marvin planned a path full of hards.h.i.+p for her.

That path was far more difficult than this desert, but it was her only chance.

'I hope this child can persevere.'

Marvin turned and took a glance at Isabelle. She clearly was running out of strength, but she still listened to Marvin's words: To not use [Blink].

This ability would endlessly burn her already short remaining lifespan. Marvin ordered her to not use it except as a last resort.

She was struggling at every step.

This seemed to be the fate of the Hammons.

Marvin stopped and waited for a while before Isabelle slowly caught up.

In fact, they were already three days away from the Deathly Silent Hills.

Marvin had a compa.s.s in hand, making sure they wouldn't go in the wrong direction.

"There is about an hour of walking left. How are you?" he asked with concern.

Isabelle softly nodded.

The two continued forward.

An hour and twenty minutes later, there seemed to be less sandy winds.

The two climbed a dune. They could faintly see some signs of human habitation in the distance.

The girl rubbed her eyes, thinking it was a mirage.

Marvin gently patted her head, spitting some sand that had gotten into his mouth. "It's here."

This was an oasis. The most famous town of the eastern part of the Saint Desert, [Ka.s.semuir], was founded on this oasis.

The desert people believed that this was a land blessed by G.o.ds because many oases in the desert faded away with the pa.s.sage of time, but only this Ka.s.semuir oasis didn't.

It had stood straight for an era.

Most of the Saint Desert was occupied by the Bai clan. As for the Sha clan, they were only a small part occupying the stone forest in the north, studying their gunpowder and firearms.

"In the language of the Bai clansmen, Ka.s.semuir means 'Pearl'."

"This is the place I said I would bring you to."

Marvin held Isabelle's hand and walked to the oasis.

The town could slowly be seen in the distance.

This town wasn't unfamiliar to Mavin. He had hung around and gotten pretty high reputation there due to some coincidence, nearly becoming the Bai Clan head.

As for Ka.s.semuir, he knew quite a bit.

This town wasn't as calm as it looked.

There were hidden undercurrents that other people couldn't see. These frightening shadows should still be dormant at this time. If they appeared, they might frighten the entire Saint Desert.

But the reason Marvin came wasn't to settle a hidden danger in Ka.s.semuir.

In fact, he had left White River Valley with one goal: Grabbing the Source of Fire's Order.

Only with that Source of Fire's Order could they resist the waves of chaos magic during the Great Calamity and establish an area that temporarily wouldn't be subject to the influence of chaos magic.

That was the reason the Rocky Mountain could found a country at that time. The three Fate Sisters had a Source of Fire's Order in hand.

They lit the order, to bless the people.

Even if Marvin didn't know where they got that Source of Fire's Order, he knew they actually had three of them.

The first one was stolen by Shadow Prince Glynos. The second was forcefully extinguished by many G.o.ds joining hands when the sisters lit it.

As for the third, the eldest of the sisters, that fierce girl who personally tore apart the Black Dragon, eliminated a few G.o.ds' avatars and burnt the order.

Despite this, they suffered from the G.o.ds jealousy toward the Rocky Mountain and thus, it didn't last for long.

Marvin required the Source of Fire's Order. He knew the G.o.ds' tricks, so he only needed one.

But getting more would naturally be even better.

Thus, he left White River Valley this time to go for the Sorcerer country, Rocky Mountain!

As for the Saint Desert, they were only pa.s.sing through.

Ka.s.semuir was a hub. If not for Isabelle, Marvin wouldn't need to come here.

But what made Marvin frown was that it was apparently the wrong time to get there.

When they finally arrived at the town, they found out that it was under martial law!

People without IDs wouldn't be able to enter Ka.s.semuir. They might even be captured as spies by the guards.

'What happened?'

Marvin curiously looked at a huge group of people gathered around a signboard outside Ka.s.semuir.

He pulled Isabelle's hands and moved closer.

In the barren endless desert.

A few slanted cactuses were lying on the roadside.

A hungry and thirsty traveller was on the roadside, apparently having lost his way.

His lips were split open, probably from dehydration. Without help, he might not survive this crisis.

Suddenly, a nimble White Deer appeared in his sight.

A White Deer appearing in the desert?

If an average person saw it, they might only think it was a mirage.

But this traveler seemed strangely attracted and staggered up.

The White Deer stayed in place, unmoving.

The man slowly approached.

The White Deer simply kept standing there, its eyes full of kindness.

But at that time, the traveler suddenly showed his sinister fangs. His face caved in, turning into a circle of frightening sharp teeth!

The White Deer was immediately startled!

But it was too late. The traveler had already pounced on it and bitten the White Deer's neck.

The latter fell on the ground, struggling for a moment before being sucked dry by the traveler, meeting a tragic death in the desert.

The traveler chuckled and wiped the bloodstains, returning to the appearance of a normal man.

At that time, a white clothed woman suddenly appeared.

"Good job."

"Keep killing White Deer. But pay attention to Ka.s.semuir's side. Someone already took note of our operation."

"We have to be careful of the retribution of the Bai," the woman briefly warned in a soft voice.

The traveler chuckled disapprovingly. "Rest a.s.sured, Lady Deceiver."

"Those silly Bais still can't differentiate humans from Evil Spirits.."

The white clothed woman nodded. "That's fine."

"According to my investigation, it's rumored that only by killing a certain amount of White Deer would one be able to attract the [White Deer Holy Spirit]'s anger."

"This is the only opportunity to open the White Deer's cave. Only by grabbing the treasure inside we will be able to set up the Disaster Door."

"Keep going, but remember to not let the Bai wors.h.i.+ppers find out about you. Otherwise the White Deer Holy Spirit won't leave the White Deer Cave. Understood?"

The traveler nodded.

Then a sandy wind blew across and the woman disappeared.

The traveler kept going forward.

And that poor White Deer was already buried in the sand.

In front of the bulletin board, Marvin was seriously looking at the contents.

Unlike the other people who came attracted by their curiosity, he actually understood the meaning behind this announcement.

'Large scale White Deer killings?'

'No wonder the Bais want to seal off Ka.s.semuir.'

'The White Deer Holy Spirit is the sacred beast of the Bai clansmen.'

Information about those White Deers appeared in Marvin's mind.

It's rumored that when the Bai ancestors were forced to migrate to this desert, they couldn't adapt to the life there. They could find neither water nor a place to survive.

At that time, the White Deer Holy Spirit appeared, showing them the path, and ultimately leading them to an oasis.

The White Deer Holy Spirit was the Bai clan's deity.

It had many heirs, and these mysterious White Deer had the ability to be invisible. They were scattered all over the desert.

The normally couldn't be seen.

Occasionally, when travelers who lost their way, tumbling on the roadside, were in crisis, the White Deer would appear to them.

At that time, as long as they followed behind it, they could find a water source and keep on living.

Similar legends existed in various parts of the Saint Desert.

These White Deers were under the protection of the Bai clan and they were travelers' benefactors.

But now, the angry Bai clansmen found out a great amount of White Deer corpses.

Someone was killing the White Deer.

This made the Bai clansmen unable to restrain their anger. They sealed off all the oases and began to investigate this matter.

Seeing the contents of this bulletin board, other might just wonder why someone was killing White Deers, but Marvin knew it was a serious matter.

'A White Deer bloodbath, only to draw out the White Deer Holy Spirit. Only then would the White Deer Cave from the rumors would be shortly opened.'

'That artifact can establish a pa.s.sage between planes… Whose plan is it?'

A large amount of names appeared in Marvin's mind.

A similar event also happened in his previous life. But Marvin didn't know whose work it was.

After all, there were a few planes relatively close to Feinan that could open a temporary pa.s.sage.

Underworld, Abyss, h.e.l.l… They were all possible choices.

Putting this conspiracy behind, Marvin was now facing a serious problem.

If he couldn't get into Ka.s.semuir, he wouldn't be able to implement his plan.

This made him feel quite troubled.

But at that time, a group of people suddenly proclaimed, "The Holy Maiden returned!"

"She went to investigate the circ.u.mstances of the White Deer's murder. There must have been results since she came back."

Marvin turned his head, only to see a white-clothed woman slowly walking back from the desert.

He had a kind of special feeling when he saw her.

This feeling was very similar to when he looked at Daniela.

__________

T/N: The Bai of the Bai clan means white. It is the same character as the white from the white deer. Knowledge +1!