Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

The group could still hear the howl of the sandstorm, like the sound of someone crying through the thick sand barrier. No one could tell how long it was going to last.

“Mo Fan, are you out of your mind, to actually bring playing cards along? We have lost our way in the desert, and Nanyu is missing too. We are now trapped under the sand, and you still have the mood to play?” Jiang Yu said seriously to Mo Fan.

“So you’re sure you aren’t going to follow further?” Mo Fan asked.

“Yes,” Jiang Yu nodded seriously, “I’m not following, your hand is surely bigger than mine.”

Jiang Yu folded his hand. Although his heart was aching for throwing a high-quality Soul Seed Piece away, Mo Fan had actually raised the bet by half a Soul-grade Seed. If Jiang Yu followed, he would lose even more.

As soon as Jiang Yu folded, Mo Fan won the round. He quickly dragged the Soul Seed Pieces in, worth around eight million in total. It was half a tin of milk powder for his Little Flame Belle!

“Hey, don’t take the money yet, show us your cards.”

“K is the biggest card that I have!” Mo Fan replied with a grin.

“F**k me!”

“Damn it, I folded when I had a pair. Mo Fan, you asshole!”

“By the way, I think the sandstorm is getting weaker.”

“Don’t you dare run away after you’ve won! Deal the cards, I’m going to win it back!”

The sandstorm was indeed weakening. Considering that Nanyu might have returned to her position, the group did not play another round.

—

It took the group quite some time to clear away the sand stacked on top of them. They were surprised to see that the area they were at had stacked up into a tall sand dune.

“That’s insane, the altitude here is suddenly over ten meters high.” Zhao Manyan observed the area. He could no longer recognize the place.

Looking at the terrain that had changed beyond recognition, if they did not insist on staying in the same spot, they would have thought the sandstorm had blown them to a different desert!

The place had turned from a flat area of sand to rolling terrain with sand dunes; it was unbelievable!

—

The yellow, sandy dust was still lingering in the air. It took a few hours before it finally cleared up. The group was hoping that Nanyu would be standing around a kilometer away sending out a signal, but the area was completely empty, with no sign of Nanyu.

“We can’t possibly be thinking of waiting here?” Jiang Yu was shaken. He glanced at the sand dunes nearby and said, “You know how strong the sandstorm was. It completely altered the terrain. This place is totally different to how it looked before. Maybe we are not just a kilometer away from the exit, and perhaps Nanyu has never left her spot, we’re just not standing at where we were supposed to be.”

“That’s possible too, otherwise, why couldn’t we see her if she’s only a kilometer away. I couldn’t even see her within five kilometers away!” Zhao Manyan said.

“Let me assure you that many teams that went missing in the desert had the same thoughts, too. They started to think it was meaningless to wait at the same place because of people like you. In the end, they ended up getting even more lost. I’ve heard rumors about the Sahara Desert, and the only way the others can find you is if you stay at the same spot. As long as you don’t move, you will still be at the same spot, but once you start to move away, the desert will eventually lead you to the Desert of Death. At that time, even Super Mages would not dare to save you. You will be buried forever under the sand,” Jiang Shaoxu stated in a very serious voice.

They must not move, not even a single step, unless they knew they were going in the right direction. Otherwise, they would only venture deeper into the desert. Jiang Shaoxu could not afford to let their words influence the group. It was no joke, since it was unlikely that anyone that got lost in the desert would survive!

“Let’s just wait here, we must not move even if it’s raining, hailing, or if a thunderstorm is taking place. We would just lose our chance of being rescued,” Mo Fan said.

Jiang Shaoxu sounded extremely serious, and the rest in the group did not really have any brilliant idea to find the way out, including Jiang Yu, who possessed the Chaos Element.

It was just a boring, stubborn wait. As Jiang Shaoxu had mentioned, if they started having doubts, they would have fallen to the desert maze!

—–

From day to night, the group waited for two days straight.

Bored, worried, helpless, bad thoughts, the two days felt extremely long and torturous. Whenever someone suggested the group leave, Jiang Shaoxu immediately advised against it.

As the supply of food and water started to deplete, waiting aimlessly was incredibly frustrating, making it harder for them to keep their calm.

As such, the desert maze was no longer just a maze, but a test of the travelers’ mental strength. If a team was not unified, the members would most likely suffer mental breakdowns pretty easily!

Luckily, the five people had great trust in one another. Apart from some occasional grumbling, they were willing to wait patiently.

“Say, are we seriously going to wait longer?” Zhao Manyan said with a twisted face.

“Wait! Of course we’re going to wait, didn’t you hear what Jiang Shaoxu just said?” Mo Fan answered firmly.

“Can you take a look at the top of the sand dune over there before answering my question?” Zhao Manyan pointed at a sand dune, where a faint gray figure had slowly appeared.

Mo Fan glanced into the direction and saw a long troop of demon creatures appearing on the sand dune after crossing it from the other side. They started moving toward the group.

If it was just an ordinary sand fox, the group would be able to stay calm. The problem was, the troop of sand foxes was a lot bigger than ordinary sand foxes. They were almost as big as mature bulls!

Their tails were extremely long. Some were dragged along the ground as they moved, while others had their tails upright and swaying like furry serpents.

Their fangs and claws of the foxes were extremely sharp. One could tell they were not friendly at first sight. The green flicker in their eyes clearly displayed their hunger and savagery!

“Sandfear Fox!” Jiang Yu, the demon creature expert, instantly recognized the species. His heart skipped a beat.

Normally, these Sandfear Foxes were loners, as these strong creatures preferred to have their own territories. However, these Sandfear Foxes were moving in a pack, as if they were migrating to a new habitat. It was quite an unbelievable sight!

These Sandfear Foxes were usually the imperious kind that infiltrated other species’ territories, demanding they give up on their homes, yet in the Sahara Desert, they were forced to stick together and migrate to somewhere else…

“Are these creatures tricky to deal with?” Mo Fan asked.

The Sandfear Foxes were heading right toward them. From their starving looks, the fight was clearly inevitable. Most importantly, they had to stay right where they were!

“They are very tricky to deal with,” Jiang Yu said with a twisted expression.

“Should we avoid them?” Zhao Manyan suggested.

“Avoid my ass, we can easily wipe out these little creatures, and prepare some dried fox meat to fill up our supplies!” Mo Fan said.

Mo Fan was a warlike maniac. He felt like he was about to die of boredom in the desert, thus he was fairly keen to fight the demon creatures to occupy himself. Not only could he familiarize himself with his spells, he could also collect the Soul Remnants, and even loot some rare bones, claws, or skin for some extra money. Why wouldn’t he do it?

“Prepare to fight, we can’t afford to leave this place!” Jiang Shaoxu ordered decisively.

Mo Fan, Jiang Yu, Mu Ningxue, and Zhao Manyan prepared themselves, waiting for the Sandfear Foxes to arrive.

If the demon creatures were smart, they would avoid the group instead. If they were up for a fight, it was no longer necessary for the pack of demon creatures to migrate, since this place was going to be their burial ground!

“Err… aren’t their numbers a bit too crazy? Why do I feel like they aren’t really migrating?” Jiang Yu said softly after some time.

More Sandfear Foxes kept on appearing on the sand dune. It went from a long troop, to an incredibly long troop!

On top of that, these Sandfear Foxes were not approaching them in a straight line. They were slowly splitting up into different squads as they scattered across the sand dune, like an army of soldiers moving into their positions right before a war.

“Why do I feel like they are trying to surround us?” Zhao Manyan said.

The troop of Sandfear Foxes was slowly spreading across the sand dunes around the group. Their eyes were staring at Mo Fan and the others, but somehow, they felt like the demon creatures were not targeting them specifically.

On top of that, the Sandfear Foxes were not in a rush to attack. They were holding their positions instead. The group was even more confused. Normally these demon creatures would pounce at them when they saw how they outnumbered the humans. It was unlikely they would hold their positions, as if they were in a stalemate!

“By the way… didn’t any of you turn around?” Mu Ningxue suddenly asked softly.

“Turn around? Why should we turn… f**k me!” Before Mo Fan could finish, he was shocked to see countless crimson-red figures scattered across the sand dunes behind them!

Wild Scorpions!

Crimson Wild Scorpions!

The group was so focused on the overwhelming numbers of the Sandfear Foxes that they were totally unaware of the crimson-red poisonous scorpions behind them…

These poisonous scorpions did not march in from the distance. They were crawling out from the sands, and their numbers kept increasing. They had turned into an army of crimson soldiers, the spectacular sight horrifying to look upon!