Although yellow sand still stretched in every direction, He Lingchuan could clearly sense that this place was very different from before.

Travelers came and went freely, no longer keeping strictly to the Hongya Route.

Several children were crouched by the roadside playing in the sand. In the past, adults would have shouted at them harshly, dragged them back, and treated them to a round of bamboo-stick fried pork[1]. Now, however, the children had already built several little houses out of sand, and no one paid them any attention.

The desert itself was quiet. In sheltered, shaded spots, small patches of green grass had even begun to grow.

He Lingchuan could clearly see something moving among the dunes not far away, yet it did not come over to attack the children.

Meanwhile, Qiu Hu and the others kept looking around, finding everything novel. “So this is the famous Panlong Desert?”

They were all veterans who had seen battle, but most had never...