Chapter 356 - 172: Person in the Sand

Chapter 356: Chapter 172: Person in the Sand

Xu Mo parked the car on the edge of the basin, then got out with Shi Lei and walked into the sand pit.

The air was filled with the smell of food, and another indescribable scent of life.

As Xu Mo and Shi Lei drew closer, the people in the sand pit began to notice them.

At first, only a few people looked up, then more. They saw Shi Lei, then Xu Mo beside him, and noticed Xu Mo’s clothes, which didn’t belong in the desert. Curiosity filled their eyes.

"Shi Lei, who’s this?"

"Shi Lei, you brought back a guest?"

"A guest? What guest? Where’s he from?"

People crowded around, all talking at once. As he walked, Shi Lei explained that this was a guest from Jiang City heading to Ming Pearl Port. They had run into him while their hunting party was out, so they brought him back.

Xu Mo’s gaze swept across their faces. Just like the group from before, the people in this camp were a mix of normal humans and Mutants. Some had obvious signs of mutation, while others looked completely normal. Yet they stood together without any barriers between them.

Xu Mo even saw a young child with a physical mutation, chasing and playing with another, normal child, laughing with pure joy.

The child being chased ran over, nearly bumping into Xu Mo. He looked up at Xu Mo, gave him a wide grin, then turned and ran off again.

A slight smile touched Xu Mo’s lips. Just then, a voice called out from behind the crowd.

"We have a visitor?"

The crowd automatically parted, and a man walked out from the back.

He was a middle-aged man, appearing to be in his forties. He was tall, with dark, rough skin weathered by the sun. A long scar ran across his face, from his left eyebrow down to the corner of his mouth, giving his features a somewhat ferocious look. But his eyes were gentle as he looked at Xu Mo with a hint of curiosity, sizing him up. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

Like the others, he was also a Mutant. His mutation was on his back—something protruded from behind his shoulder, like an underdeveloped third arm.

He saw Xu Mo’s gaze land on the extra arm and smiled.

"Don’t mind this. It doesn’t get in the way. Sometimes it even helps me carry things."

Xu Mo nodded without saying anything more.

"I’m the leader here. Name’s Old Zheng," the man said. "Shi Lei said you’re from Jiang City? And you’re heading to Ming Pearl Port?"

"That’s right," Xu Mo said. "My name is Xu Mo. I’m a Messenger sent from Jiang City to deliver a message to Ming Pearl Port."

Old Zheng’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Ming Pearl Port..." he murmured, then looked at Xu Mo. "Then you must know that Ming Pearl Port has gone silent?"

"I know," Xu Mo said. "That’s why I was sent."

Old Zheng was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Come," he said. "Follow me. Let’s have a proper talk."

After saying this, Old Zheng turned and walked toward the center of the camp. Xu Mo followed, and the others automatically cleared a path, watching them go deeper into the settlement.

The center of the sand pit was a relatively open area. Planks of wood and pieces of canvas were spread across the ground for people to sit or lie on.

Old Zheng sat down on a piece of canvas and gestured for Xu Mo to do the same.

Xu Mo sat down, his gaze drawn to a pot nearby. Chunks of white meat were tumbling in the boiling water inside. The broth was a pale yellow, with some grease floating on top.

"That’s sandworm meat. It’s our main food source here," Old Zheng explained, noticing Xu Mo’s glance.

It was then Xu Mo realized that sandworm meat was edible.

Old Zheng ladled two bowls of broth from a wooden bucket, handing one to Xu Mo and keeping one for himself. Xu Mo took the bowl but didn’t drink, simply setting it down beside him.

Old Zheng smiled at Xu Mo’s action but said nothing. He took a sip of the broth before speaking.

"These sandworms are treasures through and through. The meat is edible, and it tastes pretty good. The hide can be made into clothes or armor—it’s not as good as real leather, but it’s usable. The innards can be used as bait to attract more sandworms."

"So you live by hunting sandworms?" Xu Mo asked.

"That’s right," Old Zheng said. "There’s not much else to eat in this desert. Most of the time, it’s just sandworms. Luckily, there are a lot of them; we can never catch them all."

Xu Mo fell silent for a moment before asking the question that concerned him most.

"Old Zheng, can you tell me about that military unit?"

Old Zheng’s expression turned serious. He set down his bowl, looked at Xu Mo, and began to speak slowly.

"That was a year ago."

"Back then, we hadn’t been living near here for long and were still getting used to desert life. One day, we suddenly heard a huge commotion in the distance. It startled us. We thought it was a horde of zombies or some kind of Mutant Beast, so we quickly hid."

"Then we saw the military unit."

"Lots of vehicles, lots of people. There were machine guns mounted on the vehicles. The people wore matching uniforms and carried matching guns. You could tell at a glance they were a proper army."

"We were both scared and curious. Scared because we didn’t know who they were, and curious because we hadn’t seen so many people in a long time. Later, their convoy stopped. They had probably seen us, because someone started walking toward us."

A nostalgic look appeared on Old Zheng’s face.

"The man wasn’t old, but he was an officer. He asked us who we were and where we came from. After we told him, he told us not to be afraid. He said they were a combat unit from Ming Pearl Port, out on a mission."