A Trap in the Sand

Lanh Hoa was still crouched beside the enormous tracks in the sand. He measured the distance between two claw prints with one hand, then followed the trail with his eyes as it stretched toward the southwest.

Hao Nhien stood beside him, his expression gradually turning serious.

“Can you confirm it was a Sand Fox?” Hao Nhien asked.

Lanh Hoa nodded.

“Yes. The claw marks, the spread of the paws, and the way it distributes its weight all match a Sand Fox. It is simply much larger.”

He rose and brushed the sand from his hand.

“This one is no longer just watching us.”

Hao Nhien looked southwest. The Cat Loi group was traveling with wounded people and could not move quickly. Luu Thanh was with them, so if an attack truly occurred, at least someone would be able to warn the others and buy time. Even so, the opponent following them now was clearly different from the Sand Foxes they had faced before.

“Let’s go.”

He said nothing more.

The two urged their Black Horses into a faster pace, though they still kept enough restraint to avoid exhausting the mounts. Along the way, the trail left by the Cat Loi group appeared and disappeared beneath the windblown sand. From time to time, ordinary Sand Fox tracks appeared beside it, usually keeping their distance, but the enormous prints never vanished for long.

Sometimes the creature strayed several hundred zhang away from the main trail before circling back. At other times, its tracks disappeared completely across stretches of hardened sand, only to reappear from another direction not long afterward. The longer Hao Nhien observed, the more he understood why the pack had not scattered after losing its King. Whatever was behind them was not only powerful, but extraordinarily patient.

They traveled for nearly an entire day before the landscape ahead began to change. The golden sand gradually darkened into gray-black, while the wind carried a faint trace of moisture that was difficult to notice unless one paid close attention. The high dunes became fewer, replaced by broad stretches of flat ground extending toward the horizon.

Lanh Hoa slowed his horse.

“The Sinking Sands are ahead.”

Hao Nhien followed his gaze.

At first glance, the place looked no different from an ordinary flat stretch of desert. There were no rocks, no dead shrubs, and almost no spirit beast tracks. The surface was unnaturally smooth, marked only by tiny ripples that resembled the surface of water stirred by a light breeze.

“You have been here before?”

“I passed along the outer edge twice,” Lanh Hoa replied. “I have never gone deep inside. People in the Western Wastes know this place is dangerous, so most avoid it entirely. The maps only mark the outer boundary. No one dares claim the interior always remains the same.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

He did not treat the Sinking Sands as some fixed trap that could be used merely by arriving here. The sand shifted with the wind, and whatever currents moved beneath the surface could shift as well. Until he saw the terrain with his own eyes, every plan remained only speculation.

They did not ride directly onto the flat expanse. Instead, they followed its outer edge. Lanh Hoa occasionally dismounted to inspect the ground, and eventually found a series of subtle markers near the base of a low dune.

A dry branch had been snapped and placed against the direction of the wind.

A thin line had been dragged through the sand and then partially covered again.

Farther ahead, three small stones had been arranged slightly out of alignment.

Hao Nhien could make little sense of them, but Lanh Hoa needed only a glance.

“Luu Thanh.”

They followed the signs for nearly half a watch before reaching a narrow rock cleft hidden between two gray dunes.

Lanh Hoa had only just raised a hand in warning when movement came from inside.

A moment later, Luu Thanh poked his head out.

The instant he saw them, he stepped forward.

“Clan Head. Uncle Lanh.”

Gray sand covered his clothes. His familiar smile was still there, though his eyes were noticeably more serious than usual.

“You finally made it.”

Cat Dang and several members of the Cat Loi Tribe soon appeared behind him. Tieu Nhan was among them, one shoulder still bandaged, though her complexion looked much better than before.

Hao Nhien did not waste time.

“What is the situation?”

Luu Thanh pointed outside the cleft.

“We arrived yesterday. The people and horses are hidden inside, and we erased most of the trail, but the Sand Foxes never left.”

“How many?”

“It keeps changing,” Luu Thanh replied. “Sometimes only a few appear. Sometimes more than ten. They never come close. They take turns showing themselves at the edge of our vision, then disappear again. I also found tracks from something very large.”

Hao Nhien looked at Lanh Hoa.

Neither man needed to say anything. It was very likely the same creature.

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Cat Dang stepped forward.

“I saw its tracks north of the Sinking Sands as well. It has not approached the rock cleft, but the smaller packs around us are clearly waiting for something.”

“Then we look at the terrain first,” Hao Nhien said.

No one objected.

The group did not venture into the Sinking Sands. They followed the outer edge instead, maintaining a safe distance before climbing a higher ridge from which they could observe the area.

From there, the sinking ground was much clearer.

In daylight, it looked even more unsettling than it had from afar.

The surface was simply too flat.

There were none of the natural irregularities normally found across the desert. In several places, the sand appeared slightly darker, but whenever the wind shifted, even those differences nearly disappeared.

Hao Nhien dismounted and crouched at the outer edge, scooping up a handful of sand.

The surface layer was dry.

Deeper down, however, the grains carried a faint, cold dampness.

He squeezed them lightly and then opened his hand, watching small clumps cling together before breaking apart.

Fragments of knowledge from his former world surfaced in his mind.

“There may be a moist layer of earth underneath, or perhaps underground water.”

Cat Dang turned toward him.

“Water?”

“Only a guess.”

Hao Nhien traced a line across the sand with one finger.

“If there is water or wet sand beneath the surface, the top layer may look stable while actually supporting very little weight. At night, when the moisture is higher, the sand might bind together a little better. Once the sun rises and draws moisture away from the upper layer, that binding weakens. Enough weight could cause the surface to collapse.”

Lanh Hoa studied the expanse ahead.

“So some places might support a person at night and become deadly during the day?”

“Possibly,” Hao Nhien replied. “But I cannot say this place works exactly that way. I once read a similar explanation in an encyclopedia. We still need to test what is actually happening here.”

Cat Dang slowly nodded.

Lanh Hoa nodded as well.

Hao Nhien looked between the two men for a moment.

He was not entirely certain they had understood every concept he had just mentioned, but at least they had grasped the main idea.

Behind them, Tieu Nhan was watching him rather intently.

Hao Nhien cleared his throat and decisively moved on to something more useful.

“Is there anywhere we can test it without stepping inside?”

Cat Dang pointed toward a lower patch of sand to the south.

“That area collapsed before. The outer boundary is still fairly obvious.”

Lanh Hoa found a heavy boulder nearby. The two men dragged it over and pushed it down the slope.

The stone rolled several times before sliding onto the gray sand.

At first, nothing happened.

Then, after several breaths, the surface beneath it began to sag. The boulder tilted slightly and slowly sank deeper. The surrounding sand did not collapse with a sudden crash. Instead, it flowed inward like water, layer after layer curling around the stone.

In less than half a quarter-hour, more than half of the boulder had disappeared.

Luu Thanh whistled.

“If that were a person’s leg, I doubt there would be time to pull it back out.”

“That is why no one enters without permission.”

Hao Nhien continued observing for a while.

He studied the direction of the wind, the slope along the edges, and the distance between the higher dunes and the unstable ground. Lanh Hoa and Cat Dang supplied everything they knew about the terrain, while Luu Thanh described where the Sand Fox packs had appeared over the previous day.

Hao Nhien did not rush to a decision.

He spent nearly a full watch moving along the outer edge and observing from several different positions before returning to the rock cleft.

Cat Dang asked, “Clan Head Hao, do you have a plan?”

“I have a direction.”

Hao Nhien looked at everyone.

“But first, we need to agree on one thing.”

His expression became serious.

“If the larger King truly comes, no one enters the Sinking Sands with me.”

Luu Thanh frowned at once.

“Clan Head, if you go alone...”

“Let me finish.”

Hao Nhien did not raise his voice, but Luu Thanh fell silent.

He pointed toward the gray expanse in the distance.

“In that place, raw strength is not the most important thing. Speed and the ability to change direction matter more. One wrong step could turn one of our own people into someone who needs rescuing.”

Hao Nhien looked first at Lanh Hoa, then at Luu Thanh.

“At short range, I have a movement method that gives me better speed and sharper changes of direction than either of you. If something goes wrong, I have a better chance of getting out quickly.”

Luu Thanh understood, though he still did not look reassured.

“What if that creature is faster than you?”

“That is why I spent so long studying the terrain instead of planning to fight it head-on.”

Hao Nhien replied calmly.

“I only need to draw it toward the right place. If anyone else goes in with me, I have to account for their retreat as well. Once that happens, my advantage in speed loses most of its value.”

Lanh Hoa remained silent for a moment before asking, “What do we do from outside?”

“You are not simply watching.”

Hao Nhien looked at Luu Thanh.

“You take the high ground and keep your bow ready. Only shoot when I signal, or if the beast breaks away from the direction I want.”

He then turned to Lanh Hoa.

“You hold the outer edge. Keep the smaller Sand Foxes from interfering and make sure the retreat route is not cut off.”

Finally, he looked at Cat Dang.

“Elder Cat Dang, stay with the Cat Loi people and the horses. If the situation goes beyond what we expected, withdraw from this area at once. Do not wait for us.”

Cat Dang did not argue.

“All right.”

Luu Thanh was still looking at Hao Nhien.

“So, in other words, you are the one going inside because you are the fastest.”

“Yes.”

“And if we follow you in, you may have to turn around and save us.”

Hao Nhien looked at him.

“I would rather not put it that harshly.”

Luu Thanh sighed.

“But that is what you mean.”

The corner of Hao Nhien’s mouth lifted slightly.

“Yes.”

Some of the tension in the air eased.

Lanh Hoa asked another question.

“What if the King refuses to enter?”

“We do not force it.”

Hao Nhien answered without hesitation.

“I do not know how intelligent it is yet. If it refuses to enter the Sinking Sands, then this plan simply cannot be used. We are not going to fight just because we came all the way here.”

Cat Dang gave a clear nod at that.

Hao Nhien continued, “Tonight we first see how it reacts. There is no need to hide ourselves completely anymore.”

Luu Thanh raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“Light a fire.”

Hao Nhien looked toward the darkness slowly spreading across the Sinking Sands.

“Let them know we are here.”

Cat Dang understood at once.

Luu Thanh grinned.

“Then can we bring out the wine?”

Lanh Hoa gave him a look.

Hao Nhien also glanced at him before answering.

“Yes. But do not drink too much.”

Luu Thanh immediately straightened his expression.

“I am only drinking to make the act convincing.”

“I know,” Lanh Hoa replied. “That is exactly what worries me.”

Cat Dang let out a rough laugh.

Even Tieu Nhan could not help smiling.

Not long afterward, they lit a fire on a stretch of firm ground far enough from the Sinking Sands to remain safe. Orange-yellow flames flickered in the night wind, bright enough for anything watching from the darkness to see.

Cat Dang sat near the other Cat Loi members with his spear beside him. Tieu Nhan remained behind him and no longer approached the unstable ground. Luu Thanh took a slightly elevated position with his bow resting across his knees. Lanh Hoa sat at the outer edge of the firelight, his curved saber planted in the sand, his eyes fixed on the darkness ahead.

Hao Nhien stood beyond the fire.

The others only needed to know that he possessed an advantage in speed within this terrain. He could not explain that, beyond his ability to change direction over short distances, he also possessed another way out. If the situation truly slipped beyond his control, the Cosmic Ark remained his final retreat, a secret he could never allow anyone else to discover.

The night wind gradually strengthened, pushing the flames to one side.

Beyond the firelight, the darkness of the Western Wastes seemed to deepen.

Then a low howl sounded from far away.

It was not loud, but it lasted long enough for everyone around the fire to raise their heads.

A short while later, another howl answered from a different direction.

Then a third came from even farther away.

Lanh Hoa slowly rose, one hand settling on the hilt of his saber.

Luu Thanh picked up his bow.

Hao Nhien looked into the dark expanse ahead.

The King had not appeared yet.

But its packs had arrived.