Chapter 31: Sand Boat Looking for Horses

Sun Fuping signaled Nian Songyu to wait a little longer.

This wait lasted for half a quarter of an hour.

All the creatures on the bottom of the sand were smoked away, and there was no movement within a few feet, except for the whistling wind.

"Hasn't it come yet?" Nian Songyu was impatient, "Time is precious." The Panlong Desert gets dark quickly, and it will be night in two hours. They don't have much time to waste here.

"Not yet." Situ Han's forehead was full of sweat, and he didn't know whether it was from the sun or from his anxiety. "It may be far away, and it will take time to get here."

He Lingchuan did not forget to speak for Situ Han at this time: "I have seen it, it is a giant, maybe it can really take us through the desert, saving time and effort."

"Maybe?" Nian Songyu's tone became gloomy when he heard these three words, "How dare you waste our time on something you are not sure of?"

After another two incense sticks of time, the end of Hongya Road was still calm.

A gust of wind blew through the wooden crowd, and rushed into the distance with a "whoosh".

Nian Songyu tapped the scabbard with his index finger, tap, tap, this was a sign of his impatience.

As time went by, he felt more and more that the bandits had received He Lingchuan's signal and were going to play a trick on his own people. The so-called "fragrant dumplings" was also first proposed by He Lingchuan.

Nian Songyu's eyes became more and more unfriendly, and He Lingchuan just pretended not to see it, but he was also a little anxious in his heart.

Seeing that the sun was getting farther and farther west, even Sun Fuping finally lost his patience: "No more waiting, everyone get on the boat..."

During this period of time, he had divided everyone into three groups, each of which was assigned a walnut boat.

Time is precious, they can't wait any longer, and they have to leave now.

Situ Han raised his finger in front of his lips and said "hush" forcefully: "Here we come!"

It was really rude to do this to so many big shots, but now he was nervous and couldn't care less.

As soon as the voice fell, there was a "splash", and the desert was split in the middle like the water surface, and yellow sand splashed everywhere, as if a sandstorm had blown up on the spot.

A huge creature rushed out of the ground nearly ten feet high, holding pickled meat in its mouth, and landed heavily.

Another cloud of dust flew up.

The creature dived quickly with a flexibility that was not in line with its size, and disappeared in the sand sea in a blink of an eye.

Situ Han didn't care that he was splashed in the face, and cheered: "Here it comes, it's coming! Ah, huh, huh!" He quickly spit out a few mouthfuls of sand.

Except for Sun Guoshi and several others who opened up their protective qi in time, the rest of the people were covered in dust.

But everyone finally saw clearly what Situ Han had caught by casting a long line to catch a big fish.

The creature looked like both an eel and an earthworm, round and long without feet, but with segments on its trunk, and its body color was almost the same as the yellow sand. If it was buried quietly in the sand, even people with good eyesight would find it difficult to recognize it.

But unlike the eel, its mouth was surprisingly large, and it was torn open beyond the diameter of the body, and it was full of fine and dense needle teeth. There were also two long whiskers on the side of its mouth, which seemed to be used to detect the movement of the quicksand.

Zeng Feixiong cried out: "Such a big earth dragon!"

This thing is eight feet long (twenty-six meters)!

The soldiers on the side also unconsciously took a half step back. The oppressive feeling brought by such a body size cannot be eliminated by reason.

This earth dragon is not a snake eel in the sea, but a creature unique to the desert. In fact, whether living in the desert or the sea, some animals don't seem to need long legs.

But this thing is usually no more than ten feet long in other deserts, and experienced travelers will catch it as food. But this one in front of him... Zeng Feixiong once led a team to patrol back and forth on Hongya Road, but he had never seen such a big earth dragon!

Situ Han was relieved: "This is not the earth dragon king...The biggest one we have seen is more than twelve feet long."

"Since it is a big guy, a small piece of meat can't feed it." He Lingchuan pointed to the three walnut boats, "The earth dragon is very strong, it should not be a problem to pull a boat. Well, and they usually go out in groups."

In other words, the stinky meat attracted more than one earth dragon.

Children at the seaside can fish, and He Lingchuan, who grew up next to the Panlong Desert, has also fished for earth dragons many times.

Of course, he had never used such heavy bait, and had never seen such a large prey.

Situ Han nodded: "Everyone, please get on the boat. We will do it again, and we can use them as horses to pull carts."

So the soldiers boarded the boat in three groups, and the boatman at the head of the walnut boat grabbed the tow rope and tied a slipknot, ready for battle.

This time everyone protected their mouths and noses, so when the sand bandits took out a large piece of pickled meat and poured the stinky liquid on it, no one was fooled. Nian Songyu personally took out the meat with special ingredients and put it on the pole, standing at the bow and holding it high.

The boatman's pole is also part of the walnut boat, and the length can be changed at will.

The stinky liquid specially made by the sand bandits can drive away most creatures in the desert, and it is also a magic weapon for escaping and emergency; but there are pros and cons, and this thing is the favorite of earth dragons.

In fact, strictly speaking, earth dragons like "stink".

They feed on carrion, and the stench that other creatures cannot stand is the aroma of food to earth dragons. And this level of stench is like the bell for the annual 48-bowl banquet in the village, which will definitely come no matter how far away it is.

Situ Han reminded: "They are very stupid, just hang it with stinky meat, and the boat will move!"

Since these things have come from thousands of miles away, they will not be dispersed in a short time.

Sure enough, as soon as the stinky meat was picked up, a huge earth dragon broke through the sand and pounced on the meat.

Judging from its size, it is bigger than its companion just now.

Nian Songyu is quick-witted and quick-handed. With a flick of his wrist, the pickled meat jumped up, and the earth dragon missed.

The boatman standing by threw the rope and it was caught on the earth dragon's neck with great precision.

Although it was round and had no limbs, the knots on its body were very deep. The knot slid through two knots and then nested in the third knot.

The earth dragon was startled by being caught suddenly and jumped forward more than thirty feet. Only when the knot was tightened did Nian Songyu lower the pole and let the pickled meat hang in front of the earth dragon.

The aroma was fragrant, and the earth dragon had a small brain, so it immediately forgot that it was caught and swam towards the pickled meat with saliva.

It was so powerful that it dragged the boat and the people forward with ease.

So the boat started.

Nian Songyu only needed to throw the pole, and the earth dragon pulling the boat would follow it. The hissing sound below was the sound of sand rubbing against the bottom of the walnut boat, which showed that the horsepower was strong.

The most important task of the boat driver is to adjust the bow in time so that the earth dragon and the boat can sail with the wind, so that the stinking meat hanging high in front will not suffocate all the passengers on the boat.

For now, there is nothing more important than this.

In a blink of an eye, Nian Songyu's boat sailed more than a hundred feet away.

"It's our turn." With the successful example in front, the rest of the people were greatly encouraged. Sun Fuping and Zeng Feixiong led the team to board the first boat, and the He family father and son and the sand bandits boarded the last boat. They all did the same.