Chapter 42 - The Domain of Quicksand

The vegetation in the oasis is very dense, with lush greenery everywhere, as if it has suddenly arrived in spring, with a vibrant appearance.
Following Ah Long, Yang Xuan and the others slowly deepened into the depths of the oasis.
"Alon, how old are you?"
"Me? I'm only 17 years old."
"What?! Are you kidding me? You're already so tall at 17 years old! You're 17 years old..."
"Hahaha! It's not that big of a deal. My older brothers at home are even taller than me."
Luo Xiaoqi and Alon walked side by side, she was like a curious little bee, constantly surrounding Alon and asking all sorts of questions.
"I didn't expect there to be people in the world of mountains and seas."
Yang Xuan couldn't help but turn to Ling Chengfeng and said, "I thought this world was full of exotic beasts and monsters."
Ling Chengfeng shook his head and said, "Of course there are people living in this world. The Shanhaijing not only records exotic beasts, but also many countries. The Jie Xiong Kingdom mentioned by Arong is one of them."
"The book says that the people of Jiechongguo are all like Arong, with chest as sharp and protruding as chicken's, but I didn't expect their physical strength to be so strong."
Yang Xuan listened on the side, nodding his head with half understanding.
"A Long..."
"Shh~"
Lou Xiaoqi and A Long were walking in front. Suddenly, A Long stopped and turned back, gently shushing Yang Xuansan and the others, saying, "The central lake is ahead. Let's be quiet when we get closer and see if there are any wild animals resting by the lake."
"Okay."
Three people nodded silently and followed along with Ah Long, tiptoeing carefully and trying not to make any noise as they approached the center of the forest.
In the center of the oasis was a tranquil lake, as clear as a mirror.
The lake is calm and the water is so clear that you can see the underwater plants and various fishes and shrimps.
At the lakeside, several black tigers are drinking from the lake. One of them keeps looking around, always on alert.
"Are there only a few black tigers?"
Aaron sounded a bit dissatisfied, muttering under his breath, "I don't know what's going on, but the beasts in the Sands of Time have disappeared in recent times. I don't know where they're hiding."
"It's not easy to hunt a strange beast now...well, but we can barely eat for a few days with these black tigers."
"As Aron spoke, he took his bow and arrow from his back, skillfully pulled the bowstring, placed a sharp arrow, aimed at the distant lookout black tiger, and prepared to shoot.
"Roar!"
The black tiger on watch let out a low roar and suddenly hunkered down, assuming a wary posture. Its sixth sense as a wild animal allowed it to sense danger in the first instant.
Whoosh!
A thunderous sound of breaking through the air sounded, and the arrow was almost shot to the black tiger before it even left Arong's fingers, nailing the tiger to the ground with its head pierced by the arrow, before it could even react.
"Roar!"
"Ao!"
……
A few remaining black tigers sensed the arrival of the hunters and quickly scattered, diving into nearby bushes as they searched for Alon's whereabouts.
"Ha!"
One of the black tigers pounced from the front, but Alon charged forward instead of retreating, extending his two strong arms to engage in close combat with the tiger.
"Roar!"
A few remaining black tigers sensed the commotion and gathered around.
"Prepare for battle!"
Ling Chengfeng reached out and grabbed his trident spear, which appeared in his hand out of nowhere. Lu Xiaoqi also summoned his flaming trident spear. The two of them brandished their weapons and confronted a black tiger each.
"Eh? Eh?"
Yang Xuan also prepared for battle, but as he looked around, he realized that there were only three black tigers that were born and they were all blocked. He was useless at the moment.
Moreover, whether it was Arong, Ling Chengfeng, or Lu Xiaoqi, they all displayed their powerful strength from the beginning and directly suppressed the black tigers.
"Go, go for it?"
Finally, Yang Xuan could only silently wave his fists at the back and cheer for the three.
"Hahaha! You guys still have some strength."
Shortly after Arong and Black Tiger's fight, Ling Chengfeng and Lu Xiaoqi also followed suit and killed their own black tigers, which impressed Arong.
Especially for Lou Xiaoqi, who can release flames, A'long stares at her curiously and asks, "A'qi, are you from the Fire Hating Country? How did you grow up to look like this?"
"Huh?"
Lu Xiaoqi was taken aback and had no idea what the Burning Nation was. He could only ask stupidly, "What should I look like then?"
"Don't you know?"
Aronghu looked at Lu Xiaoqi up and down in confusion, gesturing wildly: "The people of the Burning Nation, they all look like apes, with dark skin..."
Lu Xiaoqi's face turned black as he retorted, "You look like a monkey!"
"Me? How can I look like a monkey?"
Long reached out to touch his own big face, proudly stating, "I am the most handsome warrior in our tribe!"
"Uh."
Three people looked at Ah Long's appearance and were speechless for a moment.
Outside, the sandstorm was still raging and it seemed that it would not stop for a while. At Ah Long's suggestion, the three of them found a clearing in the forest and temporarily set up a few shelters with branches and large leaves for rest.
"We may have to spend the night here today."
Aaron carried a few strings of tiger meat to the grill and asked Xiaoqi to help light the fire. Then he sat by the grill and started grilling the meat.
Yang Xuan was whispering with Ling Chengfeng on the side about something, but when they saw Ah Long return, they exchanged a glance and then walked over on their own accord.
"Ah Long, I want to ask you about something."
Aaron focused on the barbecue in his hand and said without raising his head, "Ask me, I know a lot."
"Understood."
Yang Xuan nodded and asked, "Do you know where the Taihang Mountains are?"
"Taihang Mountain? Never heard of it."
A Long shook his head.
"... How about Beihai Island? We're going to look for the giant crab."
"Beihai Island? Giant crab? I don't know."
Arong still shook his head.
Yang Xuan suddenly became speechless, and the rest of his words were stuck in his throat for a while.
Didn't you say you knew a lot?
Why do you not know anything when asked?
"Do you know where Tanggu is?"
Helplessly, Yang Xuan could only ask the last question with little hope.
"Tanggu? Of course, I know."
Arong looked up and stared at Yang Xuan, saying, "Tanggu is to the east of the Flowing Sands Domain, right beside the Black Tooth Country. It's really far away from here. I heard about it from my grandfather in my childhood."
"Is it far? How far is it?"
Yang Xuan had already lost hope, but he didn't expect Ah Long to know where Tang Gu was.
"Hmm...at my speed, it would take a whole month to walk there. Plus, I would have to cross the Desert of Flowing Sands where danger lurks everywhere, so I've never been there."
"What! It's going to take that long!"
Upon hearing this, both Yang Xuan and Ling Chengfeng's faces were incredibly ugly.
They only had a short ten days! And during these ten days, the place they had to go wasn't just the Soup Valley.
What should I do?