“It’s awfully hot, ge,” Xiao-Kai complained as he shaded his eyes with a hand. “Can we stop for a break?”

Yuelong gently patted the boy’s shoulder. “Can you hold out for a while? We’re not close to any resting areas.”

“Actually, he’s not the only one.” Mengjun walked up next to Yuelong. “My feet are going to be braised quite nicely if we don’t stop for a while.”

Under the scorching sun, the team had journeyed a couple hours into the desert by foot. Heated by the sun, every grain of sand was a miniature sun, radiating unbearable heat under every member’s soles. Luckily, Murong Zi had cast a temporal gray cloud above them to block out some of the sun. But it evaporated away into the air.

“Murong gu-niang, can you cast another cloud?” Yuelong asked reluctantly. 

Yuelong felt sorry towards Murong Zi, as she witnessed her own family slaughtered by the demons and her own father died in her arms. It was an unbearable thing and Yuelong didn’t want to trouble Murong Zi. Even though he experienced the loss of a loved one too, his instincts told him that she was experiencing far greater pain than he had.

“The earth element is too strong here in the desert, if I tried to make another cloud, the water would be immediately absorbed by the earth element. It would just be a waste of energy.” Murong Zi replied.

“That’s alright, no worries,” Yuelong comforted, wiping off sweat from his brows. 

Just as everyone thought they would be baked alive in the desert, Murong Zi pointed off to her left.

“There. We can take a break there.” She said.

Yuelong shields his eyes from the sun and peered off into the distance. About a couple hundred meters off was a giant, luscious tree, blooming with green leaves and red flowers.

“A tree in the middle of the desert?” Mengjun questioned. “You’re sure about this?”

Sifei whispered “Shi-jie, you—”

Murong Zi responded, “There’s nothing wrong with that. The wood element naturally subdues the earth element. If you don’t want to be shaded then stay put.”

Without another word, the four members followed Murong Zi towards the tree. Upon closer inspection, the trunk of the tree was as thick as five burly men tied together. The tree rose into the air and spread out its branches like an umbrella. Its leaves blocked out every spot of sunlight, providing a natural spot for travelers to rest in the desert.

“Does anyone else smell that?” Mengjun suddenly asked, sniffing the air.

“I smell it too!” Xiao-Kai exclaimed, walking under the shade of the tree. “It smells like some sort of fruit!”

Yuelong inhaled a deep breath. There was a refreshing sweet scent coming from the tree. It smelled like tangy green apples with a hint of coldness to it.

“Alright then, we will take a break here until the sun gets lower.” Yuelong announced.

Immediately, Xiao-Kai and Mengjun sat down with their backs against the trunk of the tree. They both released a satisfying sigh of relief at the same time. They looked at each other and giggled like little boys. Yuelong sat down next to them as Murong Zi and Sifei surveyed the area standing up.

Mengjun asked, “How long do we have until we reach the Huangxue Sect’s headquarters?”

“To be honest, I have no idea.”

“What?” Mengjun and Xiao-Kai both looked at Yuelong with stunned expressions.

Yuelong answered, “I’ve never been there before but from what I know, Huangxue Sect is carved into a giant hill of limestone. It is made up of multiple caves all linked together.”

“So how will we get there?” Mengjun asked. “We’re not going to be wandering all over the desert looking for some holes right?”

Yuelong gave a soft chuckle. “No of course. Murong Zi been to the Huangxue Caves before so she knows the directions.”

Mengjun passed a waterskin to Yuelong. “Thirsty? I know I am.”

“Then you can drink first,” Yuelong gently pushed back the waterskin. 

Mengjun pushed the waterskin back. “You’re one of our team’s leading members, you need the water.”

Yuelong looked at the waterskin and smiled. “Alright then, thanks.” He popped the cork open and took a deep drink. He could feel the cold liquid sliding down his parched throat, his Adam's apple moving up and down as he gulped down the water. 

“Alright, here you go,” Yuelong passed the waterskin back to Mengjun. “What is it?”

Mengjun inched his face closer to Yuelong and reached out with his hand. Yuelong’s heartbeat echoed through his mind and body. He could feel every rapid beating of his heart. Yuelong felt a gentle hand brush the corner of his mouth and chin.

“You spilled some water, that’s all.” Mengjun said, grabbing the waterskin from Yuelong’s hand. 

Yuelong peeked at Mengjun. It was as if time slowed to a slug’s pace. He could see Mengjun’s Adam’s apple moving up and down as he swallowed. The white and pureness of his neck. The image of Mengjun’s chest once again surfaced in Yuelong’s mind. He quickly looked away.

“Umm… right.” Yuelong looked down at the sandy ground in embarrassment. What was I thinking!? Get your mind together Yuelong!

“Here, bud,” Mengjun handed the waterskin to Xiao-Kai.

“Thanks, ge!” Xiao-Kai responded.

“I’ll go see how Murong Zi and Sifei are doing, I’ll be back.” Yuelong suddenly stood up and walked towards the other two members, leaving Mengjun and Xiao-Kai chatting to themselves.

After getting a rough idea of where the Huangxue Caves were, Yuelong finally calmed himself down and returned back to where Mengjun and Xiao-Kai were.

“Meng—” Yuelong stopped and looked at the two with their heads leaning against one another. Like two boys after a tiring day, they had fallen asleep.

“Perhaps a bit of rest might help.” Yuelong said to himself. He picked a comfortable spot next to the two and closed his eyes. After what seemed like a couple minutes, he heard a faint voice calling to him.

“Wake up… Wake up… It’s eating you!”

Yuelong sat up with a jolt. He tried to stand up but found that his arms couldn’t move. He looked down and discovered that multiple tree roots had wrapped themselves around him.

“Mengjun! Xiao-Kai!” Yuelong called out, trying to wiggle himself free. “Answer me!”

The roots of the tree tightened around his waist, pushing out the air from his lungs. He coughed and gasped for breath.

“What is this? A tree demon?”

Yuelong looked around for Murong Zi and Sifei but not even a shadow was to be found. Only the endless sea of sand and cloudless sky was before him.

He immediately closed his eyes and focused energy into the palms of his hands. As his palms got hotter and hotter, red flames erupted from the space between the roots.

“Where is everyone?” He thought to himself. “Why isn’t anyone answering me? What if they were all taken by the tree? Xiao-Kai? Mengjun!”

The energy from his palms losted control and erupted violently, bursting the tree roots around him into splinters. Yuelong dropped out from the tree’s grasp. He felt a pain in his hands but quickly ignored it as he stood up to get a clear view of what had happened.

The tree was no longer a tree. But it was in the shape of a tall woman. Vines hung down like hair from her head. Claw-like branches creaked and cracked as she moved her “fingers”. The roots of the tree were like her dress, except that they could strangle people. Hanging from the “hair” of the tree were two people.

“Mengjun! Xiao-Kai!” Yuelong murmured. 

Immediately he summoned his sword. Gripping the cool steel handle, he felt a scorching pain in his hand. But once again, he brushed it off as he charged towards the tree.

The tree, now a moving creature, faced Yuelong heads on. Numerous vines shot out like striking snakes, each one parried and dodged by Yuelong’s swift motions. 

“How could this tree be moving?” Yuelong asked himself, cutting every branch and vine that the tree threw at him. “Unless it was never a tree to begin with…”

Leaping high up into the air, Yuelong covered his sword with a layer of Sanmei fire. With a single palm strike, he shot the sword right through the wood monster, burning a large hole in the chest of the tree.

The tree released a high pitched screech and stared down at Yuelong, afraid and angry.

“Release my friends! Or I will ruin the hundreds of years of hard work you put into cultivation!” Yuelong threatened.

The monster stared down at Yuelong, unmoving, as if waiting for something to happen. Yuelong clenched his hands into fists. He already lost a friend and he won’t be losing another.

Suddenly, something pulled his leg backwards and Yuelong fell forward, plunging his face into the sand. He felt himself pulled back and lifted off the ground. He felt nauseous as the blood in his body rushed to his head. 

“Never underestimate me.” Yuelong said threatenly to the tree demon.

He outstretched a hand and followed by a deep ringing sound, Cangming once again returned to his clenches. With a swipe, Yuelong released a ring of fire that expanded and cut off all the vines that held Xiao-Kai, Mengjun and himself. Now released from the tree, he rotated in the air and landed safely on the sand. 

Yuelong pointed at the tree demon with his flaming sword. The tree recoiled back in fear.

“Never mess with my friends.”

He shot out his flaming sword at the tree. Cangming, the magical weapon linked to Yuelong’s mind, pierced right through the tree. And right when it passed through, it turned around and attacked the tree from another angle. The tree’s high pitch screech rang out in the desert.

While the sword was attacking, Yuelong ran to his friends.

“Xiao-Kai, Xiao-Kai! Are you alright?”

Xiao-Kai groaned and sat up. “Ge? What happened?”

Yuelong brought him close and hugged him. “It’s alright now, it’s alright now.”

Beside Xiao-Kai was Mengjun, who moaned and sat up slowly. He brought a hand up to his head. “Heavens! What happened? Ugh, my head.”

“It’s alright now, I’ve dealt with the problem.” Yuelong answered in relief.

“Ge, what happened to your hands?” Xiao-Kai asked, gently picking up Yuelong’s hand.

Yuelong flinched away from Xiao-Kai and called out in pain. 

“What happened!?” Mengjun instantly made his way next to Yuelong and gently lifted his hands. “How did this happen? How did you burn yourself?”

“I’m not sure…” Yuelong answered. “I guess I didn’t keep a calm mind when I used my powers. It happens sometimes. Fire is hard to control, you know.”

Mengjun looked at him with a disapproving look and sighed. Then his eyes widened in shock. “Yiheng, what’s that?” Mengjun pointed behind Yuelong.

The cloudless blue skies had turned gray in color. A giant cloud of sand was rolling across the waterless sea. And it was heading straight towards them.

Murong Zi and Sifei suddenly appeared from behind the tree. Their faces in a worried expression.

“It’s a sandstorm,” Murong Zi said. “A big one too.”

And before they had time to respond, the storm arrived.