The Land of Dunhuang

The moment Mo Fan heard that Xinxia should join the team, his first reaction was to shake his head.

"You know her condition perfectly well — how could that possibly work?" he said.

"You have the Swift Star Wolf. It can carry her the whole way and keep her safe at the same time. The Scorched Plains are no safe haven, and I was already going to bring this up — we need a Mind Element mage. They're extraordinarily rare to begin with, and even the few that exist would never come with us for something like this." Zhao Manyan said.

Limited mobility wasn't really the core problem. Mo Fan had a Summoned Beast, which was far more reliable than relying on one's own two legs.

"Even so... she spends most of her time at school. She has no experience dealing with Demon-Beasts." Mo Fan still wasn't persuaded.

"Come on. You just don't want her following you into danger. It's only a suggestion — the final call is yours." Zhao Manyan said.

"Fine. Go ahead and send all our details to Lingling first. She knows better than we do what the team is missing and what still needs to be done." Mo Fan said.

What reassured Mo Fan was that Lingling hadn't thrown herself entirely into the matter of that dark-red soul. She clearly understood that the circumstances of her father's death were far from ordinary — it couldn't be rushed.

In the days since, Lingling had returned to her usual self. When she heard that Mo Fan was heading to the Scorched Plains, her big eyes flickered with unmistakable excitement.

Dunhuang was one of the country's most famous ancient Demon-Beast territories. The creatures dwelling there carried the purest bloodlines and the oldest histories, and the splendor of China's magical civilization was inscribed across those sandy cliffs and crumbling ruins. Hunter-mages were always drawn there in search of lost civilizations — and with luck, they might unearth buried relics and Enchanted Gear left behind from ages long past.

Unfortunately, the Dunhuang region had long since become a haven for Demon-Beasts. The Sand Tiger clan stood above all others in infamy — ferocious beyond measure.

In the south, the One-Eyed Demon Wolf was considered one of the more dangerous and savage threats to humans. But set against the Sand Tiger clan, it barely ranked. The demon tiger race was, at its core, a force of overwhelming dominance and brute power.

Their destination, the Scorched Plains, lay east of the Dunhuang region — a vast expanse of gobi desert and endless drifting loess. The searing heat and scorching winds needed no elaboration; even overseas Hunter-mages had heard of the place.

While the Scorched Plains fell under the Dunhuang region, the "Dunhuang" in this context was far larger than the historical Dunhuang Mo Fan knew of — it covered nearly half of Gansu Province. That placed the Scorched Plains in the part of Gansu closest to Jiayuguan.

Mo Fan's knowledge of geography was decidedly thin, but the mention of Jiayuguan triggered a sudden flash of recognition — he at least had a rough sense of where they were headed.

Fortunately, for all its dangers, the Dunhuang area still had inhabited cities. They could fly directly to Dunhuang Airport and then travel northeast to reach the Scorched Plains in short order.

Over the past few days, Lingling had already begun making preparations. It seemed this was her first time venturing into high-plateau desert country, and she held a particular longing for that vast, boundless world where sky and earth blurred together in drifting veils of golden sand.

Her father had told her stories of his adventures in Dunhuang when she was very young. Even as a small child, she had formed vivid mental images of the place. Now, with the appearance of the dark-red soul making her miss him all the more, the mere mention of Dunhuang stirred something deep inside her — she wanted to walk the same ground he had walked.

Mo Fan was exceptionally fortunate to have a partner like Lingling. Most seasoned Hunter-mages who worked alongside lower-ranked companions took the lion's share of any reward — but with Lingling, the bounties went almost entirely to Mo Fan. As she put it: *The stronger my muscle gets, the bigger the jobs we can take on!*

After a few quiet days back at school, Lingling finally got back to Mo Fan. Her preparations were nearly complete.

"I looked into it," Lingling said, spreading out a map she had drawn herself with characteristic seriousness. "To reach the northern edge of the Scorched Plains, we have to pass through a place called the Shamang River. It stretches like a long, ribbon-shaped forbidden zone — if we don't cross it, we'd have no choice but to deal with the Sand Tiger clan, the overlords of Dunhuang. That's simply not an option."

The map was drawn to exacting Hunter cartography standards, with Demon-Beast population density carefully marked throughout — the single most critical factor for any Hunter-mage. Blundering into an area teeming with Demon-Beasts was nearly certain death.

"So how do we get across? Someone has already made it to the northern edge of the Scorched Plains and met Yan Ji — which means there has to be a way through." Mo Fan asked.

"The Shamang River is home to a breed called Sand Elephant Demon Soldiers — earth-element elemental Demon-Beasts with a history spanning several centuries. Individually, they're not as terrifying as the Sand Tiger clan, but they travel in enormous swarms that blanket the entire Shamang River zone. They are one of the greatest obstacles standing between Hunter-mages and the northern edge of the Scorched Plains." Lingling drew her finger across the map, and her mini-computer instantly pulled up a bestiary entry on the creature.

"What if we just fight our way through?" Mo Fan could be refreshingly blunt at times.

"Forget it. An entire Military Mage unit couldn't push through. Every Hunter-mage team that's ever made it to the northern edge was composed of elites among Hunter Masters, and even they relied on special methods they keep to themselves... I ran through at least twenty different approaches. None of them work. The only viable option — and the safest one — is to bring a Mind Element mage." Lingling said, dead serious.

Zhao Manyan nodded vigorously. In a place teeming with elemental Demon-Beasts, a Mind Element mage was indispensable. Many Hunter-mage teams were willing to hand over half their total reward to any Mind Element mage willing to join them — a clear measure of just how coveted such mages were in the Dunhuang region.

Mind Element mages were second only to Healing Element mages in rarity. They rarely appeared among Hunter-mages — most were kept under the wing of powerful Noble Clans, or settled into comfortable lives as something akin to civil servants within the Magic Association.

Their own team had little to offer that would attract a Mind Element mage, which was exactly why Lingling had cut straight to the point: bring Xinxia.

She was the only choice for this mission. Her Mind Element abilities would allow their not-particularly-powerful Hunter-mage team to pass through without confrontation. And with Healing as her primary discipline, everyone's safety would be secured.

For Mo Fan, though, the prospect of bringing Xinxia into such a dangerous place made him want to abandon the whole idea entirely.

"I've already told Xinxia about it," Lingling announced matter-of-factly. "She's happy to go." She had acted first and asked forgiveness later.

Mo Fan could only manage a wry smile.

Come to think of it, Xinxia's awakened talents were genuinely extraordinary. Her first awakening had been the Healing Element — remarkable enough on its own — but her second was the Mind Element. A mage like that might lack direct combat power, but in the eyes of every team, she was the sort of priceless figure everyone scrambled to claim. Back in Hangzhou, there was no telling how many factions had already tried to recruit her.