Kingdom’s Bloodline

In the morning, somewhere in the desert.

When the first ray of dawn cleared the darkness on the horizon, a monster—a monster wrapped tightly in clothes and thick cloth—moved and crawled awkwardly in the shelter under a huge rock. stand up.

But it does not awaken naturally.

In the dark, the "monster" stretched out its thick limbs, yawned tiredly, pulled its head and face out of the thick cloth, and took a deep breath.

Its daybreak.

It - the boy wrapped in clothes, stretched out his hand outside the range of the giant rock in a haze.

A gust of cold wind immediately blew through the palm of his hand, making him shiver.

It's so cold.

Thales, who had wrapped himself up tightly, shivered and shook his whole body, rubbed his hands, and touched his side - the fire that was finally built with flint dead branches last night was extinguished at some point.

He shook his head apprehensively.

Next time, I will not be able to spend the night on such a high sand dune, the wind is too strong, even if there are rocks to shelter from the wind.

Under the bright sky, the prince thought so, leaning against the rock behind him in a daze.

He looked at the endless desert wilderness from a distance, and it took him thirty seconds to fully wake up from his sleepiness.

During Taylor's six-year study career in Dragon Clouds City, almost every bachelor who was lucky enough to go to the Palace of Heroes to teach two prominent students described the great desert as "hot" and "exposed". , or something like that.

Here's the thing: It's deadly hot only half the time.

The other half of the time - its nights are cold enough to store ice, or freeze a Thales to death.

Oh shit.

Thales tightened his body, thinking complainingly: They must all be hearsay.

It deserves that people from the North cannot enter the Great Desert.

Thales sighed with emotion, raised his eyes, and had a panoramic view of the small canyon under the huge rock and the long sand dunes not far away.

Nature is the most wonderful painter: under the crimson skyline, the rolling sand dunes are colored golden, with elegant and smooth curves, like the buttocks and backs of a beautiful woman lying lazily on her side, giving people an indescribable tenderness.

However, only Thales himself knows what kind of ruthless truth is hidden under this refreshing beauty.

The sun was rising, the coldness of the night was fading away, and there were still a few hours left before the scorching heat of noon, which was his precious time to travel.

Thales unpacked his luggage and checked his inventory.

A piece of cottage cheese and two small breads.

as well as……

The last bag of water.

He sighed.

Thales rubbed his dry lips, suppressed the slight sense of hunger, and stuffed the cheese back into his bag.

He took out the little bread left and chewed silently in the quiet morning to fill up the energy he needed in the morning. He couldn’t eat more until he found the next water source—this would deplete the water in his body faster.

Thinking of this, the pressure in Thales' heart suddenly increased.

Thales got up, dug a sandpit not far from the camp, uncovered a piece of sackcloth, and took out a few stones from it. Fortunately, he found that the lower half of the stone was cold and wet.

The prince regarded them as lovers, opened his mouth happily, and sucked the moisture on them—the taste was a bit strange, but he could get some moisture from it without consuming precious water, so why not do it.

But water scarcity isn't the only threat.

Thales tested the temperature around him, silently took off his clothes to keep out the cold overnight, tied up his bags, reached into the fire with only the last remaining warmth, and blackened the upper half of his face, especially the eye sockets, with coke. .

You know, when Thales, who had been walking in the boundless desert for a day, realized that he was starting to get dazzled, the panic in his heart almost overflowed his chest.

Until he remembered this method - it is said that the northern hunters in the extreme cold will occasionally use this trick to avoid snow blindness that may be caused by wandering in the white snow for too long, and Thales dared to use him I swear by the desert experience in the past three days: this trick is also effective in the desert.

Thales finished painting the charcoal black, and then unfolded the linen cloth that collected moisture, tied it to the top of his head, and tied his hair at the temples tightly. Although Thales didn't feel how hot it was in the desert—even though everyone told him that the biggest threat in the desert was heat—but wearing a headscarf, whether it's sunshade or moisturizing and windproof, should be more or less helpful.

From the leggings to the cuffs, he carefully checked the clothes on his body: he took out the black cloth that Yala gave him, used it as a mask to cover his mouth and nose, only his eyes were exposed, carried his luggage and time crossbow, and grabbed two Using only the branch as a cane, I checked that the direction of the rising sun was on my left.

May everything go well today.

Let me find the water...

or aid.

After the preparations, the prince who was about to pack himself tightly into a surprise gift thought so, took a deep breath, and walked out of the shelter.

The wind and sand suddenly hit his face, bringing with it the coldness of the night, making him squint his eyes.

There was a large sand dune facing him. Thales carefully walked around its center, looking for a long way but a small slope, trying to avoid the gentle slope in the direction of the wind and crossing the sand dune—he was stupid when he entered the desert on the first day Straight up and down, panting after turning over two sand dunes, and his legs were numb, Thales finally learned his lesson.

"Huh... Shua... Shua..."

The wind and sand came from his back, and the fine grains of sand hit the sackcloth around his ears, making a rustling sound.

With the strength of his cane, Thales walked forward step by step, detoured when encountering high slopes, and walked carefully when encountering gentle slopes.

The sun gradually rose, and the cold desert gradually warmed up. He occasionally turned his head and looked around, only a piece of yellow sand in his eyes, only the whistling wind in his ears, and there were no birds or animals.

Even the plants are only low shrubs and dry willows with deep roots, lying lifelessly on the sand.

In the vast sand dunes that can be seen everywhere, in the vast desert, Thales is still the only one.

Not to mention people.

Not even the bones of animals—at least that would remind him of the danger here, and replace the tedium with dread.

Thales shook his head, tried to hum a ditty, and thought of some pleasant things—the prince who had been trapped on the high wall for six years had read many tourists' notes, and he knew that in such an extremely harsh environment, The most deadly thing is not the threat from the outside world, but the mental pressure brought about by loneliness and panic.

Nothing destroys a person more than isolation and loneliness.

This is Thales' fourth day in the desert.

He didn't know when he entered the great desert.

It seems that there is no particularly obvious boundary between the Qiyuan City of Exeter and the famous Great Desert—for example, a boundary marker with the inscription "Exeter National Border Line" or "Walkers Stop".

In fact, after happily "breaking up" with the other two, Thales rode a horse for a day's journey, and the first thing he entered was the rocky desert, which was almost the same as the barren rocky land, full of exposed rocks.

There, huge bedrocks are everywhere, with occasional ups and downs, and an extremely wide view. lingering fear of marriage

There were neither too many nor too many low shrubs, which deceived Thales' eyes, making him think that the great desert was not yet in sight.

You have to keep going—he tore open the jerky in his mouth and said to himself—should be able to find someone to meet him at the junction.

Thanks to the blessing of the silver shadow man, Thales, who was walking on the ground, felt the direction: he was heading south all the way, and the slightly higher rock formations in the north gradually reached the end, the vegetation began to decrease, the temperature brought by the sun gradually increased, and his lips became hotter every day. dry in a day.

As the road got farther and farther away, his eyes were no longer bare bedrock, but began to be covered with gravel ranging from the lid of a pot to the size of a fist. Thanks to the high quality of the war horseshoes in the Northland, Thales was spared the pain of trekking.

However, Thales passed an empty and abandoned settlement on the road, and after shaking his head in disappointment facing an abandoned dry well, the robust warhorses of the Northland showed resistance that was hard to ignore to move on.

When the rein in his hand became more and more uncontrollable, the second prince, who was talking about geography all the way, suddenly realized:

I unknowingly entered the no-man's land.

Half a day later, instead of exhausting his energy and dragging a horse that was always trying to retreat, Thales reluctantly took the necessary supplies, let the horse go, broke off two thick branches, and cut them into walking sticks , one to pick up the luggage, and the other to assist in walking, moving forward with difficulty.

The ground is still hard rock, and the boundless Gobi is still in front of us, but the wind is getting stronger and the temperature is getting hotter.

As the footsteps accelerated, Thales frowned and found that the gravel under his feet became smaller and smaller, and his footsteps on the ground were no longer crisp and clean.

Ten hours later, at dusk, after stingyly replenishing water, he raised his head, and was surprised to find that everything around him was already covered with yellow sand, whether he looked up or looked back.

Before you know it, the Great Desert has arrived.

Thales stared blankly at everything in front of him, thinking so.

The issue is……

What about the respondent of the secret department?

Did he miss someone, or did he go the wrong way?

Looking back, Thales, who was at a loss, hesitated for a long time, and finally decided: continue to move forward, follow the direction in memory, go all the way to the southeast, look for the oasis, and look for the supply line of the Star Army.

Prior to this, Griveau and Kezi in Dragon Clouds City seemed to have foreseen that he would not stop even if he escaped from the city, and prepared a suitable outfit for the prince early on, and Monty's two horses obviously It has something to do with the secret science. The bags on the saddle are full of things necessary to cross the desert: water, bread, salt, flint, including thick clothes and ropes.

And the two walking sticks he broke along the way.

After checking the luggage, Thales felt good for a while.

But the next day of hell told him: he was wrong.

Thales underestimated the great desert.

It's far scarier than imagined.

The soft sand on the ground seems harmless, but in fact it is difficult to walk. Every step has a pit. When climbing the slope, the whole person often slides to the heel. It is more difficult to deal with than the snow in the northern winter. Thales even feels that he is the first I walked no more than ten miles in one day.

The wind speed in the desert is strong and fast, Thales will be blown to this side if he is not careful, once, he was simply blown off when climbing a slope, rolling and screaming all the way down the sand dunes, ten minutes of climbing All previous efforts were wasted.

After that, Thales decided that he would never walk high slopes, never go straight up the sand dunes, and it was best to walk along the ripples of the sand—if you can’t follow the wind, the wind can’t go with you.

The terrain in the desert is not flat either, just rolling sand dunes. From time to time, you can also encounter huge sandstones and steep canyons. After trying so hard to "explore" the bottom of a canyon, Thales felt that he was still far away from it. It is better for them to be far away.

In this way, he moved forward all the way, the first day, the first night, the second day, the second night...

All the way to now.

Fourth day in the desert.

Still no one, the fourth day of loneliness.

Step by step, Thales squinted his eyes and tried his best to move forward, counting the number of steps, taking off the water bag after a certain distance, taking a sip of water, and moistening his mouth.

I don't know how long I walked, the sun is getting higher and higher, and the surrounding is getting hotter and hotter.

He could even feel that the skin under the turban was covered in sweat, wrapped in clothes, sticky and wet, hot and uncomfortable.

But he couldn't untie it.

cannot.

Thales resisted from time to time, walked down a windward slope with his cane, looked back at the leeward side, and couldn't help frowning—he felt that he had gone astray.

Damn.

He cursed in his heart, and immediately stuck his stick into the sand, looked at the shadow cast by the stick on the ground, turned around and found a stone, and put it on top of the shadow.

After the first day of entering the desert and suffering enough, Thales encountered another problem that made things worse: the wonderful sense of direction he gained after the black trail once made Thales happy to think that he really "never lost his way" from now on ", but this wonderful ability failed after entering the desert, and he could no longer feel the terrain under his feet and the direction ahead.

It seems that no matter how omnipotent the power and existence are, there will still be problems of acclimatization—Thales thought wearily, before the sun was big and the sand was not hot, he sat down and rested for a while.

How long will it take before we meet rescue?

Will he die here?

Really bad.

Hold!

Thales shook his head and patted his cheek to calm down his impatience.

Don't think, don't think, don't think.

Thales warned himself: reach the next destination first, and then think about the next step.

Otherwise, he is afraid that he will not find a place, and he will be under too much pressure and have a nervous breakdown first.

In fact, due to long-term absence of people, no communication, and monotonous scenery, the current prince can feel that he is already a little abnormal.

His reactions began to slow, and his vision became fixed.

And the mood becomes unstable.

Thales chuckled and shook his head.

no.

He can't give up.

He has to adjust himself until he finds a way out.

The funny thing is, on the first day, Thales still felt that the desert was not that dangerous.

Following the sparse vegetation at that time, he found a small shallow water pool under a huge rock at dusk. The edge of the pool was full of life, and even a few jackals gathered in a small corner by the pool. Li, took a sip, turned around, absorbed water vigilantly but inefficiently.

At that time, Thales was overjoyed, thinking that at least he had used his "novice luck" and happily slid down the dunes to fill the water bag.

Until he slid to the edge of the pool, his feet softened, and his legs sank into quicksand!

The more Thales struggled in panic, the tighter and deeper he sank, once sinking into the waist.

Thales' heart was half cold.

Only then did he understand why the pack of jackals gathered in one or another small corner, drinking water miserly, and were unwilling to approach the seemingly wide pool. Mad God

God knows how desperate the young man was at that time.

If Thales hadn't used the sin of prison river to calm himself down in time, give up struggling, flatten his body, and avoid sinking...

I'm afraid that the first heir of the Star Kingdom has long been chilled in the desert.

That day, tremblingly, he took out the crossbow arrow behind his back, tied the rope, shot (and shot twice, the first time his hand was too shaking) a strange tree in the distance, and pulled himself up tremblingly.

Amidst the dissatisfied howls of the jackals, Thales, who had lingering fears, occupied their safe corner, trembling, and finally filled his water bag.

This is the first time Thales discovered the danger of the desert.

Thales, who had had enough rest under the sand dunes, sighed, and brought his thoughts back to the present: He grabbed the second stone, put it on the top of the shadow of the cane that had moved a lot, and connected it with the first stone .

Thales looked at the way he came, frowned and compared with the line connecting the two stones.

It is indeed a bit biased.

Have to correct it back.

He corrected his southeast orientation, grabbed his orienteering stick, and set off again.

"Hoo...hoo..."

The wind and sand are getting bigger and bigger.

This is another threat in the desert.

Thales gritted his teeth, turned over a sand dune under the double cover of fishy smell and humidity, raised his right palm to cover his eyes, and looked for a place with lush vegetation that could be used as a sunshade and possibly have a water source.

Noon was coming soon.

Get ready for the next break.

He still remembered that at noon on the first day he entered the desert, he chose to camp at the bottom of a large sand dune to avoid the scorching sun and ruthless wind and sand.

However, Thales, who woke up from a nap, tasted a mouthful of sand as soon as he turned his head.

Filled with panic and panic, he got up "peh pee pee" and found out in horror that during the two hours he squinted and rested, the wind and sand had already flooded his legs and would soon cover his hands.

If he snoozes for another half hour...

Thales has learned since then: Unless you want to find a free grave in the desert, never choose a place that is too low to rest.

The prince silently recalled the many experiences he had learned in the past few days through suffering and torment, and found a destination for rest: a small tree beside a steep slope.

Thales took another sip of water and continued on.

He strenuously moved forward and felt that the water in his body was rapidly losing—as the sun got higher and higher and the surroundings became hotter, the physical energy and nutrients he would consume for activities would increase exponentially.

Rest - Thales thought solemnly, and forced himself to only think about the goal in front of him - he needed to rest, to escape the hottest hours.

The sandstorm is still going on.

Staring at the yellow sand on the soles of his feet being slowly peeled off, Thales counted more than 800 steps and finally reached his destination.

He hid in the shade of a tree to avoid the harsh sunlight.

Feeling the sharp drop in temperature, he sighed and took off his hood and mask.

Thales was about to take a lunch break, but instead of rushing to find an open space, he carefully tapped the ground with his cane, pushing away the surrounding stones, preferably far away from himself.

Thales has not forgotten: the first "friend" he met in the desert was a rattlesnake.

On the second day he entered the desert, when he was resting under the shade of a tree, he sat down on the ground exhausted, pushed his left hand back, and pressed against a slippery and cool thing.

The "thing" jumped up quickly from behind the stone.

Bite on his forearm!

Thales was frightened out of his wits—this rattlesnake was obviously dissatisfied with someone interrupting his nap, if Thales hadn't just experienced the biting cold of the first night, wrapping himself thick and tightly like a nerve, probably This bite directly killed him (although Thales didn't know whether it was poisonous or not).

Thales recalled the shocking journey that day, and subconsciously touched his left arm—the tear on the three-layered sleeve was still there—and cautiously swept away the surrounding stones.

Sure enough, after a larger plate-shaped stone was lifted, a "new friend" ran out dissatisfied.

Thales frowned, looked at the black sand scorpion half the size of a palm, looked at its terrifyingly large pair of pincers and inconspicuous tail spines, stretched out his cane, ignored its protests, and threw the sand scorpion The scorpion rushed to the distance.

Panting, he sat down and took out his water bag and the last of his food.

Everything in front of me still seems to be unchanged, as the old crow said, there are only three things in the desert: the sun, the sand, and the sand.

Thales suddenly understood why the other party said the sand twice.

Everything he saw these days told him that this is a world completely different from his daily cognition.

A boy who grew up in the city's slums and was used to streets and castles, an unimaginable world.

Thinking back to the countless dangers he encountered in just three days, Thales couldn't help tightening his body:

Here, the heat is as deadly as the cold, and the days and nights are terrifying.

Here, vitality and crisis appear at the same time, and the edge of the pool, the source of life, is often the place where the most bones are buried by animals.

Here, he rarely sees living creatures, and even if there are, their habits have already changed drastically: snakes in the desert never walk in a straight line, but fold themselves into waves and "catapult" horizontally like a spring; Strange lizards burrow into the sand and seem to make up their minds not to go out until night; desert mice seem to have no need to grow four legs, because they seldom "walk normally", but prefer to touch the air and jump forward; The vultures that occasionally flash by seem to be making long-distance journeys every day without stopping; and the color of the desert spider is almost indistinguishable from the sand.

Here, he has to be humble—Thales recalled Hixer’s words—everything has to be relearned, such as the jackals by the pool, Thales has learned since then, following the instructions of the animals Footsteps forward, at least there will be no big mistakes.

Thales sighed, ate the last piece of cheese, and began to think about his most serious practical problems.

He's out of food.

It's not that the prince didn't suffer from hunger and hunger. The life in the abandoned house never gave him the experience of being full a few times.

But he is in the great desert.

This is fatal.

and……

Respondents are still far away.

It's not that Thales didn't try to look for the fruits of the plants. In fact, he did find the melons and fruits formed on a few strange plants on the leeward slope, and he couldn't hold back his hunger until he saw a dried skeleton next to him .

Oh My God……

Thales touched his forehead in pain, who knows what else is edible in this desert.

At this moment, he glanced aside from the corner of his eye: the unlucky sand scorpion whose lair was occupied hadn't gone far, still poking here, knocking there, looking for the next habitat.

Looking at the scorpion, Thales frowned fiercely as he touched his hungry belly.

no?