Chapter 134- Desert Part 6

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"Well, we are here to look for the sandpits." Answered Theo curtly without looking back.

"Sandpits?" Said Xin.

"Yeah, sandpits. A decently-sized hole in the sand, usually arranged from one meter wide to a dozen of meters wide that goes deep under the sand floor." Said Theo.

Xin nodded in understanding. "So the sandpits will be our way to the underground desert?"

"Exactly, not only that it saves a lot of time than digging our way into the underground by ourselves but the sandpits are also connected as a single massive underground network. Of course, not all of the sandpits are connected to the network but most of them are likely."

"I see, that's amazing. I didn't know that this desert hides such an incredible secret." Xin exclaimed in amazement.

"Haha, that's normal, kid. Don't forget that this desert is still a part of the tower, of course, it's not weird that there is such an amazing phenomenon happening in here." Theo laughed as he answered him.

"Hey, I am not a kid! I'm already 1.6 meters tall and I am still growing!" Xin yelled at the blatant disrespect for his height.

Theo quickly put his hands up. "Alright, alright… you aren't a kid, okay? I was just joking don't take it too seriously."

While Liu Guanyi and Adori merely smiled seeing this display.

Seeing that the scout had corrected himself, Xin nodded in satisfaction and asked another question. "So, do you know how and why the sandpits are formed in the first place?"

Glancing back to take a look at the yellow-haired boy and noticing that he wasn't angry anymore, Theo sighed with relief before answering the question, the client's satisfaction mattered, after all. And he certainly didn't want to offend someone close to a princess of Zahard.

"Well, the sandpits mostly are made by the underground dwelling Shinheuh in this place. As I have said before, not all of the sandpits are connected to the main network since different creatures use them for different purposes."

"However, the main usage of the sandpits are mostly for dwelling, hiding, and most importantly, travel faster under the sand."

"I don't know the process and how they could form the massive network as of now but many experts say that it is due to the cumulative efforts over many millennia that they finally merged to become the huge underground network in the present. They say that it's also partly because of a series of coincidences." Theo explained patiently.

"Then, how will you lead us later on in the underground network, didn't you say that it is massive and connected to each other like an ant's nest so it must be incredibly complicated and intricate, isn't it?" Adori spoke out questioningly.

Hearing this, a smile emerged on Theo's face. "Well, well, although I am nothing compared to you, princess, I am still an experienced and top C-ranked scout who have spent decades in these parts of the desert. Certainly, I would have my own methods by now, wouldn't I?"

"Just cut the chase and tell me what your so-called methods are. I will see and evaluate them by myself whether your methods are practical and feasible or you are simply bragging." Adori said as she stared at the scout with her piercing eyes.

Under the intensity of her gaze and her illustrious reputation as a prodigy, the scout quickly buckled under her pressure and spilled the beans. "Alright, alright, fine I'll say it. Jeez… you guys don't have any chill, do you?"

"As I have explained before, every creature has their own sandpits or tunnels, whatever you call it, that they make and use for themselves."

"That's why the size of every tunnel differs from one another. Some are big while some are small or maybe something in-between. Also, each creature has their signature marking and traces that they leave behind when they travel through the tunnels." Theo explained calmly.

"I see, so we only have to find the specific marking and traces for the death worms and follow them to their nest? However, even so, that's still time-consuming since we have to check each tunnel one by one." Said Adori with a frown.

"I know it might seem that way at first, princess, but don't worry, there's more to it. Since the underground tunnels are varied from big to small, we can easily guess what types of Shinheuh pass through them. For example, in small tunnels, it's usually ant types Shinheuh, rats, and even bugs. In the bigger tunnels, they are probably snakes, lizards, and worms."

"So we will look for the big ones with the trace of worms? That's still hard to pinpoint though?" Asked Xin as he squinted his eyes.

"Indeed, but no worries. What we are going to find is the traces of worms in the tunnels, specifically death worms, the apex predator in this desert. Not only that their body is quite big as they can grow up to ten meters in length and 3 meters in width, but they are also extremely territorial creatures."

"If they meet another creature when they travel in the tunnels, they attack them on sight to kill them. Also, they have their distinct smell that other creatures know and avoid so their tunnels were mostly clear from other creatures, making them quite obvious." Explained Theo as he continued to lead them forward.

"Oh, yea! I almost forget!" Theo suddenly exclaimed.

"The underground network is basically divided into three parts. The entrance, the place where the sandpits are located on the surface. The inner parts, where the underground tunnels stretched long and wide under the sand. And the deep parts, where the tunnels go far into the depths of the dark underground."

"I have understood and learned many of the Shinheuh here and their habits over the years. Since our target is the death worm, we should go into the deep parts where they lay their nest."

"So what we need is to find after we go inside the sandpits is to look for some big tunnels that are rarely used by other creatures that also go far into the depths." The scout explained in detail.

"Wait!" Theo said as he suddenly stopped moving and put his left hand up.

"There's something that stalks us."