The golden desert was truly vast. Quinn Shepherd and Logan Cross trekked for over ten days and still hadn’t reached its end.
Many strange events occurred in the desert. At night, the sky was pitch-black and moonless—the Grand Void Land’s moon had been knocked out of orbit by Quinn’s Origin-Root Heartwood Staff.
As the night deepened, the cries of a woman echoed through the desert, circling them, sometimes distant, sometimes near.
Logan Cross’s Primordial Spirit emerged, transforming into a thousand-zhang-tall god radiating divine light, saber in hand. Only then did the voice keep its distance.
"It’s probably the cries of wandering ghosts."
Quinn Shepherd was puzzled. "Aren’t the wandering ghosts in the desert supposed to turn into Grand Void fiends?" he asked.
In the darkness, there were also shrill howls and haunting, melodious singing.
The sky held no stars or moon, making it impossible to tell direction. Whenever they tried to rest, ghostly flames would drift ahead in the darkness.
They followed the ghost-fires; when they stopped, the flames stopped too. When they moved forward, the flames moved forward as well.
By day, the ghost-fires vanished. Yet when Quinn checked Yue Tingge’s Star-Sand Atlas, he found their route matched the map exactly, down to the smallest detail. He couldn’t help but marvel.
On the second night, the ghost-fires reappeared, guiding them along the way.
On the third night, led by the ghost-fires, they stumbled upon an incredibly magnificent city in the desert. The city was ablaze with lights, bustling even at midnight. Vendors lined the streets, crowds came and went, and all were giants, some ten zhang tall, others over a hundred.
The ghost-fire drifted into the city, landing and transforming into a giant, who respectfully invited them inside.
The giants in the city were extremely hospitable, showering them with enthusiastic hospitality.
Quinn Shepherd quietly opened the third eye at his brow, scanning the surroundings and seeing through the true forms of these Creators, but kept silent.
Whenever the giants offered a toast, he accepted every drink. Logan Cross was wary at first, on guard for any trickery, but seeing Quinn eat, drink, and make merry, he eventually relaxed too.
Ever since arriving in the Grand Void, Logan had felt nothing but frustration—forced to turn his back on Heavenly Court, defeated by Quinn Shepherd, burdened by worries. Instead, he drank himself thoroughly drunk.
After eating and drinking his fill, Quinn Shepherd bowed to the giants and said, "Thank you all for your hospitality. If I ever succeed, I will establish a true Netherworld here in the Grand Void so you can finally pass on."
The giants beamed with joy at his words. The city lord, a giant a thousand zhang tall, lifted everyone onto his palm, where they sang and danced.
They partied late into the night, until Logan Cross drank himself unconscious.
At dawn, Quinn Shepherd woke him. Logan got up to find himself lying in the palm of a thousand-zhang giant, surrounded by nothing but dry bones.
Logan was stunned and uneasy. From his vantage point, he saw the city below was a wilderness of white bones, not a single living soul in sight. Horrified, he thought, "What exactly did we eat and drink last night?"
Quinn Shepherd bowed deeply to the giant’s corpse. "Rest assured, everyone. I will fulfill yesterday’s promise. Brother Logan, let’s go and keep moving."
Logan followed him out of the Creator city. Looking back, he saw the wind and sand quickly swallow that strange city beneath the golden dunes.
Logan remembered that when they’d first encountered the city last night, it had appeared with a sudden storm—now he realized it always emerged when wind and sand rose in the desert.
A chill crept over him. He still had no idea what he’d actually eaten and drunk the night before.
On the seventh night, they encountered an old woman blocking the road, leading a child and carrying a basket. She knelt, pushed the basket to Quinn Shepherd’s feet, and kowtowed repeatedly.
Quinn Shepherd said, "Don’t worry, madam. I’ll accept what’s in the basket. Someday, I’ll open the Netherworld here so you’ll all have a place to go."
The old woman looked up and grinned, then she and the child dissolved into a gust of cold wind and vanished into the darkness.
Logan Cross couldn’t help but ask, "Quinn Overlord, what’s with all these Creators showing up along the way? And why do you keep promising to build a Netherworld here?"