Feng barged into the Main Hall; he saw Head Disciple Wei bleeding and two Elders of the Sect lying on the ground, dead. Wei had been slashed across the chest, shoulder and thigh and his face was pale. Feng rushed to Wei and asked, “What happened?”

Wei clutched his wound and groaned. “I…h…heard screams. I rushed here and an assassin….attacked…attacked me. I…couldn’t beat him. He…stole the ‘Book of Supreme Power’.”

Feng clenched his fists. “Damn it! How did the assassin get past the walls and into here? Sect Leader Jiao said that he had ordered the reinforcement of the defenses. How could the Demon have sneaked into here?”

“I…I…believe that someone…from….the inside…helped… the Demon sneak.”

“That seems to be the only logical explanation.”

“You…should inform Sect Leader about it.”

Xiao barged into the Main Hall and asked, “Are you alright? I heard some screams and came here to check out what happened.”

“The Demons took the ‘Book of Supreme Power’…”

“Damn!”, Xiao said. His facial muscles twitched and he clenched his teeth. “How are we going to explain this to our Masters? Now that the Demons have two of the three Heavenly Texts, nothing can stop them.”

“I do not think so.”, a voice said. It was Sect Leader Jiao, who had entered the Main Hall. Despite the severity of the situation, he was calm and there was a smile on his face. “What the thief stole wasn’t the ‘Book of Supreme Power’ but a map indicating its location.”

“A map?”, Feng asked. “What map?”

“My Master had considered the possibility of an evil person sneaking into our Sect and stealing the book. He knew that if this happened, it would be disastrous for the peace of the Martial Arts World. So he hid the book in a secret location. He left here inside a wooden box a map indicating its location. So, the Demon stole the map and not the book.”

“So, we can prevent the Demon from getting the book, if we arrive there first.”

“Indeed. I have memorized the map, so I can draw a copy of it from memory.”

Feng grinned. “Good. Xiao and I will go get the book before the Demon. We may also be able to find out who the traitor inside the Sect is.”

“You should go rest”, Jiao said, “because tomorrow morning you will begin your journey. The book is located in the ‘Sea of Sand’, the largest and most heated desert. Except for the extreme heat, you will also face nomadic raiders who live in the desert.”

“Sounds fun…”, Xiao said with a wry smile on his face. “After having to travel through a forest full of bandits and powerful martial arts Elders, now we will have to travel to a barren desert and survive Demons and raiders.”

Next morning, as soon as the bright sun appeared on the clear blue sky, Feng and Xiao began preparing for the journey. They were given a copy of the map by Sect Leader Jiao as well as supplies, mainly water, to help them survive in the desert. Before leaving, Feng went to Jingfei’s room. He wanted to bid her goodbye. He found this to be a much more difficult task than he had imagined. Feng had never thought that parting ways with Jingfei would cause him such a sense of melancholy and sadness. They had gone through many dangers together and Feng had gotten used to traveling alongside her. As he knocked the door to her room, he got no reply. He waited for a few minutes when Wei walked by. Seeing Feng, he said; “Jingfei has gone.”

Feng was surprised to hear that. “When did she leave?”

“This morning. She was going to stay here for a few more days but I asked her to leave. I got an urgent letter from our uncle early this morning asking me to come help him. Due to the recent trouble with the Demons, I could not leave, so I asked Jingfei to go help him. She left only an hour ago.”

Feng sighed but in a way he was somewhat relieved that he did not have to bid farewell in person to Jingfei. It would have been difficult for him to do so. “I will have to bid you farewell”, he said to Wei. He then left behind Hongchang Sect and began his journey along with Xiao. They travelled for more than a few hours in dusty roads under the heated sun before reaching the desert.

Seeing the vast expanse of desert before them, Xiao wryly smiled. “This will be one hell of a journey…”

“We have to get going.”, Feng said. “Remember, we have to get the book before the Demon and most likely we are lagging behind.”

“When this is over, I want to return to Qingxao Mountain and never leave; I will never complain again about not roaming the Martial Arts World.”

The two friends made their way to the trackless desert. The sun beat down and there was not even a wisp of cloud to soften the harsh rays. Each of their steps sunk into the searing sand and the air was thick and hazy. Their clothing was overwhelmingly hot and sticky. The stiff, dry desert breeze blew sand into their eyes.

“How long is it before we reach the location of the book?”, Xiao asked. “We’ve been walking for hours.”

“I don’t know.”, Feng admitted. “The map sure doesn’t help. According to it, we must head straight ahead, but that is all I know. We could reach the location in a few hours or in a few days. The part of the map covering the desert is not very precise or detailed.”

“I fear this desert will be our graveyard. I am exhausted.”

“Me too, but we’ve got to keep going!”

Feng and Xiao kept walking across the endless waves of sand dunes. Heat rained down on them like the breath of hell. The arid heat burnt at their lungs. They were sweating and exhausted. After about an hour, the sun began to set. The desert at twilight was a vast undulating sea and the sand dunes looked like waves. Heat gave its way to chilling coldness. The temperature was below freezing because once the sun was down, the sand began releasing heat. Their blood ran cold through their veins and their bones were chilled. Their teeth chattered. They were barely able to walk when they finally reached a stone well.

“Let’s drink some water!”, Xiao said.

They rushed to the well and drew a wooden bucket that was inside. It was full of water and they rushed to drink it. The water was cold and they could feel it's chillness but they did not care. After drinking enough water, they lied on the cold sand to rest.

“We should rest.”, Feng said. “I do not believe the book is nearby.”

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“I agree but I am kind of worried that we’ve failed our mission. The Demon got a head start and with us resting, he may have already reached the location where the book is. On the other hand, I am exhausted and cannot walk any further.”

Feng sighed. “Well, it seems that we’ve finally ran out of luck.”

Suddenly, they could hear the sound of hooves. They turned around and saw five horses galloping. The horsemen were wearing long brown robes and scarfs and were armed with swords. They were roaring and shouting as they descended upon the two Qingxao students.

“Its raiders!”, Xiao said. “This gets worse and worse…”

Feng unsheathed his ‘Sword of Death’ and somersaulted. With a swift move, he stabbed one of the raiders; his sword cut through the raider’s chest and killed him instantly. He then used his internal energy to fire an energy beam at another raider, hitting him on the head and causing him to lose his balance and fall on the ground. Xiao too rushed forward, jumping onto one of the raiders’ horses and pushing to the ground its rider. He then jumped off the horse and stabbed the man before he could get up. Another raider slashed at Xiao, but he dodged the saber, grabbed it by the hilt and used it against its user, slashing his neck and killing him. The fifth raider, a sturdy and muscled man, jumped off his horse and said to Feng, “Let us fight hand to hand.”

Feng sheathed his sword. “Let us begin.”

As he spoke those words, his left fist shot out and his right hand sliced across towards the raider's right shoulder. Then, in a flash, his left fist flipped over and aimed for the right shoulder while the right hand went for the chest. The raider retreated three paces and fended off the blows. Feng charged forward and attacked the raider with both fists, one of which slammed into his shoulder. The raider took hold of Feng's wrist and struck out at his elbow in retaliation. With his free hand, Feng swung at the raider's other shoulder and the two leaped apart.

“Your martial arts are impressive.”, Feng said.

“Yours are not bad either.”, the raider replied. “Our people respect strong warriors. As such, I shall let you go.”

The raider also gave Feng a golden medallion with the depiction of a horse carved upon it. “This medallion belongs to our tribe. If some of our people attack you or you need our help, show them this medallion.”

Feng bowed slightly and said, “Thank you. I appreciate your help. But you still have not told me your name.”

“I am Isaaf Yasuf. If it is in our destiny, we shall meet again.”

Yasuf then jumped onto his horse and galloped away. Exhausted after this fight, both friends lied on the sand and soon fell asleep. At midnight, they suddenly heard people scream and loud clang sounds. They woke up at once and unsheathed their swords.

“What happened?”, Xiao asked.

“Don’t know. The sounds seem to be coming from behind that sand dune. Let’s go check out.”

Stepping on their toes and walking slowly and quietly, they made their way to the sand dune; from there, they could see tens of dead bodies littered on the ground. The dead men were all raiders; many missed one or two limbs, which lay scattered on the sand. Feng and Xiao could also see a wooden cart on fire; on the cart there was a wooden cage, which had been half destroyed.

“The one who massacred the raiders must have escaped from the cage.”, Feng whispered.

“There is someone walking there!”, Xiao replied and pointed at a white figure. The two men took a closer look and saw that it was none other than Jingfei. “What is she doing here?”

Feng slapped himself. “I am such an idiot!”

“What do you mean?”

Feng sighed. “How could I have not seen it? The map was stolen the same night that Jingfei arrived to Hongchang Sect and the very next day she left because of an ‘urgent’ call from her uncle. I cannot believe that I fell for such a stupid lie.”

“But Jingfei is not that kind of person!”, Xiao protested. “Also, she would not have wounded so seriously her brother.”

“Wei must be a spy of the Demons and must have injured himself to make it look like he is the victim. And I doubt that he is Jingfei’s real brother.”

Xiao, despite the overwhelming evidence against Jingfei, refused to believe that she could do something like that. “There must be an other explanation!”

“Then why is she here?”, Feng asked. “She was supposed to be with her uncle and now she is heading where we are heading.”

“She must have been captured by the raiders and brought here.”

“The raiders only capture people who venture the desert, so I find it highly unlikely that she is here because of them. Most likely they captured her while she was heading to the location pointed out in the map.”

“If the evidence was overwhelming, Sect Leader Jiao would not have been fooled. You must be overthinking things.”

“He has been fooled for the same reason I was fooled; when people find even little evidence of wrongdoing about someone they do not like, they assume that that person is guilty. But when they find overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing about someone they like, they believe that there must be some other explanation. Wei is the Head Disciple of Hongchang Sect, is popular among the other students and is the favorite disciple of Elder Jiao; of course they would believe his explanation. That is human nature.”

“So you believed Jingfei because you like her?”, Xiao asked. This question stuck Feng like a thunderbolt. That thought has passed in his mind before, but he did not dare to think much about it, much less talk about it in public. But now it was stated openly by Xiao. As much as he hated to admit it, Xiao was right.

“I let my personal feelings to get the better of me.”, Feng admitted. “And to think that I was the one lecturing you about not being cautious enough….”

“So, are we going to reveal ourselves?”

“No.”, Feng said. “Her martial arts are more than enough to beat both of us at once.”

Feng scratched his head and thought for a moment. A smile appeared on his face. “No one fools me and gets away with it. We are going to follow her; once she gets the book, we will steal it from her. We have the advantage of surprise; she does not know where we are.”

Xiao nodded in approval. “That sounds like a good plan.”