Now, Xiao Hua had no choice but to move forward; retreating meant digging mines for another half month to make more sulfur powder, something he absolutely refused to do.
Without much thought, Xiao Hua summoned his Phantom and sent it in to scout the path. The tall sand walls of the Sand Maze were quite narrow, about one meter wide, with many thick, brownish-yellow, nearly dried-out vines climbing up them. What left a deeper impression on Xiao Hua were the slightly raised carvings on the sand walls, resembling monster images.
Not long after the Phantom entered the Sand Maze, perhaps due to the effects of the Master-level Stealth skill, Xiao Hua noticed that the Phantom didn't encounter any monsters. Moreover, the maze seemed to have no traps, and the few forks in the path were quickly ruled out!
Xiao Hua found this strange, but he only had three days' worth of food. After a brief hesitation, he stealthed forward to follow, fearing that he might starve to death if he spent too much time in the maze.
About twenty minutes later, the Phantom's Stealth duration expired, and it revealed itself in the maze. To be safe, Xiao Hua planned to wait thirty seconds before advancing, but unexpectedly, a monster carving on the sand wall about two meters in front of the Phantom suddenly cracked open, and a creature made entirely of yellow sand emerged!
Xiao Hua's character was about seven to eight meters behind the Phantom. Since his Stealth duration was slightly longer, he hadn't yet been detected. Not knowing the monster's attack method, he didn't dare to rush in to help. Instead, he transferred his consciousness to the Phantom and controlled it to fight the sand monster.
Controlling the Phantom, Xiao Hua cast Identify on the nearly two-meter-tall sand monster that blocked the entire passage, obtaining some basic information:
**Sand Controller: Level 65, HP 60,000, Attack ???, Defense ???**
A Level 65 monster! Xiao Hua sucked in a breath. At this level, even the Master-level Identify skill provided limited information. Although the monster's attack and defense were unknown, its high level indicated it would be formidable. However, what caught Xiao Hua's attention even more was the monster's name!
**Sand Controller**—could this monster control the surrounding sand?
Just as this thought crossed his mind, the Sand Controller began to move. Despite its massive size, it appeared slow in the narrow space. However, when it waved its hand, Xiao Hua noticed small whirlpools forming on the sandy ground. The Phantom's movements immediately became sluggish.
The whirlpools under the Phantom's feet didn't suck it in completely, but they exerted a strong pull, making it difficult for the Phantom to move. Even with its high agility and the Shadow Ring, the Phantom's movements were now slower than the Sand Controller's!
Xiao Hua quickly controlled the Phantom to retreat a couple of steps, trying to escape the whirlpools and test the Sand Controller's other abilities. But as the Phantom retreated, the whirlpools followed, making it almost impossible to escape the Sand Controller's tracking!
The Sand Controller's attacks then landed. In the narrow passage, the Phantom had no room to dodge. Xiao Hua tried attacking the Sand Controller's defenses a couple of times but found it impossible to penetrate. He quickly gave up on resistance. The Phantom's nearly 3,000 HP was depleted in four strikes by the Sand Controller, whose attacks were astonishingly high!
After killing the Phantom, the Sand Controller looked around. Finding no enemies, it turned and walked towards the sand wall. The wall loosened, and the Sand Controller's body dissolved into streams of sand, merging back into the wall. The cracked carving quickly returned to its original state.
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The Sand Controller was undoubtedly a formidable monster, but Xiao Hua still couldn't understand why no one had appeared in Hazama Town. Over a month ago, Master-level Stealth was no longer rare. If a large group of assassins had passed through the maze, the petrifying Medusa snakes wouldn't have been able to stop them!
Shaking his head, Xiao Hua didn't dwell on it further. He summoned another Phantom and continued forward. Knowing about the Sand Controller, Xiao Hua first tested its aggro range to ensure his character wouldn't be targeted.
Soon, Xiao Hua discovered another important reason why no one had passed through the maze—the Sand Maze was not fixed. The sand beneath his feet seemed to flow slowly, and the sand walls moved with it. This made it nearly impossible to use a human wave tactic!
Realizing this, Xiao Hua had no choice but to push forward. However, he wasn't too worried. The maze was simpler on the way back, and he had the Phantom to help him navigate. If he couldn't find a way out under these conditions, the maze would be unsolvable!
The Sand Maze was enormous. Xiao Hua carefully avoided triggering the Sand Controller again and spent six to seven hours navigating it. Based on his rough estimate, the maze could accommodate tens of thousands of people, and a single Sand Controller was enough to deter anyone.
At the other exit of the Sand Maze, Xiao Hua struggled to clear away the thick, dried vines blocking the way. These vines had completely sealed off the exit.
Exiting the maze, Xiao Hua found himself in a vast, endless desert. Behind him, the Sand Maze was hidden within a row of tall, continuous sand cliffs, with numerous brown vines hanging down and intertwining to cover the entrance.
Xiao Hua finally understood why Hazama Town was unknown. The real reason wasn't that the maze was too difficult to navigate, but that no one had discovered its location. Even if someone knew the coordinates, finding the entrance by chance was extremely unlikely.
For ordinary players, this area was already close to the border, with monster levels around 60. Without prior knowledge, no one would travel far to pull aside vines.
Marking the coordinates of the entrance, Xiao Hua looked up at the scorching sun. The horizon seemed endless, and he began to worry if his food supply would last.
"If only Abu were here," he muttered, summoning his Chocobo and mounting it. He chose a direction and rode forward. Getting lost in the desert was a real possibility, and he missed Abu's guidance.
It was around three in the afternoon when Xiao Hua started his journey through the desert. Hours passed, and he encountered few monsters, only to find his path frequently blocked by tall sand cliffs. The seemingly flat desert was more challenging than he expected. After navigating around one sand cliff after another, Xiao Hua wondered if he was lost.
His stamina drained quickly in the intense heat, and the food in his backpack dwindled.
Night fell, and Xiao Hua continued his journey under the stars, growing increasingly concerned. He hadn't seen any other players, which was unusual. Normally, riding a mount, one could reach the border of the map in ten to twelve hours. Having spent ten hours in the desert, still surrounded by Level 50 to 60 monsters, Xiao Hua suspected he was indeed lost.
By noon the next day, Xiao Hua's food supply was nearly depleted. By midnight, if he didn't find a city, he would starve to death and have to return to Hazama Town to mine again.
"Damn game designers, why make the map so huge!" The sun seemed to grow even hotter, and Xiao Hua grumbled about the excessive size of the map.
Eating a bun to replenish his stamina, Xiao Hua felt extremely thirsty. While the game mechanics ensured he wouldn't die from hunger as long as he had stamina, the lack of water was uncomfortable, especially after being exposed to the sun for over a day.
Two more hours passed, and his food supply grew even scarcer. Xiao Hua grew increasingly anxious, the uncertainty gnawing at him. Then, his eyes narrowed as he spotted something in the distance!
About one to two hundred meters ahead, a male archer was being chased by two wolf-like yellow monsters. The archer was fast, clearly an agility-based class, but the wolves were also swift, closely following him. It seemed inevitable that the archer would be caught.
"Thank you, system! Brother ahead, don't die, I'm coming to save you!" Xiao Hua's spirits lifted. After walking for so long, seeing another player was more reassuring than encountering a defenseless Super Boss.
Adjusting his Chocobo's direction, Xiao Hua sped towards the archer, determined to prevent him from dying.