The group platform contract of Han Ya, An Yuan, Hei Anjing, and Lou Yan had been upgraded. Lan She and Chu Mo had joined their platform. After signing the contract those in the group who are together are considered as one person. The layers they've experienced would be considered done as a group.
Among the four of them, Han Ya had just come over from the eighth layer, the Hell of Wrongful Death whole Chu Mo had the starting layer from the Hell of Hanging Bars. Now that they are under the same contract and are together right now, it was considered that this group had gone through the first to the eighth layer of hell. They are now able to enter the ninth layer from the fifth one.
The ninth layer of Hell.
The Hell of Boiling Sand.
This is the land of everlasting desert. Fine sand occupies the whole layer. The only plant that can live in such a hellish place ate cactus plants which are able to grow in sand. There are lots of unknown dangers in this place and dangerous beings within the world of the sand. When An Yuan and their small group arrived in this layer, they felt like pulling off all the clothes on their bodies. They felt being roasted alive in that place.
Panting in heat Chu Mo tries to lower the temperature with his wind element, unfortunately even the wind he controlled in this layer carried warm air instead of coldness. It made them sweat even faster.
Pants~
"Ah~ so hot~ so fucking hot! I don't want to get cooked alive ah~" complains Chu Mo.
Beside him, even the usually calm Lan She is frowning due to the heat. He couldn't help but wish to leave this place as soon as possible.
Han Ya was also in a bad mood. As a former Undead, he had never experienced temperatures as he is a non-living creature but he knew that holy element can make him perish and hates it will his all. Now that he had a human body, the sudden changes in the temperature made it seem interesting to him. But too much heat or coldness is something he does welcome at all.
He had been in a bad mood since they arrived in this layer. The red sun had been above their heads all this time. Worse of all, there are not even clouds to block the sunlight making it seem like the heater had been placed right in front of their faces feeling the pain of skin burn yet not.
"Too loud! What's the point of complaining!? The temperature won't drop even if you scream your lungs out!" said Han Ya.
Chu Mo had long removed his upper clothing and was bare above his waist. His body was covered in sweat glistening under the sunlight. His solid chest was firm and his six packs abs were out to be seen. But this man doesn't care about decency at this kind of temperature.
Actually, Han Ya's current state isn't that different from Chu Mo but he didn't completely undress his shirt and left it open instead. He didn't want to look like a savage in front of his beloved.
An Yuan and Lan She are good, they were holding umbrellas bought with gold coins in the store. The other two didn't want to embarrass themselves and be treated as pussy by fearing the heat and sunlight as a man.
These two were in such a good state that the two were proud gong. They would even roll their eyes on them, seeing them sweat buckets under the red sunlight.
Lan She turned around and looked at his lover with slight indifference on his face.
"Are you still not going to hold an umbrella? Isn't it just saving yourself from the heat!?" complains the doctor.
Chu Mo looked at the colorful and girly patterned umbrella in his lover's hand. The abyssal store only sold floral and cute umbrellas as most of its buyers were females. Seeing the colorful pink flower on it, Chu Mo really couldn't bear to hold it in his hand despite the heat above his head.
"Pant~ No, it's okay. It's not so hot that it directly burns the skin black. I could still bear with it until we find an oasis or the door itself" said Chu Mo.
Lan She snorted and said, "You're choice then."
"How about you, Xiao Ya? Still don't need the umbrella?" asked An Yuan.
"A'Yuan, I'm okay. That small thing couldn't even block the temperature. What use does it have?" said Han Ya.
An Yuan retorted, "It blocks the sunlight. The heat from the sunlight."
"Okay. I still don't need it," said Han Ya.
The Professor, An Yuan, also didn't look nice at Han Ya. He was the first one to offer an umbrella to his man only to be rejected saying that the man doesn't fear the sun. When An Yuan heard Han Ya say that he almost couldn't stop himself from kicking the man in anger.
Thankfully, Manager Gui and Manager Tian took the lead showing the direction to the nearest oasis.
Manager Tian happily said, [We are almost there! The Oasis is just a few meters away from us.]
[There should be unknown dangers in paradise. Be careful. There are some players in this layer as well] said, Manager Gui.
The subsystem and guide system of Chu Mo and Lan She pretended to be their managers but they didn't speak out in the presence of the real Managers of this world. They weren't able to morph in their humanoid form like the other managers.
After walking for another hour they finally saw a small part of greeny within the land of burning sand. As expected, the oasis can be considered as a paradise in the middle of this hellish place but it does not mean that there isn't any danger in this place.
The more beautiful the place is, the more likely a hidden danger is secretly buried in it.
Lan She spoke, "Be on your guard. We don't know if other players are hiding in this place."
Chu Mo and Han Ya stood in front and protected the other two behind them. An Yuan on the other hand was surprised by the holographic screen that suddenly appeared in front of him. This is similar to the Live streaming platform the abyssal world allowed the players to use but this game screen can only be seen by him.
This game screen had appeared when he successfully achieved the Magic Archery Skill. Upon successfully using mana, his bloodline exp had increased as well. Not before the oasis in front of him, his eyes could see a screen with the following contents in it.
—
Oasis # 3
One of the small paradises in the ninth layer. It had a small island feature. A small land surrounded by a river and a small forest in the middle.
Typography:
Clean Water – 70%
Fertile land – 30%
Population:
Players (inside) – 10
Monsters:
Boss – 2
Mid-boss – 6
Minions – 50
—
Seeing this weird screen and its content inside made An Yuan curse in disbelief.
"Fuck! What is this? A game system?" mumbled An Yuan.
Han Ya turned around to look at him and asked, "What's wrong An Yuan?"
"I think. My bloodline skill set has been upgraded and I've learned how to use mana. In front of me, I can see a screen that records what I see with my ancient human eyes. I did activate my eyes to check the Oasis and what I've seen had been recorded on it.
There are detailed records on it. The water in this Oasis is drinkable and the land at the center is fertile. There must be fruit trees and other edible things inside but… There are other players inside. At least 2 to three groups. 10 players in total.
There are also hidden monsters within the Oasis. Two boss-level monsters, 6 mid-boss level, and at least 50 mob monsters." explained An Yuan.
The other three were startled by what they'd heard. They had also asked An Yuan to scout for them before they made their moves. Because Ancient Human bloodline is very suitable for scouting as they could see-through things much clearer than what a naked eye could have done.
After learning that An Yuan's skill became even more omnipotent, they couldn't help but be stunned. Now they even know if there are players in place and even the hidden danger like monsters can be recorded as well. They just need to make the necessary preparations before going inside. They wouldn't even suffer from any ambush as well.
Chu Mo murmured, "How come his bloodline looks more like a cheat instead of just a bloodline. I thought the Ancient Humans' forte is learning."
"It's learning. Didn't he just study the Oasis as a whole? Now he can record it. I guess the mana played the role well." said Lan She.
Han Ya spoke, "With A'Yuan help we can at least know how many enemies are there in the area. This is an amazing skill, A'Yuan."
The professor was happy that he was able to help Han Ya again and had a sweet smile on his face. Han Ya's expression also turned warm and tender while looking at An Yuan. They've stared at each other for a while.
Chu Mo, the usual third wheel, spoke, "How long are you guys going to stare at each other? I'm thirsty and want to take a bath."
The two glared at him.
"Let's take a rest first. We also should go and eat something or we wouldn't have any energy to venture in this desert," said Lan She.
Han Ya said, "There's no need to interact with other players. But if they dare to make a move I will kill all of them on the spot!"
"Of course! That's only right," said Chu Mo.
Lan She, "Go inside the Oasis, rest, and eat. Let's leave this layer as soon as possible."
"That's right. We need to meet Sir Hei and his husband soon. This trial's duration will be finished soon." said An Yuan.
Their small group decided to enter the Oasis after completing their preparations. They would have nothing to worry about ambushes as they already knew where the other players were hiding. They just need to look out for the monsters hiding within the Oasis. According to An Yuan, these monsters keep moving from one place to another. He could pinpoint their location but it changes most of the time.
The human players on the other hand were spread on the Oasis in groups. Some in pair and small group while few in solo. As soon as they entered paradise in the desert, some humans who were resting near the rivers spotted them.
Chu Mo had used his wind element to fly and cross the river with the rest of the team. As soon as they landed on the island, they saw some injured players who looked so malnourished for some reason. Their eyes were bloodshot as if they hadn't slept for a few days.
Seeing their eyes looking like a dead fish while staring at them, Lan She and An Yuan guessed that there is something wrong with this Oasis. Just they've thought, there is indeed some hidden danger in the Oasis.
Even Chu Mo and Han Ya who rarely use their heads of thought felt that this Oasis is much more dangerous than they've anticipated. Only Han Ya as soon as he stepped on the ground felt the familiar aura of demons within the island.
He knew that some Abyssal Monster of a special kind might be hiding in this small paradise. Thinking of this he had warned An Yuan and the other couple.
Han Ya whispered, "Be careful. I felt a demonic presence in this place. Though I now recognize what it is, we should carefully roam in the Oasis without getting separated."
"Let's move as a group," said Chu Mo.
The group ignored all the eyes on them and ventured even deeper within the island. What they didn't know is that after they had left those players who were staring at them with dead eyes started talking with each other.
"Another group of fools to feed the monsters!"
"They shouldn't have entered that forest. They will do. They can only die in that place."
"We can't even leave this place right now. Or should have been stolen by that demon~"
"I don't even know how long I've been in this place. This is hell, why would there be paradise inside of hell?"
"Inside of hell is just a brutal land of death."
