Chapter 107: RUINSAND

Chapter 107 — THE KINGDOM BENEATH THE SUN

Heat.

Wind.

Motion.

Long Hao’s eyes opened again but this time, the sky above him was not silent.

It was shaking.

The world jolted with every uneven bump. Metal rattled. Leather creaked. The smell of dust and engine oil filled his lungs.

He blinked.

Then again.

He was not standing in the desert.

He was lying on something padded.

The backseat of a vehicle.

An open-roofed jeep—large, reinforced, built like something meant to ram through dunes instead of glide across them. The metal frame was thick. Tires wide. Storage racks loaded with crates, coiled ropes, and strapped-down monster carcasses wrapped in netting.

The vehicle swerved slightly.

Sunlight flashed across his eyes.

He pushed himself upright.

The wind hit his face instantly, hot and dry.

“What just happened…” he said to himself.

That surprised him.

He had no memory of climbing into a vehicle.

The last thing he remembered was just a blank in air.

Heat.

Sand.

Silence.

Now the engine roared beneath him.

He stood carefully, bracing himself against the metal frame of the jeep.

It was a nine-seater model—three seats in front, two rows behind, and reinforced side rails. The kind guilds used for long-haul hunts across dangerous terrain.

In the front row sat three men.

One was driving.

The other two turned at the sound of movement.

They were large.

Not just muscular—but hardened.

Their skin carried the tone of people who lived under sun without protection. Their arms were corded with practical strength, not ornamental bulk.

The man seated in the far right of the front row had a longbow strapped across his back. His shoulders were lean, posture relaxed but coiled. His eyes were sharp.

The one in the middle carried a spear mounted upright along the jeep’s side. His hands were scarred. His expression steady.

The driver—whose weapon was not visible—had broader shoulders than both of them. His hands gripped the steering wheel with unconscious authority.

All three turned to look at Long Hao.

The driver raised one eyebrow.

“Well, look at that,” he said. “Little guy’s awake.”

The archer grinned.

“Told you he wasn’t dead.”

The spear user squinted.

“You good back there?”

Long Hao’s gaze moved from one to the other.

He forced his breathing to remain even.

He did not let confusion show too openly.

He tilted his head slightly.

“…Where am I?”

The three men exchanged glances.

The driver gave a short laugh.

“That’s a cliche one.”

The archer leaned his elbow casually against the jeep frame and turned fully toward him.

“We found you fainted in the desert,” he said. “Face-first in the sand. No supplies. No ride. No other person.”

Long Hao frowned lightly.

“In the desert?”

“Yeah,” the spear user said. “We were passing through after collecting our haul.”

He jerked his thumb backward toward the netted monster carcasses strapped behind Long Hao.

“Figured you were done for if we left you there.”

The jeep hit another bump.

Long Hao steadied himself instinctively.

His mind was working fast.

Desert.

No system.

No Longyu.

Three unknown men.

Guild vehicle.

He glanced at his own hands.

No visible injuries.

Clothes intact.

Eclipse System still silent.

He lowered himself slowly into a seated position.

“…My memory’s fuzzy,” he said carefully. “I don’t remember… being in a desert.”

The driver snorted.

“That’s because you shouldn’t have been.”

The archer tilted his head.

“What were you doing out there anyway?”

Long Hao hesitated half a second.

Then answered.

“…Hunting.”

The spear user stared at him.

“Hunting?”

Long Hao forced a mild, embarrassed expression.

“I went out solo. I thought I could track something. Guess I overestimated myself.”

He made sure not to sound defensive.

Self-deprecating was safer.

The driver barked a laugh.

“Hunting?” he repeated. “Are you mad, little guy?”

He shook his head.

“We’re giving our all to keep things from reaching the outer towns and you just stroll into the open desert hunting?”

He gave a sideways glance.

“You must be something, huh?”

Long Hao offered a small shrug.

“I thought I was.”

The archer chuckled.

“Confidence almost got you roasted alive.”

The spear user added flatly, “You’re lucky we came through that route.”

The driver cleared his throat.

“Name’s Colby Gauff,” he said, eyes still on the road. “Frontline Hunters Guild.”

He jerked his chin toward the others.

“They’ll introduce themselves if they feel like it.”

The archer smirked.

“Maybe.”

The spear user simply nodded once.

Long Hao stored the name.

Colby Gauff.

Frontline Hunters Guild.

He kept his voice neutral.

“…Frontline?”

Colby nodded.

“Biggest guild this side of the dunes.”

He shifted gears as the jeep climbed a slope of sand.

“We’re the first line between high-tier monsters and civilian territory.”

The wind grew louder as they crested the dune.

“Out here,” Colby continued, “we deal with what the kingdoms don’t want reaching their walls.”

The archer added, “Desert beasts. Burrowers. Sand wyrms. Rogue awakened monsters. The works.”

Long Hao’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Kingdoms.

Plural.

He kept his tone casual.

“So… we’re far from the continent?”

The spear user snorted lightly.

“Central Continent?”

Colby chuckled.

“You hit your head harder than I thought.”

He glanced at Long Hao briefly.

“We’re nowhere near that place.”

Long Hao’s mind sharpened instantly.

Nowhere near.

“…Then where are we?” he asked, maintaining his slightly confused act.

The jeep rolled down the dune, revealing more desert stretching endlessly ahead.

Colby answered plainly.

“Ruinsand Kingdom.”

The words hit differently than the wind.

Ruinsand.

Long Hao did not react outwardly.

Inside, everything tightened.

Another kingdom.

Not a territory he recognized from academy maps.

Not a frontier he had heard of in any lecture.

He leaned back slightly.

“Ruinsand…”

The archer tilted his head.

“You really don’t remember anything?”

Long Hao shook his head slowly.

“Bits and pieces.”

He let his gaze drift to the horizon.

“I remember training. A guild. Then… heat.”

Colby’s expression shifted subtly.

“You from one of the outer guilds?”

“Maybe.”

That was safe.

Colby shrugged.

“Well, you’re heading to headquarters with us either way.”

Long Hao looked back at him.

“Headquarters?”

“Yeah,” Colby said. “If you’re out here alone, you’re either suicidal or stupid.”

The archer added, “Or talented.”

Colby smirked.

“Let’s hope it’s the third.”

The jeep drove on.

Long Hao listened.

They spoke about patrol rotations.

About sandstorms that lasted three days.

About a beast they’d hunted earlier that morning—some kind of armored burrower with acidic blood.

They spoke casually.

Like this was routine.

Like the desert was home.

Long Hao scanned the horizon again.

Something felt off.

The dunes were too uniform.

The sky too empty.

No distant city silhouettes.

No spirit towers.

No aura fluctuations.

He tried again internally.

Longyu?

Nothing.

The Eclipse System?

Silent.

That silence pressed heavier than the heat.

Colby spoke again.

“You sure you don’t remember your guild?”

Long Hao considered.

Safer to admit partial memory than none.

“…I remember hunting,” he said slowly. “But not… this.”

Colby nodded.

“Memory loss isn’t rare out here. Some beasts mess with the mind. Some storms scramble your head.”

The archer added, “Or dehydration.”

Long Hao gave a faint smile.

“That too.”

They crested another dune.

And then—

The horizon changed.

Not dunes.

Stone.

Massive.

Long Hao leaned forward instinctively.

In the distance, rising from the desert like a broken spine of the earth itself, stood a wall.

No—more than a wall.

A straight, continuous stone structure stretching across the horizon.

It was enormous.

Easily over two hundred feet tall.

Built from colossal rectangular slabs that seemed older than the sand itself.

The structure extended left and right beyond sight, forming a barrier that cut the desert in half.

It was not decorative.

It was defensive.

Colby grinned slightly.

“There she is.”

The archer whistled softly.

“Home.”

Long Hao’s gaze sharpened.

Stone towers punctuated the wall at intervals, each mounted with ballista-like structures and shimmering barrier nodes.

Caravans moved toward large gate openings at the center.

Hunters.

Vehicles.

Monster corpses strapped to wagons.

He exhaled slowly.

Ruinsand Kingdom.

The jeep descended toward the gate.

As they approached, Long Hao felt something else.

A faint pulse beneath the stone.

Not the Eclipse System.

Not Longyu.

Something ancient.

Something buried.

Colby slowed the vehicle.

“Time to pack up,” he said casually. “We’ve arrived.”

The gate loomed ahead, massive iron doors carved with beast motifs and guild emblems.

Guards waved them through.

The jeep rolled beneath the shadow of the stone wall.

For a brief moment, the desert sun vanished overhead.

Long Hao looked up at the towering structure.

Two hundred feet of stone.

Endless.

Unbroken.

Built not to welcome.

Built to survive.

And as the jeep crossed fully into the kingdom beyond—

Long Hao realized one thing with absolute clarity.

He was no longer anywhere near the world he knew.

[Chapter ENDS]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep