Chapter 5

Amidst the splashes of blood and the swirling dust, Gao Feng leaped up, breaking through the dust and continuing to charge forward. He knew that a sandstorm that could instill fear was never simple. Just as he burst out of the dust and saw Huo Ya running towards him, his heart warmed.

Suddenly, he accelerated, rushing to Huo Ya, grabbing his hair and pulling him towards the gap between two houses. In the next moment, three large rocks fell from the sky in succession, landing on the street. The most terrifying aspect of these rocks was not their hardness but their fragility. The temperature fluctuations between day and night in the wilderness made the rocks brittle. Upon impact, they shattered like fragmentation grenades, scattering in all directions with almost no blind spots.

The reason the Black Claw tribe feared sandstorms was that it was impossible to avoid the exploding rocks. Even with armor, one could not withstand the high-speed, sharp fragments. The walls along the street crumbled under the impact, collapsing and sending red dust and sand surging in all directions.

Huo Ya was still confused when Gao Feng leaped again, pulling him along. In the thick dust, it was pitch black, but Gao Feng could clearly find his way. Huo Ya repeatedly collided with the walls after being pulled back by Gao Feng. At this moment, Huo Ya felt an unprecedented respect for Gao Feng.

Sandstorms that occurred every few or ten years were the most feared disasters for the wilderness tribes. The people of the wilderness fought against the sky and the earth, but they were powerless against sandstorms. However, Gao Feng could easily avoid the deadly fragments that even the bravest warriors feared. Each time he lay down or moved, he was on the brink of life and death. Huo Ya did not know how many times Gao Feng had narrowly escaped certain death, but without Gao Feng, he would certainly not have survived.

"Boom..." A sturdy house not far from them suddenly collapsed, and the dust from the collapse engulfed them like a tidal wave. The choking dust and sand rushed into Huo Ya's mouth and nose, making him cough violently. He spat out the sand and was suddenly pushed to the ground by Gao Feng. He instinctively covered his head, preparing for the onslaught of sand and stones, but Gao Feng had already vanished.

With Gao Feng, Huo Ya had become accustomed to relying on him and survived the disaster. Without Gao Feng, he acted like a true wilderness person, relying on his instincts. In the gap between two houses, he broke his spear and used the spearhead to dig into the wall, hoping to create a large opening to enter the room.

Huo Ya knew that these rocks were just the prelude to the storm. The real disaster was yet to come. If he could not get inside a building, he would surely die.

Gao Feng charged forward through the sandstorm, feeling as natural as a fish in water in this environment that all wilderness people feared. The fragments from the exploding rocks overlapped with the fragments in his memory. He did not need to think about what to do; dodging the fragments had become an instinct. The enveloping dust was like the smoke on a battlefield, and even the loud booms made him feel a familiar tremor.

In this disaster that everyone feared, only Gao Feng was unafraid. He enjoyed this familiar feeling, a sense of fulfillment as he continuously rediscovered himself.

Gao Feng's target was a small figure clinging to the top of a log amidst the debris of a collapsed house. Various objects were swirling in the air, and the remains of the house looked like a demolished ruin. The debris was constantly shaking and breaking apart under the impact of the rocks, with fragments flying in all directions. Without any unexpected events, the small figure would not last long and would be torn apart by the countless fragments.

The little one was familiar to Gao Feng. They had collided earlier at the street corner, leaving a pair of pure eyes in his mind. Qin Nu, the lowest class in the Black Claw tribe, could die in large numbers without the warriors feeling any regret. However, Gao Feng still rushed out without hesitation, moved by those eyes that brought him a sense of peace in this world.

Gao Feng's actions contradicted the values of the wilderness people. At this moment, the two sets of values clashed. Regardless of who Gao Feng was before, in this moment, life itself, not its value, determined everything. He had no intention of saving others but was willing to act on his own convictions. As he charged forward, his eyes met the little Qin Nu's.

The little Qin Nu's eyes showed no fear or panic, only that clear purity. Even though she was covered in dirt, her eyes were so clean that they made one's heart tremble. At this moment, Gao Feng's expression suddenly changed. In the distance, a massive red sand wave crashed into the edge of the wall, creating a roar like a tsunami. In the next moment, trillions of dust particles rose hundreds of meters into the air, casting a huge shadow over the sky.

Time seemed to pause. The massive shadow, like an incoming tide, engulfed the wall. The wild wave, like a runaway horse, crashed into the houses at the edge, sending logs rolling in the dust and forming a new rain of stones that poured down.

Gao Feng's first thought in this apocalyptic scene was to run and find a place to hide. The swirling dust was a million times more terrifying than the shattered rocks. He saw people caught in the dust rolling in the air, being ground into nothing by trillions of sand particles. Even the logs, which could withstand axe and sword, were shattered into millions of pieces in the rain of stones.

But the pure, crystal-like eyes did not look at the terrifying dust. They only gazed at Gao Feng, who was barely visible in the dust, seemingly indifferent to their own fate. Gao Feng suddenly burst with immense strength, unleashing the power hidden deep within his body. With a thunderous roar, he took a few steps and reached the debris, extending his arms.

The little Qin Nu suddenly let go of the log and fell into Gao Feng's arms. Her small body weighed no more than twenty pounds. Gao Feng, holding her, rushed into the gap formed by three logs in the debris. In the next moment, the dust, with its destructive force, swept through every street of the tribe, filling all the gaps like a flood.

The remaining framework and supports of the debris collapsed. Gao Feng tightly closed his eyes, hugging the little Qin Nu and curling together. At this moment, the world was reduced to just him and the little Qin Nu. In the wrath of nature, human strength was so insignificant. Logs and bricks fell around him, and he could only use his body to protect the child, facing the various trials with his own flesh.

The swirling dust was like rough sandpaper, each grain like a needle, constantly pricking his nerves. Gao Feng's mind was blank, but more fragments of memory surfaced, showing a figure in a pink nurse's uniform.

The figure was blurry, but the red cross on the chest was so vivid that it made his heart involuntarily clench, causing a heart-wrenching pain. This pain was a thousand times more intense than the sand grinding his skin, affecting not only his mind but also his eyes. In this strange and heart-wrenching pain, his eyes also moistened.

The entire Black Claw tribe trembled under the sandstorm. Houses were pierced by falling rocks, and the subsequent dust swept into the houses, tearing them apart from the inside out. The massive waves of sound, like a tsunami, shook everyone's eardrums. In this disaster, whether they were proud warriors or lowly Qin Nu, they all prayed to their ancestors, hoping for protection and guidance to survive the storm.

The devout wilderness people trembled in the face of death, and Gao Feng clenched his teeth, searching for a glimmer of hope amidst the sandstorm. The ground was also trembling. A loud crash, the collapse of a house, echoed through the air. In the midst of this sound, the corner where he was hiding also made a crumbling noise. Gao Feng rushed out, jumping into the rolling sand on the street. In the next second, the place where he had been hiding exploded, and was buried by countless grains of sand.