Episode 36: The Collapse of Faith

The smoking ruins of the Tribe X camp still bore the claw marks left by the sand-hollow beasts last night, carved into the ochre rock like ugly scars.

Lu Chen was bandaging a wound on his arm with strips of cloth while Old Dao crouched nearby, counting ammunition. The rhythmic clatter of metal was piercing in the silence of the early morning. Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside the tent—not the alarm of a beast attack, but a surging tide of human voices, filled with incredulous gasps and furious curses.

"What's going on?" Lu Chen frowned, rising to his feet and spinning his totem blade in his hand.

As he stepped out of the tent, a blinding blue light forced him to squint. Eight mechanical vultures hovered over the center of the camp, their wings spread into massive fans, projecting a hologram that engulfed most of the site. The image did not show the Sand-Crystal Warriors of Tribe S, but a familiar oasis—the Crescent Spring from a century ago, ten times larger than it was now, its water so clear that the pebbles at the bottom were visible.

"That's our ancestors' territory!" an elderly man with white hair shouted, his voice trembling as he pointed his snake-headed staff at the palm trees in the projection. "I've seen this 'Century Palm' in the murals!"

A wave of unease rose in Lu Chen’s heart. Williams wouldn't play such footage for no reason; every step taken by that old fox was laced with a sting.

Sure enough, the image shifted abruptly.

A group of warriors clad in the traditional leather armor of Tribe X charged out. Their shields were emblazoned with blood-red wolf heads—the totem of the militant faction of Tribe X from a century ago. Without hesitation, they struck down Tribe S civilians who were drawing water. The screams of women, the cries of children, and the sickening crunch of breaking bones wove together like a dull blade repeatedly sawing at everyone’s hearts.

"No... that’s impossible!" The white-haired elder’s staff clattered to the ground. His eyes went wide, fixed on the image of an elderly Tribe S member being cleaved by a stone axe. "We of Tribe X have guarded the oasis for generations; how could we..."

The massacre in the footage continued. Tribe X warriors threw Tribe S children into the boiling spring, built altars from their skulls, and even forced a Tribe S shaman to drink blood mixed with sand. Most damning of all, they carved a line into the oasis’s stone monument: "The weak are prey to the strong; this is the law of heaven."

"It's fake! This is absolutely forged!" Chen Yu raised his rifle to shoot it down, but Lu Chen pinned his arm.

"Don't be rash!" Lu Chen’s voice was tight. He recognized the recording sigil in the corner of the image—a mark exclusive to the ancient priests of Tribe X. The possibility of it being a forgery was near zero. "This is... the truth from a century ago."

"Truth?" another elder in a black robe suddenly sneered. He was the most knowledgeable historian in the tribe, and his face was now as pale as paper. "We have been told for generations that it was Tribe S who snatched our water source first, and we only fought back! The Sacred Scripture clearly states: 'Fight to protect the oasis, with no regrets even in death!'"

He pulled a yellowed parchment scroll from his robes—the Sacred Scripture of Tribe X, embroidered with golden threads depicting the tribe's origins and commandments. With trembling hands, he flipped to a page and pointed. "Look! It says here that Tribe S shot our shepherds with poison arrows, and we only..."

Before he could finish, the footage switched to the scene of the "poison arrow incident" recorded in the scripture. There were no poison arrows at all; it was the Tribe X shepherds who had stolen camels from Tribe S, and when caught, they had bitten back, drinking poison themselves to frame their victims.

The black-robed elder’s hand froze in mid-air. The parchment slipped from his grasp, unfurling in the wind like a bird with broken wings.

"Liars... all of them are liars!" The white-haired elder let out a shrill roar. He lunged to pick up the scripture and tore it apart with both hands!

*Rrrrrip!*

The scripture, passed down for a century, was shredded. Fragments of parchment danced in the wind, landing on everyone’s faces like small, stinging slaps.

"The justice we’ve guarded for generations is nothing but a lie!" The old man collapsed to the ground, tears mixing with the sand. "We are not the guardians of the oasis; we are butchers! We are bandits!"

The camp erupted into chaos.

"The elder is right! We owe Tribe S!" a young shepherd suddenly threw down his spear. His ancestors were descendants of the militant faction, and his face was now etched with shame. "We should reconcile with them!"

"Reconcile, my foot!" a warrior with a severed arm roared, refuting him. His younger brother had been blown apart by a Tribe S explosive just yesterday. "Even if we were wrong a century ago, we are the ones being slaughtered now! Look at our brothers melted by sand crystals! How do we settle this debt?"

"But the scripture lied to us! The faith we held onto is all fake!"

"Faith is fake, but the blood feud is real! My son died at their hands; this debt must be repaid!"

The two factions instantly descended into a brawl. The young shepherd’s lip was split, and the one-armed warrior was shoved to the ground. Tents were overturned, campfires kicked out; companions who had fought side-by-side moments ago were now bitter enemies.

Lu Chen’s expression grew increasingly grim. He finally understood Williams’s poisonous scheme—this wasn't about revealing the truth; it was about dismantling the spiritual pillar of Tribe X, causing them to collapse through self-doubt and infighting.

"Shut up, all of you!"

A roar exploded as Lu Chen slammed his totem blade into the nearby rock. Golden light erupted, silencing everyone.

He strode to the center of the camp, his gaze scanning the arguing crowd like a blade before finally settling on the two devastated elders.

"I don't know the full truth of what happened a century ago," Lu Chen said, his voice low but carrying a penetrating power. "Whether the scripture lied or our ancestors were wrong—those things can be investigated later."

He pointed to the projection of Tribe X civilians being consumed by sand crystals—the scene of the mechanical vulture attack from the night before. "But I know clearly that it is our people being slaughtered right now! It is Tribe S that treats us as sacrifices! And it is the Bone Core that intends to destroy the entire desert!"

"While you argue about the rights and wrongs of a century ago, Williams is preparing a sacrificial ritual!" Lu Chen raised his voice, his blade pointing toward the Temple of Tribe S. "While you tear up your scriptures, sand-hollow beasts are devouring our brothers at Black Wind Pass!"

"History is for reflection, not for self-destruction!" His eyes swept over the young shepherds advocating for peace. "Even if we owe Tribe S, we must defeat Williams and save the oasis first!"

He then looked at the warriors crying for vengeance. "The blood feud must be avenged, but not through infighting. We must stand together and settle the score with Williams first!"

Silence fell over the crowd, save for the sound of wind whipping through the sand. Lu Chen’s words were like a bucket of cold water, waking them from their rage and confusion. Yes, no matter the past, the current crisis was right before them. Further infighting would only satisfy their enemies.

The white-haired elder stood up shakily, picking up the fragments of the scripture. His voice was hoarse but resolute. "The lad is right... I was a fool. Whatever our ancestors did, this generation cannot let Tribe X end in our hands."

The black-robed elder nodded and pulled a small oilcloth bundle from his robes—an original transcript of the scripture. "This is the untampered version. It does record the conflict from a century ago, but it doesn't say who was right or wrong. It only says, 'The oasis is large enough for everyone.'"

He opened the transcript and read aloud to the crowd: "'Guardians of the Sand, you do not guard the territory of a single tribe; you guard the vitality of this desert. When the heart turns to killing, the sandstorm arrives; when the heart embraces, the oasis survives.'"

"When the heart embraces, the oasis survives!" Lu Chen raised his totem blade, the golden light piercing the blue glare of the mechanical vultures. "Now, who will come with me to tear down Williams’s sacrificial altar?"

"I’m in!" Chen Yu was the first to respond, hoisting his rocket launcher.

"Count me in!" the one-armed warrior struggled to his feet, picking up his machete.

"And us!" The young shepherds picked up their spears again, the shame in their eyes replaced by resolve.

The mechanical vultures seemed not to have anticipated this result; the images began to flicker, and the blue light grew unstable. Williams’s voice suddenly came through the speakers, laced with frantic rage. "A bunch of idiots! Has being fooled by lies for a century not been enough, and now you want to continue being puppets of the Sand Guardians?"

"Your ancestors were a pack of butchers! The blood of bandits flows through your veins!" His voice grew sharper. "Today, I will show you what true retribution looks like!"

The projection suddenly shifted to an aerial view of the Tribe X camp. Countless red dots were closing in—the main force of Tribe S, flanking them from three directions. At the forefront were Sand-Blood Warriors riding desert wolves, their sand-crystal armor gleaming with a bloodthirsty light in the sun.

"A trap!" Lu Chen’s pupils contracted. "He provoked us on purpose to make us reveal our position!"

The sand at the edge of the camp began to churn as if something were awakening beneath it. Old Dao’s bone blade let out a deafening hum, the "Evil-Suppressing" totem on its surface turning a deep, bruised purple. "Bad news! It’s sand-crystal puppets! They’ve been hidden in the sand all along!"

Screams erupted from the back of the crowd. Several shepherds who had been arguing just moments ago collapsed. Their skin began to crystallize at a visible rate, and a ghostly blue light spilled from their eyes. Like puppets on strings, they scrambled up and lunged at their companions.

"It’s memory pollution!" Su Qing’s voice came through the comms, filled with panic. "The mechanical vultures have been emitting low-frequency sound waves; they’re activating the sand-crystal fragments in people's blood!"

Lu Chen’s heart sank to the bottom of a well. Was the morale they had just gathered to be dismantled like this?

He looked at the companions who had turned against them, the approaching Tribe S army in the distance, and then at his totem blade. He suddenly recalled the black-robed elder’s words: "When the heart embraces, the oasis survives."

"Those who don't want to become puppets, charge with me!" Lu Chen did not retreat. Instead, he raised his blade and charged toward the nearest sand-crystal puppet. "Carve a path of blood and get to the Crescent Spring altar! Only by activating the Entropy-Reversal Array can we purify these sand crystals!"

Golden light flashed like lightning, cleaving the first puppet. Lu Chen’s voice echoed through the chaos with undeniable power: "Remember! We are of Tribe X, and we are the descendants of the Sand Guardians! Today, let us show Williams what a true Sand Guardian is!"

The warriors, as if injected with adrenaline, followed him toward the densest pack of puppets. Amidst the flashing blades, the two factions that had been arguing moments ago fought back-to-back, using their own flesh and blood to build a defensive line for their comrades.

The vultures’ blue light continued to flicker, and Williams’s maniacal laughter intertwined with the roar of the puppets like a symphony of despair. But in the midst of the chaos, the battle cry of Tribe X grew louder and louder, drowning out all other noise and echoing across the desert.

Lu Chen knew the battle had only just begun. They had to fight not only the external enemy but also the curse in their blood and the shadows of history.

Behind a distant sand dune, a much larger army was gathering. At their head, Williams rode a massive sand-crystal scorpion. The red light of his mechanical eye fixed on the Tribe X camp, a cold, triumphant smirk hanging on his lips.

In his hand, he held half of an Annihilation Bone Flute.