Episode 61: The Twin Sand Mirrors

The sand grains of the Crescent Moon Spring altar suddenly suspended in mid-air, coalescing into a two-meter-tall mirror.

The surface of the sand mirror shimmered with a mercury-like luster. The moment Lu Chen pressed his palm against it, ripples spread across the glass, reflecting an unfamiliar face—a girl of about twenty. Her eyebrows and eyes resembled his, but the dimples when she smiled looked just like Alicia's. Hanging around her neck was half a silver bird jade pendant, and she was currently squatting beneath the Populus euphratica trees in the oasis, weaving a flower crown for a little girl with braided buns.

"This is..." Lu Chen's breath caught.

The Sand Speaker's voice carried a weary huskiness: "Your daughter, Lu Nian'an. What she will look like five years from now."

The mirror suddenly shattered, reforming into two completely distinct scenes, like a destiny split in two.

In the mirror on the left, the oasis's Populus euphratica forest was lush and verdant, with children catching fish in the streams and adults harvesting sand-rice on the field ridges. Yet, on everyone's cheek lay a pale golden mark, resembling a solidified trace of sand, shimmering faintly in the sunlight. In the distance, at the edge of the desert, stood an invisible wall. The sand dunes beyond the wall exhibited a lifeless, ash-white color, so dead that even the wind could not stir the sand grains—that was the Dead Sand Zone, occupying seventeen percent of the desert's total area.

"The future if you activate the Anti-Entropy Array." The Sand Speaker pointed a finger toward the Dead Sand Zone. "The energy shockwave will rob that land of vitality forever, but the oasis can be preserved, and humanity can multiply within the safe zone. The price is... every survivor will bear the sand mark, the imprint of energy radiation, passed down from generation to generation."

Lu Chen's gaze fell upon Lu Nian'an's cheek in the mirror. Sure enough, there was a faint golden pattern, like a tiny anti-entropy totem. She was holding up a flower crown as she ran toward the lens, the silver bird jade pendant glittering in the sunlight, her laughter as crisp as wind chimes.

The mirror on the right suddenly burst into a dazzling, dark purple.

In the same oasis, the scene three years later had turned into hell. The Populus euphratica forest had withered into black silhouettes, the dried riverbeds were strewn with white bones, the children's braided buns had mutated into grayish-blue scorpion tails, and the adults groveled on the sandy ground, armor-like sand crystals sprouting from their backs, their eye sockets flashing with an eerie blue light. They had undergone sand-mutation, becoming puppets of the Bone Core. Williams's giant shadow sneered amidst the sandstorm, a string of silver bird jade pendants hanging from his scorpion tail, one half of which bore a pattern identical to Lu Nian'an's.

"The result of leaving him unchecked." The Sand Speaker's voice grew tight. The puppets in the mirror suddenly turned their heads in unison, their eerie blue empty eye sockets locking onto Lu Chen's direction, opening their mouths to emit a meaningless hiss. "The Bone Core will rewrite human genes. Three years is enough time to turn every oasis into its breeding farm."

Lu Chen's fists clenched fiercely, the golden totem in his palm burning like a red-hot iron. In the mirror on the right, a sand-mutated woman bent down to pick up that half of the silver bird jade pendant. Beneath the sand crystals on her neck, a birthmark identical to Alicia's was faintly visible.

"Make your choice." The Sand Speaker's sand mirror began to grow unstable, sand grains cascading rapidly from its edges. "The activation button for the Anti-Entropy Array is in your palm. It's still not too late to stop now."

"Stop?" Lu Chen suddenly laughed, a trace of blood staining his laughter. "Let them turn into those monsters?"

He pointed at the sand-mutated little girl in the right-hand mirror, who was using her scorpion tail to scoop up a piece of white bone and stuff it into her mouth, Lu Nian'an's silver bird flower crown still hanging around her neck, its petals long since withered and blackened.

"That's not Nian'an." Alicia's voice trembled. She had appeared behind him at some point, the silver bird totem on her chest heaving violently. "That's... an empty shell polluted by the Bone Core."

The sand mirror suddenly trembled violently, the visions of the two futures beginning to overlap. The ash-white of the Dead Sand Zone eroded the oasis; the mutant's scorpion tail pierced the Populus euphratica forest; Lu Nian'an's smiling face and the sand-mutated girl's roars flashed alternately in the mirror, resembling an absurd nightmare.

"The sand mirror is warning you." The Sand Speaker steadied his swaying body, golden blood dripping onto the sand. "The two futures are collapsing. Your hesitation will close the window of choice, leaving behind only... mutual destruction."

Lu Chen's gaze swept across his daughter's sand-marked cheek in the left-hand mirror. Though permanent, the mark could not obscure the light within her eyes. He recalled Old Dao's dying words: "A Sand Guardian's life is meant for filling pits; we can't let the next generation keep eating sand."

The totem in his palm suddenly erupted with golden light, and the two futures within the sand mirror simultaneously froze.

"I choose the former." Lu Chen's voice was as calm as a frozen lake, his gaze fixed dead on that patch of Dead Sand Zone in the left-hand mirror. "Seventeen percent dead sand in exchange for the oasis's survival. It's worth it."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Chen Yu's roar came from the edge of the altar. He had just rushed back with the communications soldier, and the battle at Black Wind Pass was still echoing through his earpiece. "The ruins of three tribes are buried beneath the Dead Sand Zone! That is the root of the Sand Guardians!"

"If the roots are gone, we can grow new ones." Lu Chen turned to look at him, the golden totem casting a cold light in the sunlight. "If the people are gone, everything is gone."

The Sand Speaker suddenly coughed violently, the edges of the sand mirror beginning to disintegrate: "Once chosen, there is no turning back. When the Anti-Entropy Array is fully activated, the Dead Sand Zone will generate an energy field. Any living creature that steps into it will instantly turn to sand, including..."

He did not finish, but everyone understood—including any survivors who might be trapped over there.

Alicia suddenly gripped Lu Chen's wrist, her silver bird totem resonating with the totem in his palm, casting a beam of gold-and-blue light onto the sand mirror: "I'll go with you to activate the final button. The boundary of the Dead Sand Zone has energy markers left by my mother. We might be able to open a temporary passage and rescue the trapped people."

"No!" Lu Chen tried to shake off her hand, but her grip only tightened.

"Did you think I was going to my death?" A flash of slyness crossed Alicia's eyes, like a fox that had successfully stolen candy. "My mother hid a sand ship in the Dead Sand Zone back then, and it can be activated with silver bird blood. Even if it truly becomes dead sand, I can drag you back."

The sand mirror suddenly emitted a piercing hum, and the images of the two futures shattered simultaneously. Countless sand grains splattered, condensing into a vague figure in mid-air—it was Williams! His giant shadow distorted within the sand grains, his scorpion tail pointing directly at Lu Chen, as dark purple calamity fire spread along the patterns of the sand mirror:

"Choose the Anti-Entropy Array? Fools! The heart of the Sand Source is buried beneath that dead sand! Activating the array is feeding it blood!"

The Sand Speaker's expression changed drastically: "What he said is true... The Dead Sand Zone wasn't caused by energy radiation; it is the sealing ground of the Sand Source!"

Lu Chen's heart plummeted.

The Sand Source—that primordial power awakened by Williams—had apparently been sealed beneath the Dead Sand Zone all along. Not only would the energy shockwave of the Anti-Entropy Array fail to destroy it, but it would actually help it break the seal!

The fragments of the sand mirror suddenly re-condensed. This time, what they reflected were no longer two futures, but a boiling golden sea of sand. Countless huge eyes opened within the sand sea, neither human nor sand scorpion, their pupils flowing with chaotic light. In the center of the sand sea, a giant composed of golden sand slowly stood up, half an Requiem Bone Flute plunged into its chest—the exact manifestation of the Sand Source.

"Do you see?" Williams's wild laughter echoed from the sand mirror. "The Anti-Entropy Array is the key! You yourselves have unlocked the prison of the Sand Source!"

The giant hand of the Sand Source suddenly reached out from the mirror, grabbing toward Lu Chen's palm. The golden totem burned fiercely upon contact, growing so hot that he almost let go. Lu Nian'an vanished abruptly from the sand mirror, replaced by an oasis submerged in a golden sea of sand, the children's screams distorted within the sand grains before finally turning into meaningless roars.

"It's not too late to change your mind now." Williams's scorpion tail swayed inside the sand mirror. "Fuse with the Bone Core with me, and we can control the Sand Source, becoming the new rulers of the desert."

Alicia suddenly dropped her silver bird blood onto the sand mirror, the gold-and-blue light instantly driving away the dark purple calamity fire. The giant shadow of the Sand Source twisted in agony amidst the light, revealing the hidden scene beneath—deep within the sealing ground of the Dead Sand Zone, three ring-shaped grooves were embedded, matching the form of the Three Rings before their integration.

"My mother's notes mentioned this!" Alicia's voice carried excitement. "The Sand Source wasn't sealed; it was suppressed by the Three Rings! The energy of the Anti-Entropy Array can make the Three Rings return to their positions and lock it down once more!"

The Sand Speaker's eyes lit up: "She's right! The energy field of the Dead Sand Zone is a natural lock core. As long as the power of the Three Rings totem is injected into the grooves..."

"Impossible!" Williams's scorpion tail smashed viciously against the sand mirror. "The Sand Source has already awakened; the Three Rings can never suppress it!"

The sand mirror shattered once more, this time completely transforming into countless sand grains that hovered in the air to form a massive question mark.

Lu Chen looked at the golden totem in his palm, then gazed toward the approaching dark purple sandstorm in the distance. Suddenly, he remembered Lu Nian'an's smiling face in the left-hand mirror. There was no fear in that smile; even with the sand mark on her cheek, the light in her eyes was brighter than the sun of the oasis.

"Activate the array." His voice was ironclad as he grabbed Alicia's hand and sprinted toward the depths of the altar. "To the sealing ground!"

Chen Yu hoisted his rocket launcher and followed closely behind, Wang璐's medical kit bouncing with every stride, the anti-body vials of sand-blood inside emitting crisp clinking sounds. Watching their retreating figures, the Sand Speaker suddenly used all his remaining strength to throw the half-bone flute: "Take this! The bone flute can temporarily pacify the Sand Source!"

The bone flute drew a golden streak through the air, steadily caught by Lu Chen.

As they charged into the tunnel leading to the Dead Sand Zone, the Crescent Moon Spring altar behind them suddenly erupted with blinding white light. The energy of the Anti-Entropy Array began to spiral out of control, and a massive fissure tore open at the boundary of the Dead Sand Zone. Golden sand grains gushed out from the fissure, coalescing in mid-air into a gigantic eye that glared fixedly at the tunnel entrance.

The Sand Source had sensed the aura of the Three Rings.

Its hunt had begun.

Lu Chen gripped the bone flute tightly, feeling the totem in his palm resonating with the golden light pouring from the fissure. A sudden premonition struck him: Williams might have been half right—the Anti-Entropy Array was indeed a key, but not the key to open a prison. It was...

The key to unleash the true power of the Sand Source.

And they were about to become the first to turn that key.

The light at the end of the tunnel grew increasingly bright, accompanied by the faint sound of flowing golden sand, like countless people whispering simultaneously. Alicia's silver bird totem suddenly grew scalding hot. Looking down, she saw the patterns on the totem spontaneously reorganizing into an unprecedented symbol—the primordial imprint of the Sand Source mentioned in her mother's notes.

"Lu Chen." She stopped abruptly, her voice carrying an unprecedented solemnity. "My mother said that the primordial imprint of the Sand Source... shares the same origin as the bloodline of the Sand Guardians."

Lu Chen halted his steps as well.

The same origin?

Then, by activating the array, were they suppressing the Sand Source, or were they... awakening another version of themselves?

Amidst the golden light at the end of the tunnel, two vague figures gradually took shape. They looked both like Lu Chen and Alicia, yet simultaneously like puppets formed of golden sand, slowly extending their hands toward them.

The window of choice closed completely at this very moment.

Regardless of whether the path ahead led to redemption or an abyss, they had to walk it.

Because the sand mirror had already provided the answer—any hesitation was merely aiding Williams and the Sand Source.

And their battlefield had never been about choosing the future; it was about creating the future.

Even if the price was... mutual destruction with the Sand Source.