After recovering that painful memory, Si Moyan contacted his superiors in the Special Forces.
To crack down on that extremely vicious criminal syndicate, both the Special Forces and the IBI had successively sent undercover agents to the Black Desert over the past few years.
But without exception, all the undercover agents lost contact after entering the Black Desert.
The Black Desert was like a devil's den; entering it meant losing one's life.
Now, the higher-ups didn't dare to easily send any more undercover agents there.
Si Moyan had already communicated with the higher-ups. This time, he would be the one going undercover.
He thought Wen Yan and his family would try their best to stop him, but unexpectedly, Wen Yan supported his decision.
Si Moyan's gaze toward Wen Yan deepened. He tightly grasped her soft, delicate little hand. "Mrs. Si, thank you for understanding me."
Wen Yan squeezed Si Moyan's slightly cool, large hand in return. "I understand you. Those who were killed were your teammates who fought alongside you through life and death. The bond between you all is irreplaceable. However, you must promise me to take good care of yourself. Grandpa, your younger siblings, and I will be waiting for your return in Ye City."
Si Moyan nodded. "Alright, I promise you."
Old Master Si still had countless things he wanted to say, but seeing Si Moyan's reddened eyes and slightly trembling lips, all his words choked in his throat.
He recalled the time when Si Moyan had just returned from the Special Forces. He had nightmares almost every night, suffering from both physical and mental torment.
If he wasn't allowed to go, he probably wouldn't find peace for the rest of his life.
...
A month later.
Amidst a sky full of yellow sand, Wen Yan arrived at the Black Desert alone, keeping it a secret from the Si family and Wen Jinglou.
She wore a windbreaker, cargo pants, and high-top boots. Her long hair was tied into a neat ponytail, and she wore a veil over her face, her beautiful eyes bright and radiant.
The system hadn't updated Si Moyan's latest situation, and she was simply too worried.
Rather than being fraught with anxiety every day, it was better to come over in person.
She wanted to see for herself why the Black Desert was known as the Land of Death.
The desert was vast and endless, with an abandoned small town on its periphery.
Wen Yan drove an off-road vehicle, speeding toward the center of the desert.
After driving for the better part of the day, the car eventually broke down halfway.
Wen Yan cursed under her breath, grabbed her backpack, and got out of the car to inspect it.
Suddenly, an immensely powerful gale swept over.
Wen Yan looked up, her beautiful eyes narrowing sharply.
Damn it!
She had actually run into a sandstorm!
The fierce wind swept up the yellow sand, forming a massive yellow dragon, and the sky instantly turned gloomy and dark.
It was too late for Wen Yan to get back into the car.
Her slender body was swept into the storm.
Even though she was fully geared up, the coarse sand and gravel still rolled into her delicate neck, scratching her skin painfully.
After a bout of dizzying spinning, Wen Yan fell unconscious.
When she woke up again, Wen Yan found herself lying in front of a very small cave.
Her muscles ached all over. She raised her hand and wiped the gravel off her face.
The sky had already grown dark.
Wen Yan stood up from the pile of sand and prepared to walk into the cave, only to suddenly discover that it was piled high with eerie white bones.
They were all human skeletons.
The surrounding temperature plummeted instantly.
A chilling, eerie aura swept toward Wen Yan.
A wave of white mist surged forward, and countless dark shadows walked toward Wen Yan's direction.
There were those with severed heads and limbs, those with gaping bloody mouths, and those with completely ruined facial features. All sorts of ghosts who had died tragically swarmed over.
Wen Yan narrowed her fox-like eyes.
She understood now. No wonder this place was called the Land of Death.
With so many wrongfully dead ghosts wanting to find a scapegoat upon seeing a living creature, how could ordinary people possibly escape?
Seeing Wen Yan, those malicious spirits wished they could tear her apart alive.
Wen Yan twitched the corners of her lips. She took a lighter and a small bottle of gasoline out of her bag and directly set the eerie white bones in the cave on fire.
"Ah—"
Miserable screams rang out.
"If you dare to come any closer, I'll burn all the bones to ashes."
Perhaps having never seen such an audaciously bold woman, those souls were all intimidated.
Wen Yan pointed at the smallest soul. "Little ghost, come here."
The soul Wen Yan called 'little ghost' walked up to her. "Sister, please don't burn my bones."
Wen Yan took out incense, paper money, and offerings from her bag. After lighting the incense, she let the little ghost inhale it.
The little ghost squatted excitedly by the incense, desperately absorbing the smoke, revealing a satisfied expression on his face.
The other souls all wanted to step forward, but when Wen Yan extended her lighter toward the cave entrance, they didn't dare to advance anymore.
After inhaling enough incense, the little ghost restored his appearance from when he was alive.
He was a handsome little mixed-race boy.
When he was alive, he and his parents had been traveling in a helicopter. The aircraft accidentally crashed in this desert, and their whole family lost their lives.
"Sister, I haven't eaten this full in a long time. Can I let my mom and dad come over and eat together too?"
Wen Yan pursed her lips. "No rush. Answer a few of my questions first."
Wen Yan took out a photo of Si Moyan. "Have you seen this uncle?"
The little boy's pupils visibly shrank.
"I-I've seen him. He came here a month ago. We wanted to take his life, but we were all burned by the masculine energy on his body."
"We couldn't hurt him."
Wen Yan nodded. "Then do you know where he is now?"
The little boy pointed toward the east. "He went to that castle, the place we don't dare to go."
After lighting some incense for the other souls, Wen Yan had the little ghost lead the way to the castle.
As they neared the main gates of the castle, the little ghost didn't dare to go any further.
"I can't get close to the inside. Sister, I can't take you in."
A spell had been cast around the castle. If these ghosts forced their way in, their souls would simply scatter and perish.
The person who cast the spell had highly advanced magic.
"Alright, thank you."
After the little ghost left, Wen Yan hid in the dark and surveyed her surroundings.
There wasn't just one castle here; there were nearly dozens of them, big and small. The ancient Roman architecture stood tall amidst the sky full of yellow sand, majestic and spectacular.
"Hurry up, go wash yourselves clean. First Boss will come over to pick people later."
A hoarse and fierce voice caught Wen Yan's attention.
She looked into the castle and saw a plump black woman leading several veiled young women to an oasis.
While the plump woman wasn't paying attention, Wen Yan quietly slipped into the line.
"First Boss will be coming over soon. If you don't want to die, behave well and try your best to be chosen by First Boss. You'll have a good life here in the future."
The plump woman glanced at the weeping girls, and her gaze suddenly fell on Wen Yan.
Huh? Why did she feel like there was an extra person?
However, she wasn't quite sure if she had remembered wrong. After all, it was impossible for a woman to easily break into a place like this.
After the girls washed clean, they were led into the castle.
Soon, the First Boss the plump woman mentioned arrived.
The woman made the washed girls take off their veils and stand up.
First Boss's sharp eagle-like eyes swept over them one by one.
Although these girls were not bad looking, they did not stun First Boss.
Just as he was about to randomly pick one as an outlet to vent his desires, the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of Wen Yan, who was keeping her head down.
A sharp glint suddenly flashed in his eyes. "The one at the very back, raise your head!"
