The wind howled again,
风再度咆哮,
carrying the last echoes of the dead.
带着死者最后的残响.
And in the distance,
而在远方,
beneath the endless dunes,
无尽的沙丘之下,
something else stirred.
还有别的东西,在苏醒.
The dunes were quiet.
沙丘异常安静.
Too quiet.
安静得过头.
Every step sank with a hiss.
每一步都陷入沙中,发出嘶嘶声.
Lin Jin walked at the edge of the group — twelve now, tired, sunburned, brittle.
林烬走在队伍边缘——十二人,疲惫,晒伤,精神紧绷.
The air shimmered.
空气在抖动.
The heat was so thick it felt alive.
热浪浓稠得像活物.
---
A player shouted from the front.
前方的玩家突然高喊.
> "I see the ridge! Ashfort's close!"
"我看到沙岭了!灰堡快到了!"
Laughter broke out — weak, but desperate.
笑声响起——虚弱,却透着绝望的释然.
Lin Jin didn't smile.
林烬没笑.
The sand beneath his boots shifted again.
脚下的沙又一次微动.
A low tremor ran through the ground — subtle, steady, wrong.
地面传来低沉的震动——细微,持续,不对劲.
---
Then the wind stopped.
然后风停了.
Every grain of sand seemed to hold its breath.
每一粒沙都像在屏息.
Lin Jin's instinct screamed.
林烬的本能在嘶吼.
> "Down! Now!"
"趴下!现在!"
---
The ground exploded.
地面炸开.
A tidal wave of sand rose into the air, swallowing half the group.
沙浪卷起,直接吞没半个队伍.
Something massive burst out — scales glinting black and gold,
巨大的身影冲出——鳞片闪烁着黑金之光,
its roar so deep it shook inside their bones.
咆哮低沉,震得骨头都在颤.
The Sand Ravager.
那是 沙掠兽（Sand Ravager）.
---
Someone screamed — a man's voice breaking into panic.
有人尖叫——一个男人的声音在恐惧中崩裂.
> "Move! MOVE!"
"快跑!快跑啊!"
Too late.
已经太迟.
The creature slammed down.
巨兽砸下爪.
The impact sent sand flying like knives.
冲击掀起的沙像无数小刀.
A dozen cries rose at once —
十几声惨叫同时爆发——
pain, fear, confusion —
痛苦,恐惧,混乱——
then silence as bodies fractured into light.
接着归于寂静——身体化作光屑崩散.
No blood.
没有血.
Just the sound of breath tearing itself apart.
只有呼吸撕裂的声音.
---
Lin Jin rolled aside,
林烬翻身躲避,
sand burning his skin like fire.
沙粒在皮肤上摩擦得像灼烧.
The air was full of light and screams —
空气里满是光屑与惨叫——
voices cutting in and out as the world distorted.
声音忽远忽近,仿佛世界在扭曲.
> "It's under— it's under us!"
"它在下面——在下面!"
> "Stay together!"
"别散!"
> "I can't see!"
"我看不见了!"
---
The creature surged again.
那怪物再次跃起.
Its claws hit the ground, and the sound shattered the air.
爪击地面,声波直接撕裂空气.
The shockwave threw players like rag dolls.
冲击波将玩家像布偶般甩飞.
Lin Jin's body hit the sand hard; pain bloomed across his chest like heat.
林烬重重摔在沙上,痛觉在胸口炸开,像灼热的花.
He gasped,
他喘息,
his lungs scraping against the heat.
肺被热浪划得生疼.
He forced himself up.
他强撑着站起.
---
The world spun.
世界在旋转.
Someone crawled past him, sobbing.
有人从他身边爬过,哭着.
> "Help me— please—!"
"救我——求你——!"
Lin Jin reached out —
林烬伸手——
then froze.
然后停下.
The man's arm was already dissolving,
那人的手臂已经在崩解,
turning into shards of pale light.
化作淡光碎片.
The scream that followed was sharp, human, terrified—then gone.
接下来的叫声尖锐,纯粹,彻底人性——然后消失.
---
The Sand Ravager reared up again.
沙掠兽再度抬起身躯.
Its shadow swallowed the sunlight.
它的阴影遮住了太阳.
The wind turned black.
风变成黑色.
Lin Jin gritted his teeth.
林烬咬紧牙关.
He couldn't save anyone now.
他现在救不了任何人.
So he ran toward it.
所以他迎向它.
---
The dunes quaked with every step.
每一步都让沙丘震颤.
He leaped —
他跃起——
the heat roaring past him,
热浪呼啸而过,
his blades catching what little light the world had left.
双刀捕捉着仅存的光.
One strike tore across its flank.
一刀划过怪物的腹侧.
The second plunged into its throat.
第二刀直入喉部.
The impact threw him backward;
反震的力道让他飞出;
sand filled his mouth,
沙涌进他的嘴,
and pain flared behind his ribs like fire cracking bone.
痛觉沿着肋骨燃烧,像火焰劈裂骨头.
He landed,
他坠地,
his breath gone,
气息被抽空,
his vision flashing white.
视线一片白.
---
The creature staggered,
巨兽踉跄,
roared once more —
再度怒吼——
then collapsed.
随即倒下.
Its body broke apart midair,
它的身体在空中碎裂,
scattering into thousands of burning shards.
化作上千光屑,燃烧着散开.
The desert trembled with the echo of its fall.
沙漠在坍塌的回音中颤抖.
---
Lin Jin stood barely upright.
林烬艰难地站着.
Around him, the survivors were few — dazed, shaking,
周围幸存者寥寥——迷茫,颤抖,
their voices ragged with fear and grief.
声音沙哑,夹着恐惧与悲伤.
Then came the shouting.
然后,指责开始.
> "You brought it here!"
"是你引来的!"
> "You think you're some hero?!"
"你以为你自己是英雄?!"
> "We followed you— and now they're gone!"
"我们跟着你——现在他们全没了!"
Their words cracked like stones against metal.
他们的话语像石头敲击钢铁一样刺耳.
Lin Jin didn't respond.
林烬没有回应.
He turned to the fallen creature's remains —
他转向那怪物消散后的空地——
and saw something glowing faintly amid the sand.
在沙中,微弱的光在闪动.
---
A core.
一枚核心.
Pulsing slowly,
它缓慢脉动,
alive and silent.
活着,却寂静.
He reached for it,
他伸手拾起,
the heat of it biting into his palm.
那热度刺入掌心.
The moment his fingers closed around it,
指尖握紧的瞬间,
the world let out a single hum —
整个世界发出一声低鸣——
not mechanical,
不是机械,
but alive.
而是有生命的.
---
He looked back once.
他回头望了一眼.
The others stood watching him —
剩下的人看着他——
some angry,
有人愤怒,
some afraid.
有人害怕.
No one thanked him.
没有人感谢他.
No one came closer.
没人靠近.
---
Lin Jin turned away.
林烬转身离去.
His steps were slow,
步伐很慢,
steady,
却坚定.
The wind rose again,
风再次吹起,
lifting the sand around his legs like water.
沙在他腿边流动,如水般翻涌.
He didn't look back.
他没有回头.
---
> In the days that followed, his name began to spread.
在那之后的日子里,他的名字开始流传.
> A man with twin blades, who never joined a team.
一个双刀的男人,从不组队.
> He took contracts no one dared to touch.
他接别人不敢接的任务.
> He never asked for help. He never failed.
他从不求助,也从未失败.
> And when people saw him, they said only one thing:
人们每次看到他,只说一句话:
> "The Lone Shadow walks again."
"双刀之影,又出现了."