Di Hao was speechless by the candle dragon's apparent overreaction.

It was not surprising for a master of the heavenly law like Di Hao to understand many languages, which included the language of animals. It was only natural for him to understand a candle dragon.

Di Hao thought of it only as a normal interaction, but the candle dragon was so hyped like it was high on drugs. It got so excited that it started circling him in a happy dance.

The unnecessary celebration had also caused a surge of dust in the air, which ended up in Di Hao's nose. Quickly, he stoped it to ask some serious questions, for example, where the place was and in which continent.

Helplessly, the pink candle dragon looked at him with an equally confused expression. It did not know either.

For as long as it could remember, it had always been in the same desert. It had never attempted to leave, for it could never truly leave the place.

To make matters worse, the place was very rarely visited. There was hardly any sign of anyone around. Occasionally, some friars would pa.s.s by, but none of them could see or hear it, so the candle dragon was very lonely for a long time.

From the friars, it found out that the place was known as the Flaming Desert, which was cla.s.sified as a forbidden land. No one was allowed to step foot in the desert.

The friars only explored the place because they intended to find out the facts behind the flaming sun, but all of them ended up being flamed to death.

Those who died in the desert would have their souls stranded in the desert as well until their souls finally perished into oblivion. Only their bones were left behind.

When the candle dragon told Di Hao that he was stranded in a place with no escape, he did not take it very seriously.

He could tell at once that the place was sealed away by a wizardry barrier, and the pink candle dragon was made to be the guardian of the barrier, but perhaps, it was unaware of it.

The wizardry barrier would not even concern him, but now that he was here, he felt the need to break through the wizardry barrier to escape and return to the Starry Crescent Land.

He was certain that his sudden departure would definitely alarm his mother and family. They must be nervously trying to find him. His parents' anxiety was the last thing that he needed.

Fortunately, Di Hao was an expert in breaking wizardry barriers. All he needed was a good rest to regain his strength. When he was energized, the wizardry barrier would not be a problem.

Nevertheless, the place was like the Flaming Mountains. The sun was causing him to sweat a lot, so he had to ask the candle dragon for shelter. "Since you are an inhabitant here, do you know about any place that can provide shelter? Please lead me there, so I can rest. In return, I shall free you from this confinement."

The candle dragon thought about his proposal and decided to dig a hole into the sand. It managed to make a s.p.a.cious, hollow place in the sand that could temporarily provide a shelter. "This place is cooler. Come on in," it said before jumping into the hole.

Di Hao did not know what to say.

Later, the candle dragon found a large bone in the sand and pa.s.sed it over to Di Hao. "This can shelter you from the sun." 

Di Hao accepted the bone and placed it over his head to s.h.i.+eld himself from the sun. He did as told and jumped into the hole to escape from the heat.

He wanted to wait until sunset before he took a walk around the desert to find the exit and, eventually, break the wizardry barrier.

He waited, but the sun never set. He was quite anxious to find that it was still hanging high up in the sky after so many hours. 

It was then that he asked the candle dragon when the night would come because the sun never seemed to set at all.

To compound his misery, the candle dragon's answer was quite depressing. "Night? What is that? From all that I can remember, the sky has always been the same."

Apparently, the place had no sunsets!

What kind of place could it be?

Learning that the sun would never go down, Di Hao no longer wanted to wait in the hole.

He wanted to leave as soon as he could.

The longer he stayed, the worse the situation could be for him.

As soon as Di Hao crawled out of the hole, he saw a person in a white dress swaying in the distance. She staggered and stumbled through the sand. Violently, her hair and robes danced in the gusts of wind.

Di Hao was utterly shocked!

Mother! It was his mother!