Only survival.
只有生存.
And Lin Jin—
而林烬——
was already walking into the dunes.
已经踏上了沙的尽头.
The hunt had begun.
狩猎,开始了.
The desert was alive.
沙漠是活的.
Wind swept over the dunes like a restless ocean,
风掠过沙丘,如同不安的海浪,
and the sunlight poured down sharp enough to cut.
阳光倾泻而下,锋利得像刀.
Lin Jin walked in the middle of a small hunting team — eleven players in all.
林烬行走在一支狩猎小队中——共十一人.
Their shadows stretched long on the sand.
他们的影子被拉得很长.
---
No one talked much.
没人说话.
The only sound was wind grinding through armor and the low rustle of sand.
只有风刮过护甲的摩擦声,和沙粒轻轻流动的响动.
The leader, a man with a broken shield strapped to his back, raised his hand.
领队,一个背着裂盾的男人,举起手.
"Hold," he said.
"停下."他说.
The group slowed.
队伍慢了下来.
He turned, grin dry and cracked by the heat.
他回头,笑容干裂.
> "Sand Stalker territory."
"沙潜者的地盘."
A ripple passed through the team — a thrill of fear dressed as excitement.
队伍里掠过一阵紧张的悸动——用兴奋掩饰的恐惧.
---
They called themselves hunters.
他们称自己为猎人.
But most had never fought anything that could fight back.
可他们中的大多数从未面对过真正会反击的生物.
The dunes shifted again.
沙丘又一次起伏.
The sound was deep — like the heartbeat of something enormous beneath them.
那声音很深——像是什么巨物在地下的心跳.
Lin Jin stopped walking.
林烬停下脚步.
The wind pressed harder against his face,
风突然加重,扑打着他的脸,
and the sand beneath his boots began to move.
脚下的沙开始滑动.
> "Get back," he said.
"后退."他说.
But they didn't.
可他们没听.
Someone laughed, thinking he was joking.
有人笑了,以为那是玩笑.
---
The ground exploded.
地面爆裂.
A storm of sand rose, screaming.
一阵沙暴卷起,发出尖啸.
From it, a creature climbed — long, coiled, armored in scales of gold and stone.
从沙中钻出一头生物——修长,盘绕,身披金灰色鳞甲.
Its eyes burned white.
它的双眼燃烧着白光.
The Sand Stalker.
沙潜者.
It moved like a wave breaking.
它的动作像浪崩.
Half the team fell before they even saw its claws.
队伍里有一半人还没看清它的爪子就被掀翻.
---
One player screamed —
一个玩家尖叫——
not from pain, but from disbelief.
不是因为痛,而是因为不敢信.
Light cracked through his chest like glass.
光从他胸口裂开,如碎裂的玻璃.
He reached out —
他伸出手——
> "Help—!"
"救——!"
and his body shattered into a thousand drifting shards.
身体碎成无数漂浮的光屑.
The echo of his voice stayed behind, trembling in the wind.
他的声音残响在风中颤抖着停留.
No blood. No body.
没有血,没有尸体.
Just light fading into the sky.
只有光在升入天空.
---
The team broke.
队伍乱了.
The leader shouted something — orders, curses, it didn't matter.
领队在喊着什么——命令,咒骂,谁都听不清.
The Sand Stalker lunged again,
沙潜者再次扑击,
sand rippling like liquid beneath its weight.
沙在它的重量下流动如液体.
Lin Jin moved without thinking.
林烬本能地动了.
He rolled, the sand cutting into his palms,
他翻身,沙割破掌心,
and came up behind the beast's blind side.
稳稳站在生物的盲侧后方.
The heat distorted everything —
热浪扭曲了一切——
the air, the sound, even his breath.
空气,声音,连呼吸都在变形.
---
He slashed once —
他出刀一次——
a clean, vertical strike, no wasted motion.
干净,垂直,没有多余的动作.
The blade bit into the creature's side.
刀刃切进生物的鳞甲.
Light spilled from the wound,
光从裂口溢出,
not red, but white — blinding, pure.
不是红色,而是刺眼的白.
The Sand Stalker screamed.
沙潜者嘶吼.
The sound was like thunder caught in glass.
那声音像被困在玻璃中的雷声.
It turned, tail sweeping through the air like a scythe.
它转身,尾巴如镰刀一般划破空气.
---
Another player went flying.
又一个玩家被击飞.
His scream broke midair —
他的喊声在空中断裂——
and the moment he hit the ground,
当他落地那一刻,
his body fractured,
身体裂开,
light drifting upward,
光屑飘散,
and silence followed.
随之而来的是寂静.
The desert took his echo and buried it.
沙漠吞下他的残响,将其埋葬.
---
Lin Jin exhaled slowly.
林烬缓缓吐气.
His eyes locked onto the creature's throat —
目光锁定在生物的喉部——
a rhythm, a pattern,
那是节奏,是脉动,
the pulse of something pretending to be alive.
仿佛在模仿生命的脉搏.
He stepped forward once more.
他再度踏出一步.
The wind rose with him,
风随之扬起,
wrapping around his body like a second skin.
像第二层皮肤一样包裹住他.
---
He moved.
他出击.
The blade traced light through the air.
刀锋在空气中划出一道光线.
When it struck,
当它命中时,
the desert went silent.
整个沙漠陷入寂静.
The creature froze mid-motion,
巨兽动作凝固,
its body splitting down the center.
身躯从中间裂开.
Light poured upward,
光从中喷出,
rising like embers into the white sky.
像炽热的火屑升上白昼的天空.
And then — it was gone.
然后——它不见了.
---
A single core floated in the air where the beast had been.
那生物曾在之处,漂浮着一个核心.
It pulsed, red and slow, like a dying heart.
它脉动着,红色而缓慢,像垂死的心脏.
The wind circled it, whispering, as if the world itself was breathing again.
风围绕着它旋转,低语,像世界重新开始呼吸.
---
No one spoke.
没人说话.
The survivors stood among drifting sand,
幸存者站在飘动的沙尘之中,
eyes wide,
双眼睁大,
breathing hard.
呼吸急促.
The woman who had stood beside Lin Jin earlier wiped her face and whispered,
先前那个女玩家擦了擦脸,低声说:
> "That… was a small one?"
"这...是小型的吗?"
Lin Jin looked at her.
林烬看向她.
His voice was calm — too calm.
他的声音很平静——平静得过头.
> "Then we'd better pray the big ones sleep."
"那就祈祷大的还在睡吧."
---
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.