The old man's voice was raspy, like sandpaper rubbing together. “You... aren't people of the Eye of the Sand?”

Bai Cheng stepped forward, her tone calm: “We are merely travelers passing through this place. What is this Eye of the Sand you speak of?”

Hearing this, the light in the old man's eyes intensified. He stumbled forward a few steps, nearly falling, but was caught by the young man beside him.

Trembling, he pointed toward the towering city walls deep within the island:

“There... that was originally our homeland, the Sand Kingdom... But three years ago, a group of sorcerers calling themselves the Eye of the Sand arrived,

They covered the entire island with strange formations, draining our life force... Now, the city is just an empty shell, and those demons come regularly to harvest...”

“Harvest?” Yu Nian pressed. “Do they also collect emotional energy?”