"Where are we going next?"
The bird eggs were almost all eaten, and Zhou Niannian could eat no more. She lay in the hot spring, letting out a satisfied burp.
"It's a shame we ate them all. We should have left one alive."
"Then the bird would lay eggs, eggs would hatch birds, and descendants would be endless. We'd have eggs to eat forever."
Zhou Niannian began her beautiful fantasy again.
"Unfertilized eggs can't hatch birds at all. It's better to just eat them honestly."
Jiang Fan's words shattered Zhou Niannian's fantasy.
"That's true. Never mind, we're going to the dense forest next. The resources in the dense forest..."
Before she could finish, Zhou Niannian suddenly pointed into the distance and let out a loud cry.
She clearly remembered that when they were on the snowy mountain looking into the distance, that spot was a dense forest.
She had even said that this was a resting checkpoint for the secret realm to replenish their supplies.
In the dense forest, there were signs of a river, as well as birds and beasts; there was everything.
But now, as far as Zhou Niannian could see, it had become a desert. The dense forest had disappeared.
"Jiang Fan, Jiang Fan, are these bird eggs poisonous? Or did I eat too much saltpeter, and I'm seeing illusions?"
Zhou Niannian cried out in panic.
Jiang Fan calmly looked into the distance.
"You're seeing the forest turn into a desert, aren't you?"
"Yes, yes, it was indeed a forest there, wasn't it? Now it's become a desert?"
Seeing Jiang Fan remain silent, Zhou Niannian knew that Jiang Fan saw the same scene as her.
The place where the dense forest had been was now a desert.
"What... what should we do?"
Zhou Niannian was a little flustered. She knew they were going to the dense forest to replenish water and food.
Now that the dense forest had become a desert, there was nothing to replenish.
"Should we still go there? It's very strange there."
Zhou Niannian hesitated, asking Jiang Fan.
Jiang Fan pondered for a moment and then said,
"We still have to go."
"I guess that place changes with time. It transforms periodically."
"If we don't go there, we have nowhere else to go."
"Yao and Dai Xiaomei will definitely be going there too. We'll meet them there."
Though he said that, Jiang Fan was very worried.
Firstly, he didn't know what the strange scene would transform into next.
If they arrived and the scene directly turned into a volcano or a snowy mountain, what would they do?
Considering they had lost all their equipment, if they encountered a volcano or a snowy mountain, Jiang Fan and Zhou Niannian would essentially be waiting to die.
What was more troublesome was that they didn't know if people would be taken away with the scene after the transformation.
For example, Yao and Dai Xiaomei were closer to that place, so theoretically, they would arrive before Jiang Fan and Zhou Niannian.
The problem was, after arriving first, they would be waiting for Jiang Fan and Zhou Niannian in that scene.
If it was just a scene change, it would be fine. But what if Yao and Dai Xiaomei were teleported away by the scene?
"In short! We can't stay here any longer!"
Jiang Fan's mind raced, and he quickly made a decision!
"We have to reach that place quickly. Whether it's a dense forest or a desert, we have to go."
Zhou Niannian listened and nodded vigorously.
The two of them had no more desire to soak in the hot spring. They packed the remaining bird eggs as food for the journey ahead.
Jiang Fan found a hot stone by the hot spring and placed his coat on it to dry.
Then, he found two large stones and had Zhou Niannian and himself lie on them.
Like two thin pancakes, they dried one side, then flipped to dry the other.
Soon, their inner clothes and coats were dry.
Although there was still some moisture, making them uncomfortable to wear, it was much better than being completely soaked and freezing cold.
There were no bamboo tubes left. Jiang Fan thought for a moment, gathered the snow on the ground, and walked into the distance.
He shaped the snow into two tube-like forms, standing them on the ground. Soon, two ice tubes were made.
Jiang Fan filled the two ice tubes with hot spring water.
He joked,
"Soon, we'll be drinking our own bathwater."
"Blech!"
Zhou Niannian made a gagging expression.
"The hot spring water is mineral water, rich in various minerals. In critical moments, it can fill you up and provide nutrition."
"We have to rely on this to survive on the road. The journey is still long."
Jiang Fan said seriously, knowing that after the hot spring water was finished, they could only drink snowmelt.
Drinking too much snowmelt could have adverse effects on the stomach and intestines.
"Let me correct that. It's not drinking bathwater, it's drinking your foot-washing water!"
Zhou Niannian giggled mischievously.
"Sigh."
Jiang Fan showed a helpless smile.
With everything ready, Jiang Fan stood up, preparing to set off. Zhou Niannian quickly came to support him.
Jiang Fan chuckled. He walked with surprising speed, his leg already healed.
"My goodness, your recovery ability is so fast! Are you Wolverine?"
Zhou Niannian was greatly astonished.
"I have to thank your hot spring for this."
Jiang Fan said sincerely.
Earlier, Jiang Fan had been injured by a flying chunk of snow, but it hadn't damaged his muscles or tendons.
It was just an external injury, with a large bruise on his calf.
Normally, in this icy and snowy environment, bruises wouldn't dissipate easily. Due to the low temperature, the leg would become increasingly stiff.
Fortunately, Zhou Niannian found the hot spring, and Jiang Fan used the stones by the hot spring for a hot compress.
Under the effect of the hot spring, about eighty percent of the bruise on his leg had dissolved. He could now walk on his own without Zhou Niannian's support.
However, his leg still felt very swollen and sore.
If another avalanche occurred, he probably wouldn't be able to escape!
"Let's go!"
Seeing that everything was prepared, Jiang Fan declared.
Jiang Fan had anticipated that the upcoming journey would be extremely difficult.
At this moment, they had lost most of their equipment. Without hiking poles or walking sticks, they could only walk step by step in the snow, sinking deep with each stride.
After the avalanche, the snow mountain became even more challenging to navigate.
The ground was covered in melting snow, and Zhou Niannian slipped and fell frequently.
Jiang Fan, due to his leg discomfort, was also less steady when walking.
Moreover, they encountered the kind of rainbows that caused hallucinations.
Fortunately, Jiang Fan had experience and told Zhou Niannian not to look directly at such rainbows.
The ground was covered in shifting snow and snow pits everywhere. Jiang Fan calculated that their current walking speed was less than half of what it was before the avalanche.
"Let's go! We have to keep going no matter what!"
"Don't worry, even if my leg breaks, I'll crawl there!"
Jiang Fan and Zhou Niannian encouraged and supported each other, gritting their teeth and walking step by step towards the mysterious secret realm in the distance!