The group's expressions grew solemn as they lightened their footsteps and began to advance.
"It's better to go slow than to be reckless! Remember to follow my footprints."
Jiang Fan deliberately slowed his pace, testing each spot with his foot to see if it was melting snow.
Snow mountains were places fraught with peril and constant change. Some areas that looked incredibly solid were actually covered by a layer of snow that had become fragile.
A gentle step with the tip of one's toe could cause the entire area to crack, sending one plummeting down the cliff.
Even seemingly solid ground could have its snow quality altered, causing it to split open as well.
After walking for a while longer, the group, starting to tire, stopped to rest.
By this point, they had begun their ascent of the second snow mountain and had reached its midpoint.
Roughly two-thirds of their journey had been completed.
With the experience gained from climbing the first snow mountain, ascending the second felt considerably easier.
Even Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei were now able to identify dangerous areas on the snow and avoid them.
Jiang Fan took out all the food from his backpack and distributed it among everyone, discarding items like firewood.
"Eat all of this, and let's pick up the pace. We need to get down before it gets completely dark."
"Don't we need to save the food and firewood?" Zhou Niannian asked in surprise.
Jiang Fan pointed into the distance and said nothing.
Zhou Niannian strained her eyes, but could see nothing but ice and snow.
Jiang Fan sighed, took out the binoculars he had found in the skeleton backpack, and placed them on Zhou Niannian's nose.
Zhou Niannian wiped the lenses until they were sparkling clean and immediately noticed a lush, verdant jungle beyond the snow mountains.
Within the jungle, many towering trees reached for the sky, and dark shapes could be seen weaving through the clouds – they were birds in flight.
A shimmering silver ribbon was also visible, clearly a stream.
With water sources, forests, and birds, a complete ecosystem was present, meaning food could be replenished there.
As for firewood, there would be as much as they could possibly need, negating the need to carry any.
"Haha, finally, the hardship is over, and we've reached the rest stop!"
Zhou Niannian had now developed a pattern: after every arduous trial, a jungle would appear.
She was certain these jungles would provide food and drink, hence her name for them: "rest stops."
"Heh heh, I've decided this time, once we enter the rest stop, we'll have a good long stay before coming out."
"I used to worry about what might be in the jungles, but now it seems they're a perk for us."
"We'll only come out after we've eaten and played to our heart's content."
Jiang Fan frowned. They hadn't even reached their destination, and Zhou Niannian was already planning how to eat and play.
And who told her it would definitely be a rest stop with no risks? That was just her own faulty conclusion.
It was like seeing a dice roll a nine nine times in a row and expecting the tenth roll to be a nine as well.
"Do you know about Murphy's Law?" Jiang Fan kindly reminded Zhou Niannian.
"Of course, I do. The law that says a plate will always break after it's washed, and butter will always spill on a freshly mopped floor, right?"
Jiang Fan chuckled. He had to admit, Zhou Niannian knew quite a lot; she was quite talented.
Compared to Dai Xiaomei, who barely knew any characters but loved to show off what little she knew...
However, this world was strange. Those with little education often liked to pretend they knew more, while talented women were often superstitious and believed in luck.
"I am Zhou Niannian, the European Emperor; Murphy's Law is useless against me a million times over," Zhou Niannian said with great confidence.
The group finished their last bits of food and lay on the snow mountain, gazing at the faintly visible jungle in the distance.
From within the jungle, it seemed a beast was howling.
The sky was filled with countless beautiful, fluffy white clouds. The azure sky was like a blue ocean, with the clouds resembling white sails drifting leisurely and freely.
The clouds continued to transform, sometimes becoming a white feather, at other times a white handkerchief.
Lying there, watching the clouds, the group felt immensely relaxed.
"Jiang Fan, can you read the clouds to predict the weather?" Zhou Niannian suddenly asked.
"If there are cloud formations shaped like fish scales, it means it's going to rain soon. These block-shaped clouds now indicate good weather."
Jiang Fan only spoke half the sentence, swallowing the latter half.
It didn't just indicate good weather; it indicated exceptionally good weather.
Under such conditions, the accumulated snow would melt easily, posing the greatest danger to climbers.
"Let's move faster!"
Fearing any unforeseen events, Jiang Fan immediately urged everyone to pull themselves together and continue forward.
"Once we reach the jungle, I'll hunt a wild beast and make a feast for you all."
Upon hearing about a feast, Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei began to drool.
Even the panda couldn't help but lick its paws.
Jiang Fan silently quickened his pace. After walking for a while, he suddenly stopped, looking ahead with vigilance.
"Did you hear anything?"
Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei both shook their heads, hearing nothing.
Jiang Fan looked at Yao, who also shook his head, indicating he had heard nothing.
"Was it just my imagination? Suspicion breeds ghosts!" Dai Xiaomei said dismissively, not taking it seriously.
Jiang Fan lowered his body and placed his ear against the ground, disregarding the danger of his ear freezing to the earth, and listened for a long, long time.
Then, Jiang Fan suddenly stood up alertly and pointed towards the peak of the mountain above them.
Just then, a clump of ice and snow fell, hitting Zhou Niannian on the forehead.
Zhou Niannian couldn't help but look up.
The others followed Zhou Niannian's gaze, looking up at the high mountain peak.
As they looked, all their faces changed drastically.
Because the number of bystanders following Jiang Fan was limited, the viewers in the live stream could not see what Zhou Niannian was seeing.
They couldn't help but become curious.
"What happened? Jiang Shen's face looks terrible."
"More than terrible, I think Zhou Niannian is about to wet herself."
"We can't see anything. Bystanders, fly up quickly and show us Zhou Niannian's perspective."
"That's strange, why have the bystanders left?"
"I have a bad feeling about this."
Normally, the bystanders would have quickly flown up to adopt Zhou Niannian's perspective.
But this time, the bystanders seemed to be shirking their duties. Not only did they not fly closer, but they also quietly moved away from Jiang Fan and his group.
Suddenly, the panda pointed to the mountainside and shouted.
The snow on the slope was vibrating slightly, rolling up small clumps of snow that fell gently.
Then, the number of small snow clumps increased, and the vibrations became more frequent.
Numerous small snow clumps rolled together, forming a large snow mass bigger than a tank, which rumbled down the slope.
Zhou Niannian could no longer control her emotions and screamed.
"Avalanche!"