"Two months?" I asked An Ying, a little surprised.
I hadn't expected to be gone for so long, but our current food and supplies were already running low. We wouldn't last two months.
She seemed to sense my concern and said, "Xiao Fei, as I said before, I hope you'll turn back now. It's still not too late. If you go further, you might not be able to return..."
As she spoke, she turned to face me, her eyes complex, as if she had something to say but couldn't.
In the following days, I noticed my watch was becoming inaccurate, making it impossible to tell the time. The surrounding scenery also gave the impression of being in another world.
It was as if the things around us couldn't possibly exist on Earth: red ice, a fiery sky, and no signs of animal life.
It felt as though there was nothing in this world but our group.
At first, it was manageable, but the more we walked, the more pronounced that feeling of emptiness became. It wasn't just Fatty and me; even Yang Hanxue and the others were starting to struggle.
Our food had completely run out, and we had to ration it.
As for An Ying, I barely saw her eat, nor did she seem to tire at all.
On the thirteenth day of walking on the ice, our food was completely gone.
To avoid starving, we had to start breaking through the ice, hoping to catch fish to fill our stomachs.
However, none of us expected that the ice was impossible to break. With great effort, we only managed to create a small opening.
Just as everyone was exhausted, An Ying did something I never would have imagined.
She cut her wrist with her knife and dripped her blood into a bottle, letting everyone share it.
Honestly, this act caught me off guard. I had never experienced drinking human blood before.
And I didn't think human blood could possibly fill an empty stomach.
But what I couldn't have predicted was that after the others drank her blood, they all seemed to shake off their fatigue, looking invigorated.
When Yang Hanxue handed me the bottle with about half its blood left, I hesitated. I intended to pretend to take a sip, but as the blood flowed into my mouth, a sweet taste spread through my mouth.
It was a flavor difficult to describe, with no hint of bloodiness, only a faint sweetness, as if I were drinking soda.
That wasn't all. As the blood flowed down my throat and into my body, I felt my bodily functions recover significantly. My hunger vanished, replaced by a strong sense of fullness, and I felt energized.
I truly couldn't believe that An Ying's blood had such a miraculous effect.
Fatty, like me, was initially reluctant to drink it. But after he took a sip, he almost licked the bottle clean.
This scene was too bizarre: our group sharing a single person's blood.
With An Ying's blood, we continued our journey, no longer hungry. We walked aimlessly on the ice, with no end in sight.
At first, though we couldn't tell the exact time, we could still distinguish day from night. Gradually, the boundaries between day and night blurred.
Sometimes, it felt like we had walked for over ten hours, yet the sky remained bright. Other times, it felt like we had just rested, and it was already dawn.
As Fatty put it, we had somehow arrived in another world, completely detached from our original one.
Everyone became silent and withdrawn. Even the usually talkative Fatty stopped speaking. Our daily communication was minimal, sometimes not a single word exchanged for days.
After walking for an unknown duration, we finally saw the snow mountain An Ying had mentioned.
The snow mountain towered into the clouds, covered in snow. Its peaks rolled and dipped, like a magical wonderland. The summit was perpetually shrouded in mist, giving it an air of profound mystery.
On the mountainside, one could see immense glaciers and snow peaks. The glaciers, illuminated by the sun, appeared exceptionally bright, as if gilded, crystal clear and breathtakingly beautiful. The snow peaks were covered by a thin veil of white mist, seemingly the spiritual energy of the mountain lingering. Distant peaks were faintly visible, as if floating in the clouds.
At the foot of this snow mountain lay a vast expanse of wilderness. The sky here was exceptionally azure, as if isolated from the world, forming a unique realm with the snow mountain. Sunlight poured down from the heavens, illuminating the wilderness and casting a golden glow.
Standing before this magnificent snow mountain, it felt as if we were truly there, immersed in a mythical paradise. The air was filled with a fresh fragrance, bringing a sense of exhilaration.
A long-lost smile appeared on An Ying's face. Pointing at the snow mountain, she told everyone, "Once we cross this snow mountain, we will reach our destination."
I could tell she was somewhat excited, but the others were quite the opposite. Everyone's expression was somber, as if the journey so far had turned them all into ascetics.
An Ying again asked me to turn back, and she prepared another bottle of blood for me. I refused once more.
Seeing this, she said nothing and led the group onward. As Fatty and I stepped onto the snow mountain, I felt my body go out of control.
I was consciously trying to move my legs forward, but they didn't obey, instead moving sideways.
The coordination between my thoughts and my body seemed to have reversed. I wanted to look at An Ying, but my gaze was fixed on the sky. I wanted to speak, but I couldn't utter a sound.
It was as if my mind and body had completely lost connection!
In the final moments before I lost consciousness, my eyes caught sight of a colossal ice pillar appearing at the summit of the snow mountain. The pillar emitted a dazzling light, so blinding that my vision turned white, and then I lost consciousness.
After an unknown period, when I woke up, I found myself lying on a wooden plank bed.
I was in a tent made of thick felt, with green and brown patterns adorning a white background, exuding a strong Tibetan character.
Simple furniture was arranged around the tent, including a wooden stove, several cushions, and a bed covered with a blanket. In the corner were decorative items: Tibetan thangkas, bone carvings, and bronze artifacts.
A large charcoal stove sat in the center, its warmth making the entire tent cozy and comfortable. Against one side of the stove was a wooden bed, covered with a blanket and flanked by a few cushions.
Where was I?
As I was trying to figure out my situation, a middle-aged man in Tibetan attire walked in from outside the tent.