…

I didn't know how long had passed.

When I woke up, I felt like I was lying on the back of some animal, rising and falling rhythmically with its movements.

Was it a camel?

I felt the unease still lingering in my chest, traveling through my body from time to time. I didn't dare to move, afraid that I would vomit blood and faint again.

My vision gradually returned.

I slowly raised my head, wanting to look ahead, but in doing so, my forehead was scratched by a branch on the road.

"Ouch..." I couldn't help but make a sound, and then raised my hand to rub my forehead where the branch had hit me.

The rhythmic movement suddenly stopped. I looked down and realized that I was on Fatty's back. It turned out that Fatty had been carrying me on his back.

"Young Master, you're awake!" Rou Yi quickly went behind Fatty and slowly lowered me from his back.

After I got off Fatty's back, my feet barely touched the ground before I almost stumbled and fell. Rou Yi quickly grabbed me.

I looked at the dust-covered Rou Yi and wanted to say sorry, but my throat felt blocked, so dry that I couldn't speak. I could only make a hoarse, squeaking sound.

Daoqi handed me a pot of water, and I quickly took a sip.

"What happened to me?" I asked Rou Yi.

Rou Yi replied with tears in her eyes, "Young Master, you suddenly fainted two days ago. We were so scared. Your breathing and heartbeat were normal, but we just couldn't wake you up."

"Two days ago? Where am I now?" I asked anxiously.

Fatty also took a sip of water and ate a piece of naan bread he had brought from the desert to replenish his strength. Chewing, he continued my thought, answering, "Young Master, you really are something. You told us to hurry into the mountains, and then you fainted and secretly rested, making me, Fatty, carry you like an old ox, huffing and puffing all the way."

Jennifer tugged at Fatty, saying with a hint of coquettishness, "This is not the time to be saying such sarcastic things."

I knew that Fatty was so calm because he was confident. He must know where we were now, so I repeated my question to Fatty seriously, "Where am I now?"

Fatty wiped his mouth, brushed away the crumbs of naan bread, and said to me, "Before you fainted, you said that the situation was urgent, and we had to get into the mountains quickly. Then you fainted, and we couldn't wake you up no matter what we did. So what else could we do but have everyone, young and old, march into the mountains?"

I heard a hint of complaint in Fatty's words. Fatty took another gulp of water and continued, "After that, under the guidance of those few lines of poetry and me, this living map, we rushed forward without stopping... Now we are looking for the 'Tiger Rock' mentioned in the poem."

I didn't quite believe Fatty and asked, "Have you already found Twin Peaks and Living Spring?"

Fatty glanced at me with a bit of contempt, and said confidently, "Absolutely, needless to say, of course we found them—but Fatty has to say, your guidance was problematic. Rou Yi and I discussed it for a long time, and the final conclusion was that the 'Jade Belt' was not referring to the Cherchen River. The 'Jade Belt' should be referring to the Kunlun River in Qinghai. According to the guidance of the poem, the correct route is to enter Kunlun from there. Following the correct route, we can soon see the twin sister peaks of Yuxu Peak and Yuzhu Peak, and Yuxu Peak and Yuzhu Peak should be the 'Twin Peaks' hiding the 'Eight Desolations'. After that, using the 'Twin Peaks' as a reference, we won't have to go far to find the 'Non-Freezing Spring' corresponding to the 'Living Spring' in the poem. This 'Non-Freezing Spring' is hidden deep in the mountains. When we found it, it really seemed to be alive, with everything around it frozen except for this spring, which was gurgling out water."

At this point, Fatty chewed another bite of dry naan bread and took a gulp of water.

Fatty still hadn't changed his rambling habit, making a long story short.

Since I had been unconscious for two days and hadn't eaten, I was also a little hungry. I reached out and asked Fatty for half a piece of naan bread, and ate it in big mouthfuls. Although there was a bloody taste mixed with the earthy smell in my mouth, I found the dry naan bread delicious.

I was really too hungry.

After Fatty finished eating the naan bread, he continued, "This 'Non-Freezing Spring' is a wonder, but we didn't have time to admire it. After all, we were in a hurry to get on our way, so we didn't linger. Then we just kept going, hey, don't even mention it, Young Master, if it weren't for my familiarity with the Kunlun Mountains, if you had really broken in here alone, let alone whether you could find the place, just the dangers in these mountains alone, you might not even be able to..."

Fatty suddenly stopped talking at this point. I knew that he definitely didn't have anything good to say next.