The distance traveled on the first day was far greater than Xuan Xi and the others had anticipated.
The first collection point marked on the map looked close, but once you actually started walking, you realized the spacing between those contour lines was much farther than it appeared on the map.
Xuan Xi walked near the back of the group, and she could even feel the soles of her boots thinning bit by bit—whether worn down by the ground or from sand getting stuck inside, she couldn’t tell.
The north wind kept blowing, extremely dry, and the surrounding environment remained the same, unchanging.
Sige had taken the lead, stopping every so often to check the map and confirm they hadn’t strayed too far off course.
When she stopped, the others stopped too.
No one hurried her, and no one walked past her—after all, the only person in the group senior to Sige was the team leader, Xuan Xi.
Elsa crouched nearby, retying her boot laces, while Reggie sat on a rock replenishing his water.
Not knowing how much farther they had to go, he took two sips and put it away.
Veralis stood at the edge, her back to the wind, holding the field guide in her hands, constantly cross-referencing something.
After stopping, Xuan Xi didn’t sit down immediately.
Instead, she stood about two steps behind Sige, waiting for her to finish with the map.
The wind blew her long hair across her face, covering half of it, and she had to reach up and brush it aside.
Sige folded the map and turned around.
“Direction’s correct. We should see the mountain ridge after a bit more walking.” She tilted her head to tell Xuan Xi.
“Should we take a break then?” Xuan Xi asked.
“Let’s keep going a little longer. We need to reach the collection point and set up camp before dark.” Sige put the map away without pausing.
Reggie stood up from the rock, brushing the dust off his pants. The five of them started walking again, their pace slightly faster than before.
After about two hours of walking, the mountain ridge line in the distance gradually became clearer. It was taller than expected—the slope wasn’t steep, but it was long, stretching endlessly along the horizon. Xuan Xi could feel the spiritual qi concentration rise slightly as they approached the ridge. Not by much, but it at least indicated there was something over there—far better than the ground they’d been crossing. Sige stopped and pointed at the first green dot on the map. “The collection point is at the base of the ridge. Once we reach the foot of the mountain, we’ll set up camp first, then head up to find samples at first light.”
“We’re not going up tonight?” Elsa asked.
“We could, but the wind is stronger up there, and there’s no shelter around. The temperature on this wasteland drops significantly at night, and even if we went up now, there’s no guarantee we’d find the collection point. It’s safer to look at daybreak.” Sige answered, word by word, leaving no room for argument.
Elsa, of course, didn’t argue. Reggie was already scouting for a campsite. He stopped beneath a rocky cliff face that blocked the wind, dropped his pack, and set it on the ground. The cliff wasn’t tall—about one person’s height—its surface polished smooth by wind and sand. Fortunately, the inner side of the cliff curved inward, just enough for five people to sit and shelter from the relentless wind and sand.
Xuan Xi placed her pack on the dry ground, unzipped the side pocket, and took out her water flask for a drink. The water was cool, carrying a faint metallic taste—the distinctive flavor of the Academy’s water flasks, a taste that never disappeared no matter how many times they were refilled.
As she screwed the cap back on, she glanced toward Sige. She had spread the map on the ground and was crouching there, studying it carefully. Veralis walked over and joined her in analyzing it. On the other side, Elsa was already sitting at the base of the cliff, having taken off one boot and tipping the sand out of it. The sole clunked against the ground with a dull thud. As for Reggie—he was pulling the tent frame out of his pack with practiced ease, already halfway through assembling it.
“We’re resting here tonight?” Xuan Xi walked over.
“Mm.” Sige didn’t look up. Her finger traced along the dashed lines on the map. “The first collection point is in this spot, near the base of the mountain ridge. If nothing goes wrong, it should be a small valley.”
Veralis stood beside her, glancing at the sample name marked on the map, and nodded in agreement. Xuan Xi crouched down next to her, her gaze landing on the terrain markings beside the green dot. The map’s annotations weren’t particularly detailed, but she could indeed tell that the terrain fluctuations in that area were more complex than the surroundings. And this kind of terrain tended to accumulate water, so vegetation should be findable.
Xuan Xi said, “And this kind of terrain tends to accumulate water, so vegetation should be findable.”
“Mm, wind-type magical beasts might linger there as well. The ravine terrain could form a natural encirclement. If we want to hunt one in that spot, it would work in our favor.” Sige said.
The sky had already darkened. Though the wind had died down somewhat, the temperature was dropping rapidly, and a chill was creeping across exposed skin. Reggie had finished the tent’s general structure and was now draping the rainfly over it—fast and well done. Elsa stood up to help, crouching on the other side to press the tent’s corner stakes into the sandy soil. Veralis sat down on a flat rock, pulling out items from her pack.
Xuan Xi sat down not far from Sige, her back against the cliff face. The rough sandstone pressed through the fabric of her clothes into her spine. This was already the best resting spot they could find. When she looked up, she saw Sige still studying the map, her finger pressing along the route near the collection point, as if confirming something. It was a while before Sige finally folded the map and returned it to her pack, then sat down beside Xuan Xi.
A small patch of warm yellow light flickered to life inside the tent. A small lantern that Veralis had lit hung from the hook at the top of the tent.
“At daybreak, we’ll collect samples first, then head south along the mountain ridge.” Sige’s voice came through.
Xuan Xi nodded. She leaned back for a while, but found it truly uncomfortable. The spot on her back where the rock pressed against her had gone numb. The wind drove grains of sand against the tent fabric, producing a continuous sound—like some out-of-tune symphony. She turned her head to glance at Sige, only to find Sige looking back at her.
In the middle of the night, the wind suddenly shifted direction. The dry wind that had been blowing from the north stopped abruptly. Somehow, it transformed into a westerly wind, carrying a damp quality. The sound of sand striking the tent fabric changed too—from fine, pattering rustles to a heavier, pounding beat.
Xuan Xi was woken by the tent fabric’s shuddering. When she opened her eyes, the tent was dark. Veralis’s little lantern had already gone out, leaving only the faint light of predawn filtering through the tent fabric. She lay there listening for a while. The wind outside was heavier than during the day, continuous and relentless. When she sat up, she found Sige was awake too, those big violet eyes open wide.
“You heard it too?” Xuan Xi asked.
“Mm.” Sige sat up, crawled out of her sleeping bag, unzipped the tent door, and poked half her body outside. The raging wind immediately poured in, making the tent fabric bulge sharply. She pulled herself back in quickly, zipped the door shut, and tugged the zipper all the way to the top, ensuring no more wind or sand could get in.