When Chen Yang and his group arrived at the West Boundary River, the raft had already been built and looked quite sturdy.

"There's a section downstream where the current is particularly slow; I swam dozens of meters there without any problem," Ye Wu said, pointing to the lower reaches of the river.

Not to mention downstream, the flow of the western border river in front of them has slowed down considerably, no longer as turbulent as it used to be.

Early the next morning...

They dragged the raft to the riverbank, threw it into the water, and let it float downstream, holding the rope that connected the raft in their hands.

Chen Yang and his group went downstream along the raft. The raft's current slowed down, and soon they reached the area Ye Wu had mentioned.

The river flow here is indeed very slow, and Chen Yang is confident that he can swim in it.

"This is it. Let's get on the bamboo raft," Ye Wu said.

The group pulled the bamboo raft back to shore and put their luggage on it. Hou Yu was in charge of rowing.

He frequently travels between the island in the middle of the lake and the Xindu campsite, and has already become a skilled rower.

The distance to the other side of the river was not far, just a few minutes' row. There were no unexpected events along the way, and the group was able to step onto the golden sand as they had hoped.

"I don't feel anything special," Ye Wu said.

"What other feelings do you want?" Ding Qihan rolled her eyes.

He squatted down and grabbed a handful of sand, the fine sand slipping through his fingers.

"The sand here is a bit wetter than I've seen in other deserts before, probably because it's close to the western border river."

"We'll go upstream along the river until we reach the part where the desert meets the dense forest," Chen Yang said.

The desert and the Yepo Forest on this side of the river also share a border, which is also a region with an unusual climate. If you follow the boundary between the Yepo Forest and the desert, you might be able to find a water source.

Survival in this forbidden land covered in golden sand is very difficult. They brought enough food, but without water, they could easily run out of water.

It's easier to find water if you walk along the forest.

The golden desert bears the footprints of several people; this must be the first time humans have set foot in this desert.

Along the way, they didn't see any scorpions or snakes. To be honest, they would have preferred to see them, since they had Ongji, the animal expert. They knew whether or not they were edible.

Large carnivores are rare in the desert; the most dangerous things are some poisonous creatures and the desert itself.

In such sand dunes, the biggest dangers are dehydration and quicksand.

Once you get stuck in quicksand, you may never be able to get out.

They walked along the river for more than two hours before reaching the section that bordered Yepolin.

"I see a small pond over there; the water from the rain a few days ago hasn't dried up yet," Hou Yu said, pointing to the pond.

The climate inside the Night Forest is not a desert, so water does not evaporate easily. The relatively clean pool can replenish the water they consume.

"There's a bird's nest here with four eggs. Can you recognize them, Ongji?"

Chen Yang spotted a bird's nest from over twenty meters away and even counted the number of eggs inside. This ability made the others extremely envious.

Wengji stepped forward, glanced at it a few times, and said, "I'm not quite sure what kind of bird it is, but it's more likely to be a red-billed finch. Eat it, anyway, I have no qualms about what I eat in the micro-world."

So, without any hesitation, everyone took the bird egg.

They lit a fire next to the pool to boil water, which still needed to be boiled before it was safe to drink.

Those few bird eggs were the only food they found along the way, and they were very helpful, as none of them were fertile eggs that were about to hatch.

The group played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would eat the bird eggs. Four small eggs weren't enough for five people, and this time, Lady Luck wasn't on Chen Yang's side. He was the only one who didn't get an egg.

After finishing their meal, the group continued onward, following the forest line. Along the way, they found several aloe vera plants and promptly uprooted them.

Aloe vera is quite useful. Applying aloe vera juice to exposed skin makes it a natural sunscreen. You can also take the rest with you; you can continue applying it on the road, or even eat it.

At noon, the scorching sun hung high overhead, the sunlight was extremely intense, and the hot wind blowing from the desert felt like a man-eating tiger attacking them, leaving them drenched in sweat.

"Everyone should control their intake and drink water in moderation, just a little at a time," Chen Yang said.

Although everyone was parched, they knew the importance of water, so they could only endure it.

Fortunately, they found a fresh water source around 3 p.m.

After confirming that it was fresh water, everyone immediately took off their water bottles and started drinking. With a fresh water source to replenish their supplies, there was no need to worry.

Fresh water needs to be boiled before it can be drunk, so they drank the water they carried with them to their heart's content.

“Let’s rest here for a while,” Ongji said. “I see some plums up ahead.”

Chen Yang glanced at it and said, "Yes, but it's not ripe at all; it should be very sour."

"Never mind then, we have dried meat and dried fruit anyway," Ye Wu said.

Chen Yang skillfully started a fire and then boiled water.

They only brought one large earthenware pot for boiling water; they used bamboo jars to store water because the earthenware pot was too heavy.

“There’s a scorpion.” Ding Qihan caught a black scorpion.

"Eat it. The tail has a bit of a nerve-numbing poison. Just remove it," Wengji said after taking a look.

This scorpion was too small, just enough for one person to eat. Since Ding Qihan caught it, let him eat it.

"Hey, it tastes pretty good with a little salt," Ding Qihan said.

They brought a small jar of salt with them on this trip; with salt, everything tastes good.

"Crunchy and delicious, tastes like chicken, right?" Ye Wu said.

"It's not even as good as chicken, and it has a claw too. Do you want to try it?"

"want."

The pleasant rest time passed quickly, and after replenishing their water supply, everyone continued their journey.

It's not the hottest time of year anymore, but the heatwave in the desert still makes you sweat profusely.

Around 6 p.m., the sun was already very close to the horizon, and as they walked, they noticed that the trees around them were becoming sparser.

Finally, around seven o'clock, all that remained before them were golden sand dunes. The treeline had ended, and looking back, they saw the lush green Nightshade Forest. But if they wanted to continue exploring the desert, they had to leave the Nightshade Forest and could no longer continue exploring along the treeline.

“On the way here, I saw some vegetation to the southwest. It’s not all sand dunes. Let’s head towards that place tomorrow,” Chen Yang said.

Everyone had complete confidence in Chen Yang's judgment, so they decided on the direction for tomorrow.

“There’s no time to set up camp. I’m going to lay out a straw mat and spend the night here. What about you?” Wengji asked.

The temperature difference between day and night in the desert is huge, but fortunately they are not far from the treeline and can turn back after walking a few steps. They can sleep by the trees, and the temperature difference between day and night is not so great.

Apart from Ongji, everyone else wanted to spend the night in the desert.

No one had ever experienced spending the night in the desert before, and at that moment, the desert was bathed in the glow of sunset, a magnificent sight that made everyone reluctant to leave.

Chen Yang started a fire, and everyone gathered around it, spreading the straw mats they had brought on the ground as moisture-proof mats to prevent their body heat from being lost to the ground at night.

Their first day in the desert ended with the sunset.

(End of this chapter)