As they had expected, the mountaintop was rocky with sparse vegetation, only a few shrubs growing sparsely in the gaps.

Standing on the mountaintop and looking down, you can overlook the surrounding mountains. Under the glow of the setting sun, the rolling hills seem to be shrouded in a golden veil, making them exceptionally beautiful.

The long river below the mountain, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, resembles a golden ribbon winding through the forest and weaving through the mountains.

Just as Yan Zheng had guessed, their direction was correct. This mountain was situated at a high vantage point, offering a panoramic view of all the surrounding mountains.

But at this moment, Jiang Xi's heart sank to the bottom.

There was nothing there.

There are only endless, undulating mountains here, no way out and no villages with smoke rising from their chimneys.

This means they have entered uninhabited territory.

There's nothing there.

Her voice was barely audible, and she seemed completely deflated. She took off the clothes on her back, sat on the ground, and stared blankly down the mountain.

Fate seemed to be mocking their ignorance and insignificance. They had walked for three days, enduring wind and rain, carrying hope, only to have reality brutally laid bare before them.

Yan Zheng was still looking at the distant mountains, his brows furrowed and he remained silent, his face grim.

Jiang Xi could clearly feel the sudden drop in air pressure around him.

After a long while, his hoarse voice finally came through: "Start a fire. We'll rest here tonight. I'll go find a campsite."

Jiang Xi regained her senses and became more realistic. All she could think about now was how to survive in this desolate jungle. They had worked so hard not to find a place to bury themselves, but because this mountaintop was their hope of being rescued.

It's getting dark; further delay will only increase the danger of the approaching night.

Jiang Xi casually tied her hair up and went to look for dry branches and firewood. The vegetation on the hilltop was not as lush as at the foot of the mountain. There were no vines or tall trees here, only a few shrubs and some small trees. After searching for a long time, she could only find a small bundle of dry branches.

On the other side, Yan Zheng's situation was not optimistic either. There were no big trees to use as cover, and he was not as lucky as he was last night to find a huge crevice in the rocks.

The only place we could make do for one night was a small depression formed naturally by the ground beneath a protruding rock a dozen meters down from the mountaintop. The depression wasn't large; it should be just the right size for two people to curl up and sleep.

They had no better choice at the moment. The sun was just a sliver high, and the depths of the forest were as dark as a giant beast about to devour them, which was terrifying. He felt a growing sense of urgency.

I gathered some dry branches and cleared the fallen leaves out of the hollow. Then I cut down a few small trees, each two or three centimeters thick and covered with lush foliage, and piled them up at the entrance of the hollow to conceal it.

When the chestnuts Jiang Xi had thrown into the ashes were almost ripe, the shelter began to take shape.

At this moment, the sun had completely sunk below the horizon, and the sky had become completely dark. Clouds were faintly rolling in the sky, and the starlight was almost entirely obscured.

Yan Zheng carried the firewood over, looked at the sky, and said, "It's likely to rain tonight."

Jiang Xi then realized that the temperature had dropped significantly, and a cool breeze had picked up on the mountaintop, making it much colder than during the day. She quickly put on her sweater.

What worried her most was whether the small dent could withstand the rain.

Tonight is probably going to be tough.

Dinner consisted of chestnuts and figs again. After hiking all afternoon, both of them were exhausted, both mentally and physically, and had no appetite for food.

Jiang Xi didn't have much of an appetite. Perhaps it was because she had caught a slight headache from the wind earlier. She only ate a fig and a few chestnuts that she had brought at noon.

Yan Zheng noticed that she ate very little. He only frowned slightly as he stared at her porcelain-white, slender wrists and thin shoulders, without saying anything. As usual, he cleaned up half a pot of chestnuts.

After we finished eating, the clouds became noticeably thicker, blocking out all light. Looking down the mountain, all we could see were endless stretches of dark, dense forest.

Without further delay, Yan Zheng picked up a few long pieces of firewood and threw them into the hollow to carefully heat the ground, raising its temperature and driving away insects and ants.

Jiang Xi found a few wild grasses in some of the rock crevices. The leaves of this grass were heart-shaped, and each leaf was as big as a cartwheel. When stacked together and placed in the crevices, it could effectively prevent dust and moisture.

After putting out the fire, Yan Zheng collected the remaining firewood and put it in the hollow in case there was no dry firewood to use the next morning.

There was no water source at the top of the mountain, and although they had been careful to drink water on their way up, they now only had about half a bottle left.

Looking at the sky, he secured the pot with stones, rolled the heart-shaped leaves into a funnel shape, placed them on the rim of the pot, and made a simple rainwater collector to catch the rainwater at night. He also used stones to block the wind around it.

The wind grew stronger, making the trees on the mountain whistle and hum. They didn't linger any longer, packed up their things, and hid in the hollow, covering the entrance with the saplings they had cut down.

The cave space was indeed not large. Jiang Xi could barely stretch her legs out in the innermost part, while Yan Zheng was much more cramped. He was too tall and could only lie on his side with his legs curled up.

Jiang Xi noticed that she had unconsciously moved further in.

Listening to the howling wind outside the cave, Jiang Xi pondered what to do next. She first asked Yan Zheng for his opinion: "Where do we go next?"

"wait!"

Yan Zheng responded, "We'll place a distress signal on the mountaintop tomorrow."

"You need to prepare a large enough pile of dry firewood so that it can be quickly lit and produce smoke when needed."

He added, "Then we'll go down the mountain and set up camp. Ideally, we should find a cave where we can stay out of the wind and rain, and wait for the snowstorm to pass before we have a chance to survive." His voice was low and hoarse but strong.

"Will the snow disaster be over?" Jiang Xi's voice was muffled, perhaps because she had caught a chill.

Yan Zheng said, "Judging from the vegetation, we should be in a tropical or subtropical forest, but the temperature difference between day and night is so large now, and the temperature at night is only about ten degrees Celsius, which is not normal."

Jiang Xi turned to face him and continued, "So, the temperature here is the same as outside, but it's probably because we're in the tropics that there's no snowfall. By the time it gets warmer here, the snow disaster will probably be over."

"Hmm, maybe."

Jiang Xi's hope was rekindled, and she considered that the current situation was the safest approach.

They needed to find a safe shelter with plenty of food.

There is water and fish at the foot of the mountain, as well as fig trees. At least under normal circumstances, they can survive for several months without any problems.

Thinking about it this way, the feeling of fatigue didn't seem so bad anymore.

Seeing that he was curled up with his legs tucked in, looking both stifled and uncomfortable, Jiang Xi couldn't help but shrink in even further, trying her best to give him some space.

Yan Zheng mistakenly thought she was hiding inside. His eyes darkened, and his heart felt as if it were being squeezed by two invisible hands. This person always managed to embarrass him at just the right moment.

He moved his lips, his deep voice carrying a hint of helplessness and bitterness, his tone stiff: "I'm sorry about yesterday."

"It won't happen again."

Jiang Xi was speechless for a moment, knowing that he had misunderstood her actions just now. She did not explain, ignoring the heat emanating from the man beside her, and simply tugged his sleeve gently inside.

"Move a little further in, I don't feel cramped."

She paused slightly, then said, "Yesterday, I didn't blame you; it was my own choice." Her voice was barely audible, with a slight nasal tone.

She tucked the down jacket over herself and was about to turn around when her arm was suddenly grabbed.