Perhaps due to the terrain, it became increasingly difficult to find a water source as they walked. For several days in a row, no one dared to light a fire to cook, and they simply ate some dry rations.

"Brother Cheng, we might need to change our route. If we can't find enough water today, we won't be able to continue our journey tomorrow." These past few days, Yunqi had poured water from his spatial storage into every puddle they encountered, but the puddles were already quite dry, and most of the water was absorbed by the earth, wasting a significant amount needed to supply so many people. They didn't know how far they still had to travel, and if things continued like this, even using all the water he had stored in his spatial storage wouldn't be enough.

Si Cheng understood this principle. Besides, it was impossible for Yun Qi to always be the one to discover the water source. If it happened too often, everyone would eventually become suspicious.

"If we follow the old map, there's a town ahead. Let's go down and find it. Even if it delays our trip, we need to solve this problem first."

"We should be almost there by now. Hopefully there'll be enough salt there, or we'll have wasted our trip." Yunqi had a lot of books, including road maps. Every day during her rest time, she would secretly study the route with Sicheng. In the past, they relied heavily on navigation when going out. Even among so many people, not one of them knew the directions. If they didn't pay close attention, they might be led astray by any fork in the road.

"We can't take so many people with us to search. There are too many of us, and we're afraid it will arouse suspicion. Besides, it's not very convenient for so many people to move around together. Let's find a place to settle everyone down first, and then we can go in together to look for it." Yun Qi thought that if it really didn't work, they would have to risk getting some more water. If they found a water source, they could replenish some of their own space.

When they reached the three-way intersection, the area was quite spacious and could accommodate so many people gathered together. Si Cheng told everyone to rest where they were while he and Yun Qi went to look for a water source nearby.

"Brother Cheng, why don't I go with you? Let Yunqi rest here for a bit." Monkey and the others felt bad about letting a woman keep going out to find water.

"It's alright, and maybe I'll be luckier than you guys. I should be able to find a water source this time too." Yun Qi simply attributed the reason he found a water source each time to luck.

"Why don't we send more people? That way, we'll have a better chance of finding it."

“We won’t go very far, and we need people to maintain security here. Besides, we don’t know what the situation is like here, so having too many people go might not be a good thing.” Si Cheng directly refused. Those who wanted to go with him to find water were all relatively strong in combat. It would be more reassuring for everyone if they stayed here.

"Brother Cheng, whether you find a water source or not, you all need to come back as soon as possible. If you haven't returned in two hours, we will come looking for you."

“Let’s check the time. We’ll definitely be back within three hours. I’ll also leave messages along the way, so if there’s any delay, Monkey can bring people to find us.” He said this because only Monkey and Big Bear knew their secret code.

With everyone's expectations in mind, the couple embarked on their first joint adventure since the disaster.

Emerging from the ruins of the toll station, they were presented with two routes, one to the left and one to the right. However, standing in the middle of the road, they could not see anything on either side; all that could be seen was tangled weeds.

"Which way should we go?" Si Cheng handed the choice directly to Yun Qi, because that was how they had been in the previous life, and Yun Qi had always been luckier than him.

Yun Qi took out a coin from his spatial storage. "Heads to the left, tails to the right."

"Let's go, to the left." Whenever she faced a choice she didn't want to make, she would entrust her fate to a coin. This was a habit she had carried over from her previous life. Although the coin in her hand wasn't the same one from her previous life, she always placed it where she could easily reach it.

Sicheng left a faint mark when he turned left, and although he felt it was unnecessary, he still followed the agreement.

The two walked for another half hour. Then they faintly heard the sound of cows mooing. "Brother Cheng, did you just hear a cow mooing?"

Yunqi asked somewhat uncertainly, knowing that his family had previously bought a cow through connections, but it was crushed to death in the earthquake. Because farmland in their hometown had been replaced by mechanization, there was no tradition of raising draft cattle in their area. The beef cattle they used to raise were all from livestock farms, which couldn't be used for farming. Moreover, after a long period of freezing weather, even those cattle had disappeared; finding fodder to feed them in such cold conditions was impossible.

As they walked further, the sound became clearer. Now they recognized it as the mooing of cows, and the couple became excited. They had been searching everywhere for some cows to take back with them.

"Hey, what are you doing here? How did you find this place?" The sudden voice startled Si Cheng and his group. They had only noticed the cow's mooing and had forgotten to observe their surroundings.

Following the sound, they found a boy who looked to be about ten years old. He had been hiding behind a mound of earth watching the cows, which was why they hadn't noticed him.

"Are you a resident nearby? We were just passing by and thought we'd like to find some water here." Yunqi stated his purpose directly.

"How did you end up here? We haven't had anyone here in a long time." The little boy looked at them curiously at first, and only asked after he was sure that the two people in front of him were harmless.

"We're heading to S Province and we'll be passing through here. We couldn't find any water on the original highway, so we came here. Could you tell us how far it is from here to find water?"

"Just the two of you?"

"No, our companions are still there."

The little boy looked at Si Cheng, who was standing silently to the side, and instead of telling them, he pointed to a spot not far away and asked, "My house is up ahead. Do you want to go there?"

Si Cheng and Yun Qi looked at the little boy in front of them with some surprise. They knew that since the great disaster, they had never been so open about inviting someone to their door.

"Is that your village ahead?" Si Cheng picked up his binoculars and looked in that direction, but there were only a few small houses in front of him.

"Yes, but they've all gone to work in the fields now. If you're looking for water, you should go in that direction, because our village's only water source is there."

"Does your village live around here?" Yunqi couldn't help but ask.

“Our place is quite remote. Most of the people here moved away a long time ago, and now only a few families are left.”

Hearing him say that, I knew this was probably a remote area, and building this highway entrance here was meant to help improve their lives.