Xiao Nanhui climbed out of his hiding place and looked towards the northwest.
"Your Majesty, from now on, we will travel day and night. We must find a place to hide before dawn."
He didn't say anything, just nodded slightly.
Xiao Nanhui solemnly took his hand and held it tightly in his palm.
"Don't let go of my hand."
The wild animals would track her by scent, so she could only move downwind and then choose the shortest shortcut to cross the last Gobi desert.
They should have reached the edge of Yanxi Ancient City by now, and it would only take about half a day's journey. However, although it was almost dawn, the sky was gloomy because of the snow. She couldn't even see the outline of the earth and could only judge the approximate direction based on the direction of the wind.
She couldn't control her pace and trudged as slowly as before, and was almost pulling the man forward.
When she encountered a ravine, she would carry him on her back and jump over it. When she encountered a steep hill, she would not slow down, but would roll and crawl over it using the terrain.
She could hear the heavy breathing of the man behind her, but she couldn't stop, and she didn't even have time to look back to comfort him briefly. She could only drag him forward and forward with all her strength.
Finally, she saw the outline of a hill.
According to her previous estimate, even if she tried her best to hurry, it would still take her half a day to enter the ancient city of Yanxi.
In other words, the hill in front of us is not the outline of a city, but the day is about to dawn, and this place is no longer an uninhabited area where birds and beasts have disappeared. If we continue to march in the empty desert, once we are discovered by the enemy, the consequences will be unimaginable.
In the pale and cold morning light, she finally saw the outline of the hills in front of her. They were now a strange deep red color, which looked particularly abrupt in this pale desert land.
She remembered the brief text she had read in the ancient customs and features before leaving Quecheng: A dozen miles south of the ancient city of Yanxi, there are several small hills eroded by wind. When the sun rises in the east, the hills are blue in color; when the sun is high in the sky, the hills are pale in color; when the sun sets in the west, the hills are purple in color. They were called Seqiu in ancient times.
If the hill in front of her is Seqiu, as long as she passes through it, she will reach the ancient city of Yanxi, which borders Sanmu Pass. The Tiancheng army will pass through there soon, and her and the emperor's "escape career" will also come to a successful end.
The day when she and Xiao Zhun meet again will not be far away.
Thinking of this, Xiao Nanhui was extremely excited. Even the predicament of sleeping on ice for several days without any rice to eat seemed less unbearable.
The sun finally rose, the snow seemed to have lightened, and the sky was bright. Xiao Nanhui settled Su Wei in a secluded valley and took Pingxian to explore the way forward, hoping to get some more food and water before reaching their destination.
Previously, she was only concerned with getting on with her journey and had not carefully observed the surrounding terrain. Now that she stepped on it and took a good look, she found it to be truly magical.
The surrounding rock walls were no longer of that withered and pale color, but a mixture of varying shades of purple, ochre, red, and orange, layered and spreading like satin, covering the entire hill.
It is probably because of this that as the sun rises and sets, the light changes, creating three different colors.
Such a unique scenery didn't seem like it should appear in a barren place like Suyan. Or perhaps, she had never stopped to take in the scenery here before, and now she just wanted to take a closer look.
This was really a strange thing. After all, in the current situation, she shouldn't have the mind to enjoy the scenery.
Going deeper into the valley along the edge of the hill, she found that the ground here was not as hard and rough as outside the pass. Instead, it had a thick layer of sand. This made her quite alert. She carefully cleaned up the footprints she left behind as she moved forward.
The rocks and hillocks here all looked the same, giving the illusion of walking in circles. But she didn't dare leave any marks to mark the way, fearing someone might find her way back. So she stopped every hundred steps to carefully observe the surrounding terrain, memorizing it in her mind.
Back in Bijiang, she'd often slipped out of the village alone to relay topographical information to Tiancheng's rear, often spending the better part of a day away. She'd walked countless times through those mountains, forests, small islands, wilderness, and gravel beaches, naturally developing a knack for memorizing routes. Thanks to this experience, she was now somewhat adept at these tasks.
Even so, she didn't plan to go too far. Daybreak was about to break, and she really didn't want the man to stay there alone for too long.
The winding path between the hillocks gradually widened, and small, thorny shrubs began to grow on the surrounding rock walls. She knew she might be entering a small depression. In such a dry place, only the low-lying areas surrounded by hills could collect some moisture. Now was the dry and cold season, so she didn't hold out much hope of finding clear water. But she knew that such places often attracted small animals. If she was lucky, she could catch some food and make it to the city without any problem.
She groped forward along the slightly damp ground. There were some footprints left by passing animals. She looked carefully and found no wolf tracks, so she breathed a sigh of relief.
At this moment, a brownish-yellow spot flashed by in front, as fast as a small ball of sand blown by the wind.
Xiao Nan suddenly came to his senses and rubbed his eyes quickly, and the brown and yellow mass disappeared again.
She had a plan in mind, moved her feet carefully, and took off a small piece of whitish armor from her body. It was a baffle on the breastplate of the light armor, still shining with bright silver-white. She used it to make fire a few days ago, so she made full use of it.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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