When Chen Ci returned to his original place, Shafulai and Chen Nian had already entered the tent, and Fu Tianhe was waiting for him outside.

The two of them also entered the tent one after the other. Shafulai started the energy furnace, and Chen Nian took off his gloves and put his hands on the furnace to keep warm.

Shafley took out a small jar from his bag and threw it to Chen Nian.

"What?" Chen Nian took it, put it under his nose and smelled it, and his eyes immediately lit up.

“You brought this!”

Shafley: "Drink less, just to warm yourself up. Your body is not yet suitable for drinking too much."

Without saying a word, Chen Nian unscrewed the cap of the small bottle, raised his head and took a sip. It was a strong liquor with a high proof, quite potent.

Fu Tianhe took out the instant food and started cooking.

The situation before him awakened his muscle memory. When he traveled with Jiu Yue, he was responsible for solving the problem of food and drink.

Chen Nian moved his body, sat next to Chen Ci, and asked quietly: "Brother, do you feel that there is an indescribable feeling in your heart?"

Chen Ci nodded.

This strange feeling emerged silently from the bottom of his heart when he saw the moonlight with his own eyes.

It is difficult to describe it in words. If I have to say it, it is the flames rising from the crackling firewood, licking the tender heart, with a masochistic warmth amidst the burning pain.

It was so cold that it could freeze a person into an ice sculpture.

Chen Ci originally thought that he was relieved that his goal had finally been achieved, but as time went by, he slowly realized that this was not the case.

If it was relief or joy, it would have faded quickly, but the feeling remained in his heart and even tended to intensify.

Chen Ci: "Maybe because this used to be our home."

Chen Nian sighed, "Since this is home, why not open the door quickly? What's the point of locking your own people out?"

On the other side, Shafulai was also talking to Fu Tianhe, mainly asking how Fu Tianhe's eyes felt. After all, the temperature here was too low, and there were no temperature receptors on the eyeballs, so it was impossible to sense cold or heat. But the eye sockets were different.

"It's okay." Fu Tianhe raised his hand and touched it. His fingertips touched the soft eye mask. Jiuyue had thickened it specially for him. "It's a little cold, but it's not a problem."

Shafulai was relieved. He gave Fu Tianhe a bottle of the wine he brought with him and said, "Want a drink?"

"My alcohol tolerance is average." Fu Tianhe said with a smile and took the bottle.

Shafulai: "It's okay. I can't drink much either. It's mainly for warming up my body."

The four of them rested in the tent for three hours, ate and drank enough, and their bodies were completely warmed up and their strength was restored.

This place is near the Polar Circle, and they decided to go a little further before it gets dark.

After packing their backpacks, the four of them continued to move forward in the original formation. As the last person to leave, Fu Tianhe only needed to follow in their footsteps, so he didn't have to be so focused.

In front of him was Chen Ci. The young man's back fell into his eyes. Fu Tianhe could not help but pay attention to the details. A few strands of September's hair were exposed from under the hat, dyed white by the snow.

The moment his foot suddenly stepped on empty air, Fu Tianhe reacted immediately. He transferred his entire body weight to his upper body, threw himself forward, and at the same time bent the knee of the foot that had stepped on empty air.

Chen Ci was the first to realize what had happened. He turned around, grabbed Fu Tianhe's wrist, and tried to pull the Alpha towards him.

With the joint efforts of both parties, Fu Tianhe finally did not fall directly into the ice cave that suddenly appeared under his feet, but the tip of his shoes was slightly wet.

However, the next second, a huge mouth emerged from the water and bit directly at Fu Tianhe's feet!

"Be careful!" Chen Nian shouted in shock.

Fu Tianhe immediately rolled on the ground, and although his posture was a bit clumsy, he managed to save his feet successfully.

The upper body of the thing stuck out of the hole, and its sharp teeth made a muffled clicking sound, which even shook the air. If it was a human limb, even the bones would have been broken!

However, the food that was about to reach its mouth brushed past its body, leaving it with only a mouthful of cold air.

Chen Ci finally saw clearly that it was a male sea lion. It had been lurking under the ice for a long time. Perhaps it had been following them for a long time and was now targeting the last person in the team.

None of the three psychic people paid extra attention to their feet.

Because in their understanding, there is a thick layer of ice and frozen soil blocking the way, so there is no need to worry about danger. It is better to focus more on exploring the outer wall of the moonlight.

This led to the accident.

The seal's chest is clearly covered with metal, and these inverted hooks are like bird claws, temporarily fixing its huge and heavy body to the ice wall.

Chen Nian's face fell. In his understanding, only marine life could be mechanized, and aren't sea lions mammals?

How did the original symptoms appear?

In a flash, Shafle's hiking pole swung over, breaking through the air with a sharp sound, as if the thin ice was torn apart and the snowflakes were cut into two pieces -

The blow hit the sea lion hard on the head, and it howled in pain.

It seemed to know that it was alone and could hardly be a match for four people. The sea lion loosened its grip on its chest and quickly retracted into the ice hole. It sank into the water in a blink of an eye, leaving only a string of unwilling bubbles.

"How's it going?" asked Shaflay.

"It's okay." Fu Tianhe got up from the ground. It was his right foot that almost fell into the ice cave. The incident happened in his blind spot on the right side, so he couldn't see it clearly at the first time. "What kind of animal is that?"

"Sea lion, it looks like it has become partially mechanized."

Chen Ci reached out to help Fu Tianhe brush off the snow on his body: "If what I learned before is correct, mammals evolve relatively slowly because of their stable genes, and it is almost impossible for them to become primitive."

"Sure enough, there's a problem we don't know about." Shafley whispered, "Let's hurry up and leave this area. This may have been a lake before, so it was able to dig through the ice."

The many dead fish we saw earlier were most likely the work of seals.

Chen Nian lowered his head to check the photos he had taken. In a hurry, he did not bother to shout, but immediately raised the terminal and took a picture of the sea lion.

It's a pity that there is only one angle where he is, otherwise it can be used as a precious sample later.

Fu Tianhe rubbed the edge of the ice cave with his trekking pole to confirm that what Shafley said was correct, this was a lake with a frozen surface.

There must be countless creatures living under their feet, perhaps watching them with the same greed.

They hurriedly got back on their feet and left as quickly as possible.

The team slowed down only when the ground beneath the snow turned black again.

When the purple ghostly appeared in the white, everyone stopped unconsciously.

Purple crystals grow out of the collapsed outer wall of the moonlight, like minerals clinging to a mysterious cave. They stretch out in clusters like thorns, showing vigorous vitality, becoming a mysterious, beautiful and unique landscape in the frozen snowfield.

Yet everyone knew what it was.

A thunderbird stood on the crystal, pecking at it with its head down. Purple crumbs fell down, and some were swallowed into its small stomach.

It relies on this to fill its stomach on days when food is hard to come by.

These birds would have carried the amethyst powder to other parts of the world during their migrations, either in their feces or as part of their eroded carcasses.

The recent small-scale epidemic in Sanshui may have been caused by this.

As if it sensed someone approaching, the thunderbird looked up vigilantly, then quickly flapped its wings and flew away.

Fu Tianhe's throat suddenly tightened uncontrollably.

He thought of the numerous corpses lying twisted on the roadside, their bodies covered in amethysts. There were large patches of dark red blood buried under their fragile skin, which seemed to be about to splash out at the slightest touch. Even maggots and flies were reluctant to approach them, and only frightened eyes and pungent disinfectant water were used to bury them.

That cruel existence also drilled out of his eye sockets, piercing one of his eyeballs into pieces.

It was the first time that Chen Nian met Ashes.

In fact, he only learned about Ashes' existence in detail three weeks ago.

He observed carefully for a moment, unable to suppress the shock in his chest, and whispered to Shafley: "Is this the thing that will grow out of the body of the infected person?"

Shafla nodded.

Chen Nian couldn't help but sigh. Something so hard and sharp existed inside his body and would continue to grow. Just thinking about it gave him phantom pain.

The sky gradually darkened. Before it got completely dark, the four people chose a good place that was sheltered from the wind and clean, and set up the tent again.

Chen Nian opened the map on the terminal. A winding red line marked the distance they had traveled today. They had walked 26 kilometers, which was already a lot.

Fu Tianhe pulled up the tent from the inside. The strong cloth blocked the wind and snow outside, making this place a safe corner on the snowy plateau.

The heater was restarted and they took off their thick coats one after another. The snow never stopped falling. Even if they tried their best to shake off the snow on their coats before entering the tent, some of it was still brought into the tent and melted silently into water.

Chen Ci and Chen Nian put everyone's clothes and shoes on the stove, Fu Tianhe started cooking, continuing to fulfill his duties as a househusband, and Shafulai leaned in the corner, recording today's diary.

It was impossible not to feel tired after marching for such a long time in the snowstorm. Even Shafley was quietly conserving his energy. He was leading the way in front and was consuming even more energy.

Only Fu Tianhe still looks energetic and full of spirit.

Chen Ci was already used to it. He had personally experienced how terrifying Fu Tianhe's physical strength was. This was after he had walked through the abandoned suburbs in just one day.

If Fu Tianhe went alone, he could walk forty or fifty kilometers a day in the wind and snow without any problem.

They had a whole night to rest, so they certainly didn't plan to just eat dinner casually. Fu Tianhe cooked some meat, and soon the aroma filled the entire tent.

After it was cooked, everyone couldn't wait to start eating. There was nothing happier than sitting in a warm tent in a snowstorm, holding their own bowls, drinking soup and eating meat.

The biting cold wind howled, the flying snow flapped against the tent, and there was a constant sound of tiny crackles, the sound of the wind was like weeping, sometimes high-pitched, sometimes holding its breath, like the last sob of a dying beast.

Chen Nian had been using his mental power to explore the moonlight. After realizing that Shafulai and Chen Ci were concentrating on finding the entrance, he focused more on the structure of the moonlight.

Anyway, his brother and Shaflai have stronger mental powers than him, so if anything happens, they will be the first to discover it.

He might as well use that energy to do something more useful.

Chen Nian turned on the virtual screen, took out a stylus from his backpack, and began to draw while recalling what his mental power had detected.

Their father Chen Wei had done similar work before. The primitive creatures hid in the sea, and few people could see the details with their own eyes.

Especially the ferocious Poseidon. Most of the people who encountered them died in the sea, not to mention providing any clues.

Many large primitive creatures are able to shield themselves from detection by radar and sound, so the role of mental power is crucial.

Chen Wei's spiritual power explored beneath the sea and drew the outlines of many mysterious creatures on paper, which became precious information for mankind.

While Chen Nian was busy drawing, Shafley finished writing his diary, lifted one of Chen Nian's legs onto his knees, and began to massage him.

Chen Nian has been bedridden these days and hasn't done much exercise. Today he suddenly increased the intensity to such a high level. If he doesn't relax his muscles well, he might be so tired tomorrow that he won't even be able to lift his legs.

Chen Nian focused on painting without even lifting his eyelids, enjoying Alpha's service with a clear conscience, and occasionally gave instructions: "A little bit lower, yes, it's here."

Seeing this, Fu Tianhe suddenly felt that he could not be outdone by Shaffley. He moved behind Chen Ci, stretched out his hand, and massaged Chen Ci's shoulders and neck.

Chen Ci turned around and glanced at him, but did not comment on Alpha's inexplicable competitive spirit.

The first day of exploration ended smoothly.

They walked a lot and had a preliminary understanding of the area near Moonlight. Although they gained nothing, no one was discouraged.

At this rate, they will be able to walk around the outer perimeter in seven or eight days.

Chen Ci's fingertips touched the eye patch on Fu Tianhe's right eye, silently asking him how he was doing.

"Not bad." Fu Tianhe whispered, "I didn't feel anything all day today. I don't know if it's because of the low temperature, which can have an inhibitory effect."

"That's good." Chen Ci felt relieved. He provided a lot for Fu Tianhe last night, which made him feel a little weak this morning. It seems that his good intentions were not in vain.

The purple crystals attached to the outer wall of the moonlight always gave Chen Ci a sense of foreboding.

When his mind calmed down, the image of the purple crystal quickly piercing out of Fu Tianhe's eyes in the abandoned factory appeared in his mind.

And the countless people who struggled and howled under the transparent pipe many years ago, trying to escape the deadly torrent.

That was the nightmare he could never get rid of, and it was also his obsession on this trip.

Chen Nian spent two hours drawing a sketch. The energy furnace in the tent could not completely dispel the coldness on the ice field. Painting was a delicate job that required finger sensitivity. He put down the stylus, his right hand was a little frozen, and he rubbed it quickly.

Seeing this, Shafulai held Chen Nian's hand in his own palm and warmed it with his body temperature. Alpha's palm was dry and broad, and soon even Chen Nian's fingertips were warm.

Days like this are quite familiar to Chen Ci and Fu Tianhe.

During the months of travel, they would rest early after dark and wait until the next day when it was barely light to seize the time and set out again.

Four people together are always much more lively than two people. They chat casually, mostly about trivial and unimportant things.

Except for Chavez who was a few years older, everyone was around the same age, around 20 years old. Even though they grew up in different environments and had different experiences, they still had many common topics to talk about.

At nine o'clock in the evening, they took out their sleeping bags from their bags, laid them down, and prepared to rest.

This snowstorm doesn't seem to be stopping at all. I just hope it won't get stronger in the coming days, otherwise it will last even longer.

Without any discussion, the four of them had already reached a consensus on "how to sleep" very tacitly.

Brothers Chen Ci and Chen Nian slept in the middle, Fu Tianhe and Shafulai lay beside their Omegas. From left to right, they were Fu Tianhe, Chen Ci, Chen Nian, and Shafulai.

Any other arrangement would only bring great embarrassment.

After a simple wash, everyone lay down in their sleeping bags. All the lights were turned off, leaving only a small light bulb that would emit light if you touched it slightly.

For the three people who possess spiritual power, they don't need things like lights at all. Even in darkness, they can use their spiritual power to find out the situation around them. The light bulb is specially prepared for Fu Tianhe.

It was the first time that Chen Nian slept with Chen Ci.

He was quite excited. The tent was big, but with four people sleeping there, the space was limited. He only needed to reach out to the side with his right hand to touch Chen Ci's thigh.

Just as Chen Nian was trying to play a trick on his brother, he felt Shaflay turn sideways and face him.

The Alpha placed his hands on his waist, then moved them upwards, until they reached the opening of the sleeping bag.

——Let me see your wound.

Thoughts are transmitted through the spiritual power of contact.

Chen Nian couldn't help but laugh. Why didn't he mention it just now when the lights were on? Why did he have to say it secretly now that everyone was asleep?

But he finally opened the collar of his clothes and felt Shafley's hand reaching in and gently touching the wound on his chest.

Only after making sure that the surface of the wound was normal did Shafulai feel relieved. He was about to retract his hand, but was held down by Chen Nian.

The sleeping bag restricted Chen Nian's ability to move, otherwise his legs would definitely be entangled with Shafla.

But even so, the meaning revealed in it still made Shaffley subconsciously tense up.

On the other side of the tent, less than a meter away, were Chen Ci and Fu Tianhe.

Shaflay clearly felt Chen Nian's fingers lightly tapping on his forearm. Her index and middle fingers were like the two legs of a little man, moving along the line of his arm. Her steps were very brisk, with no attempt to conceal the teasing in them.

Chen Nian moved slightly, and Shafulai's palms rubbed against his skin. The warm and delicate touch was so tempting in this snowy place.

Shafla's breathing quickened.

Shafley's mental power is strictly limited to Chen's thoughts, and he doesn't want to do anything that would pry into someone's privacy. Even though Chen didn't say anything, it would be embarrassing if he found out.

Chen Ci probably had the same idea, as their mental powers did not collide.

As for Fu Tianhe, he could not see anything happening in the dark. As long as he didn't make too much noise, the wind and snow outside the tent would become his best cover.

Wait a minute! What on earth is he thinking?

Shafla hurried to clear the chaotic images in his mind.

He knew that Chen Nian was bold, but the boy was obviously not that bold and was simply teasing him.

Shafulai calmed himself down, used a little force to pull his hand out, and pinched Chen Nian's face intentionally. Immediately, the Omega slapped him on the arm.

He put his arms around the boy's waist and calmed down.

On the other hand, Chen Ci and Fu Tianhe were not as honest as Shafley imagined.

Providing "medicine" to Fu Tianhe every night has become Chen Ci's habit.

It was a silent but passionate deep kiss.

The sweetness of amber wood and tuberose blends between the lips and teeth, but it is difficult to restrain it to prevent it from being too extreme.

The wind and snow are cold, but they cannot quench the hidden desire.

Only after absorbing enough saliva did Fu Tianhe reluctantly withdraw. He gently licked the moisture from the corners of Chen Ci's lips with the tip of his tongue, and rubbed the boy's cheek with the tip of his nose.

Chen Ci's eyelashes trembled slightly, as if disturbed by the heat of Fu Tianhe's breath.

Normally, Chen Ci would never fall asleep with someone else around him.

What's more, it was windy and snowy outside, and there were three other people lying in the tent besides him. If anyone turned over, it would make a noise.

But he didn't know when he got used to Fu Tianhe sleeping next to him, and was able to listen to Alpha's steady and long breathing without wearing earplugs. Now, he could even ignore other regular sounds around him.

Just sleep peacefully like this.

I slept very soundly that night.

Chen Nian was really exhausted. He hadn't done such intense exercise for a long time. He slept soundly and was not at all bothered by the cold surroundings or the hard ground.

The next day, faint light shone through the tent and thinly fell on eyelids. Fu Tianhe woke up first. He had always had very little sleep, and it had reached a worrying level recently.

This should be the change brought to him by Ashes, because since he got the "special medicine" from September, the situation has been alleviated a little, at least he can sleep more than five hours a day.

Fu Tianhe opened his eyes, but found his heart empty.

His Omega was not by his side. Fu Tianhe looked to his left and found that Chen Ci was sleeping on the standard right side of the central dividing line of the tent, while Chen Nian was leaning on Chen Ci's shoulder, with his eyes closed, and was soundly asleep.

The boy, who was only a few minutes older, lay flat on his back, his black hair brushing softly over his ears. The faint sunlight fell on his nose, as if afraid of disturbing him, and became seven points softer, finally coating his light-colored lips.

The boy with exactly the same face snuggled up to his brother's neck, his thick black eyelashes curled up like a paintbrush. When he breathed, a faint white mist gathered at the side of his nose, condensing into tiny water droplets or frost mist, falling on his face, and you could even see the fine hair on his cheeks.

This is a picture that is pleasing to the eyes, and even has a kind of indescribable charm.

Fu Tianhe was suddenly dumbfounded. At this moment, he even felt that he was a little redundant.

After staring blankly for a few seconds, Fu Tianhe moved his gaze upwards and saw Shafulai, who was also speechless and choked on the other side of the tent.

Fu Tianhe: ………………

Shafley: ………………

Four eyes, oh no, three eyes met, and they saw the same sadness and helplessness in each other's eyes.

The two brothers were completely unaware of this, they were sleeping soundly in each other's arms, leaving the two Alphas staring at each other in bewilderment.