After climbing another mountain, they had expected a downhill path, but instead, they were met with a vast plain.
In the middle of the plain was a Salt Lake, flat as a mirror.
The gem-like green surface of the lake was surrounded by salt as white as snow, which looked as soft as cotton.
In the afterglow of the setting sun, the entire sky and the Salt Lake merged into one, creating a scene straight out of a fairytale.
The three of them were simultaneously awestruck by the sight before them.
“Wow!” Shu Ning exclaimed.
Although she had seen places like this on television before, the experience of seeing it with her own eyes was completely different.
“This is it.
I was right.”
Shu Ning jumped down and ran excitedly toward the edge of the Salt Lake.
Xuan Lin never expected there to actually be a lake here.
He couldn’t believe he had never discovered this place before.
This lake was completely different from any he had seen before.
The surroundings were devoid of life, deathly still.
He remembered how he had misunderstood her earlier, and a complex look crossed his face.
Xiao Chong was also taken aback.
Although he had believed Shu Ning, he was still shocked to see it with his own eyes.
Shu Ning scooped up a small pinch with her hand and tasted it.
It was real salt, just as she’d expected.
‘I want to use Instant Teleportation now, but I wonder if I can make it all the way back from this far.’
‘007, at my current Level, can I transport this salt back?’ Shu Ning asked inwardly.
“No, that requires an upgrade,” the system replied.
Shu Ning hesitated.
‘I don’t want to upgrade just yet.’
“Friendly reminder: you can store it in your space first and take it out after you get back.”
‘Of course!
Why didn’t I think of that?’
‘What’s the maximum amount of salt my space can hold right now?’
“10 tons.”
“That’s enough,” Shu Ning said, satisfied.
With a thought, she stored 10 tons of salt from the lakebed into her space.
…
‘Done!’
“What are you doing?” Xiao Chong asked, walking up beside her with a puzzled look.
“Ah—”
Startled by the sudden voice, Shu Ning lost her footing and was about to fall into the Salt Lake.
Seeing this, Xiao Chong quickly pulled her back.
Losing her balance, Shu Ning tumbled into Xiao Chong’s arms.
Xiao Chong looked down at the shaken Shu Ning in his arms, a flicker of tenderness in his eyes.
He patted her on the back.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m…
I’m fine,” Shu Ning said.
“Oh, right!
Xiao Chong, try this.”
He looked at the crystalline particles in her hand, his brow furrowing slightly, but he took them and put them in his mouth anyway.
He immediately spat them out.
“What is this?” he asked, frowning.
“It’s salt.”
“Salt?”
“That’s right.
This stuff has a lot of uses.
You can use it to season food, and also to preserve it.
I’ll explain the details to you later.”
Xiao Chong’s eyes widened in surprise as he listened to Shu Ning’s confident explanation.
‘When did she learn all this?’
Shu Ning glanced at the barren surroundings.
“Looks like this lake hasn’t been polluted.
The salt should be safe to consume directly.”
‘Still, it’s better to be safe.
I should probably process it a bit after we get back.’
Watching the two of them embrace so tightly and now chat so excitedly, Xuan Lin felt an inexplicable wave of irritation.
“It’s getting late.
Aren’t you planning on heading back?”
He walked over, trying to interrupt their conversation.
Shu Ning looked up and saw the sky was now completely dark.
The Salt Lake presented a whole new kind of beauty under the moonlight.
But they couldn’t stay here any longer.
“Let’s head back.”
“Okay,” Xiao Chong replied, then lifted Shu Ning onto his back and started the journey home.
“Xiao Chong, it’s so late…
can we still make it back?” Shu Ning asked, draped limply over his back.
She was exhausted and on the verge of sleep.
“We can,” Xiao Chong answered.
After hearing his confident reply, she could no longer fight off her drowsiness and fell asleep.
「A while later.」
Just as they reached the edge of the Black Bear Clan’s territory, they were suddenly surrounded by Black Bears who had been lying in ambush.
“HAHAHAHA!
Big Brother, see?
I told you I saw them today!” a grimy-faced Black Bear cackled.
“Hmph.
Second Brother, you were right.
They really did come this way.
Looks like we’re eating wolf meat tonight!” another, even larger and darker, Black Bear said.
“Big Brother, look!
That plump girl on his back looks especially delicious!”
Xiao Chong’s face darkened.
He exchanged a nod with Xuan Lin, then took a few steps back, preparing to break through the Black Bears’ encirclement.
“Big Brother, they’re trying to run!”
“You’re not going anywhere!”
Just as Xiao Chong leaped, one of the Black Bears shot out its claws and viciously grabbed Shu Ning’s hair.
Shu Ning was yanked into the air and then slammed hard onto the ground, her hair still clutched in the Black Bear’s death grip.
“AHHH—”
The intense pain jolted Shu Ning from her sleep.
Xiao Chong, having already broken out of the encirclement, felt the weight on his back suddenly vanish.
A moment later, he heard Shu Ning’s cry of pain, and his heart seemed to skip a beat.
Veins bulged on his forehead.
His face was terrifyingly grim, and his eyes burned with a fire that made him impossible to look at directly.
Xuan Lin also heard Shu Ning’s scream.
His brow tightened, and he turned to see a horrifying sight: she was on her knees, her head yanked back by her hair.
A sinister, ruthless light glinted in Xuan Lin’s eyes.
He immediately charged back into the pack of Black Bears, taking them down one by one with lethal force.
Blood splattered everywhere as the scene descended into chaos.
It was impossible to tell whose blood was spraying through the air.
Just as they fought their way back toward the Black Bears, they heard Shu Ning’s tearful shout, “Don’t worry about me!
Just go!”
The two men were stunned but continued their ferocious battle with the Black Bears.
‘I wanted them to leave first so I could use Instant Teleportation,’ she thought.
To her dismay, not only did they not leave, but they began to fight even more fiercely.
‘I can’t worry about that now.’ She immediately closed her eyes and pictured the direction of the Wolf Clan Tribe.
In an instant, the group that had just been battling the Black Bears suddenly found themselves in a forest.
The forest at night was terrifyingly quiet.
‘This must be the forest we need to pass through to get back to the Wolf Clan,’ Shu Ning guessed.
Xiao Chong and Xuan Lin were completely dumbfounded.
Weren’t they just fighting a pack of Black Bears a moment ago?
How had they all vanished?
They looked around, their expressions vigilant.
Then they began searching for Shu Ning.
“I’m over here.”
Shu Ning’s back was burning from the Black Bear’s claws.
She’d found a rock to sit on and rest.
Hearing her voice, both men simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.
They followed the sound of her voice and saw her sitting there, hair disheveled and clothes torn.
But their relief vanished when they noticed a small pool of blood spreading out from behind her.
They rushed to her side at the same time.
When they saw that her back had been torn open and was bleeding profusely, both men’s brows knitted tightly.
They simultaneously tore pieces from their own Beast Clothes and pressed them against the wound.
Shu Ning was confused.
‘Why do they look so strange?’
‘My hair just got messed up, that’s all.’
It was only when the piece of animal hide was pressed against her back that Shu Ning finally felt the searing pain.
She glanced behind her and saw a pool of blood on the ground.
‘With that flowing sensation, I thought I’d just gotten my period.’
‘I can’t believe it was my back.’
“Hang in there…” Xiao Chong said.
“You keep pressure on it.
I’ll go find some herbs.”
“Okay.”
After Xiao Chong left, only Shu Ning and Xuan Lin remained.
The pain in Shu Ning’s back was so intense that sweat beaded on her forehead and her lips turned pale.
‘This is even worse than period cramps!’
“Th…
Thank you.”
“Don’t talk.”