Chapter 556: Wrong Direction

Qiao Xixi was practically sprawled across Yun Ji’s back. After they passed through a thick layer of clouds, she slowly lifted her head. In the distance, she could see Fire Feather Mountain standing tall amidst the ranges.

Although Fire Feather Mountain had “fire” in its name, it had nothing to do with heat. Due to its high altitude, the mountain was perennially covered in snow that never melted. The closer they got, the more they could feel the biting cold wind blowing from its direction.

Yun Ji slowly descended.

Jin Ling and the others had already gone ahead to find a place to land.

The base of Fire Feather Mountain was almost completely barren, without even a single patch of forest. It was all rocky mountains. Making camp here was not ideal for them, as it would easily expose them to unknown dangers.

Eventually, Jin Ling’s group found two giant boulders at the foot of the mountain that had formed a natural pile. There was a gap between the boulders large enough to accommodate them, where they could take shelter for the time being.

Yun Ji flapped his wings and flew to the side of the boulders, landing steadily.

He lowered his body to the ground and spread one wing, allowing Qiao Xixi to slide off him.

As soon as Qiao Xixi had her footing, Yun Ji shifted back into his human form and stepped forward to take her hand.

Jin Ling had already gone between the giant boulders to check things out.

“It’s pretty spacious inside. We can rest up here for a bit and wait for Sunxiao and the others.”

Qiao Xixi nodded and followed Yun Ji inside. Although the boulders blocked most of the cold wind, this was still the foot of the mountain, so the temperature remained very low.

Qiao Xixi wrapped her beast-hide clothes tighter. The cold was even worse than it had been on the ice plains, and with the high altitude, even breathing was more difficult.

Yun Ji spread his feathered cloak and pulled Qiao Xixi into his embrace.

“Cold?”

Qiao Xixi leaned against him. “A little.”

Yun Ji took her hand and slowly transferred his Beast Soul Energy into her body. In just a short while, Qiao Xixi warmed up.

Xijing came in carrying a pile of dry firewood. When Qiao Xixi saw him, she pushed herself out of Yun Ji’s arms and used a lighter to ignite the wood.

As the fire grew, the surrounding temperature rose a little.

Qiao Xixi sat down by the fire, rummaged through her bundle for some meat jerky, and after heating it over the flames, handed it to Yun Ji and Xijing, who were sitting nearby.

“Quick, eat something. This damned place is too cold. A full stomach will help you warm up.”

Seeing she still had more in her hands, the two of them accepted it.

Jin Ling, having somehow found some relatively thick tree trunks, had shaved them into planks and used them to block the larger gaps. Now, no cold wind could get in.

After a simple meal, Yun Ji stood up.

“I’m going to check out the surroundings.”

“Yun Ji, be careful.”

Yun Ji gave a slight nod, and his figure quickly vanished from sight.

“I’m looking at Sunxiao’s group’s location. It looks like they’ve slowed down. They probably realized the cubs are out here too and are waiting for them.”

Qiao Xixi had been observing the changes in their location for the past two days to guess their travel speed.

Based on Sunxiao’s and the cubs’ positions, they should be able to meet up tomorrow.

“Mhm, we’ll wait for them here.”

After eating, Qiao Xixi felt much warmer. She got up and walked outside the great boulders. All she could see were barren rocks. As far as the eye could see, there wasn’t another living creature besides them.

“Little Yao, are there no beastmen living in this area of Fire Feather Mountain?”

“Host, with this god-awful weather, what normal beastman could stand it? Even if there were some before, they would have migrated long ago. Any who stayed behind wouldn’t have survived for long. There’s no prey around here at all.”

‘No prey means no wild beasts, either. That should make it relatively safe for us here.’

“Xixi, it’s too cold outside. You should go back in.”

Qiao Xixi nodded, turned, and went back inside. She then took out two large beast hides from her space and spread them on the ground as mats.

Jin Ling walked over and sat down beside her. “You haven’t rested well these past two days on the road. Why don’t you take a nap now while there’s nothing going on?”

Qiao Xixi nodded. Although she had rested at night for the past two days, she hadn’t slept soundly. She was indeed exhausted now. She leaned against Jin Ling and closed her eyes, her breathing evening out in just a moment.

Xijing looked at Jin Ling and said, “You should get some sleep too. I’ll keep watch.”

Jin Ling nodded, holding Qiao Xixi as he closed his eyes.

「Night deepened.」

The temperature at the foot of the mountain was now dozens of degrees colder than it had been during the day. Qiao Xixi had been leaning with her back against Jin Ling, but the sudden drop in temperature made her so cold that she turned and threw herself into his arms.

Jin Ling felt her shiver and tightened his hold on her, pulling nearly the entire beast-hide blanket over her.

Feeling the constant source of warmth radiating from Jin Ling, Qiao Xixi burrowed her head directly into his chest.

‘This godforsaken place is so cold my head is going to freeze solid.’

The night grew deeper and deeper, and the surroundings were so quiet that only the WHOOSH of the cold wind could be heard.

Qiao Xixi woke up, so cold she wished she could burrow right into Jin Ling’s body. But she didn’t move. Instead, she used her consciousness to check on Sunxiao and his group’s location, discovering that the cubs were now very close to them.

‘At this rate, they’ll all be able to meet up before dawn.’

Qiao Xixi’s guess was right. After making sure the cubs could handle it, Yun Qiong and his group began to speed up.

Although the journey was exhausting for the cubs, the thought of reuniting with Qiao Xixi’s group soon made them too excited to sleep.

“Let’s find a place to land first.”

“Okay.”

In stark contrast to the region around Fire Feather Mountain, the place where Qiao Yi’s group had settled was much better; below them lay a dense mountain forest.

Sunxuan jumped down first. Only after ensuring the area was safe did he let Yun Qiong land with the cubs.

Qiao Ang rubbed his eyes and yawned. Although he was still mentally excited, his body was starting to give out.

“Father, I’m so hungry.”

Feiyan, feeling sorry for his cub after all, lifted him down, took a piece of jerky from the bundle on his back, and stuffed it into the boy’s hand.

“Eat some jerky for now.”

Qiao Ang took the jerky and started gnawing on it.

Qiao Yi had already gathered firewood nearby and started a fire to make them some meat soup.

In the darkness, everything was arranged in an orderly manner.

Feiyan carried the sleeping tiger cub on his back, took out a beast-hide mat, and spread it out for the other cubs to sit on.

After doing all this, he opened the location tracker and saw that their position was very close to Sunxiao’s group.

Feiyan decided to head in the direction of Sunxiao’s group to take a look.

“Father, I’m going to go gather some more firewood.”

Qiao Yi nodded, only telling him to be careful.

Carrying the sleeping tiger cub on his back, Feiyan walked into the forest.

Under the moonlight, the forest was thick with shadows. Feiyan carefully made his way forward, trying to get his bearings.

Meanwhile, Sunxiao, who had been watching the tracker, frowned as he saw Feiyan’s moving position.

“What is Feiyan doing heading toward the river?”

‘If he saw our location and was trying to find us, he should be heading toward the foot of the mountain.’

Sunxuan’s serpentine pupils darkened.