Zhou Leng took out a military shovel, cutting through the wild grass and dead branches in the direction pointed by the wild boar, climbing upward and observing the ground.
After walking for a few minutes, Zhou Leng shivered as he looked around with confusion.
The cold here was strange, not like the chill of winter, but a cold that pierced through to the bone.
He put on a jacket, slowly channeling True Qi, and continued forward.
Before long, Zhou Leng's breathing became heavy and he struggled to move.
It grew colder as he went on, and if his True Qi ran out...
Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
There were chaotic claw prints in the soil ahead.
Zhou Leng shouted loudly, "Huang! Huang!"
He listened carefully, but there was no sound of Huang.
After calling a few more times, Zhou Leng climbed in the direction of the claw prints.
He pushed aside trees and wild grass, and a crevice wide enough for two people appeared ahead, like a small cave.
On the soil in front of the crevice, dog paw prints were clearly visible.
A stronger cold emanated from the crevice.
Zhou Leng frowned.
He looked around, called out to Huang twice, hesitated for a few seconds, and then walked into the crevice.
Just a few steps in, it was dark and damp. A few more steps, and Zhou Leng suddenly collided with a layer of water membrane.
Passing through the water membrane, the view before him opened up.
A dense forest blocked out the sky, with the ancient and desolate air of a primeval forest assaulting him.
The trees were so thick that it would take dozens of people to embrace them, and they were over twenty stories tall.
The trunks were like giant pillars, the leaves looked like pine needles from a distance, but up close, the needles were about the size of an adult's arm.
Zhou Leng's heart skipped a beat as he quickly realized that this was definitely not Rucheng, nor Ruge Mountain, but another world.
He took half a step back towards the crevice but looked towards the forest with unwillingness, searching the ground for clues.
There were clear impressions in the leaves ahead.
Following what might be signs left by Huang, he stepped towards the forest.
Zhou Leng circulated True Qi, lightly lifting and placing his steps, subtly employing the Eight Trigrams Step technique, constantly observing the surroundings.
After a few steps, the cold intensified, consuming even more True Qi.
If someone without True Qi were here, even wearing the thickest down jacket, they would freeze solid within three minutes.
Unsure how long he walked, Zhou Leng suddenly raised his hand.
Both hands were red with a purple tint, slightly swollen.
The toes of his left foot were numb and itchy.
Even in Antarctica or the Arctic, it couldn't possibly get this cold.
"Let's see what's further ahead, see what's further ahead, I've grown up, I can't always hide behind Huang..."
Zhou Leng took out a thermal blanket to cover his body, walking with sluggish steps through the forest.
His eyebrows slowly gathered white frost, his body gently trembled.
He circled around a colossal black tree which would take dozens to hug, his body swayed, and he reached out to steady himself against the trunk.
His legs were numb, his entire body stiff, and his hands had split open with flesh red wounds.
"Is this the end..."
Zhou Leng slowly lifted his head, gazing forward.
Through the gaps in the trees, he saw the end of the forest ahead.
Beyond the forest's edge was a meadow of white grass, and not far from it stood a massive white wall.
A robust, yellow-coated Chinese rural dog lay beneath the white wall.
"Huang..." Zhou Leng was overjoyed.
In the next moment, a thunderous roar sounded, myriad trees fell, the ground cracked, and endless darkness surged forth.
It was like seeing the stars collapse, heavenly rain falling, and the universe crashing towards him.
The world shattered.
He felt so insignificant.
Terror erupted.
In the midst of despair, only one feeling remained.
Death was imminent.
Dying wasn't so bad, not bad at all...
As the darkness surged forth, Zhou Leng vaguely saw Huang looking towards him, then standing up, raising its front paws, barking fiercely at the white frost wall.
Perhaps it was an illusion...
Splash… splash…
Zhou Leng dreamed of falling headfirst into a pond, and opening his eyes to see bright white light.
Huang's dog head hovered in front of him.
It stretched out its large, red tongue, licking Zhou Leng's face vigorously.
"Huang!" Zhou Leng reached out to hug Huang.
"Awoo awoo..." Huang acted as if mad, trying to burrow into Zhou Leng, kicking its legs wildly.
Every time they didn't see each other for long, Huang would act like this.
At this moment, Huang was like a rotating dog meat drill, impossible to hold onto.
"Alright, alright..." Zhou Leng said.
Huang suddenly darted away, running back and forth quickly, overly excited.
Huang paused, looked at Zhou Leng once more, barked again, then excitedly resumed running back and forth.
Like a little lunatic.
Zhou Leng stood up, brushing the dirt from his body, watching Huang, healthy and vigorous, with a heart at ease.
He had found him.
Zhou Leng suddenly observed Huang more closely.
Huang was an old dog, its coat dull and actions sluggish in recent years.
But now Huang was not only larger, its coat glossier than it was a few years ago, running as agilely as it did when young.
No, even more agile.
He closely inspected his own body, finding nothing unusual, even the frostbitten hands restored to whiteness, as if everything before was an illusion.
Looking around, on one side was the dense, needle-leafed forest, seemingly the place he came from.
On the other side... at first glance, it looked like a white wall, but with a curvature in the distance.
Zhou Leng looked up.
A super-sized gigantic tree stood before him.
The so-called white wall was the trunk of the tree.
This tree was entirely white, as if sculpted from frost, the trunk so wide it couldn't be seen in one glance, branches of enormous density.
On the branches were snowflake-shaped leaves of various sizes, some over ten meters long, others over a hundred meters long.
The tree occupied more space than the entire Xiaoru Village.
Its height surpassed Ruge Mountain.
The canopy stands like a mountain, majestic as the sky.
Zhou Leng observed all around; here, aside from... let's call it the Frost Giant Tree and the forest grassland, there's nothing else.
Not even the chirping of insects or birds.
Thoughts churned in his mind.
Zhou Leng lifted his hand, ready to signal Huang to leave, but then slowly put it down.
The True Qi within was almost depleted.
"Huang, guard me while I restore my True Qi, and then we'll go home."
"Woof!" Huang trotted over, sitting beside Zhou Leng, vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
Zhou Leng sat down cross-legged, employing the Mystic Tide Technique.
At the moment the Mystic Tide Technique began to work, Zhou Leng's eyelids twitched abruptly.
This run of True Qi was much faster than before and produced an indescribable sensation.
He felt like he had become a black hole, absorbing the surrounding power.
The sensation was incredibly comfortable, almost otherworldly.
An unprecedented delight.
After a quarter of an hour, Huang got up, wagging its tail as it approached Zhou Leng, sniffing him.
It grinned, its tail wagging rapidly.
Huang walked to the Frost Giant Tree, placed its two front paws on the trunk, stuck its tongue out, and squinted its eyes, revealing a fawning smile.
It stretched out its left paw, pointed at Zhou Leng, then retracted it, folded its paws together, and swayed back and forth, making a pleading gesture to the giant tree.
Nothing happened.
Huang whimpered, collapsed on the ground, curled up its front legs, revealing its white belly, and rolled at the tree root, much like a puppy begging its owner.
Still, nothing changed.
Huang suddenly sprang up, baring its teeth at the giant tree, then pointed at Zhou Leng and back at the tree, rolling its eyes, letting its tongue drape sideways out of its mouth, collapsing on the ground, its four legs twitching as if electrified.
Then, Huang got up, once again placing its front paws on the tree, showing the same fawning smile, its little rump and tail shaking frantically.
After a while, a breeze blew through, lightly swaying the snowflake-like leaves of the Frost Giant Tree.
A bit of white light drifted down from the snowflake leaves, slowly floating towards Zhou Leng and Huang.
A small portion fell on Huang, while the majority drifted onto Zhou Leng's head and vanished.
Huang made a delighted whimpering noise, rolling vigorously at the tree roots, then dashed off, running back and forth.
After running for a while, it stood upright, clasping its front paws together, swaying back and forth in reverence to the Frost Giant Tree.
Who knows how long had passed before Zhou Leng slowly opened his eyes, a look of disbelief on his face.
He glanced down at his abdomen; his stomach felt as if gripped by a fist, a strong hunger rising.
Suppressing the hunger, he closed his eyes again for introspection, observing the True Qi.
The Mystic Tide True Qi, unchanged for half a year, had broken through two layers from its original state of Minor Achievement First Layer Heaven.
Minor Achievement Third Layer Heaven.
Zhou Leng looked around.
Is this a Spirit Land Demon City?
But why was there no Spirit Land radiance as described in the books?
Zhou Leng rose, carefully examining his surroundings, clueless, thinking it might be the Otherworld?
Huang watched Zhou Leng happily, sitting on the ground with its tongue out, tail swaying, making a light slapping noise on the ground.
Zhou Leng thought for a moment, opened his backpack, took out compressed biscuits and sausages, and gave Huang a sausage and half a bottle of water.
He quickly ate all the food and drank the water he had brought.
The hunger did not diminish in the slightest.
This time, the hunger was stronger than before his previous promotion.
Huang lay on Zhou Leng, pulling at his hand with its right paw.
"Want more?"
Huang nodded vigorously.
"No more."
"Woo..." Huang barked angrily, circling the backpack, sniffing constantly but not using its paws to rummage through it.
Zhou Leng thought quietly.
"Let's go, home."
He glanced around, slung his mountain backpack, and strode towards the forest.
Huang looked back at the Frost Giant Tree, giving a soft bark.
"Woof woof..."
A gentle breeze blew, the snowflake leaves gently swaying, breathtakingly beautiful.
Zhou Leng looked at Huang in confusion, then at the Frost Giant Tree.
Huang hastily turned, wagging its tail hurriedly, dashing forward, leading the way for Zhou Leng.
Once more entering the forest, Zhou Leng's gaze wandered lightly.
This time, he felt no cold at all.
The trees on the path remained unchanged, and the ground was uncracked.
What he had seen before losing consciousness seemed more like an illusion.
Passing through the crevices, fog enveloping, Ruge Mountain appeared once more.
Still, there was no cold, instead a sense of stuffiness, prompting him to remove his windbreaker.
Zhou Leng stood there, pondering silently.
Finally, he sighed lightly.
"What if that unknown otherworld is a demon lair..."
As Zhou Leng hesitated, a vast white shadow of the Frost Giant Tree flashed in the depths of his eyes.
He blinked, perplexed.
"What was I thinking just now?"
Grumble...
Zhou Leng patted his stomach.
"Let's go, home!"
"Woof!" Huang responded loudly.
After a few steps, Zhou Leng took out his phone, finding no signal, and suddenly stopped.
Huang looked up, its watery eyes fixed on Zhou Leng.
On the phone screen, the time was displayed.
5:23.
July 8th.
He had entered in the evening and emerged at dawn, surprisingly spending the entire night in the mysterious forest of the unknown world.
Zhou Leng pondered for a moment, then patted Huang's head gently, heading down the mountain and returning to Xiaoru Village.
The mountain village was quiet in the morning, and the early-rising elders happily greeted Huang upon its return, Huang bouncing around with excitement.
With signal restored in the village, Zhou Leng sent a voice message to Li Linhan for reassurance.
"Hmm, come home for dinner," was all Li Linhan said in reply.