CHAPTER 376: CHAPTER 21: ELOPEMENT (2)

Winter in Linlopes always meant snow, but that didn’t mean the entire northern region was snow-covered. In fact, only a section along the mountains would see snow. That was also the relatively affluent area in central Lunbak.

Leaving the mountains and heading north, the whole world changed.

If the south was considered fertile and Linlopes was considered barren, then the place Andrew and Christina were headed must be described as lifeless.

The yellowing land was filled with ravines, with dusty and wind-eroded rocks forming strange shapes everywhere. Scattered wild grasses, nearly every stalk was yellowed. Occasionally, one could see the bones of various large animals.

Water sources were not visible, and even the sky was a yellowish hue.

It was a land of death, its only difference from the desert maybe being that deserts had sand while here there were more rocks. Given some time, as the wind eroded the rocks into fine powder, this would become a new desert.

Having traveled over three hundred kilometers and camped out several nights, Andrew, who already looked old, had grown even more haggard.

Fortunately, when they left Linlopes, they bought two horses and a wagon. Otherwise, Andrew might’ve died halfway. After all, even during forced marches with Gray, he never experienced anything this grueling.

Or to be precise, he never faced such harsh conditions. The dry and cold winds had caused Andrew’s face to peel.

Luckily, Christina was a dragon; it was nothing to a dragon.

Every day, Christina happily sat beside Andrew watching him drive the wagon.

"Are you really not going to change your face back?"

"Uh... I’d like to. But we need water, a lot of water. Our current water barely suffices for drinking. We still have two horses to care for."

"So if we had water, you would change it back?"

"Yes, I would."

Christina nodded happily.

*Having come all this way, it seemed impossible for the Lich to track them.* Linlopes was in such chaos, Andrew couldn’t believe the liches could find any clues there. *Since that’s the case, no need to make himself suffer.*

*However, this journey was indeed deadly. Extremely deadly.*

*Though he had read about this place before, and even been warned by others, the reality was much scarier than Andrew had imagined.*

Almost no humans—the greatest evidence of how harsh the environment was. In a sense, humans were like fleas on the Keltos Continent. Given any place, they could thrive and quickly fill it. If a place couldn’t support even fleas... *Well, that said enough about how harsh the environment here was.*

Walking endlessly through the vast desert terrain, from start to finish, Andrew rarely saw a soul. The only exception being the outposts. These were places where the Lunbak Royal Family used to relay messages—just small huts with cracked walls from the wind, manned by two or three dusty soldiers. Nothing else.

It was fortunate there were outposts, or Andrew would have had no place to resupply food and water. Though Christina could turn into a dragon anytime and take him a thousand miles in an instant, Andrew still didn’t want to do that unless absolutely necessary.

On the one hand, a dragon was too conspicuous a target. On the other... he had boasted about taking care of her himself. *Turning around so quickly to let her take care of him—was that appropriate?*

Upon nightfall, Andrew set up the wagon behind a large rock to shield against the relentless wind of the wilderness. Then, he set up the tent and lit a campfire.

"Just two more days, two more days and we’ll be out of this desert, entering Udoven." By the campfire, Andrew explained to Christina in detail. "It isn’t great either, but at least it rains there. And it’s inhabited. I heard Lunbak has set up a special military town to oversee the surrounding tribes there. It might not be as nice as Linlopes, but it should still be decent."

"Are we going to move there?"

"Uh..." Andrew hesitated before answering, "No, I’m just telling you we’ll be there soon. There’s no food here, but there will be there."

"Are you afraid I’ll go hungry?" Christina asked.

"You haven’t eaten anything in days."

"Dragons can go for many days without eating. Some even go a year or two without food. We don’t need to eat like other races do."

"Alright..."

*Though she said so, Andrew was still a bit worried. After all, he had never seen Christina eat anything as a dragon, the sort of feast where she would eat a lot in one go.*

"Eloping" came with its inherent uncertainty. Vast lands with no clear direction. Andrew could only choose the safest route in his mind—heading where there were fewer people.

The fewer the people, the lower the chance of being found.

The downside, of course, was that life would become increasingly difficult. Fewer people usually meant fewer prey available. Various inconveniences would follow, like now. The once fair and beautiful Christina started to look dusty after days in the northern wind.