After the Beaked Eagle landed, Qin Ziwen first removed the phone from near its neck and handed it to his brother,

then squatted down to check the Beaked Eagle’s body.

After confirming it wasn’t injured, he ruffled the feathers on its head.

The Beaked Eagle turned its head, looking in the direction where the flock of Winged Dragons had flown off.

Qin Ziwu said, "Bro, this doesn’t look good. I can’t see any sign of water in the video yet, but several spots are blocked."

"Let me see."

[Image: Gobi Desert]

He took the phone from his brother. The video showed a desolate expanse of the Gobi Desert covered in rubble, with occasional patches of greenish-yellow dotting the ground.

The place where their Gated Community was located was very conspicuous, right on the edge of a plain.

The square outer walls of the Gated Community, plus the school building to its north, looked completely out of place in the footage, unlike the architecture of this era.

To the east of the Gated Community was a winding Gobi mountain ridge running from north to south. It wasn’t high, but it stretched wide. The ridge was riddled with scattered gaps that broke the once-continuous range into fragmented sections, containing a few small ravines.

Within the mountain ridge, many areas were shrouded in shadow, and the great distance made them difficult to see clearly.

To the west of this small plain were several steep, isolated mountains interspersed with tall rock pillars. Many Winged Dragons nested on the plateaus at their peaks, looking like insects crawling on the clifftops from a distance.

To the south, the vegetation was relatively lush—the direction with the most greenery in the video.

Farther south, there was a Great Rift Valley that generally ran from east to west.

The reason for saying "generally" was that many parts of the Gobi Desert weren’t straight but S-shaped, as if they had once been carved out by flowing water.

To the north, the terrain grew flatter. However, looking from the rooftop, one could see cliffs and mountain ranges in the far north, but they were too distant to be captured in the phone’s aerial footage.

Qin Ziwen mused, "There are ravines to the east and south. In a Gobi Desert this hot, it’s almost impossible for water to be on the surface. But there might be water in those ravines. If there’s a groundwater or surface water source that isn’t too far from us, that would be a good thing."

"Bro, if it’s only for a month, we should have enough water."

Qin Ziwen said, "We’re not just looking for a water source to drink. Water attracts animals, and animals attract predators. That’s how we’ll be able to complete our hunts."

Qin Ziwu stroked his chin, struck by a flash of inspiration. "If water attracts animals, then if we put out a bunch of water on the ground, couldn’t we just lure prey right to us?"

Deng Guang said, "But the Gobi terrain absorbs water easily."

Qin Ziwu held up a finger. "We can lay down a layer of waterproof material on the bottom!"

"You’re a real genius."

Qin Ziwen pressed pause and selected slow-motion playback.

He noticed a group of animals gathering at the edge of the southern Great Rift Valley. They were too far away; he could only make out that they were light-yellow creatures, similar in color to the surrounding arid Gobi.

When he zoomed in, the image was too blurry to make out any specific features.

He turned his head to look south. The Great Rift Valley was about two or three kilometers away.

He looked back down at the video, trying to see if he could find the altar in the footage.

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the fire escape behind the rooftop access.

"Captain," Wang Yun panted.

"What’s wrong? You’ve seemed distracted ever since you came upstairs." Qin Ziwen had noticed Wang Yun being out of it all morning; he had even hurried back downstairs for a bit just now.

"Captain, this is the Card I got. I ranked 13th this time." Wang Yun pulled out a light pink Card.

He took it from Wang Yun’s hand. [Healing Card] External Injury Healing Card (Small).

Wang Yun said, "You can see its effects in Home. This Card can heal the user’s most severe external injury, but it has a side effect: the user’s physical attributes are halved for twenty-four hours, and it can only be used by the owner."

’So there are even Cards that can heal injuries.’ Qin Ziwen was a little surprised, but the side effect was quite severe.

Just the fact that physical attributes were halved for twenty-four hours meant it couldn’t be used during a fight. It was only suitable for life-saving measures after a battle had ended.

Wang Yun lowered his head and said bitterly, "But it’s useless for me. Xiao Yi is in critical condition. I thought that since there are cards for external injuries, there must be ones for internal injuries too. I want to trade this Card for one that can heal her."

"Didn’t Dr. Qian go see her last time? I thought she was getting better," Qin Ziwen said in a low voice.

Wang Yun shook his head. "She was a little better then, but her condition has suddenly relapsed and worsened in the last two days."

"I’ll go ask around for you," Qin Ziwen mused.

He then went to the Alliance Association to find Zou Jianghe. After hearing the reason for his visit, Zou Jianghe readily agreed to help. But after asking around, no one had a similar card. Zou Jianghe offered to buy the Healing Card at a high price, but the offer was politely declined.

Then, Qin Ziwen took Wang Yun over to the school building.

Fortunately, someone there had obtained a [Healing Card] Internal Injury Healing Card (Small). Qin Ziwen offered to add something to the trade to make up the difference in value, but Luo Gang refused.

He believed the two Cards were of equal value. Although the Internal Injury Healing Card had broader effects—capable of treating internal illnesses caused by viruses, bacteria, or toxins—the External Injury Healing Card was not of low value either. The scope of "external injury" was quite broad, including things like ruptured organs, broken bones, and severed limbs.

After the trade was completed, Wang Yun hurried away with the Card.

Qin Ziwen was about to leave when Luo Gang stopped him. "Since you’re already here, why not stay a little longer?"

After a moment’s hesitation, Qin Ziwen stayed. As it happened, he also wanted to talk with them.

...

In the school building, as night fell, the stars dotted the sky.

Listening to his roommates’ snores, teeth-grinding, and sleep-talking.

Cao Biansheng turned over. Experiencing the transmigration while fully conscious for the first time today had left him somewhat agitated. Combined with the demonic symphony from his roommates, sleep became even more elusive.

He slipped out of his warm bedroll, tiptoeing to avoid the heads of the others.

He walked out cautiously.

This was a lecture hall that had been converted into a dormitory.

The doors and windows were tightly shut, the windows covered with thick wooden planks, leaving only small gaps for ventilation.

The room was filled with men sleeping on the floor. There were forty or fifty of them, their bedrolls packed close together.

The smell was strong, but you got used to it after a while.

Out in the hallway, a cool breeze blew against his face.

Cao Biansheng breathed in the fresh air, then turned his head and saw Old Luo standing nearby, hands in his pockets, gazing up at the sky.

’Tch, a guy his age still trying to look cool.’

’There are only two of them here. Who’s he putting on a show for?’

He walked up behind Luo Gang and clapped him on the shoulder. "Hey!"

Old Luo turned his head and glanced at Cao Biansheng. "So young and already suffering from insomnia?"

Cao Biansheng sighed. "Can’t sleep. Probably because we’re in a new place. I feel on edge. What about you?"

"Keeping watch for a while," Luo Gang said softly, but Cao Biansheng could tell he wasn’t being entirely truthful.

Cao Biansheng gave him a light nudge with his elbow. "Thinking about your wife?"

"You should call her ’Master’s wife’." Luo Gang was silent for a moment, then smiled. "I guess so."

"If you are, you are. If you aren’t, you aren’t. What’s with this ’I guess so’? It’s understandable, though. I often hear that fat guy in the next bunk crying secretly under his blanket at night."

Luo Gang shot back, "What about you? You don’t miss them?"

"My parents divorced a long time ago. They both have their own new families. If I’m gone, they’ll probably breathe a sigh of relief." Cao Biansheng said nonchalantly. "Ah, let’s not talk about that. Old Luo, what did you and that Qin Ziwen guy talk about this afternoon?"

Luo Gang chuckled. "Nothing much. We just exchanged information about what happened to each of our groups after we transmigrated."

Cao Biansheng immediately lost interest. "Hey, Old Luo, you’re knowledgeable. You think we could take down something like a Tyrannosaurs, you know, with sheer numbers?"

"Of course we can. As long as it’s a carbon-based lifeform, there’s nothing that can’t be killed. The Blue Whale is big enough, right? The largest creature ever discovered on Earth, and it was still nearly hunted to extinction."

"Oh? Then tell me about the animals on the Hunting Celestial List. You know, ’know thy enemy and know thyself, and in a hundred battles you’ll find peril.’"

"It’s ’a hundred battles without peril’!" Luo Gang corrected. "Actually, even the Level 1 challenge targets on the Hunting Celestial List aren’t as simple as you think."

"Let’s take an example. The top-ranked creature in the Level 1 Tasks is the Giant Hyena. It was active in the Miocene epoch and was an apex predator of its time. Its size was comparable to a tiger, and it was known as ’Hell’s Fang’. Its carnassial teeth are like shears. If you’re going to fight it, you have to be careful of its teeth. There’s a picture of it on the Celestial Ladder List; you should be able to see it.

Of course, I’m talking about the size estimated from Giant Hyena fossils. In reality, here, many of the animals are a bit larger than their original versions, so..."

"Old Luo, I think I see living Giant Hyenas," Cao Biansheng interrupted, staring intently at the ground below.

Under the cover of night, a pack of light-yellow Giant Hyenas was slinking forward, creeping in from the sandy terrain. They had approached without being noticed. In the moonlight, their crimson eyes glinted with cunning and cruelty.

...

...