piratefiction Chapter 86 Outing in the Spring Breeze
Chapter 86 Outing in the Spring Breeze
Chapter 86 Outing in the Spring Breeze
The Universiade runs at an extremely fast speed, instantly turning the warm spring breeze into a fierce gust of wind.
The scraping sensation on everyone's bodies didn't cause any discomfort; instead, it brought a sense of exhilarating pleasure.
The maids' long hair was blown by the wind.
The magnificent skirt fluttered wildly, lace and ribbons danced in the air, like six colorful butterflies spreading their wings, blooming with vibrant colors in the wilderness.
This was their first time traveling outside their territory with Richard, and everything along the way was new and exciting to them.
Occasionally, an unknown little bird would be startled and fly across the sky, eliciting soft gasps from the maids.
Nicole, being the most lively, could no longer contain her excitement.
She pulled two thick hemp ropes from the wooden frame behind her and deftly tied them to the bodies of two hard-shelled flying insects, while tightly clutching the other end in her hand.
Then...
She actually picked up the hard-shelled flying insect and threw it forcefully into the air!
"Ugh~!"
"Fly!"
Because the flying insects travel at extremely high speeds, the airflow supports their bodies, allowing them to easily follow behind and fly steadily by simply spreading their wings.
Like two monster kites!
The two hard-shelled flying insects were probably experiencing this kind of treatment for the first time. After struggling for a few moments, they adjusted their shells and wings and enjoyed the baptism of the gale.
Nicole, clutching the two ropes, grinned from ear to ear, repeatedly shouting, "Fly higher! Fly higher!"
Celia originally wanted to scold her for being silly, but looking at the pure joy on the other's face, a hint of longing quietly emerged in her eyes.
She turned to look at Richard, and met his smiling gaze, which held no reproach, only indulgent acquiescence.
Celia felt a warmth in her heart.
After giving her a sweet smile, she turned around and shook Nicole's arm.
"Give me a rope, I want to play too!"
"for you."
Nicole readily handed her a rope.
"The one you're holding is called a small gray worm, and the one I'm holding is a big-headed worm."
Celia wrinkled her nose.
"Isn't this name incredibly perfunctory?"
"Then let's have a competition. If your little gray bug flies higher than my big-headed bug, you get to name it."
"Alright, let's have a competition!"
The two women held onto the rope, tugging at it every now and then, causing the beetle to rise and fall, making them laugh non-stop.
Martha and Susan, sitting on the side, leaned against each other quietly.
They didn't join in the frolicking; instead, they simultaneously stretched out their hands, letting the strong wind slip through their fingers and feeling the sensation of freedom.
Sunlight streamed through their fingertips, casting dappled orange-red shadows on the backs of their hands. The two women smiled at each other, their eyes filled with relaxed contentment.
Betty rested her chin on her hand, curiously gazing at the distant snow-capped mountains.
The morning sun gilded the mountain peaks with a golden edge, making them stand majestically, exuding a solemn and magnificent aura.
As she moved at high speed, the mountains seemed to shift, which made her slightly lost in thought.
Richard heard Celia and Nicole's cheerful chatter and saw Xueyue's smiling face in his arms, and was deeply moved.
In a daze.
He had a strange feeling of being back in high school, as if the women around him weren't maids serving him, but rather female classmates he'd been traveling with, indulging in such unrestrained ways.
So vibrant.
There are no barriers of identity, only pure joy.
Especially Nicole.
She had a voluptuous figure, and with her back to Richard, her pert peach-shaped buttocks swayed gently as she pulled the rope.
It reminded him of his English teacher from back then.
Tsk tsk...
Youth doesn't seem to have faded away yet...
Spring March 19st.
[Career Advancement] Loading progress 26%.
It would take three to four days to get from Qifeng to Luanshilin by horseback, and several hours by day trip.
The team, however, took a little over a day because Richard needed to stop from time to time to observe the specific conditions along the banks of the Zhouxue River.
In the end, they rested by the river for one night before continuing their journey the next day.
The wasteland along the way was still desolate and barren. They encountered two low-level monsters and one mid-level monster along the way. Richard had Dayun chase after them like rats to keep them from getting bored.
Around noon, the outline of the rocky forest finally came into clear view.
From a distance, the entire stone forest looks like a pile of stones that a giant had casually overturned, with strangely shaped boulders scattered all over the ground.
Judging from the cross-sections and arrangement details of these boulders, this area was once estimated to be a continuous mountain range, but for some unknown reason, it was broken into pieces.
Thinking of the adjacent Arctic Ocean, Richard secretly made a guess.
Perhaps at some point, the Arctic Ocean experienced a surge in water levels, with towering waves carrying iceberg fragments that relentlessly crashed against and crushed the coastal mountains.
Eventually, seawater mixed with mud washed across the wasteland, creating a mudflat that eventually formed the relatively flat Chiffon Wasteland we see today, clearly distinct from the Black Pine Forest.
The shattered rocks piled up in place and, after a long period of wind and sun exposure, eventually became the rocky forest we see today.
This also explains it.
Why is the right side of Chiffon Wasteland surrounded by continuous snow-capped mountains, while the left side is filled with barren hills and bald ridges, making this area the only messy one?
It is estimated that the force of the seawater impact gradually weakened from left to right, leaving behind this staggered landform.
of course.
This is just Richard's random guess when he had nothing better to do. Ancient events have long been lost in the river of time, and their truth or falsehood cannot be verified.
but...
The good news is that Chiffon Wasteland is significantly higher than Rock Forest, and there are even gentle slopes at the junction.
The overall drop is over ten meters. When the Zhouxue River reaches this point, it directly scatters into several branches that rush towards the surrounding rocky forest.
In this way...
There's no need to worry too much about the seawater from the Zhouxue River flowing back into the area. Even if it were to flood, the rocky forest would have to be filled first.
Moreover, with such a wide downstream area, the possibility of a sudden surge in water levels upstream is unlikely. This means there's no need to build flood control dikes, allowing us to focus on developing the riverside park.
Upon entering the heart of the Stone Forest, the temperature dropped noticeably by several degrees, and a faint salty, damp scent filled the air—the smell of the sea breeze from the icy sea passing through the cracks in the rocks.
Judging from the map loaded by the system, the entire stone forest is roughly rectangular, stretching across the northern part of the Chiffon Wasteland, like a natural barrier separating the wasteland from the Arctic Ocean.
If you walk to the left from the Stone Forest and cross more than 100 kilometers of barren mountains, you will reach the last habitat of the orcs.
—Cape region.
That place is as big as the entire North, and the area where it intersects with the Rock Forest is also in the far north, so there shouldn't be any orcs living nearby.
Guided by Xueyue, the team quickly found the old site where the Snow Rabbit tribe had lived.
Instead of building houses, they dug many shallow pits under some large rocks, which was quite convenient.
"We used to live here."
Xueyue took Richard's arm and strolled through their former home, telling him everything that had happened there.
"There are many kinds of fish in the near sea. Their flesh is particularly tender and their oil is very rich. It's just that they are not easy to catch when the wind and waves are big."
"There are also many shellfish in the crevices of the nearshore reefs, and we can also find seaweed and crabs when the tide goes out. These are all our food."
In the middle of the old campsite is a cleared area with many colorful seashells scattered on the ground, forming various patterns.
Some are simple circles, while others resemble the totems of the Snow Rabbit tribe, likely left behind by the Snow Rabbit children when they were playing.
There is a small tributary of the Zhouxue River nearby, with a small pine forest along its banks, though it has been completely cleared of trees.
No wonder the Snow Rabbit tribe eventually left the Rocky Forest and entered the human realm to survive.
Resources here are so scarce that even firewood is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. If we don't leave soon, we may be left to die.
Just a hundred meters from the old campsite lies the boundless Arctic Ocean, its deep blue waters meeting the drifting clouds on the horizon in a vast expanse.
Although it is late spring.
But on the distant horizon, some partially melted ice floes can still be seen rising and falling in the waves.
Xueyue pointed to the vast sea, her eyes filled with memories, and said softly, "The reason our clan migrated to the Chaotic Stone Forest is because it is barren and desolate, and even monsters can't find food here. It is relatively safe."