Relaxing times always fly by. As they set out again, Evelyn Ford felt a surprising sense of melancholy.

After enjoying a few peaceful days, even if it was just for two, she couldn’t help but crave more.

Inside the carriage, waves of heat radiated from the stove. Evelyn was looking over a map, and Ronan Kendrick sat beside her, staring.

"You’ve been staring at me for three hours. Have you reached a conclusion?"

’If he dares to say I’ve gotten fat, I’ll definitely kick him out.’

"I’m trying to figure out what I did wrong. You seem angry with me, but then again, you don’t. I’m trying to confirm it."

Evelyn was speechless.

"So, have you confirmed it?"

"Confirmed. You are angry. Evelyn, just tell me. What crime did I commit?"

He even looked rather eager to find out.

"You said I was fat."

Ronan froze for two seconds, then gave Evelyn a quick once-over before shaking his head firmly. "No, you’re not fat. Did I say that after I’d been drinking?"

"What do you think?"

Ronan scooted over to sit next to her. "Hit me. Hit me hard."

Evelyn didn’t move. Ronan pulled out a dagger. "Or how about you stab me?"

"Am I that cruel?"

Their eyes met. Ronan was the first to look away, then cleared his throat. "Just a little bit."

"Hold out your hand."

Ronan obediently held out his hand. Evelyn took it, pulled out the ruler she had made, and smacked his palm with it.

"That’s your punishment."

Ronan’s palm felt a little itchy, as if a feather had lightly tickled it.

"So, are you still angry?"

"I wasn’t angry. I just thought it was fun watching you walk on eggshells all day, so I was deliberately teasing you."

Ronan shut down.

After leaving the village, the road became much easier to travel. The weather started to improve, the days grew longer, and everything seemed to be heading in the right direction.

Four days later, the group left Eldoria and officially entered the territory of Khoros.

Unlike the endless grasslands they had imagined, this place had majestic mountain ranges, rugged mountain roads, and all sorts of dangerous wild beasts.

Kerosene torches were placed on both sides of the carriages to ward off beasts. They weren’t short on food, so no one wanted to hunt, and they certainly didn’t want to delay their journey.

Since learning how to handle reindeer from Fred Rowe, Quincy and the others were now in charge of the sheep, red deer, and elk. The Mammoth still led the way at the front, clearing a path.

After traversing a long mountain range, the group arrived at the famous Stone Ridge.

As its name suggested, there was nothing but stone here, with no trees in sight. As far as the eye could see, rocks of all shapes and sizes were piled into mountains. Under the sunlight, the snow in the crevices between the rocks was so white it was reflective.

"So this is Stone Ridge, huh? Why isn’t there a single tree? Can the carriages even get through? It’s all rocks, how are we supposed to walk? At least there isn’t much snow, though."

Wyatt Vaughn shot Quincy a look. "We’ll probably have to get out and walk. I saw on the news once that Stone Ridge is all rock. You could dig three feet down and not find a handful of dirt. We’ll probably wreck a few wheels."

Evelyn took out her binoculars and saw that Stone Ridge seemed to stretch on endlessly. It looked like it would take several days to cross this area.

"We’ll have to get out and walk. There are no trees on Stone Ridge, so we need to cut some firewood and branches to take with us."

Evelyn put on her winter hat and gloves and opened the carriage door. A gust of frigid wind blew past, and she quickly shut her eyes.

The others got out of their carriages as well. After a brief discussion, they decided to make camp here for a day to gather enough firewood and branches before moving on.

The number of animals in their group was growing, and they consumed a lot of branches each day. Luckily, the path so far had been lined with low-lying shrubbery, which allowed everyone to rest their hands and let the animals forage for themselves.

Evelyn observed the terrain. Although it was all rock, it shouldn’t be a problem for the carriages to pass through. Before the apocalypse, Stone Ridge was a very popular destination for road-trippers, and it had even been developed into a scenic area. There ought to be a clear, unobstructed road somewhere.

’Still, we should prepare enough branches first.’ Taylor Vance stayed behind to start a fire and cook, while everyone else took their knives to chop firewood and cut branches.

Although there was no snow, the shrubs were covered in a thick layer of frost. After chopping them down, they had to be slammed against the ground a couple of times to knock it off.

The wind had been strange lately. Not only was it bone-chillingly cold, but it was also heavy with moisture.

After several hours of work, they carried the cut branches back to the campsite. To make them easier to transport, they had to be tied tightly with hemp rope.

"I just took a look up ahead and found a path. If we head down about two hundred meters, we’ll see a flat road."

After speaking, Taylor Vance took down the kettle and poured everyone some ginger soup.

Evelyn’s eyes lit up. ’So there really is a road.’

"Does that mean we don’t have to walk?"

Taylor Vance nodded. "The road is very flat. It was maintained before the apocalypse, so we can travel in the carriages."

After eating, everyone went out to cut more firewood. The red deer and a few of the larger argali sheep had to carry branches, and even the elk had to carry two bundles of firewood.

Back in the carriage, Evelyn took out food and water to feed Mina and the others.

"They should be able to come out and move around. Let’s let them out."

For a while now, the four little critters had been kept in their cage. Wendy’s snow rabbits had given birth to another litter, and the two adult rabbits had already been butchered.

"Squirrels are pretty cold-resistant, right? Back on the deserted island, didn’t they go out to play all the time? Let’s let them out."

Since Ronan had said so, Evelyn opened the cage. Mina looked at her mournfully, as if complaining about being locked up.

Evelyn picked her up and comforted her for a long time. The two birds had already flown out and were chirping nonstop. After eating some crushed rice, Mina and Blackie also ran out of the carriage.

It was getting late. After washing up, Evelyn studied the map for a little while longer before lying down to sleep. Once they were out of Khoros, their journey would be halfway over.

In the middle of the night, Peter Owens suddenly fell ill, giving Miles Vaughn and Donovan Irving a terrible fright. Evelyn heard the commotion and got up immediately.

"My stomach hurts so bad."

"What kind of pain is it? A gripping pain, a stabbing pain, or throbbing? Where exactly does it hurt?"

"My lower right abdomen. Right here. I can’t really describe it, it just hurts."

Peter Owens was curled up under his blanket, his face contorted in agony.

"Could it be acute appendicitis?" Officer Graham and Wendy had come over as well, and everyone was looking at Peter with concern.

"It is acute appendicitis. He needs surgery as soon as possible." After examining him, Evelyn confirmed the diagnosis. She had performed appendectomies before, so for her, the surgery was simple. However, it was too cold now, and she worried Peter’s body couldn’t handle the strain.

"Joy Ford, please, help me. Do the surgery. My stomach really hurts so much."

"Don’t panic. I’m going back to get my medical kit. The rest of you should leave for now. The carriage needs to be sterilized."

Wyatt Vaughn pressed his palms together, repeatedly chanting, "Amitabha." The others sat by the fire, silent with tension.

Back in her own carriage, Evelyn immediately retrieved a medical kit and a surgical pack from her space.