[Dragon Race][Kai Chu]Until the Day

plate.They were the only car on the empty road.

"Yes. Fairbanks is the closest city to the Arctic Circle. We will rest there temporarily and then make plans."

Chu Zihang flipped through the second-hand guidebook that he managed to get a few days ago.The cover reads, "If you are young, stay away from Alaska. Its beauty is greater than anywhere else in the world. Experience the most beautiful things early, and the rest of your life will be dull."

Caesar at first scoffed at the fluffy words.

…until he learned wild ice fishing from this book during his extremely boring trip two days ago…

Chu Zihang turned on the car radio and tuned it for a long time, but he still couldn't find the traffic broadcast, and all the frequency bands fell into silence.After reaching 60 degrees north latitude, the road conditions became more difficult. At the beginning of the journey, they encountered sporadic road robbers, but they were all cleaned up in a simple and neat manner; Occasionally, a huge moose peered at them from the dark pine forest.The road conditions will only get worse after the snow piles up. They have encountered several road interruptions and spent a lot of time and energy detouring the originally planned route.

Chu Zihang couldn't help feeling worried.They still have a few barrels of spare gasoline, and they have enough food and anti-cold items, but no one knows if there will be any accidents in the journey ahead.It is not a wise choice to approach the Arctic Circle in this winter season.Along the way, Caesar insisted on making some modifications to the off-road vehicle - when he was rushing to St. Louis, the night he huddled in the car made him miserable.Now the two seats in the front row have been added with a chair, and you can barely lie on your back with your feet shrunk; there are no seats in the back, and you can sleep on the cushions after packing up.

Chu Zihang continued to read the manual, and found that many towns along the route had been abandoned, and many maps were outdated.The icy rain outside is more dense, and there is a faint tendency to turn into heavy snow; the deserted road is lined with dark forests; gray clouds are flying above, and white snow-capped mountains are pressing down from all directions.He took out the postcards in the manual, spread them on his lap one by one, and turned on the reading light on his side.

Caesar turned the steering wheel, carefully walked around a subsidence road, and glanced at him at the same time, "Are you sure you want to find the place where these postcards were sent?"

"Yes. The place name has been erased, but the latitude and longitude will not change."

***

No. 12 days they have penetrated into the middle of Alaska.Several times during the period, the off-road vehicle left the main road and went deep into the deserted cols and snowfields along the mountain path; Caesar watched Chu Zihang turn over and study the stack of Heimdall's papers carefully, braving the cold wind and Yuxue walked in the field, but finally returned to the car with a disappointed expression.

"At least there's good fish." Caesar threw the freshly caught salmon onto the grill and sprinkled it with salt and black pepper.Chu Zihang finished his food in silence, and went back to the car to look at the map. If they couldn't find the next foothold before it got dark at six o'clock, they would probably have to sleep in the car tonight.

After hitting the road, the snow was a little lighter.The road conditions were very bad. They drove for a long time, and finally waited until a good sign appeared on the side of the road, pointing to an unknown village and town ahead.Caesar turned into the town along the signboard, and the tires were tied with snow chains on the path mixed with mud and snow, making several muddy ruts.

The sky began to darken, but fortunately the snow stopped.Caesar stepped on the brakes, and the off-road vehicle slowly stopped in front of a large collapsed forest. The branches were piled up, completely blocking the road.

Chu Zihang raised his head, "What's wrong?"

"There's no way." Caesar said softly, "And there's someone there. It's a child."

Chu Zihang raised his head and looked out the window. His eyesight was not as good as that of Caesar, and he finally saw a blurry figure, a small group, among the uneven trees.

Just in case, Caesar drove the off-road vehicle off the road and carefully parked it on a dry river beach.

"Go down and see?" he asked, grabbing his gun and hunting knife at the same time.

Chu Zihang lowered Caesar's muzzle, "I don't feel any hostility." Caesar put down the gun, but still stuffed the hunting knife into his bosom.Chu Zihang put on his winter coat, opened the car door, and jumped off the off-road vehicle.

The cold wind immediately greeted Chu Zihang's face, he pulled up his hat, and walked on the snow with deep feet and shallow feet.Caesar's movements are slower than his. The sentinel's senses are very sensitive, but the side effect is that he is afraid of the cold and heat. Every time he goes out into the wild, he wants to wrap himself like a bear.

The vague figure didn't move, just stood there quietly.

Chu Zihang crossed the obstacle and approached slowly until he could see the opponent clearly.It was a girl, about eleven or twelve years old, with a pair of light-colored eyes, and platinum-blonde hair that was braided into a single braid hanging behind her head, with a yellow plastic butterfly attached to the end of the braid.The girl watched him approach, stepped back slightly, and leaned against the tree trunk behind her, knocking off a small piece of snow dust.Chu Zihang captured the panic and vigilance in her heart; like a helpless little animal, it seemed that he couldn't make up his mind whether to call for help or run away.

"Hello." He was not very good at handling this situation, and touched his nose with his gloved right hand, "You...?"

The girl looked at him warily.

Caesar finally followed up from behind, his handsome face was tightly covered by the red scarf, only two blue eyes were exposed.Before Chu Zihang could react, the sentry squatted down in front of the girl very naturally, "Are you okay? Do you need help?"

The girl stared at him for a while, then uttered intermittent syllables: "I... I'm fascinated..." In desperation, she took off her dirty gloves and stuffed them into her pockets, and began gesticulating in the air with both hands.

Caesar was taken aback, and took off his gloves.

"She said she was lost." Caesar relayed the sign language content of the two to Chu Zihang.

"Lost in this kind of place?" Chu Zihang was a little dazed. In this kind of deep mountain and old forest, the bears have started to hibernate. Why would a girl get lost in this kind of place?

"She said she went out to find her friend, and then couldn't find her way back." Caesar frowned.

"What's her name?" Chu Zihang asked.

Caesar held the girl's hand and rolled up her cuffs. Someone used a needle and thread to embroider six letters crookedly on the inside, "Renata", with the logo of a certain shelter on the side.

"The refuge should be in the town we are going to." Caesar stood up and patted the snow foam on his knees.

Chu Zihang nodded, "She didn't lie, I don't feel anything wrong with her for the time being. Of course, it may be because my guide level is too low; or her acting skills are too good."

The girl gave Chu Zihang a wary look, and reached out to grab the corner of Caesar's sleeve.

"Obviously I like her more." Caesar laughed.

"Ask her if she knows how to get into the town." Chu Zihang looked up at the sky, only the distant horizon was left with a vague light in the whole sky.It's never a good idea to spend the night in the wild like this, and now they've picked up a lost girl.

"She said she marked the way when she came here, but she still couldn't find the way back." Caesar pointed to Chu Zihang, "There."

Chu Zihang nodded, a small coniferous tree, a branch close to the ground had been pulled by someone, and suddenly there was no snow.This is a common way of marking roads in snow.

"Why do you know sign language?" Chu Zihang asked.

"To talk to my mother," Caesar replied, "while she can see but not hear."

Suddenly hearing Caesar mention his mother again, Chu Zihang was startled.

"What should we do now?" Caesar himself didn't care.Renata was still holding on to his cuff, and she didn't seem to want to let go.

"I'm going to explore the road. The vegetation density in this forest is a bit high, and off-road vehicles can't get through it. If a girl can walk here, it means that the shelter is probably not far from here. You and her go back to the off-road vehicle and wait for me. If I If you don't come back, you can judge and take action according to the situation." Chu Zihang said.

"Be careful yourself, and use the signal flare in time." Caesar handed the hunting knife in his arms to Chu Zihang, and watched him turn and leave until the figure of the guide disappeared into the depths of the woods.

"Let's go." Caesar looked down at Renata, took off the scarf and wrapped it around the girl's face.The girl did not speak, but followed Caesar quietly, while the braided yellow plastic butterfly jumped up and down.

***

Caesar led the girl back, she seemed to be froze, her eyelashes were covered with fine ice, her cheeks were red from the cold, she couldn't keep up with Caesar's pace, and there was mist coming out of her mouth and nose .Caesar lifted her onto the off-road vehicle, turned the air-conditioning temperature to the highest, and then poured Renata a cup of hot chocolate—this is the advantage of going on the road with Chu Zihang, the guide will always have some unexpected and meticulous preparations.The girl took the chipped mug, sipped it in small sips, and looked at Caesar with probing eyes.

"Is it warmer?" Caesar asked.He has a natural affinity for the opposite sex, and his smile is sincere and bright without perfunctory, sweeping from eight to 80 years old.

Renata nodded blankly, the girl seemed to come alive after a cup of hot chocolate, and after a short period of uneasiness, she began to look around this small off-road vehicle curiously, like a small animal entering a new home.The pile of hooks, hooks, and chisels that Caesar used for ice fishing were thrown behind the driver's seat. The girl tilted her head and wrinkled her nose.

Caesar was quite proud of the new skills he had learned on the road, but unfortunately Chu Zihang was unmoved at all. Finally, when someone showed interest, he couldn't help showing off his pride, "I'll take you fishing ?”

girl unset