It was precisely because Yun Ge was now walking close to the cave wall that he soon realized the passage seemed to be turning downward, with some sections making rather sharp turns. This led Yun Ge to think that perhaps this tunnel might lead somewhere.

  What delighted him even more was that shortly after this thought crossed his mind, after following a sharp downward bend in the tunnel, he felt a bone-chilling gust of wind blow straight towards him.

  The wind was so penetrating that it instantly pierced through all of Yun Ge's defenses, freezing him so much that his teeth chattered and his gums trembled. However, despite the biting cold of the wind, Yun Ge still felt a surge of excitement within him.

  This was because not only did he feel the strong wind here, but he also noticed that the tunnel ahead was significantly brighter than before. All of this seemed to suggest that not far ahead in this tunnel, there might very well be an exit to leave this place!

  Seeing hope, Yun Ge couldn't help but quicken his pace and move forward. The oncoming wind grew even stronger, making him shiver uncontrollably. But even so, Yun Ge did not stop moving forward and was filled with curiosity about where the wind was coming from. As Yun Ge continued to advance, he gradually noticed that the originally damp cave was becoming dry.

  Not only did the soil in the cave seem to be frozen and gradually hardened, but even the surface of the creek beside him, which had noticeably widened, began to show signs of ice chips. These changes in the surroundings made Yun Ge extremely curious about what lay beyond the tunnel, prompting him to once again increase his speed.

  After walking for a while in the tunnel, which had clearly turned into permafrost with a layer of white frost on the surface, Yun Ge finally, after turning a sharp corner, saw light shining towards him from the distance. Yes, Yun Ge had reached the end of the tunnel and, as he had wished, found an exit large enough for two people to pass through on the other side of the tunnel.

  Yun Ge did not feel joy for having made the right guess. After walking for an unknown duration in a highly focused state, he was utterly exhausted. All he wanted now was to quickly leave this cold tunnel, return to the embrace of nature, and once again enjoy the pleasure of basking in the sunlight.

  Although the faint light created by the fireflies prevented the tunnel from being too dark, it was obviously no match for the strong natural light outside. So when Yun Ge first stepped out of the tunnel, he still couldn't help but squint his eyes due to the discomfort.

  After Yun Ge was sure his eyes could adjust to the brightness, he moved his hands away from his face and looked up to examine the scene before him. As a result, when Yun Ge saw the sight clearly, he was stunned speechless.

  This was because, after opening his eyes, Yun Ge first found himself on a cliff covered with thick snow. Then, looking down the cliff, he saw an vast forest blanketed in white snow. It was obvious that he had entered an entirely new and unknown forest. What surprised and delighted Yun Ge even more was that he actually discovered a path leading down the mountain on the side of the cliff where he was standing.

  Although the path, covered by the continuously falling snow, showed no signs of use, the stone slabs laid on it indicated that it was definitely man-made. This meant that there must be people living in this area.

  Since Yun Ge had entered here through this tunnel, he had reason to believe that this was a mysterious forest unknown to Candy Town. Thinking of this, driven by curiosity, Yun Ge cautiously began to move down the steep mountain path towards the cliff, entering the green forest covered in snow.

  As expected, after descending the cliff, Yun Ge found another forest path with clear signs of human construction. So, he continued to follow this path deeper into the forest.

  Of course, Yun Ge was extremely careful along the way. Firstly, because he was very unfamiliar with this forest and did not know what kind of beasts might be lurking here.

  Secondly, the thick snow on the ground made it impossible for him to know whether his next step would be on solid ground or if he would suddenly fall into a pit.

  Thirdly, he was afraid that the people who built the road might have set hunting traps along the way, so he had to first use the branch in his hand to probe the reality of the path ahead before he could confidently step forward.

  Although Yun Ge was walking very cautiously, since he did not encounter any threatening beasts along the way and the forest was not filled with dangerous fog, he soon relaxed.

  Of course, Yun Ge knew that he had not encountered any beasts likely because it was daytime. So he did not dare to delay and quickened his pace, striving to find a place to hide before nightfall to ensure he could safely get through the cold night.

  If Yun Ge could not find a place where other humans lived before dark, then the best choice for shelter would naturally be a cave. Because the temperature here was really too low, Yun Ge did not think he had the ability to endure such a cold night in a tree. Of course, although a cave was more conducive to surviving the icy snow night,

  Yun Ge also had to consider whether the caves in the forest were inhabited by beasts. If he rashly entered a cave where beasts were hiding, wouldn't that be like delivering dinner straight to the beasts' mouths?

  In addition to the above two points, Yun Ge now had another worry. Looking at the white woodland covered by snow around him, he couldn't help but sigh helplessly, "Alas! There's thick snow everywhere. How on earth am I supposed to know where there's a cave to hide in?"

  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

  Thinking of this, the sense of worry and crisis replaced the relief that Yun Ge had just felt. Fortunately, by judging the sunlight falling on the forest, Yun Ge thought it was still morning, and he had plenty of time to find a place to stay for the night. So, Yun Ge stopped worrying about his situation and quickened his pace again.

  Success favors the persistent, and Yun Ge was ultimately very fortunate to find a dilapidated wooden cabin by the side of the path. In the cabin, Yun Ge found a notebook, and through the diary-like entries in it, he learned that this small wooden cabin was actually a temporary shelter prepared for hunting trips.

  Yun Ge felt much more at ease, not only because he had incredibly found a place to hide before nightfall, but also because he could understand the content recorded in the notebook. This further indicated that there were people living here!

  He wondered if the people living here were also from Candy Town. But he had never heard of such an unknown forest covered in eternal snow beyond the borders of Candy Town. So, who on earth were they?

  Sigh! Regardless of whether the people living here were enemies or friends, he had to find them as soon as possible and ask for their help to return to the altar. If he delayed too long, he might really miss the chance to find out where Lily was! Yun Ge thought anxiously while watching the forest outside the window gradually darken after lighting the cabin's stove.

  The first night in this snowy forest was safe. Although the night was accompanied by howling winds and heavy snowfall, Yun Ge did not seem to hear any beast's howling. However, he soon discovered that in the nights of this forest, what was more terrifying than the frightening beasts was the low temperature in the deep night.

  Had it not been for Yun Ge's luck in finding this small wooden cabin and being able to keep a fire burning all night for warmth, he might have been frozen to death in this forest before the next morning!

  At the break of dawn the next day, Yun Ge woke up in a chill. The stove fire had gone out, causing the temperature inside the cabin to drop again. But Yun Ge didn't mind, as he had originally planned to stay here for just one night.

  Moreover, since Yun Ge had already found a cabin, as long as he continued to follow the path in the forest, he would surely find new places to stay. So, after simply tidying up and digging a passage in front of the doorway blocked by the night's heavy snow, Yun Ge set off to continue walking deeper into the forest.

  Because the snowfall last night was heavy, making the forest path extremely difficult to recognize and much harder to walk than the day before. Therefore, to ensure that he could at least find the next place to stay before nightfall, Yun Ge spent the entire morning striving to make progress and did not dare to stop and rest easily. It was also because of Yun Ge's relentless efforts that he finally found a three-way intersection at noon.

  Yun Ge was certain it was a three-way intersection because the path he had been following was suddenly blocked by a towering giant tree. Due to his work in honey collection, he was very familiar with the various markers set up by his colleagues in the forest.

  This allowed Yun Ge, upon seeing the giant tree at the end of the path and noticing a triangular symbol carved on its trunk, to immediately recognize it as one of the markers commonly used by the collection team.

  The meaning of this triangular symbol was: as long as you went around to the back of the giant tree, you could find a sign for a three-way intersection within ten meters.

  Strange, this was clearly the way the residents of Candy Town designed their trail markers! Could it be that there were indeed residents of Candy Town living here? Yun Ge thought as he walked around to the back of the big tree, and soon he found a familiar marker on the trunk of a relatively thinner tree about ten meters away from the giant tree.

  It was a cross-shaped marker. The vertical line of the marker was facing the direction of the giant tree, and on this vertical line was an additional pattern composed of two opposite arcs. Yun Ge knew this pattern represented the towering giant tree dozens of meters away.

  In the direction pointed by the slanting downward vertical line of the cross marker, and in the directions pointed by the two ends of the horizontal line of the cross marker, about twenty meters away, one could find the starting points of three relatively hidden paths.

  In addition to being able to determine the exact directions of the three paths through this cross-shaped marker, Yun Ge could also determine what areas these three paths led to by distinguishing the circular and wavy patterns carved on the left, right, and bottom of the cross-shaped marker.

  To put it simply, the wavy lines carved on the left and bottom of the cross-shaped marker indicated that these two paths led to the collection area. While the side with the circular pattern, the right side, indicated that that path was the way home.

  After determining the direction indicated by the cross-shaped marker, Yun Ge naturally chose to go to the right without hesitation. Relying on his experience,

  Yun Ge quickly found a hidden path paved with stone slabs in the snow about twenty meters away from the cross-shaped marker. So, Yun Ge immediately bucked up, carefully checking for any traps in the snow ahead while moving forward along the path as quickly as possible.

  After striving to move forward for an unknown period of time, Yun Ge finally saw a stone embedded in the trunk of a tree he passed by.

  Upon discovering this stone, which was clearly man-made and embedded in the tree trunk, Yun Ge's heart was immediately filled with hope. Because this stone indicated that there was a town about five hundred meters ahead in the direction of its more prominent side, which was the correct direction to the town.

  Seeing this, Yun Ge immediately left the path and walked towards the forest in the direction indicated by the stone. After walking for more than ten minutes in the snow-covered jungle, he found another tree with a circular pattern carved on it. Then, under the tree directly opposite the circular pattern, Yun Ge discovered a path paved with a single row of stone slabs.

  While clearing the snow on the path, Yun Ge continued to move forward. After walking for a while, he came to a small hill covered with thick snow. Yun Ge first climbed to the halfway point along the path, then followed the winding route to the other side of the hill. And at this moment, Yun Ge also joyfully saw white steam rising from the mountains not far away.

  Finally found them! Seeing this, Yun Ge immediately shook off his fatigue and hunger and quickened his pace towards the direction of the rising smoke. Then, in the sheltered mountain recess behind the hill, Yun Ge saw a group of caves carved along the mountain. These caves were very primitive, but with the addition of wooden doors and windows and the clothes and food dried outside the doors, they still exuded a strong sense of life.

  As Yun Ge approached, he also saw two women cleaning the snow on the corridor outside the caves. Fortunately, these caves were built in a recessed part of the hill, and the protruding part of the mountain surface just happened to become the roof of these caves, cleverly blocking the heavy snow from last night outside.

  Therefore, at this moment, the two women only needed to sweep the snow that had fallen on the outer side of the cave corridor into the relatively flat open space below the circular hillside.