It was currently summer in Sedona City, but on the other side of the Forbidden Mountains, it was a world of ice and snow; as far as the eye could see, it was a vast expanse of white.
Whoosh... The freezing wind raged.
At this moment, a group of people was advancing across the snowy ground. Behind them were simple sleds made of various-sized logs, loaded with supplies.
This was a squad of beastkin knights, but they weren't wearing armor. Everyone was clad in thick animal skin coats and boots, bundled up tightly with only their eyes exposed. Their hands were also wrapped in linen strips to prevent frostbite. In this kind of weather, if you took a piss out in the wild, the urine would freeze before it even hit the ground.
"Lord Rex, we have about half a day left before we reach the Rocky Mountains," A horse beastkin said.
"Then pick up the pace. We are a day later than originally planned. Lady Nina and the others probably don't have much food left." Rex frowned as he looked at the cargo behind him.
Rex was the captain of this transport team. He was a dog beastkin around twenty-five years old, specifically tasked with delivering food to the beastkin knights stationed in the Rocky Mountains, while simultaneously preventing anyone from entering them.
They had all received orders from the old King of the Valtoria Kingdom to stay in the Rocky Mountains and guard the treasure, waiting for the Eldest Princess and the others to come and claim it.
Initially, there were around two hundred people, but many slowly starved to death. Now, only twenty or so remained holding on.
Among them were Rex and his squad of twelve knights. They hunted in the Forbidden Mountains and served as the transport team. The Rocky Mountains weren't close to the Forbidden Mountains; searching for prey and hunting between the two locations took a whole month.
Every round trip, they had to transport the beasts they hunted, the wild fruits they gathered, and firewood used for campfires to keep warm. The beasts had to be made into jerky before being brought back to the Rocky Mountains.
Hunting was truly quite difficult. If the meat from the hunted beasts wasn't turned into jerky, it would easily spoil during the hunting period in the Forbidden Mountains.
Every time they came out, they would bring these small sleds behind them to transport a half-month's supply of food and firewood to sustain the beastkin in the Rocky Mountains.
"Those in the back, speed up! We're already a day late!" Rex shouted at the top of his lungs, turning to look at the cargo behind him with a bit of anxiety.
If calculated based on normal travel without pulling cargo, the average time from the Forbidden Mountains to the Rocky Mountains would be a few days shorter. But that was under good weather conditions; if they encountered a blizzard, the time would double.
It was no wonder Rex was so anxious. The remaining beastkin in the Rocky Mountains were all waiting for the food from this transport run. They hadn't transported much food last time, not to mention their return had been delayed this time.
If they hadn't encountered a blizzard that lasted for a whole day on the road, they would have already reached the Rocky Mountains.
Rex's team walked for half a day. From a distance, they saw an incredibly tall mountain. The entire mountain was covered in ice and snow, without a single sign of life to be seen.
"Lord Rex, we're almost there!" A beastkin knight shouted loudly.
"Yeah. When we go up the slope later, be careful not to let the cargo roll down," Rex said in a deep voice, a trace of worry flashing in his eyes.
"Yes," Everyone replied.
After advancing for another few hours, they arrived at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. They looked up at the slope before them. They had walked this path many times, but a few previous accidents had made Rex force himself to be extremely careful.
A winding slope led straight to the mountainside of the Rocky Mountains. Although the distance didn't look very far, it was completely covered in ice and snow. Coupled with its numerous twists and turns, it was highly dangerous.
The previous accidents were all due to the path being too slippery, causing their cargo to slide down and resulting in the loss of quite a few people.
"Heave, ho..."
Rex and a few others pulled the cargo from the front, while several beastkin knights on the sides and back pushed upwards with extra force. Everyone was incredibly cautious.
They didn't want these goods to fall; this was food they had spent several days hunting for.
Pant, pant... pant, pant...
Everyone squatted on the ground, panting heavily. Every time they pulled the sleds up a section of the slope, their hearts were in their throats.
"Let's go, let's head inside. The cave is right in front of us," Rex waved his hand, signaling them to get up.
Everyone quickly scrambled to their feet. Looking at the five-meter-wide cave entrance before them, they felt inexplicably excited. They had finally made it back safely once again.
They hurriedly pulled the cargo and walked into the cave entrance.
"Lord Rex, you've returned!" The sentry beastkin knights standing on both sides inside the entrance shouted happily.
"Yeah, we were delayed for a day on the road. Is there any food left in the cave?" Rex asked, letting the people behind him pull the cargo in first.
"No, the food was just finished. You came back right on time," The beastkin knight said excitedly.
Rex patted both of their shoulders and walked inside. Seeing the spacious cave, there were only a few faint sparks left on the campfire, with several beastkin huddling tightly together nearby for warmth.
"Lady Nina, we have returned. There were no casualties this time," Rex said with a trace of relief, looking toward a standing female beastkin.
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