They noticed the land grow more and more barren over a rapid span of land. It was obvious that the road ahead was going to be worse than what they had previously experienced.
"We have to turn back. With two water skins and an obvious sign of a dessert coming up we won't be able to last. We have to go back to the last water source we found and find a way to store more water" Gu Zhi stated.
They hadn't taken the bladders of the last couple they killed because they though it would be redundant. With 2 water skins they had each and the amount of times they ran into water sources they surmised that it would be more than enough for the journey... they had miscalculated. They never thought that the journey would be longer than 2 months as previous tests blind sighted them. In most pilgrimage trials they had seen in the past, none were ever as long as this, this was concerning, as they were in new territory. If they didn't exercise caution they would die.
"You're right we have no idea how long the desert will stretch for. We need to either find more animals to make water skins out of, or set a trap for any couples we might encounter" Gu Xiao responded.
"If we set a trap for couples we might wait forever, we have no idea if they're any near us, and even less of an idea how many are left. Given the circumstances we will have to hunt for wild life".
That was easier said then done however. As they had not encounter any animals in their entire time here, they only knew they existed because the dried meat they had gotten previously was obviously not from a human, and the leather was for their water skins was made to recent. Whatever animal they had killed it will be hard for them to find another. Never the less they had little choice, going into the desert unprepared was suicide and trusting your luck thinking it wouldn't be a big desert was down right retarded.
"Let's go then, perhaps we will have to backtrack to look for more wildlife. We will have to move more in-land searching south, east and west. We can't split up and I don't care if we have to take months we can't go into that desert without food or water".
Without tree's they wouldn't have food, that meant not only did they have to stockpile water, but they had to stockpile food. Only finding more couples or wildlife would solve this problem.
"The desert stretches too wide, we can't go around it either, we could look for a way maybe, but I doubt it would be much better. I have a guess that the closer one gets to the palace the worse the terrain gets" Gu Zhi said.
"That would make sense and also line up with some of the past trials, it seems we have no choice but to backtrack" Gu Xiao said.
And thus they did, they backtracked their way looking for water, food, and stuff to hold and preserve the water and food.
After around 2 months of searching they encountered a deer's, a fox and one hare.
"It's still not enough. We need enough dried meat and water skins for at least one month... no two months of no resupply."
They stayed for another 3 months in the slightly barren forest before they were able to produce enough resources for their travel across the desert.
"6 months remain until the trial ends" a voice boomed through the sky.
"I didn't know there was a time limit" Gu Zhi said.
"Neither did I, it seems we're taking to long" Gu Xiao responded.
The information they had wasn't perfect, they didn't know everything about the palace of eternal love, it was completely normal to learn something new every time it opened up. That being said, they rushed their way north, making sure to complete the trial in time.
They eventually reached the desert after just 2 weeks of travel and promptly headed north through the desert. They knew it was probably going to be the hardest part of the trial so they prepared as such.
With smoldering heat from the sun, and nothing but blinding golden dunes for miles to see Gu Zhi and Gu Xiao treaded the desert. Carful to conserve energy they traveled slow even if it meant they might not make it to the palace in time. It was better to fail a trial then to be dead. Any fool that didn't take this seriously was either overconfident or an idiot.
Gu Zhi walked and walked as the sand spread out every time he walked. Marking their tracks for all to see, only for the wind to slowly cover them up. With sweat covering his body and with labored breathes they pressed on. How long have they been traveling, how long would it take to leave the desert, they didn't know, but what they did know, was giving up meant death, their was only forward, so forward they went.
'How long must this go on' Gu Zhi thought to himself.
It wasn't until they were starting to lose hope that they saw something different, something that inspired hope.
Out in the distance they saw tree's and and water, like a mirage they thought they were hallucinating until they grew closer and closer.
"It's an oasis!" Gu Zhi said with hope and joy.
"Quickly, we have to reach their before our supplies run out".
They made their way closer and closer to the oasis.