Lu Xi'an finally persuaded Yao Wei not to return to the previous forest to search for the pig bones they had left behind.
He explained to Yao Wei that making pig bone soup required a lot of time to boil at high temperatures, and since they were on the road, it would be a waste of the hard-earned firewood they'd collected, so it was best not to make pig bone soup.
——Collectible firewood was also a necessity for survival, so Yao Wei gathered some and stacked it in the corner of the trunk.
Earlier in the forest, if it hadn't been for the sudden cold air, she would have wanted to chop more firewood to replenish the supplies in the car.
Unfortunately, Yao Wei's barrel was open-topped. In the old world, roads would have been fine, but in this world, they were bumpy everywhere. If oil was carried in this, it would likely spill all over the place, making storage and transport unsuitable.
The car drove straight to the previous gas station. The sign on the canopy had only three characters left, "jia you zhan," with the rest missing. This was the third time Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei visited, yet they still didn't know the name of this gas station.
Yao Wei parked the car next to the intact pump. As before, the two humans and one dog first inspected the area to confirm there were no problems. Only then did Lu Xi'an instruct Gou to connect the pump's circuit to refuel.
Gou was previously powering the air conditioner from the back. Upon hearing Lu Xi'an's command, it didn't require him to unplug it manually. Some internal component worked, and it pushed out the air conditioner plug on its own.
This dog didn't even wait for Lu Xi'an to open the rear car door; it simply spun its wheels, sprang its legs, and leaped to the front passenger seat, then exited through the passenger-side door.
Then it rolled on the wheels on its four legs into the booth for inspection, not making a single sound.
"It's become more useful."
Lu Xi'an smiled, very pleased.
And Yao Wei, watching the dog hanging on the electric box, couldn't hide the envy in her eyes.
She, as usual, avoided waste, hurriedly filled the car up, and then let Lu Xi'an command the mechanical dog to disconnect from the power source.
"Okay, disconnect and get in the car."
Lu Xi'an then gave the mechanical dog an order. Gou disconnected the circuit, landed on the ground, its wheels spinning, it arrived beside Yao Wei's car.
Lu Xi'an watched with envy, thinking how effortlessly those wheels moved, wishing he had that kind of capability himself.
Gou and Lu Xi'an got into the car, and Yao Wei also put the fuel nozzle back, closed the tank cap, got into the car, and continued driving west.
Lu Xi'an originally planned for Gou to reconnect the air conditioner's power, but Yao Wei stopped him.
Yao Wei said, "Save some of that refrigerant for when it's cold."
Lu Xi'an replied, "Don't worry, heating doesn't use refrigerant."
When it's hot, opening the window is bearable, but when it's extremely cold, not having the air conditioner can indeed be fatal.
They passed the previous rest stop and drove for a long time until a large river suddenly blocked their path.
The river was over a hundred meters wide, with a slow flow, gently moving downstream.
Luckily, there was a bridge two lanes wide that could be crossed by car.
The asphalt road laid on the bridge was cracked, looking poorly maintained, causing some worry about whether the bridge could bear the weight of a car with two people.
Yet, Yao Wei was clearly not concerned about that. She twisted her waist, turned to the back, took out a telescope from her bag, and carefully looked over the bridge, the river, and the opposite bank to confirm their safety.
"A telescope? Good stuff!"
Lu Xi'an couldn't help but be a little envious seeing what Yao Wei had in front of her eyes.
He tried to contribute where he could, picking up the mechanical dog from beneath his feet and placing it on the front dashboard, instructing, "Gou, help us check if there's danger ahead."
Gou immediately swept its eyes forward; they scanned left, right, up, and down. Then it flashed its eyes at Lu Xi'an.
Lu Xi'an understood and told Yao Wei, "It's safe ahead."
Yao Wei put away the telescope and glanced at Lu Xi'an.
The car drove onto the bridge and, sure enough, encountered no danger.
Continuing forward, Lu Xi'an turned his head to the right and could see the trickling water below through the gaps in the bridge's railings. He asked Yao Wei, "Where are we going, heading west all this way?"
"To the south."
Yao Wei said, "The north is too cold to live in. Heading straight south is dangerous; going west is relatively safe."
Lu Xi'an thought of when Yao Wei said, "This isn't even the south yet."
"Is the south more suitable for living?"
He asked.
Yao Wei replied, "Better than the north."
Lu Xi'an inquired, "Then why did you come here?"
Yao Wei shook her head and said, "Someone else said it."
She paused and added, "Only those who can't compete would flee north to struggle on."
This sentence was much wordier than her earlier ones, but the information it encompassed was still overly concise.
Nevertheless, Lu Xi'an understood it —
Compared to this place, the south likely wouldn't have such volatile and extreme weather, making it more suitable for human survival, but the struggles there must also be intense.
Those who lose in the competition, unable to survive in the south, can only flee north, or be driven north, to this barren and harsh land, leaving their fate to the heavens.
"I'll find a relatively safe place to drop you off, don't worry."
As they finally finished this section of the bridge, Yao Wei said this to Lu Xi'an.
Lu Xi'an twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "Thank you."
He thought for a moment and then asked, "What about you? Where are you planning to go?"
Yao Wei said, "I have a map atlas in my backpack."
Lu Xi'an understood what she meant. He mimicked Yao Wei's movements and turned to the back to retrieve a pocket-sized book from her bag.
His movements weren't as supple and smooth as Yao Wei's, but they were still crisp and efficient. After taking the pocket atlas, he returned to the front passenger seat.
The cover of the pocket atlas seemed to depict a world map, with the words "World Map One" written prominently in large characters.
On the map, the world's landmasses seemed more concentrated, unlike the previous world, which was split into seven continents. At a glance, Lu Xi'an noted that this world seemed divided into four continents, one at each pole and two in the middle.
After sitting back in the front passenger seat, Lu Xi'an took another glance at the cover. Below the large characters "World Map One," there were smaller characters reading: New Practical Edition.
Upon opening it, he understood how it was newly practical —
The atlas divided chapters by regions and cities, detailing city roads and landmarks clearly, and gas stations as well. He examined it closely but noticed that this world's administrative division omitted the provincial level.
The area of a city, the larger ones, was as big as a province.
Still different from the previous world… not the previous world indeed!
Lu Xi'an sighed.
Through the index, he found Yubei City, Jiang Yu District, then saw several fueling landmarks, with three on the east already crossed out.
"Help me mark a check here."
Yao Wei suddenly pointed to the symbol for a gas station at the westernmost position on the map and said.