“But in this desert, you can’t see the end. When will this finally be over?” Ha’er Bala was very helpless.

Chagan Bala squinted his eyes, looking at the dust swirling in the fierce wind, and couldn’t help feeling somewhat desperate.

Anyone, trekking continuously in such an environment without knowing where their future lay, not knowing when they could escape this desolation, would feel despair.

They had even wondered more than once – could they really never escape this desert? Would all their tribespeople be buried here?

Lu Heng walked to the cart and adjusted the scarf covering Qin Yining’s nose and mouth to block the sand. Looking at her long lashes that trembled like butterfly wings with each breath as she slept, looking at her thin, pale face, he couldn’t help feeling overcome with grief.

How could he save her?

Even if he couldn’t gain her affection, he absolutely didn’t want to watch her die before his eyes!

Lu Heng’s expression was too worried and sorrowful, making the others beside him feel sympathetic as well.

Having spent days and nights together, they had all become like family – companions who had shared life and death. Qin Yining could have originally escaped, but she had stayed here to share their hardships out of friendship. If they really had to watch her lose her life like this, everyone would feel guilty.

Especially those tribespeople who often interacted with Qin Yining and Lu Heng, like Uncle A’erhan and the Chagan Bala brothers – they could most clearly see Lu Heng’s feelings toward Qin Yining.

Now Qin Yining had fallen ill in such harsh conditions. But all of them were helpless. Even watching made them anxious, let alone Lu Heng, who had always harbored feelings for Qin Yining.

Everyone looked at each other, all feeling sympathetic.

The group continued forward against the sandstorm. Fortunately, until sunset, they didn’t encounter a sandstorm like yesterday’s.

Qin Yining slept hazily. When she woke up in confusion, she found herself inside a tent with a bright campfire burning. The ground was soft fine sand, and outside the triangular tent, whenever a strong wind blew, dust filled the sky and the tent fluttered loudly in the wind.

Qin Yining shivered all over from cold, even her teeth were chattering, but she had no strength to get up, not even the strength to lift her hand to wrap the blanket tighter around herself.

Lu Heng entered from outside the tent carrying a clay bowl. He immediately saw Qin Yining with her eyes half-open, face pale, trembling all over. His heart ached as he bent down and approached, crouching beside her: “You’re awake. How do you feel?”

Qin Yining managed to lift the corners of her lips in a smile. Her pale, cracked lips moved, but her painful, dry throat couldn’t make a sound.

Qin Yining tried to speak several times without success, her long lashes drooping in disappointment.

Lu Heng said gently: “Forgive me.”

He half-lifted the trembling Qin Yining, letting her rest against his arm while using his other hand to bring the rice soup to her lips.

“Drink some more. After eating and getting nutrition, your body will recover. This is hot and just the right temperature – drinking it will warm you up too.”

Qin Yining felt somewhat uncomfortable, but she was now as weak as a noodle. Moving slightly made her vision darken, so she had no energy to care about such things. She could only move her lips, silently saying “thank you,” then began to sip from the bowl in small mouthfuls.

Her face was white as paper, and the hair on her forehead was dampened by cold sweat, strands sticking to her temples and ears, making her already thin face look even smaller.

Lu Heng looked down at Qin Yining nestled in his arm, sipping rice soup in small mouthfuls, and his heart felt like it had been brushed with honey.

If not for Qin Yining’s trembling all over, looking so uncomfortable that anyone watching could feel how miserable she was, Lu Heng would have wished time could stop right here. Such peaceful moments with just the two of them keeping each other company – even throwing away fame and fortune would be worth it to Lu Heng.

The warm rice soup slid down her aching throat, flowing through her esophagus into her stomach. This warmth formed an extremely strong contrast with the bone-deep cold throughout her body, making her whole body shiver and tremble violently.

Lu Heng quickly set down the empty bowl and carefully took out a clean fine cotton handkerchief from his chest to wipe away the cold sweat on her face and neck.

Qin Yining tried to dodge slightly but had no strength to do so, finally closing her eyes and enduring it for now.

“How do you feel? Are you alright?” Lu Heng asked worriedly.

Qin Yining smiled bitterly. Her throat, moistened by the rice soup, made a hoarse, broken sound like sandpaper scraping, so quiet it was almost inaudible, like breathing into Lu Heng’s ear.

“I feel… not very good.”

The burning breath on his ear, a simple sentence that required a breath to finish, spoken so quietly it was barely audible like mosquito buzzing.

Lu Heng’s heart trembled hearing this, his eyes growing hot, almost bringing him to tears.

“Don’t worry. Our food and water are very sufficient. I also brought medicinal herbs. As long as you rest well and eat properly and take medicine, you’ll definitely get better.”

Qin Yining smiled wearily, nodding with difficulty, then shaking her head, saying intermittently: “You don’t need to… be so persistent. People… are meant to die anyway. Life and death are fate, no need to force it.”

Lu Heng felt great pain in his heart, as if it had torn open and something warm was flowing out, hurting so much he could barely breathe.

After a long while, he managed to calm himself and forced a smile, using the handkerchief to wipe away her cold sweat again.

“You’re right – everyone’s life and death are fated, but your fate definitely won’t end here. You’re someone blessed with good fortune. Your family and the Prince are all waiting for you to return. In the future, you’ll live days surrounded by children and grandchildren, living like idle clouds and wild cranes, never having to work so hard again. Those days aren’t far away, so you should have some confidence in yourself.”

Hearing this long string of comforting words from Lu Heng, Qin Yining heard but didn’t understand. Her head and ears were buzzing, and Lu Heng’s words became several chaotic voices overlapping together.

She only understood that Lu Heng must be comforting her.

So Qin Yining tiredly closed her eyes and softly said: “Thank you.” That thank you, Qin Yining felt she had said quite loudly, but to Lu Heng’s ears, it was almost inaudible.

For a moment, Lu Heng even wished he could take her away from the desert to find a doctor.

But as they traveled farther and farther, the path they had come by became increasingly unclear. By now, Lu Heng could barely distinguish which direction they had come from.

This was a death trap that would kill them in the desert!

Lu Heng also took off his cotton robe, tightly embracing the already sleeping Qin Yining, then covered both of them with blankets and the cotton robe.

Qin Yining’s cheeks and hands were cold as ice blocks. Even though she had fallen unconscious, her whole body still trembled uncontrollably.

Lu Heng first held her hands with one of his, trying to transfer his warmth to her. But after a long time, his own hands had been chilled by her body temperature, yet she was still terribly cold.

Lu Heng was worried beyond measure and now had no sleepiness at all.

He got up to stoke the campfire brighter, adjusted the tent lower, then lay down again holding Qin Yining in the position closest to the campfire. This time he directly placed both of Qin Yining’s hands inside his embrace, hugging her tightly with both arms, hoping his chest could warm her up.

Qin Yining wasn’t actually completely asleep. At this moment, she no longer knew where she was, unable to distinguish whether this was the mountain where she had lived as a child or the Prime Minister’s mansion she had returned to later.

She had a dream. She dreamed she had made mistakes and couldn’t learn the rules the nanny taught no matter what. The Old Dowager and Sun Shi wanted to punish her by making her kneel, and not only did they make her kneel, they also threw all her books into the pond.

She couldn’t bear it and jumped into the icy water in the depths of winter.

That water was truly so cold! Cold enough that her bone marrow seemed about to freeze, her fingers stiff with cold. But no matter how deep into the pond she went, she couldn’t catch up to her books.

The deeper she went, the colder it became.

Qin Yining felt she couldn’t hold on anymore and thought about giving up those books.

But when she turned around, she discovered the Qin mansion’s buildings had disappeared, and the people around had vanished too. She was in the cold, icy pond, wanting to climb out but unable to find the shore!

She was so frightened she almost cried, constantly saying: “Shouldn’t have come. Shouldn’t have come. Better to stay alone on the mountain – shouldn’t have returned.”

Lu Heng had originally been somewhat drowsy without paying attention, but half-asleep he heard someone murmuring nearby, only clearly hearing one sentence: “Shouldn’t have returned.”

Lu Heng was concerned about Qin Yining and had naturally carefully investigated news about her, so he knew how she had been switched as a child, how she was adopted outside, how she survived alone on the mountain, and how after being found she returned to the mansion and survived in the Qin residence.

So Qin Yining’s one sentence of sleep-talk immediately touched the soft spot in Lu Heng’s heart. Such a fragile and helpless person, yet with such strength inside.

Everything about Qin Yining was a bright spot in Lu Heng’s eyes, something that could be explored and treasured like a distant star in his heart.

But no matter how beautiful and brilliant a star, who knew when that starlight might suddenly fade and disappear.

Sometimes Lu Heng wished time could turn back.

If that were possible, he could find the young Qin Yining first, participate in her life without hesitation, help her, let her grow up without having to pick wild fruits and hunt for survival at such a young age, without living so hard.

Unfortunately, there were no “ifs” in the world. He was destined to have no chance of meeting her earliest. He seemed to be caught in fate’s gears – Qin Yining would meet Pang Xiao, they would love and cherish each other, this all seemed predetermined. He could only regret meeting her so late. If he didn’t want to lose her completely, he could only silently guard from the side.