Chapter 293: Extreme Cold, Tass Desert 3

"Yeah, he did mention wanting a Pallas’s cat. I remember he had a cat before, but it died later on."

’That cat must have been very important to Quincy,’ Evelyn thought. ’The first time we met, the reason he wanted to go home was that he was worried something would happen to his cat.’

Ronan Kendrick had promised to catch a Pallas’s cat for Quincy, and he was a man of his word. He leaped from the carriage and dashed toward a patch of shrubs. He had to catch it alive, so shooting was out of the question.

Ronan moved swiftly, snatching the Pallas’s cat before it could even react.

It was just a kitten. As Ronan carried it back, it looked around in terror.

Ronan walked up to Quincy’s carriage and handed him the Pallas’s cat. Quincy was completely stunned.

"You just suddenly ran off... just to catch this Pallas’s cat?"

Ronan’s expression was impatient. "You don’t want it?"

"I do, of course I do! Heh heh. I can’t believe you actually caught one for me. But it’s so tiny. Do you think I’ll be able to raise it?"

Ronan ignored him, handed over the cat, and walked away.

Quincy gazed at the little creature trembling in his palm, then began excitedly showing it off to everyone. Seeing this, Wyatt Vaughn ran over to Evelyn Ford to complain.

"Quincy only has eyes for that ugly little thing now. He’s not even talking to me anymore."

Evelyn glanced at Ronan, who rubbed his nose. "It has nothing to do with me."

Evelyn was amused. "Did Quincy catch that Pallas’s cat himself?"

"Well, I’m the one who caught it. He called me brother-in-law," Ronan said with an innocent look. He had called him his brother-in-law, after all. How could he not help? For that, he would’ve gone through hell or high water.

Evelyn hadn’t expected him to be so easily won over. Wyatt was also shocked; after all, in her mind, Ronan was such a cold and distant person. She never thought he had such an approachable side.

"Evelyn, how do you feed a Pallas’s cat? Do they eat leaves?" Quincy trotted over, cradling the kitten. When he saw Wyatt, he even held it up for her to see.

"Isn’t it cute?"

Wyatt could hardly bear to look at it and gave a half-hearted nod.

"Pallas’s cats are carnivores. If you feed it leaves, you might as well just let it go."

"It needs meat? Does it eat scorpions?"

Evelyn sighed in resignation. "Are you trying to poison it? We’re not short on meat right now, why would you feed it scorpions?"

"Then how has it survived on its own?"

"Mice, birds, and insects are all its prey," Evelyn said, stroking the kitten’s head.

"Have you named it yet?"

Quincy nodded. "I’ll call him Sprout. It suits his size perfectly, a little sprout."

Evelyn glanced at Mina. She couldn’t help but feel that Quincy was copying her.

After they left, Evelyn leaned against the inside of the carriage, her arms crossed as she stared at Ronan.

Ronan’s ears turned red under her gaze. "What is it?"

"Sometimes I think you’re too easy to please. Could someone just lure you away with a lollipop?"

Ronan: ???

Evelyn sighed to herself. ’No wonder he died such a miserable death in his past life.’

Sensing Evelyn’s mood dip, Ronan immediately began to self-reflect. ’Looks like I can’t do favors for other people anymore,’ he thought. ’Evelyn doesn’t like it!’

Deeper into the desert, the weather changed from clear to overcast. Howling winds carrying grit battered the carriages, forcing the convoy to a halt. The animals had their own ways of dealing with natural disasters; the sheep huddled together in a tight circle to avoid being swept away by the gales.

The Red Deer and elk would kneel on the ground, lowering their heads to prevent grit from getting into their eyes.

The carriages swayed from side to side in the gale. The wind whipped the grit into a giant vortex. Evelyn suspected there was quicksand nearby; otherwise, the frozen sand wouldn’t be getting kicked up so easily.

The sandstorm descended with a howl. The Mammoth suddenly grew agitated, pacing back and forth and letting out constant roars.

Grit battered relentlessly against the carriage, and the glass of the slide-open window was already completely obscured.

Ronan took out his whistle, using its sound to soothe the Mammoth and the herd of horses behind them. Half an hour went by, but the sandstorm showed no signs of stopping. A blanket of yellow sand completely obscured the sky. Occasionally, the cries of a few Snow Eagles could be heard piercing through the din.

An hour later, the noise outside finally died down, and the carriage stopped shaking. Ronan pushed the door open, dislodging a cascade of grit. Outside, a thirty-centimeter layer of grit had piled up on the wooden planks. The Mammoth’s head, body, and fur were all coated in a thick layer of sand.

"COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH..."

Coughing came from behind. Evelyn took out a worn-out cloth to sweep the grit away. The Mammoth’s coat needed to be cleaned off as well.

"Sandstorms in the desert are way scarier than the ones in the safe zones. That noise was like the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves. It was terrifying."

Everyone began climbing out of their carriages. Dust still hung in the air. A gust of wind blew from nearby, making everyone shiver from the biting cold.

"It’s freezing! And here I thought the desert would be an easy ride. I didn’t expect it to be this dangerous," Miles Vaughn said with a sneeze. Even the snot that ran from his nose was full of grit.

"ACHOO, ACHOO..." Peter Owens also started sneezing uncontrollably. Miles quickly reminded him to put on a mask.

"There’s grit all over the carriages, and even in the branches and wood. We have to unload it and shake the grit off."

"Hold on," Evelyn said, quickly stopping them. "There are scorpions all over the ground, probably blown in by the sandstorm. Everyone, be careful."

Evelyn hurried back to the carriage for a jar and a pair of tongs. Seeing so many scorpions made her a little excited. ’An unexpected windfall,’ she thought.

The others were not so thrilled. Terrified of getting sprayed with venom, they could only retreat back into the carriages.

Ronan also grabbed a jar and began collecting scorpions. The two of them spent an hour clearing the immediate area of all the venomous scorpions.

After dealing with the grit on the carriages, the convoy had to keep moving. It was now 4:30 PM, and they had not yet reached their sixty-kilometer goal for the day.

Besides, the weather was still bad, and everyone worried that a second sandstorm might be on its way.

The Mammoth ate some leaves before continuing to lead the way. Evelyn squeezed the venom from the scorpions’ stingers, collecting it all in a jar. Then she took the dead scorpions, roasted them, ground them into a powder, and stored it in glass vials.

Fortunately, they didn’t encounter another sandstorm. At nine o’clock that night, the convoy stopped before a patch of snow. Wyatt and Wendy ran over, asking Evelyn to go to the bathroom with them and do some hunting on the side.

At night in the desert, many animals came out to forage. The last time, Wyatt had encountered a roe deer and had to watch it escape, which left her sulking for two days.

Seeing them armed with slingshots, daggers, and hemp rope, Evelyn almost burst out laughing.

"Wyatt, are you sure those weapons of yours can actually catch anything?"

Wyatt was confident. "I’ve hunted wild boar and even a moose before."

Evelyn gave her a thumbs-up. "Alright, tonight I’ll get to see you two hunt with slingshots."

Evelyn, meanwhile, took out her jar and went back to collecting scorpions.

But to her complete surprise, the two of them actually managed to catch two roe deer alive.