Around midday, they stopped after four hours of walking. Han called it. "Rest. Hydrate. We move again in twenty minutes."
Everyone collapsed gratefully. Traveling through wilderness was harder than it looked. Uneven terrain. Constant alertness. Bodies not used to sustained marching.
Hunter sat on a fallen log. His legs ached despite Foundation Realm strength. His shoulder still throbbed from the alpha wound. Everything hurt in new and creative ways.
Qiu appeared with waterskins. "Hydrate or die. Those are your options."
"You're very motivational."
"I'm practical. Dead people don't pay debts." Qiu sat beside him, pulled out his ever-present ledger. "We're making good time. Fifteen miles by nightfall if we maintain pace. That puts us at the waystation in three days easily."
"Assuming nothing attacks us."
"Assuming nothing kills us," Qiu corrected. "Things will definitely attack us. This is spirit beast territory. The question is whether we survive."
