"Wenyan, what's the story with the Wind Demon Kirin Shen Yufeng rides? Could we get one?" Su Jin asked as he drove the RV over the rough ground.
"It's a rare beast tamed from one of the fiercest kinds," Du Wenyan said. "Tanyu Temple supposedly found a cub by chance and raised it from infancy. Once grown, it could never be tamed. That's the only one in Suyuan."
"All the other flying rare beasts belong to Tanyu Temple too, and there are only a dozen or so."
"So they use them to travel up and down Tanyu Mountain?"
"Yes. They're only good as flying mounts. The court once tried to train them for battle, but they're terrified of the Demon Spring. They won't go near it; some simply turn and run. Even against people, they're too wild and soon go out of control."
"Shame. A flying mount would make the trip faster and safer."
"If you got one, would you dare ride it?" Du Wenyan asked.
Su Jin laughed. "You're right. I wouldn't."
An entire world depended on him. He couldn't take an unnecessary risk.
"What about other mounts?"
"People in our position can only buy ordinary horses. On roads like these, they'd be slower than your vehicle. The court controls all the rare beasts."
"I see."
"Brother Wu, there's something I'd like to ask, if you don't mind," Du Wenyan said hesitantly.
"Go ahead."
"Your sister was a Suzai too. What happened to her...?"
Su Jin hit the brakes. He opened his mouth, then shut his eyes. "My... my sister. If I hadn't met you, I might have forgotten all about it."
"But you haven't. I can tell," Du Wenyan said gravely.
Su Jin took a deep breath, sniffed, and turned his face away.
After a few seconds, he covered his mouth and waved her off. "Don't ask... Please don't. This looks like a good place to stop. I'm tired."
"All right." Du Wenyan patted his shoulder twice and went into the living area.
Su Jin breathed out, composed his face, and followed her.
The two sisters sat at the table. Su Jin boiled water and made two bowls of instant noodles, adding some beef.
Two days had passed, and both sisters still looked weighed down.
Knowing the end of the world was coming felt like a boulder falling from above, pressing ever harder on their chests until the final day.
Su Jin knew the feeling well.
If they went without enough sleep or food, their minds wouldn't hold up when that day came.
No amount of mental preparation could withstand a brutal reality on its own.
He had had nobody to help him through it. The sisters, at least, had him to guide them.
Good food could take their minds off it, especially food supposedly given by an immortal.
Food in this world was coarse, and supplies were limited.
The first time he'd eaten at a restaurant, he hadn't found much worth eating.
Everything had been bland and short on oil. The cooking depended almost entirely on the ingredients.
As the noodles and beef softened in the hot water, he lifted the lids and the smell of meat and noodles filled the RV.
Braised beef noodles, with a rich red sheen on the broth.
Du Wenyan lifted a large, steaming piece of beef dripping with broth to her mouth.
At the first bite, she closed her eyes.
Yunlian reacted much the same way.
Su Jin smiled as they ate, then opened a brightly colored tin for himself.
A milky smell rose from the thin syrup inside.
Du Wenyan glanced over, then went back to her noodles.
Yunlian gathered her courage and asked, "Brother Wu, what are you eating?"
"Yunlian! Eat your own food!" Du Wenyan scolded.
"Don't be like that. If Yunlian wants some, let her have some. Your sister's like a sister to me." Su Jin scooped up a ball from the tin and offered it to her.
Neither sister had bathed yet, and Yunlian's little face was still dirty.
Some fourteen-year-olds on Earth looked almost grown. Yunlian must have gone badly underfed before Du Wenyan's fortunes improved.
She looked like a third-grader: sensible, timid, and hard not to feel sorry for.
"Thank you, Brother Wu!" Yunlian cried. She picked up the ball with her chopsticks and ate it.
Her little face immediately scrunched up.
She couldn't decide whether to swallow or spit it out.
At last she forced it down. "Bitter... and so cloying..."
Du Wenyan shot Su Jin a sideways look.
Su Jin laughed and gave her one too. "Try it."
The bitterness burst across Du Wenyan's tongue, followed by an almost unpleasantly intense sweetness.
"Brother Wu, what is this? It's rather..."
"It's good stuff. An Indian sweet dumpling," Su Jin said. "Another gift from the immortal. Made with milk, sugar, and oil."
These Indian sweets were among the most important provisions he'd stored for the apocalypse.
Milk was boiled down, rolled into balls, fried, and soaked in syrup.
Carbohydrates, protein, and fat all together: an excellent way to feed someone starving.
In an apocalypse: fullness plus one hundred, sanity minus ten, and worth fifty loaves of black bread.
It wasn't to his taste, but it was packed with calories.
He ate so much now that ordinary meals took too long.
A tin of these, followed by a few packets of compressed biscuits, would take care of a meal.
It was unpleasant, but when he thought of his effort to save the world, it became easier to bear.
Du Wenyan put down her chopsticks. "Brother Wu, you give us the good food and eat this yourself...?"
"We have different tastes. I don't mind it. I quite like it." Su Jin gestured toward her bowl. "Eat up. Don't worry about me."
Du Wenyan watched him, her gaze wavering.
It was plain he didn't like the sweet at all. He looked uncomfortable eating it.
He barely chewed before swallowing.
Du Wenyan said nothing. She picked up her chopsticks and bent over her noodles again.
Su Jin finished the tin in a few bites and returned to the driver's seat.
He studied the map while chewing a compressed biscuit.
The Wunian River was less than four hundred li away, but the roads were terrible.
Driving was harder and slower than he had expected.
On his own feet, he could have reached the destination in a little over twenty days, much faster than the RV.
But he had Yunlian and Du Wenyan with him, and they'd already passed two groups of pursuers on the road.
The court must have been hunting them hard. Even out in the wild, people on horseback had ridden by.
Better to take care and remain hidden in the RV.
Even allowing for delays, thirty days would be enough to reach Jiuzhao City.
They should reach the Wunian River in about two days.