Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

After hearing their description, Gou An was very puzzled and couldn't help but ask, "This place is covered in snow all year round, where do you find medicinal herbs?"

"Fellow Daoist, you may not know this!" Liu Dayong explained, "There are seven to ten days each month when the snowy region is sunny. Although the snow is still there, it makes things much more convenient."

"Even so!" Gou An still asked curiously, "This place is so cold and harsh, why not head south and leave the snowy region? It's better than suffering from hunger and cold here all year round."

Upon hearing this, Liu Dayong sighed deeply, looking dejected.

After a long pause, he slowly said, "With our strength, trying to cross tens of thousands of miles to leave the extremely cold snowy region is no different from courting death!"

"Yes!" Pig Ninth nodded in agreement. "If you go too far, you're likely to get lost, and if you encounter a blizzard, you're doomed."

"And I heard..." Liu Dayong lowered his voice, "This snowy region where we live has been set up by the Demon King with a great formation. When he discovers that someone is trying to escape, the formation will be activated."

"If we accidentally stumble into the formation, with a slim chance of survival, how could we dare to run away?"

"So, the Demon King trapped you here so that you could gather spiritual herbs and medicines for him?" Gou An asked again.

"That's right!" Liu Dayong nodded: "The Demon King will give us different rewards, which are supplies for daily life, based on the quantity and quality of the spiritual herbs and medicines we hand over each time."

"Although we were struggling to make ends meet, we were still able to survive."

Upon hearing this, Gou An couldn't help but ask, "Do you want to leave? I can take you away."

Upon hearing this, Liu Dayong's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Do you have any ideas, friend?"

"Flying boat!" Gou An said, "We don't need to walk on the snowfield. We can directly ride the flying boat through the air and leave in a few days."

At this point, Gou An seemed to remember something and asked again, "Where is my flying boat?"

When questioned, Liu Dayong and Zhu Laojiu exchanged a glance, their expressions somewhat awkward.

Gou An noticed something was wrong and said, "I remember now, you guys said my flying boat was broken, right? It's okay, we should be able to fix it and it should still work."

Liu Dayong and Zhu Laojiu remained silent, turning their heads to look at the burning firewood under the iron pot.

"..." Gou An was silent for a moment, then asked with some surprise, "Could that be my flying boat?"

Liu Dayong and Zhu Laojiu turned around at the same time and nodded to Gou An.

Gou An slapped his forehead, feeling a terrible headache.

Without the flying boat, it won't be easy for me to get out!

I can only take off for short periods of time now; it's simply impossible for me to cross tens of thousands of miles of snowfields in one go.

If what Liu Dayong said is true, and there is indeed a magic array set up by the demon king to confuse them, then the difficulty is further increased.

"Fellow Daoist, you may not know this, but firewood is a scarce resource in our snowy region!" Liu Dayong quickly explained, "When I saw that you were frozen stiff, and there was no firewood in the cave at the moment, I had no choice but to resort to this measure."

"Furthermore, we've inspected it; the airship crashed into the snow-capped mountain and broke into several pieces. It's probably beyond repair..."

Gou An nodded, showing no blame.

A wrecked flying boat in exchange for one's life is a good deal.

"It's alright!" Gou An quickly calmed down. "Even without the flying boat, we can think of other ways. In any case, you saved my life, and helping you escape is my way of repaying that debt."

Just then, a rough man's voice suddenly came from outside the cave entrance.

"Liu Dayong, you fat pig, get out here."

Upon hearing the sound, Liu Dayong and Zhu Laojiu visibly tensed up.

As Liu Dayong stood up, he quietly introduced Gou An: "This is the Demon King's confidant; he's here to collect the goods."

"Goods?" Gou An asked, puzzled.

"It's the spiritual herbs and medicines I just told you about, the ones for exchanging supplies. They just happen to be available today." After saying that, Liu Dayong led Zhu Laojiu out.

hole.

The creature that came to collect the goods was a sharp-beaked bird demon with black feathers all over its body, and narrow, squinting eyes, somewhat resembling an eagle in human form.

"How much did you collect this month?" the eagle demon asked in a low voice.

Liu Dayong nodded politely and took out a worn-out storage bag from his pocket: "Replying to Your Excellency, there's quite a lot this month."

As he spoke, he opened his storage bag and poured about twenty or thirty plants of various colors onto the wooden tray that Pig Old Nine had brought over.

After emptying the bag of spiritual plants, the eagle demon stretched out his claw-like hand, scratched around, and couldn't help but sneer: "That's all?"

"Last month we delivered thirteen plants, and this month we delivered twenty-five, almost double the amount," Liu Dayong explained.

"You have the nerve to say that!" The eagle demon glanced at Liu Dayong sideways, then said disdainfully, "Although last month's harvest was small, at least the spiritual plants were of decent age."

"Although there are many this month, the year is too short and the quality is inconsistent; it's not as good as last month."

Before Liu Dayong and the others could explain, he dumped all the spiritual plants on the wooden tray into his storage bag, then rummaged through another storage bag and threw a few things on the ground.

Half a carcass of beef, a few medicine bottles, and two bundles of firewood.

After throwing away his things, he turned to leave.

Upon seeing this, Liu Dayong quickly stepped forward and said, "Please wait, sir!"

The eagle demon turned and glared at him, demanding, "Is there anything else?"

"Master, this is not enough for us to eat for a month!" Liu Dayong said with a humble smile.

"Oh?" The eagle demon snorted. "What does that have to do with me? Gathering more herbs next month is better than anything else."

After the eagle demon finished speaking, it shook its arms and transformed them into wings, as if it were about to fly away. But just as it took off, Pig Old Nine grabbed its foot.

"What are you doing?" The eagle demon immediately lowered its head and glared at the demon, demanding an answer.

Pig Ninth hurriedly said, "Please give us more, Master, otherwise we'll starve to death next month."

"Let go!" The eagle demon ignored Pig Ninth's request and shouted again, its wings flashing with lightning, as if it was about to make a move.

Upon seeing this, Liu Dayong immediately stepped forward and pried Zhu Laojiu's hands off, then apologized to the Eagle Demon: "Master, I apologize. This young brother was ignorant; please do not take offense."

The eagle demon soared into the sky, turned around, and warned, "If you dare to do this again next time I come, I'll really bring down this lightning."

After saying that, the eagle demon said no more, turned around, flapped its wings, and flew away into the distance.

Once the eagle demon had flown away, Pigsy immediately complained, "How many days will this little bit of food last us?"

"We worked ourselves to the bone to collect so many herbs, and this is all we got? If I ate as much as I wanted, I'd finish it all in a day!"

Faced with Pig Old Nine's complaints, Liu Dayong sighed and patted him on the back to comfort him: "It's okay, I'll just eat less!"

"At worst, we can wait until the snow subsides a bit, then brave the snow and try our luck again. It's not like we can't keep going."