The woman called Ana glanced at Xu An with a look of disappointment. "Why do you have no sympathy at all?"
"Perhaps because I want to live a couple more years?"
After speaking, Xu An followed Haule without looking back, heading towards the houses ahead.
"Don't worry, Ana just wants to extort you. Sand City has an unwritten rule that every newcomer must be ripped off like this once. The elders can't interfere, but it's only once. Afterward, they won't retaliate against you."
Xu An chuckled but said nothing. The way that girl Ana looked at her didn't seem like she was just trying to "extort."
However, as long as Ana didn't provoke her, she wouldn't bother with these trivial matters.
Haule led Xu An to a thatched hut built from rammed earth.
"This is where I live. You can stay here tonight. What are your plans for the future?"
"I got separated from my mother. I might go look for her."
"That's perfect. Our team goes out hunting for food every day. You can join us, and we can look out for each other on the way."
Xu An didn't refuse. Haule's suggestion was exactly what she wanted; she was wondering how to find an excuse to go out.
According to the spatial tree's hint, the thing she was looking for should be in this desert ahead.
"Then I'll trouble you all."
"No problem. You rest now."
"So, you gave me your house? Where will you sleep?"
"It's fine, I'll go squeeze in with our captain."
Xu An looked at Haule's honest smile and his slightly embarrassed gesture of scratching his head, feeling a touch of warmth in her heart.
She called out to Haule and took out three compressed biscuits and a bottle of mineral water from her backpack, handing them over.
She stated with a firm tone, "These aren't free. Consider them my rent."
"I can't accept this!"
"I've given them to you. What you do with them is your business."
Before he could refuse, Xu An pushed them into his hands. She disliked owing anyone favors, though she didn't know why Haule was helping her.
But at least, from what she could see, this person had no ill intentions towards her.
Haule pocketed the items, glanced at Xu An, who had already sat down on the earthen kang with her back to him, then looked down at the bottle of mineral water in his hand, licking his dry, chapped lips.
Actually, food was manageable. Their food supplies weren't abundant, but they wouldn't starve. However, water was incredibly precious to them.
They were located in the desert. The only water source in the entire Sand City was a well a hundred meters deep in the city center. However, the water that could be drawn from this well daily was less than 100,000 milliliters. Divided per person, each individual received less than 500 milliliters of water.
What could 500 milliliters accomplish? The amount in a single bottle of mineral water wasn't even enough to cook a bowl of soup.
Yet, even this meager 500 milliliters wasn't received by everyone.
And the bottle of mineral water Xu An had given him was exactly 500 milliliters.
Haule wanted to refuse, but he no longer had the courage to say the words "I don't want it."
"Thank you... If you need any help, you can find me!"
In the end, Haule chose to compromise. He carefully tucked the food and water into his fur coat and tiptoed out of the room.
After Haule left, Xu An got off the bed, confirmed no one was at the door, and locked it again. She was cautious and set up a small mechanism on the doorframe.
The other end of the mechanism was looped around her finger, so she would know immediately if anyone tried to sneak in without her permission.
Before leaving the lighthouse's range, Xu An had specifically sent a message to her mother, informing her that she was going to check out "Hellfire" and would return before the lighthouse ascended.
Although the current route deviated from her original plan, she believed in taking things as they came.
People living in this desert would definitely know the location of "Hellfire" better than she, a directionally challenged person. Later, if she found an opportunity, having Haule lead the way would be much more reliable than her stumbling around blindly.
Xu An unbuckled her backpack and placed it aside. She took out a still-warm meat pie from her spatial storage and quietly began to eat.
Since no one was around, she didn't want to make herself eat compressed biscuits.
After finishing, she took out a bowl of lotus seed and lily porridge, which was good for clearing heat and reducing fire, from her spatial storage. After eating everything, the burning sensation slowly subsided.
Although the desert was hot, it wasn't unbearable. The most uncomfortable aspect wasn't the heat, but rather how the wind and sand carried away the moisture from the air, making one feel like a squeezed sponge.
There was not a drop of moisture.
Xu An didn't dare to clean herself much. After drinking two bottles of mineral water, the feeling of dryness was relieved.
After drinking the water, to avoid revealing herself, she deliberately licked her lips until they looked pale, creating the illusion that she was also severely lacking water.
She thought to herself how wonderful it would be if the floods from the inland could be channeled into this desert. That way, everyone would be better off.
But clearly, her idea was just a fantasy.
However, she was quite interested in the "monsters" Haule had mentioned. If she wasn't mistaken, her target this time should be this monster.
"I wonder if it's a mutated species like the rabbit-head monster."
But remembering the laser gun she had brought with her, she wasn't overly worried. If all else failed, she could resort to a surprise attack from the shadows.
She had tested it; the laser gun had a range of over a thousand meters and its power remained undiminished.
After eating, she took off her jacket and lay on the bed with her clothes on, spending the night like that.
The next day when Haule came to wake her, she was still in a daze. Seeing Haule enter, she almost raised her dagger to stab him in the face.
Haule shouted in fright, "It's me! It's me! Haule!"
Only then did Xu An fully wake up. Looking at his exotic facial features, her consciousness gradually returned.
"Sorry, I have a bit of a temper in the morning," Xu An said, not sounding apologetic at all.
"It's alright, it's my fault for forgetting to knock. I'm used to entering without knocking. But your skills are quite good, have you trained professionally?"
Last night, she was alone, and Xu An had been on guard all night, barely sleeping. At this moment, she exuded an aura of low spirits.
"No."
"Then how are your skills so good?!"
"If they weren't, I would have died a hundred times over..."
Only then did Haule realize that Xu An's mood wasn't quite right. "Did you not sleep well?"
Seeing Xu An remain silent, Haule became even more certain of his thought.
"Do you want to sleep a bit longer? I'll keep watch outside for you?"
Xu An looked at Haule without speaking, wondering why he was suddenly so attentive.