Chapter 279: The Gift from the White Camel

He had just put his blade away when he heard Lian Li call out to him, “Yun Huizhou, look! That white camel is back!”

Yun Huizhou looked up in the direction Lian Li was pointing. The moon in the desert tonight wasn’t perfectly round, but it was large and bright, and there were no tall trees or buildings to obstruct the view.

The two of them could easily see what was happening a hundred meters away.

And there, exactly a hundred meters off, stood the white camel they had encountered once before at the oasis, watching them.

Back then, they had run toward it in a fit of excitement, only to realize they had mistaken it for one of their own and slammed on the brakes.

Fortunately, camels are generally quite gentle outside of mating season. Otherwise, they might have escaped the pursuit of a great monster only to be hunted down by a giant camel.

At the time, this white camel had been particularly aloof, acting as if it couldn’t even see them. It had walked past them with such calm indifference that it made the two of them look quite foolish.

This white camel was exceptionally tall and large. Even the two strongest male camels they had specifically chosen to keep were a size smaller than it.

Lian Li suspected this was a matter of wild versus domestic.

While in the modern world, domestic animals are often larger than their wild counterparts, Lian Li knew that “larger” usually didn’t mean taller or sturdier, but simply fatter, which made them look bigger.

Of course, some domestic animals truly were taller and larger than wild ones, but that was due to humans intentionally breeding the largest sires with the largest dams.

In ancient times, however, resources were not as abundant as in the modern world. It was unlikely that an animal used for transport like a camel would be raised to be overfat. Furthermore, while selective breeding might exist, it wouldn’t be on a particularly large scale.

The appearance of the white camel made the camels Yun Huizhou had been trying to drive away even more restless.

The white camel just stood there watching them, neither approaching nor leaving.

Yun Huizhou turned to Lian Li and asked, “What is it doing?”

Lian Li wasn’t entirely sure what the white camel intended either, but he had heard a saying that encountering a white camel in the desert represented luck and vitality.

So, he said, “I don’t know. But if our camels follow it, they should be able to survive well in the desert.”

Although their camels hadn’t faced any survival issues while following them through the desert recently, they were domestic animals after all. Their survival skills still lagged somewhat behind those of wild ones.

“Never mind that, let’s just go,” Lian Li said, leading the two camels he and Yun Huizhou had chosen to keep. “Seeing how restless they are, they probably won’t follow us anyway.”

Yun Huizhou nodded, thinking Lian Li’s reasoning made sense, and stopped worrying about the herd.

“Alright.”

He walked over to the two remaining camels. Meanwhile, the group of camels they had released began to walk toward the white camel.

Lian Li looked down at the two camels they had kept and sighed softly in his heart.

There was no other way; the two of them couldn’t exactly run back on their own two legs. This journey was already dangerous enough. If they didn’t even bring their last mounts, it would be equivalent to playing the saint and pushing himself and Yun Huizhou into an even more perilous situation.

Suddenly, he saw Yun Huizhou, who hadn’t yet mounted his camel, move. His gaze followed, and he saw that the white camel had already turned to walk into the depths of the desert.

The camels they had released followed behind it. The two camels they had kept glanced over occasionally, but they didn’t show any signs of restlessness. Instead, their mouths never stopped munching away.

Lian Li: “…”

He had realized that these camels seemed to particularly love munching. It just so happened there were plenty of shrubs nearby for them to have a good meal.

In the brief moment he was distracted, Yun Huizhou had already reached the spot where the white camel had been standing.

Lian Li saw Yun Huizhou crouch down and pick something up from the ground.

It was too small. Although the moon was bright, visibility was naturally not as good as during the day, so Lian Li couldn’t see it clearly.

Fortunately, Yun Huizhou was fast. Within two or three breaths, he was back.

Lian Li leaned over to see what he was holding.

Seeing that Lian Li was struggling to look while sitting on the camel, Yun Huizhou walked over and held out his hand to show him what he had found.

It was a cluster of lush green leaves, topped with a small, verdant fruit that looked so fresh it seemed to be dripping. It was so exquisite it didn’t look like a real plant, but rather something carved from the finest emeralds.

“What is this?” Lian Li asked.

Yun Huizhou shook his head and said, “I don’t know. But it’s rare to see something so emerald green in the desert. It looks full of life.”

Lian Li smiled and said, “Yes, it looks very auspicious. As expected, a white camel is a sign of good fortune in the desert.”

In the desert, didn’t green represent life? Moreover, it was such a beautiful shade of green.

This was likely the most precious thing the white camel could think of or find in the desert to give them.

And this splash of green truly served as a good omen for the two of them, who were about to face danger.

Yun Huizhou gently touched one of the leaves and said, “We haven’t seen a plant this green the whole way here. I wonder where it found it, and how far away that place is.”

“Hmm?” Lian Li looked at him in confusion.

Yun Huizhou smiled and said, “I mean, the place where it plucked this cluster of leaves and fruit might be very far from here. Plants that stay this beautifully green are rare in the desert to begin with, let alone staying so vibrant after being plucked and carried here. It looks like a treasure.”

After saying this, he flipped himself onto his camel.

Lian Li gave the camel’s reins a gentle tug, and both their camels turned to face the direction leading out of the desert.

Lian Li said, “Then we should thank it. I hope it and its gift bring us good luck.”

Yun Huizhou joked, “If that good luck means those assassins sleep through the night and let us slip away, that would be even better.”

“Hahaha,” Lian Li laughed. “You’re dreaming a bit too much.”

The camels began to run at a steady pace. Lian Li looked down at the two camels they had kept and said, “Once we get back, we’ll take good care of them.”

Yun Huizhou nodded and said, “Alright.”

Once the herd was dispersed, many things could no longer be carried. Neither of them cared; they intended to travel light and keep things simple anyway.

Three days’ worth of rations and water, and two camels.

With that, they stepped out of the desert.

The time they left, if calculated by the modern world’s clock, was roughly around 10:30 PM.

In the ancient world, people had very few entertainment activities at night. Even though Lian Li and Yun Huizhou were both martial artists, back on Drunken Dream Island, they generally went to bed around ten o’clock.