Though no mountains or rivers barred the way from Heicu City to Huangming Mountain, the route passed entirely through uninhabited stretches of Gobi and wasteland.
The mounted party accompanying Li Si pressed toward Huangming Mountain day and night. Terrified of being intercepted and killed, they made only brief stops along the way, practically riding their horses to death.
Though Monk Jingkong and the others voiced no complaints, this made life miserable for Ye Jingtang and his companions following behind.
Ye Jingtang could not afford to fall too far behind. His horses were good ones, fully capable of keeping pace, but there was no time to rest along the way. Before they could stop for even a couple of hours to let the horses recover, they had to set off again. The cycle repeated endlessly; never mind sleeping, they even had to eat and drink on horseback.
Fortunately, this headlong dash did not last long. After riding hard westward from Heicu City for two days, both parties reached the vicinity of Dolan Valley.
Beyond Dolan Valley lay the Unreturning Plains, where supplies were virtually nonexistent. They therefore had to rest near Dolan Valley for a night to recover their strength and prepare enough water and dry provisions before setting out.
To avoid discovery, Ye Jingtang did not follow them into Dolan Valley. Instead, he kept more than twenty li away and camped beside a small river at the foot of the mountains.
A silver moon hung overhead. Three fine horses stood on the riverside grass as Green Pearl helped Hua Qingzhi down from her horse. Hua Qingzhi sat on the grass and rubbed her calves, easing her unbearably sore muscles and joints.
Fan Qinghe took a blanket from her horse, spread it on the grass, then fetched their prepared dry provisions.