Chapter 105

Due to system restrictions, this sponsorship allows Qin Yun only one DJI. Things like Casio, which the system doesn't permit, can only be apologized for.

If not for the system allowing live streaming, he probably couldn't even bring a drone.

The next afternoon, Qin Yun arrived punctually at the rental company's helipad and saw his rented Bell 408GX—entirely black, exuding a formidable aura. Besides the two front seats, there were four opposing rear seats.

The pilot was a young man in his early thirties named Sha Liang. Qin Yun greeted him and exchanged a few words, discovering the man already had five years of flight experience.

After donning his parachute pack and making preparations, Qin Yun told Sha Liang to take off.

Along the way, after learning Qin Yun was a livestreamer, Sha Liang curiously asked: "Bro, renting a plane and a drone like this—won't it cost tens of thousands? Can you even make it back?"

Qin Yun smiled: "I've got quite a few fans. I think I can."

The straight-line distance from the airfield to the destination is about 250 km, and the helicopter's cruising speed is roughly 200 km/h, so the flight takes a little over an hour.

The core area of the destination is pure no-man's-land—no roads, no signal, no trace of humans.

An hour later, the helicopter appeared above the destination.

"Bro Sha Liang, ascend to about two thousand meters."

Sha Liang gave an OK gesture; the helicopter rapidly climbed and soon hovered at two thousand meters.

Qin Yun took out the AI director's main drone from his backpack and put on his action camera.

The drone obviously couldn't fly freely—this altitude, plus the helicopter's interference, couldn't withstand the high-altitude winds.

But he had no choice—he needed the main drone to start the livestream, then switch to the action camera.

At 4 p. m., the livestream began on schedule.

Simultaneously, every fan who followed Qin Yun's livestream on Douyin rushed into the room immediately.

The viewer count in the top-right corner of the livestream rose at a visibly rapid pace.

Ten thousand, twenty thousand… fifty thousand, eighty thousand, over one hundred thousand.

Liu Wei from Douyin's official team, who monitored Qin Yun's livestream constantly, immediately pulled up the backend. Seeing the viewer count surge, he felt even more grateful for his decision.

Inside the helicopter, Qin Yun held the drone, looked into the lens, and smiled: "Hello everyone, I'm Qin Yun, a temporary wilderness survival enthusiast—I've climbed Shanzi Cliff barehanded, scaled the Dongya Cliff, ventured into the Da Xing'anling primeval forest, and summited Yaomei Peak without protection."

"This time, I'm a temporary wilderness survival enthusiast, currently hovering above the Qaidam Desert no-man's-land."

As he spoke, he rotated the camera to show the environment below to everyone in the livestream.

A desolate landscape burst into view—desert, gobi, danxia formations…

"The Qaidam Desert is China's fifth-largest desert, located in the heart of the Qaidam Basin in northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, at an altitude of about 3,000 meters—the highest desert in China. Its dunes are scattered, often intermixed with gobi, with wind-eroded landforms dominating. Vegetation coverage is low, limited to drought-resistant plants like suosuo, red willow, and white thorn."

"This no-man's-land, due to complex terrain, extreme climate, and zero signal, sees many tourists go missing every year. Today, as a temporary wilderness survival enthusiast, besides the drone needed for livestreaming, I carry only a dagger, a backpack, and a water bottle filled with water—to survive here for five days."

"Haha, Elder Qin is awesome, I love watching Elder Qin's survival livestreams—last time in Da Xing'anling was just not enough."

"666, Elder Qin's showing off again. Everyone, grab your chairs and get ready."

"Holy shit, desert—Elder Qin always surprises us with every livestream."

"Elder Qin's on a helicopter—he's got money now."

"2333."

"Is Elder Qin planning to skydive soon?"

"Temporary worker Elder Qin is back online—amazing."

In just a few minutes, Qin Yun's livestream reached a level no other streamer could touch.

Sha Liang couldn't see it—if he could, he'd be terrified.

Looking at the comments, Qin Yun patted the parachute pack behind him and smiled: "Someone guessed right—I'll be entering the desert's heart via skydive. But the problem is, I've never trained in parachute jumps, so it's risky for me. Brothers, it's currently 5:08 p. m. Beijing time, altitude two thousand meters—I'm ready to jump anytime."

As soon as he finished, the comment section exploded again, with hearts and gifts flooding the screen.

"The streamer's gonna die—I'm ready."

"Elder Qin, jump already—I can't wait."

"The streamer's definitely joking—no parachute training? Isn't that suicide?"

"You're talking about others—for Elder Qin, it's perfectly normal."

Qin Yun looked at Sha Liang, nodded, unfastened his seatbelt, walked to the cabin door, secured the drone, and leapt out.

'Whoosh—!'

Qin Yun immediately spread his limbs, forming a 'big' shape with his body. Though he had no skydiving experience, his courage was immense, and his exceptional physical conditioning allowed him to control his body freely even in midair.

He alternated between facing downward and upward; the drone's lens bobbed up and down, capturing the blue sky and endless golden sands.

Sha Liang didn't immediately fly away. Though his job was only to deliver Qin Yun to the destination, he was too curious—he kept watching after Qin Yun jumped.

"Holy shit, Elder Qin's in the sky—stop spinning, I'm dizzy."

"So beautiful—I want to skydive too."

"I envy Elder Qin's life—so cool."

"Elder Qin, take me with you."

"Feng Liu Jie gifted 10 Carnival Gifts—Elder Qin, take me next time."

"Chen He gifted 10 Carnival Gifts—I've tried it, but never alone—I'm jealous."

"Zhao Liying gifted 10 Carnival Gifts—so cool."

"Bo Lang Ge gifted 10 Carnival Gifts—Elder Qin, let's go together when I'm free."

A string of Carnival Gifts flashed by, making countless fans' eyes blur.

"Damn, Elder Qin's made it."

"Tsk tsk—I'm going to become a streamer too. This money's too easy."

"666."

"Will the streamer land and die?"

Qin Yun glanced at the drone in his arms, glanced at the comments, and smiled: "Skydiving's pretty thrilling, but dangerous. Someone asked if I'll land and die—it depends on whether I can deploy the parachute smoothly."

Under gravitational acceleration, Qin Yun's descent sped up rapidly; in the blink of an eye, the two-kilometer height shrank to one thousand meters.

Through the camera lens, everyone could see the yellow desert and red badlands growing clearer.

Gradually, everyone's hearts rose in tension.

At roughly five hundred meters, Qin Yun felt the distance was right and the ground had no obstacles, so he immediately opened the parachute pack.

'Boom—!'

The parachute deployment sound rang out, and instantly, a massive canopy erupted from his backpack. Under the upward air current, his falling momentum was instantly neutralized by tremendous force; the next second, his whole body bounced upward slightly before resuming its descent.

As his speed stabilized, Qin Yun released the drone, letting it fly free; in the camera feed, everyone saw his figure grow distant, soon shrinking to a tiny dot.

'Everything went smoothly, no incidents—unless there's a strong crosswind, this parachute jump is perfect.'

No sooner had he finished speaking than a powerful air current suddenly surged from high above, causing his canopy to shake violently and veer sharply off its original descent path, drifting toward another direction.

Seeing this, he was speechless.

'Ahahaha, jinxed yourself.'

'Good things don't work, bad things do—Qin Ye, stay calm.'

'I'm dying laughing.'

Now, his lack of parachute experience showed—he had no idea how to readjust his center of gravity and could only let the parachute drift freely.

Then, a massive rock appeared in his line of sight; the camera, following his downward gaze, automatically switched focus, and everyone saw it too.

'We're screwed—Qin Ye's gonna smash into it.'

'Holy shit, is Qin Ye gonna crash right at the start?'

'Qin Ye, don't worry—I've already prepared to dial 114 for you.'

'Why dial 114? Shouldn't you call an ambulance?'

'I don't know the number for 120—I have to call 114 first to ask.'

'666.'

Qin Yun stared at the approaching boulder, calm as ever, and smiled faintly: 'Don't panic. For you, this might mean instant death, but for me, it's nothing.'

'Damn, showing off again.'

'Qin Ye can't sleep unless he's showing off.'

'666—Qin Yun's show-off was perfectly executed.'

Qin Yun stared fixedly at the ground; as the rock drew nearer, he bent his knees, curled his body, and at the moment of impact, rolled forward in a single fluid motion.

'Slap!'

His right foot slammed into the ground, the force instantly canceling his forward momentum—but the parachute's pull remained, dragging him forward for nearly a hundred meters before he finally stopped.

Yet the entire process showed no mishaps—Qin Yun landed successfully.

He smoothly unfastened the parachute pack; the drone hovered directly ahead.

He gave a thumbs-up: 'Friends, I've landed safely.'

After saying that, he waved toward the helicopter high above, and immediately, the helicopter circled twice before speeding away.

Then, he took out a secondary drone from his pack and launched it.

Instantly, vast expanses of yellow desert, crimson badlands, and black wind-eroded landforms filled the camera frame.

Qin Yun raised a hand to shield his eyes and took a few steps forward.

'Thankfully it's November—if I came here in summer, I'd probably die of heat. Right now, my body feels comfortable, around seven to eight degrees Celsius, but nighttime temperatures often drop to minus fifteen, with daily temperature differences exceeding twenty degrees.'

"Anyone with basic common sense knows dehydration is the greatest danger in desert regions—but given today's weather and my one-liter water supply, dehydration won't happen yet. If you're unfortunately lost in the desert, the best move is to find shade and wait for rescue—assuming someone comes to save you."

'Heh, Qin Ye, that's just common sense.'

'Bug: We're screwed—Qin Ye's coming to eat me.'

'Is the jungler finally spawning?'

Qin Yun scanned his surroundings; the area he stood in was a stretch of wind-eroded landforms, with crimson badlands far off in the distance and endless dunes stretching in another direction.

'According to geographical records, I'm currently in the Ebo Liang Yardang. "Yardang" is a Uyghur word meaning "small hills beside the riverbank"—a unique wind-eroded landform. That means these boulders and cliffs were carved day and night by relentless winds.'

'Five hundred million years ago, the Qaidam Desert was a shallow sea; later, tectonic shifts slowly formed today's basin, which eventually dried into desert.'

He continued forward, the drone's lens occasionally capturing creatures hidden among the desert, badlands, and rocks.

'When I survived in the Daxing'anling wilderness last time, I said: if you're stranded, the first thing you must determine is direction. Only with direction can you plan your survival strategy properly.'

Qin Yun pointed to the sun on the horizon: 'During daytime, the sun's position makes direction easy to identify. It's afternoon now, so the sun is in the southwest.'

'Once direction is set, next comes finding water.' Qin Yun pulled out his water bottle and took a small sip. 'I have one bottle, but an adult needs about 1.5 liters daily. This bottle holds only five hundred milliliters—I must solve the water problem quickly, or I'll die of dehydration before long.'

"In the no-man's-land of Ebo Liang Yardang, there are sulfur lakes—seasonal saltwater depressions that can provide me with ample water. Though the water is toxic and undrinkable raw, simple filtration makes it safe. So now it's clear—"

Qin Yun raised his finger, pointing from the sun's direction toward the northeast: 'In five days, the only place I can reach is the Cold Lake Town to the northeast—and I must not change course.'

'666—Qin Ye's geography knowledge is insane.'

'Qin Ye is awesome—he knows everything.'

'Impressive. You talk a lot, you're right—I'll follow you.'