Chapter 108

The night was pitch black, lit only by starlight.

Qin Yun held a torch, using his keen observation and acute sense of terrain to constantly move, searching for a suitable shelter.

The yardang landforms stood like giants in the darkness, as if ready to attack at any moment.

"Qin Ye is so unlucky."

"Aren't you noticing how calm Qin Ye is? This kind of situation probably isn't even a big deal for him."

"Minus fifteen degrees—just thinking about it makes me shiver."

"I'm in Hangzhou right now, it's five degrees, and I already feel the wind biting through my skin—how much worse must it be for Qin Ye, who's wearing less than I am?"

"My fridge's freezer is only minus eighteen degrees—you can imagine how cold it is out there."

"Holy shit, Qin Ye is running around inside a refrigerator."

Qin Yun occasionally glanced at the screen, but received no response. As they said, it was simply too cold—he wore only two layers of clothing, and what kept him going was partly his own body heat, partly the fact that he was moving.

But all these losses drained his own energy. In this extreme zone, every bit of loss was a deficit.

Not long after, he found a narrow yardang gully.

On both sides rose steep earthen walls, with a narrow top that effectively blocked the gale. He touched the walls—they were hard and unlikely to collapse.

"This is it." Qin Yun immediately stopped, swiftly gathering dried camel thorn and broken stones around him, building a makeshift windbreak as fast as he could.

He spread the tarp on the bottom of the gully and hung another tarp at the entrance to block the incoming wind.

Then he immediately used his torch to ignite a fire—luckily, the torch had not gone out after so long.

Soon, the fire pile was reignited. Qin Yun crouched beside it, hands held over the flames, yet still felt bone-deep cold.

"It's too cold, guys. I'm signing off. This night is bound to be torture. See you tomorrow."

Without hesitation, he tapped the end-stream button.

He removed the drone's battery and placed it in the charging case. Then he gently stretched his stiff tendons around the fire pile. As time passed, the temperature inside the shelter slowly rose.

Without this fire, tonight would've been brutal.

Qin Yun took out the tarp again, wrapped it around himself, and leaned against the fire pile, preparing to sleep.

…

When the first ray of morning light pierced the darkness and fell upon the yardang landforms, turning their ochre walls golden.

Daylight had come!

Qin Yun opened his eyes and slowly stood up.

He quickly reinstalled the battery into the drone, powered it on, checked the time—it was already eight. He immediately went live.

Soon, a flood of fans poured into the livestream.

"Holy shit, I thought Qin Ye was dead—you said seven but never went live."

"If Qin Ye didn't come online, I was going to call the police."

"Qin Ye looks awful—his eyes are full of bloodshot veins."

"Last night must've been hell."

Qin Yun looked at these comments and smiled bitterly: "Thanks for all your concern. Last night was indeed torture—I kept waking up frozen, only managed to fall asleep around five or six."

His voice was hoarse. He picked up the drone and stepped out of the makeshift shelter, facing the sunlight with a faint smile.

"Hello everyone, I'm Qin Yun, a temporary wilderness survival enthusiast. I'm currently in the Qaidam Desert within the Qaidam Basin, in the region of Ebo Liang Yardang."

"I survived my first night in Qaidam. Last night was full of danger—shelter collapse, wild beasts watching, biting cold winds—but I made it."

"Qin Ye is awesome."

"So hard to watch—I was sweating bullets for the streamer."

"Daylight's here, finally daylight—time to find water."

"Next up: finding water. Looking forward to Qin Ye's moves."

Qin Yun stretched his body and performed a set of fists—his body's powerful recovery restored his condition quickly.

He looked up at the sky—the sun had risen slowly.

"Guys, today my core mission is finding water. If I find water, I can survive a few more days, getting closer to Survival succeeded."

He packed his gear, and both drones took off.

The morning Ebo Liang still carried chill, but the temperature was rising—much better than last night.

Qin Yun took out his water bottle, opened the cap, sipped a few mouthfuls, and soon swallowed the entire hundred milliliters.

He put the bottle away and looked around: "The desert wolves and desert foxes I saw last night gave me an important clue—if they can survive here, there must be water nearby. Desert foxes have small activity ranges, usually no more than five kilometers, so if I search the area, I might find something."

"In the desert, there are three key clues for finding water: First, animal tracks—their droppings and footprints generally lead toward water sources; second, plant traces—like camel thorn and red willow, drought-resistant plants with deep root systems, usually growing where underground water exists; third, terrain features—low-lying areas, dry riverbeds, saline-alkaline flats—all may hold seasonal water pools."

Qin Yun walked forward, explaining into the drone's camera.

"Yeah, grab your notebook quick—knowledge drop!"

"Follow Qin Ye in wilderness survival—you might need this someday."

"Qin Ye is so professional."

Qin Yun moved slowly, frequently bending down to examine ground traces, searching for signs of animal activity.

After walking about fifteen minutes, he suddenly stopped, eyes brightening. On the ground appeared a clear set of footprints—small and slender.

With his master-level zoology knowledge, he identified the owner at a glance.

"Look, these footprints show four distinct toes, a slightly large pad, overall close to a standard diamond shape, about five centimeters long—clearly the signature of a desert fox, the same kind we saw last night—its precise name is the sand fox."

Qin Yun was excited: "These footprints are fresh—meaning the animal passed through not long ago, probably within the last hour, otherwise the wind and sand would've buried them. If I follow its trail, I have a high chance of getting close to water."

He quickened his pace, but sadly, soon lost the desert fox's tracks again—he could only rely on luck now.

He looked ahead—the terrain far off was spectacular: a canyon lay before him.

"Water flows downhill. I've lost the desert fox's trail, but have you noticed? Along this path toward the canyon, the number of saxaul and camel thorn plants is increasing—what does that mean?"

Qin Yun asked and answered himself: "This means we're getting close to a water source."

Along the way, sand was everywhere; beneath his feet, it crackled continuously.

Fortunately, the current weather was good, the temperature moderate; if it were summer, his water bottle would've been empty long ago.

Even so, after walking over half an hour, he replenished his water several times.

He held the bottle up to the camera and smiled bitterly: "Only about fifty milliliters left—I'm running out of time. From now on, I won't speak, to avoid drying out my throat."

"That's right—Qin Ye's water conservation is key."

"It's fine if you don't talk, as long as we can see you."

"Qin Ye's blue bar is almost gone—keep going."

For the next two hours, Qin Yun kept walking toward the canyon.

There's a saying: "Seeing a mountain doesn't mean you've reached it—it can exhaust your horse."

The canyon looked right before his eyes, but after walking for two full hours, he finally reached its edge—his forehead was slick with sweat.

He wiped his brow with his hand and sighed: "Good thing I came in this season—the difficulty isn't maxed out, but even so, my throat feels like it's smoking."

Along this stretch, there was nothing but desert, giant boulders, or vast stretches of yellow sand; in such an environment, without firm resolve, one would collapse.

After another ten minutes of walking, Qin Yun stood at the edge of a cliff—the canyon lay ahead, but the terrain here suddenly dropped into a sheer precipice.

Fortunately, the cliff wasn't steep, sloping at about fifty to sixty degrees.

He slid down the gentle slope, and in no time found himself at the canyon's bottom.

He directed the drone to film the canyon's surroundings, and viewers clearly saw patches of green vegetation here.

He took a few steps forward and pointed to a patch of shrubs: "Look at this—it's called Yanzhuazhua, a halophytic subshrub of the Chenopodiaceae family, with fleshy, swollen leaves and salt-tolerant roots that penetrate deep into the soil; it usually grows around salt lakes."

"You've all seen how much more vegetation there is here than in the places before—this means we're not far from water."

"Qin Ye 666."

"Qin Ye knows so much—so erudite, recognizes everything."

"Qin Ye should just chew on the shrubs."

Qin Yun licked his lips, suppressed the urge to drink, and kept walking.

After another ten minutes or so, he stopped, raised his hand and brushed the air, then quickly approached the rock wall, running his fingers along its surface—his fingertips felt damp.

"Moisture—this is moisture—there must be water ahead."

Sure enough, after running a short distance and circling around several bends, he finally saw a pool. It wasn't just a puddle—it was half the size of a soccer field, its water murky and gray-yellow, floating with a thin layer of white foam, emitting a faint sulfur smell.

Around the pool lay scattered stones; a brightly colored frog sat atop one, strikingly visible.

"Holy shit—we finally found water! Qin Ye is awesome."

"Oh, there's a frog for extra snacks."

"Frog: Add your big ass."

"This water looks murky—can you drink it?"

Qin Yun glanced at the comments and smiled: "Friends, this is a seasonal sulfur lake common in Qaidam."

He crouched down, dipped a finger in the water, smelled it at his nose, then lightly licked it—and immediately spat it out.

"This water contains heavy salts, alkali, and sulfur—it's bitter and undrinkable."

He shook his head and turned to look at the brightly colored frog.

"Frog: Qin Ye, don't look at me—I'm scared."

"Holy crap, Qin Ye's about to eat meat."

"That frog's plump—Qin Ye's lunch is sorted."

Qin Yun shook his head: "This is a sulfur-spotted toxic toad—its skin is covered in warts, highly poisonous, inedible. Eat this, and I'll be dead in under an hour."

As he spoke, a scorpion crawled out from a crack in the rock beside him.

'Snap!'

Qin Yun's arrow struck down like a club—so fast the scorpion didn't even register what happened before it was crushed dead.

The sulfur-spotted toxic toad, startled, leapt away with a 'Wah!'

Then Qin Yun pulled out his dagger, picked up the scorpion from the ground, his eyes gleaming.

"Holy shit—is Qin Ye really going to eat the scorpion?"

"What's so strange? In Guangdong, they fry these everywhere—tastes amazing."

"Really? Aren't scorpions also highly poisonous?"

Viewers in the livestream felt a chill run down their spines at Qin Yun's expression.

Qin Yun glanced at the comments and chuckled: "Don't worry—remove the venomous stinger and venom sac, and it's edible. That Guangdong friend was right—this snack is common there; if you get the chance, try it."

After saying that, he nimbly used the dagger to remove the venom sac and venomous stinger, then tossed it straight into his mouth.

"Crunch… crunch…"

The crisp sound clearly reached the livestream, making listeners' scalps tingle.

"Damn, you scared the hell out of me."

"Fucking Qin Ye, be a human."

"Scorpions are just hopeless—wherever they are, Qin Yun finds them."

As he chewed, Qin Yun turned his gaze back to the sulfur lake: "Raw, it's not great—but scorpions contain trace elements I need; eating them occasionally benefits the body."

After saying that, his gaze drifted toward the opposite side, where some scattered creatures had appeared at some unknown point.

Qin Yun ignored them for now.

"To drink water, I must purify it—the simplest method is distillation: boil it, evaporate it, condense the vapor, and you get pure drinking water."