Chapter 122: Survival succeeded

These words struck Laura like lightning, piercing the darkness in her heart and causing her to snap open her eyes instantly.

She stared blankly at the canopy above her, suddenly feeling a profound sense of clarity.

For days, gloom had clung to her heart—the pain of her childhood friend being stabbed, the sorrow of being hurt by her sister, the confusion of unattainable desires—but all of it vanished in an instant, dissolved by Qin Yun's casual remark.

What vanished was not hatred, but self-doubt.

"Thank you, Qin."

A peaceful night.

The next day, November 14th, at dawn, Laura woke to find Qin Yun gone.

She rubbed her eyes, pulled back the canopy, and stepped outside. The fire pile weight still burned, steam rising from the stone. A figure was jogging slowly in the distance—no one but Qin Yun.

Qin Yun had risen before seven, rekindled the extinguished fire pile weight, heated water on a stone, and begun jogging slowly around the perimeter.

As he neared Cold Lake Town, his spirits lifted. According to his estimate, barring mishaps, he would exit this desert today.

"Qin!"

Qin Yun stretched his body and jogged over.

"Good morning, Laura. How did you sleep last night?"

Laura nodded. She felt better today—the chain of bodily reactions from her wound's infection had faded almost entirely; her fatigue was nearly gone.

"Pretty good. Just feel itchy all over."

"Hahaha." Qin Yun laughed. "A few days without a bath or washing your hair—anyone would itch. I'm the same. I've gone longer than you. Let me count… I haven't bathed in nearly six days. I stink."

Laura's face twisted in horror—if they couldn't get out soon, would she be forced to endure the same as Qin Yun? "Qin, when do you think we'll reach that town you mentioned?"

"Cold Lake Town," Qin Yun said. "If everything goes smoothly, we'll arrive today. If we're lucky, we'll have a hot bath tonight."

"That's amazing—such great news. Let's hurry. I won't slow you down today."

"Good."

The two quickly finished breakfast, extinguished the fire pile weight, packed everything, and set off pulling the argali.

About fifteen minutes after leaving the shelter, as time neared its mark, Qin Yun launched both drones and activated his livestream.

Instantly, as soon as the stream went live, thousands of fans flooded in.

"Wow, such beautiful yardangs."

"So vast and empty—it's a kind of monotonous beauty."

"Utter desolation is strangely awe-inspiring."

"I envy Qin爷 seeing such beautiful scenery every day, hehe."

"Feels like an alien surface from a sci-fi movie—deep gullies, clear textures, just right."

"Like seeing the Earth's own lens."

Good morning, everyone. I'm Qin Yun. I'm an amateur wilderness survival enthusiast. I entered the uninhabited zone of the Qaidam Desert on November 9th. Today is November 14th.

"In these six days, I've caught snakes, encountered foxes, eaten lizards, fought wolves, stolen bird eggs, seen mirages—and even met a lost foreign traveler here."

"Today is my sixth day in the Qaidam Desert. According to my estimate, I have a very high chance of Survival succeeded today. So, hehe—you know what I mean."

Hearing this, the livestream viewers suddenly realized—unconsciously, six days had passed.

"Yeah, time flies. I didn't even notice while watching Qin爷's stream."

"For the past few days, I've left my phone streaming every morning—even during company meetings, I sneakily slack off. Now that Qin爷 says he might succeed, I'm kind of reluctant."

"Maybe Qin爷 should just turn around?"

"What the hell, are you people human? Saying stuff like 'turn around'? I'd just live there permanently."

"…"

Luckily, Qin Yun didn't see these comments—if he had, he'd have been furious enough to die.

His confidence that he could achieve Survival succeeded today didn't come from time alone—it came from Laura.

Based on where Laura appeared, she almost certainly came from the direction of Cold Lake Town—and from that direction lay a highway.

This highway crossed the Qaidam Basin and was open to self-driving tourists.

If Laura had entered the desert with a guide on camelback, she couldn't have gone far. If her companions abandoned her after her accident, they wouldn't have left her too distant.

That's why he judged that today was highly likely to be the day of Survival succeeded.

In fact, if he changed direction, he might even spot the highway sooner.

The two and the argali trudged on. The temperature rose gradually; their bodies warmed, completely free of the chill from last night.

After walking six hours, the yardangs faded, and the Gobi reappeared. Sparse, ground-hugging drought-resistant plants appeared in scattered dots across the horizon.

Qin Yun's heart jolted—he stared at a distant black mountain, standing amid shifting sands and saline flats like a drop of ink on the earth, its contrast stark.

"Hei Du Shan Mountain!"

He had studied the maps of Cold Lake Town's vicinity. A few kilometers out stood a mountain composed of black basalt, wind-eroded into a "lunar surface"—its name was Hei Du Shan Mountain.

"Qin, the highway—I see the highway!"

At that moment, Laura shouted suddenly, her voice trembling with excitement, almost cracking.

Qin Yun looked—there, in the distance, a highway lay clearly visible. Not only that: wind turbines, power lines, and other human traces now appeared in his sight.

The livestream viewers saw them too. Due to the drones' altitude, they saw even more—including the outline of Cold Lake Town.

"I suddenly feel like traveling there."

"Driving a car along this highway, circling the Qaidam Desert—sounds like an unforgettable experience."

"Don't say more—I'm already tempted."

"What are those ugly black structures? They look abandoned."

Qin Yun glanced at the drone screen and smiled. "Those are abandoned oil derricks. Cold Lake Town rose because of early oil exploration—it was purely a mining town."

"Brothers, I'm sure you've all seen the outline of Lenghu Town—that means we're no more than a few kilometers away in a straight line, and I'll be on the highway in less than two hours."

"To the comrades from the relevant departments, I don't know if you're watching my livestream from inside Lenghu Town, but the task you gave me has gone smoothly—this bharal has no issues at all. And if any police officers are watching, that's even better: Laura currently has no identification documents, and I believe she'll need help returning to Germany."

"By the way, I've collected some wolf pelts these past few days—I'm going to drop a lucky bag soon for everyone to grab. Those interested can join in."

Saying this, Qin Yun casually dropped a lucky bag, then continued forward with Laura and the bharal.

He didn't take the desert path into Lenghu Town, but turned toward the highway instead.

As soon as the livestream viewers saw the lucky bag, they immediately erupted in excitement.

They were all eager for those wolf pelts—if they could win one, whether as decoration or for tailoring clothes, it would be fantastic.

"Qin, car—I see a car."

Following Laura's direction, Qin Yun saw a car—and not just one.

He smiled and said to Laura, "Maybe they've come to pick us up."

When people are excited, distance and time seem to shrink—within just an hour, the two were barely a hundred meters from the highway. Alongside the road, three cars were parked, and seven or eight figures stood outside, waving at Qin Yun and Laura.

As they drew closer, Qin Yun clearly made out their appearances.

One man and one woman, dressed in police uniforms, must be the police from Mangya City. After all, a failed murder attempt had occurred, involving a foreigner—of course they'd take it seriously.

The others looked like personnel from the wildlife protection bureau; one of the vehicles even seemed designed for transporting animals.

"Brother Qin! Brother Qin!"

A young man shouted loudly.

Qin Yun waved and laughed, "Didn't expect anyone to come greet me—too kind."

The young man burst out laughing: "We came to greet you? No, we're here to greet this pregnant bharal."

Hearing this, the livestream viewers burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, see how smug you are now."

"Greet you? You've got no face saying that."

"Exactly—just not arresting you is already generous. How many animals from Qaidam have you messed with?"

Qin Yun rubbed his nose, then climbed onto the highway with Laura, pulling the bharal up with them.

The wildlife protection bureau immediately took over the bharal, gave it a quick check, and loaded it into the vehicle.

Then—

"Brother Qin, we've got to go now. Congratulations—Survival succeeded."

Saying this, the wildlife protection personnel drove off.

Qin Yun reached out, intending to say, "Hey, give me a ride."

"Mr. Qin, hello. I'm Officer Leng Feng from the Mangya City Criminal Investigation Brigade. This is my teammate, Long Xiaoyun."

Qin Yun pointed to the drone and said, "Officers, let me end my livestream first."

He guided the drone to land in front of him and grinned.

"Damn it, don't grin like that—do you really think you can just end it like this?"

"Fucking bastard, he's definitely going offline."

"Wahhh, I'm kind of sad—these six days were so fun. Now there's no livestream, I don't know what to watch."

"Brother Qin, I really want to keep watching your livestream. Why don't you turn back?"

Qin Yun's forehead darkened. He suppressed his inner grumbling and smiled faintly: "Friends, this challenge—surviving alone in the uninhabited zone of the Qaidam Desert—has been completed. It's time to say goodbye. To you, these six days may have been short, but for me, they were extremely long. Once the video from Yao Mei Peak is uploaded, I'll release the Qaidam Desert footage as soon as possible. Please continue supporting me."

"Enough said—I really must say goodbye now. Honestly, these livestream days were quite good for me: I fought two battles with desert wolves, endured thirst, was ambushed by venomous snakes, survived a sandstorm, and even picked up a person in the Gobi. Looking back, these will all be cherished memories."

"Of course, all this is for me. To everyone watching on your phones—please, never go alone into the wilderness to survive. You could easily lose your life."

"No more rambling. Fans who won wolf pelts—don't worry, An Ding will ship them out right away. Goodbyes are for reunions. I'm Qin Yun. See you at the next livestream."

Saying this, he unhesitatingly tapped the end-stream button and swiftly packed away the drone.

"Sorry for the wait," Qin Yun nodded to Leng Feng and Long Xiaoyun.

Leng Feng waved dismissively, indicating it was no problem.

"Mr. Qin, Miss Laura's case still needs to be processed at the police station. Why don't you come with us? Our language barrier makes many things difficult—we'll need you to translate."

"Of course," Qin Yun said without hesitation.

"Thank you so much," Leng Feng gripped Qin Yun's hand firmly. Just as he was about to continue speaking, his phone rang.

After answering, he listened for a few words, then his expression subtly changed. His gaze swept over Laura.

"Understood. I'll bring the person over right away."

Hanging up, Leng Feng looked at Laura: "Miss Laura, your father has sent someone to Mangya City—they're currently at our police station…"

Laura stared at him, confused, then turned to Qin Yun.

Qin Yun immediately explained.

Laura's face lit up with excitement, and a rapid stream of German poured out.

…

The car sped along the "Mars No. 1" highway. Qin Yun sat in the back seat, his gaze distant, his attention fixed on the panel that had just appeared before him.

【Check-in task completed. Random reward obtained: Diving Skill +1】

【Diving Skill LV1: You're already a mature sea dog—it's time to live on your own.】