Chapter 149

At this moment, the position they were in was four to five kilometers from Qitai Kudi Daban, but over fifty kilometers from the military outpost.

Under normal circumstances, fifty kilometers was nothing to fear on foot, but with temperatures plunging below minus twenty degrees—nearly reaching the antifreeze's absolute limit—the road was entirely covered in snow, making walking utterly impractical.

After hastily finishing a relatively hearty dinner, everyone restarted the vehicles and returned to their respective cars.

"You should sleep in Su Wan's car," Xia Xiao Chuan said, his face weary and his mood heavy.

Xia Xiaoxing shook her head: "It's fine, it's not that cold." No sooner had she spoken than she couldn't help shivering; the dizziness from altitude sickness refused to fade.

"Then sleep in the back seat—the car doesn't need watching, I'll keep an eye on it."

With the vehicles clustered together and covered by the tarp, there was no need to worry about exhaust pipes being blocked by snow, but the cars couldn't idle indefinitely, so Xia Xiao Chuan still had to stay vigilant.

The snow stopped, unnoticed, in the middle of the night.

No one had slept a wink; their bodies were exhausted, their faces clouded with worry, their hearts weighed down.

The nausea, dizziness, and chest tightness from altitude sickness still clung to them, relentless even now.

"Old Zhou, in this weather, no one will come along the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway—we have to find a way to reach the military outpost for help."

In the pickup truck's cargo bed, He Guang's face was grave, speaking softly with labored breath: "If the vehicles can't pass, we must walk there—otherwise, trapped here, the snow won't melt anytime soon."

Zhou Sihai's expression darkened: "Fifty kilometers on foot? Can we even manage one kilometer per hour? That's not realistic."

"But if we don't seek help, once the fuel runs out, the consequences will be unimaginable."

All of them understood this logic. Zhou Sihai's gaze settled on He Guang, and he took a deep breath: "After dawn tomorrow, link the vehicles together with chains, remove the tarp, wrap it around the front of the lead vehicles, and push them forward—slow as it may be, it's faster than walking."

"That's the only option."

Zhou Sihai turned to Song Shanhe: "What about supplies?"

"No need to worry," Song Shanhe shook his head. "Water and food are enough for a week."

"Good," Zhou Sihai relaxed slightly. "We ourselves can manage, but the others—especially Xia Xiaoxing, Su Wan, and Tang Tang—won't recover quickly from altitude sickness. We must reach the outpost as soon as possible."

"Even if we can't reach the outpost, we must get as close as possible—only then can my radio's frequency reach the outpost for rescue."

With the plan tentatively settled, Zhou Sihai returned to his vehicle, dozed off briefly, then woke again soon after.

Thus, through fragmented, intermittent sleep, dawn arrived.

The Aksai Chin desert at dawn was utterly silent, save for the rustling of wind over snow.

As the car doors opened, everyone stepped down one by one.

After a night's sleep, Xia Xiaoxing still felt headache and chest tightness, but they had eased somewhat; the nausea was gone.

Gazing at the vast, blank expanse of earth and sky, the thin, frigid air sent a shiver through her entire body.

Soon, fire was lit and food prepared; amid Yang Nian's bustling activity, smoke curled upward.

If one ignored the harsh snowbound surroundings, in such extreme conditions, having hot water and a full stomach was a stark, intense form of comfort.

After breakfast, everyone immediately moved into action. Under Zhou Sihai's command, the vehicles were lined up in pairs; the two lead vehicles had their fronts wrapped in tarps, then connected by thick chains, and all drove onto the road.

The road here was entirely gravel, but with snowfall and freezing temperatures, it had long since frozen, offering minimal traction.

The vehicles moved slowly; Zhou Sihai's Land Cruiser and Tang Tang's Land Cruiser led the way, pushing through fifty-centimeter-thick snow, inching forward. Speed was painfully slow—even after traveling a few hundred meters, they had to stop, because as they moved, they realized the road had been entirely buried by wind and snow; they could no longer tell where the path ended and the ditch began.

With the road unclear, progress was impossible.

The only solution was manual reconnaissance of the terrain—but that would make progress even slower.

By noon, they had advanced barely over one kilometer—slower than simply walking to the outpost.

This left Zhou Sihai utterly desperate; he smoked cigarette after cigarette until his lungs were starved of oxygen, only stopping when he began coughing uncontrollably.

"There's only one option left."

Everyone turned to Zhou Sihai.

He spoke gravely: "Dismantle the radio from my vehicle, carry one battery pack, and walk toward the outpost. My radio has a twenty-kilometer range over flat terrain—so in principle, if I advance thirty kilometers, I can establish contact with the outpost and secure rescue."

Everyone exchanged glances, no one spoke.

After a long silence, Liu Nanzhou's voice finally drifted out: "Then… who goes?"

Yes—who? The path ahead was unknown; who knew what dangers lay ahead? This was a minus-twenty-degree uninhabited zone. Even setting aside whether thirty kilometers could be covered, the cold alone was not something easily endured.

How would one survive the night?

In this hellish place, there was no shelter for overnighting—this wasn't how you sought death.

Clearly, walking from here toward the outpost, even by tomorrow night, one could not cover thirty kilometers.

This journey meant surrendering one's life to fate.

Everyone fell silent. Zhou Sihai understood this logic—he instinctively touched his chest, reaching for another cigarette, only to find the pack empty.

A sharp, throbbing pain pulsed through his skull, forcing him to furrow his brow repeatedly.

"I'm the team leader—I'll go."

At once, Liu Nanzhou objected: "No."

But realizing the contradiction, she quickly added: "What kind of stupid idea is this? Walking thirty kilometers alone in this hell? Pure suicide. No one is going."

Zhou Sihai looked at her and shrugged: "What other option is there? Wait here for rescue or for the snow to melt? It's December—nearly impossible."

He Guang was freezing: "Can't we just go back inside the car to talk? Do we have to stand out here in the wind?"

One by one, everyone returned to their vehicles.

Zhou Sihai looked at Liu Nanzhou and smiled faintly: "Still worried about me? Aren't you planning to divorce me?"

Liu Nanzhou's face was cold: "I just don't want Lan Lan to grow up without a father—I'm not worried about you."

Shaking his head, Zhou Sihai dropped the subject. He picked up the walkie-talkie: "Yesterday, Shanhe said our food and water are sufficient—we can last a week easily, and with rationing, even ten days."

"Fuel is still ample, supplies are enough, altitude sickness meds are plentiful—aside from being stuck, everything's fine."

"Are you joking, Old Zhou?" He Guang said flatly. "At current consumption rates, each vehicle burns two liters per hour while idling—that's twenty liters per day. Fuel will last five days at most."

"Within five days, we must either save ourselves or receive rescue—otherwise, we're in danger."

Xia Xiaoxing glanced at Xia Xiaochuan, then picked up the walkie-talkie: "Yesterday we didn't leave this uninhabited zone—my family hasn't reached me. They'll definitely send people to look for me. I think five days should be enough."

This statement left everyone stunned.

Zhou Sihai suddenly remembered that this girl who had unexpectedly joined them seemed to be a person of immense wealth.

He hurriedly asked: "Xia Xiaoxing, are you sure? This isn't a joke."

"Mm, I'm sure."

Xia Xiaoxing dared not contact her mother, nor her father, because it might be her mother pretending—so her only contact was her cousin Zhong Li. But Xia Xiaochuan was different; he had been sent by her father specifically to watch over her.

Not contacting for one day was fine, but not contacting for two days would definitely make them realize something was wrong.

Given her father's and mother's personalities, they would come to rescue them the moment they found out.

"Good!" Zhou Sihai cheered. "Then we wait here for rescue. We'll treat it like outdoor camping."

People fear most the absence of hope; now that Xia Xiaoxing had given them hope, everyone's hearts relaxed slightly.

Inside the vehicle, Xia Xiaochuan looked at Xia Xiaoxing: "This hellish weather—how are your parents supposed to find us?"

Xia Xiaoxing smiled: "We leave it to fate."

Xia Xiaochuan chuckled in disbelief.

Once this predicament became camping, everyone began to enjoy it—they occasionally sat under the canopy chatting, boasting, eating delicious food, finding a peculiar charm in it. When they felt cold, they returned to the vehicle to warm up, and before they knew it, another night slipped in silently.

At this moment, a Land Rover Defender pulled up at the Dàhóngliǔtān gas station; Qin Yun jumped out, and the cold wind instantly swallowed him whole.

"Gah… it's freezing!"

In this hellish weather, not a single shop in Dàhóngliǔtān was open; not even a single person could be seen.

After refueling, he rehung the nozzle and gazed toward Qitai Daban.

There wasn't much snow here yet, but in the distant view, everything was a blinding white; without doubt, the snow depth there would be far deeper than imagined—likely so deep that vehicles couldn't pass, or even discern the road conditions.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have trapped the entire convoy.

From the gas station to the roadside shops, the shops were barely a hundred meters away, clearly irregular—built with plywood, steel frames, even tin sheds.

Each sign was a simple printed banner: Sichuan Restaurant, Shaanxi Noodle Shop, Traveler's Home, and so on.

Looking across the road, just on the other side, the Five-Star Red Flag fluttered, military markings prominent—clearly a military outpost, where a soldier could be seen standing guard at the gate.

He thought for a moment, then walked over without hesitation.

He was a soldier with pronounced high-altitude flush; younger than him, yet his posture was rigid as a stake driven into the ground, utterly motionless.

His face showed no expression; only when Qin Yun approached did his gaze sweep over.

"Comrade, I need help."

Moments later, Qin Yun was led into a duty room inside the outpost, where he met a duty officer around his age—calm expression, sharp eyes.

They exchanged names; the other man's surname was Sui, named Sui Yang. Qin Yun quickly explained the possibility that Xia Xiaoxing's convoy was trapped.

Sui Yang listened, then said gravely: "Heavy snow fell the day before yesterday at noon, precisely along the Qitai Daban and Duoma Township stretch. According to reports from Tian Shuihai Outpost, snow depth reached fifty to eighty centimeters. Since noon the day before yesterday, no convoy has passed through Tian Shuihai—so they're most likely trapped near Qitai Daban."

Without hesitation, he picked up the phone on the desk and immediately reported the situation upward.

Soon after, a Dongfeng Mengshi equipped with snow-clearing gear slowly rolled out of the outpost; three soldiers and a commanding officer quickly assembled at the gate. The vehicle carried tire chains, shovels, engineer's picks, tow ropes, winches, and rations—all fully stocked.

When Qin Yun and Sui Yang appeared before the four, the lead officer's eyes suddenly widened, nearly blurting out—his face filled with shock.

Not just him—the other soldier also recognized Qin Yun.

Sui Yang frowned, his tone stern: "Speak plainly."

The lead officer was Cheng Da. He glanced at Qin Yun, then snapped to attention: "Report: I merely recognized this comrade beside the squad leader, so I was startled."

Sui Yang paused, startled: "Mr. Qin is a celebrity?"

"No," Qin Yun quickly waved his hand. "I'm just an outdoor streamer, doing live broadcasts. Maybe the comrades saw me during their breaks."

Sui Yang looked at Cheng Da, who immediately nodded.

"Mr. Qin's real name is Qin Yun—he's the number one outdoor streamer on Douyin. He's climbed the Fanzi Cliff barehanded without protection, summited Yaomei Peak unprotected, and crossed the Qaidam Desert alone…"

Cheng Da rapidly recited Qin Yun's resume; Sui Yang grew more astonished with each word.

Though unaware of the exact details, just from Cheng Da's account, it was clear Qin Yun's physical condition was far beyond ordinary.

He nodded, not pressing further on the topic, but asked one more question: "Will Mr. Qin be coming along?"

"Yes, I'll join. I'll lend a hand. My car's parked at the gas station—you go ahead, I'll follow shortly."

"Good. Departure!"

One soldier entered the driver's seat, Cheng Da took the front passenger seat, and the other two climbed into the back.

As the engine roared to life, the aggressive, military-green, extra-wide vehicle swiftly pulled out of the outpost, heading toward Qitai Daban. Qin Yun signaled to Sui Yang, then quickly returned to the gas station, started his car, and soon followed behind the Dongfeng Mengshi.