Chapter 150

At midnight, the Fang Chengbao, which had never shut off since startup, suddenly emitted an unnatural sound, and then the engine and motor noises ceased instantly.

The warm air from the air vents quietly stopped.

The cabin temperature, originally over twenty degrees, dropped to freezing point in less than an hour.

Tang Tang, Su Wan, and Liu Nanzhou, huddled inside, were nearly frozen awake.

"What… what's going on? Why did the air conditioning stop?" Liu Nanzhou shivered, his breath turning white.

Su Wan struggled to get up, went to the driver's cabin, and tried to start the vehicle—but no matter how many times he pressed the start button, the car gave no response.

After several failed attempts, Su Wan's face turned terrifyingly pale.

"It's over—the car's broken down."

Hearing Su Wan's words, Tang Tang sat up quickly: "Really? What do we do now?"

Liu Nanzhou immediately said: "The walkie-talkie—hurry, contact He Guang, have him check what's wrong."

Su Wan frantically grabbed the walkie-talkie and called out: "Brother Guang, Brother Guang, respond if you hear me, respond if you hear me."

Soon, the first response came from Zhou Sihai's voice.

"Su Wan, what's wrong?"

"Commandant Zhou, the car's broken down—the Fang Chengbao shut off for no reason and won't start at all," Su Wan spoke rapidly, panicked. "The cabin temperature is now extremely low."

Zhou Sihai's heart sank, and a mask of anguish appeared on his face.

The Fang Chengbao—the one vehicle that absolutely could not fail—had failed. It was a nightmare.

"He Guang, move fast!"

"On my way."

He Guang quickly opened his door; a cold wind hit his face. He walked to the Fang Chengbao, knocked on the door, and shouted: "Open up."

The door opened. He Guang looked at the three shivering people: "Get out quickly and go to other vehicles. Sister, go back to Old Zhou's. Tang Tang, go to your own car. Su Wan, go to Xia Xiaoxing's car. Move fast—don't catch a cold."

The three said nothing, hurriedly got out of the car, and quickly climbed into three other vehicles.

As soon as Su Wan entered the G-Wagon, she felt warmth—but it was nothing compared to when the Fang Chengbao was running. The cabin temperature was at most five or six degrees, a world apart from the twenty-plus degrees she'd had before.

But at least there was warmth now. It was bearable.

"Xia Xiaoxing, what time is it?"

Xia Xiaoxing glanced at the clock: "It's two in the morning. The car's completely dead? Won't start at all?"

You know, even without fuel, the Fang Chengbao could still serve as a massive mobile power source—when their own vehicles ran out of fuel, they could still warm themselves inside the Fang Chengbao and take turns enduring the cold.

But now, with the Fang Chengbao broken, it was serious.

The relaxed atmosphere from daytime had vanished completely.

"Yeah, probably been dead for a long time—we woke up from the cold."

The brother and sister exchanged a glance, their moods heavy.

At this moment, He Guang quickly checked everything: voltage was present, meaning the battery had charge—so it wasn't the battery. Clearly, some other cause had cut the main power, but if even the engine wouldn't turn over, that was strange.

These two systems weren't connected—how could they both shut down at once?

He checked the fuses, ground wires, engine—each one—and his face grew darker.

"He Guang, found the problem yet?"

Zhou Sihai's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

He Guang snatched it up and snapped: "No, I can't tell where the problem is—I need to do a deeper inspection."

These words chilled Zhou Sihai to the bone.

"Deeper inspection" meant nothing here—conditions were impossible. It meant the Fang Chengbao was done for.

*Bang! *

Zhou Sihai slammed his fist hard on the steering wheel, his face grim.

"Panicking won't help. At least the other vehicles still have fuel—let's just pray none of them break down." Liu Nanzhou, slightly warmer now, spoke with deep concern.

He Guang closed the door and returned to his pickup. He picked up the walkie-talkie again: "I'll inspect it thoroughly tomorrow morning. Tonight, we just have to endure."

The second half of the night was bound to be sleepless.

Meanwhile, since leaving Dahongliu Beach, the Dongfeng Mengshi had slowed repeatedly due to snowdrifts—its snowplowing speed was no better than a neighborhood garbage truck clearing fallen leaves.

After a full night—twelve hours—they had advanced only twenty kilometers. Only because Cheng Da and the others were familiar with the terrain could they avoid getting lost.

Through the rearview mirror, Cheng Da suddenly saw the Land Rover Defender behind them stop. Qin Yun got out.

"I'm getting out to check."

Cheng Da patted the door and jumped straight out, quickly walking toward Qin Yun.

"Commander Qin, what's wrong?"

Qin Yun looked at the thick snow beside the road. After two days, the once-loose flakes had hardened somewhat. He pressed his hand against it, estimated its density, and felt a faint stir in his mind.

He looked up at Cheng Da and smiled: "Do military units allow watching TikTok?"

Cheng Da nodded: "We have rest periods, but phone use is scheduled."

Seeing the cracks on the man's skin, Qin Yun recalled online videos he'd seen about high-altitude troops.

"Why did you decide to enlist here? It must be brutal."

Cheng Da smiled, carefree, watching the Dongfeng Mengshi slowly push forward: "Of course it's hard—but wherever the country needs us, we go. We can't just refuse because it's tough."

Qin Yun nodded, deeply impressed: "Was it hard to adapt?"

"I'm from Jiangsu. When I first came here, I had headaches, insomnia, nausea, dizziness—I took a long time to adjust. Some never adapted and were reassigned elsewhere."

Qin Yun could imagine the hardships these high-altitude soldiers faced.

Altitude, temperature, water, electricity, missions, training, monotonous life—difficulties were endless, far beyond what any land-based unit elsewhere endured.

"Actually, we're lucky here. The troops at Quanshui Lake have it worse—no signal at all, phones are just decorations. Here, at least we have diesel and photovoltaic power, and now we have signal too. Compared to them, we're still in civilization."

The two chatted casually, only stopping when the Dongfeng Mengshi was about to leave their line of sight.

Qin Yun picked up Cheng Da, restarted the vehicle, and soon caught up with the Dongfeng Mengshi, following it slowly.

……

"Something's wrong, Lao Zhou—Tang Tang has a fever!"

Early that morning, Song Shanhe noticed Tang Tang trembling even inside her sleeping bag.

He quickly checked and saw her face flushed red; before even touching her, he felt heat radiating from her. When he placed his hand on her forehead, it was scorching.

He immediately notified Zhou Sihai, then restarted the vehicle; as it powered on, warm air slowly began flowing from the vents.

The convoy carried medicine for sudden illnesses like fever and colds.

But this time, for some reason, after taking the medicine and continuously wiping her body, by noon Tang Tang showed no improvement—her temperature remained dangerously high, nearing forty degrees.

And she began to cough violently.

In this environment, once she coughed, she couldn't stop—her breathing grew difficult.

"Team Leader Zhou, do something! Tang Tang's condition is bad!" Su Wan cried anxiously.

"What can I do? She's taken the medicine, but the fever won't break!" Zhou Sihai grabbed his hair, his scalp feeling like it might split, "Make her drink water—just stop the coughing, or she'll suffocate."

With help from several people, Tang Tang's coughing finally lessened, but her breathing grew louder and louder.

Everyone watched helplessly, powerless to act, forced to leave her fate to chance and wait for her immune system to respond.

From noon until night, Tang Tang's fever never broke; later, she began coughing up phlegm streaked with blood.

"She definitely has pneumonia!"

Xia Xia Xiaochuan shook his head, his heart heavy as if crushed by a stone—getting pneumonia in this place could kill you in an instant.

Inside the Land Cruiser, Zhou Sihai looked exhausted, repeatedly trying the radio—no response. His eyes were bloodshot, his anxiety at its peak.

"If Tang Tang dies, you take full responsibility—don't drag my daughter and me into it," Liu Nanzhou said, making Zhou Sihai turn to him in disbelief.

"Are you even a human being?"

Liu Nanzhou turned away, refusing to look at him.

Zhou Sihai let out a bitter laugh: "Hah, fine, Liu Nanzhou—you're so loyal and righteous. Don't worry, when we get back, we'll go straight to the Minzheng Bureau."

"Perfect."

"Ssshh—shhh—zzzz!"

Suddenly, static crackled through the radio, followed by a muffled, scratchy voice booming out: "... This is the Dahongliutan Military Station Rescue Team, I'm Cheng Da, receive and respond—this is the Dahongliutan Military Station Rescue Team, I'm Cheng Da, receive and respond!"

The dual transmissions made Zhou Sihai's eyes snap wide open. He snatched the radio: "Hello… hello… I'm Zhou Sihai, leader of the stranded convoy, hello… can you hear me?"

"Hello, we hear you. Report your current situation immediately."

The radio's voice was narrow, nothing like a regular phone call—cold, rigid.

But to Zhou Sihai and Liu Nanzhou, it sounded like celestial music. He quickly switched on the vehicle's internal channel, connecting everyone's walkie-talkies.

"Officer Cheng, we have nine people—five men, four women. We descended from Qitai Daban and drove about seven kilometers before being trapped by heavy snow. Two vehicles are now broken down and immobile. We're keeping warm only by idling fuel-powered vehicles. This morning, one of our female team members developed a high fever that hasn't broken—even now she's coughing up blood…"

Hearing the radio transmission, Qin Yun said nothing.

Among the stranded group, hearing the radio exchange, everyone's faces lit up with excitement.

After listening, Cheng Da immediately said: "Our rescue team is currently five kilometers from Qitai Daban and twelve kilometers from you. We'll speed up. Stay put. As for the patient…"

Cheng Da turned to the driver, who quickly replied: "High-altitude fever that won't break, with persistent coughing—now it's progressed to coughing blood. Without doubt, it's pneumonia. Pneumonia isn't immediately fatal, but at high altitude, it easily triggers high-altitude pulmonary edema. Once edema sets in, death can come within hours."

Hearing this analysis, Zhou Sihai felt his blood turn cold.

"Then… what do we do?"

Han Dong frowned, helpless: "Best solution: descend from high altitude immediately. Drop a thousand meters and you avoid pulmonary edema. Also—from now on, don't give the patient anything to eat or drink—not even water."

Su Wan, who had been preparing to give water, froze, her hand trembling—her thermos nearly slipped from her grip.

She quickly capped the thermos, face filled with panic—she'd already fed Tang Tang water more than once.

Seeing Han Dong had nothing more to add, Cheng Da prepared to end the call—but suddenly remembered something and turned to Qin Yun: "Mr. Qin, would you…?"

Qin Yun nodded, took the device: "Have the patient sit up—don't let her lie flat. Don't conserve oxygen—clamp it over her face, set flow to maximum. Everything else can wait until we arrive."

He paused, then added: "Xia Xiaoxing, how are you?"

"Big Brother Qin? Is that really you?"

Xia Xiaoxing nearly jumped with excitement, gripping the walkie-talkie in disbelief.

"Mm. Good you're safe. Don't move. Wait for rescue right where you are."

He handed the device back to Cheng Da, his mood slightly eased.

Xia Xia Xiaochuan looked at the excited Xia Xiaoxing: "Big Brother Qin? Who's that? He's coming all the way here? So devoted?"

"Shut up!" Xia Xiaoxing punched Xia Xia Xiaochuan hard, as if returning to his true self, "Mr. Qin! Mr. Qin! Mr. Qin's come to save me! Hehe, it must've been Li Li who told him!"

"Mr. Qin?" Xia Xia Xiaochuan blinked, then realized: "That's the Douyin influencer you're always obsessed with? Mr. Qin?"

"Yeah—who else could be called Mr. Qin?"