Chapter 150: Fangcheng Bao Breaks Down & Tang Tang

At midnight, the Fangcheng Bao, 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 car's interior temperature, which had been over twenty degrees, dropped to freezing 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 visible as white mist.

Su Wan struggled to sit up, went to the driver's seat, and tried starting the car—but no matter how many times he pressed the ignition, it 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 grabbed the walkie-talkie in panic and called out: "Brother Guang, Brother Guang, respond if you hear me, respond if you hear me."

Soon, Zhou Sihai's voice was the first to reply.

"Su Wan, what's wrong?"

"Captain Zhou, the car's broken—the Fangcheng Bao shut off for no reason and won't start no matter what we do," Su Wan spoke rapidly, voice trembling, "The interior temperature is now extremely low."

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

The Fangcheng Bao—the one car that absolutely could not fail—had failed. It was a nightmare.

"Guang, move fast!"

"On my way."

He Guang quickly opened his door; a gust of freezing wind hit his face. He walked to the Fangcheng Bao, knocked on the door, and shouted: "Open up!"

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

The three said nothing, scrambled 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 Fangcheng Bao was running. The interior 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.

"Xiao Xing, what time is it?"

Xia Xing checked the time: "It's two in the morning. The car's completely dead? Won't start at all?"

If the Fangcheng Bao had power, it could've served as a massive mobile power source—if their own vehicles ran out of fuel, they could've warmed themselves inside it, taking turns and enduring.

But now, with the Fangcheng Bao broken, things were serious.

The relaxed atmosphere from earlier had vanished completely.

"Yeah, the power must've been cut for a long time—we woke up from the cold."

The brother and sister exchanged glances, their moods heavy.

At this moment, He Guang quickly inspected the car—voltage was present, so the battery wasn't the issue. Clearly, something else had cut the main power supply, but if the engine wouldn't start either, that was strange.

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

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

"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—we need a deeper inspection."

These words chilled Zhou Sihai to the bone.

A "deeper inspection" was impossible here—meaning the Fangcheng Bao was done for.

*Thud!

Zhou Sihai slammed his fist against 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 the 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, after leaving Dahongliutan, the Dongfeng Mengshi's speed dropped again and again due to snowdrifts—its snow-clearing pace was no better than a neighborhood garbage truck clearing fallen leaves.

After a full twelve hours overnight, they'd advanced only twenty kilometers—only because Cheng Da and his team knew the terrain well and didn't risk taking wrong turns.

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 tapped the door and jumped straight out, quickly walking toward Qin Yun.

"Mr. Qin, what's wrong?"

Qin Yun looked at the thick snow by the roadside. After two days, the once-loose flakes had compacted. 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 you to use TikTok?"

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

Seeing the man's cracked skin, Qin Yun recalled online videos about high-altitude troops.

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

Cheng Da smiled, carefree, watching the Dongfeng Mengshi inch 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 piled endlessly, far beyond what any land-based unit elsewhere endured.

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

They chatted casually until the Dongfeng Mengshi nearly vanished from view.

Qin Yun picked up Cheng Da, restarted the vehicle, and soon caught up with the Dongfeng Mengshi, trailing behind at a slow pace.

…

"Bad news, Old Zhou—Tang Tang has a fever."

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

He checked quickly—her face was flushed, and even before touching her, he felt heat radiating. When he pressed his hand to her forehead, it burned terrifyingly.

He immediately notified Zhou Sihai and restarted the vehicle; warm air slowly emerged from the vents as the engine turned on.

The convoy carried medicine for sudden fevers and colds.

But this time, for some reason, after taking medicine and wiping her body repeatedly, by noon, Su Wan saw no improvement—Tang Tang's temperature remained dangerously high, nearing forty degrees.

And now she began coughing violently.

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

"Captain Zhou, do something—Sister Tang's condition is bad!" Su Wan cried out in panic.

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

With help from several people, Tang Tang's coughing eased slightly—but her breathing grew louder.

Everyone watched helplessly, powerless—there was nothing to do but wait for her body's immune system to act.

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

"It's definitely pneumonia!"

Xia Xiaochuan shook his head, his heart heavy as stone—getting pneumonia here was a death sentence.

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 wife and daughter into it," Liu Nanzhou's words made Zhou Sihai turn to him in disbelief.

"Are you even a human being?"

Liu Nanzhou turned away, refusing to look.

Zhou Sihai let out a bitter laugh: "Ha, fine, Liu Nanzhou—you're so loyal. Fine—I'll file for divorce the moment we get back."

"Perfect."

*Ssshh—shhh—zzzz!

Suddenly, static crackled through the radio, then a muffled, scratchy voice blared: "... his is the Dahongliutan Station Rescue Team, I'm Cheng Da, receive and respond—this is the Dahongliutan Station Rescue Team, I'm Cheng Da, receive and respond!"

The repeated transmission made Zhou Sihai's eyes snap wide open. He grabbed 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, unlike a regular phone call—cold, rigid.

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

"Officer Cheng, we have nine people—five men, four women. We descended from Qitai Daban and traveled about seven kilometers before being trapped by snow. Two vehicles are broken and immobile. We're keeping warm only by idling the other vehicles' engines. And this morning, one of our female team members developed a high fever—it hasn't broken, and now she's coughing up blood…"

Listening to the radio transmission, Qin Yun said nothing.

The stranded group, hearing the exchange, each wore expressions of sudden hope.

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

Cheng Da glanced at the driver, Han Dong, who quickly replied: "High-altitude fever with persistent cough, now coughing blood—almost certainly pneumonia. Pneumonia isn't immediately fatal, but in 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 just been preparing to give water, froze—her hand trembled, nearly dropping the thermos.

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

Seeing that 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 like to..."

Qin Yun nodded, took the device, and said: "Have the patient sit up, don't let him lie flat, don't conserve oxygen—keep it pressed to his face, set the flow to maximum, and we'll deal with the rest when we arrive."

After speaking, he paused: "Xia Xiaoxing, how are you?"

"Big Brother Qin? Is that really you?"

Xia Xiaoxing nearly jumped with excitement, clutching the radio in disbelief.

"Mm, good that you're safe. Don't move recklessly. Stay put and wait for rescue."

After speaking, he returned the device to Cheng Da, his mood slightly eased.

Xia Xiaochuan looked at the excited Xia Xiaoxing: "Big Brother Qin? Who's that? Someone who'd come all the way here in this situation? How sentimental."

"What are you talking about?" Xia Xiaoxing punched Xia Xiaochuan hard, as if his true self had returned. "Mr. Qin, Mr. Qin! Mr. Qin came to save me! Heehee, it must've been Miss Li who told him."

"Mr. Qin?" Xia Xiaochuan blinked, then realized: "You mean that TikTok influencer you're always watching? Mr. Qin?"

"Mm, who else could be called Mr. Qin?"