Chapter 152: The System Tells Me to Keep Heading South

At 8: 0 p. ., a Dongfeng Mengshi broke through the final layer of snow and stopped before the convoy.

At this point, the entire convoy had already adjusted its direction.

Without any Feihua, Han Dong immediately checked Tang Tang's condition; seeing she had not yet fully escaped danger, the group quickly moved her to the back of the Mengshi.

"Make sure all tire chains are properly installed, keep pace, don't fall behind, get in the vehicle." Cheng Da had no affection for people who wasted their lives out in this kind of weather.

Fuck, you're not Master Qin—you can't even protect yourselves, yet you dare come to the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway in winter? You're playing with your lives.

Soon, Zhou Sihai dragged Fang Chengbao behind his pickup, the pickup towed the Range Rover, the Land Cruiser and the G-Wagon followed behind, all moving slowly at 10 km/h toward Dahongliutan.

Qin Yun sat in the back seat of the G-Wagon, next to the chattering Xia Xiaoxing.

As soon as they got in, Xia Xiaoxing didn't stop talking, babbling nonstop with excitement in her eyes. Xia Xiaochuan watched this with envy, thinking: damn, you don't even talk this much with your own brother, yet you're so chatty with a stranger.

When the car reached Qitai Daban's pass, Xia Xiaoxing suddenly realized something, slammed her hand on the front seat backrest, and exclaimed joyfully: "Big Brother Qin, let me introduce you—this is my brother, Xia Xiaochuan."

Xia Xiaochuan, eyes watery, quickly greeted: "Big Brother Qin, hello, thank you so much this time."

"Hello, you two really do look alike," Qin Yun scanned their faces, "but why on earth did you come to the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway in this season? Normally, the entire route shuts down soon after. You could've waited a few more days—you wouldn't have gotten stuck here."

Xia Xiaochuan glanced at Xia Xiaoxing: "You'll have to ask her. I was sent by my dad to keep an eye on her—she insisted on joining the convoy for a self-drive trek across the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway."

Xia Xiaoxing's face flushed red, then she snapped: "Pay me back!"

"..."

Amid laughter and chatter, Xia Xiaoxing curiously asked: "Big Brother Qin, are you from Beijing?"

"Didn't you check your Moments?" Qin Yun shook his head. "After returning from Beijing, I picked up my car in Qinghai and kept traveling. When I got Zhongli's call, I was already in Xinjiang—do you really think I could've gotten here that fast otherwise?"

"Oh!"

Xia Xiaoxing felt relieved—if not for Qin Yun, she didn't know if they'd have survived, and Tang Tang's condition might have reached an irreversible state. Just thinking about it was terrifying.

"Didn't you say you'd go back to Quzhou and start working? Why are you out here again?"

Xia Xiaochuan immediately complained: "Big Brother Qin, you don't know—her job's already arranged, but she flat-out refuses to go, insisting she won't start until after the New Year, claiming she hasn't properly appreciated our country's beautiful landscapes. When we get back, Mom's righteous iron fist won't spare her."

Without this incident, with Dad and me around, we could've easily brushed it off.

But nearly dying? That's not something you can brush off. Thinking of it, Xia Xiaoxing's heart sank, her face instantly drooping.

"Brother, can we drive back slowly?"

Qin Yun silently shook his head and looked ahead at the vehicles.

But he didn't see the vehicles—instead, the system panel dropped down.

【Publish check-in task: Host must hike from Qitai Daban to Shiquanhe (only allowed to carry: backpack, clothing, sleeping bag, water bottle, dagger, food, bamboo flute, and livestreaming tools; snowboard permitted). Complete by 12: 0 noon, December 20 by drinking water from Shiquanhe.】

Three hours later, near midnight, under the lead of the Dongfeng Mengshi, the convoy finally arrived safely at Dahongliutan Military Station.

Qin Yun parked the vehicle; Sui Yang had already organized everything orderly.

Aside from Tang Tang needing medical attention, everyone else only needed accommodation—soldiers at the station handled it naturally, clearly used to such situations.

"Do you encounter this kind of thing often here?"

Sui Yang nodded: "Pretty much every month. This is the plateau—problems happen easily. Our role is to provide support and relay services."

He sighed and shook his head: "Originally, the station was meant to supply food, lodging, fuel, and medical aid to passing troops. But over time, its functions expanded. Now it not only handles medical rescue and transport for plateau soldiers and civilians, but also serves as the main transportation and communication hub for vehicles and explorers."

"Do you know what people call our station?"

Qin Yun shook his head: "What do they call it?"

"They call us the Lighthouse of Life," Sui Yang said. "Because the station sits at high altitude, with harsh climate and sparse vegetation—it's practically a lifeless zone. Yet we offer hope to travelers, so they call us the Lighthouse of Life."

"Haha, that's a fitting name."

After everyone was settled, Qin Yun returned to his assigned room—it had originally been for military families, not spartan at all, with a bed, blankets, and very warm.

But...

He reactivated the system panel, stared at the check-in task, and frowned deeply.

From Qitai Daban to Shiquanhe, traveling the Yezhi Line is over five hundred kilometers; even the straight-line distance is three hundred kilometers.

Today is December 8—he had only twelve days. Twelve days to cover five hundred kilometers was as hard as surviving in a desert. He had to walk at least fifty kilometers daily, or he'd never make it.

Without a time limit, it'd be no challenge for him. The winter Xinjiang-Tibet Highway meant high altitude, extreme day-night temperature swings, and water scarcity—but high altitude affected him not at all, unless extreme weather hit: blizzards, hailstorms, etc.

His gaze finally settled on the task's note: Only allowed to carry backpack, clothing, sleeping bag, water bottle, dagger, food, bamboo flute, and livestreaming tools—snowboard permitted.

From Qitai Daban to Tianshuihai Military Station, he could cover that stretch quickly on skis—but after that...

"Will I fail?"

Since the system appeared, he'd completed every check-in task without trouble.

Was this the first time he'd actually fail?

If he failed, what would the system do? Success brought skill rewards—would failure deduct skills?

He'd enjoyed the benefits of those skills—if one got removed, especially a crucial one, who could bear it?

"No. I won't fail. I'll complete it no matter what."

The night passed without incident.

At six the next morning, the station's bugle calls and training shouts rang out, piercingly loud.

The convoy members, who'd finally gotten a decent night's sleep, buried their heads under blankets but couldn't block the noise—finally, they groaned and dragged themselves up.

After a night's rest, Tang Tang's condition improved further—her pulmonary edema symptoms had mostly faded—but pneumonia wouldn't heal easily; with the crude conditions here, she needed to reach a proper hospital as soon as possible.

But Xiang Nian's Range Rover and Su Wan's Fang Chengbao were broken—if they towed them, progress would be painfully slow.

After discussion, they decided: Zhou Sihai and Song Shanhe would drive ahead to escort Tang Tang to the hospital; Su Wan, Xia Xiaochuan, Xia Xiaoxing, and Xiang Nian would follow slowly, then have the vehicles shipped by road later.

After finalizing plans, everyone thanked Qin Yun and the soldiers at the station again, then hurriedly left Dahongliutan.

"You're shipping your cars all the way to Shanghai?"

Qin Yun asked Xia Xiaoxing.

Xia Xiaoxing nodded: "Yeah, Big Brother Qin—we shipped ours ahead when we came."

Qin Yun thought for a moment, then slipped his car keys into Xia Xiaoxing's hand: "Then please help me ship my car back too—I'll pick it up in Shanghai."

"Huh?" Xia Xiaoxing froze, her voice rising involuntarily. "Big Brother Qin, you're not continuing your self-drive?"

Xia Xiaochuan and Su Wan nearby turned to look.

Qin Yun smiled: "The current Xinjiang-Tibet Highway is perfect for livestreaming—I plan to hike across it."

At this, Xia Xiaoxing's jaw nearly dropped; Xia Xiaochuan and Su Wan also looked stunned.

"Big Brother Qin, you're not joking?" Xia Xiaoxing quickly asked.

"I never joke about livestreaming. Besides, hiking across isn't that hard." Qin Yun walked to the trunk and began packing—he stuffed a few pairs of underwear into his clothes, then added his sleeping bag, water bottle, dagger, and drone.

Seeing Qin Yun wasn't joking, Xia Xiaoxing's restless heart instantly stirred, her eyes filled with longing.

But after glancing at Xia Xiaochuan, her longing collapsed instantly—she could only sigh inwardly.

At that moment, He Guang walked out and shook his head at Su Wan: "It still needs to be towed to the city for repair."

Qin Yun looked up at them, slung his backpack over his shoulder: "Let me take a look—if it's not a major issue, I can fix it."

"You know how to fix cars?" He Guang's expression clearly showed skepticism.

Qin Yun smiled inwardly: Vehicle maintenance skill was one of the first I ever gained.

He turned to Xia Xiaoxing: "Then I'm counting on you with my car."

"Yeah, don't worry, Big Brother Qin—leave it to me."

Xia Xiaoxing agreed.

He Guang leaned in, still doubtful: "Big Brother Qin, that Fang Chengbao shows no visible damage, and the dashboard has no error codes—how do you even begin to fix it?"

In his view, you had to know the problem before repairing.

But for Qin Yun, a master-level vehicle maintenance skill user, there were plenty of ways to diagnose a car's issue.

"We'll see soon enough."

Seeing his confident demeanor, He Guang remained skeptical; Su Wan, however, was delighted—if her car could be fixed, that'd be perfect. Otherwise, she'd have to tow it herself, risking being scammed.

"Big Brother Qin, thank you."

Qin Yun waved it off and moved toward the Fang Chengbao.

From the outside, nothing seemed wrong—but according to He Guang, the car had suddenly shut off and lost all power: pressing the start button yielded no lights, no sound, no response—everything dead, as if the entire battery had vanished.

Under these conditions, Qin Yun quickly identified several possibilities.

He asked He Guang for tools and began inspecting—after eliminating several options, he removed the underbody protective plate and saw the situation inside—his face broke into a smile.

"Found the problem."

"Where? Where?" He Guang leaned in, but still saw nothing but confusion.

Qin Yun pointed to a main negative ground cable on the chassis: "This Fang Chengbao's high-voltage battery doesn't directly power the whole car—it must go through a DCDC converter to step down to 12V. Extreme cold caused metal contraction, and bumps loosened the bolt, creating a poor connection—so the 12V system went completely dormant."

He casually tightened the bolt—the contracted, loose spot instantly resealed.

"Miss Su, hold the start button for fifteen seconds to reboot the entire system."

"Okay!"

Su Wan opened the door, pressed the start button, heart pounding nervously.

He Guang understood every word Qin Yun said, but didn't know what a DCDC was—he just realized the Fang Chengbao's issue was simply a disconnected ground cable.

Time passed—the fifteen seconds vanished in an instant.

The next moment, the dashboard lit up, the car powered on. Su Wan gasped in delight and immediately started the motor and engine.

With a low rumble, the two major components whirred to life—the Fang Chengbao, dormant for over a day, awakened again.

Xia Xiaoxing gazed at Qin Yun in awe: "Big Brother Qin, you're amazing—you actually fixed it!"

Qin Yun waved his hand, acting nonchalant: "Just a drop in the bucket. Alright, Xia Xiaoxing, get ready—I'll need you to drive me to Qitai Daban, then I'll start livestreaming."

As he spoke, Sui Yang and Cheng Da walked over.

Upon learning that Qin Yun planned to go live and trek to Shiquanhe, the two stared at each other in silence.

Especially Sui Yang, who simply could not comprehend—this was a high-altitude life Jinqu, and trekking through it carried unpredictable dangers.

He even felt this was irresponsible toward himself.

It was only when Gao Da leaned close to his ear and whispered that Qin Yun could earn over a million from a single livestream that he instantly understood.