Chapter 153: I Want a Life That Soars

Crack—!

Qin Yun stepped out of the vehicle, gazing at the endless white expanse of sky and earth, his mood lifting.

At 5170 meters, Qitai Daban's temperature had plunged to -25°C; every breath he exhaled instantly froze into icy mist.

"Xia Xiaoxing, go back," Qin Yun tapped the vehicle.

Xia Xiaoxing rolled down her window: "Big Brother Qin, if I leave the car here and hike with you through the route you mentioned, how about it?"

"Not how about it?" Qin Yun glared at her. "Get back now. You, with your tiny frame, think you can hike with me? Don't you want to live?"

Xia Xiaoxing stuck out her tongue: "I was just saying it out loud—I wouldn't dare go even if you told me to."

"Good to know."

Qin Yun pulled two drones from his backpack, checked them, confirmed full battery and no issues, then waved his hand: "Alright, let's go. I'm going live. If you want to watch, tune in on your phone—oh, and remember to send gifts."

"Okay!" Xia Xiaoxing nodded obediently, turned the vehicle around. "Then I'm off."

"Go, hurry up. Don't make your brother wait."

Boom—! The Land Rover roared, then slowly rolled toward Dahongliutan. Only when Xia Xiaoxing's figure vanished from sight did Qin Yun power on the machines.

The main drone quickly connected to the satellite signal and loaded onto Douyin's homepage.

He typed the title: Twelve Days Hiking Across Qitai Daban on the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway to Shiquanhe—Let's Feel the Isolation of the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway in Extreme Cold. Then he clicked "Go Live."

This livestream had no prior announcement, so anyone who tuned in right away was a true fan.

"Damn, what's going on? Has Brother Qin gone live?"

"Wonderful, Brother Qin went live without warning—total ambush."

"Hiking across the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway? 666, looking forward to it."

"Brother Qin is still so handsome—better than Wu Yanzu, outshining Jin Cheng Wu."

"Wow, the background is so desolate—it's instantly refreshing to look at."

Watching the viewer count rise steadily, Qin Yun didn't wait for more—he launched straight into his opening remarks.

"Hello everyone, I'm Qin Yun, a casual hiking enthusiast. I'm currently at the Qitai Daban pass on the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway. Look behind me—at that blue metal sign—the altitude here is over five thousand meters, deep in the plateau. There's no signal here—it's a no-man's-land. Fifty to sixty kilometers ahead lies Dahongliutan; fifty to sixty kilometers behind lies Tian Shuihai."

"This time, I'll hike from here across the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway to Shiquanhe, aiming to complete it within twelve days."

As he spoke, the viewer count had already climbed to fifty thousand. The more it spread, the faster it rose. By the time he finished his opening remarks, the upper-right corner showed a stable 10+, while the backend count kept surging.

"To increase the challenge, I'm carrying only one snowboard, one water bottle, one dagger, and some food."

Qin Yun briefly demonstrated. The drone instantly pulled back, circling him rapidly, capturing the entire Qitai Daban landscape.

Endless sky and earth, pure white, a chilling loneliness instantly flooded the screen.

"Brother Qin's livestream never disappoints—hiking the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway in December? Ha, for normal people, it's basically suicide."

"This snow looks deep—piled up really high."

"666, Brother Qin brought a snowboard—does he plan to ski?"

Qin Yun's voice echoed again in the livestream.

"From Qitai Daban to Shiquanhe, five hundred kilometers total. In twelve days, I must cover fifty kilometers daily to reach my goal. As you've seen, heavy snow fell here in the past few days—the snowpack is deep. The soldiers at the outpost cleared a stretch today, but snow remains all the way to Tian Shuihai."

"So, if I rely only on my feet, this stretch alone will take me an extremely long time."

The camera zoomed in as he patted the snowboard: "For this stretch, I'll use this. I aim to clear this snowfield before 2 p. m."

He strapped the snowboard to his feet and shouted: "Dajiang, turn on the BGM."

As he spoke, viewers suddenly noticed—this livestream, which had never had music—now played a background track.

"Damn, Brother Qin really updated it."

"666, that's Wang Feng's song."

"'A Life That Soars'—Brother Qin, take off."

As viewers said, Qin Yun's drone had undergone a system-level update; its AI now interfaced with the most advanced AI models. Voice commands were effortless—adding background music was child's play.

Qin Yun stepped lightly on the snowboard and glided to the pass's edge.

"How many times have I fallen on the road? How many times have my wings been broken? Now I no longer feel lost—I want to surpass this ordinary desire."

"I want a life that soars—"

As the chorus struck, the soaring melody rode the icy wind, echoing across the empty pass. Qin Yun leapt forward, snowboard beneath him, plunging downhill. The drone followed closely, the secondary camera switching to wide-angle, the action cam ready to shift.

"Like flying across boundless skies—"

With the BGM playing, Qin Yun's figure shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, his posture open and upright, gliding swiftly across the snow.

In the frame: pure white sky and earth, endless snow-capped mountains, boundless snow plains.

The passionate song blended with the vast snowy landscape, paired with that lone figure—unrestrained, wild freedom crashed into every viewer's eyes.

In that instant, it seemed the entire world held only wind, snow, song, and that unyielding silhouette.

"Hahahaha—yeah—"

Qin Yun laughed wildly, as if embracing the whole sky and earth.

Icy wind lashed his face, snow flurried fiercely—only those who had truly lived it could feel this boundless, unshackled freedom.

At this moment, Qin Yun was exactly that—he had completely broken free, felt the realm of no chains.

Viewers before the livestream stared, stunned.

"Holy shit, Brother Qin looks so free."

"This single shot alone could be a movie scene—so breathtaking."

"In this hellish place, Brother Qin dares to slide down like that? Doesn't he fear breaking his neck?"

"Awesome!"

"Xiao Zhu sent the host…"

After gliding roughly two kilometers, with the BGM changed three times, Qin Yun's smooth ride finally hit a snag.

A sudden gale swept in; Qin Yun immediately bent low, lowered his center of gravity, and then a stone the size of a human head appeared abruptly right in his path.

There was no time to change direction.

Viewers in the livestream chat widened their eyes at this sight.

"Shit, Brother Qin is gonna crash."

"Watch out, Brother Qin."

Qin Yun's expression hardened; he sank lower, then surged upward, lifting his entire body off the snowboard. As the tail pressed down, it skimmed just past the stone's peak, then landed heavily, continuing forward.

But it wasn't over—perhaps something had happened last night, for the road now bore scattered rocks of varying sizes: some as large as a human head, others as big as a fist, as if deliberately laid out to increase the difficulty of his skiing.

Faced with this, Qin Yun did not panic.

He rapidly plotted a route in his mind, and his body instinctively began to sway.

On camera, his figure on the snowboard moved as effortlessly as in a game, occasionally spraying snow into the air, occasionally launching himself airborne over obstacles; he navigated nearly two to three hundred meters of treacherous terrain without any significant drop in speed.

No one else could pull that off.

"Brother Qin 666, that was insane."

"Damn, if I didn't know Brother Qin despises staging stuff, I'd swear this was pre-planned."

"Yeah, this is just too 6—so damn cool."

Gifts flooded the livestream nonstop; viewership had surpassed five hundred thousand.

This place was never a normal ski slope; any accident could happen. Qin Yun's focus was unprecedented—he scanned every potential hazard with piercing eyes, swiftly analyzing the original terrain to avoid slipping into ditches or hitting rocks.

After gliding another five kilometers, he returned to the spot where the convoy had once stopped; beyond that, the snow surface had reverted to deep, thick drifts, drastically reducing visibility and increasing danger.

"Looking at the tracks on the ground, it seems several vehicles stopped here?"

"What's going on?"

"Didn't Brother Qin just say the garrison cleared a stretch ahead?"

"Brother Qin, talk to us!"

Qin Yun pulled the drone closer, glanced at the comments, and smiled: "A few days ago, snow trapped vehicles here; I came with the garrison rescue team to help, so these tracks are from that."

He spoke casually, but anyone with half a brain knew it must have been intense.

At that moment, someone in the livestream suddenly said: "I was in the trapped convoy. When Brother Qin appeared on his snowboard, it felt like a god descending from heaven."

"Holy shit, guy above, tell us more!"

Qin Yun glanced at the account—its nickname was "Little Star." No doubt, it was Xia Xiaoxing.

Without bothering to respond to Xia Xiaoxing's bragging, he gazed at the endless white expanse ahead and took a deep breath.

But just as he prepared to continue, a chill brushed his neck and forehead; snowflakes began drifting down.

The drone clearly captured this moment.

"Is it snowing?"

"Good or bad?"

"From Brother Qin's expression, it doesn't look good."

Qin Yun gave a bitter laugh: "Of course not good. First, heavy snow blocks visibility. Second, though it looked easy watching me glide down just now, judging the terrain is extremely hard—if luck runs out, you could end up tumbling head over heels."

"Then what do we do?"

"Trust Brother Qin—this is nothing to him."

"Agreed!"

Qin Yun silently shook his head, feeling his luck was poor—but he didn't hesitate. He stepped onto his snowboard and set off.

Across the vast snowy wasteland, a bright figure continuously stirred waves of snow, as if treating this place like an ocean and himself a surfer.

The snow grew heavier with time.

He didn't know this snowfall covered a vast area—over a hundred kilometers were shrouded under dark clouds.

Sui Yang, having received the meteorological report, found Cheng Da.

Cheng Da was resting in his room, holding his phone, the screen showing Qin Yun.

"Cheng Da."

"Platoon Leader!" Cheng Da immediately stood up.

"Post a comment in the chat: this snowfall covers a huge area, stretching all the way to the Xin-Zang border."

"Yes!"

Cheng Da immediately obeyed, swiftly replying in the comments to warn Qin Yun.

Seeing Cheng Da's comment, Qin Yun's heart stirred.

The Xin-Zang border was still 66 km from Tian Shuihai; from the Xin-Zang border to Death Gully was only 21 km, and Death Gully had a checkpoint.

The checkpoint was manned by police officers, special forces, and border guards—meaning if he reached Death Gully before nightfall, he could spend the night there, though supplies still needed replenishment at the Tian Shuihai garrison.

Thus, from now until nightfall, he could cover 130 km and reach the Death Gully checkpoint.

One hundred thirty kilometers—if hiking, impossible. But now that snow had fallen and melted, the ruined road had turned to ice, smooth as glass; even accumulating snow was good news for him, with his snowboard.

"Let's go!"

Qin Yun gritted his teeth and decided to push forward.

If he failed, he could always rest at the Tian Shuihai garrison.

His speed didn't slow at all; on the downhill slope, it even increased.

But he didn't go too fast—he was still narrating, chatting, and occasionally checking comments.

As he passed the old garrison before Tian Shuihai, his snowboard suddenly received heavy impact—something blocked his path.

'Boom—!'

The massive collision echoed through the livestream; everyone saw Qin Yun's entire body flung into the air. At 15 km/h, he had no time to react—his body flew off the path, flung sharply to the right.

"Holy shit, you scared the hell out of me."

"Qin Ye is in danger."

"Fuck, he just fell? What did he hit? That noise was huge."

In the critical moment, Qin Yun swiftly adjusted his posture, forcibly twisting his body midair until his limbs faced downward, then thudded into the snow with a 'plop.'

The deep snow instantly crushed into a deep crater.

"Gh—!"

A sharp pain shot through Qin Yun's left hand; he stood up immediately and saw a gash across his palm, blood streaming freely.

This scene struck countless viewers in the livestream with a jolt of horror.