Chapter 192: The Treasure Chest

At the production team's camp, most staff members did not know the treasure chest's location.

George looked at Daniel and smiled lightly, unaware that Daniel's expression was strangely off.

When the treasure chest's location was finalized, feasibility was naturally considered. This ice mountain, over a thousand meters high, was impossible to climb without proper tools—the summit option was eliminated immediately.

But if placed within the mountain, the treasure hunt would lose all competitive edge.

So, they ultimately chose an extreme solution—placing the treasure chest five meters beneath the ice layer.

For the contestants, they must first determine whether the chest is above or below; if they guess wrong, they lose everything. Even if they guess right, retrieving it remains a problem.

At the lake's center, the ice is over a meter thick—breaking through is pure fantasy.

The only option is to find a nearby thin-ice zone, and selecting that zone is critical: it cannot be too far, or oxygen will run out; even if they find the chest, dying before escaping renders it useless.

The two-million-dollar prize is not easily won.

The production team even prepared for the possibility of not being able to pay out the prize, as completing the final stage was far too difficult.

"Notify the tech team: once Qin Yun, Emily, and Justin enter Atlin Lake, switch all livestreams to a single feed for unified coordination."

"Understood."

At this moment, the four outside the mountain were arguing fiercely.

Gerald and Jack, who disliked each other, believed the chest was definitely inside the mountain; Sean and Tom thought it was very likely at the lake bottom.

Jack sneered: "Tom, the chance it's at the lake bottom is even lower. Do you know how deep this lake is? The deepest point is over two hundred meters, average depth fifty. Even if I assume the bottom is shallower—say thirty meters—how do you dive without professional gear? And while the water temperature is much higher than outside, it's still around freezing. If the chest were at the bottom, the production team never intended to give us the prize."

Tom shook his head: "You've got a point, but look at this mountain—how do you climb it? The entire slope is covered in ice and snow; without top-tier gear, it's impossible."

"Still, it's more plausible than the lake bottom."

"But…"

They argued endlessly, neither able to convince the other.

Finally, Tom coldly said: "Enough. If you think it's on the mountain, you and Gerald climb it. I'll go with Sean to try diving."

In just a moment, the four split into two camps.

But Sean's words immediately turned their anger toward him.

"Uh… don't we have a drone? Why not first climb and search the mountain—if we find nothing, then come back and dive?"

Jack spat: "The location's already clear. What's there to search for? It's either the summit or the lake bottom—no other options."

Tom added: "Right. This locator has high precision—error under five meters."

Jack looked up at the towering peak, then at the ice wall as thick as a fortress. He felt whichever location it was, it was a disaster.

Yet despite the arguing, it was hard for them to make a final decision.

Because their energy was limited—once they chose, they couldn't turn back. If they lost, they'd have no strength left to pursue a second option.

"Let's cooperate," Tom took a deep breath. "The locator will auto-shut off in less than half an hour. Since its precision is accurate enough, let's use it to eliminate one option. Arguing here won't help."

Everyone agreed—right now, knowing the chest's location was most critical.

Immediately, the four began using their locators to determine exact positions.

After each position was confirmed, they found all four locations differed: some required ascending the mountain, others were lower. Due to precision error, a horizontal difference of four or five meters on the mountain could mean a vertical difference of dozens of meters.

The four quickly drew maps on the ice, using the sun to locate the summit, then fixed points on the ice surface and constructed right triangles based on each locator's position.

Finally, they stared in silence—the treasure chest's location precisely aligned with the summit.

They were speechless, mouths full of complaints they couldn't voice.

Logically, the chance of the chest being inside the mountain was low—it was either the summit or the lake bottom.

If the locator reading wasn't the summit, the chest was almost certainly at the lake bottom.

But now, all four locators showed positions unmistakably near the summit—meaning the chest was very likely on the summit.

"Damn, it shut off."

Jack's locator suddenly went black; he smashed it onto the ground in rage.

The others looked at their locators and saw all had shut down.

But the locators were already useless anyway; they didn't care.

Gerald glanced at the sky and sighed: "Find a place to spend the night. Nightfall is hours away—we won't make it today."

Jack turned to him, smirking: "Gerald, where are your friends? I remember Emily, Michael, and a Chinese guy—why haven't they shown up yet?"

Gerald's face darkened. He glared: "None of your damn business."

"Haha, now that the locators shut off automatically, looks like they got eliminated."

Gerald turned and walked away, refusing to engage with the bastard.

"Enough," Tom said. "Rest today. Head into the forest, build a shelter. We'll figure it out tomorrow." He followed Gerald.

Sean immediately followed.

Jack shrugged, muttering: "Heh, I knew the Chinese guy couldn't handle wilderness survival. Maybe he got eliminated in the first stage."

Some livestream viewers, Jack's fans, found this scene painfully awkward.

Fuck, shut up, Jack. Can you even compare yourself to Qin Yun?

Even though the champion hadn't been decided yet, everyone in their hearts knew Qin Yun's strength far surpassed everyone else—not even close. Not even Tom.

As time passed, Emily and Justin appeared one after another on the lake surface, arriving before the lake mountain. They exchanged no words, merely glanced at the ground traces and knew others had arrived ahead.

But the light was fading. After a brief observation, they quickly left, deciding to wait until tomorrow.

As darkness fell and the sun set, stars emerged one by one.

Around ten p. ., a figure silently appeared before the lake mountain.

Who else but Qin Yun.

"Heh, didn't expect the locator to point to a lake mountain." Qin Yun smiled at the mountain before him. "But the chest is very unlikely to be inside the mountain."

Livestream viewers were curious about his reasoning.

Qin Yun walked around, using starlight to spot numerous ground traces, confirming the locator's final position. He couldn't pinpoint it exactly, so he roughly estimated, combining the traces to define a fifty-meter radius.

"I don't know if others have climbing experience, but I do," Qin Yun stated his judgment. "In China, I once summited Yaomei Peak in Sichuan under extreme weather—the highest difficulty rating in the world. Climbing ice-covered peaks is terrifying without professional gear and equipment."

"If the production team placed the chest on the summit, with no tools available, they'd just be mocking us—pure harassment. So summit is almost certainly ruled out."

"That leaves the mountain interior or the lake bottom." He stomped the thick ice, then touched it. "So I only need to judge whether the lake bottom is plausible."

Saying this, he walked toward the shore.

"The water temperature beneath this frozen lake is around freezing. Though much warmer than outside, it's still an extreme low. The production team must consider the feasibility of placing the chest underwater."

"First, the lake bottom can't be too deep. The world record is around fifty meters. We can set a stricter limit—thirty meters. So thirty meters is the probable maximum depth."

"Beyond that depth, the chance of the chest being underwater is nearly zero. But if the depth is under thirty meters, the probability rises to ninety percent. The mountain interior is unlikely because this is a wilderness survival show—risking death is the baseline."

Qin Yun rambled on, reached the shore, and began gathering slender branches to weave.

After searching, he found a large patch of Arctic willow—a drought-resistant shrub. In winter, all leaves had fallen, leaving only reddish-brown, flexible, ground-hugging branches.

From dozens of centimeters to one or two meters long.

Though frozen hard, they weren't brittle—perfect for making rope.

Soon, he wove a rope over thirty meters long. He tied a stone to one end, then found a sharper rock, and carried everything toward the lake ice.

"Haha, everyone else is asleep, but Qin's still livestreaming."

"Qin is such a hardworking man."

"Go, Qin."

"Qin's here? These guys have no chance. No matter where the chest is, they're done."

As Qin Yun stepped onto Atlin Lake, the livestream had quietly shifted: only one public feed remained, centrally managed by the production team.

He found a thin-ice zone, about thirty centimeters thick, and began smashing it—hammering for two full hours.

When he broke through, it was past midnight.

Qin Yun caught his breath. The nonstop labor was exhausting. He pointed toward the lake mountain: "From here to there, depth won't vary much—maybe one meter difference at most."

He kicked the Arctic willow rope, weighted with stone, into the ice hole.

*Plop*. The stone sank swiftly. The rope slowly pulled downward—ten meters… twenty meters… soon past twenty-five.

Just as the rope neared its limit, it stopped—clearly, the stone had reached bottom.

Qin Yun quickly pulled the stone up and precisely measured the rope length.

"Twenty-seven meters. This lake bottom is only twenty-seven meters deep." Qin Yun sighed. "Compared to diving, I'd rather climb. But this confirms it—the production team almost certainly placed the chest underwater."

He sighed, his mood heavy.

"The production team really doesn't treat us as human beings. This could get people killed."

He took the rope back, returned to shore, built a simple shelter, and started a fire for the night.

…

The night passed silently. At dawn, seven figures emerged from the forest one after another.

When Tom and the others saw Qin Yun, they were stunned.

Emily and Gerald immediately walked over, embraced, and exchanged brief greetings.

Gerald laughed heartily: "Qin, I knew you could do it."

Qin Yun punched him lightly on the chest: "Lucky break. You got here early yesterday, didn't you?"

Emily said: "The tracks outside the mountain must be theirs."

"Yeah," Gerald nodded. "I arrived around noon yesterday, but couldn't determine the locator's position, so I decided to wait until today."

The three chatted briefly, then walked together to the edge of the lake mountain.

Tom pointed to the final locator reading: "Yesterday we checked—it's directly vertical to the summit. We couldn't tell if it's on the summit, inside the mountain, or underwater. Do you have any ideas?"

He was clearly addressing Qin Yun, Emily, and Justin.

Emily and Justin shook their heads, indicating they had no solution.

Qin Yun scanned them and did not conceal his words: "I tested it last night—the depth from here to the lake bottom is roughly within 30 meters, so compared to the mountain, I believe the treasure chest is at the lake bottom."

"You tested it? How?"

Jack frowned, his expression skeptical.

Qin Yun shrugged: "Believe it or not."

Jack's face darkened with anger, then he let out a cold laugh: "I still trust my own judgment—the treasure chest is definitely on the mountain. We only need to search straight up from the summit, and we'll find it."

"Emily, what do you think?" Gerard clearly still sided with Jack, despite their rivalry.

Emily showed no hesitation, standing beside Qin Yun: "I trust Qin's judgment."

Gerard turned to the other man: "Justin, what's your view?"

Justin looked around, helplessly said: "No matter where it is, I've got no chance of getting it—I'm out. I'll just be a spectator here."

His decision shocked everyone, but upon reflection, it wasn't surprising.

Whether the treasure chest was anywhere, retrieving it would mean facing near-certain death; giving up was not an unreasonable choice.