Chapter 193: Splitting Up, Peril Everywhere

Once a person has made up their mind, unless there is strong evidence proving right or wrong, most will cling to their own idea. Don't deny it—you and I are the same.

Unless you can convince him, or your opinion overrides his.

Clearly, the other six, besides Justin, cannot do this.

Even though Qin Yun said the lake's depth is around thirty meters, it couldn't change Jack and Gerard's minds—even though the two despised each other.

But with two million dollars at stake, some petty grudges mean nothing.

In the end, the six split into two groups.

Jack and Gerard prepared themselves and chose to enter the mountains; while Tang Mu, Emily, Xiao En, and Qin Yun chose to go underwater.

Watching the two vanish into the mountains, Tang Mu turned to Qin Yun and the others, clapped his hands: "Alright, what's it going to be? Team up or go solo?"

Xiao En glanced at Qin Yun and Emily, without a moment's hesitation: "Team up. Otherwise it's too dangerous."

Emily agreed, but raised the issue of the prize: "If we team up and find the treasure chest, how do we split the reward?"

Tang Mu answered without hesitation: "Naturally, we split it evenly."

Evenly?

Hearing those two words, Qin Yun immediately rejected the idea of cooperating with them. Fuck, I came all this way not just to build my overseas reputation, but for these two million—split it and I'm left with pennies. Who the hell am I splitting with?

"I prefer going solo."

"Qin!" Emily cried out urgently, "Qin, going alone is too dangerous. If you dive without someone to assist, something could go wrong."

Qin Yun knew the danger well—better than any of them.

Underwater ice diving: the temperature alone is a threat. They're already in an extreme cold zone; entering water risks muscle stiffness and cramps. Second, there's no natural light under the ice—once the ice is a meter thick, you see nothing unless you have a powerful flashlight.

He glanced at the powerful flashlight hanging at Emily's waist, his thoughts shifting slightly.

Also, at thirty meters under ice, water pressure approaches 3.7 atmospheres. With insufficient oxygen and zero visibility, losing consciousness means certain death.

Beyond that, other problems can't be ignored.

"It's fine." Qin Yun patted Emily's shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry about me. I won't dive without proper preparation. You all take care of yourselves."

Emily was about to say more, but Tang Mu stopped her.

Tang Mu's cold gaze swept over Qin Yun: "Since Qin has decided, Emily, don't argue further. We must respect everyone's choice."

Emily sighed helplessly and walked off with Tang Mu and Xiao En to discuss further.

Qin Yun ignored them, took his drone, and walked along the lake's edge. Justin, curious, followed.

"Qin, why won't you team up with them?"

This was also what the viewers in the livestream were curious about—team up and get the treasure chest, rather than end up with nothing.

Qin Yun smiled, avoiding a direct answer: "No reason. You could team up with them too—no need to give up outright."

Justin was a bald man in his early thirties, solidly built.

Seeing Qin Yun wouldn't answer, he didn't press further, only shook his head: "I know my limits. Neither mountain climbing nor diving is my strength—I won't take that risk."

"Then why did you join this show?"

Justin immediately smiled, as if recalling something: "I only came to fulfill my daughter's request. She wants to see me on the show."

Qin Yun gave a thumbs-up: "You're a good father."

"Hahaha, thanks, Qin. Wish you success."

With that, Justin stepped aside. He didn't press the distress button either, simply waited on-site for results.

On Tang Mu's side, the three quickly reached an agreement.

Step one: make ropes. Step two: find the thinnest ice near the location marker and break a hole. Step three: send someone underwater.

The plan was simple, not complex.

After deciding, the three immediately began acting.

Entering the forest, they chose Arctic willow for the ropes. Soon, working together, they finished two hundred-meter-long ropes.

Then they searched for thin ice zones—must be suitable, and not too far from the location marker. Roughly, that meant searching thirty to forty meters beyond the mountain's base.

Not long after, Tang Mu stomped the ice beneath his feet and said to the others: "Here. About forty centimeters thick. We'll break one hole, then punch two breathing holes along this line, then decide who goes down first."

Emily and Xiao En had no objections.

On the other side, Qin Yun heard the noise, turned back, and saw the three taking turns smashing the ice. He smiled: "Emily and the others are breaking the ice hole."

Instantly, the livestream switched over—the production team always gave Qin Yun the highest priority.

Especially now, after centralizing all livestream feeds, they were even more attentive: whenever Qin Yun spoke, the camera cut to him immediately.

"Aren't you worried the others will get the treasure chest first, Qin?"

"Yeah, Qin seems so calm."

"Do you think the treasure chest might actually be on the mountain?"

"Of course possible. Unless the show reveals it, anything could be anywhere."

"Either way, one group is definitely going to fail."

"I hope it's Jack and Gerard who fail—otherwise we won't see Qin win."

Qin Yun was also searching for a suitable ice spot. His lack of concern about Tang Mu's group getting there first came from his own judgment.

As a legendary wilderness hunter with master-level diving skills, he understood better than anyone the difficulty of diving thirty meters under extreme cold without proper gear.

It wasn't that he looked down on them—it was simply impossible for ordinary people.

Too extreme!

Unless the treasure chest is near the lake's surface, if it's at the bottom, they'll never reach it.

Could it really be near the surface? Logically possible—but he had a feeling things wouldn't be that simple.

Soon, Qin Yun found a suitable thin ice zone dozens of meters away from Tang Mu's group and began smashing it.

Suddenly, the entire livestream filled with the clanging of ice being struck, forcing the production crew to switch the camera to Jack and Gerard.

And this pounding went on for one or two hours.

Tang Mu and the others finished first, chiseling out an ice shaft large enough for a person to climb in and out, plus two breathing holes the size of fists. Instantly, a plume of white vapor erupted from the ice shaft; the wind blew across the opening and instantly coated it with a fine layer of frost.

This was because the temperature difference between underwater and the outside air was vast, causing lake water vapor to instantly condense into white mist.

"I'll go first." Tang Mu decided to descend first.

Emily and Xiao En exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.

Immediately, Tang Mu stripped off his clothes—his garments must not get wet, or else once he surfaced, he'd have no warm clothing left and could freeze solid in minutes.

But with the temperature around minus thirty degrees, just removing his outer insulation made Tang Mu shiver violently.

"FUCK, it's freezing."

He gritted his teeth, soon left with only his underwear, then quickly secured the rope, took a deep breath, gripped Emily's high-beam flashlight tightly in one hand—the other end tied to the rope—and jumped straight down.

"Plop—!"

The splash echoed. Qin Yun stopped smashing the ice, his gaze fixed on the spot, silently waiting for developments.

Falling from the extreme cold of minus thirty degrees into water around zero degrees, Tang Mu instantly felt a searing heat, as if his entire body had plunged into boiling water—the intense burning sensation exploded instantly.

When his whole body submerged, his limbs went numb all at once, followed by sharp, piercing pain drilling from his skin into his bones.

He knew this was due to the extreme temperature difference; if he gritted his teeth and endured it, he'd adapt within thirty seconds.

But…

Adaptation didn't come. Extreme cold seized control of his body. He felt his muscles stiffening; his fingers and toes lost sensation first.

He knew his body temperature was dropping—he had to move quickly.

He opened his eyes, turned on the high-beam flashlight, and looked upward toward the ice surface.

He saw a blurred figure rapidly kicking toward one direction—he immediately understood and swam after it.

After swimming less than thirty meters, even with the breathing hole allowing him to breathe, he felt a terrifying numbness spreading over his skin; his body increasingly slipped out of control.

"No, I have to go back."

The thought struck—he forgot all caution, spun around, and began smashing the ice with his hands.

Though Emily and Xiao En couldn't clearly see Tang Mu's movements, they felt his actions.

Both immediately pulled harder, accelerating his ascent from the water.

But within two minutes, the rope in their hands jerked violently downward, nearly slipping from their grip.

"Shit, Tang Mu's passed out."

The drone recorded every moment; viewers in the livestream were equally terrified.

Emily and Xiao En sped up. Soon, a figure appeared in the ice shaft—it was Tang Mu, frozen unconscious.

Tang Mu was bulky and muscular; even together, they struggled to pull him up from underwater.

"I'll do it!"

Qin Yun appeared beside them without warning, grabbed Tang Mu's arms with both hands, and with a single heave, lifted the nearly two-hundred-pound man out of the water—the terrifying strength made Xiao En's eyelid twitch.

Viewers in the livestream were equally stunned.

Someone quickly calculated Qin Yun's possible deadlift strength—and when the number appeared, it left everyone speechless.

"Six hundred kilograms of deadlift strength? This isn't human."

After pulling Tang Mu out, the three rushed to aid him—first wiping his body dry, then quickly dressing him. Soon, the once ice-cold Tang Mu began regaining body heat.

Half an hour later, he opened his eyes.

"..."

He stared silently at Emily and Xiao En. After a long while, he trembled and said: "I don't recommend you go in. It's too cold. This is even without diving down—if you dive, the problems will be worse."

Seeing even strong-as-an-ox Tang Mu in this state, Emily and Xiao En fell silent.

But to give up now felt unbearable.

After brief discussion, Emily decided to try descending herself—women, she believed, had better endurance in such conditions than men.

Qin Yun said nothing to dissuade her, only warned: "Emily, if you feel numbness, come back immediately."

Emily forced a smile, quickly stripped off her clothes, exposing her athletic figure to the extreme cold.

Then, after securing her gear, pinching her nose, she jumped in without hesitation.

Two million dollars were indeed tempting. Watching this, Qin Yun thought silently.

Emily wasn't like Tang Mu—she was one of the few friends he'd made in the training camp, and he decided to wait for her to surface.

But this wait led to disaster.

"Bang—!"

A giant pike suddenly leapt from the ice shaft, biting the rope.

The rope in Xiao En's hands vanished instantly.

"Plop—!"

The pike plunged back into the water; the rope disappeared with it.

This sudden turn stunned all three, including Qin Yun.

Far away, Justin rubbed his eyes hard, thinking he'd seen wrong.

"OH, NO!"

Xiao En clutched his head, eyes wide with terror; beside him, shivering Tang Mu mirrored the same expression.

This scene aired live—everyone from the production crew to the livestream viewers had their pupils dilated.

"Holy shit!"

Qin Yun finally snapped to action and sprinted along the ice to find Emily—but her figure was gone.

His face turned grim beyond measure.

Without hesitation, he quickly stripped off his clothes, revealing a lean, muscular body, and ignoring everything else, tied himself with another rope, throwing the other end to Xiao En, then jumped into the ice cave without a second thought.

"Wonima, Emily is dead for sure."

"Damn, Qin Ye is going to save someone? He's gone mad."

"It's over, it's over—someone's finally died."

"Hahaha, you damned devils, all of you deserve to die."

"Better if all of you die inside—none of you should come out alive."