Chapter 194: Extreme Rescue: Oxygen Transfer

Emily gritted her teeth against the bone-chilling cold and thrashed her limbs to swim forward.

The high-intensity flashlight's visibility underwater extended only two or three meters; beyond that, everything dissolved into a hazy blur.

"Huh—!"

After taking a breath of oxygen from the breathing hole, Emily continued swimming, but before she reached two meters, a tremendous force suddenly yanked her downward into the water.

This sudden change left her completely stunned.

Her body was dragged uncontrollably away from its original position until the crushing water pressure made her chest feel like it was about to explode—only then did she snap back to awareness.

Her first thought was: I'm dead.

Immediately, she unfastened the rope tied to her body and swiftly swam upward.

The deeper she swam, the colder it became; the farther she went, the less oxygen remained in her lungs.

Although the high-intensity flashlight was tightly secured to her wrist, she could no longer see the ice layer—the despair of something so close yet impossibly far began to cloud her consciousness.

Drowning is an excruciatingly painful experience; those who haven't lived it cannot understand the terror.

Emily's movements grew slower; her fingers and toes had gone completely stiff, her blood flow had slowed, and death's scythe now rested against her neck, ready to reap at any moment.

"Plop!"

The instant Qin Yun jumped into the ice hole, he felt a searing heat—but it vanished within moments.

His formidable physical adaptability allowed him to overcome the discomfort in mere seconds; he then sank rapidly, judged the direction the pike had fled, and swam swiftly in the opposite direction.

On the ice hole's surface, Tang Mu, trembling violently, Xiao En, pale with terror, and Justin, still shaken with relief, stared in shock as Qin Yun leapt in without hesitation.

How could anyone possibly rescue her under these conditions?

In a few seconds, Emily would be dragged dozens of meters away by that pike nearly a meter long. Even if she managed to untie the rope, how could she possibly determine her current position?

If it were them, they wouldn't even entertain the thought of rescue.

Viewers in the livestream waited anxiously; aside from PETA members still hurling curses, the vast majority remained silent, silently praying.

This was Qin Yun's first true dive—and only once underwater did he understand what "master-level diving" truly meant. Current direction, pressure shifts, breath control—all became effortless.

At this moment, he moved through the water like a giant fish.

His descent was steady and uniform; his ascent, calm and orderly. His breathing was long and controlled; his posture light and fluid. Every motion was immaculately precise.

After descending seven or eight meters, he stopped immediately.

Closing his eyes, he carefully sensed the flow of water; his master-level diving skill allowed him to easily detect biological activity nearby by subtle changes in the current.

Emily had been swept into the water—her movements must have been violent. As long as she was still moving, she would inevitably disturb the water flow.

He needed to sense that minute difference.

After just a few breaths, he opened his eyes and swiftly swam toward the lower left.

"H… how long has it been?" Tang Mu's voice trembled; such a large, strong man now looked frail and on the verge of collapse.

Xiao En gripped the rope tightly: "Two… two minutes."

Tang Mu's heart sank—this was nearly the limit of his own underwater endurance. But he had taken two breaths within those two minutes, while Qin Yun hadn't taken a single one yet.

Justin walked over, staring at the rope still stretching across the ice, his expression grim: "Qin is still moving forward."

As for Qin Yun's sensations—he felt nothing special.

His Sherpa cold adaptation, combined with his master-level diving skill and terrifying physical conditioning, gave him an absurdly massive lung capacity.

With one deep breath, he felt he could stay underwater for seven or eight minutes without issue.

Mostly, though, the cold had no negative effect on him—if it had, like Emily or Tang Mu, he'd have suffered freezing, numbness, and stabbing pain, and his oxygen would've drained quickly.

Qin Yun swam swiftly; though he couldn't see clearly underwater, he paused occasionally to judge the flow and closed in on Emily rapidly.

Two more minutes passed—finally, Qin Yun's vision caught a white glow. At first blurry, it sharpened as he drew nearer.

In her despair, Emily's consciousness slowly faded.

Just as she was about to lose it entirely, a massive shadow surged toward her—she jolted awake in terror.

Her drowsiness vanished instantly; some new strength surged from nowhere.

Seeing Emily still conscious, Qin Yun exhaled a quiet sigh of relief.

He twisted his body, wrapping his arms around her from behind—Emily immediately thrashed wildly, her fear peaking.

But the next instant, her body was forcibly turned—facing her was a familiar face.

"Qin?" Emily was confused. "Am I dreaming?"

Qin Yun pointed upward, wrapped his left arm around her waist, signaled her not to struggle, then kicked and flailed his limbs to swim back the way he came.

After swimming ten meters, Emily finally realized Qin Yun had come to rescue her—she was deeply moved, but the next problem brought pain to her face.

Her oxygen was exhausted; her chest felt ready to burst, and her body, held by Qin Yun, began instinctively struggling again.

Qin Yun turned to look at Emily and understood immediately.

She was suffocating—no oxygen left.

Without hesitation, he pulled her close with his left hand, pressed his mouth to hers, pinched her nose shut, and transferred a breath of oxygen directly.

That breath eased the explosion in Emily's chest—though she still suffered.

Anyone who's nearly drowned knows: after oxygen deprivation, you gasp desperately to relieve the body's distress.

But something is better than nothing—at least Emily regained rationality from her instinctive thrashing, even as her face turned crimson.

Qin Yun handed her the rope, told her to pull hard, then continued leading her upward.

Emily knew survival was within reach—her will to live propelled her into immediate action.

On the ice hole's surface, Xiao En, Tang Mu, and Justin waited tensely, for they'd noticed the rope had stopped moving—meaning Qin Yun had halted.

But was this halt intentional or involuntary? They couldn't tell.

If involuntary, pulling her up now still held hope; if intentional, what if Qin Yun had found Emily's lifeless body at the bottom?

For a moment, the three were trapped in profound psychological torment.

"Fuck, is Brother Qin dead?"

"It's been nearly five minutes already—holy shit, terrifying."

"What's the freediving breath-hold record again? Someone check it."

"The freediving breath-hold record is 11 minutes and 54 seconds."

"I can only hold my breath underwater for a minute—I'd die if it went over."

"I can do two minutes, you noob."

"The problem is this is ice water—above zero is minus thirty degrees, and even if the water's one or two degrees, it's still terrifyingly cold. Even the world record holder would probably cut their time in half."

The audience debated fiercely, comments scrolling rapidly—when suddenly, the rope coiled in the screen lurched violently downward, then tightened within seconds.

Xiao En startled, quickly gripping the rope.

Then came a tug-and-release sensation through his hands—Xiao En froze for a moment, then shouted: "It's responding! It's responding! Pull up, pull up!"

Tang Mu forgot his shivering, and the three of them swiftly grabbed the rope and pulled upward in sequence.

Another full minute passed.

As everyone strained to see, two figures broke the water's surface—they erupted into cheers instantly.

Qin Yun dragged Emily's legs and shoved her upward with force: "Hurry, dry off and keep warm."

Emily was nearly unconscious, but the sudden rush of oxygen as she burst through the surface made her feel that being alive was an immense blessing.

Xiao En and Tang Mu quickly caught Emily; the same procedure done on Tang Mu was repeated on Emily. By the time Emily was dressed, everyone realized Qin Yun was still submerged.

"Qin, get up quickly!" Xiao En reached out immediately.

Qin Yun shook his head, glanced at Xiao En and Tang Mu, and asked with a faint smirk: "Are you two continuing?"

The two exchanged glances, then grimaced, falling silent for a moment.

Tang Mu said: "Qin, I can't find that chest—I quit."

Xiao En nodded: "I quit too."

Emily didn't need to say anything.

Seeing all three nod in surrender, Qin Yun said: "Fine. I'll first confirm the chest's location—it might even be on the mountain."

After saying this, he took the high-powered flashlight from Emily's hand, took a deep breath, and sank back into the water.

Watching his action, Tang Mu was speechless.

"Qin, doesn't he feel cold?"

Even now, he was shivering from the cold, yet Qin Yun had been underwater for seven or eight minutes already—and he showed no sign of freezing to death.

How could the gap between people be so huge?

"Maybe Asians have a special physiology," Xiao En thought for a moment, and could only offer this explanation.

The production team's camp.

Daniel sat in his office, eyes locked on the left screen. On it, only a radar-like software displayed a red dot at the center, while the right screen showed the live stream.

As Qin Yun re-entered the water on the right screen, a green dot quietly appeared near the red dot on the left screen, then rapidly sped toward it.

Watching the green dot draw closer to the red dot, Daniel helplessly pressed Enter.

The instant he pressed Enter, Qin Yun's face, moments ago filled with delight, twisted in shock—the chest, illuminated by his flashlight, suddenly sank downward at a speed far exceeding his own swimming pace. He had no time to react, and could only watch helplessly as the chest, within arm's reach, vanished again before his eyes.

"Fuck!"

Qin Yun cursed, attempting to dive deeper—but as he sank further, pressure increased, and his body consumed oxygen faster. By the time he reached twenty meters down, his oxygen was nearly gone, forcing him to surface immediately.

When he surfaced again, Tang Mu, Justin, Xiao En, and Emily immediately surrounded him.

"Qin, any findings?" Xiao En asked.

Qin Yun nodded: "I found the chest—it's underwater."

This discovery left the group with complex emotions.

But they understood: even knowing the chest was underwater meant nothing—they lacked the ability to retrieve it.

The only one who might have that ability was Qin Yun.

Qin Yun gripped the edge of the ice hole and pushed hard, launching himself violently upward from the water.

The impact of his powerful physique on the live stream was no less than a man seeing a stunning woman emerge from water.

"Jesus, Qin looks so hot."

"Perfectly proportioned body, muscles just right—perfect."

"I'm wet again."

"That bastard Qin, how did he train? Even better than those online guys."

"Qin's physique is what a truly strong man should look like—immensely powerful."

"I know it's immensely powerful."

"You know jack shit—you sound like you've been hit by it."

The moment he emerged from the water, cold began to invade—he quickly dried his body and dressed.

Now that he knew the chest's location, he had to think carefully—otherwise, diving from this spot might not get it back. Who knew how heavy it was? If it was too heavy to lift, he'd have to dismantle it underwater.

And what if the items inside couldn't get wet—if they dissolved the moment he opened it, all his effort would be wasted.

He had no qualms about assuming the worst about these Westerners.

"Qin, what are you going to do?" Emily had slightly recovered. She recalled what happened underwater, and her gaze at Qin Yun had changed. Had the camera not been on, she would have hugged him right now to savor that feeling.

"I need to think."