Chapter 95: Alone Again, Ascending

Qin Yun's words immediately sparked a reaction from the livestream viewers.

"How's it going, Brother Qin? Is Han the beauty alright?"

"Alright my ass—her lips are turning blue. If she doesn't go down now, she's gonna die."

"She looks terrifying—her face is as white as paper."

"Nearly five thousand meters! For an ordinary person, this is already the limit. Can't compare to Brother Qin, who doesn't even breathe hard."

"Get out fast—stay any longer and you'll lose your life."

After speaking, Qin Yun ignored the comments. He took a thermal blanket from his backpack, wrapped Han Wei tightly in it, then pulled out glucose and altitude-sickness medication, dissolved them in warm water, and carefully brought it to her lips.

"Open your mouth. Drink it."

Han Wei slowly opened her eyes, her gaze hazy. Her throat moved slightly as she sipped the warm sugary water. A warmth slid down her throat, easing the tightness in her chest and the pounding in her head.

"Qin… Qin Ye." Her voice was hoarse, barely audible. "Am I… useless…?"

She wanted to hold on, but her body betrayed her—she couldn't even stand now.

Qin Yun looked at her, his tone softening: "Getting this far, you're already stronger than most."

For normal climbers, altitude sickness is managed gradually—ascending and descending, adapting slowly. No one just climbs straight up like Han Wei did.

At 4,800 meters, most ordinary people simply couldn't make it here.

Moreover, even if she passed the 5,100-meter mark, what lies ahead is impossible for her—the true technical core of the north face: ice walls steeper than 70 degrees, mixed ice and rock, hanging ice columns everywhere, frequent icefalls.

"But I… haven't reached 5,600 meters yet…" Han Wei's eyes reddened slightly, silent tears slipping down. "I haven't seen my sister… haven't told her I'm sorry…"

Qin Yun looked at her: "Once I get you back, I'll climb up again. I'll reach the 5,600-meter mark—where your sister vanished. I'll tell her for you: you regret it, you miss her, you came to bring her home."

"Wow… Han the beauty's totally fallen for him."

"Broken. Totally broken."

"Brother Qin is a real man."

"Apologizing for her—I'd cry myself to death."

"Brother Qin, stop talking—Han the beauty will die if she stays any longer."

Hearing Qin Yun's words, Han Wei was deeply moved, yet filled with guilt.

Qin Yun wasted no time. He packed his gear and strapped Han Wei to his back. This kind of thing, in mountaineering, was insane.

Even if a woman is light, with all her gear, she still weighs at least a hundred jin. And Han Wei is over 1.7 meters tall—her weight is definitely over 110 jin.

Yet her weight and gear on his back didn't feel burdensome to him at all.

But outsiders didn't know this—the livestream viewers only thought Qin Yun was insanely strong.

Everyone knows ascending is easy, descending is hard—especially here, at 5,100 meters on a snow mountain, carrying a person down is many times harder than going up.

The path was steep and slick, with a bottomless abyss beneath each step. Every step had to be as steady as Mount Taishan—or one misstep meant two lives lost.

Qin Yun secured the safety rope firmly to himself, gripped his ice axe, and began moving downward, step by careful step.

Han Wei lay on his back, feeling his steady strides and broad shoulders, listening to his strong, even heartbeat—tears fell again.

"Brother Qin… thank you." She whispered.

Qin Yun didn't turn back. He simply said calmly: "Don't move."

The descent was more dangerous than the ascent. The already steep snow slope became even more slippery under the added weight.

Fortunately, Qin Yun's climbing skill was master-level. This slope, even with the slickness, felt like walking on flat ground to him.

The drone kept locked on him. He had no energy left to pay attention to the livestream—though it wasn't too hard for him, mistakes were not allowed.

"Brother Qin is a real man—a true iron-blooded warrior."

"Insane. Sending Brother Qin a Carnival to show support."

"I take back what I said about Brother Qin being weak—he's too strong."

"To the streamer, Han the beauty's probably as light as paper—Brother Qin doesn't even break a sweat."

Though the entire journey looked perilous, the two successfully descended to the edge of the icefall fan after over three hours, and soon reached base camp.

He'd originally planned to send her back to the mountain town, but Han Wei refused. And once back at base camp, her condition visibly improved.

"Don't worry—I can manage alone."

Qin Yun hesitated slightly, then nodded in agreement.

He helped her set up the tent: "Stay inside for now. Watch my livestream."

"Okay." Han Wei smiled. "Today, I'm officially your top fan."

"Hahaha!"

Qin Yun laughed, stepped out of the tent, adjusted his gear, and prepared to set off again.

And just then, the long-awaited system finally responded.

【Check-in Task Released: Host must depart from the North Face Base Camp, no fixed route, no fixed ropes—only ice axe and crampons—to summit Yaomei Peak within two days to complete check-in.】

He waved to Han Wei, then swiftly stepped into the vast blizzard, descending again into the icefall fan zone.

This time, without Han Wei as a burden—and with the system's check-in task now active—the real climb had only just begun.

As he re-entered the mountain wall's starting point, the livestream viewers felt Qin Yun seemed noticeably lighter.

Qin Yun didn't pause. He slipped on his crampons, gripped his ice axe, leaned forward slightly, and like a hunting leopard, lunged at the steep cliff.

'Puch—!'

The ice axe plunged into the snow, embedding deep into the ice wall; the crampons bit fiercely into the steep ice, fingers locked tight, stable as a mountain.

His movements were clean, precise, with no wasted motion. He powered with his arms, twisted his waist and core, climbing upward like a monkey—faster than anyone could believe.

At this moment, his climbing skill, combat ability, Sherpa-like adaptation—all his abilities bloomed with their true brilliance.

As he climbed rapidly, Qin Yun spoke through his microphone: "Above 5,000 meters, ice walls steepen to 70 degrees. Oxygen levels drop below half. Energy consumption is ten times that of flat ground. Ordinary people here can't even stand—let alone climb."

He pointed to a massive ice stalactite hanging from the cliff wall: "That's an ice eave—suspended in midair, hollow beneath, weighing over two hundred jin. One touch will trigger its collapse and set off a chain reaction of ice avalanches. You must detour around it."

As he spoke, he had already passed the spot where they had been earlier and soon reached five thousand meters.

The Sherpa's adaptability kept his steps steady, with not a single sign of altitude sickness; his blood oxygen saturation, he felt, remained at an exceptionally high level.

"This physique… is Qin Ye even human?"

"Damn, I thought I was watching special effects—what speed is Qin Ye moving at?"

"Five thousand meters? And he came up without even breathing hard?"

"Qin Ye is literally the ultimate badass."

"Damn, does Qin Ye even have an energy bar? Everyone else is terrified, but you just charge ahead at full speed."

Not long after, they reached 5100 meters. A campsite no larger than ten square meters appeared in the drone's view—two tents had completely occupied Camp C1.

Qin Yun entered the edge of the campsite. Instantly, movement stirred inside the tents; several figures emerged one after another.

"Qin Ge?"

Xia Cuo recognized the figure and let out a startled cry.

Qin Yun waved his hand. Seeing their expressions, it was clear they had no intention of continuing today.

Inside the Storm Climbing Team's tent, Yang Jia observed Qin Yun closely and noticed he showed no signs of exhaustion—but he didn't see the other girl. Had she given up and descended on her own?

If they knew Qin Yun had first carried her down and now returned, they'd be utterly stunned.

Xia Cuo stepped forward: "Qin Ge, this place is too cramped for another tent. Why not squeeze in with us?"

Qin Yun shook his head: "I'm heading to Camp C2."

"…"

At these words, everyone froze in stunned silence.

Though the distance from Camp C1 to Camp C2 was only two hundred meters, this stretch was the steepest and most dangerous section of the north face—featuring steep ice, mixed terrain, and immense climbing difficulty.

The Climbers' Alliance had planned to spend an entire day just to cover these two hundred meters. But now, what had they just heard?

This man before them claimed he'd reach Camp C2 before nightfall. It was insane.

Xia Cuo hurriedly said: "Qin Ge, don't joke."

Yang Jia walked over too: "From here to Camp C2, the slope exceeds eighty degrees—almost vertical. This is one of the most terrifying sections of Yaomei Peak. No rest points. No footholds. One slip, and you're crushed to pulp."

Qin Yun nodded, gazing up at the nearly vertical black ice wall. The ice was hard and smooth as a mirror, hung with countless sharp ice pendants like razor blades, ready to fall at any moment.

He first thanked the group, then pulled the drone close: "Brothers, I'm at Camp C1, altitude 5200 meters. Before me lies the core vertical ice wall of the north face—extremely difficult, the very section that turns back most climbers."

"Next, I'll climb without any protection points, without any fixed ropes—only my ice axe and crampons."

Then he smiled at the Climbers' Alliance and the Storm Climbing Team: "Gentlemen, I'll go ahead."

And he walked toward the ice wall.

Members of both climbing teams stared, mouths agape, utterly dumbfounded.

"Holy shit, Qin Ge—you're serious?"

Xia Cuo chased after him, while the others, after their shock, frowned, convinced Qin Yun was playing with his life. Sure, his gear looked good—but climbing isn't just about gear.

Experience, technique, physical fitness—these are the keys to successful climbing.

And did you even hear what you just said? No fixed ropes? No protection points? Pure fantasy.

Before the ice wall, Xia Cuo couldn't believe it: "Qin Ge, don't joke—what do you mean 'only ice axe and crampons'? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

Qin Yun smiled: "Xia Cuo, how confident are you about reaching the summit?"

Xia Cuo shook his head: "Our captain says fifty percent. Everyone's in good condition now. We'll acclimatize here tonight and continue tomorrow—but whether we can even reach Camp C2? We have no guarantee."

As soon as he finished, he realized.

"Qin Ge… you're not joking, are you?"

Qin Yun pulled the drone closer and turned the screen toward Xia Cuo: "I'm an outdoor streamer. If I say I'll summit, I'll summit. A man's word is a nail—no joking."

Xia Cuo used TikTok too—but when he saw the viewer count in the top-right corner of the screen, his eyes widened.

"Holy shit—over one hundred thousand…"

Viewers in the livestream immediately flooded the chat.

"Hahaha, look at the country bumpkin."

"Is one hundred thousand viewers a lot for Qin Ye's stream? You just can't see beyond one hundred thousand."

"Qin Ye climbing Yaomei Peak? Easy—he just carried his partner down before coming back up."

These comments landed in Xia Cuo's sight. He stared at Qin Yun, disbelief flooding his face: "Qin… Qin Ge… you just… went down?"

Qin Yun nodded: "My friend had altitude sickness. I brought her back to base camp."

"Enough talk. Daylight's fading—I need to move." With that, he took a deep breath, stepped forward sharply, drove his ice axe into the wall, pulled hard with his arms, lifted his body into the air, and slammed his crampons into the ice with a crisp crack.

One. Two. Three.

Xia Cuo watched Qin Yun slowly ascending—truly climbing without any protection, moving toward his goal. His motions were clean, powerful. Each ice axe strike locked into place with perfect precision, embedding itself into the hardest part of the ice wall.

Wind howled past his ears, whipping his hardshell jacket.

Viewers in the livestream held their breath, eyes locked on the screen, not a single comment posted.

On screen, that bright yellow figure inched upward on the ice wall—black and white interwoven—tiny, yet unbearably resilient.

Below, Xia Cuo looked up, his head tilting higher and higher—just like his heart: Gaoshan Yang Zhi!