Chapter 99: Crisis Approaches

Qin Yun glanced at his blood oxygen monitor; his oxygen saturation had reached 95%.

Even with his Sherpa adaptation, the low-oxygen environment at this altitude had significantly lowered his oxygen saturation.

At just over six thousand meters it was already this bad—he doubted he could summit Everest without oxygen; it was probably impossible.

As he thought this, he did not choose to descend immediately; having finally reached the summit, he naturally wanted to savor the view from the peak—leaving right after completing the task would be too dull.

Whether because he had summited or for some other reason, the snowstorm had quietly ceased, the sky turned a deep blue, and the visibility was excellent, filling him with a sense of peace.

As for the system’s reward earlier, Qin Yun hadn’t given it much thought.

Compared to other skills, language ability alone seemed unfitting for this check-in task.

After all, he already spoke English and Chinese; other languages were minor ones with few practical uses.

He felt the reward was even less valuable than his erhu skill.

……

Early in the morning, Wu Lei and the other three members of the Peak Climbers Alliance began their ascent first, tackling the stretch from C1 to C2; half an hour later, Yang Jia’s Storm Climbing Team also set out.

But Storm Climbing Team had only come for trial purposes, so they soon encountered trouble—not because Yang Jia couldn’t continue, but because two other team members had begun to weaken and showed signs of altitude sickness.

If it had been just one, sending them down would’ve been fine; but with two in succession, Yang Jia had no choice but to abandon this attempt on Emei Peak.

She led the rest back to C1 camp, then seized the right moment to return to base camp for rest.

Seeing the tent at base camp, Yang Jia hesitated, but curiosity got the better of her.

“Hello, I’m Yang Jia, captain of Storm Climbing Team. Can we talk?”

Han Wei opened the tent and invited Yang Jia in, then saw the phone in her hand, with the howling wind and snow coming through the speaker.

A voice then rang out: Damn, it’s snowing.

Han Wei immediately grabbed the phone, looked at the screen, and her heart sank—her face turned grim.

Yang Jia’s gaze fell on the phone; she instantly recognized the figure on screen—a blurred shadow amid the snowstorm, like something from a movie.

Yang Jia’s heart trembled; she couldn’t help asking: “He… he’s really going to climb Emei Peak alone?”

Han Wei didn’t answer; her eyes remained locked on the screen.

Yang Jia didn’t press further; her attention was now drawn to the livestream.

“Brothers, under these conditions, I have to keep going. Though returning to C2 seems safer, it’s easier to climb up than to come down—I have no choice.”

Just hearing the livestream’s voice, Yang Jia’s eyes widened in disbelief; from her climbing experience, this kind of snowstorm was extremely dangerous.

She thought the Peak Climbers Alliance would retreat, but the man on screen was pressing forward.

Most importantly, this man had no protective gear at all—was he even human?

It completely overturned her understanding of mountaineering.

In every previous climb, she had prepared meticulously, ensuring perfection from within and without—never like Qin Yun, who treated it like a casual stroll.

Yang Jia glanced unconsciously at the top-right corner of the phone; when she saw the livestream viewer count, her pupils contracted slightly.

She pulled out her own phone—no signal. Clearly, Han Wei wasn’t using her phone’s data connection.

“Miss Han, this is far too dangerous. Can you contact him? In this storm, even one mistake could…”

Yang Jia didn’t finish—she didn’t need to.

Han Wei heard her, several times wanting to post a comment on the livestream, but each time she held back; right now, the man on screen likely couldn’t see her comments anyway, and they might interfere with his decision.

Seeing Han Wei say nothing, Yang Jia sighed softly and fell silent.

The two women watched the screen, saying nothing.

Meanwhile, hundreds of meters below Qin Yun, on the north face’s ice wall, four figures were trapped.

Under the raging wind and snow, Wu Lei and the Peak Climbers Alliance hung motionless against the wall, afraid to move lest they lose their balance.

Wu Lei and his team were experienced climbers who had attempted this route many times.

The first time, a rockfall on the ice avalanche fan injured one member, forcing them to withdraw.

The second time, an unexpected avalanche forced them to abandon the climb.

The third and fourth times, they encountered physical problems just beyond C1.

Now, this was their fifth attempt—they had prepared for this for a long time.

So far, with sufficient oxygen, none of them had suffered physical issues; if they maintained this pace, they believed they could successfully pass the 5600-meter checkpoint.

But now…

The wind howled, snow swirled.

The brutal conditions crushed Wu Lei’s spirits.

Through his radio, he said: “Xia Cuo, Song Bin, Cao Jinmin—report your status.”

Xia Cuo spoke first: “Captain Wu, my first high-pressure oxygen tank is still three-fifths full—plenty left. My physical condition is good, oxygen saturation at 96%.”

Song Bin and Cao Jinmin followed with their reports—all was well; the sudden storm had caused no problems.

Wu Lei hung on the ice wall, torn—he didn’t know when the wind and snow would stop, so whether to go up or down was a terrible dilemma.

Descending was safer than continuing upward, but Wu Lei knew if they turned back now, it would mean another failed attempt on Emei Peak.

How could he accept that?

Beyond this, Wu Lei worried about another factor—the body’s endurance under altitude.

The sustained physical exertion on this ice wall, even with oxygen, easily triggered severe altitude sickness due to heart rate fluctuations.

Anyone who’s climbed high peaks knows: even with oxygen, prolonged exposure to high altitude has a hard physiological limit—the body simply can’t tolerate more.

Finally, Wu Lei made a decision.

“Rest here. Wait for the storm to pass. If it hasn’t cleared in an hour, we abort.”

The word “abort” came out hoarse from Wu Lei’s lips—he knew how hard this choice was.

Xia Cuo and the others grew somber; Cao Jinmin, in particular, felt his heart rate quickening.

During the rest, Xia Cuo suddenly remembered Qin Yun, who had ascended ahead of them.

Where had Brother Qin reached? Maybe he’d already given up and descended via another route.

Unconsciously, over half an hour passed—but to them, it felt like years.

Yet the storm showed no sign of letting up.

The longer it lasted, the heavier the pressure became.

Cao Jinmin began feeling a throbbing headache, sharp and rhythmic, like needles piercing his skull.

Fortunately, they had oxygen tanks; without them, such obvious altitude sickness would have pushed his body to its limit rapidly.

But now, occasional oxygen use had become continuous, pushing oxygen consumption to a peak.

Cao Jinmin’s face turned pale—he knew if this continued, he couldn’t go on.

Yet abandoning now felt unbearable, so he bit back every impulse to speak.

As time passed, he repeatedly set down his oxygen tank to conserve it—but each time, his mind grew sluggish.

Another half hour passed; Wu Lei sighed inwardly and decided to abandon this attempt on Emei Peak.

As captain, he had to prioritize his team’s safety.

Just as he was about to speak, a loud “crack—crash!” echoed above them.

Wu Lei’s face changed—he pressed himself flat against the wall and shouted through the radio: “Watch out! Rockfall!”

Xia Cuo and Song Bin immediately flattened themselves against the ice, tucking their heads behind protruding rocks.

“Ssssshhhh—!”

The sound drew closer—rocks of various sizes scraped past their faces, plummeting rapidly.

Cao Jinmin’s sluggish mind couldn’t react in time—a rock struck his head squarely.

“Thud—!”

His grip on the ice wall instantly loosened; his body dropped.

Wu Lei, Song Bin, and Xia Cuo all felt their ropes jerk violently.

Wu Lei’s face paled: “What happened?”

They were spaced dozens of meters apart—especially Wu Lei and Cao Jinmin, thirty meters apart—now invisible to the naked eye.

Xia Cuo, third in line, looked down and saw a swaying figure hanging motionless in midair.

The sight terrified Xia Cuo.

He cried: “Captain, it’s bad—Brother Jinmin’s been hit by a rock. He’s probably unconscious.”

Fear flashed in Wu Lei’s eyes, but he didn’t hesitate—he shouted: “Song Bin, Xia Cuo—find a new anchor point!”

On Emei Peak, there were no permanent bolts—climbers had to build their own anchors and rope systems.

Wu Lei’s meaning was clear: abandon the old rope system and build a new one.

Without delay, the three began working.

Soon, their climbing harnesses were reattached to new carabiners.

Wu Lei slowly descended; when he saw the dangling figure, his heart plunged.

“Cao Jinmin is done.”

That was the only thought in his mind.

At this altitude, in this brutal environment, they had no means to rescue him.

With no rescue possible, as Cao Jinmin’s oxygen saturation kept dropping, his body would reach its limit rapidly—death was imminent.

“Captain… what do we do now?” Song Bin’s voice was heavy; as a veteran climber, he knew exactly what Cao Jinmin faced.

That’s why he couldn’t remain indifferent.

Because now they faced a life-or-death choice.

"Go down the mountain, immediately—this snowstorm isn’t likely to stop anytime soon."

Wu Lei clenched his teeth, fully aware that this challenge had failed again, bringing his total failures to five.

Five failed attempts—he no longer believed he would ever have another chance to challenge Yaomei Peak.

Because this time, one more life had been lost.

As for rescue?

Impossible—there are no rescue teams above five thousand meters.

Thin oxygen, extreme cold, unpredictable weather—even professionals struggle to adapt, let alone rescue personnel.

Unless your own value is immense, he remembered how last time on Yaomei Peak, someone was caught in a sudden ice avalanche, and countless resources were deployed, yet they still couldn’t recover the body.

So the moment he learned Cao Jinmin’s condition, Wu Lei immediately cut the route and abandoned the climb.

Immediately, the three began descending toward Camp C1.

But after what had just happened, their conditions had all changed to some degree.

Besides Wu Lei, Xia Cuo and Song Bin also began to suffer headaches; fortunately, since they were preparing to withdraw, they didn’t need to conserve oxygen, and as soon as altitude sickness began affecting them, they immediately strapped the oxygen masks to their faces.

Going up is easy; coming down is hard—what should have taken an hour took over an hour and a half.

And just as fate would have it, the moment they reached Camp C1, the snowstorm quietly ceased, and a ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds.