Chapter 339: A Moment of Joy and Despair!

While Shen Mengsan didn’t know what Hong Liu was thinking at that moment, he said nothing and immediately turned the snowmobile toward the location Hong Liu had pointed to.

Still, Shen Mengsan silently muttered to himself, “Our lives are in your hands now, kid—hope you didn’t misread it just now.”

Their voices were loud, but drowned out by the howling wind; the drone hovering precariously in the air couldn’t hear their conversation.

Seeing the two turn back, viewers in the livestream erupted into a flood of question marks.

“What are Senior Shen and his partner doing? Why are they turning around? Are they insane?”

“Could Senior Shen and his team have given up hope of survival?”

“No! Even a sliver of hope must be seized! Senior Shen, don’t do anything stupid!”

“Right! Even though the camera’s shaking badly, showing the superstorm drawing closer, there’s still a chance to escape—turning back now means certain death.”

“Please no! I can’t even watch this anymore!”

“Don’t let Xiao Shen come out fine while the rescue team gets wiped out—that’d be truly fucked!”

“I hope God protects Xiao Shen and Senior Shen and brings them home safely!”

…

…

Viewers in the livestream were saying all kinds of things, but most expressed confusion over why Shen Mengsan and his partner were turning back.

Of course, many also voiced concern for their situation.

After all, right now, their odds looked like nine deaths to one life—and if you were pessimistic, it was practically ten to zero.

Still, viewers clung to the hope that some miracle might occur at this moment.

And everyone in the livestream knew full well that Xiao Yi and the rescue team were already in extreme peril.

Shen Mengsan and his partner were now the only source of real-time information about the situation on the ground.

At this moment, it wasn’t just viewers who were agitated—it was also Li Yong in the base control room.

“What the hell is Shen Mengsan doing? Is he trying to get the whole crew killed?”

Li Yong, at this moment, looked like a raging lion, as if he wanted to destroy everything around him.

Seeing him roar, none of the staff nearby dared to respond.

The atmosphere in the control room instantly froze to ice.

Some staff even felt the base interior was colder than the outside.

A few even silently blamed Shen Mengsan.

The sudden blizzard had already thrown everyone at the base into chaos.

Now Shen Mengsan’s “backstab” move had made the chaos worse.

But Li Yong’s assistant finally spoke up to ease the tension.

“Has communication with Senior Shen been reestablished? Communications team, connect immediately—find out exactly what’s happening with Senior Shen!”

In truth, the assistant himself was overwhelmed—he’d proposed the trip and was responsible for it.

The program had been going exceptionally well, even delightfully so, until this unexpected disaster struck.

If this wasn’t handled properly, not only would he bear responsibility, but the entire show’s future—season two included—was at stake.

“Sorry! This blizzard is too severe—all communications are currently down. The only reason we can still see Senior Shen’s location is because the Dajiang drone is exceptionally reliable.”

When the assistant asked, the technician could only explain helplessly.

Before a blizzard of this magnitude, even in the remote Arctic, communication failure was normal.

Even in inland regions with top-tier infrastructure, communication disruption was standard.

Upon hearing this, the assistant could only smile bitterly.

He’d known the answer already—not just him, but everyone on the crew had.

Yet in moments like this, people still secretly hoped for an unexpected piece of good news.

One could only say: against a disaster of this scale, human effort was pitifully small.

Perhaps only in such moments did humans truly feel awe—and reflection—toward nature.

Li Yong, meanwhile, slowly calmed down. He wasn’t a hothead, but the pile of frustrations had shattered his usual composure.

“Mr. Li, everyone—look! What’s that over there with Senior Shen?”

Suddenly, a staff member cried out in excitement.

The shout startled everyone.

All turned toward the voice and stared at the large screen connected to the drone—there, a surprising sight appeared.

“A cave! A one-meter-wide cave—maybe too tight for an adult to crawl into, but right now, it might save their lives!”

…

…

At this moment, Shen Mengsan and his partner had stopped the snowmobile—they’d found the cave Hong Liu had described.

But staring at the cave, both fell silent, for just beyond it lay fresh bear paw prints.

The cave filled them with both hope and dread.

It might save their lives—but this was hibernation season, and the cave could very well house a bear.

If a bear was inside, hibernating, they still faced death—possibly a worse fate than freezing, since they weren’t monsters like Xiao Yi.

“Senior Shen, look at the size of those paw prints—this is definitely a black bear’s den. At least it’s not a grizzly—that’d be worse!”

Against the howling wind, Hong Liu shouted to Shen Mengsan beside him.

Black bears and grizzlies differed greatly in size; for Hong Liu and others who lived long-term in the wild, paw print size was a reliable way to tell them apart.

But Shen Mengsan just rolled his eyes—was this the time to debate what kind of bear it was?

Shouldn’t they be praying the cave was empty of hibernating beasts?

Though they carried pistols, if they didn’t hit a vital spot, a beast this close could still kill them easily.

“Look for any long branches nearby!”

Shen Mengsan shouted to Hong Liu, who immediately understood his intent.

Hong Liu trudged off into the wind, and Shen Mengsan didn’t waste a second.

This wasn’t the best method—if they had time, lighting a fire at the cave entrance and driving the bear out with smoke while lying in ambush would’ve been ideal.

In just half an hour, they’d know whether a hibernating bear was inside.

But they had no time—not even half an hour. They might have only five minutes to test the cave. Now, they had to risk it.

Shen Mengsan didn’t hesitate—he began searching for branches.

“Senior Shen, check this out!”

Hong Liu returned, holding a two-meter-long branch.

Shen Mengsan nodded.

“I’ll go in—you take position for the ambush!”