Chapter 348: Search and Rescue Day One!

「Mmm! Mmm!」

「Chirp! Chirp?」

「Here you go!」

Hearing the lynx kitten continuously mewling from hunger, Xiao Yi immediately threw the deer meat in his hand to the kitten at his feet.

Of course, the deer meat was also essential for the rough-legged hawk circling overhead.

By now, Xiao Yi had spent the entire day searching this area with the two little creatures, yet still found nothing.

After all, this fifty-li radius wasn’t small, but neither was it truly small.

At the very least, finding ten or so people in this region was extremely difficult, even requiring some luck.

Now that night had fallen, Xiao Yi gave up on further searching.

After all, searching alone in the wilderness at night was dangerous, and visibility was poor once darkness came.

Someone might even be right nearby, yet missed because of the dark.

So Xiao Yi simply stopped searching, used the snowplow to clear a small patch of ground, and set up a tent there.

With the tent now erected and surrounded by snowdrifts, it wasn’t too cold.

Then Xiao Yi took out the dry firewood and large pot he’d brought along, lit a fire, and began boiling meat.

But after eating two bites, Xiao Yi found the meat unappetizing—he’d already grown tired of it.

If only he had Sichuan pepper, star anise, and other spices now, they could remove the gamey smell and enhance the flavor.

Unfortunately, neither Wang Ming nor Pan Chen had brought any spices when they came to Xiao Yi.

After all, they’d come for rescue, not vacation.

Of course, when hungry, anything tastes good—especially deer meat.

Though night had fallen, Xiao Yi’s drone livestream still had thirty-two million viewers online.

When netizens saw Xiao Yi stop the snowplow and set up camp, their discussion grew livelier.

「Xiao Shen has searched all day—how hasn’t he seen a single person?！」

「Not even an animal’s shadow—I’ve seen nothing. This scene truly fits the line: ‘A thousand mountains, no birds fly; ten thousand paths, no human traces.’」

「Sigh! I wonder how the other rescue teams are doing? Any new discoveries?」

「Yes! I’m curious too—has any team found Shen Meng’s group? Even rescuing one trapped person would lift everyone’s spirits!」

「If only we had more drone livestreams—we could learn about rescue progress elsewhere in real time.」

「Right! Let’s go petition the production team’s website to send more drones for full coverage of this rescue.」

「Stop causing trouble! This is a life-or-death emergency—does the production team have time to care about livestreams?」

「Isn’t every second crucial in rescue? Why is Xiao Yi calmly eating right now?」

「I think he’s putting on a show! I know people like him—phony as hell.」

「Whoa, found a few little trolls—guys, let’s go!」

「Sigh! Some people only have keyboards—how pitiful.」

「Exactly! Do rescuers not eat? Do they not rest? Do you think Xiao Shen’s a robot?」

「Xiao Shen himself was a victim of the disaster—he’s already amazing for overcoming his trauma and helping with rescue. Why are you so harsh?」

……

……

Of course, Xiao Yi himself knew nothing about what was being discussed in the livestream.

But the livestream’s main topic was still today’s rescue efforts.

And the golden window for rescue was only a few days long.

As time passed, Shen Meng and the others’ chances of survival would keep dropping—netizens naturally grew anxious about the rescue progress.

「Buzz! Buzz!」

As Xiao Yi ate and netizens discussed, his walkie-talkie suddenly buzzed.

「Mmm! Mmm!」

Hearing the walkie-talkie’s vibration, the lynx kitten cried out first, as if warning Xiao Yi.

Xiao Yi heard the sound, reached into his pocket, pulled out the walkie-talkie, and spoke.

「Holy shit, Xiao Yi!」

「Xiao Shen, hello, I’m Wang Ming. How are you? Any discoveries? Should you return to the main rescue base?」

After Xiao Yi spoke, a voice came from the walkie-talkie—it was Wang Ming, the overall rescue coordinator.

Wang Ming was currently overwhelmed with work.

Yet he’d still prioritized contacting Xiao Yi first, asking about his condition.

Because his primary duty was ensuring Xiao Yi returned safely.

If Xiao Yi went missing during rescue, Wang Ming’s responsibility would be enormous.

Hearing it was Wang Ming, Xiao Yi couldn’t help but smile slightly.

Then he replied, 「Everything’s fine here. Unfortunately, I found nothing heading east. As for returning to the main base—forget it today.」

「I understand your situation, Xiao Shen. I’m glad you’re safe—that eases my mind. Since you won’t return to base, be careful out there. Contact me anytime if you need anything.」

Wang Ming had no intention of lengthy chat—his main goal in calling was simply to confirm Xiao Yi was unharmed.

Of course, if Xiao Yi brought unexpected good news, he’d be even happier.

After all, Xiao Yi was the very word for miracle in this wilderness.

Unfortunately, Xiao Yi brought no such surprise this time.

But Wang Ming expected as much—rescue and search were never easy.

Hearing this, Xiao Yi, sensing Wang Ming was about to hang up, quickly asked:

「By the way, Wang Zong—any new discoveries from other rescue teams today?」

Hearing Xiao Yi’s question, netizens in the livestream all perked up.

After all, they’d all wanted to know how other teams were doing—but had no way to find out.

Upon hearing Xiao Yi’s question, Wang Ming gave a bitter smile.

Then, without hiding anything, he spoke:

「Our initial information indicated most of Shen Meng’s team were in a coniferous forest, so we surveyed surrounding coniferous zones and confirmed seven such areas.」

「Due to manpower shortages, we’re currently searching four of them—but so far, no good news.」

「The helicopters and snowplows continuously searching for Shen’s team have also found nothing new in this wilderness.」

Hearing this, Xiao Yi fell silent—he understood Wang Ming’s pressure, and softly comforted him:

「I believe Shen Meng’s team can survive several days in this wilderness. Wang Zong, don’t rush—we will rescue them eventually.」

「I understand what you say, Xiao Shen. I believe we’ll rescue Shen and his team. And it’s not all bad news—Li Yong has already mobilized every available specialist.」

「Tomorrow, we’ll have at least two hundred more professional rescuers, ten helicopters, and dozens of snowplows.」

This was, in fact, something Wang Ming deliberately told Xiao Yi.

Because he knew Xiao Yi had a livestream!

He wanted to indirectly tell netizens: the production team wasn’t slacking—they were exhausting every resource.

Hearing this, Xiao Yi instantly understood Wang Ming’s intent.

But Xiao Yi said nothing further—as long as the manpower and equipment arrived, that was enough.

Still, Xiao Yi was surprised that Li Yong had mobilized so many resources so quickly.

After all, this was Maple Country, not within China’s borders.

But Xiao Yi didn’t know that Li Yong’s rapid mobilization was largely thanks to Xiao Yi himself.

Of course, even if Xiao Yi knew, he wouldn’t care—his only concern now was this rescue.

Xiao Yi hoped every member of Shen Meng’s team was unharmed.

After all, they’d been sent to protect him—and now suffered this disaster because of it.

After learning what he needed to know, Xiao Yi said no more and ended the call with Wang Ming.

After learning the current rescue status, netizens in the livestream resumed discussion.

After eating, Xiao Yi tidied up briefly, then entered the tent to rest.

He was exhausted from the day and had no energy to chat with livestream viewers.

Besides, he’d endured a mentally and physically draining night the day before.

Even though he’d slept a few hours as the blizzard subsided, he was still utterly sleepy.

Seeing Xiao Yi enter the tent, the lynx kitten, who’d been planning to play a bit longer, instantly followed inside.

The rough-legged hawk wasn’t stupid—it followed the kitten into the tent.

The drone wanted to enter too, but the tent had no space—it remained parked on the snowplow.

Seeing the two little creatures follow him in, Xiao Yi smiled gently and zipped the tent shut.

Soon, Xiao Yi fell asleep—and as he grew quiet,

everything around grew stiller. Starlight reflected faintly off the snow, barely illuminating the land, making it feel even colder.

……

……

Xiao Yi’s camp had grown quiet, but elsewhere, it was not.

「Everyone, that’s enough for today! Set up camp immediately—we’re spending the night here in the wilderness. Xiao Yu, boil some hot water and prepare warm food for everyone.」

“I understand, Captain Liu!”

Upon hearing that voice, someone nearby immediately responded.

The speaker was the captain of Rescue Team One, the actual commander of this operation.

His team was assigned to search Sector Three’s spruce forest.

They had struggled through this forest for an entire day, yet still found nothing.

Captain Liu had also learned the status of the other teams from Wang Ming.

But even now, Captain Liu had no good solution.

Still, Wang Ming brought him good news—he now knew the base would send reinforcements tomorrow.

With two hundred additional personnel from the base, they could immediately deploy to the other three large spruce forests.

He believed they could survey all seven spruce forests within five days and surely locate Rescue Team Three led by Shen Meng.

Soon, the others gathered around, their faces frozen red as they rubbed their hands for warmth.

Though the blizzard had passed, it didn’t mean it wasn’t cold here—in fact, it was bitterly cold.

During the day, with sunlight, it was only around minus ten degrees, but once the sun set, it dropped below minus twenty.

“Everyone has worked hard. I assume you’ve all heard—we’ll have reinforcements tomorrow, and we’ll complete this rescue as soon as possible.”

“Of course, if this mission succeeds fully, the production team’s reward won’t be small.”

Captain Liu smiled as he spoke to them.

Though everyone had prepared for hardship when they arrived, they still needed words of encouragement now.

Indeed, after hearing Captain Liu’s words, the other rescue team members laughed—they truly considered this good news.

Some even began speculating about how much reward the production team would give.

Of course, the situation with the other three rescue teams was much the same as Captain Liu’s.

……

……

“Phew! It’s damn cold! Captain, you okay?”

The next morning, Hong Liu was the first to wake up inside the bear den and immediately called out to Shen Mengsan.

“What’s wrong with me? I’m tough as nails! When you get up, roast the meat right away. If we had more branches, I’d keep this fire burning nonstop.”

Hearing Hong Liu’s words, Shen Mengsan replied at once.

In truth, as Shen Mengsan himself had just said, if conditions allowed, he would absolutely keep the fire burning—it greatly increased their chance of being spotted by a helicopter.

But conditions didn’t allow it. He had few branches to begin with, and only dry ones that could actually ignite were usable.

He feared using up all his collected branches without ever seeing a rescue helicopter.

Then they’d be forced to eat raw bear meat—right now, it was frozen as hard as ice chunks.

Eating raw bear meat was no different from waiting to starve to death.

“Got it, Captain. But last night was truly freezing—I felt it was colder than the night the blizzard hit.”

Hearing this, Hong Liu couldn’t help but smile bitterly—he now understood what it meant to spend the night in the Arctic winter wilderness.

Even though his clothes were thick and the bear den shielded them from the wind.

“Naturally. That night of the blizzard, your mind was consumed by fear—how could you notice physical cold?”

“Now that the blizzard’s fear is gone, you finally feel just how terrifying this damn weather is. Fine, today we keep digging our SOS. I just hope yesterday’s trench hasn’t collapsed.”

Saying this, Shen Mengsan ignored Hong Liu and crawled out of the cave first.

In truth, Shen Mengsan at the cave entrance felt the terror of the Arctic winter wilderness even more than Hong Liu did.