Chapter 363: A Bird

"Hurry up and eat, little one—we’ll keep searching after you’re done!"

At this point, Xiao Yi had already left the rescue team’s camp for over an hour, and the sky had grown completely dark.

As Xiao Yi walked, he felt his stomach growling, so he simply stopped the snowplow and began cooking.

After gnawing on two pieces of venison, Xiao Yi ate two packets of instant noodles—he’d gotten them from the production team’s rescue crew.

Xiao Yi had been here for over three months; he’d eaten plenty of meat but almost no staple food, and now he found the instant noodles far more delicious than the meat.

As for the little lynx, it had no interest in instant noodles but was especially fond of sausage—ever since eating sausage, it had stopped eating meat altogether.

For over ten minutes, the man and the lynx ate their food here.

The wind had quietly picked up again, biting cold, even making Xiao Yi’s face ache.

"Mmm! Mmm!"

Hearing Xiao Yi’s call, the lynx, still eating sausage, chirped back in response.

But clearly, the little creature’s attention was still entirely on its food, making Xiao Yi shake his head.

Then Xiao Yi prepared to pack up his eating utensils—he planned to start working "night shifts" today, otherwise he’d grow increasingly uneasy.

Although Xiao Yi knew the "night shift" would inevitably be ineffective due to poor lighting, he had no better option now.

He only hoped that Shen Meng and the other two hiding in the cave wouldn’t sleep too soundly—if they heard the snowplow, they might shout out.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

As Xiao Yi was packing up, two bird calls suddenly came from the sky.

Hearing the sound, Xiao Yi froze—he recognized the call all too well.

He muttered helplessly, "How did they find me again?"

But as the old saying goes, better late than never—it seemed to describe these two lucky birds.

If they’d arrived earlier, they’d have had to wait while Xiao Yi prepared his meal.

If they’d come later, there’d have been nothing left to eat—but now, just as Xiao Yi was cleaning up, the two birds returned with leftovers still available.

Xiao Yi then stopped packing and waited for the two rough-legged buzzards to land, glancing at them.

After a light smile, the two buzzards, upon landing, showed no hesitation—they stared straight at the meat in Xiao Yi’s pot and began chirping at him.

Seeing this, Xiao Yi rolled his eyes, then picked out a few pieces of venison from the pot and tossed them toward the two buzzards.

But after tossing the food, Xiao Yi ignored the buzzards entirely, calling the lynx to follow him toward the snowplow.

Xiao Yi had no intention of waiting for the two buzzards to finish eating—if they wanted to follow, he’d accept them; if not, he’d be glad to be rid of them.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

Seeing the snowplow leave again, the two buzzards chirped twice; the bald-headed one even tried to chase after it.

But in the end, it couldn’t resist the temptation of the food before it and resumed eating.

……

……

"Li Zong and the others are back!"

"I see them!"

"By the way, are the stretchers ready? Take them straight to medical when they land."

"And get Qu Director here right away!"

At the production team’s base, a helicopter was roaring as it rapidly approached from afar.

Soon, the helicopter’s lights grew larger until it appeared directly above Li Yong’s group and began descending slowly.

Meanwhile, the base staff were murmuring among themselves.

They’d all come out to welcome Xiao Qin and the other back—Li Yong himself had even come out with his assistant.

"Qu Director, Kang Director hasn’t returned yet—everything’s in your hands now."

At this moment, Li Yong spoke to the middle-aged man who had just arrived, though his eyes never left the descending helicopter.

"Don’t worry, Li Zong—I just spoke with Kang Director. He judged that the two aren’t in serious danger. I trust his assessment."

Hearing this, Qu Director, clad in a white lab coat, reassured him.

Before the two could say more, the helicopter had already landed.

Even the spinning rotors were whipping up everything around them.

Snow on the ground was lifted and swirling in the air.

Though the cold wind stirred by the rotors made everyone uncomfortable, the production team paid it no mind.

Soon, the helicopter came to a complete stop, and its door slowly opened.

Seeing this, Doctor Wu inside smiled at Xiao Qin.

"We’re finally back—barely escaped death, and I see Li Zong and Qu Director!"

"Yeah, we survived against all odds—wonder if good fortune follows now?"

Xiao Qin, lying slumped, smiled faintly in reply.

"Of course. Let’s get off—Li Zong and the others are already coming over."

Hearing this, Ding Ding nodded firmly beside him.

After glancing outside the helicopter, he added:

"I’ll go down first to brief Li Zong and report the situation."

Doctor Wu spoke up, and Xiao Qin and Ding Ding both nodded.

However, accompanying Doctor Wu down were also the medical personnel from the rescue team who had returned.

"Li Zong, I’m the onboard doctor from Shen Meng’s rescue team..."

Doctor Wu immediately introduced himself to Li Yong, afraid Li Yong wouldn’t recognize him.

Then he briefly described Xiao Qin’s and Jin Shui’s conditions.

"Doctor Wu, you’ve worked hard. The fact that no one from Shen Meng’s team died in this disaster is thanks to you—the production team won’t forget it."

Hearing this, Li Yong first ordered staff to board the helicopter and carry Xiao Qin and Jin Shui out, then praised Doctor Wu warmly.

Of course, half of this was courtesy, half genuine.

But Doctor Wu, hearing this, felt embarrassed and waved his hands quickly: "He’s the one who deserves it."

Soon, Xiao Qin and Jin Shui were carried off the helicopter, and Li Yong rushed over.

"Li Zong!"

Seeing Li Yong, the conscious Xiao Qin greeted him.

"Oof! How did you get so badly injured this time? But you’ve both worked hard."

Seeing Xiao Qin’s frostbitten body, Li Yong couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath.

Normally, someone at Li Yong’s level—the base’s overall supervisor—wouldn’t remember Xiao Qin.

But Li Yong did know Xiao Qin, even Jin Shui—naturally, because of Xiao Yi.

Out of his interest in Xiao Yi, Li Yong had learned about the rescue team members who protected him.

In fact, it wasn’t just Li Yong who felt this way—other base staff also reacted similarly upon seeing Xiao Qin’s frostbites.

The livestream audience had already seen those frostbites.

But seeing them on screen was nothing compared to the shock of seeing them up close in person.

Only now did they truly grasp what Xiao Qin had endured in the blizzard.

Hearing Li Yong’s words, Xiao Qin could only smile helplessly—in his view, just surviving was enough; these minor injuries meant nothing.

"Don’t worry—the production team will do everything to help you recover!"

Li Yong added.

This was nearly identical to what Xiao Yi had said upon seeing Xiao Qin’s injuries.

"Thank you, Li Zong—I’m sure I’ll recover in no time."

Hearing Li Yong’s words, Xiao Qin gratefully replied.

Li Yong nodded with a smile, then turned to the medical staff: "Qu Director, please take care of Xiao Qin and Jin Shui."

"Leave it to me. Let’s go—get them full-body exams immediately, especially Jin Shui."

After Qu Director’s response, the entire medical team sprang into action.

With Qu Director’s order, the medical team moved swiftly.

"Li Zong, let’s head back to the control room and wait."

Seeing Xiao Qin and the others carried off by Qu Director’s team, the assistant said to Li Yong.

Hearing this, Li Yong frowned slightly, then waved his hand.

"Wait a bit—Kang Director and the three injured rescue members should be arriving soon. I’ll wait here for them to land."

"But Li Zong..."

The assistant tried to persuade him further, but Li Yong raised his hand to cut him off.

He continued: "Don’t bother arguing. Don’t wait here with me—go to Qu Director’s office. I need the first report on Xiao Qin and Jin Shui’s exams."

"Also, keep this helicopter here on standby—if Jin Shui’s condition turns critical, send them overnight to the nearest major hospital. We’re still short on medical supplies here."

Upon hearing this, the assistant said nothing more.

He’d served under this Li Zong for a long time—he knew his character well.

Since he’d spoken this way, his decision was final and wouldn’t change.

The assistant turned and left to carry out Li Yong’s orders.

Meanwhile, Li Yong, feeling the biting wind, gazed into the distance.

……

……

“Boom, boom!”

At this moment, the sound of helicopters constantly echoed through the sky, and Xiao Yi even encountered another snowplow on his path.

At this point, the entire rescue team had been mobilized.

Captain Liu had clearly coordinated a plan with Anji and others, and Anji had also agreed with Captain Liu’s idea.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yi had been walking across this wasteland for over an hour.

But now Xiao Yi had stopped his snowpusher, wondering if he had taken the wrong route.

Given the speed Shen Meng and the other had been moving at, they shouldn’t have reached this far.

Yet no news had come from the east—if Shen’s team had been found there, Xiao Yi knew Captain Liu would have contacted him.

“Chirp! Chirp!”

As Xiao Yi was thinking, another cry of a rough-legged hawk rang out.

The sound broke Xiao Yi’s thoughts—he saw the bald rough-legged hawk tapping at his car window.

Seeing this, Xiao Yi smiled helplessly; this little thing was truly persistent.

“Mmm! Mmm!”

Seeing the rough-legged hawk return, the previously lazy lynx suddenly perked up and chirped twice at Xiao Yi.

As if reminding Xiao Yi: the hawk’s back—open the window.

Seeing this, Xiao Yi smiled gently and opened the window, letting the hawk fly in.

Since the little thing had come back, Xiao Yi had no reason to refuse it—after all, it had shared hardship with him.

But Xiao Yi was curious: didn’t this little thing worry about its “wife”? Didn’t it fear another rough-legged hawk might steal her away?

Just as Xiao Yi was thinking of the female rough-legged hawk, a cry of a rough-legged hawk suddenly sounded from another direction.

……

……

“Achoo! Achoo!”

“Looks like our luck’s finally run out—this fire’s about to die.”

Due to Captain Shen’s cold, Hong Liu had stayed by his side the whole time.

Their stored firewood had now been completely burned up.

Now only a faint glow remained, and the heat it provided was growing ever weaker.

Not only was Shen Meng still suffering from his cold, even Hong Liu was beginning to struggle against the midnight cold.

Seeing the flame shrink further, Captain Shen chuckled bitterly.

“Captain, we’re not out of options yet. Rest tonight—I’m sure your cold will be better tomorrow. We’ll find more firewood then.”

Honestly, Hong Liu’s heart wasn’t quite hopeless, but it was heavy.

Still, upon hearing Shen Meng’s words, he couldn’t help but offer comfort.

“Heh, of course! I’m Shen Meng—I’ll take you digging again tomorrow. I don’t believe we can’t dig up an SOS!”

Captain Shen knew Hong Liu was just trying to comfort him, so he quickly replied, offering Hong Liu both reassurance and a hopeful fantasy.

But just as the two were comforting each other, the only light they had finally went out.

“Captain, let’s go back into the cave. Everything will be better tomorrow.”

Seeing the flame extinguished, Hong Liu suggested.

Hearing this, Shen Meng sighed softly, then spoke loudly.

“Tonight I’ll sleep inside—you stay outside and freeze.”

Saying this, Shen Meng crawled straight into the cave.

Shen Meng knew he might not survive the night, so he chose to go deep inside the cave.

Even if he died, Hong Liu would find out later—and that extra time might give him a better chance of rescue.

Shen Meng knew that as long as he was alive, Hong Liu would keep fighting.

He knew Hong Liu felt guilty, convinced he owed it to him to get him out of this wasteland alive.

If he truly died, Shen Meng feared Hong Liu would lose the will to live.

Seeing Shen Meng say this, Hong Liu fell silent.

“Chirp! Chirp!”

Just as both were about to enter the cave, a bird’s cry suddenly rang out from the sky.