Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 571 An Incredible Favor

Regardless of their feelings, Dora and Vivian were overjoyed and ran towards the light.

Along the way, Dora even slipped and fell in the deep snow because she was too eager, but she barely felt any pain, got up immediately, and staggered on to continue running forward.

When the two rushed closer, the man sitting by the fire looking at his phone finally noticed the commotion. He turned around warily and reached for a stick-like object next to him.

Vivian's heart tightened, and she quickly grabbed Dora's arm.

Before she could react, a slightly accented English voice came from the side: "Don't move!"

Vivian looked in the direction of the sound and noticed another single tent standing on the snow not far away. At that moment, a short male figure emerged from behind the tent, holding up a metal object.

Okay, now even without Vivian's reminder, Dora, being American, immediately recognized it—it was a gun.

She immediately said, "Sir, we mean no harm! We just want to stay here for the night and leave first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Let me see your hands."

The two girls immediately raised their hands.

Then the two women looked at each other and saw a hint of regret in each other's eyes—they could no longer tell whether encountering a stranger with a gun in this desolate wilderness or this icy, snowy place was more dangerous.

The short man, carrying a camp lantern, approached them step by step. Even though he could tell they were just two young girls, he remained highly vigilant, hunching over in an odd posture as he cautiously crept closer across the snow.

"Let me keep an eye on your hands! If anyone's hand disappears, I'll shoot them." The man said in a tone colder than the winter wind.

Upon hearing this, the two girls had no doubt about his words, and immediately raised their four hands even higher.

“Sir, we really just came here for camping…” Vivian tried to remain calm as she explained.

The man remained silent, drawing closer and closer. His face was completely covered, revealing only a pair of dark eyes.

The dim light he carried shone on the two men as he coldly commanded, "Pull the things off your faces and show them. Slow down, take it one step at a time. I advise you not to try anything funny."

Vivian pulled her mask down, revealing her cheeks, red from the cold. Her heart was pounding, but thankfully, the other person didn't seem interested in their appearance. They simply scanned them with the light and asked, "Do you have weapons?"

“No,” Vivian said.

“Yes,” Dora said.

Two opposing answers were given almost simultaneously.

"Oh no!" Vivian cried out in her mind.

Sure enough, the man's expression changed instantly. His hand, which had been half-loose, tightened around the gun handle again, and his gaze turned cold once more: "Do you have it or not? I warned you, don't try anything funny."

“Sir, we only brought a small knife for self-defense, that’s all,” Vivian explained immediately.

"Where is it? Take it out."

Vivian slowly bent down, preparing to take out a palm-sized folding knife from her backpack.

"Throw it on the ground."

Vivian threw it on the ground.

She thought that was the end of it, but to her surprise, the short man still wouldn't let them go, saying, "Turn your back."

Dora couldn't hold back any longer and retorted defiantly, "What do you want to do? I've already said we mean no harm. We have nothing but this knife! Do you understand?"

The short man said, "Shut your mouth, I'm going to search you."

Vivian's heart skipped a beat.

Because she was actually lying.

Hidden in a secret compartment inside her hiking backpack was a Glock 26 compact pistol.

This is undoubtedly a big problem. For someone like her who only has a California state gun license, carrying a firearm across state lines is illegal in many places.

So, she didn't even tell Dora.

However, according to the guides she consulted, this kind of thing is actually not uncommon among people who hike long-distance treks like the PCT.

It's not uncommon for people to camp out alone in the wilderness for weeks without seeing another soul. To protect themselves from bears, coyotes, or even more dangerous humans, carrying a small-caliber handgun is an unspoken rule among many experienced hikers.

But now, she never imagined that this matter would be exposed in such a situation—and at this moment, the cold muzzle of the gun is still firmly pointed in front of her.

What will happen when this extremely vigilant man discovers her pistol?
Vivian's hands and feet grew increasingly cold.

Just as she slowly turned around under the camp lanterns, her mind a complete mess, she suddenly heard another voice.

The voice sounded younger than the shorter man's, a little hoarse, and magnetic, and a strange sense of familiarity flashed through her mind.

"No need to search anymore, let them come over."

As soon as he finished speaking, the shorter man immediately raised the muzzle of his gun and said, "OK."

Dora cheered and said towards the campfire, "Thank you, sir. My name is Dora. What's your name?"

Vivian then asked the shorter man, "Sir, may we set up camp now?"

The short man nodded.

Upon seeing this action, Vivian felt as if she had been granted a pardon, and her entire body instantly relaxed.

Suddenly she felt a chill on her upper body. She realized that she had unknowingly broken out in a sweat, which had soaked her vest.

……

Inside the tent, she first took off her clothes, which were already soaked with sweat and snow, and changed into dry wool thermal underwear, then wrapped herself in a lightweight down jacket.

After hesitating for a while, Vivian finally took the pistol out of the lining of her backpack, stuffed it into the bottom of her sleeping bag, covered herself up tightly with clothes, and then wrapped herself up from head to toe, put on a hat and gloves, and crawled out of the tent with the bag of freeze-dried spaghetti bolognese.

Dora was chatting with someone by the campfire, as if nothing had happened.

Seeing her emerge from the tent, he immediately waved to her and said, "God, Vivian, you're finally dressed. Come here, I was just talking to Shawn about you."

Vivian slowly walked over, and this time, she could clearly see the man by the campfire.

Like her, he was covered from head to toe to keep warm at night, only his eyes were exposed. But you could tell that this person was quite young, and the color of his pupils was black, making him look somewhat like an Asian.

“Hello, I’m Vivian. Thank you so much for allowing us to stay here overnight.” Vivian walked over and, maintaining the polite manners expected of a Korean, bowed slightly as she spoke.

Then, unexpectedly, the man's reply was exceptionally gentle and polite, completely different from his companion's: "It's nothing, this is a place anyone can come to. I apologize for my companion's earlier nervousness. I'm sorry."

But upon hearing the other party's polite words, Vivian not only did not relax, but became even more vigilant.

Because every guidebook she consulted before her trip warned her not to trust any stranger who acted friendly towards her in the wilderness, especially those who were polite and approachable. Such people were more dangerous than those carrying guns. The latter might be acting in self-defense, while the former were definitely plotting something against her during this arduous journey.

Before she could respond, Dora interjected, "It's alright. To be honest, it's a good thing you started a fire here beforehand. Otherwise, we don't know how long it would have taken us to eat. By the way, Sean, where are you headed? Are you also planning to do the entire PCT and hike across America?"

"No. I plan to follow the old railroad line all the way through Nevada, then to Utah, across the wastelands south of Wyoming and the Yellowstone Plateau, and finally to Montana."

Vivian was taken aback and said, "You actually want to walk the 'Path of Death'?"

Sean chuckled and said, "Yes."

Vivian was completely speechless.

She had looked at and studied the road Sean mentioned before when she was looking at maps.

Unlike the PCT, a "national trail" with clear markings and campsites that attracts at least a thousand hikers each year, the other trail follows the former site of the 19th-century Central Pacific Railroad, passing through Donner Pass, the Nevada Basin, the Salt Lake Desert, and the Wyoming Plateau, eventually taking about three to four months to reach the Bozeman or Butte area of ​​Montana.

Although the scenery along this route is more magnificent, with many natural wonders and historical sites that cannot be seen on ordinary routes, it is extremely difficult, especially in winter. The scenery is at its best, but due to snow blockage, some sections cannot be resupplied from the land, making it almost a "survival challenge" for backpackers.

Therefore, this route, which extends along the old railway tracks, is also known as the "Road of Death" by American hikers.

In fact, she was more than just excited about this route; it was a journey even more legendary and epic than the PCT. During her university years, she would go hiking every holiday, and after two trips a year, she could be considered a seasoned outdoor enthusiast.

Even so, she never dared to challenge this dangerous road in winter and eventually chose the relatively safer PCT as her graduation route.

She never expected that this man, who didn't even look like a seasoned hiker, would actually want to challenge the route that even professional explorers would think twice before taking!

"Are you sure?" Vivian blurted out.

Sean said, "Of course."

Vivian frowned and said, "Do you know how dangerous that is? To be honest, neither you nor your companion seem like people who hike regularly. I don't think it's suitable for you."

After saying that, she looked at Sean, waiting for him to ask her in return, "How do you know we're not hikers?"

Then she would tell them in detail that she could tell from details such as the urban hiking boots without waterproof layers on their feet and the lightweight tent that was not suitable for high-altitude and cold environments.

At that point, she could naturally reveal her status as a seasoned hiker and then take the opportunity to advise the other person—because for someone who doesn't even know the basic equipment requirements and terrain difficulty, recklessly taking that old railway is undoubtedly playing with their life.

But, to everyone's surprise, Sean didn't ask her at all. Instead, he turned to Dora and said, "Has anyone ever told you that your friend talks like a teacher?"

Dora chuckled and said, "How did you know? Sean? A lot of people call her Professor, and she gets angry when she hears that."

"I see." The man nodded. "Then why did you come hiking with her? Do you enjoy listening to her nagging?"

Dora laughed and said, "Well, she's my best friend."

The man laughed and said, "You're such a loyal girl, but I think the weather is a bit bad right now, so maybe you shouldn't go any further."

"Haha, looks like you have a lot of experience?"

"Of course, I'm an adventurer. I think an unprecedented blizzard might be coming soon, so I think you should turn back now."

Dora laughed, "You're an adventurer? You don't look like one at all!"

That's because you don't understand me yet.

"Then do you want me to understand you?"

"Most women who get to know me fall in love with me, and I'm afraid you'll end up like them."

"What you've said has really piqued my interest."

"Oh, no way. Girls usually start falling in love with me around this time."

"Hahahaha, don't give me that."

"Hahaha……"

For the next half hour, Vivian busied herself, boiling water and cooking spaghetti on the man's portable stove, while listening to Dora flirt with him. When she finished cooking the spaghetti, the two were still talking non-stop, and their conversation was becoming increasingly intimate.

Admittedly, the man was quite interesting, with a humorous and witty way of speaking. He would occasionally throw out a few unexpected clever remarks, making Dora laugh so hard she almost fell over. Even Vivian herself was amused and laughed several times.

Even so, she still felt uneasy.

The thought that this man's companion had just threatened their lives with a gun, and now Dora was so intimate with him while leaving her out, made her feel uneasy.

Even during their chat, he shamelessly pretended to be an adventurer, repeatedly advising Dora to turn back with him. This made her even more annoyed.

She was the one who wanted to persuade him to change his route, but now it's the other way around?
Finally, Vivian could no longer tolerate it.

After finishing the noodles, she practically dragged Dora back into their double tent, and asked in a low voice, "What are you doing! You're practically crawling into his tent, and you don't even know what he looks like. Aren't you afraid he might do something to you?"

However, what infuriated her even more was that Dora didn't seem to think she had done anything wrong. She shrugged indifferently and said, "Come on, Vivian, I don't think that guy is a bad person. He's quite interesting, isn't he? If he hadn't said he was ugly, I would really want to see what he looks like. If he were half as good-looking as Ted King, I might even date him."

“Fuck, Dora,” Vivian was suddenly distracted and exclaimed in surprise, her eyes wide. “You only chatted with him for a little while and you’re already willing to go on a date with him? I remember when Ted King himself was pursuing you, you barely paid any attention to him.”

Dora leaned back in her sleeping bag with a grin and said, "Yes, what did I say when I rejected Ted King?"

"You said you were planning to find someone..." After saying that for a while, Vivian suddenly froze.

"That's right. A rich man. And then that guy ran away crying."

At this point, Dora suddenly leaned closer and lowered her voice, saying, "Haven't you figured it out yet? He's a rich man—that guy who pointed a gun at us earlier was 90% his bodyguard. While we were talking, he stood not far away, neither coming over nor leaving, watching us like we were thieves. I dare say, he's not just a bodyguard, he's an extremely dedicated high-class bodyguard. Think about it, someone who comes hiking with bodyguards like that, is he not a millionaire?"

Vivian immediately realized what was happening and said, "That's right, Dora."

"That's why I said, if he were half as handsome as that soccer captain, I'd be willing to date him." Dora put her hands behind her head and said in a slightly girlish, infatuated tone, "But if he's too ugly, then it's still no good, I can't stand it."

After saying that, she sighed and added, "It's a real shame. Seeing how covered up he was the whole time, he probably couldn't be good-looking. He must be someone who's insecure about his appearance. But then again, handsome guys are too busy putting on makeup all day, how could they possibly suffer like this in the wild? And most people who are willing to come out and suffer like this are not good-looking. If you're talking about someone who's both handsome and likes to mess around in this kind of place, then it's really only someone like you—someone who's different from the crowd. It's a pity, I actually quite liked this guy, flirting with him was quite fun."

“Alright, anyway, I think we can both get a good night’s sleep tonight.” Dora yawned as she unbuttoned her coat. “Because that guy didn’t ask us anything from beginning to end—who we are, where we came from, where we’re going, he didn’t ask a single question.”

After saying that, she took off her mask and coat, unzipped her sleeping bag, and crawled inside. "My mission is complete. Goodnight, Vivian."

Vivian stared blankly at the figure curled up in the sleeping bag for a long, long time.

Suddenly, she realized that perhaps the wisest decision she made on the entire trip was to persuade her friend, whose personality was completely opposite to hers, to accompany her on this graduation trip.

……

As it turned out, Dora was absolutely right.

The next morning, as sunlight streamed through the gaps in the mountain pass, Vivian emerged from her tent and, upon taking a breath of the cold, fresh air, froze in place.

In the center of the camp, only a pile of cooled campfire embers, emitting a faint gray smoke, remained; the rest of the camp was completely empty.

The two tents, the folding chairs by the campfire, the cooking utensils, and even the footprints they left last night all vanished without a trace overnight, as if the two people had never existed.

Oh no, there were still two things left in the middle of the camp.

As a seasoned traveler, Vivian recognized them at a glance: they were a pair of satellite companion beacons.

This is the kind of dual-unit paired locator used by professional expedition teams. It's not for finding a way, but for sending distress signals and pinpointing location.

Moreover, once the two devices are activated, they will automatically link together. No matter where they are, if the distance between them exceeds thirty meters, they will immediately vibrate and sound an alarm, and indicate the direction via microwave signals—like an invisible "safety rope" tying the two people together.

This is an expensive item; it's high-end equipment that even many professional travelers might not be able to afford.

When the two girls saw the two pieces of professional equipment worth at least tens of thousands of dollars, there was a note next to them that read, "Dora, it was nice chatting with you. This is for you."

Dora and Vivian both fell silent.

Dora murmured, "I think now we only need one-tenth of Ted King. Vivian, do you think he might not even be as good as one-tenth of Ted?"

Vivian felt a pang of sadness for some reason and couldn't help but reply, "He doesn't even have the courage to say goodbye to us in broad daylight. I doubt he's even one percent of Ted King."

As soon as she said it, she felt very guilty and added, "But he might be even more handsome than Ted King."

But Dora didn't listen to the second half of her sentence. Instead, she shook her head in disappointment and didn't say anything more.

After that, the two girls' journey returned to its previous tranquility.

After walking along the railway for several days, the two girls returned to the main route of the PCT (Roof Ridge Trail).

The terrain here is much friendlier than the wild and dangerous snowfields of the Nevada Pass. The signs along the way are clearly visible, and you can often encounter other hikers. Occasionally, an off-road supply vehicle will pass by, and the hikers will gather together to exchange canned food, fuel, and stories. The long-lost sense of security makes both of them relax.

So when the blizzard came, Vivian was completely caught off guard.

The sky was clear and starry in the morning, but by the afternoon, it was as if the sky had been completely turned upside down. A deep wind howled through the valleys, whipping up large swaths of snow and mist that rushed towards us.

The compass needle swung violently due to strong magnetic interference, and the GPS screen showed only a blank search signal icon. The raging snow stung our faces, and visibility was less than ten meters.

Every experienced hiker knows that blizzards themselves are not actually that scary; as long as you set up camp in time or find a natural sheltered spot, you can get through them safely.

However, it is often the disorientation caused by blizzards that becomes the deadliest killer.

These thoughts flashed through Vivian's mind, and she was immediately filled with extreme panic and confusion.

“We have to find shelter from the wind!” she shouted to Dora, but the wind almost drowned out her voice.

The two girls then braved the blizzard and trekked through the wilderness, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not find any shelter from the storm.

The once familiar trail is now completely covered by thick snow. The path underfoot blends almost into the surrounding mountains, and even the wooden stakes that once guided the way have been buried without a trace.

The wind howled like a wild beast, sweeping in from the depths of the valley.

Frost quickly formed on the girls' eyelashes and the tips of their noses, their body temperature began to drop little by little, their fingers slowly lost feeling, and their hiking boots felt as heavy as lead with each lift of their feet.

If it weren't for the satellite beacon left by that person a week ago, the two of them would have been separated by the blizzard long ago.

"Vivian, I can't see the road!" Dora's voice came from behind, broken and fragmented by the wind and snow. "Are we... lost?"

Vivian did not answer.

Because that is indeed the case.

She had long since lost her sense of direction in this white world.

She knew perfectly well that the main storyline of the PCT was in this valley, but now all around her was a vast expanse of white, and she couldn't even tell whether she was heading south or north.

She strained her eyes, trying to find even the slightest familiar landmark—a tree, a protruding cliff—but there was nothing there; only snow, wind, and a despairing whiteness filled the world.

"We can't stop, Dora!" she shouted with all her might as she turned around. "If we stop, we'll freeze to death here!"

But as soon as she finished speaking, her foot suddenly slipped.

"what--!"

Vivian fell forward onto the snow, the thick snow instantly filling her collar and cuffs, feeling as cold as countless needles piercing her skin. Dora quickly knelt down to help her up.

“We must find shelter immediately,” Vivian forced out the broken words from her throat.

"But there's nothing here!" Dora cried out in despair, her voice trembling with tears. "No trees, no caves, not even a damn big rock!"

Vivian was well aware of this.
At this moment, she finally felt despair.

Could this be the place where she and Dora will meet their end?

Vivian didn't want to cry, but tears were already streaming down her face uncontrollably.

At that moment, despair pressed down on my chest like snowflakes.

She even began to picture something in her mind—that a few days later, when the snow melted, the rescue team would find two bodies in this valley, one in front of the other, perhaps still holding hands.
But she was only 22 years old, and she really didn't want to die, especially not in a place like this.

The moment the tears left her eyes, they quickly froze into tiny ice crystals on her cheeks, which were then scattered by the howling blizzard, just as the hope in her heart was gradually extinguished.

But just then, amidst the boundless despair, a faint yet gentle warm light appeared, like the dawn breaking through the edge of hell, shining in the distance.

This was a scene that Vivian found very familiar.

It seems like it just happened not long ago.

Therefore, she initially thought it was just a hallucination, because it really resembled a scene from before—but the light was moving, getting closer and closer, becoming clearer and clearer.

Dora started screaming, "We're here!"

Vivian immediately realized what was happening and stood still, waving her arms and shouting loudly.

She looked up, her vision blurred by tears and snow mist.

Finally, she saw it—a figure walking against the wind step by step through the snowstorm, the headlamp above drawing a golden streak of light in the blizzard, illuminating the white abyss before them.

……

……

Chen Nuo never imagined that he would encounter the woman who had deeply influenced him in his previous life again in the snowy wilderness of Nevada, following last year's Golden Globe Awards luncheon.

What kind of bizarre places are these?

That night, when the light in Linghu's hand illuminated that familiar yet unfamiliar face, only a few years younger, he was completely stunned.

But soon, after calming down, he calculated the time and immediately understood the reason—January 2013 was the time when the incident she had mentioned happened.

In the tearful account she recounted, it was during this trek across the PCT that she was completely separated from her best friend from university in a sudden blizzard.

She survived by a stroke of luck, but her friend froze to death in a valley north of the Donner Pass, where a blizzard raged most fiercely. His body wasn't found by the rescue team until a week later.

Since then, although she still loves adventure and faraway places, she has never taken another hiking trip. Even when she later crossed America with him, she chose a car instead of walking.

Come to think of it, if Vivian hadn't insisted that he return to South Korea with her to settle down back then, he probably would have already completely settled down in America and become a banana (yellow on the outside, white on the inside).

Although the two later broke up because he was caught cheating on her, she returned to South Korea and became a successful songwriter, writing several popular songs. He, on the other hand, returned to China, became an internet celebrity, and was eventually stabbed to death, which led to his rebirth.

So, he really owes the other party a huge favor.

That's why he decided to do something almost without much thought.

Do something?
When the satellite beacon receiver in my hand finally started to flicker, the two dots on the screen gradually moved closer together in the storm.

When the howling blizzard swept past his ears and the two swaying figures, almost swallowed by the white snow, finally appeared in his vision, Chen Nuo nearly lost control.

Damn it, those two damn women actually ran all the way here! If I'd known, I wouldn't have done anything!
(End of this chapter)