Searching for someone in northern Myanmar, and you call that earning tuition fees?

Li Changfeng handed over the military knife.

It has a sharp blade and a thick back; it's a good knife.

Su Ming took the knife, ignored the blocked road, and turned to walk towards a huge, transparent ice rock by the roadside.

"Be on guard," Li Changfeng ordered. He took cover behind a rock, rifle in hand, and aimed his gun at the approaching direction. Although the road was blocked, the "Snow Fox" drones could arrive at any moment.

Zhuoma huddled in a sheltered spot, rubbing her hands together while staring at Su Ming.

Su Ming raised his knife and began to chop at the ice rock.

"Click."

Ice shards flew everywhere.

Once, twice.

The movements were slow and rhythmic.

Zhuoma didn't understand. She leaned closer to Li Changfeng and whispered, "What's he doing? Carving a tombstone?"

Li Changfeng's eyes twitched, and he lowered his voice: "Don't make a sound. Based on my experience, this kid is probably preparing to... give nature a handmade physics lesson again."

"Handmade?" Zhuoma's eyes widened. "At a time like this?"

Li Changfeng sighed: "You'll get used to it. Back in Africa, he even had to give the enemy physics lessons."

Su Ming ignored their whispers. He focused intently on cutting the ice. The rectangular ice block was gradually smoothed, its edges removed, until it became a rough disc.

A biting wind howled. The temperature had dropped to minus twenty degrees Celsius.

Su Ming stopped and took off his gloves.

Zhuoma exclaimed, "Are you crazy? Your hand will be ruined!"

Su Ming pulled down his sleeve, wrapped his palm in the tough fabric, and carefully smoothed the rough ice surface with his body heat and friction.

Nearly an hour passed.

A huge ice convex lens, one meter in diameter and thick in the middle and thin at the edges, appeared on the snow. The surface of the lens had been polished smooth enough.

Su Ming pulled his hands back into his sleeves and breathed on them. His palms were bright red.

"alright."

Li Changfeng circled the ice lump, his expression incredulous: "Wait, brother, let me confirm, you went through all this trouble just to make... a magnifying glass that can freeze people to death?"

"It's a convex lens," Su Ming calmly corrected.

Li Changfeng pointed to the pitch-black sky: "Okay, a lens. But it's all dark, brother. This thing needs to focus light, where's the light? Are you planning to use moonlight to melt the iceberg?"

Su Ming looked up at the sky.

The clouds are dissipating, and the starlight is sparse.

He stretched out his finger and gestured towards the sky a few times, then looked at the altimeter and compass on his wrist.

He muttered to himself: "Latitude 32, ecliptic inclination, refractive index 1.31... Sunrise azimuth 105 degrees tomorrow morning, elevation correction..."

Li Changfeng's head was throbbing. He pulled a compressed biscuit from his bag and handed it to him: "Have some, it'll help your brain."

Su Ming took the biscuit, took a bite, and pointed to the pile of rocks and snow blocking the pass. "That pile of stuff looks scary, but its structure is actually very unstable. The icicle on the upper right is the fulcrum. Once it breaks, gravity will help us clear a path."

Li Changfeng measured the distance: "That icicle is 200 meters away from us, and it's blocked by rocks, so we can't shoot it. A rocket launcher might work, but we don't have one."

"The sun is there." Su Ming lifted the huge ice lens, placed it on a few rocks, adjusted the angle, and tilted it eastward.

"Go to sleep." Su Ming patted the ice crystals off his hands, found a sheltered spot, and wrapped himself tightly in his down jacket.

"Sleeping?" Zhuoma thought this person must have lost their mind. "The pursuers are right behind us!"

Su Ming closed his eyes, his tone calm: "They can't get here. I've calculated it; unless they grow wings, it would take them at least six hours to climb the mountain and take a detour. By then, we would have already left."

Looking at the ice lens that silently faces east, and listening to Su Ming's steady breathing, Li Changfeng felt that everything before him was somewhat magical.

He exhaled a long puff of white air, put away his gun, and said to Zhuoma, who also looked bewildered, "Go to sleep. Don't ask. Just tell me it's science. Anyway, I've long since given up on guessing what's going on in his head. Trusting him this once is better than freezing to death here."

Two kilometers away.

Temporary camp for the "Snow Fox" team.

Captain "Snow Fox" looked at the footage transmitted back by the drone. The image was blurry; only three figures could be seen in the thermal imaging, along with a cold, round object next to them.

"What are they doing?" a team member asked.

Snowfox frowned. "What tricks are they playing? It doesn't matter anymore. The pass is destroyed; they're trapped. Crossing the rocky area at night is suicidal, and we're no exception. Set up observation posts on the spot, and keep thermal imaging locked on. After dawn, I'll personally go to 'receive' our cargo... and their lives."

Silent all night.

The wind was biting cold, and the snow continued to fall.

The ice lens stood in the darkness, like an eye waiting for its prey.