From humble beginnings to the pinnacle of life

Hearing Yangyang say this, Wang Ge's brows furrowed even more.

He didn't press her for more information, but simply nodded and handed her a glass of warm water, telling her to drink it slowly.

After he finished, he turned to me and said in a low voice, "Hurry up and pack, we'll leave right away."

Yangyang tried to stand up and lend a hand, but as soon as he moved, Wang Ge stopped him.

"Sit still and conserve your energy. You don't need to do these chores."

While Yangyang was looking down at her water glass, not paying attention to us, Wang Ge leaned close to me and whispered something in my ear:

"The situation is not good; this girl most likely has high-altitude pulmonary edema."

"Wh...what?!"

My heart sank suddenly, and I almost cried out. I instinctively turned my head to look at the sheep beside me.

I only noticed that she had a fever, was weak, and had a persistent cough, so I didn't think about pulmonary edema.

Wang quickly looked up to signal me to stay calm and whispered, "Don't let her know. We can't break her will to live now. We have to leave her with the thought of living."

My Adam's apple bobbed, and my heart felt like it was blocked by a stone soaked in ice water.

I know all too well what high-altitude pulmonary edema means. At this altitude and in this environment, it's a deadly thing that can't be delayed.

No wonder Brother Wang didn't ask any more questions just now, and was focused on urging us to hurry on our way.

I dared not let my mind wander any longer, and my hands moved much faster.

After quickly tidying up our things in the cave and eating a couple of bites of compressed biscuits for breakfast, we prepared to set off.

Wang Ge pulled out a thickened static safety rope from the bottom of his backpack, tied one end to the main buckle of his backpack, and then wrapped the other end around Yang Yang's waist.

"This rope connects the three of us, so don't let go when we're crossing the dangerous sections. I'll lead the way, and Lin Ye will protect you from the side. If you slip, the rope will hold you back and prevent you from falling straight down."

To be honest, Yangyang's current physical condition simply cannot withstand long-distance hiking.

High fever kept recurring, my lungs felt uncomfortable, and every breath was torture.

With no rescue team arriving in time, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and keep going if she wanted to survive.

No one knew whether they could make it to the bottom of the mountain.

I adjusted the action camera on my chest, turned it on, and pointed the lens at the road ahead.

It wasn't to increase viewership for the live stream, nor was it to use this life-or-death experience to gain popularity.

In case we encounter an accident on the way, the people at the command center outside can use this video to clearly see the route we took and know what we encountered.

The snowstorm outside hasn't completely broken out yet, and the gale hasn't reached its peak, but everyone knows that this is just a brief calm before the storm.

The cave's small shelter won't last long. The sooner we set off, the better our chances will be to find another place to stay and take shelter before the next blizzard closes the mountain.

"I'll go first and use the snow shovel to clear the way, exposing the hidden ice and the pits under the snow. Lin Ye, you stay close to Yang Yang and support her, keeping an eye on her condition. If she can't breathe, call us to stop immediately and we'll rest on the spot."

After assigning tasks, Brother Wang spoke calmly, without any extra emotion.

I responded emphatically and turned to look at Yangyang.

She slowly propped herself up against the cold rock wall, and the moment her feet stepped into the snow, she gasped in pain.

She bit her lower lip, swallowing back the cry of pain that was about to escape her lips, and followed Wang Ge step by step as he moved out.

I stepped forward and supported her other arm; I could feel her trembling even through her thick fleece jacket.

I spoke softly to her, "If it hurts, just say so. Don't try to tough it out. If you really can't take it anymore, we'll stop and rest for a bit."

She gave a soft "hmm," then raised her hand to tighten her collar and hat a little more, burying most of her face in the scarf.

Wang Ge moved the backpack that had been blocking the cave entrance to keep out the wind, and a biting cold wind rushed into the cave in an instant, extinguishing the remaining flames inside.

A white, blizzard swept in, instantly clouding the view and making visibility even worse than last night.

The three of us stepped out of the cave and into the knee-deep snow.

The snow looks soft and fluffy, but underneath lies a layer of frozen ice.

With each step forward, I had to test the waters with my trekking poles, lest I slip and fall into a crevice or pit in the snow.

Wang Ge walked at the front, using his snow shovel to clear away the thick snow and remove the ice and gravel hidden beneath, leaving us a barely passable footprint.

I stood close to Yangyang, half supporting and half carrying her.

That safety rope stretched between us, binding the lives of the three of us together.

Sheep walked with great difficulty, coughing one after another, breathing heavily and rapidly. Every twenty or thirty meters, she had to stop and gasp for breath.

The thin air at high altitudes is already difficult to breathe, and coupled with her persistent high fever and lung problems, she looked like she could collapse at any moment.

She had only walked for less than half an hour when her legs gave way and she collapsed straight into the snow.

"Stop and rest!"

Wang Ge immediately spoke up and quickly scanned the surroundings.

There was a huge rock slab leaning to the side, and the protruding rock could block some of the wind and snow, making it one of the few places on this snow slope where one could temporarily take shelter.

We worked together to help Yangyang to a sheltered spot under the rock slab and settled her down. Wang Ge then started a fire to boil water.

I reached out and touched her forehead; it was still very hot, her pulse was rapid and erratic, and her chest was heaving violently.

Due to limited resources, we didn't have any specific medication for her symptoms, so we could only boil some warm water for her to drink slowly, and then have her take the cold medicine she carried with her.

Sheep sat leaning against the cold rock, utterly exhausted, staring blankly at the endless snow-capped mountains, his voice low and hoarse, filled with deep regret:

"Sometimes I think, if I hadn't been so focused on running the Terra route and had just tried to gain traffic and followers by doing this, and had instead focused on making ordinary hiking videos, I wouldn't be in this situation today."

Wang Ge took out a cigarette and lit it with great difficulty in the wind, but the smoke was quickly blown away.

He took a sip and said in a calm tone:

"There's no turning back in this world. Thinking about this now is useless. First, we need to figure out how to get out of here alive. Once we're safely down the mountain, we'll cooperate with the investigation if necessary. Trespassing on a closed route is no small matter."

Sheep remained silent, nodded slightly, and did not say anything more.

After a short rest, we poured the boiled water into a thermos and stored it away. Then we packed our things and continued on our way.

Along the way, one hidden danger after another emerged.

In some places, the snow was hollow underneath, formed by loose rocks. When Wang Ge gently poked it with his trekking pole, the entire snow layer collapsed with a whoosh, making my heart clench.

In some sections, the snow had been repeatedly compacted by the strong winds, making it as hard and slippery as a mirror. We could only move slowly, stepping on the footprints that Wang Ge had cleared.

The safety rope connecting the three of us was suddenly pulled tight several times.

Every time, it terrifies me so much that I break out in a cold sweat and my heart leaps into my throat.

As the sky slowly tilted westward, the originally grayish-white light gradually deepened into a somber grayish-blue.

I silently calculated the speed in my mind. At Yangyang's current state, we could only move forward three or four kilometers a day at most, which was far from reaching the campsite we had planned.

Whether we can find a second cave or a rocky pit to block the wind and snow tonight will determine whether the three of us can survive the night.

Wang Ge suddenly stopped, looked up at the distant mountain ridges, and his face darkened.

"Look over there."