Chapter 15 Wind Rises

"The wind is picking up." Zi Gui reached out his hand, his handsome eyebrows furrowing slightly.

Staring at the sky overhead, Shang Mo seemed stunned for a moment. Then, he turned his head and said in a tense voice, "Quick, everyone, hurry up and set up the tents. The weather is turning bad. We're likely to have a blizzard."

"Set up tents here?" Bai Xi, who also had experience climbing snow mountains, looked at Shang Mo with a questioning gaze. In his experience, this place was not suitable for setting up tents at all.

There was no shelter here. If the blizzard was strong enough and lasted long enough, it would swallow them all. By then, even if they wanted to escape, they wouldn't be able to.

"Then what do you suggest?" Shang Mo asked. With the blizzard coming, everyone was nervous, and their tone was much harsher.

Bai Xi quickly surveyed the surroundings and finally pointed to a snow hill not far away, "We'll set up camp there. If we're quick, we should be able to set up the tents before the blizzard hits."

Without delay, everyone quickly changed direction and headed towards the snow hill.

However, traversing in the snow mountain was much slower than on flat ground, especially with the blizzard beginning to show its signs. The biting wind carried large swaths of snowflakes that struck their faces like tiny knives, blinding them.

Visibility was getting worse and worse, and the sky was already half dark. Bai Xi rushed to the front to lead the way, while Jiang Cheng and the others took on the responsibility of taking care of the others, especially Shang Mo. He was hunched over, blown this way and that by the cold wind. Jiang Cheng was very worried that he would fall to the ground and never be able to get up again.

He was a key figure, at least for now. They needed him alive.

Just as the team was moving forward with difficulty, suddenly, the snow layer under their feet fractured. Immediately after, Zhou Yuxuan, who was walking on the edge of the team, staggered and instantly disappeared.

A large amount of snow rushed over, but fortunately, the people around reacted quickly and barely avoided it.

After regaining their senses, a huge crevice suddenly appeared on the originally flat ground. Snow was constantly rolling into the crevice. Because of the blizzard, visibility was very poor, and the crevice was blurred. No one knew how deep it was.

Everyone had heard of this situation before. Some snowfields looked very flat and safe, but some locations only had a thin layer of snow crust. Once it encountered greater pressure, it would shatter instantly, swallowing anyone who passed by.

Generally speaking, once someone fell in, their chances of being rescued were not great.

Especially in the current situation.

The blizzard was only one of the dangers. What made everyone more vigilant were the hungry ghosts hidden in the blizzard, eyeing them covetously. Those were the most terrifying and deadly things.

To everyone's surprise, Bai Xi dropped his backpack on the ground, quickly opened it, and took out a coil of safety rope. He tied one end around his waist and threw the other end to Gongsun Zhiruo, "Hold the rope tight, I'll go down and save him."

"Brother," Huai Yi couldn't help but raise his voice, "Even if you go down now, it will be difficult to save him. And I feel like it's very deep inside. He might already be..."

"But if I don't go down, he will definitely die," Bai Xi interrupted.

But before Bai Xi could reach the edge of the crevice, someone had already taken the first step and was preparing to go down. Gongsun Zhiruo tied the safety rope around her waist, adjusted the buckle, and shouted to Bai Xi, "You stay here. You have experience climbing snow mountains. The team needs you more, and I'm better at climbing than you."

Jiang Cheng and a few others helped him pull the rope. Gongsun Zhiruo took a deep breath and began to slowly descend along the edge of the crevice. Fortunately, the crevice wasn't straight up and down, but had a gentle slope, which saved everyone a lot of energy.

Before Gongsun Zhiruo went down, Han Juanjuan had sent a message to Zhou Yuxuan, but so far, she hadn't received a reply. To be honest, Jiang Cheng and the others were not so optimistic about rescuing him alive.

Fortunately, the blizzard only maintained its current intensity and did not worsen. Otherwise, staying here would put everyone in danger.

Jiang Cheng, Fatty, and Huai Yi stood in separate positions, leaning their bodies slightly back, holding the safety rope tightly in their hands. At least Gongsun Zhiruo's life was in their hands.

Bai Xi and Han Juanjuan didn't dare to come over to help. After all, it was unclear if there were any more snow caves nearby. If a few more people fell in, they would all be finished.

Shang Mo paced anxiously, his eyes constantly looking towards the snow hill. It seemed that he wanted to persuade everyone to give up the rescue. After all, there was no need to risk an entire team to save one person. But after noticing the look in Zi Gui's eyes, Shang Mo ultimately didn't dare to say what was on his mind.

"Look!" Lu Yu pointed to the bottom of the crevice excitedly.

Everyone held their breath. In the depths of the crevice, there was actually a light.

The light wasn't very strong because of the blizzard, but it was clear that someone was controlling it. Because the light was moving, or rather, constantly drawing circles.

"It's a phone!" Zi Gui also approached the crevice and peered downwards, saying with pleasant surprise, "It seems Zhou Yuxuan isn't dead, or at least not unconscious. He's alive and using his phone to guide us."

But judging from the fact that he hadn't replied to the text message, Zhou Yuxuan must have been injured, and the injured part included his arm, which was why he couldn't reply to the message. After all, their phones had signal even in the snow mountain.

If it was just an arm injury, that would be fine, but if his leg was injured and he couldn't walk on his own, then the outcome awaiting him would be very miserable. After all, trekking in the snow mountain, it was good enough if everyone could take care of themselves, and they definitely couldn't carry another person.

"Call Zhou Yuxuan and ask what's going on?" Zi Gui shouted to Han Juanjuan.

The blizzard blocked out a lot of sound, and their communication was basically by shouting. Han Juanjuan also held her phone and replied, "It's no use, I've tried calling, but Zhou Yuxuan isn't answering the phone."

Unlike these people's focus, Jiang Cheng had been staring at the moving light, which was Zhou Yuxuan's waving phone.

Gradually, his expression became strange. The light had been moving, and judging by the trajectory of the light's movement, he could roughly imagine that Zhou Yuxuan was lying flat on the ground at this moment, holding his phone, turning on the flashlight mode, and constantly drawing circles above the crevice, hoping to attract the attention of the people above and have them come down to save him.

But what was strange was that the circle drawn by the light was a little too round, and also particularly regular. The speed of each movement of the light was the same.

But after all, Zhou Yuxuan had fallen off a cliff first, so he should have suffered very serious injuries. His movements shouldn't be so flexible, nor should they be so regular. This was unscientific.

Jiang Cheng had a very strange feeling, as if the one drawing circles below wasn't a person, but a machine.

Thinking of this, Jiang Cheng's eyes paused, and he immediately shouted to Fatty Huai Yi behind him, "Stop letting out the rope! Quick, pull him back up first!"