Supported by the desire to survive

Chen Xiao and the others all gave Yan Bingqin a thumbs-up.

“Awesome!”

Yan Bingqin clapped her hands, “Fill up the water, let’s go.”

“Alright.”

Tang Shaofei immediately unpacked the box, placing two bottles on each side of their backpacks.

Now they had both food and water, meeting the conditions for hiking out.

Two days, they believed, would surely be enough to reach a village.

Just as they finished packing and were about to set off, the middle-aged man Chen Xiao had met in Kangding, who was suffering from hypoxia, called out, “Wait a moment.”

“Wait a moment, we’ll go with you. I have oxygen.”

The group was startled, not expecting to encounter him here.

Oxygen was crucial on the plateau, especially when hiking, as physical exertion was immense, and anyone could succumb to severe altitude sickness and perish in the wilderness.

Their vehicle carrying oxygen was cut off somewhere, and they had lost contact, leaving them with only a few portable oxygen tanks.

However, the situation for this middle-aged couple wasn’t good.

The aunt who wanted to introduce her daughter to Chen Xiao had her left calf struck by a falling rock; her bones seemed fine, but it was bleeding profusely, and she was limping.

Yan Bingqin frowned, “Sorry, you won’t be able to keep up.”

“Don’t worry, we definitely won’t drag you down. We’ll just follow behind; as long as you leave us markers so we don’t get lost, that’s fine.”

The middle-aged man was good at grasping key points, including the first sentence he used to call them, directly stating he had oxygen, showing his value first.

Now, he quickly dispelled their concerns, explaining that they didn’t need extra help and wouldn’t burden the group.

Chen Xiao thought to himself, this person is not simple.

“How much oxygen do you have?”

The middle-aged man pointed to the trunk and said, “Besides the box you gave me, I have two more boxes.”

The group’s eyes lit up; three boxes, over 30 cans of oxygen, could solve a big problem.

Yan Bingqin and the others exchanged glances; seeing no one object, she said, “Alright, we’ll do as you say. We’ll split the oxygen equally.”

The middle-aged man had no objections.

He directly opened the trunk, and the group stepped forward to take their respective shares before setting off.

The middle-aged man and his wife put on their backpacks, leaned on their trekking poles, and supported each other as they followed behind the group.

Many people around were still trying to persuade them, saying that climbing on the plateau was very dangerous and they should stay and wait.

In fact, they didn’t consider that rescue technology in this era was far less developed than in later generations; would it be easy for people outside to come in?

For those who stayed behind, food and water were not the most critical issues; low temperature and hypoxia were the real killers.

A group of 7 people slowly ascended the mountain path.

Not long after, Chen Xiao felt the feedback the plateau gave him.

His lungs felt heavy, his heart pounded violently, and he felt blood rushing to his head, leaving him in a daze.

He turned to look at the others; they were even worse off than him, their faces flushed red.

The mountain path was slippery and muddy, coupled with hypoxia, making their steps somewhat unsteady.

Zhang Meng, Xiong Chao, and the middle-aged man behind them had already started continuously inhaling oxygen.

Although the summit was only over three hundred meters away, the group climbed with extreme difficulty, taking nearly three hours to reach the top.

Chen Xiao could still hold back from using oxygen, but Zhang Meng and Xiong Chao had already used up one can.

Standing on the ridge, the group looked down, and it was more than just a few places; everywhere they looked, there were landslides.

The middle-aged man behind them had fallen far behind.

But no one waited for them; they arranged stones to form an arrow indicating the direction and descended the mountain.

Xiong Chao’s breathing was heavy like a bellows, his steps unsteady, and he was in extremely poor condition.

“Brother, hang in there! If you die here, how am I going to explain it to Uncle Xiong?” Tang Shaofei said.

Xiong Chao was already speechless; he waved his hand weakly, moving one step at a time.

Most of his oxygen was already consumed, with only one full bottle left.

After finally getting down the mountain, Xiong Chao and Zhang Meng collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

“No, I can’t move. I’m tired and hungry; let’s rest and eat something,” Xiong Chao said.

“No!” Yan Bingqin snapped.

“This is just the beginning. If you eat it all now, what will you do later?”

What Yan Bingqin said was not without reason; the food they had, if eaten freely, might only be enough for one full meal, but if rationed, it might barely last two days.

And they probably hadn’t even covered a tenth of the journey yet; they had to plan and ration their food carefully.

“Hand over all your food to me; I’ll distribute it to you as needed,” Yan Bingqin said.

Upon hearing this, the group obediently took off their backpacks and handed all their food to Yan Bingqin.

Chen Xiao was stunned, wondering if they all trusted Yan Bingqin so much.

Yan Bingqin glanced at him and said, “You can choose to keep it yourself or leave it with me.”

Chen Xiao thought for a moment, “Leave it with you, you have good stamina.”

After saying that, he, like the others, handed the food from his backpack to Yan Bingqin.

The crucial point was that if Yan Bingqin wanted to keep it all, even if the four of them, who were weak fighters, teamed up, the outcome would probably be no different.

After resting for more than ten minutes, the group was urged by Yan Bingqin to get up.

“Keep going. If we rest any longer, our bodies will lose too much heat, and we won’t be able to move at all.”

The group struggled to get up and continued forward, once again leaving the middle-aged couple, who had just caught up, far behind.

On the flat ground of the valley, Zhang Meng and Xiong Chao did not fall behind again; they walked silently in the middle of the team.

Tang Shaofei walked side by side with Chen Xiao, “Actually… although Sister Qin’s punches hurt a lot, in critical moments, you can always trust her. She won’t abandon her brothers.”

Chen Xiao was noncommittal; he wasn’t like Tang Shaofei and the others, who had grown up with Yan Bingqin.

Seeing that he didn’t believe her, Tang Shaofei added, “Zhang Meng’s life was saved by Sister Qin.”

“Oh? There’s such a story?”

Tang Shaofei nodded, “When he was in junior high, he almost drowned in the reservoir next to the school. None of us dared to go down and save him. It was Sister Qin who jumped down and pulled him out, almost losing her own life. That’s why Zhang Meng gets beaten by her the most, but he never complains.”

This incident touched Chen Xiao quite a bit.

He hadn’t expected Yan Bingqin to have such a side in a wealthy family where self-interest reigned supreme.

It seemed that what people showed in ordinary times and in special moments was different.

To conserve energy, the two didn’t chat much, walking until dark, when they reached the foot of the second mountain.

Yan Bingqin found a sheltered spot as their camp for the night.

The group all collapsed to the ground, not wanting to move at all.

Xiong Chao, despite being very conservative, still ran out of oxygen bottles.

Zhang Meng had half a bottle left, Tang Shaofei had one bottle left, and only Chen Xiao and Yan Bingqin hadn’t used oxygen. As for the middle-aged couple, their situation was unknown; they had disappeared.

Yan Bingqin took out two packs of instant noodles and two bottles of mineral water, “One pack of noodles for two people, one bottle of water for two people. Try to chew slowly and thoroughly; it helps with absorption. Go to bed early after eating.”

Chen Xiao and the others took them, dividing the instant noodles and water.

Then Yan Bingqin used a plastic wrapper as kindling to light the somewhat damp firewood.

The flames brought not only warmth but also hope.

Illuminating their tired faces.

After walking all day and only eating half a pack of instant noodles, their stomachs felt empty, but at least the intense hunger had subsided considerably.

Chen Xiao suddenly realized something: Yan Bingqin had only drunk some water and hadn’t eaten anything.

“You… aren’t you going to eat something?”

Yan Bingqin said, “I’m saving it for tomorrow morning. Sleep.”

Chen Xiao thought for a moment and didn’t ask again.

The group huddled around the warm fire, gradually falling into a dream.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Xiao heard someone speaking.

“This is it, we finally made it.” It was the woman from the middle-aged couple, her voice tearful. “Old Lu, why don’t you go on by yourself tomorrow? Don’t worry about me, I can’t hold on anymore.”

“Bull… bullshit. Old… I’d rather die with you than die alone!”

The woman said, “Then take a breath of oxygen.”

“I’m fine, there’s not much oxygen left, save it for critical moments.” The man stubbornly refused.

Chen Xiao sat up, added a piece of firewood to the fire, and then went back to sleep.

Now was not the time to be nosy; every bit of energy was precious.

That night, the group did not sleep soundly.

Dampness, hardness, and cold constantly assailed them.

The next day, at dawn, the group got up.

Looking at the middle-aged couple huddled nearby, Yan Bingqin said nothing.

They packed their bags and prepared to set off again.

“Wait a moment, I’ll trade oxygen for some food,” the middle-aged man said.

Chen Xiao was very surprised; he had experienced altitude sickness at 2700 meters in Kangding, and now at over 4000 meters, he was trading his remaining oxygen for food?

The woman immediately cried, “Old Lu, you’re holding back from taking oxygen, just to…”

“Don’t cry, tears consume energy.”

The woman obediently held back her tears, tightly hugging the man’s arm, “I’m not hungry, you save the oxygen.”

The man ignored her, “Are you trading or not?”

Oxygen and food were almost equally important supplies. Xiong Chao had run out of oxygen, so he was very tempted.

“No trade,” Yan Bingqin said.

Xiong Chao sighed, somewhat disappointed.

Yan Bingqin took out one of her oxygen cans and handed it to Xiong Chao, “You use this for now.”

Xiong Chao looked up, “Sister Qin…”

“Stop talking nonsense, take it.”

Xiong Chao nodded, took it, and the team set off.

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and said nothing.

Chen Xiao had two chocolate bars in the inner pocket of his jacket.

He had left them there yesterday and forgotten to take them out.

Chen Xiao thought for a moment, walked over, and handed him a Swiss Army knife: “Brother, you can try tree bark, eat the fibers inside. Although it doesn’t taste great, it can barely last two days.”

The middle-aged man was startled and nodded.

“Thank you.”

Chen Xiao walked away after speaking, slowly catching up with the main group.

Today, everyone’s condition was even worse.

Without sufficient rest, food, and oxygen, even Yan Bingqin’s face was somewhat pale.

Before noon, Tang Shaofei had half a bottle of oxygen left, and Zhang Meng and Xiong Chao had completely run out of oxygen, collapsing directly on the road, their lips purple and faces flushed.

And their location was still deep in the mountains; according to what the driver said before they set off, they still had to cross the mountain ahead to reach the nearest village.

But Xiong Chao and Zhang Meng… probably wouldn’t make it.

Chen Xiao secretly calculated his oxygen needs for crossing that big mountain; he should still have one bottle left over.

He decided to do his last bit, giving one bottle of oxygen, divided between the two of them, and after that, whether they lived or died was up to fate.

But before he could act, Yan Bingqin had already opened two of her own oxygen bottles and pressed them to the two men’s mouths.

One spray per second, continuously spraying several breaths of oxygen, the two men had initially regained consciousness.

Chen Xiao frowned; Yan Bingqin was looking for death! That was her last oxygen, and if it was used up, she wouldn’t be able to cross the mountain, which was estimated to be over five thousand meters high.

He silently withdrew his hand that had been on the oxygen bottle.

“Zhang Meng, I’ll carry your backpack. Can you still walk?” Chen Xiao said.

Zhang Meng nodded weakly; giving up now meant giving up life.

And so, the 5 people supported each other, stumbling forward towards their goal.

Their willpower and physical strength were reaching their limits, completely sustained by their will to survive.