40: Thankfully, there was no frostbite in that area, otherwise...

Seeing the rope shake violently, her expression changed:

“Something happened!”

She and Lin Wanwan pulled the rope together with force.

Qin Lin felt the pulling force around his waist and crawled outward in that direction.

A few seconds later, he broke free from the snow pile and stumbled back into the tunnel.

When he returned to the RV, he was shaking all over.

His protective suit was filled with snow, which had melted into ice water, soaking his inner thermal wear.

Qin Lin's face was pale, his lips were purple, and his fingers were too stiff to bend.

Su Yuran and Lin Wanwan frantically helped him take off the protective suit, wrapped him in blankets, and fed him hot water.

It took more than ten minutes for Qin Lin to recover.

“The snow collapsed...” His voice was hoarse. “The tunnel needs to be reinforced.”

But how could they reinforce it?

There was no wood, no metal supports, only snow and ice.

Qin Lin thought for a moment and came up with an idea.

“Bring the toolbox from the RV,” he said.

The toolbox contained some metal parts and discarded steel plates.

Qin Lin selected a few relatively flat pieces, tied them together with rope, and fashioned a simple support frame.

When he entered the tunnel again, he dug while propping the support frame against the side walls.

Although crude, it could at least prevent large-scale collapses.

The cost was that the progress became slower.

By the end of the second day, Qin Lin had only dug seven and a half meters.

There were still two and a half meters left.

But his body was nearing its limit.

After two consecutive days of high-intensity work in extreme cold, even with the protective suit, the low temperature still seeped in through the gaps.

His hands and feet suffered varying degrees of frostbite, and blisters appeared on his face.

That night, as Su Yuran applied medicine to him, tears fell.

“Qin Lin... why don't I take over the digging...” she choked out.

“No.”

Qin Lin firmly refused to let her take the risk.

Su Yuran stopped talking, focusing instead on applying the medicine more carefully.

Lin Wanwan watched silently from the side, her eyes complex.

The third day.

The final two and a half meters.

Qin Lin's condition was even worse.

Every time he lifted the ice pick, his arms felt like they were filled with lead.

His breathing became increasingly rapid, and the oxygen supply System of the protective suit seemed to be reaching its limit.

The air inside the mask became thin, forcing him to frequently adjust his breathing rhythm.

But he didn't stop.

Advancing slowly.

At the end of the tunnel, the blue light became clearer and clearer.

When the ice pick fell for the last time, prying open the final block of hard snow, Qin Lin saw it.

Inside the cavern, the constant temperature ice crystal floated quietly in the air.

The light blue glow circulated gently, like a scene from a dream.

Qin Lin reached out.

The moment his fingertip touched the crystal, the System prompt popped up:

[Obtained complete Intermediate crystal stone: constant temperature ice crystal × 1]

[Can be used for RV upgrade]

He grasped the crystal and turned around.

The return trip.

The ten-meter tunnel now felt like the Long March.

Every step was heavy, and every breath was stinging.

The internal temperature alarm of the protective suit flashed wildly, warning of “critical status.”

Qin Lin gritted his teeth, leaned on the side wall, and staggered forward.

Eight meters, six meters, four meters... he could see the lights of the RV.

Two meters... the RV door opened, and Su Yuran and Lin Wanwan leaned out.

Qin Lin used his last ounce of strength to lunge into the RV.

Then, everything went black.

The moment Qin Lin fainted, Su Yuran's heart nearly stopped beating.

“Qin Lin!”

She screamed and rushed over.

Lin Wanwan was also panicked, but quickly forced herself to calm down.

“Yuran, close the door first! Hurry!”

Su Yuran reacted and pulled the RV door shut forcefully.

The cold air was isolated outside, and the RV's internal temperature control System began working at full capacity to dispel the cold air that had rushed in when the door opened.

Qin Lin lay on the floor of the small living room, still tightly clutching the light blue constant temperature ice crystal in his hand.

The surface of the protective suit was covered in a thick layer of white frost, and the inside of the helmet visor was full of ice crystals, obscuring his face.

“Help me take off his protective suit!”

Su Yuran's voice trembled, but her movements were quick.

The two girls frantically undid the protective suit's latches.

The thing was complicatedly designed, and it took them a while to figure out how to open it.

When the protective suit was peeled away, both of them gasped.

Qin Lin's face was ashen, his lips were blue-purple, and his breathing was weak.

Large patches of frostbite marks covered his skin.

His fingers were red, swollen, and shiny, blisters formed on the backs of his hands, and the skin on his cheeks and nose tip was an abnormally deep red, with some areas broken and bleeding.

His feet were the worst. His socks were soaked through and stuck to his skin.

Su Yuran carefully removed the socks and saw that Qin Lin's toes were swollen and deformed, and his toenails were black, clearly indicating severe frostbite.

“We need to lift him onto the bed,” Lin Wanwan said.

“The floor is too cold.”

Working together, one lifting his head and the other his feet, they picked Qin Lin up.

He was heavy, and it took a lot of effort for the two girls to carry him into Room 001.

Su Yuran's room.

Gently placing him on the bed, Su Yuran immediately pulled the quilt over him.

Su Yuran sat on the edge of the bed, holding Qin Lin's cold hand, and finally, tears streamed down uncontrollably:

“Qin Lin... wake up... don't scare me...”

Qin Lin showed no reaction; only his faint breathing proved he was still alive.

Lin Wanwan opened the medical kit, which contained frostbite cream, disinfectant, gauze, and temperature recovery agents.

“Give him this first.”

She took out a temperature recovery agent and twisted off the cap.

Su Yuran supported Qin Lin's head, and Lin Wanwan carefully fed the agent into his mouth.

Qin Lin swallowed unconsciously, but most of it spilled out.

Lin Wanwan wiped it away with a towel and fed him a second dose.

“Next, we treat the frostbite,” Lin Wanwan said.

“We have to take off all his wet clothes.”

These words made both girls blush.

But they couldn't worry about that now.

They exchanged a look and nodded.

Su Yuran first unzipped Qin Lin's jacket, revealing a soaked sweater and thermal underwear underneath.

She gritted her teeth and started undressing him.

Lin Wanwan helped her.

When Qin Lin's upper body was completely exposed, both girls froze.

It wasn't shyness, although they were certainly a little embarrassed.

It was shock.

Qin Lin's body was covered in various scars.

There were old scars, seemingly left a long time ago.

There were fresh abrasions and bruises, likely sustained while digging the tunnel over the past few days.

There were also large patches of red, swollen frostbite, extending from his chest to his abdomen.

His body was not as thin as it appeared on the outside.

His muscle lines were defined, his shoulders were broad, and his chest was thick.

But at this moment, this body was covered in wounds, a shocking sight.

Lin Wanwan began applying the medicine.

The ointment was cooling, which should have felt comfortable on the red, swollen skin.

Qin Lin unconsciously frowned in his coma but did not wake up.

After treating his upper body, it was time for his lower body.

The girls' faces were redder, but neither stopped working.

They removed Qin Lin's pants and underwear, seeing that the frostbite on his legs was even worse.

There were large blue-purple patches on the outside of his thighs, his knees were swollen and red, and there were several broken skin areas on his calves.

It was Lin Wanwan's first time seeing a naked male body, and her face felt hot enough to burn.

But she forced herself to focus on the wounds, carefully applying the medicine.

In the process, she inevitably saw what she shouldn't have.

She quickly averted her gaze, her heart pounding.

Thankfully that place wasn't frostbitten, otherwise...