99: Crystal Palace

"A bet is a bet."

Yelena parked the vehicle, walked over, took off her helmet, and casually brushed the thin layer of snowflakes off her body.

Although she had lost, the girl's face only showed the flush of exertion, without a hint of annoyance.

"You choose the place for tonight. Remember, only pick the most expensive one; don't save money on my account."

Jiang Yuan chuckled and flicked the ash off his cigarette.

"Fine. Then you'd better be prepared to max out your card, because I have quite an appetite."

Jokes aside.

After waiting for the length of two cigarettes, the bearded tour guide finally caught up on his motorcycle, panting heavily.

According to the standard itinerary, the next stop was to check in at that popular blue ice cave.

When they arrived at the site and took a look.

Sure enough, there were quite a few off-road vehicles parked outside the narrow cave entrance. Although the scenery inside was decent and accessible, the noise, which felt like walking through a wet market, instantly killed Jiang Yuan's interest.

Since they were already here, was this all there was to see?

He recalled a rumor he had heard while planning his trip.

Deep within this glacier was hidden a natural "Crystal Palace," a miraculous sight that only a very few veteran explorers had ever seen.

Jiang Yuan waved his hand and called the bearded man to the side.

"I heard there's a Crystal Palace down here? Lead the way."

Upon hearing this, the bearded man shook his head like a rattle-drum, his facial fat quivering.

"NO! NO! Sir, that is a true no-man's-land. The road conditions are extremely complex, and you have to crawl through several kilometers of ice crevices. It's too dangerous; nobody goes there except lunatics!"

"Ten thousand dollars."

Jiang Yuan's expression was calm as he held up a single finger.

The bearded man's voice stopped abruptly.

"I meant, nobody goes there... except for noble warriors like yourself."

The bearded man immediately changed his tune, his facial wrinkles blooming into a smile.

He even patted his chest to guarantee that he knew a shortcut only known to local veteran hunters.

Money could indeed make the devil push the millstone, and it could turn a tour guide into a member of a suicide squad.

Ten minutes later.

The three of them followed the bearded man, avoiding the crowds, and arrived at an extremely hidden ice crevice.

This was true outdoor adventure.

The entrance was so narrow that they had to squeeze in sideways, with precarious, ten-thousand-year-old ice hanging overhead, creating an intense sense of oppression.

For a full half-hour, the four of them crawled through the cracks in the ice like ants.

If not for Jiang Yuan's strong mental fortitude, anyone with claustrophobia would likely have been scared out of their wits on the spot.

Ania and Yelena were still in an excited state, their adrenaline keeping them following closely behind.

They continued deeper.

The world around them began to become bizarre and surreal.

Jiang Yuan raised his Nikon Z9 from time to time.

Click.

Through the lens, those ice pillars, frozen for hundreds of millions of years, maintained a flowing posture solidified in time, possessing a breathtaking static beauty.

This trek lasted nearly three hours.

The two women's stamina had reached its limit, and they were relying entirely on Jiang Yuan pulling them along.

Finally.

They squeezed through the last narrow crevice, which felt like the "Gates of Hell."

The space ahead suddenly opened up.

The previously cramped view instantly expanded.

All the exhaustion was worth it at this moment.

The world went quiet.

There was no artificial lighting here, and sunlight could not penetrate the hundreds of meters of thick ice.

But miraculously, this huge underground cavity was not dark.

Embedded in the rugged ice walls all around were countless unknown minerals, emitting a faint, pale blue fluorescent light.

It was as if the galaxy of stars had been inverted underground.

And right in the center of the cavity.

A huge "palace" formed by natural blue ice stood there.

It was crystal clear, its shape a work of divine craftsmanship.

It was like an artwork that Mother Nature had kept hidden deep within the Earth.

A true—Crystal Palace.

"My God..."

Yelena stared blankly at the scene before her, forgetting even to breathe.

This was more shocking than anything she had seen in any travel magazine.

That blue was so pure, without a trace of impurity, as if it wanted to suck one's soul in.

"Don't just stand there."

Jiang Yuan adjusted his camera settings; this lighting environment was extremely difficult to shoot in, but for him, it was perfect for showing off his skills.

"Go over there and sit on that ice rock that looks like a throne."

Ania and Yelena snapped out of it and immediately entered work mode.

Although it was bone-chillingly cold here, for the sake of the photos, they didn't hesitate to take off their bulky coats, revealing the tight thermal wear underneath, which outlined their perfect curves.

Against such a dreamlike backdrop, there was no need for any complicated poses.

Just standing there casually was enough for a top-tier blockbuster shot.

Click, click. The sound of Jiang Yuan's shutter echoed in the empty ice cave.

Every photo, the lighting, and the composition were perfect to the extreme.

The faint blue fluorescent light hit their fair skin, coating these two Russian beauties in a mysterious elven filter.

They shot for about twenty minutes.

"That's about it." Jiang Yuan put away his camera.

"If we keep shooting, you two are going to freeze into ice sculptures."

Only then did the two women feel the bone-piercing chill, and they quickly wrapped themselves in their coats, their teeth chattering.

The return journey was even harder than the way there.

Ania and Yelena's stamina bars were completely empty, and they collapsed on the ice, unable to move a step.

Jiang Yuan casually pulled a blue drink with no label from his backpack.

"Drink this."

The two women didn't think twice and shared it, taking a few gulps each.

The next second.

The bearded tour guide's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

The two girls, who had just been acting like they were at death's door, suddenly looked as if they had been injected with adrenaline less than half a minute after drinking that stuff.

Their faces were rosy, their breathing steady, and they even stood up and jumped around a bit.

"What kind of Eastern magic potion is this?"

The bearded man exclaimed in broken Chinese.

And so, the group quickly rushed out of the underground ice field, under his gaze of existential doubt.

The next day.

All good things must come to an end.

Ania and the others had to rush to the Blue Lagoon to shoot material, while Jiang Yuan had a new destination.

When saying goodbye, the two women's eyes were red; it was unclear whether they were reluctant to part with Jiang Yuan himself, or if they were reluctant to part with the life of following a big boss like him.

Jiang Yuan was quite carefree; with a step on the gas, the aurora hit the road again.

This time's target: Eastern Iceland, West Corner Mountain.

Which is also the legendary "Batman Mountain."

As the vehicle drove eastward, the surrounding scenery began to change drastically.

If the places they had visited before were a world of ice and fire, then the east was pure desolation.

The sky was overcast, with heavy clouds hanging very low, as if they were within reach.

The color of the seawater was no longer azure, but a deep leaden gray.

This was a holy land in the hearts of countless landscape Photographers, and a landscape absolutely unseen in their home country.

On the huge black sand dunes grew clusters of withered yellow wild grass.

In the distance were jagged mountain peaks, like a black bat spreading its wings, reflected on the mirror-like calm shallows.

Jiang Yuan parked the vehicle at the edge of the black sand beach.

He got out.

The wind was strong, carrying the unique saltiness of the Atlantic Ocean.

Looking around, within a few kilometers, there was only him and one vehicle.

This extreme quiet gave one the illusion of being abandoned by the world.