Chapter 31

The Xister mountaineering team, consisting of four men and two women, was led by Xister, a man with a beard who was 42 years old. This was his fourth time organizing a team to conquer Mount Edgar. Located in the Gongga Mountains south of Kangding, Sichuan Province, Mount Edgar stands at an altitude of 6,618 meters. Although it may not seem very high compared to the world-renowned Mount Everest, its challenge is actually greater due to its steep and difficult terrain, and the lack of established routes. It is considered a true challenge for professional mountaineers.

Xister had failed in his previous three attempts and lost two close friends, both of whom died while climbing Mount Edgar. This time, he was determined to succeed. After making a huge investment and preparing a series of equipment, he set out again.

After enduring great hardships, they finally reached a point less than 200 meters from the summit. The other five members of the team smiled, but Xister's expression remained serious. His two friends had met their end on this very stretch of the climb.

This section of the route, though close to the summit, was even more treacherous, with many hidden glacial crevasses. These crevasses, covered by snow and ice, could cause one to fall through if stepped on. It was a significant test for mountaineers, requiring great patience, keen eyesight, and extensive experience to avoid them. Once fallen, one's survival depended largely on luck and timely assistance from companions.

Often, those who fell were saved by their backpacks, which helped them get stuck and hold on until rescue arrived.

This was why mountaineering teams often needed local guides. Only they, through years of exploration, knew the locations of these traps and could preemptively mitigate the risks. One reason why Mount Edgar was more challenging than Mount Everest was the lack of local guides. Unlike the famous Sherpas of Mount Everest, there were no locals here willing to guide climbers up Mount Edgar.

Xister took a deep breath to recover his strength and was about to call his companions to continue when a blonde woman in the team suddenly raised her voice, pointing in a direction and shouting, "Look, there's someone climbing up there!"

"Keep it down, Katie!" Xister's face darkened. One couldn't speak loudly on a snow mountain, not even a little. But then he understood why Katie had exclaimed. Following her finger, he looked up and saw a small, clear figure about 100 meters ahead, climbing.

Xister, a professional mountaineer with over 20 years of experience, immediately noticed that the person's movements were unorthodox but exceptionally agile and relaxed, almost like a legendary snowman.

He was stunned, standing still, watching the person climb. The 200-meter stretch, which would take him at least 20 minutes, with each step requiring careful consideration, was being traversed with ease and agility, leaping over glacial crevasses and scaling sheer cliffs.

"Ah, he's not using any climbing equipment, not even a backpack, completely bare-handed?!" He realized this terrifying fact, and his companions were equally dumbfounded.

Due to years of training in such wilderness, his vision was excellent. Even with his climbing goggles, he could clearly see the person's movements from a distance of less than 200 meters against the stark background of the snow mountain.

He couldn't imagine how this person had climbed to this point without supplies, a walking stick, ice picks, or climbing ropes.

Compared to this terrifying reality, the person reaching the summit didn't surprise him as much.

They stood there, motionless, watching the person at the summit. After about three to four minutes, the person quickly descended.

As the person approached, they could see his face more clearly. It was a young, handsome man, dressed in nothing but a down jacket and a pair of sports shoes, without any professional climbing gear.

As they got closer, they could hear the man sigh, saying, "This mountain, supposedly harder to climb than Mount Everest, is nothing special. I didn't feel any real danger."

Xister understood Chinese, as he often climbed in China and had a Chinese member in his team.

Hearing this, he felt his worldview challenged. If it were so easy, he wouldn't have lost two companions.

"Hello, can I ask how you climbed to the summit?" Xister called out to the young man, wanting to approach him.

This young man was Zhuo Chuan, who had come to climb the mountain to seek a breakthrough in life and death. He had also seen the group of climbers and heard Xister's call.

Just as he was about to speak, his eyes narrowed, and he waved his hand, saying, "Don't come closer, there's a crevasse under your feet."

Xister was startled and carefully probed the ground in front of him with his ice axe. As the snow and ice peeled away, a winding crevasse appeared.

He felt a chill, knowing that the worst kind of crevasse was one that couldn't be probed, appearing solid and normal until one stepped on it and fell through, the most terrifying trap.

"Thank you for the warning. Can you answer my question?" Xister carefully crossed the crevasse and walked up to the young man.

"Ha ha, my experience won't be useful to you. Just take it one step at a time. But since I just came down, my footprints are still there. You can mark them with a rope, which will make the climb easier," Zhuo Chuan looked at the group and shook his head. He had his own secrets, and this seemingly insurmountable peak was nothing to him.

"Thank you," Xister looked ahead, seeing a faint footprint. But it wouldn't be long before the wind and snow would bury it. "Hi," the blonde woman also approached, removing her goggles to reveal a pair of captivating blue eyes. She asked curiously, "Don't you need these? This is a high mountain, and snow blindness is common."

Zhuo Chuan smiled. If it were before, he could only read and not understand English well, but now he had no language barrier. His ability to instantly memorize anything he heard allowed him to understand even the fastest speech.

"No, I don't need them," he replied. "You're very impressive, like a child of this snow mountain," the blonde woman said with admiration. "I'm Katie, and he's Xister, our team leader. We want to climb this mountain and come down safely. Can you help us? Of course, we'll pay you a good reward."

Westerners were very open and straightforward, something Zhuo Chuan had only read about in books and online. If it were an Eastern woman, it would be much harder to approach a stranger so directly.

Zhuo Chuan was about to refuse but then thought that adding more people would increase the difficulty of the scenario. "OK," he agreed, not caring about the reward but seeing it as a way to gain some additional resources, as he was short on time and often needed to spend money to save time.

"That's great! With you here, we don't have to worry this time," Katie was delighted. Although she was only 26, she had a decade of mountaineering experience and knew the dangers, especially during the descent when one's energy was depleted, making accidents more likely.

In May 1998, American female mountaineer Francys Arsentiev became the first American woman to climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. However, she collapsed from oxygen deprivation 244 meters below the summit on her way down. Other climbing teams passed by her, but in the harsh conditions, they couldn't bring her back to base. They abandoned their summit attempt to seek help, but everyone knew she wouldn't survive until help arrived. She left her last words, "Please don't leave me," before dying.

So, encountering a skilled mountaineer here, especially given the physical and endurance differences between men and women, she couldn't help but seek his assistance.