Chapter 33

With Zhuo Chuan's help, they only took a little over ten minutes to climb the remaining two hundred meters. The group stood at the summit, silently taking in the view. At this moment, everyone wanted to shout out to the vast snowy landscape in the distance, but no one dared to do so, for this was a snow mountain. Clouds were at their feet, and the distant, low mountain peaks and the layered forests made the snow mountain's magnificent beauty seem to eclipse all words. This was Zhuo Chuan's second time up here, so the shock was less intense, but for Syster and the other six, although they were professional mountaineers who had seen even more spectacular scenery, they were still very excited. They all took out their cameras to capture the scenery, as well as to document their conquest of this peak. After a while, they began to descend, as this was a peak over 6,000 meters high, and they were not using supplemental oxygen, so they couldn't stay up there for long. When it came time to descend, Syster, following his usual routine, set up his climbing rope. He still used the double-rope descent method and started to descend. Zhuo Chuan wasn't paying attention at first, but when Katie began to descend using the rope Syster had set up, he realized it was the same rope he had found to be problematic. He didn't dare to shout loudly, as Katie was already three meters down and still ten meters away from the landing point. Suddenly, the wind picked up, and Katie, hanging in mid-air, inevitably swung. The rope hit the cliff several times and began to tear. The faint tearing sound was barely noticeable in the howling wind, but the seven people who were paying attention seemed to hear it. Both those still on top, like Zhuo Chuan, and those who had already reached the landing point, like Syster, saw what was happening. Syster's face suddenly turned pale, as he immediately realized that this was the rope Zhuo Chuan had discarded during the ascent, and he had used it again without giving it much thought. Katie, hanging in mid-air, also understood the consequences. She clung to the rope with all her might, disregarding the absolute rule that one must not shout on a snow mountain, and called out loudly, "Help!" Zhuo Chuan quickly grabbed a rope from Yuan Xiaobing behind him and accurately threw it down. He did this so quickly that Yuan didn't even have time to react. Katie was swinging in the air, but fortunately, Zhuo Chuan's throw was very accurate, and the rope landed directly on her. When she grabbed the rope Zhuo Chuan had thrown, the original descent rope suddenly snapped. With a "whoosh," it slipped off her shoulder, and her center of gravity shifted, causing her to fall and collide with the cliff. She clung to the rope Zhuo Chuan had thrown, feeling dizzy and terrified, and continued to shout, "Pull me up quickly." "Don't panic," Zhuo Chuan, ignoring the rule against speaking, said to her and the other climbers, "We will lower you slowly. Don't move around, try to stay close to the cliff." Fortunately, Katie had ten years of mountaineering experience. After the initial panic, with the support of the rope, she calmed down and began to descend slowly, step by step. The ten-meter distance was quickly covered, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to thank those above, she suddenly saw Zhuo Chuan's head appear, his face full of panic. "Avalanche!" Zhuo Chuan mouthed the two words. Katie's scream had already angered the mountain god, who began to roar, using an avalanche to punish those who had offended him. Katie's heart turned cold. She looked at Syster, who was also in a panic. Even experienced mountaineers were helpless in the face of an avalanche, and could only take the most basic precautions, leaving the rest to fate. Zhuo Chuan, at the summit, had no time to think about how the two below could save themselves. The snow on the summit was beginning to slide, and it would soon come down with a force that could crush them. He quickly looked for a place to hide behind a large rock, which was high and wide enough to provide shelter. He had already memorized the terrain nearby. He ran to the large rock and hid behind it, and the four other climbers who hadn't descended yet also ran over. Unfortunately, the black mountaineer, in his panic, accidentally dropped half his body into a crevasse. "Save me!" The black mountaineer struggled in vain, his face filled with despair as he looked at his companions, who were already hiding behind the rock, about ten meters away. Zhuo Chuan and the other three mountaineers looked at each other, having already heard the massive sound of the snow rushing towards them. If they stayed behind the rock, they might have a chance of survival, but if they went out to save the black mountaineer, they would be exposed to the snow and have no chance of survival. The mere ten meters between them was the distance between life and death. The other three mountaineers turned their faces away, hardening their hearts. Zhuo Chuan had seen too many people die in front of him over the past two months, so even if the black mountaineer was buried alive by the snow, he wouldn't be particularly shocked or moved. But in that moment, he seemed to have a sudden realization and immediately left the shelter of the rock, running towards the black mountaineer. The other three mountaineers were stunned by his actions, especially Yuan Xiaobing, who couldn't believe it. On a high mountain, saving someone, let alone during an avalanche, was almost impossible. The bodies on Mount Everest that served as landmarks were the best proof. Zhuo Chuan didn't care about that. He felt exceptionally clear-headed, and the snow was already rushing towards him, with snowflakes splashing on his face. The black mountaineer, who had already given up hope, had lost his goggles and was in tears, looking at this young man he had just met. Zhuo Chuan reached him in less than two seconds and pulled him out of the crevasse with all his strength. At that moment, the violent snow rushed towards them. "We're done," the black mountaineer managed to say, but then everything seemed to freeze, and in the next moment, he and Zhuo Chuan were behind the rock, with the violent snow passing over them. The other three, who were hiding behind the rock, didn't see what had just happened. When the snow passed over the rock, they only had time to press their bodies tightly against it and instinctively widen the space under their feet, allowing the snow to pass over their backs. After a long time, the surging snow seemed to stop. "Quickly, dig out the snow and open a passage," Zhuo Chuan was the first to realize the avalanche had stopped. Because they were behind the rock, they weren't knocked over by the snow, so they could easily determine the direction. If they were exposed, the snow would have knocked them over, and they would have needed to use saliva to determine the direction before digging. "Okay," the black mountaineer responded. He could hear the fatigue in Zhuo Chuan's voice, something he hadn't seen during the climb, and he thought it must be because Zhuo Chuan had used a lot of energy to save him. He took out a shovel from his backpack, turned around with difficulty, and began to dig out the snow with all his might. This was not the time to conserve energy; if they didn't dig out a passage to the outside air within half an hour, they would be in great danger.