Chapter 17

Qin Weihang only wore a black T-shirt and light gray sweatpants of the same color as the sweater. A pile of equipments hung on the harness on his waist. An Ning noticed that other rock climbers were also wearing such equipments, which seemed a bit cumbersome. Because Qin Weihang had to go up and clip the safety gears for later climbers, he actually carried more things on his body, yet it was not cumbersome at all. This tall body was really attractive—no matter how many things were on his upper body, it looked like his ornaments.

When Qin Weihang walked to the bottom of the rock wall, Yu Ran suddenly called him, ran to him, and gave a black helmet to Qin Weihang. His eyes motioned to the group of people behind him who were looking forward to watching him climb, and whispered: “You’re the great god, so you have to be a good role model!” After talking, he slapped his hand on Qin Weihang’s back.

Qin Weihang took the black helmet and put it on without saying a word. It wasn’t on purpose, he just forgot.

He was wearing the helmet over here, while the leader over there was feeling relieved, telling everyone: “So everyone must remember to wear a helmet! Safety measures are essential!”

Qin Weihang glanced at the team leader who was only a few years older than him, feeling that he was being used as a bad example.

In fact, it was indeed true. Back then, Zhong Jing would remind him again and again if he was obediently wearing everything. He even went out of his way to check before climbing. The main function of the helmet was to protect the head from falling rocks. It shouldn’t be relied on to protect you from the impact of falling. He himself was lucky, though, since he hasn’t encountered a threatening situation of falling rocks. Before climbing, Zhong Jing would also inspect the route very attentively. If the rock wall was at risk of having rocks fall, then they won’t try to climb it. Even if Qin Weihang wants to try, Zhong Jing will keep him in check.

Now he was climbing by himself. He was just like an animal that used to be trapped in chains, suddenly broken free from his shackles and became wilder. Gradually, he felt that everything was cumbersome and unnecessary. It was best to wear lightly. In any case, his luck was pretty good. He was also quite experienced now. He had never encountered falling rocks, and he also knows how to avoid potential threats.

The main thing was that he did even want the harness and the ropes. Wearing a helmet on top of that was too much. If he really fell and died, people will probably be puzzled* by his corpse. The rock climbing world would think he was insane…

[*TN: There was an idiom used here, which was “to remain puzzled after pondering over sth a hundred times.” This means that something just doesn’t add up.]

The leader, who was in charge of clipping the rope to the top of the Eryang Finger route, was ready. An Ning saw the leader standing under the rock wall to observe. He also raised his hand and gestured for a while, seeming to be doing a simulation. But looking at this side, Qin Weihang climbed right away, climbing up rather carefree compared to the other person. It seemed very shameless, but it couldn’t be helped, experts always acted like this. Furthermore, Qin Weihang’s legs were long, so it didn’t look like he was climbing on a rock wall, but it was more like he stepped on it as soon as he lifted his leg. It was a bit like he stepped up there by walking five to six steps in a row, with the rope behind him swiftly following his stride. It was quite a sight.

The protector in charge of protecting Qin Weihang made a protective action under Qin Weihang. The posture of spreading his legs seemed to be ready to push him or catch him at any time. Of course, Qin Weihang didn’t need this at all. The protector only stood for a while before quickly standing straight and backing away. He then began to give Qin Weihang the rope. Qin Weihang was already hooking the second quickdraw. The protector had a stern expression and his hands moved quickly. All his movements were twice as fast compared to other protectors. If it weren’t for his rich experience and early preparation, he would’ve been in a rush, because Qin Weihang went too fast.

An Ning heard someone next to him say: “Dang, does Qin Weihang’s feet have crampons?”

Another person lamented: “The average person dare not be his protector. Fortunately, we found Da Luo-ge…”

An Ning only felt that he was following Qin Weihang’s movements, he kept lifting his head and tilting his neck. At first, he was able to hear the clacking sound of the things on Qin Weihang’s waist, but now he couldn’t hear it anymore.

Many people were holding their phones to record while feeling deeply moved, but An Ning had no time to turn on his phone. He was fascinated by Qin Weihang’s rock climbing posture. An Ning originally thought that rock climbing would be a sport that took a lot of patience, like a gecko on the ceiling. However, he didn’t expect Qin Weihang to be more like a black panther on a big tree. Yes, it was indeed a black panther. It was not surprising that a cat can climb, but an animal that was ten times bigger than a cat and also able to climb dexterously, though, now that was amazing. Different from the tentative and steady movements of the team leader, Qin Weihang’s rock climbing moves were very grand and full of dynamics. When he does those dynamic moves, he often only has his hands or even one arm to support himself on the rock wall. Sometimes, An Ning couldn’t even see what he was grabbing, he would just stay in mid-air. Then, at a high altitude, he would do a single/double-arm pull-up movement, which was unimaginable for ordinary people.

Any of Qin Weihang’s hands and feet seemed to be able to act as a pivot point, allowing his body to perform more visually striking moves, which made the viewers look thrilled and rushing with adrenaline.

Boss Yu also shared a lot of pop-science with them, saying that this was called dyno. Qin Weihang spends 90% of his time climbing using dyno, and the other 10% of his time was to prepare for dyno—“He is addicted to it.” That tone of voice was not so much of a praise but rather a criticism.

In fact, it was not that exaggerated, An Ning thought. At least in his opinion, Qin Weihang was still very stable. There was a place, however, that made him very nervous. It was at the last bolt hanger, which had a natural eave-like bump. Qin Weihang used dyno to reach the eaves. His left and right hands were on the inclined eaves; one hand was clutching from above, and the other one grasped from below. However, his feet wasn’t supporting anything and his body was thrown into the air with inertia. Qin Weihang’s legs were long, and the weight of his lower body should not be underestimated. Moreover, it was an incline, so he was able to do a big fling to the side at this angle. The remaining two quickdraws on his waist swayed with him, and there was an inaudible clanging sound in the breeze.

An Ning craned his neck to watch this scene. What was this called? High altitude drifting?! Jiaolong swinging its tail?!*

[*TN: Jiaolong is a type of dragon. This line has no special meaning. It’s literally a dragon swinging its tail(to attack).]

This rock wall was different from the one during that deep-water rock climbing, although the height was indeed similar. It may be because he was up close this time, but he did not feel that Qin Weihang was small and weak. When the inertia threw Qin Weihang’s body to the side, he felt that Qin Weihang was indeed really tall. He once broke out in cold sweat for this tall man, so he was even more shocked by what Qin Weihang did. Because of the weight of his body, Qin Weihang had to withstand a much stronger centrifugal force compared to other people, yet his arms could still be retracted immediately. He was able to quickly control the swing of his body, just like a human shock absorber.

To describe the picture, it was like a Yamaha R1 on the edge of a cliff. The rear wheels were off the cliff, yet it can still swing itself back onto the cliff with a drifting motion of the rear wheels.

Qin Weihang had already returned to the rock wall, raised his knees against the rock, then clipped the last quickdraw with his right-hand raised up.

An Ning had the illusion that he heard a crisp click sound. At that moment, he was in wonderful harmony with his own heartbeat.

From behind, he heard Boss Yu say: “In fact, someone like him with a tall stature and big frame isn’t suitable for rock climbing. It’s just like a car with a high chassis and tall body. He’s considered an oddity, probably even a genius.”

This time, he wasn’t joking or criticizing; the tone naturally revealed a deep conviction.

It took Qin Weihang less than four minutes to complete this lead climbing. He did not climb to the top, but just clipped the last one and planned to come down. The rock climbers below shouted:

“Redpoint it!”

“Redpoint it!”*

[*TN: Redpointing is when you have successfully climbed to the top without falling while lead climbing.]

Qin Weihang held on to the rock with his left hand and leaned against the rock wall. When he looked down, he saw An Ning still holding his clothes in one hand and shouting at him with the other hand close to his mouth: “Qin Weihang, go up!”

Qin Weihang looked up at the peak that was within reach. It was easy for him to go up, but this route always reminded him of Zhong Jing; the person who took him flying to all parts of the world and took him climbing all over their homeland. At the time, all the expansion bolts and bolt hangers on this route were nailed by Zhong Jing, and he was also the first person to climb this route. Zhong Jing originally wanted to nail six bolt hangers, but he himself objected, saying that three pieces were enough since it wasn’t that high.

When he snapped out of it, An Ning’s voice enter his ears again. Weird, why could he distinguish his voice at once? Maybe it was because the boy was usually too shy and too studious, so when he suddenly shouted like this, it can’t go unnoticed.

“Qin Weihang! Go up!” An Ning excitedly raised his head and yelled at the person above. He was rarely so excited. Although Qin Weihang was less than ten stories high, An Ning saw the sun shine on the top of the mountain, and Qin Weihang’s body was right where the sun and shadow divided—the scene was too attracting. He used the utmost sincerity and volume to call Qin Weihang’s name, and he almost split his throat when he shouted. Then, under the sun, he saw the figure suddenly move. Within a few seconds, he was obediently at the top of the rock.

An Ning was more excited than the climbers who came with him. Xiao Pang and Liang Shenghan were also busy taking pictures with their phones. An Ning’s heart surged with emotion. Why didn’t he want to climb to the top? Does he not know how handsome he was standing there?!

Qin Weihang only stayed up there for a while, thinking that he should have seen it, so he quickly descended on his back.

An Ning felt that in the blink of an eye, Qin Weihang had landed before his eyes. When he came down, it felt like he was travel-worn.