Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

Chapter 401: Chapter 399: But this is the adventure.

Dawn had already arrived, the sky was a dark white, and behind them was pitch black, the horizon gradually became as clear as a knife’s edge.

Bi Fang watched as the sun leaped above the horizon, the grand and intense morning sun breathed life into the sky, slowly melting the frozen mountains and rivers.

Looking down, the Khumbu Glacier, originally covered with cracks large and small, seemed as though it had been given a big clean, all its scars covered by the snow. But this was not a good thing; the rapidly rushing snowflakes didn’t fill the crevasses, instead, they hid them, making the path even more dangerous.

Yao Jun exhaled a breath of cold mist, not knowing what to do, he looked towards the guide Rob beside him, but Rob then cast his gaze back onto Bi Fang.

“What do we do now? The crevices are covered by snow, it’s very dangerous to proceed, if we wait, it’ll take at least a week to basically confirm safety.”

The glacier was covered by snow, but such an attic-like structure was not safe, a slight tremor was all it took for it to collapse. Under the glacier’s motion, the blanket of snow would soon disappear, buried deep within the glacier. Of course, there were also layers of snow maintained for various reasons, but those were just the usual dangers. Many times, deaths occurred because quite a few unlucky individuals fell into such glacial traps.

At this moment, everyone’s gaze settled on Bi Fang.

Unconsciously, even an experienced guide like Rob viewed Bi Fang as the pillar of the group.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

After all, who else could have personally experienced an avalanche and come out with lessons learned?

An avalanche, such a natural disaster, one was incredibly lucky to survive even once, and survival could likely leave one with a lifetime of psychological trauma. Only Bi Fang could possess rich “experience” and still come out just fine.

[Master Fang, quickly use your invincible Wilderness Survivalist skills to think of a solution!]

[Is this what a big shot looks like?]

[All eyes are on you, hoping for a textbook self-rescue! You truly are the Wilderness Survivalist God!]

Bi Fang didn’t answer but instead took out the altitude meter from his pocket, 5874 meters.

“The altitude of Camp One is 5943, the altitude of the base camp is 5334, we were almost at Camp One last night.”

Putting away the altitude meter, Bi Fang furrowed his brow and pondered for a moment, considering that he was not alone. If it were up to him, he would not return to the base camp, but instead, head towards the closer, safer Camp One.

But there were others with him.

Bi Fang looked at Jerret, whose complexion was flushed from capillary dilation due to lack of oxygen; Yao Jun who kept coughing, he might have injured his lungs and windpipe; and Adenborg from the University of Edinburgh, who was sitting on the ground catching his breath, might not have any immediate issues, but age was a definite drawback.

Additionally, the use of oxygen was a problem.

There was no need to worry too much about Danzeng and Rob, their physical fitness was trustworthy.

After thinking for a moment, Bi Fang felt he should still ask the others.

“I have a suggestion, I will go ahead to the base camp, try to help other victims along the way. Mount Everest rescues are different from regular rescues, it may not start until this afternoon, by that time it would be too late, so I’ll take the lead. If any of you can’t hold on, come with me, we can descend and reduce the altitude, and then wait for rescue at the base camp. Danzeng and Rob can head towards Camp One to help people there. I think right now we might be the group in the best physical condition on Mount Everest.”

Observing the terrain and changes around him, Bi Fang guessed that last night’s avalanche might have come from one of the peaks over 7000 meters next to them, and Camp One was likely also in trouble.

So far, without a doubt, Bi Fang and the others were the people closest to the affected area and in good physical condition, the first and only ones to have successfully self-rescued from the avalanche.

Returning the altitude meter, Bi Fang looked at the people around him: “Alright, now who wants to go down with me, and who wants to keep moving forward?”

Looking around, everyone exchanged glances.

Jerret coughed twice: “I’ll go down with you.”

Yao Jun also smiled: “Me too, I won’t be a burden to everyone. Let’s go down together, we can also help save some people. Honestly, I think it’s because I haven’t trained and adapted enough, you should have talked to me about it earlier.”

“I want to go up, cough cough,” Adenborg looked at everyone and smiled, “Why are you looking at me? Don’t you Huaxia have a saying related to sunk cost? I find it very interesting, what’s it called again?”

Bi Fang laughed: “We’ve come this far!”

“Right,” Adenborg squinted and smiled, “We’ve come this far, it’s less than a hundred meters, I think I can handle it.”

“Whether you can handle it isn’t up to you to say.” Bi Fang came over to Sir, grabbed his wrist, and felt his pulse.

Don’t get the wrong idea, although Bi Fang could call himself a survival expert, he was no expert in old Chinese medicine techniques. He was just simply checking the pulse to estimate the heart rate.

Edinburgh gripped his fists tightly.

“The heartbeat is stable, but we can only say that there haven’t been any major issues so far.”

A minute later, Bi Fang did not refuse Sir’s request.

Just as Edinburgh said, he was a ninety-year-old man, and nothing, no one could easily change his mind; Bi Fang was merely a “health advisor.”

“Then let’s get going.”

Bi Fang stood up again, pulled out his climbing stick, and jabbed it into the snow ahead, with Jerret and Yao Jun following closely in his footsteps through the snow.

The path ahead became increasingly difficult, increasingly dangerous.

You might shy away,

Shying away might mean you are cowardly,

or it might mean that you have a very wise grasp of the risks.

Regardless of your decision,

in the face of death,

you can’t lie to yourself,

you will clearly see your true nature.

You might be adorned with honor and wealth, or you might never return and forever accompany the wilderness.

But this, this is adventure.

Watching the departing Bi Fang, Edinburgh also stood up from the ground, brushing the snow off his trouser legs, “Human adventuring behavior is a product of human evolution.”

Danzeng looked curiously at the brave old man, not understanding why he suddenly said such a thing.

In the face of Danzeng’s curious gaze, Edinburgh smiled, “This is a theory proposed by a friend of mine at the University of California. He said, humans take risks driven by benefits; the more willing to take risks, the more likely to become powerful.”

Having lived all his life at the foot of Mount Everest, Danzeng didn’t know what California was, but he understood the statement and asked, “Why?”

“He believes that this human tendency to seek adventure dates back to prehistoric times. Back then, Earth was inhabited by two major types of primitive humans,” Edinburgh patiently raised two fingers to the seeker, and narrated.

“One type built nests and settled down, while the other dared to venture out and explore new worlds. Those who settled mostly stayed in their lairs, living off the surrounding plants and small animals, always cautious. The explorers roamed everywhere, realizing that bold actions increased the chances of dying unexpectedly, but also allowed them to find tastier fruits and more prey.”

“In moving about and struggling against the dangerous outside world, these people accumulated a wealth of survival experiences and were thus better able to withstand Nature’s harsh trials. Compared to the first type, they were more adaptable to the environment and were better able to survive. Besides, they also amassed a wealth of survival experience, which allowed them to better withstand Nature’s harsh trials.”

“These more capable doers often lived longer, were able to raise many children, and successfully passed on their genes to the next generation, until their kind ultimately came to dominate in Humans. So, a penchant for adventure is a biological inheritance of humanity.”

Most ordinary people cannot understand the behavior of these adventurers.

Some spend their entire lives avoiding danger and hardship, shunning the uncertainties of life to feel a bit safer.

But others live to pursue the unknown; they are full of interest and a desire to explore everything uncertain.

Compared to the risks they endure, the process of conquering these dangers holds more significance for them.

For most people, this spirit of adventure is incomprehensible. In fact, this incomprehension is more a matter of different life philosophies.

“Of course, adventure is not the same as recklessness and loss of control, nor is it simply about seeking thrills and courting death; it’s about challenging human limits, doing great things no one dares to do, things that have a great significance for humanity, like those people I just mentioned who brought back more fresh fruits for their tribe. Only those who hold the key are truly powerful,” Edinburgh explained.

After listening, Danzeng said thoughtfully, “I think you are also a powerful person.”

Edinburgh smiled and pulled out his own climbing stick.

“Alright, gentlemen, it’s time for us to set off. Don’t take care of me just because I’m an old man. To tell the truth, I’ve always felt I’m only twenty at heart.”