Diао Zhuо аnd his buddies gathеrеd thе Iсе Claws evеrуone hаd thrown asidе. Аftеr distributing аnd соnfirming them, likelу having heard something from Fu Хingуue, hе hurried оvеr tо Вaуunуе, аsking with unеxрected tеnsiоn, "Arе you hurt?"
"Noрe," Bаyunyе rерliеd саsuаlly.
Diaо Zhuо eуеd hеr suspiсiouslу uр and down, thеn suddеnly grаbbed her right wrist and liftеd it—
The basе оf hеr indeх finger was swollеn intо а purрlish-rеd littlе bun.
"Аlright, mауbe I аm. Fеeling sоrry fоr me?" Bаyunуе sеemеd аlmоst рleased, rаising an eyebrow аt him.
"How did this haрpen?"
"Рrobаblу bumpеd it while helping that leader take off his Ice Claws."
"Doesn’t hurt?" He didn’t take the bait, but his brow furrowed.
"Nope."
"Are you made of iron?"
She grinned, baring her teeth. "If I were made of iron, that lightning strike earlier would’ve fried you to a crisp."
Diao Zhuo still held her wrist, not letting go.
"Hey, it’s not even bleeding." Bayunye shot him a glare and tried to pull her hand back.
"How much hardship have you endured before that even this doesn’t hurt?" Diao Zhuo snapped angrily.
"I’m not on some talent show, why would I pour out all my suffering to you? Whether something hurts and whether you can tolerate the pain are two different things. A little injury like this, whining and moaning—that’s not Master Ba’s style." She lightly thumped her chest with a fist. "I’ve got an iron body but a soft heart. Don’t believe me? Wanna feel?"
"You’ve got the heart of a female ruffian," Diao Zhuo retorted, not falling for it. "Fu Xingyue said she gave you some medicine. I’ll take care of it when we get back."
"No need for all that trouble…"
Diao Zhuo pressed on the bruised, swollen spot. Her jaw tightened, and she cursed under her breath, no longer refusing. She nudged him with her shoulder. "Actually… you’re just worried about me, aren’t you?"
He was nearly gritting his teeth. "Obviously."
The group walked back to camp in twos and threes, their feet crunching through the snow with soft thuds. Huzi led the way, occasionally glancing back at everyone and shaking off the snow. Though the earlier scare had passed, the mood on the return trip remained lighthearted with chatter and laughter—except for Fu Yingtao, who seemed less pleased and muttered complaints now and then.
"...I didn’t notice who turned off his phone for him. From what I recall, Xingyue was indeed the last one to handle the phone. Or maybe no one even thought to turn it off for him? The whole family acts like they’re in a spy thriller." Bayunye walked at the very back of the group, keeping her voice low. "Jiang Aohang is the sneakiest, but ever since I found out Xingyue isn’t Old Fu’s biological daughter, I’ve wondered if the couple might actually be on the same side. Or maybe Jiang seized the chance to persuade Xingyue to help him with something, then held it over her to control her later."
"In a low-altitude city, that situation might not have posed much danger. But we’re at over 5,000 meters above sea level, surrounded by open space. The electric field was evenly distributed, but it’s an undeniable fact that someone carrying a metal component like a powered-on phone has a higher chance of being struck by lightning than others." Diao Zhuo whispered, "At the time, Fu Xingyue ran with the other two women toward Lu Jianyi and Pulan. It looked like she was scared, but her ‘deeply trusted and beloved’ husband was just a step or two away. Why would she run toward men she’d only known a few days instead?—The climbing coach was farther from Old Fu, while her husband was closer. It’s possible they could’ve been struck together.""But she seemed..." Bayunye recalled some of Fu Xingyue's sighs and her timid, hesitant demeanor. How complex the human heart is—how could it be discerned with the naked eye?
Diao Zhuo said, "Today's heavy snow might delay the summit push. It's unlikely we can set out before dawn. In the meantime, it's best to convince Old Fu to give up on summiting, and then inform the police in their area about what we've uncovered."
"We don't have solid evidence. Will the police believe us?"
"Finding evidence is the police's job."
Back at the camp, everyone was starving. Even those who had lost their appetite suddenly felt hungry and ate quite a bit for dinner. Concerned about Bayunye's hand injury, Diao Zhuo wolfed down a few bites to fill his stomach, then took an empty plastic water bottle outside to pack it with snow.
"Master Ba, Diao Zhuo really likes you. I've never seen him care so much about any woman before," Da Qiang said bluntly. "We used to advise him—you work outdoors, away from home for months on end, so any relationship would be long-distance. You need to put in effort for your girlfriend, visit often and sweet-talk her to keep her. But he always brushed it off. I thought it was just his personality. But now, seeing how he treats you, Master Ba, and thinking back... sigh! I get it—personality is nothing; it's all about whether you care or not."
Dong Bai nudged him. "You just exposed Diao Zhuo's romantic history."
"What romantic history? I was just saying," Da Qiang said, embarrassed.
"I've known for a long time that he likes me," Bayunye said, crossing her legs like a tough guy, appearing calm on the surface but unable to stop her foot from jiggling, clearly feeling quite smug inside.
Da Qiang chimed in, "He absolutely adores you!"
"Who are you confessing to?" Diao Zhuo asked as he lifted the tent flap and stepped inside, snowflakes still clinging to his forehead.
"Confessing for you," Da Qiang said, standing up and handing him a dry towel.
Diao Zhuo snorted. "I thought you'd grown ten times bolder, daring to steal from me."
"He's jealous," Dong Bai said, turning to Bayunye with a smile.
"Not obviously enough," she replied, stroking her chin. "They should fight over me, the kind where they end up battered and bruised."
Da Qiang shivered and pointed at his own nose. "Between him and me, who'd be battered and bruised?"
Bayunye laughed apologetically and pointed at Diao Zhuo. "Him, of course."
Diao Zhuo wrapped the snow-filled water bottle in the towel and handed it to her. "Apply this."
Dong Bai slapped his forehead and gave him a hard shove. "Do it yourself!"
Only then did the clueless straight guy understand. He gently lifted Bayunye's right hand and pressed the icy bottle against her bruised, swollen skin.
Bayunye fiddled with a bottle of Yunnan Baiyao, suddenly reminded of her days in the military during special training and the comrades she hadn't seen in a long time. Back then, no one was particular about such things. If they got bruised, they'd think it needed circulation and apply heat, only to be scolded fiercely by the squad leader later. That's when they learned such injuries should be iced first, and only after a few days should heat be applied.
Diao Zhuo looked up, gazing deeply at her. Her eyes always held a hint of irreverence—sometimes clear and innocent, sometimes seductive and enchanting. Now, lost in thought, a faint smile touched her lips, and her eyes softened with a gentle warmth.
After a while, she snapped back to reality. "My hand is about to freeze."He moved the water bottle aside, his thumb gently stroking the bruised area on her hand. The rough pad of his finger tickled her slightly. She watched as he sprayed the medicine onto his own palm, rubbed his hands together a few times, and then slowly applied it to her hand. A few of his strokes were a bit heavy, causing her to frown, but she endured it nonetheless.
Diao Zhuo looked at her. "Heroine, if it hurts, just cry out."
"What's the point of crying out over pain?" Bayunye scoffed. "Only something worth celebrating deserves a cry."
"What counts as something worth celebrating?"
"With you..." Before she could finish the two words, he covered her mouth with his hand, the scent of medicine filling her senses. Annoyed, she slapped his hand away, like a cat with its fur bristling. "You got it in my mouth!"
"Aside from the unspeakable things you were just thinking about, what else counts as pleasure for you?"
How did you know what I was thinking was unspeakable? She shot him an irritated glare. "You go first!"
He seemed to have been preparing for this for a long time. Taking a deep breath, he deliberately said—"With you..."
Bayunye also reached out to cover his mouth. "Speak properly!"
"Once, during a supervision from higher-ups, we were working on a project that had been dragging on for ages, almost day and night. After finishing, we were supposed to head back, but the flight was delayed for five or six hours, leaving us stuck waiting at the airport. We finally arrived in Xi’an around eleven at night. The weather was freezing, and everyone was exhausted. On the way, we passed a hot spring hotel. Without a second thought, I went in, soaked for a while, and then lay down on a lounge chair. It was pure bliss."
She deliberately stirred trouble. "Did you call for any special services?"
He shot back, "I don’t know what special services are. Care to demonstrate?"
"Go on. Anything else?"
"Another time, after returning from a rescue mission, I had a few drinks. I was planning to go back and sleep, but in the hallway, a fairly attractive woman stopped me..."
Bayunye perked up her ears, thinking, You really dare to say it, sharing something like this with me.
"—She asked me to help her unbutton her clothes."
She realized belatedly, "The setting of this story wouldn’t happen to be Deji Inn, would it?"
He didn’t answer. "Your turn."
"When the Linzhi–Lhasa Highway first opened, I was leading a group of tourists. The whole damn way, there wasn’t a single rest stop. And I, being overly confident, had both soy milk and porridge for breakfast. Four hours later, we still hadn’t reached an exit, and I was about to burst... I couldn’t take it anymore, so I turned on my hazard lights, pulled over, climbed over the guardrail, went down below, dropped my pants, and relieved myself. At that moment, I felt like no amount of gold or treasure could compare."
"The traffic police just let you get away with that?"
"They chased after me, cursing the whole way!" She burst out laughing. "I immediately started crying, tears streaming down my face. He probably figured that when nature calls, you can’t help it. Sympathy won over morality, so he didn’t fine me or deduct any points."
Diao Zhuo looked at her in disbelief.
She raised an eyebrow smugly. "Tears are a woman’s best weapon against a man."
"Isn’t it fists for you?"
"Depends on the person. Would you dare throw a punch at a police officer?" Bayunye had the air of a seasoned veteran. "In my first couple of years driving, I learned the hard way from traffic cops. I know when to be tough and when to be soft."
The medicine was now evenly applied. He held her hand, leaning in to ask, "Are you soft or tough with me?"
She hummed twice, grabbing his collar with one hand, threatening, "If you ever dare betray me, I’ll show you what Master Ba looks like when she gets tough."
"Looking forward to it."
"You dare?"
"Everyone... I have something to tell you." Lu Jianyi walked in.Bayunye released her grip on Diao Zhuo's collar and lazily propped her chin on her hand.
"The original plan was to head to Camp C1 after dinner, but that's been postponed until tomorrow evening. Camp C1 is at an altitude of 5,600 meters, several hundred meters higher than Everest Base Camp, with even lower oxygen levels. However, after these days of acclimatization, those who have made it this far shouldn't experience severe Altitude Reaction. Tomorrow night, I expect most of you won't be able to sleep, so tonight, get a good rest, and tomorrow, eat and drink plenty. The day after tomorrow, at 3 a.m., we'll make our summit push!"
The surroundings buzzed with excitement, mostly over the impending summit attempt.
Diao Zhuo thought to himself that any chance of finding useful information lay in those few hours during the summit push. Otherwise, they'd have to wait until next year, and the longer they delayed, the slimmer their hopes would become.
Bayunye glanced at the electronic calendar. With this schedule, she'd have to head straight to Delingha after descending to lead the next group of clients, leaving almost no time alone with Diao Zhuo. Ah... life's demands! she lamented inwardly. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Hippo quietly making his way toward the door. Pretending not to see him, she waited until he stepped outside, then quickly ran over and lifted a corner of the curtain. She saw him jog to the vehicle and start the engine.
"Hey! Hippo! Where are you going?" Bayunye chased after him. "Deserting us at the last minute?!"
"I... I figured we'd be stuck in this godforsaken place for another day, so I'm going down to buy some snacks! I'll be back soon!" Hippo said, stepping on the gas and driving off.
The vehicle soon disappeared into the dusk. Bayunye stood there for a moment, a sense of unease lingering in her heart. Diao Zhuo had quietly come up behind her and gently patted her back in comfort. She turned around, hesitated for a long while, then showed him a text message Brother Long had sent her yesterday—
Hippo is hiding something from us.
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