Тhе сonvoу stорреd at a sheltеrеd spot, аnd everуоnе tооk оut gasolinе stoves and pressure соokеrs. Somе bоilеd nоodlеs, whilе оthеrs gnаwed оn comprеssеd biscuits. Еarlier, when thеy pаssed through Sоngхi Villаgе, thеу hаd also bоught stеamеd buns аnd аir-dried muttоn. Thеsе were luхuriеs and сouldn’t be cоnsumed so quicklу.
Тhе ham sаusages theу brоught hаd frozеn а bit hаrd. Whilе wаiting fоr them tо thаw, Bаyunуe toоk out thе Веidou bох tо sеnd a messagе of safety to thе outside world.
"Will thе water wе brought bе еnough?" Хiao Zi asked worriedly.
"Although Qiangtang is cold, it’s not a desert. There’s no shortage of water. As long as we find clean snow or ice, we can melt and heat it to drink." Bayunye tore open a ham sausage and tossed it into the nearly ready instant noodles.
Xiao Zi looked disgusted. "Aren’t there parasites?"
Bayunye retorted, "If you were a parasite, would you rather live in the Pearl River Delta or here?"
"Master Ba... here, have some of this to warm up." Ye Xun approached with a smile, holding a bottle of Lao Gan Ma chicken oil chili sauce. His flattering intent was as obvious as Sima Zhao’s ambition.
"Thank you." She was quite polite this time, taking it and pouring it into her noodles. When she handed it back, she suddenly fixed her eyes on his. "So you know I’m feeling cold-hearted?"
The few who had witnessed Bayunye’s near-accident earlier couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.
Ye Xun quickly changed the subject. "Captain Diao, we’re... heading to the Changre Protection Station, right? That’s where Zou Kaigui was last seen?"
Diao Zhuo had just taken a sip of hot water, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the swallow. "According to information from the first two Rescue Teams that went in to search for him, after his identity was registered by the armed police, they took him to a nearby protection station for a meal. He left early the next morning and hasn’t been heard from since."
"He wouldn’t have followed the original plan," Bayunye said, rubbing a pair of disposable chopsticks before splitting them apart. The aroma of the noodles and steam rose together. "The armed police at the checkpoint would have warned him to turn back the way he came as soon as possible. After that, to avoid checkpoints and protection stations, he’d have to detour twenty or thirty kilometers."
Diao Zhuo agreed with her assessment and unfolded the Google satellite view. "Once we reach the Changre Protection Station, we’ll ask about Zou Kaigui’s situation. Then we’ll slightly deviate from the normal route and search along the way."
Bayunye took a few bites before looking up at the distant sky, seeming somewhat uneasy.
"What’s wrong?" Diao Zhuo asked.
"The weather is unpredictable. I’m afraid a sudden blizzard might hit." Bayunye pointed into the distance. "Judging by the look of it, there’s definitely one coming."
"It’s already May, and it can still snow?" Xiao Zi once again showed her astonished expression.
Hippo widened his eyes. "Don’t even mention Qiangtang. In Tibet, it’s perfectly normal for it to snow in July or August."
Xiao Zi gasped. "That’s truly terrifying..."
Bayunye slurped her noodles, perhaps concerned about Xiao Zi, and patiently explained, "Earlier, I told you there’s no shortage of water here because there are many lakes. The cold weather makes the ice hard, which is suitable for vehicles to cross. But it’s May now, with large temperature differences between day and night. During the day, the ice melts a little, and at night, when the temperature drops, it freezes again. So some lakes may look solidly frozen, but they’re not necessarily safe. Without me guiding you, you must not walk onto the lake surface yourself, understand?"
"Would it be like on TV, where you fall into an ice hole?"
"Yes."
"That would mean certain death!" Xiao Zi’s face turned pale with fear again.
Bayunye smiled. "Hurry up and eat your noodles! I’ve only spoken a few words to you, and your soup has already cooled by half."They had originally planned to reach the Changre Protection Station tonight, but the weather was truly terrible. By afternoon, fierce winds were already raging, turning the world into a blur of dusty yellow and severely limiting visibility. After crossing a mountain pass and descending to the lowest point, they found a relatively flat area and had no choice but to set up camp.
The vehicle’s dashboard indicated the altitude here was 5,228 meters.
“It’s going to snow…” she sighed. “Tonight will be very cold. Everyone, be careful not to catch a cold.”
A little past seven, the sky darkened unusually early, and soon enough, a blizzard arrived, sweeping across the land. Bayunye and Xiao Zi stayed in the same tent, with a moisture-proof mat spread on the ground and two sleeping bags rated for -30°C placed side by side.
Snow was different from rain—when it fell on the tent, it made a soft “puff-puff” sound. Xiao Zi was too curious and couldn’t resist reaching her hand outside to grab a handful of snow. It wasn’t that she had never seen snow before, but the snow from her hometown would melt in her hands after a while, and even if it didn’t, her palms would be left wet and freezing, chilling her to the bone. The snow in Qiangtang, however, aside from its pure white color, was surprisingly light, loose, and dry. Even when held in her palm, it wouldn’t turn into icy slush. Xiao Zi tossed the snow back outside, her palm still smooth and dry.
“Let’s sleep,” Bayunye said, crawling into her sleeping bag and yawning, clearly exhausted.
Xiao Zi also crawled into hers, shivering all the while. The altitude here was too high, and the thin air made her feel short of breath, her heart beating rapidly. After tossing and turning a few times, she felt even worse—her head ached, and her chest felt tight.
Bayunye probably felt cold too. She turned on a flashlight and glanced at the thermometer. “It’s almost -20 degrees.”
In the darkness, Xiao Zi stayed quiet for a moment. “Master Ba, I saw everything today. Mr. Ye wouldn’t let you into the car.”
Bayunye let out a dry laugh. She had almost forgotten about it, but Xiao Zi brought it up again.
Hegel once wrote in The Science of Logic that essence and inner nature can only be confirmed as true essence and inner nature when they manifest as phenomena. Bayunye had always felt that Ye Xun was two-faced, and today’s incident served as proof.
She said indifferently, “So what? It’s no big deal. Besides, the safety of the guests matters more than my own. If opening the car door posed a risk, I’d rather he didn’t open it.”
“Sometimes I feel like people in business are really… one way in front of others, another way behind their backs.”
“It’s simple. You can do the same to him—one way to his face, another behind his back.”
“Master Ba, I really admire you.”
“Oh.” Bayunye showed no pride.
“You’re so free, as if no social niceties can trap you. It’s precisely because you seem fearless that others are afraid of you.”
“I have fears too.”
“Really? What are they?”
“Not being able to make money. And I don’t think I’m all that free, because wherever the guests go, I have to go too.”
“You gain some, you lose some!”
“True. To gain money, I have to lose my worries.”
Xiao Zi couldn’t help but laugh. Like drinking water, only the drinker knows whether it’s warm or cold. Bayunye smiled silently in the dark.
“I want to be like you.”
“You’re afraid of too many things,” Bayunye said. “What’s so scary about that smiling tiger?”
Xiao Zi fell silent this time.
Bayunye added, “At worst, you can leave for a distant place and start over.”Xiao Zi felt a surge of warmth in her heart. Leaving Ye Xun’s company seemed like a rebirth to her, though she had never dared to think about it before. She recalled Ye Xun’s words, “Say what should be said, and don’t say what shouldn’t be said.” So, she said something she shouldn’t have—“Actually, Mr. Ye knew long ago that Zou Kaigui was going into Qiangtang.”
Bayunye’s heart skipped a beat.
Xiao Zi continued, “I work in finance at Mr. Ye’s company. Every time he went on a cycling trip, Mr. Ye sponsored him. Zou Kaigui was like a promotional board for the company’s activities. A few days before Zou Kaigui entered Qiangtang, Mr. Ye transferred a sum of money to him.”
“There are only a handful of people in the country who can trek across Qiangtang alone. Many who come in never make it out. If Mr. Ye wanted to use Zou Kaigui for promotion, why would he let him do something so dangerous? In business, isn’t he afraid of losing money?”
“He’s not afraid. Zou Kaigui bought a lot of insurance,” Xiao Zi blurted out, then suddenly shut her mouth.
Bought a lot of insurance—suddenly, everything became crystal clear in Bayunye’s mind.
She remembered the news reports mentioning that Zou Kaigui’s wife had divorced him long ago, and he was now the only one left in his family. Ye Xun had funded his cycling trips to search for his daughter for years—what were the conditions? Just advertising? Besides, where did Zou Kaigui get the money to “buy a lot of insurance,” and why was he so cautious? If he bought insurance, who was the beneficiary?
Bayunye didn’t dare to think further.
Many people maintain their personas in crowded cities, but once they enter the uninhabited area, their true selves are exposed in a way that’s unbearable to witness. Ye Xun was neither the first nor the last.
Late at night, the snow seemed to have stopped. Thick layers of snow had piled up on both sides of the tent, and the temperature inside had risen a few degrees. Bayunye took out her phone, connected to the Beidou box, and sent another message to Brother Long, asking him to dig deeper into Zou Kaigui’s background.
Early in the morning, the sky had cleared completely. It once again displayed a transparent blue, and the distant mountains were clearly visible. Sand mixed with snowflakes covered the ground like a layer of ash. Qiangtang had regained its majestic beauty, with sunlight harmlessly shining on every living creature.
The sound of the pressure cooker hissed, attracting a few curious Tibetan Wild Asses. Most of their bodies were covered in reddish-brown fur, with white hair on their chests and bellies. They were twice the size of ordinary donkeys, more like horses. While everyone was having breakfast, the Tibetan Wild Asses didn’t leave. They wandered around occasionally, lowered their heads to graze, but spent most of their time cautiously observing the humans, like kindergarten children watching tigers at the zoo.
“Much cuter than wild yaks,” Xiao Zi said, holding her bowl and unable to hold back a smile.
“Did everyone sleep well last night?” Bayunye asked.
Diao Zhuo replied, “Not bad.”
Da Qin had dark circles under his eyes. “It was cold and windy. I didn’t sleep a wink all night.”
Xiang An stretched lazily, still looking drowsy.
Ye Xun said, “It was unbearable.”
Hippo, treating Bayunye like a brother, didn’t hold back at all. “I fell asleep as usual, but getting up to pee was pure agony—it was freezing!”
Bayunye slapped her thigh and laughed. “Learn to endure it. Once we get out of the uninhabited area, you’ll have cultivated yourself into a Chinese ‘bladder’ master!”
Everyone burst into laughter. After spending these few days together, they all seemed accustomed to treating her like one of the guys.Facing the rising sun in the east, the convoy drove toward the Changre Protection Station. After crossing a small earthen slope, a dark object suddenly appeared ahead as they reached the bottom. Bayunye reacted quickly, swerving around it, but the vehicle behind couldn’t react in time and ran straight over it, causing the car to jolt violently.
Bayunye jumped out to take a look and saw that the object was a small bear. Everyone gathered around, and Diao Zhuo stepped out from the passenger seat of the third vehicle. After a glance, he frowned and said, "It’s already dead." Qi Zi, who had just run over it, let out an "Oh no!" and looked deeply remorseful.
As everyone moved closer, it became clear that what Diao Zhuo meant by "dead" was that the bear had died before being run over by the vehicle. Its neck was caught in a hunting snare, and its face and body were covered in bloodstains. The broken end of the rope was jagged and uneven, making it unclear whether the bear had struggled free or bitten through it. It had clearly fought to escape from the poacher’s trap but succumbed to its severe injuries and the suffocating grip of the rope, collapsing here. Judging by the state of desiccation of the corpse, it had likely been dead for several days.
Ye Xun let out an "Oh dear!" and covered his chest as if unable to bear the sight. "Let’s find a place to bury it!"
Bayunye said, "Digging a hole here would take too much time. We can only move it to the side to prevent it from being run over again by passing vehicles."
After a few people carefully placed the small bear’s body aside, they fell into a heavy silence.
Bayunye sighed again, her expression filled with pity, a stark contrast to her usual carefree demeanor. "There will be even more animals further in. Everyone, stay alert."
Xiao Zi asked curiously, "Are there Tibetan antelopes?"
"At this time of year, it’s the pregnancy period for female Tibetan antelopes, so they must not be disturbed. That’s why unauthorized crossings are prohibited in the Hoh Xil and Qiangtang protected areas."
With that, she subtly glanced at Ye Xun. His expression remained blank, as if he still saw nothing wrong with allowing or even funding Zou Kaigui’s crossing of Qiangtang. He even asked with keen interest, "Do you know where we can see Tibetan antelopes? We’ve come all this way—it would be a real bonus if we could see herds of them."
Bayunye shrugged, indicating she didn’t know.
Ye Xun wasn’t ready to give up and pressed further, "You must have seen them when you came in before?"
"Who dares to enter protected areas casually? I’m not a poacher," she scoffed, pulling her neck gaiter up to cover her mouth and nose. She deftly passed the question to the Beidou Rescue Team. "Captain Diao, did you see any Tibetan antelopes when you went to Hoh Xil before?"
"Let’s not dwell on that. We didn’t come here to sightsee animals," Diao Zhuo said, sensing her reluctance to elaborate. He ended the topic with a wave, signaling everyone to get back in the vehicles.
OpenNovel