On April 8th, at 4 a.m., when Zhang Helai's team officially set out from The Fifth Camp, only 12 members remained.
They were three teams departing together, originally totaling 20 people, but eight of them had developed severe physical discomfort while resting at the Fourth Camp. Their condition wasn't as severe as vomiting blood or other serious symptoms; rather, they lay on the ground languidly as if drunk, their consciousness blurred. Even with great effort to rise, they couldn't distinguish between their shoes and a thermos—indeed, one man even tried to stuff his boot into his mouth, puzzled as to why there was no water.
With such conditions, they could only stay at the Fourth Camp, waiting for the Kamian people to escort them down the mountain.
Because they were above 8,000 meters on Mount Hyjal Summit, the oxygen there was only a third of that at sea level. Even if they wore oxygen masks while sleeping at night, they couldn't prevent occasional health issues from arising.
Compared to them, Zhang Helai was lucky; he still managed to maintain a clear mind and persevere. But he was also unlucky, as his Physical Strength had reached its limit, and he had to consume more oxygen to maintain his "Skill."
Even though they had already rested for six full hours at The Fifth Camp, which was as large as a soccer field, Zhang Helai still felt his body was incredibly heavy when he woke up.
As they set off together, the others could see Zhang Helai's Oxygen Cylinder was depleting faster than theirs—a very dangerous sign. Someone patted Zhang Helai on the shoulder and pointed at the Oxygen Cylinder. He shook his head, so no one continued to persuade him.
They had to conserve their breath for speaking, which was also a moral duty: to advise people to cherish their lives.
Those daring to conquer Mount Hyjal Summit had to take responsibility for themselves. Even though the process of summiting the mountain had been made quite safe, along the way, they would pass numerous bodies buried in the snow and Ice Cascades. Aside from a few bodies in positions too bizarre to be recovered, the rest were mountaineers who had perished on the journey within the last year or two for various reasons.
Hyjal Peak was undoubtedly a natural Ice Coffin. The decomposition rate of those who died there was extremely slow. Since the climbers were usually in full cold-weather gear, those who came after would not see decomposed flesh and white bones, only tombs of corpses standing as markers in the snow and ice.
That was Hyjal Peak, the harsh reality of mountaineering above 9,000 meters: every path had been paved step by step with the lives of countless climbers. Some pathways weren't even proper trails. They involved climbing almost vertical cliffs, where climbers had to rely on veterans to secure ropes, allowing them to inch along slowly. Sometimes they encountered broken paths where the veterans had to set ropes and lay planks for others to cross the cliffs above 9,000 meters. One misstep could mean disappearing without a trace.
At first, they might have felt a complex array of emotions, such as fear, when they encountered these tombs. Eventually, however, they came to accept them, nodding slightly as a greeting when they passed by—after all, they too could end up among them and were simply greeting their future neighbors early.
Conquer nature, become one with nature, or give up. No one else is accountable for your life should you dare venture here.
Every climber carries their own desires, whether to gain a brag-worthy experience, for fame and fortune, or driven by a dream. But in the most extreme altitudes above 9,000 meters, they are left with a single thought: Conquer it and survive!
Around 8:50 a.m. on April 9th, they had followed the mountain path to an altitude marker of 9,810 meters. It would take at most two more hours to reach Mount Hyjal Summit, take commemorative photos, and then head back down to The Fifth Camp before 1 p.m.
The latest time to descend from Mount Hyjal Summit is 1 p.m. Any slower, and the unpredictable weather could prevent climbers from returning to their campsite before nightfall, or even worse, they could perish en route. The 9,810-meter altitude marker Zhang Helai and his team saw was beside a body buried in the snow—no one knew if it was the weather that had trapped and eventually frozen the person to death there.
At that moment, Zhang Helai experienced severe nausea, paleness, and cold sweats, and slowly fell behind the group. His Oxygen Cylinder was nearly empty—he was showing acute symptoms of hypoxia.
Even if he could persevere and reach the summit, he would not be able to make the descent due to lack of oxygen. He had overestimated his Physical Strength, depleting his oxygen far too rapidly during the climb, and now he was at the end of his rope.
At this point, turning back was not an option, so he forced himself to move forward with heavy steps, his mind filled with the thought that Even if I die, I'll die above ten thousand meters!—he had already arranged for his family's financial security before choosing to come to Mount Hyjal Summit.
Here, no one would assist him. Others might only provide the Kamian people with the coordinates of Zhang Helai's body after descending the mountain. The Kamian people would then retrieve his corpse and notify his family to take it back for burial.
Lacking oxygen, Zhang Helai felt increasingly heavy, as if the gear on him had become chains extending from the mountain peak, attempting to keep him forever at this natural grave.
By then, his mind had few thoughts left. While ordinary people might experience their life flashing before their eyes before death, those suffering from hypoxia gradually lose consciousness due to insufficient oxygen supply to the brain; even this luxury of "remembrance" does not exist.
Just as he was about to lose consciousness and close his eyes, amidst the piercing cold wind, Zhang Helai heard a strange sound coming from below.
It was the noise of grinding rocks and gravel.
Had something fallen? Or did the wind uncover an Ice Cascade?
Zhang Helai forced his eyes open and through his blurred vision, he saw what appeared to be a figure below.
A figure... below?
Zhang Helai was walking along the mountain path; directly below him was an almost 80-degree slope!
In a daze, Zhang Helai thought he was hallucinating due to lack of oxygen, but the figure quickly approached him and yanked off his oxygen mask!
The air, as sharp as blades and swords, instantly covered his face. Having lost his Oxygen Cylinder, he almost passed out. But a second later, another oxygen mask was stuffed onto his face. Zhang Helai took a deep breath out of instinct, and the full blast of oxygen instantly alleviated his symptoms of hypoxia, pulling him back from the brink of unconsciousness.
"Who saved me?" Zhang Helai regained consciousness, his first thought being, "How could anyone give up their Oxygen Cylinder for me?"
Each person can carry at most one Oxygen Cylinder; otherwise, the weight is too much to move. The oxygen Zhang Helai was now breathing was naturally someone else's. He opened his eyes and turned his head, only to see an unfamiliar face.
The wild wind and snow frosted her golden hair. Her exposed, fair skin was frozen red. Her thin clothes acted as useless Armor against the biting air, serving merely to cover her body. Her delicate face, though wan and gaunt, had eyes that shone like the sun, penetrating deep into Zhang Helai's heart.
She held an oxygen mask to Zhang Helai's face with her right hand, and in her left, she carried an Oxygen Cylinder, with a rope looped around her waist. Beyond that, she had no other gear.
A…golden-haired girl.
A…climber without an Oxygen Cylinder.
A…climber who climbs rocks directly instead of taking the path.
A…climber who, at an elevation of 9,000 meters on this high mountain, climbs without wearing cold-weather clothes, her hands, feet, and face bare!
What did it mean to be without cold-weather clothes and without an Oxygen Cylinder?
According to the principle that temperature decreases by 6 degrees Celsius for every 1,000 meters in altitude, with Tadamia's plain regions being around 20 degrees Celsius in the spring, the temperature above an altitude of 9,000 meters would be at least minus 34 degrees Celsius. In fact, at the time of departure from The Fifth Camp at 9,600 meters, the measured temperature was minus 40 degrees Celsius.
What does minus 40 degrees Celsius mean? Spitting out saliva would freeze before it hit the ground. A normal person without cold-weather clothing in minus 40 degrees Celsius wouldn't last an hour. Their body heat would be lost, and their body temperature would drop below 25 degrees Celsius. The thermoregulatory center would cease to function. Breathing and heartbeat would be suppressed, blood pressure would plummet, and reflexes would vanish. Unresponsive to external stimuli, they would ultimately die from paralysis of the vasomotor and respiratory centers.
Simply put, this golden-haired girl should have turned into an ice statue, her limbs as fragile and stiff as ice sticks, impossible for her to move!
What's more, she didn't even have an Oxygen Cylinder!?
Although among extreme climbing enthusiasts, some believe that human Potential is endless—after all, many mountaineers can adapt to the high-altitude climate by training at 6,000 meters. People from the plains have an oxygen partial pressure of 10 mmHg in their alveoli and arterial blood. In contrast, the Kamian people of the highlands have one of 1 mmHg; they need less oxygen in the mountains, allowing them to climb higher.
Therefore, some people believe that with long-term adaptation at high altitudes, one could reach the summit of Mount Hyjal, over 10,000 meters high, even when the oxygen content is less than one-third, without carrying an Oxygen Cylinder!
However, that is ultimately an illusion. Not to mention 10,000 meters, even the Third Camp at 8,400 meters has not been climbed without an Oxygen Cylinder; even the Kamian people, who have lived on the plateau for generations, cannot do it!
And then there's this golden-haired girl, who takes no common path, climbing nearly vertical cliffs between 70 and 90 degrees with her bare hands...
Amidst myriad complex thoughts that kept colliding, one sentence settled on Zhang Helai's lips: "Thank you."
He didn't believe his charm was so great that this golden-haired girl would sacrifice herself to save him. So the reason seemed clear enough: the golden-haired girl had seen he was dying and simply lent a hand.
The golden-haired girl smiled and helped him remove the Oxygen Cylinder from his back, replacing it with the one she carried.
Zhang Helai didn't stop her, nor did he have any grounds to. Should he worry that if she gave him her Oxygen Cylinder, she herself would die from lack of oxygen?
Bullshit! He could see with his own eyes that the golden-haired girl was in far better shape than him!
"At that time, you must have realized that the person before you…" Black Body Armor asked, "must not have been ordinary."
"To describe her as Superman is not an exaggeration," Zhang Helai chuckled. "She's simply...the Goddess of Hyjal Peak, a presence that mere mortals can only look up to."