Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness - Chapter 405 - Chapter 405: Chapter 403: Return to Base

Chapter 405: Chapter 403: Return to Base

“`

After wrapping Fei She in the sleeping bag and feeding him two energy gels to ensure he wouldn’t lose heat and his vitals could continue to stabilize, Bi Fang looked around and suddenly spotted Yao Jun’s red scarf. He grabbed it, squeezed it in his hand, and asked,

“Did you buy this scarf yourself, or was it a gift? Does it have any particular significance?”

Yao Jun was startled, then replied with smug pride, “How about that, looks good, right? It’s a limited edition, I specifically…”

Before Yao Jun could finish speaking, Bi Fang yanked the red scarf off him.

Feeling a chill around his neck, Yao Jun hadn’t even reacted when he saw Bi Fang use a dagger to cut a strip of red cloth from his scarf.

“Damn it, what are you doing!”

Ignoring Yao Jun, Bi Fang tied the red strip of cloth to a spare climbing stick in Fei She’s backpack, used a simple snow shovel to dig a hole in the ground, and then firmly planted it inside, before covering it back with snow and weighing it down with rocks.

Bi Fang stood up and brushed off his hands, “There, this big expanse is all white, or it’s just exposed dark rock. A piece of red ribbon will be really noticeable. It will make it easier for the rescue personnel to find us. Many times, when passing through avalanche-prone areas, climbers tie bright ribbons to their heads or arms for the same reason. I just asked you to find out if the scarf had any special significance. Since it doesn’t, let’s put it to good use.”

At that point, Yao Jun was on the verge of tears. “It really is a limited edition, only five hundred in the world, sob sob sob.”

“Wait, what about Wessels? Should we not care for him?” Jerret called out just as Bi Fang was about to leave.

Jerret wasn’t a saint. As a director, he was accustomed to protecting the reputations of his actors, and if Bi Fang could retrieve the body at this moment, he would certainly earn a good reputation.

If Bi Fang could break this unwritten rule, it would undoubtedly be more beneficial than harmful to his own “future.”

Unfortunately…

Bi Fang glanced at the crevasse, shook his head, and said, “No need, and besides, how do you know he definitely wanted to return home?”

Jerret was taken aback, then as if something suddenly dawned on him, asked, “Did Wessels sign some documents?”

[Documents? What documents?]

The audience was confused.

Speak of something we can understand, please.

Bi Fang briefly explained, “Something like a body donation form.”

Climbing Mount Everest is a game for the wealthy and dream-chasers, which has also exposed an issue: even with professional training, many people are still unprofessional.

Unprofessionalism leads to accidents, and accidents can endanger the entire team.

Upon Mount Everest, climbers are almost always “selfish.” When it comes to those on the brink of death, the others will turn a blind eye. Every climber knows well the cost of helping others—it might mean “everyone dies together.”

As for transporting bodies, it’s even more out of the question.

Therefore, every climber will sign a document before ascending the mountain, which must also be signed by their family members. It details whether they want their bodies brought back if they die.

And the answer is, many choose to “stay on the mountain.”

“There was once a Sherpa team that found a body and moved it to a better place on the mountain, but after finding out, the family expressed their wish to move the body back to its original place because that was the deceased’s last will.”

[Is that so?]

[I can understand. If I were to accidentally perish, I wouldn’t want to come down either. Maybe someone will see me after a hundred years.]

[Following Master Fang is an eye-opener every day.]

[Another eye-opener, I can go back and show off now.]

[Picking up girls skill +1]

[After watching Bi Fang’s Mount Everest livestream, can I pretend I’ve been there too (Dog’s head), and recount it all in detail?]

After explaining, Bi Fang continued to lead Yao Jun and Jerret down the mountain. According to the signal from the detector, they found two more people. Regrettably, one was gravely injured, and the other was already without signs of life.

Like with Fei She, Bi Fang could only perform simple first aid on the injured one, trying his best to stabilize his vital signs. After that, it was all up to fate.

During the short fifty-meter descent, they witnessed the death of two lives, which quieted the mood in the livestream quite a bit.

The death rate is just a simple statistic.

The dangers of climbing Mount Everest were laid bare at this moment, like a skinned elk, gruesomely exhibited before everyone.

Until the appearance of the third person.

“Old Fang, Old Fang, there’s someone over here, too!”

Bi Fang rushed over at the sound of the voice, looking at the “ice block” that Yao Jun and Jerret had uncovered, and wiped the snowflakes off the person’s face.

This was…

“That Japanese guy! Damn, what a coincidence!”

“`

“I mean, come on, Jerry, maybe let’s just call it quits (dog’s head)”

“Ahh, seriously, you can’t say that, man, it’s poor sportsmanship.”

“His lips are turning purple already!”

“Same team, but the leader is up top and the member down below; got swept away, huh?”

“This is severe hypoxia! It shouldn’t be happening though.” Bi Fang was startled as he looked at the oxygen bottle cradled in the man’s arms with some confusion. Not having time to think further, he opened Saito’s shirt and started compressions, but after just a few, the man suddenly began coughing violently.

“Awake?”

Bi Fang was confused again. He had only pressed a couple of times. Could it be that he had a hidden talent for medicine?

“The magical healing touch of Doctor Bi!”

“Epic, a couple of compressions and a dead man comes back to life!”

Saito continued to cough.

Bi Fang picked up the oxygen bottle from Saito’s arms, “It shouldn’t be so, how could there be hypoxia with an oxygen bottle? Polar Bear oxygen bottle brand POISK, the most popular oxygen bottle brand, weighing approximately seven pounds, or about three kilograms. This is the most common type of oxygen canister on Mount Everest. According to the calculations of the Nepal National Mountaineering Guides Association, a bottle like this should last five hours at the highest breathing rate, but now…”

Bi Fang rolled up his sleeve; it was 7:27.

They were buried around 4:30 last night which means it’s only been about three hours now. Even if they had taken a few breaths during the ascent, it shouldn’t last just three hours.

Bi Fang wiped the frost off the pressure gauge on the oxygen bottle. The needle was far to the left.

No more oxygen?

“Shoddy product almost killed someone!”

“+1”

“Call consumer services! Demand compensation! They almost cost a life, don’t you know!”

At this moment, Saito took a couple of sips of Jerret’s water and finally came around.

He recovered so fast, and the oxygen bottle showed no oxygen…

Bi Fang handed the breathing mask to Yao Jun, “Take a breath and see.”

“Me? For what?” Yao Jun looked at Bi Fang warily.

“Just try it, it’s not poison, hurry up.”

Yao Jun, still doubtful, clearly didn’t trust Bi Fang. But unable to resist the pressure, he reluctantly took a couple of breaths and discovered to his surprise, “There’s oxygen in this!?”

Bi Fang suddenly realized, “It’s psychological hypoxia!”

Saito, who had just woken up, was still confused and didn’t understand what that meant.

Bi Fang replaced the oxygen mask on Saito, “You try it again.”

Saito, puzzled, took the breathing mask and after a couple of breaths, his pupils slowly contracted, “How can this be, the oxygen was clearly…”

“Clearly depleted, right? But if it were really gone, you’d have died of hypoxia within minutes. Do you really believe you could be that lucky to wait for us to come just in those few minutes?”

“So what exactly happened?” Yao Jun and Jerret were both confused.

Bi Fang tapped the pressure gauge on the oxygen canister, “There’s still oxygen in the tank; it’s just that the pressure gauge is broken, possibly frozen or crushed. You had a headlamp on when you were buried and covered your mouth and nose, didn’t you?”

Saito nodded.

“That’s right, the space you had allowed you to see the broken gauge and believe the oxygen was gone, creating a psychological effect that made you think you would suffocate. This led to ‘pseudo high-altitude sickness’ with purple lips and eventually unconsciousness. However, since you still wore the mask, you didn’t completely lack oxygen and waited in that state until we arrived.”

“I know you’d ask how this could be possible, but likely, that’s what happened. It’s a bit like being scared to death.”

“Scared to death…” Saito gave a wry smile as he now inhaled the oxygen. Even if he were reluctant to believe, he had to accept it.

“Okay, you’re lucky to have run into us and had a detector with you. Otherwise, even if you weren’t really suffering from a lack of oxygen, by the time the rescue arrived, it would have become real. How do you feel, can you still walk? If you can, come down the mountain with us.”

Saito stood up unsteadily with Bi Fang’s help and nodded, “My limbs are stiff, but I can move. Let me warm up a bit, and I will go down with you.”

“Right, we’re at an altitude of 5432, just a hundred meters more and we’ll be at base camp.”

Bi Fang checked the altimeter and frowned.

What worried him now was whether this avalanche would lead to Nepal cancelling the climbing season.

When would it reopen?