At this time, a whistle was heard from the front, a sharp whistle that echoed far away in the darkness and cold wind.
Officially assembled.
They got up, packed up, and began to follow the team to go up the mountain.
Sintara made it sound like climbing up the snowy mountain glacier was an easy thing, but for a normal person, it is definitely a strenuous task.
Well - it was easy for him personally, but the problem was that there were more than a hundred people on their trip, and almost twice the number of dogs and donkeys, as well as all kinds of weapons and supplies carried by the team. It was impossible to carry all these things up the mountain at once.
If that were to happen, the bloated queues would likely crush some fragile road sections.
So they were divided into four teams, with each team setting out two hours apart. Hitzfeld and his two companions asked to join the first team.
At the beginning, Hitzfeld felt that he had recovered his physical strength and physical development, so he could try to climb the glacier on his own.
Not to mention her, Xia Yibing thought the same.
However, reality gave them a blow - just because you can climb normally in low altitudes doesn't mean you can do the same at high altitudes.
Altitude sickness plus lack of oxygen is something you can't withstand just by physical strength.
After climbing the slope in the snow for more than an hour, Hitzfeld was the first to "die".
She fell headfirst into the snow and lay there unable to get up.
Xia Yibing was also very tired, so she hurriedly lifted the girl onto the sled, pressed her chest and gave her artificial respiration, and tried a lot of different things before finally waking the girl up.
After expressing "appropriate ridicule of Aisuen's physical fitness", Xia Yibing continued to climb with the intention of "performing well in front of Aisuen".
Another hour later, she also lay down.
"Why are you being so stubborn?"
On the sled, Hitzfeld touched the woman's face with amusement.
She has recovered a lot now, and it should be no problem for her to go down and walk around. Xia Yibing was in an even more miserable state because she had just laid down. She lay there without the strength to move.
A security director: +﹏+
It was just Heidi from beginning to end.
Not only did he persist in climbing, he even had enough energy to drag the sled carrying two people, which surprised some strong men on the ice lake.
After climbing the mountain for half an afternoon and half a night, they finally reached the summit near dawn.
Hitzfeld didn't force himself anymore. After asking Heidi, he learned that this kind of load-bearing climbing was "effortless" for her, so she simply stopped getting down and was dragged up obediently.
Everyone was very tired, but Xintala still shouted loudly and ordered them to set up camp quickly.
The first wave of people going up the mountain had a heavy task. Not only did they have to explore the way, but they also had to set up camp for those who came later to prevent attacks from wild beasts that might come at any time.
Hitzfeld and Xia Yibing brought sleeping bags, but they didn't have a tent. Xintala handed over a roll of blankets with an expressionless face. When she unfolded it, she saw that it was the smallest one, and she had to curl up her legs to sleep in it.
But at this time, they didn't care about anything. They followed the others to set up the tents and tried to put all the tents together.
There is no need to worry about gender differences. In such a cold environment, people won’t take off their clothes when sleeping.
Xintala thought that they were too weak and should stay in the tent or sit aside. But Xia Yibing was unwilling to show weakness. She rested for a while and started to walk to the front to help fix the wooden stakes in the camp.
The wooden stakes were ready - this was an old road, and it was not the first time that the Ice Lake People had come here, so they had made preparations in advance. Not only had they marked out a piece of open space nearby for a fixed camp, but they had also placed some spiked wooden stakes around the camp to guard against large wild beasts that were unable to move easily.
There was no way Hitzfeld would let Xia Yibing work alone, so he went to her side to help.
Out of responsibility to protect her, Heidi went too.
"..." Xintala stood behind and looked at the three people thoughtfully, but soon he went about his own business.
After checking the wood stakes and corners of the camp, three people...two of them returned to the tent to rest.
Because Heidi said she didn't need it. She said she was neither tired nor cold, and was willing to give the tent to them and stay outside to keep watch.
Hitzfeld wanted to be polite, but Xia Yibing covered her mouth and dragged her in, threw her down on the blanket, and ordered her to rest well for the next few hours.
It had been less than 24 hours since Hitzfeld had last gotten a full night's sleep, and she wanted to say she wasn't sleepy at all.
But looking at the woman's sleepy and concerned face, and the few strands of hair hanging from the gaps in her cotton hat, Hitzfeld really couldn't say this.
"I can rest." She thought for a moment and said, "But you have to come with me."
"Then let's go together!"
Xia Yibing fell down and hugged her tightly. The two of them curled up face to face and fell asleep together soon.
"..." Heidi sat alone outside the tent. The light of the torch occasionally illuminated her face and the big white dog she was stroking with her hands.
"I suddenly feel like we are the same kind, Lily."
"Wang!"
"Ah, now I understand what you are saying."
"Wow wow wow!"
A dreamless night.
When they woke up, they checked the time and it was almost 4am.
It was not yet enough time for the troops behind to climb up the mountain, which meant they had to wait here for a while.
Taking into account the time it took for the last group of people to come up, and considering that they would also need to rest after coming up, we would have to wait at least another 4 hours.
Thinking of this, Hitzfeld couldn't help but wonder whether it was necessary to bring so many people.
Not only are there too many people, but there are also so many dogs, donkeys, and supplies. No matter how you look at it, it will only cause more delays, right?
There is no need to bring so many people and supplies.
It’s not possible to carry so many supplies.
“It is necessary.”
Heidi opened the tent flap and held a jug of water in her hand.
...No matter what the water was in its original state, it has now frozen into a lump of ice in the pot.
Hitzfeld and Xia Yibing sat up to make room in the middle and watched Heidi bring in another stove and place the metal kettle on it to heat and thaw it.
"…Why is it necessary?"
Xia Yibing couldn't hold it in any longer.
"You can't possibly need so many people to feel safe, right?"
"Eh? You're really right."
Heidi smiled at her and continued, "Do you remember how many people they brought with them when they went out hunting this morning? So many people were scattered when the polar bears charged at them. They had to bring more people. The ice field is different now, and past experience is no longer applicable."
Because there must be a lot of people, there must also be a lot of supplies.
Hitzfeld nodded, thoughtfully.
"Why can polar bears gather in groups?" Xia Yibing continued to ask questions tirelessly.
Although she had never been here, she knew that polar bears were solitary carnivores. This kind of predator would only be a mother with her children together at most, so how could they form a group of polar bears that could disperse a hunting team?
"You ask me, who should I ask?"
Heidi rolled her eyes at her.
"If even Sintara doesn't know, how should I know."
"So..." Hitzfeld suddenly interrupted, "I remember..."
"Remember what?"
"Remember when we first came here by boat? When the lights illuminated a stretch of the sea, I saw Sintara throwing something at a seal that climbed onto the ice to scare it away..."
The girl frowned slightly: "I thought it was just a bad idea at the time, maybe there is another hidden reason?"
"He's protecting the ship?" Xia Yibing also frowned, "Is that thing dangerous?"
She also saw that scene, but no matter how she recalled and analyzed it, the stupid seal seemed to be simply deceived by the light created by humans... Didn't it mistake the coal lamp for the sun and come out?
If even seals are dangerous...
Xia Yibing shuddered suddenly, feeling that this thing would be very terrifying if she thought about it more carefully.
No wonder the rent is just a few snow foxes!
She had always wondered if the rent was too cheap. After all, it was not difficult for them who had guns to hunt a few snow foxes. It turned out that the hunting difficulty was raised!
"It's possible that I misunderstood." Hitzfeld said quickly, "It's just a possibility, just a possibility."
After squatting in the tent and chatting for a while, the three of them still couldn't come to any conclusion about the weirdness of the Arctic.
The water had just melted, so she drank some hot water and ate some of the dry food she brought with her. Hitzfeld decided to go out of the tent and take a walk - she didn't believe that Sintara would do nothing for such a long time.
She found Xintala's tent, but he was not there, so she asked others about it. Sure enough, she learned that Xintala was gathering good people. They planned to go out and explore first when the first group of people had rested and had more energy.
"Can you take us with you?"
She found Sintara and explained her intentions.
"I think you won't be too far from the camp. And even though we are weak in physical fitness, our performance in battle will definitely not hold you back."
Hitzfeld was more direct, but Sintara didn't believe it at all.
His physical strength is already weak, but he is not lagging behind in the battle... How is that possible?
This is not a gap that can be made up by firearms. Why has Binghu Town never done business with the Sara people? Then what is the oversized double-barreled shotgun that Xintala is carrying now?
He wanted to refuse, but for some reason, he recalled in his mind how the three men were trying hard to keep up with the team, and how they were obviously tired when they just came up but still wanted to help check the wooden stakes.
Really? They also care about their friends...
Just at this hesitation, Hitzfeld suddenly saw hope.
"I'm still a doctor!"
She took the opportunity to add.
"I brought some medicine - we all know first aid! We can definitely help!"
As soon as these words came out, before Xintala could say anything, the eyes of the Binghu warriors next to him suddenly lit up.
"You must obey orders..."
Xintala was helpless. He sent Hitzfeld back and asked her to bring people to meet him as soon as possible.
"You're just too polite!"
Xia Yibing complained to the girl on the way here.
With their abilities, it would be no problem for them to show off their abilities and shock Xintara. But wouldn't it be up to them to decide what to do then?
Why would Aisuen need to humble himself and beg him?
"We are on someone else's territory, in someone else's team, and should abide by their rules."
Hitzfeld didn't find this cowardly.
She knew that things had their priorities, and now was not the time to save their personal reputation.
Together with Heidi and Lily, the Sheltie dog, they followed the search and rescue team and left the camp at 5: in the morning.
The sky was still dark.
Looking up at the sky, Hitzfeld found that he still couldn't see anything clearly.
People had no time to hold torches as they moved forward, so they lit cold-resistant coal lamps instead, hung them on donkeys or sleds, and moved forward carefully as they watched.
Compared to the mountain below, the glacier is another world.
When we got up, we realized that the black forest below was just a miniature version. It is said that the pine forest above is "as far as the eye can see" at dawn, "just like a glacier plain extending to the end of the world."
This is an infinitely vast world of ice and snow. When walking on such an ice field, one must always make sure that the direction is correct. Otherwise, once they start to get lost, they may very likely be trapped to death because they cannot find the way.
Such a journey is also tiring and boring.
But after all, they were not climbing a mountain, and since they had already begun to adapt to the high altitude environment, Hitzfeld and Xia Yibing behaved normally.
An hour later, the team searched around the camp but failed to find a single survivor or even any trace of them.
"It snowed."
Sintara scooped up a handful of thick snow from the ground.
"The snow buried their tracks and also exposed the predators' intentions."
