Novel Live
Chapter 428: 426
Chapter 428: 426n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
“`
In the snow, the owner of a pair of green boots curled up, lying stiff within a snow-filled cavity in the rock and ice, as if just taking a little rest.
The bright colors of the red mountaineering jacket, blue climbing pants, and green boots made him stand out starkly against the white and gray tones of Mount Everest.
The legendary “Green Boots”.
Puba explained to the audience that this was one of the three major “Corpse Markers” on Mount Everest; nearby lay the equally famous “Resting Climber,” who maintained the position of hugging his knees with his eyes staring straight into the distance before he died.
It could be said that these bodies served as “signposts”.
But Bi Fang did not linger, merely glancing briefly before continuing his climb along Mount Everest’s southeast ridge toward the summit.
As time passed, he climbed, rested, passed the third Corpse Marker “Sleeping Beauty,” climbed again, and rested again.
After two more rounds of rest, in which Bi Fang had refueled his body more than once, the true “anoxic exercise” on Mount Everest commenced; every hundred meters climbed represented a tremendous drain on energy, one that only intensified.
The higher the altitude, the greater the consumption of moisture, physical strength, and energy.
At 8,700 meters, Bi Fang reached the South Summit, facing the final obstacle to reach the top of Mount Everest.
[The Hillary Step! The Hillary Step!]
Even Puba couldn’t help repeating it twice, his fingers trembling slightly as he typed.
It was unbelievable.
Puba had complex feelings toward Bi Fang, even harboring some disdain they first met, following Danzeng’s initiative to find him—perhaps Puba himself hadn’t noticed it at the time.
However, upon seeing Danzeng’s request and witnessing Bi Fang’s actions and the genuine equality and respect he showed for the Sherpa people, as well as his admiration for the sacred mountain, Puba finally decided to help out of concern for his junior.
But now, after having witnessed a miracle, Puba had to admit that indeed, he had felt such emotions in his mind.
After all, he had summited Mount Everest 21 times, and countless Sherpa and people from around the world viewed him as a legend; yet even so, he hadn’t dared to attempt a solo, oxygen-less ascent.
Let alone a solo ascent without supplemental oxygen, as it required talent, flair, ability, and luck—missing any one of these was not an option.
But now, what he had been unable to achieve in his youth, a 25-year-old who had never even been to Mount Everest was about to accomplish.
With a complex expression, Puba even felt a tinge of jealousy at that moment, perhaps envious of the other’s youth or his monumental achievement. He also felt a bit ashamed, but more than that, he felt admiration.
Because, after all, the mountain remains.
Taking a deep breath, Puba tapped the keyboard, offering the final narration.
[During the final ascent from the South Summit, one must traverse a nearly vertical 12-meter-high rock face on the southeast ridge between the South Summit and the highest point, named the “Hillary Step” after Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the first pair to cross it and summit.]
[The “Step” was destroyed during the 2015 earthquake, leaving behind a “snowy alcove.” Nowadays, climbers on the South Col no longer have a “step” on their ascent to Everest’s peak, but without question, the name “Hillary Step” will be preserved forever.]
[Still, the alcove remains narrow, and due to its tightness, it frequently gets congested. Climbers may have to wait quite long because of the bottleneck, and often, people die on Mount Everest due to waiting too long.]
With his excellent eyesight, Bi Fang could see from the South Summit that the Hillary Step was extremely narrow, as narrow as the spine of a stegosaurus and barely allowing one person to pass through.
Its fame made the Step so intimidating that it could induce a psychological fear.
The only certainty was that no rescue attempt above the “Hillary Step” had ever been successful.
The abyss at his feet lay waiting, eager for the “delicious meal” to fall into its mouth. The one-piece suit had become armor of ice and snow.
Fortunately, Bi Fang’s hands and feet had not yet frozen stiff from waiting, allowing him to continue climbing along the mountain ridge and snowy slope.
The final test, the true final test, lay a mere hundred meters away!
Between the South Summit and the peak, there was only the Hillary Step to surmount!
A miracle was about to unfold before their eyes!
The audience, as if by some unspoken agreement, held their breath, their hearts racing faster and faster. The previously bustling live stream fell silent in an instant, the entire screen filled with the vast expanse of sky. Everyone’s pupils trembled slightly as they watched the summit draw nearer.
In the village at the foot of the mountain, Puba and others sat together, holding their breath in deep concentration.
Inside Magic City Airport, Huang Tianming’s eyes, bloodshot, were wide-open, his breathing almost synchronized with the action.
In the Arctic Circle, Étienne was so excited he could barely contain himself.
“`
Ugly Country, Peter excitedly grabbed Tony’s arm.
Central Country, Matthew clenched his pen.
Audiences worldwide, students on holiday, office workers in companies, housewives shopping in the market, those who stay up late, those who get up early, those who pull all-nighters, millions of people focused their attention here.
In their ears was one heavy breath after another, rapid and deep, making one worry whether the person making the sound would collapse then and there.
The 12-meter-high rubble steps… If it were a few years ago, this would have been one gigantic rock, smooth on the surface, with no place to grab hold of; now, it was much easier.
Bi Fang stepped on the rubble, his brain no longer capable of any thought; if someone were to lift his visor, they would see that his lips had turned slightly purple.
The time was 9:14 a.m.
The wind swept the clouds smoothly, flowing incessantly.
Bi Fang stopped in his tracks and took one last look behind him. He gazed at the long ridge he’d just climbed, its shadow almost encompassing the mountains, as if he were also part of this massive body.
This was the final glance, representing all the scenery along the way: rock fields, ice, snow, forests of ice pinnacles, blue sheep, alpine crows, frigid river waters, cliffs, and even calamitous avalanches…
All of that, now had their ultimate reward.
Bi Fang silently took off his gloves.
The next second, a strong hand grabbed onto a crevice on the peak’s edge and pulled the rest of the body through the fissure onto the broad ridge, completely climbing up!
In the morning light, Mount Everest glistened like jade. Bi Fang removed his cold-weather mask and just sat stunned on the ground, surprising everyone, but then, he began to laugh, a loud laugh.
Looking around, thousands and tens of thousands of miles of sunlight, mountains towering into the clouds, the sky so blue it seemed dyed, countless snowy peaks stirred by the wind, all “surrendering” before his feet as the continuous clouds flowed towards the sun, relentless.
The laughter grew louder, the intense laughter causing an already oxygen-deprived body to fall into further distress; he began to cough, and while coughing, he started laughing again, in a never-ending cycle.
The sound spread out in waves, echoing through the mountains, resounding through the clouds and forests.
From Kathmandu Valley to Lukla, from base camp to the Death Zone.
Dragging heavy steps through the zone of death, each step excruciatingly painful, yet all of it was worth it.
What Bi Fang pursued, risked, and yearned for, lay beneath his feet, before his eyes, right by his side!
The true highest peak!
There was no higher point on Earth left for him to challenge!
Bi Fang’s eyes suddenly reddened as waves of the urge to cry came over him, filling his eyes with hot tears.
In either his previous life or this one, Bi Fang had never imagined that he could reach the top of the world solely on his own ability. If someone had told him it was possible, it must have been a dream, an illusion, fleeting as a bubble.
Now, reality had happened.
It had truly changed.
Bi Fang looked up to stop the wetness in his eyes, struggling to stand up from the peak. He put his gloves back on and, the next second, he was holding a metal tube, as thick as a thumb, of unknown origin.
Looking through the hole, it seemed to be a telescopic pole.
With a light flick, a red flag unfurled.
Bi Fang used all his remaining strength to plant the flag into the ice cap, sending ice shards flying.
The red flag bearing the five stars fluttered in the strong wind, blowing toward his homeland across the mountains.
The clouds dispersed,
The sun shone on the golden mountain.
May 10th, 9:20 a.m.
The first Huaxian, the first to summit Mount Everest solo without supplemental oxygen,
is born!