Terror on the Snow Mountain (Part One)

The three slowed as they approached the boulder where the yeti had vanished. Zhong Lichun and Mo Li raised their guns, while Wei Dengke slowed down and hid behind them, his right hand instinctively resting on a metal sphere hanging at his side waist.

None of them spoke. Zhong Lichun turned and gave Mo Li a meaningful look, then pointed to herself with her left hand, made a walking gesture, and pointed toward the other side of the boulder. Next, she pointed at Mo Li, then at the boulder, and finally brought her hands together.

These were gestures commonly used by soldiers to communicate tactics and relay information. Having served for so many years, Mo Li naturally understood them. She meant that she would go around to the other side of the boulder while Mo Li approached from this side, then the two of them would attack from both directions. If the yeti was still hiding there, they would surround it directly.

Mo Li nodded, then raised his pistol. Zhong Lichun swiftly moved toward the other side of the boulder. Once she was in position, she beckoned to Mo Li, then held up three fingers on her left hand and began counting down.

Three, two, one! The moment Zhong Lichun lowered her last finger, she and Mo Li rushed around the boulder at incredible speed, the guns in their hands aimed straight ahead.

But to their disappointment, the yeti had already disappeared. There were messy footprints and bloodstains on the ground. The traces proved that the yeti had indeed hidden here for a while before leaving.

When he did not hear any gunfire, Wei Dengke came around as well. After examining the messy traces on the ground, he asked, "Looks like that big guy ran away. What do we do now?"

"If you hadn't stopped me from shooting, it wouldn't have gotten away! You're useless when it matters and only know how to hesitate!" Zhong Lichun lowered her gun and glared at Wei Dengke as she berated him.

"How can you blame me for this?" Wei Dengke argued with a miserable expression.

"If I don't blame you, should I blame myself? Mo Li, what should we do? Can we track it by its footprints?" Zhong Lichun glared at Wei Dengke once again, then turned to Mo Li and asked. This was the first time she had spoken to Mo Li since their earlier awkward encounter.

"...The footprints are still fresh, and it looks like it headed up the mountain. We can track it, but it's already early winter, and the weather on the mountain is unpredictable. The wind is also strong. Once the footprints are covered by snow blown up by the wind, we'll lose our trail." Mo Li crouched down to inspect the traces, then nodded as he spoke.

"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and chase it!" Zhong Lichun was decisive by nature, so after hearing Mo Li's words, she followed the footprints up the mountain.

Mo Li and Wei Dengke exchanged a glance, then followed after her. Thus, the three began tracking the fleeing yeti by following the footprints on the ground.

As they followed the footprints up the mountain, Wei Dengke asked Mo Li, "Mo Li, was that yeti from earlier the one that attacked you?"

"Probably not. I shot and injured that yeti before, and half of its left ear was blown off. But the one we saw afterward had intact ears," Mo Li answered.

"So there's more than one yeti on this mountain!" Wei Dengke muttered, stroking his chin.

"Based on the situation, there should be at least two yetis on this mountain. There may be even more. We must be careful," Zhong Lichun said.

"There's something I don't understand. Aren't you looking for those three foreigners? Why insist on chasing the yeti?" Mo Li asked.

"You don't know this, but someone found a bloodstained backpack where you were rescued. It had yeti fur on it too. The staff at the hotel where those three foreigners were staying identified the backpack as belonging to one of them. That means they likely encountered a yeti, and there's a high chance they were taken away. Rather than searching blindly, we might as well look for the yeti directly. That gives us a better chance of finding them," Wei Dengke answered.

"Oh!" Mo Li nodded in understanding and fell silent. Wei Dengke and Zhong Lichun also stopped talking, and the three of them simply quickened their pace up the mountain.

As the altitude rose, the temperature dropped further and further, while the wind grew stronger. What frustrated them most was that the mountain path became increasingly difficult to traverse. Ice walls and frozen snow layers began appearing in many places, and the footprints disappeared in this area, making it impossible to continue tracking them.

The three stopped. They were now standing on an ice cap, with thick frozen snow and ice beneath their feet. It was impossible to leave any footprints on such hard ground. They had completely lost their target.

They looked around blankly, all three at a loss. The wind was growing fiercer, and the freezing gusts cutting across their faces felt like tiny knives, painfully slicing at their skin. Wei Dengke pulled the hood of his windbreaker over his head, while Zhong Lichun looked at Mo Li and asked, "How do you feel? Are you cold? Should I give your clothes back?"

"No, I'm not cold at all. Maybe the medicine you injected into me has some miraculous effect. I can't feel the cold at all right now, and my whole body is still very warm." Mo Li shook his head. To prove his words, he held out his hand to Zhong Lichun, clearly inviting her to feel the temperature of his palm.

When Zhong Lichun saw Mo Li extend his left hand, her expression stiffened. She had obviously remembered what that hand had done earlier. Fortunately, the wind had already blown her little face bright red, so her embarrassment could not be seen.

Without touching Mo Li's hand, Zhong Lichun surveyed their surroundings again and said, "The clues end here. What should we do next? Mo Li, have you been here before?"

"I came here several times while searching for and rescuing climbers. The locals call this place Snow Realm Slope. Above here, there's almost no ordinary snow left, only frozen snow and ice. The temperature is especially low, and the mountain body becomes much steeper. Even locals rarely continue upward," Mo Li answered.

"...Even if it's difficult, we have to go up. Glasses, take out the climbing picks." Zhong Lichun hesitated for a moment, but ultimately made her decision.

Wei Dengke did not waste any words. After taking off his backpack, he pulled out six folding climbing picks. Each was only fifteen centimeters long when folded, but nearly forty centimeters once extended. They were forged from alloy, with insulating tape wrapped around the grips. Their edges were extremely sharp and could easily pierce frozen snow and ice.

After handing climbing picks to Zhong Lichun and Mo Li, Wei Dengke used his climbing rope to tie all three of their waists together. That way, if any one of them slipped and fell, the other two could pull him back. It was basic mountaineering knowledge. Once they were prepared, the three set off up the mountain once again. Of course, this time they had no footprints to follow, so they were essentially wandering around without any target.