The little fox gave a cry and obediently crouched at Emily's feet.
Su Wei strode toward the snowmobile. At the same time, a notification flashed through his mind.
[Ding!] [First effective emergency medical treatment performed on a human. Medical Module LV1 unlocked. Current experience: 0/100.] [Medical Module LV1: Unlocks the Herbal Guide (Beginner), allowing identification of some common hemostatic and anti-inflammatory herbs.]
A new module had been unlocked.
It was even a medical module, which came as a complete surprise to Su Wei.
But Su Wei had no time to study it right now.
He walked over to the snowmobile, pulled out his entrenching shovel, and began prying hard at the deformed metal casing on the front.
Emily watched him in confusion, unsure what he was doing.
"Su Wei, you..."
"I want to see if this snowmobile still works."
Su Wei answered without looking back.
He needed a way to get Emily back to camp, and the seemingly wrecked snowmobile before him might just be an option.
Chapter 25: The Journey Back
Emily stood rooted to the spot, watching his back.
Still works?
The thing had been smashed into a heap of scrap metal. Its front was caved in, and one ski jutted high into the air, nearly detached from the body.
How could it possibly still work?
Su Wei offered no explanation.
There was only one thought in his mind.
Carrying someone with a badly injured ankle back to a camp hundreds of meters away on foot, through knee-deep snow, was little different from courting death.
The physical exertion was secondary. Time was the real problem.
It was completely dark, and every extra minute outside meant more danger.
This snowmobile was the only way.
Besides, an off-road snowmobile was generally built to take a beating.
It wouldn't be wrecked so easily.
It might only look terrible on the outside; perhaps the damage inside wasn't yet too ugly to look at.
Su Wei walked a circle around the snowmobile, examining it closely.
The casing was badly deformed.
But the engine compartment didn't seem to have taken a fatal blow.
Most importantly, the track was only wedged firmly in a gap between the rocks. The chain was intact and hadn't snapped.
There was hope.
Su Wei drove the entrenching shovel hard into the gap between the track and the rocks, took a deep breath, and used the wooden handle as a lever, bearing down with all his strength.
"Creeeak..."
Metal scraped against rock with a sound that nearly tore his eardrums apart.
The shovel's wooden handle bent into an exaggerated arc under the pressure, ready to snap at any moment.
Su Wei's arm muscles bulged, veins stood out one by one on his forehead, and a low growl rose in his throat from the exertion.
He put all his weight behind it.
Clang!
With a tremendous crash, the trapped track sprang free of the rocks.
The whole snowmobile shuddered.
Success!
It actually worked!
Su Wei shook out his numb arms. Without pausing to catch his breath, he turned his attention to the badly deformed front and the crooked handlebars.
He straddled the snowmobile, braced both feet firmly against the ground, clamped the body between his thighs and abdomen, then seized one side of the handlebars with both hands and wrenched it back in the opposite direction with brute force.
The metal let out a piercing creak.
Watching from a short distance away, Emily almost forgot the searing pain in her ankle.
The Su Wei she remembered was quiet, even a little shy, and would blush at a joke from her.
But the man before her was wrestling with a heap of scrap metal under the daylight.
He was focused and calm, every movement precise and his goal clear.
Watching his focused expression, she felt her panicked heart settle.
With another dull groan of twisting metal, he forced the handlebars back to a roughly normal angle.
They were still crooked, but at least they could be steered.
Su Wei jumped off the snowmobile, brushed the snow from his hands, and walked over to the ignition.
The key was still in it.
He turned the key.
"Click."
A soft sound came, but the dashboard showed no response.
The small spark of hope that had just kindled in Emily sank again in an instant.
Su Wei wasn't surprised.
He unscrewed the fuel cap and sniffed. There was still a little under half a tank of gas.
He checked a few exposed wires, then, relying on the original owner's pitiful bit of mechanical knowledge, unplugged and reconnected several connectors that looked somewhat loose.
After doing all that, he turned the key again.
"Putt... putt-putt..."
The engine gave two feeble coughs, then fell silent again.
Emily's heart rose into her throat.
Su Wei paused for a few seconds to let the battery recover a little, then turned the key a third time.
"Putt-putt... vroom-roar!"
This time, after struggling a few times, the engine finally burst into a tenacious roar.
A strong smell of gasoline mixed with exhaust fumes and spread through the air. In the dead silence of the snowy night, the frantic noise was unexpectedly beautiful.
It worked!
Su Wei let out a long breath, and the heaviness in his chest vanished like smoke.
He walked over to Emily, looked at her stunned expression, and said calmly, "It still runs. We have to leave now."
Emily still hadn't recovered from her shock and merely nodded instinctively.
Su Wei half crouched and motioned for her to put her arm over his shoulder.
He helped her up in one smooth, steady motion, without the slightest delay.
After settling Emily on the snowmobile's rear seat, Su Wei quickly searched the area again.
He found Emily's backpack in the snow, but the DSLR camera had been smashed to pieces. The lens had separated from the body, leaving it a complete wreck.
"My camera..." Emily's voice was dejected.
"Things can be replaced. What matters is that you're all right." As Su Wei spoke, he pulled a hardcover notebook from the backpack's side pocket and handed it to her. "Your observation journal. This wasn't damaged."
Emily took the journal and held it tightly to her chest. It held the fruits of her efforts over the past few months.
She looked up at Su Wei and said softly, "Thank you."
Su Wei said nothing. He turned, picked up the little fox crouching nearby with its head tilted curiously, and tucked it straight into Emily's arms.
"Hold it. It'll keep you a little warmer."
Cotton Candy's body was fluffy, like a natural hot-water bottle.
The little one wasn't wary of strangers either. It found a comfortable position in Emily's arms and curled up, its blue eyes curiously examining its new "cushion."
Emily was instantly captivated by the adorable little creature and couldn't resist reaching out to gently stroke its white fur.
Su Wei climbed onto the snowmobile, tested the feel of the crooked handlebars, and gave the throttle a hard twist.
The snowmobile roared, its track churning up a great spray of snow as it shot off with the two of them aboard, heading toward camp.