smooth.
There are no burrs, the lines are smooth, and the knife marks are even.
Redbeard worked in mountain rescue for nine years and performed external fixation on fractures over a hundred times.
Even if he were in the emergency room, using a standard splint, he couldn't guarantee he could do it that quickly.
He clutched the piece of bark in his hand and looked up at Su Wei's retreating figure.
His gaze swept past the GoPro on Su Wei's chest, which still had its red light on, and landed on the scabbard at his waist.
Redbeard pulled his helmet down to block the snowflakes from getting into his neck.
He gestured with his lip to his partner beside him and lowered his voice.
"That young man... a professional hunter?"
The partner shook his head, indicating that he did not recognize the person.
Redbeard didn't say anything more, and stuffed the piece of fir bark into his pocket.
The loudspeaker blared again.
This time it wasn't an intermittent warning, but a continuous, high-frequency whine.
The noise from the current overload drowned out all ambient noise, and was forcibly suppressed two seconds later.
The ski resort manager's voice was already hoarse.
He stood on the cement steps in the center of the meeting area, holding a megaphone in his left hand and waving his right hand continuously towards the direction down the mountain.
The orange windbreaker billowed in the wind, making it difficult for him to stand steadily on the steps.
"Everyone! Evacuate immediately! Now!"
The parking lot will be closed in ten minutes.
"Ten minutes!"
The last two words were shouted out in a distorted voice, and the loudspeaker emitted a whistling sound that was completely out of tune.
The last twenty or so people in the rendezvous area began to move.
Some people were carrying their skis and running down the mountain, while others were still on the phone, being pushed and shoved by staff towards the evacuation route.
The sky darkened completely within five minutes.
It wasn't the darkness of dusk, but rather the leaden-gray clouds pressing down below the mountainside, swallowing up all light.
The ridgeline of Pyramid Mountain is no longer visible; the entire mountain has been swallowed by the storm curtain.
Visibility is decreasing rapidly.
Fifty meters. Thirty meters. Twenty meters.
The snowflakes no longer fell from above, but flew sideways from the side.
Each pellet is very small, and the speed is extremely fast; it stings intensely when it hits exposed skin.
Su Wei folded up the tripod and inserted it into the elastic cord buckle on the side of the pannier.
I lifted two all-terrain boards with my left hand, the metal buckles on the straps rattling in the wind.
He turned to look at Emily, then nodded towards the parking lot.
Emily had already tucked her board under her arm.
Her goggles were fogged up with snowflakes. She wiped the surface of the goggles with her left hand and nodded.
The two started walking at the same time.
The parking lot is located at the foot of the mountain on the west side, about 150 meters away as the crow flies.
The snow was knee-deep, and with each step I had to pull my leg out of the snow before stepping in.
The buffs triggered by that steak this morning are still active, reducing the rate of lactic acid buildup by 15%.
Without this boost, Su Wei's legs would have been ruined while climbing the ravines.
The wind speed is still increasing.
Every seven or eight seconds, a gust of wind would come, and people had to stop, turn sideways to shield themselves, and wait for it to pass before continuing.
Su Wei walked on the windward side, and was twice the size of Emily.
He stood half a step to her left front, and every time a crosswind came, he used his body to reduce the wind pressure by at least 30%.
Emily maintained a distance of fifty meters, keeping half a step behind Su Wei.
The wire fence at the edge of the parking lot swayed wildly in the wind.
The screws at the base of the metal posts were loose, and every gust of wind caused the fence to bend inward and then spring back.
Su Wei's black Ford Raptor was parked at the far west end of the parking lot.
The car body was covered in white frost, and a layer of translucent ice shell had formed on the windshield.
The lid of the waterproof box strapped to the roof rack was lifted by a corner by the wind, and the nylon straps snapped loudly in the gale.
Su Wei walked to the driver's side and pulled open the car door.
The car door hinges were frozen stiff and got stuck halfway open.
He applied more force, and the squeaking sound of metal rubbing together was drowned out by the wind.
The pannier bag and tripod were tossed into the back seat, and two planks were tucked vertically into the gap behind the passenger seat.
Inside the temperature-controlled compartment on its chest, the Cotton Candy shrunk into a ball.
Su Wei unzipped the side of his down jacket, reached inside, and pulled out the white ball of fur along with its fuzzy pad.
Cotton Candy's body was still trembling slightly, and its blue pupils were shrunken.
Su Wei placed it on the passenger seat, laid out a wool blanket, and opened the lid of the aviation cooler box and placed it next to it.
Cotton Candy stared at the insulated box for two seconds, then dove inside.
The blanket was bunched up by it, revealing half of the tip of its white tail.
Emily opened the passenger door and got in.
The moment the car door closed, the sound of the wind outside was instantly reduced by 80%.
The Raptor's double-layered laminated windows suppressed the blizzard's shrill roar into a dull, low-frequency rumble.
Su Wei got into the driver's seat and closed the car door.
The moment the rubber sealing strip on the door frame snapped shut, all other sounds receded into the distance.
The wind was still pounding against the car body outside, and snowflakes were hitting the windows densely and continuously.
But compared to the complete lack of cover just now, the Raptor's cockpit is now a mobile fortress.
Su Wei pressed the start button.
The engine roared, causing the steering wheel to tremble slightly.
The tachometer needle jumped to 1200 and then fell back, with the idle speed stabilizing at 800.
The heating system automatically started, and the first burst of hot air came out of the vents.
The heat hit Su Wei's face.
After nearly an hour of exposure to the Warm Current, my cheeks started to itch and feel hot when they came into contact with the warm air.
The ice crust on the windshield began to melt from the edges, and water streamed down the glass.
The wipers swept across, leaving two clear fan-shaped areas.
Through those two fan-shaped views, Su Wei saw the last few cars in the parking lot starting up.
The taillights lit up in the wind and snow, their red lights flickering and breaking off as they were cut by the snowflakes.
In the distance, the searchlights in the ski resort's meeting area were still on.
The beam of light could only penetrate less than ten meters in the blizzard before being swallowed by the snow curtain and turning into a blurry halo.
The final evacuation siren, carried by the wind, drifted intermittently through the car windows.
The Raptor's engine noise completely drowned out all other noises.
Su Wei shifted into reverse and placed his right hand on the steering wheel.
The wheels crunched over the frozen snow with a dull creak.
In the passenger seat, Emily removed her goggles and pulled down her face shield.
Her nose and cheeks were red from the cold, and there was a dry, cracked line on her lips.
She turned her head and looked at Su Wei's face behind the steering wheel.
Su Wei caught the direction of her gaze out of the corner of her eye.
He didn't turn around.
He flicked the blades of the heater vent with his right hand, turning the direction of the hot air fifteen degrees toward the passenger seat.
The Raptor backed out of its parking space, its front wheels crunching over the snow, and drove onto the main road down the mountain.