Grace City lay on the southwestern border of the Xuan Kingdom, in the southwestern Tibetan Plateau. It connected westward to the Ali region, bordered Naqu City to the north, and neighbored Lhasa City and Shannan City to the east. Beyond its borders lay countries such as Nier and Peacock. Situated in the middle section of the Taidamia Mountain Range, it had a national border stretching 1,753 kilometers, a land area of 182,000 square kilometers, and an average elevation of over 4,000 meters. It was also the city closest to Haidar Peak.
Most mountaineering teams chose to fly first to Grace City in the Xuan Kingdom or Ze Tu City in Nier, then transfer to off-road vehicles and continue into the Taidamia Mountain Range.
Grace City had only built railways and an airport after the founding of the Xuan Kingdom. It had originally been a key agricultural and pastoral development zone, but as countries around the world began exploring Haijiaer Peak, the city's service industry gradually developed as well, turning it into a famous tourist city in the Xuan Kingdom. Compared to the industrially polluted cities of the Xuan Kingdom, the blue skies and white clouds of the Tibetan Plateau really did seem to wash away one's troubles.
Mostly the troubles of poor people. Rich people were busy enjoying life, traveling to tourist destinations and staying in Five-Star Hotels to cleanse their worries away.
The night sky over Grace was especially clear. Though it could not compare to Antarctica's spotless skies, its brilliant river of stars and blooming nebulae, it was summer, and the people of Grace could observe the stars directly with the naked eye. That experience was far more satisfying than the dim night skies city dwellers saw.
Zhang Helai had no mood to admire the stars. He sat in a private room on the third floor of Grace People's Hospital, the ashtray beside him piled high with cigarette butts, his eyes fixed on his phone screen.
He took out his cigarette pack and found only one cigarette left. Just as he put it between his lips and prepared to light it, someone knocked on the door outside. "Mr. Zhang."
Zhang Helai sighed, put the cigarette back into the pack, switched off his phone, and said, "Come in."
A group of outsiders filed into the cramped hospital room. Zhang Helai saw that apart from Shi Lifang, the high-ranking Grace City official he had met that afternoon, several foreigners had entered as well.
"Sorry to disturb Mr. Zhang's rest." Shi Lifang, a middle-aged man, checked his watch. "It's almost midnight now, but due to special circumstances, I hope Mr. Zhang can understand."
"It's fine." Zhang Helai sat back on the hospital bed. "I wasn't asleep anyway. I was exhausted today, but... it was even more unforgettable."
Shi Lifang looked apologetically at Zhang Helai, while the foreigners scattered around the hospital room and sat down. Unlike that afternoon, the person asking Zhang Helai for details this time was not Shi Lifang's secretary, but a Xuan Kingdom national wearing a black vest.
"Mr. Zhang Helai," the man in the black vest asked, "on April 8, which is today, at 12:30 this afternoon, you returned to Fifth Camp on the northern slope of Haijiaer Peak, at an altitude of 9,600 meters, correct? Then at 3:15 in the afternoon, you took a Xuan Kingdom transport helicopter from Fifth Camp and returned directly to Grace City at 6:30 in the evening, correct?"
Zhang Helai nodded. "That's right."
At that moment, Zhang Helai noticed that the foreigners were nodding as well. He could not help feeling surprised. They understood Xuan Kingdom language too?
"I need you to recall everything that happened after you departed from Fifth Camp in the early hours of April 8." The man in the black vest checked his watch. "You haven't slept for twenty-four hours now. Can you manage?"
"No problem." Zhang Helai smiled. "I still can't completely calm down even now. Besides, I lay down for a while just now. It's nothing."
Everyone understood him very well. No matter who it was, after witnessing a miracle so divine it seemed beyond mortal comprehension, it was perfectly normal to be unable to sleep, with one's thoughts in complete turmoil.
"But should I start from Fifth Camp? I thought it would be better to start directly from 9:30." Zhang Helai reminded him.
"That's fine. This time, we want to fully understand every detail," the man in the black vest said. "And don't worry about forgetting anything. Just say whatever comes to mind."
"All right." Zhang Helai instinctively took out his cigarette pack, then immediately stuffed it back. The man in the black vest smiled. "Mr. Zhang, smoking to stay alert is perfectly normal."
"Hm? Oh..." Zhang Helai saw that Shi Lifang had not said a word, silently acknowledging Black Vest's position of authority here. Though Zhang Helai found it somewhat strange, he still lit his cigarette and let the scorching smoke pass through his lungs, recalling once more the events of twenty-four hours ago...
The mountaineering team Zhang Helai belonged to consisted almost entirely of Xuan Country People. Including the team leader, there were six of them in total.
Although it was spring, not the best season for mountaineering, that was only relative to summer. In fact, mountaineering tourism on Haijiaer had already become highly commercialized. Reaching the summit in spring was no more dangerous than reaching it in summer—as long as the team leader was reliable.
Zhang Helai had arrived in Grace City in early March. After meeting up with his teammates, they arrived at the entrance to the northern slope of Haijiaer Peak on March 5th: Base Camp, at an altitude of 5,896 meters. Once their tents and other equipment had been delivered to Base Camp, they spent over twenty days training to gradually acclimate to the plateau climate and familiarize themselves with the route to the summit.
One team member suffered severe altitude sickness, vomiting repeatedly, and had no choice but to return to Grace City for treatment. Only five people remained on the team.
Though the journey had seemed like an unforgettable climbing record to Zhang Helai, it was actually quite ordinary. Over the more than fifty years since Haijiaer Peak had been conquered, countless mountaineering teams had used their lives to find the safest climbing routes and camping locations. Besides Base Camp, Mount Hyjal also had Advance Camp, First Camp, Second Camp, Third Camp, Fourth Camp, and Fifth Camp. As long as all safety precautions were taken and the designated route was followed, the risk to one's life could be minimized.
On April 3rd, three mountaineering teams at Base Camp saw that the weather was excellent and decided to make a joint push for Haijiaer Peak's summit. They reached Second Camp in one day, Third Camp on the second day, Fourth Camp on the third day, and Fifth Camp on the fourth day. However, Fifth Camp, located at an altitude of 9,600 meters, was simply too high for the Kamians to deliver Oxygen Tanks there. Therefore, they had to replace their Oxygen Tanks at Fourth Camp before embarking on the perilous journey ahead.
Zhang Helai was a successful man in his thirties. Though he did not yet have children, his wife was already pregnant. He had come to climb Haijiaer Peak purely to fulfill a dream. He had joined a mountaineering club in college, where he met his first love. Back then, their dream had been to conquer Haijiaer Peak together.
Step by step, they had climbed the 5,000-meter beginner-level Haba Snow Mountain, the 6,000-meter advanced-level Amne Machin Peak, the 7,000-meter professional-level Muztagh Peak, and the 8,000-meter master-level Cho Oyu Peak. Only after obtaining mountaineering certificates for 6,000-meter, 7,000-meter, and 8,000-meter peaks did they meet the requirements of the Xuan Kingdom Mountaineering Association and gain the right to challenge Haijiaer Peak, the Ten Thousand Meter Peak. Amateurs without mountaineering certificates could at most wander around Haijiaer Peak's 5,896-meter Base Camp.
Later, his first love encountered danger during a climb. Zhang Helai drifted through several years of work in a daze, met his current wife, and struggled his way to where he was now.
He knew this year was his last chance. If he waited until his wife gave birth, the immense responsibilities that followed would completely drown the last trace of the dream hidden deep in this middle-aged man's heart.
Before men became fathers, they were all boys. This was Zhang Helai's final act of willfulness.
However, although Zhang Helai had safely reached Fifth Camp with the team, he had run into a small problem.
His Oxygen Tank consumption had reached a critical point.
It was not that he lacked Oxygen Tanks. Rather, he had consumed more oxygen than expected while traveling from Fourth Camp to Fifth Camp, reducing his supply of "spare oxygen." If he still wanted to continue toward the summit, he could not afford a single mistake. Only then might he barely be able to reach the top.
Zhang Helai could also choose to wait at Fifth Camp until the mountaineering team returned from the summit and took him down. That way, he would not need to move around, and his oxygen consumption would drop significantly.
"So you were risking your life to reach the summit?" a blond foreigner suddenly asked in Xuan Kingdom language.
"Yes."
"Why go that far?"
"Why? Dreams, memories, wishful thinking... My feelings were complicated when I made that decision, but if I had to name the root cause, it was probably... unwillingness to accept it." Zhang Helai smiled faintly. "I knew that if I chose to give up then, I would blame myself for that decision for the rest of my life."
"And because of that... I was able to meet her together with the other team members."