Daily Evolution from Mastering Tai Chi-Chapter 220 - 206: The Perilous Extremes of the Kumbu Glacier (Part 2)

With the Wind Manipulation Ability, they can now float for over a second without relying on leg muscles.

Although this brief second doesn't determine much.

But at least it means Wang Ye is gradually acquiring the ability of Telekinesis Floating.

Before Wang Ye could ponder for long, a guide from the tent area behind came looking for him.

"Wang Ye, are you ready? We're about to set off."

This guide wore a head cover and windproof glasses, only showing the lower half of his face encrusted with frost. Just from this half face, one could see his skin was dark, rough-textured, and his lips were full of cracks and dead skin, making his whole face look very weathered, likely the marks of long years living on Mount Everest.

"No problem, let's go." Wang Ye nodded.

He returned to the tent, put on his mountaineering backpack. The bag contained supplies and the parachute bag he needed after reaching the summit, so his mountaineering backpack appeared heavier than others, roughly estimated to be nearly one hundred pounds. But since he himself weighed over two hundred pounds, this weight basically brought him no burden.

Because each team member needed to carry enough food and oxygen tanks in their backpacks, the weight of others' packs was also definitely not below fifty pounds, even higher.

Therefore, everyone's pace while carrying their packs was very slow and cumbersome, resembling old folks, but this was not because their physical strength was poor, rather the load was too big, combined with the thin air, making it hard to display full fitness.

At this moment, the other team members had also packed their bags and came out of the tents, shivering as they were hit by the cold wind.

"Cough cough cough... Wang Ye, do you need us to help reduce some of your load?" A photographer came over, coughing while asking with concern.

"You better manage yourself... I have no burden here." Wang Ye waved dismissively.

This photographer was named Ah Gui, the leader of this photography team.

He was once a professional athlete in the marathon field, but due to average performance only at the level of a First-level Athlete. He had trained for many years without improvement, seeing no hope or future prospects, so he decided to switch careers as a photographer.

With his athletic background, Ah Gui's performance in adaptation training over the past days was excellent. But perhaps because he caught a cold or showed slight symptoms of pulmonary edema, Ah Gui started showing signs of coughing since last night.

Ah Gui had reported this matter to the team leader.

But the leader did not have any special reaction.

Because this level of coughing is very common on Mount Everest.

Not to mention Ah Gui, even the team leader occasionally coughs himself.

This is an inevitable matter while surviving on the 5200-meter altitude plateau.

But if coughing became severe like Li Weimin, even spitting out blood bubbles.

Then it would require emergency treatment at a hospital.

But mild coughing like Ah Gui's can be completely ignored.

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As Wang Ye and his team packed their gear, finished their prayers, and prepared to climb,

They encountered a lone Chinese man passing through the base camp.

This Chinese man was said to be a blogger on Douyin, named Stupid Bear.

He was a Divine figure in the mountaineering field, and the first person from China to independently summit Mount Everest.

Solo independent summiting of Mount Everest, from the name itself—this is surely a very dangerous and lonely challenge.

Completing this challenge means the man named Stupid Bear needs to climb alone for days in the deserted snow mountains. He might face deadly danger at any time, even if injured, no one would rescue him—he must return to the camp on his own.

It's completely a life-risking challenge.

Just thinking about it made Wang Ye somewhat intimidated.

Even though Wang Ye currently has ten times the physique of a normal person, he could not guarantee that he himself could complete this challenge.

After a few words with Stupid Bear, he set off alone on his own expedition.

After waiting for ten minutes or so for him to leave, Wang Ye and his team set off following suit.

Due to their numbers, encountering crevices required them to bind ropes with team members before and behind and proceed carefully, thus crossing the Kumbu Glacier's crevice-laden terrain took a lot of time. Compared to the lone climber Stupid Bear on Mount Everest, their progress was unbelievably slow, like a snail's pace.

Wang Ye felt somewhat bored but dared not speed up at will.

The movement of the ice layers of Kumbu Glacier is not to be trifled with, once the sun rises, the ice layers of Kumbu Glacier begin to move rapidly.

For example, the same ice crevice that had one ladder at 8 AM in the morning, would turn into three ladders connected by straight line ropes by 8 PM at night, the spacing of the crevice also tripled, showing how fast the ice layers move.

And what surprised Wang Ye most was that these ladders were actually set up by the local Sherpas by hand, without binding safety ropes during construction, and with no place to bind them, making the ladder setup extremely dangerous. If they happened to stumble, they could instantly fall into the abyss below with no hope of return.

Working under such conditions, the wages of Sherpa guides are naturally very high. It's common to need a hundred thousand USD to hire a Sherpa guide.

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About a few hours later.

Wang Ye and his team finally arrived at an altitude of around 5800 meters.

Soon, they came to a 3-meter wide ice crevice.

The leader cautiously advised:

"This ice crevice is very challenging, be sure to secure your safety ropes."

The leader stepped carefully onto the ladder with climbing boots.

The ladder creaked, as if it could collapse at any moment. But these ladders were meant for climbing Mount Everest, robust enough to support five people crossing at once. So, they didn't collapse as feared.

Once the leader crossed, Wang Ye and several other photographers followed closely.

As the photography team leader, Ah Gui was positioned last.

Once everyone else crossed the crevice, he stepped onto the ladder.

Cre-e-eak——

Hearing the loud friction of the ladder, Ah Gui couldn't help but shiver.

He gritted his teeth, trying hard to control his trembling legs to step precisely onto the ladder.

Just as he was about to cross the ladder, he suddenly coughed.

Immediately, his lifting foot missed the step, swaying sideways.

"Damn!"

The leader and other team members suddenly looked alarmed.

Even though they all had safety ropes attached,

falling towards the ice crevice edge could result in fractures or external injuries.

However, in that split second,

Wang Ye swiftly reached out, grabbed the rope, and pulled him up with one hand.

Like pulling a chick, without moving his feet, he effortlessly pulled him up.

The surrounding team members were astounded.

Ah Gui had weighed himself before the climb, about 150 pounds,

Plus the gear and mountaineering backpack he carried, the total weight was at least over 250 pounds.

What does 250 pounds mean? That's roughly equivalent to three bags of cement— even a weightlifting champion would need effort to carry them on his shoulder one by one.

Yet Wang Ye just casually pulled him up?

Having been pulled up forcefully, Ah Gui sat there in a daze, staring at the rope in Wang Ye's hand.

Seemingly still didn't comprehend the situation.

I was almost going to fall into the crevice just now,

How suddenly did I come up here in a whoosh?

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