By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 276 Mount Everest Oxygen-Free Climbing and Skiing Downhill? I didn't feel it was difficult.

In Shigatse, there are two must-see spots: the city center and the Mount Everest Base Camp.

Li Younan could almost guess that the task at Everest Base Camp would definitely be to climb Everest.

In fact, the system does not deliberately design any unexpected tasks. After all, Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. People have come here, so it would be unreasonable not to arrange a task to climb it.

With so many skill bonuses, this task wasn't as difficult for Li Younan as most people would imagine.

The check-in tasks in Shigatse city are a bit more complicated.

This task required him to take 50 master-level photographs, which had to be characterized by strong Tibetan cultural, natural, and folk features.

Undoubtedly, this will be a very time-consuming task, but fortunately, Li Younan has always maintained a peaceful and leisurely mindset.

For the next period of time, he took Liu Li around, going to scenic spots near Shigatse every day to take photos, such as Tashilhunpo Monastery, Pelkor Chode Monastery, and Sakya Monastery.

Or the natural scenery of places like Yamdrok Lake, Pumo Yumtso Lake, and Nyangchu River.

Or perhaps the markets, residential areas, and other places in Shigatse city.

Like a photographer on a trip.

Taking master-level photos is not an easy task, even for Li Younan.

When a scene appears before him, he naturally possesses a master-level ability to capture it, but not every scene has the potential to be developed into a masterpiece; it requires a combination of luck and diligent searching.

As time passed, the little crow Xuanhuan gradually transformed from a half-baby into an adult bird capable of flight.

Li Younan learned training methods and techniques for crows online, trying to make Xuanhuan understand some things, and the process was so easy that he was speechless.

He began to truly understand why crows are called the most intelligent birds, and what surprised him most was that they understood two-way communication.

It doesn't passively receive instructions, but tries to make Li Younan understand some of its thoughts. Can you handle that?

For example, when it's hungry, it will not only bark, but also carry an empty plate to Li Younan's side. If Li Younan doesn't notice, it will even keep banging the stainless steel plate until it gets noticed.

Besides, there was one time when Li Younan went out, he clearly remembered closing the glass door of Xuanhuan's little house, but when he came back, Xuanhuan was swaggering around on the table in the booth.

Li Younan initially thought he had misremembered, but upon watching the video replay, he discovered that the little guy had imitated Li Younan's previous door-opening actions, using his mouth to hook the latch and open the door.

what?
Is this reasonable?

Liu Li had also mentioned similar scenarios to him.

The things Liu Li described that happened to Xuanhuan were even more fantastical...

The smart AI hub in the RV can accept voice commands, and Liu Li often uses voice commands to ask the AI ​​to turn off the lights.

On another occasion, while Li Younan was strolling outside, Liu Li was studying in a booth when she suddenly heard a muffled voice command: "Asurada".

"I am here, master."

Liu Li was still in a daze when she heard another voice: "Turn off the lights."

Then the lights went out.

Liu Li almost thought she was seeing a ghost.

This sound was obviously made by a fantasy.

Liu Li was already prepared for the crow to be able to mimic human speech, so she wasn't too surprised. However, the crow actually secretly learned how to use voice commands in daily operations.

And gradually, the mystical power of his intelligence began to emerge, completely crushing Tuantuan under his feet.

Compared to fantasy, Tuantuan seems much dumber.

Xuanhuan discovered at some point that Tuantuan was not only gentle in nature, but also had weaknesses such as poor eyesight and low spirits during the day, so he often played pranks on Tuantuan.

For example, when Tuantuan is sleeping soundly on its perch during the day, Xuanhuan will deliberately fly over to it, peck at its ear feathers, and flap its wings. After each peck, it will quickly jump away.

Sometimes it would even carry small toys and drop them on Tuantuan's head, and sometimes it would even imitate Tuantuan's barking with an off-key sound.

Tuantuan couldn't sleep soundly, so I could only squint and stare at it.

Fortunately, after being beaten up by Li Younan, Xuanhuan became much more obedient.

The fact that "getting beaten up makes him behave" is quite speechless for Li Younan.

This shows that this thing really understands why it got beaten up.

Before adopting Xuanhuan, Li Younan and Liu Li both thought Tuantuan was quite smart, but now it seems that Tuantuan really is like a husky...

Fantasy is a true Border Collie, and a very mischievous one at that.

After spending some time in Shigatse, and having taken almost all the photos, with only two or three more to go, Li Younan planned to go to the Everest Base Camp to complete the final shoot.

……

Just as Li Younan entered Shigatse, the young man Lian Feng, whom they had met before, had already begun his grand plan.

To Li Younan's surprise, Lian Feng faced a lot of criticism after the first video was released. He quickly released a second video, in which he responded to some of the criticisms raised in the first video.

Lian Feng was not affected by the negative comments. In the video, he calmly explained to everyone: "I think everyone has misunderstood something. After reading everyone's comments, I realized that my expression was very problematic. Here, I will briefly respond to a few questions that everyone is concerned about."

"First of all, in my first video I said that we trained for half a year on a snow mountain at an altitude of 5200 meters, so everyone thought that we had only climbed a 5200-meter peak and dared to challenge Mount Everest. Haha, everyone is wrong."

"The 5200-meter training I mentioned was just uphill skiing training."

"In fact, the snow mountain where we train is no simpler than Mount Everest in terms of terrain. It also has glaciers, crevasses, and 50-degree slopes. It can greatly simulate the terrain obstacles that you might encounter on Mount Everest when speed skating."

"The reason for choosing that location for downhill skiing training is simply because the altitude is relatively low, allowing the body to attempt more runs."

"Secondly, we understand the difficulty of climbing Mount Everest, especially the summit from the north face, better than any of you viewers, and we also have great respect for this journey."

"Those of you who haven't paid attention to mountaineering before may not know that there are strict prerequisites for climbing Mount Everest. You need to obtain a climbing permit before you can climb it."

"All I can say is that anyone who can get a permit to climb Mount Everest from the north side has either climbed at least two peaks over 7 meters or one peak over 8 meters."

"These are strict requirements. Anyone who chooses to climb Mount Everest from the north face must meet at least one of these two conditions!"

"In fact, our team has already climbed three peaks with an altitude of over 7 meters, and I myself have also summited Mount Everest from the south side. This is my proof of mountaineering."

The video then included Lian Feng's climbing certificate and photos taken when he reached the summit.

"This time, our team also has two experienced guides who have climbed Mount Everest once or twice."

"Therefore, there is no need to worry about our skills in climbing Mount Everest."

"As for this Everest climb, we have actually been preparing for more than a year. The six months mentioned in the last video only refers to the specialized training for rappelling and descent."

"The reason why we only introduced skiing at an altitude of 5200 meters in the last video is because skiing at this altitude is a blank area in China. The focus of our challenge this time is not to climb Mount Everest from the north face. We have overlooked the lack of understanding of climbing Mount Everest among the public. I apologize to everyone here."

"The next climbing window is approaching, and we've almost finished acclimatizing to the altitude. Please stay tuned, we'll officially set off in three days!"

In this video, when Lian Feng posted proof that he had climbed Mount Everest and videos of their specialized downhill and zipline training, the online public opinion underwent another astonishing reversal.

The criticisms that followed suddenly turned into earnest expectations.

"Good heavens! I'm just speechless! Those guys who were cursing earlier, come out and kneel down!! Their mountaineering experience is thicker than my resume."

"Having climbed the south slope—are the haters embarrassed yet? This level of skill is definitely national team level!"

"Just to clarify, the requirements for the North Slope permit are real! Those who can get it are basically top-notch climbers. People who criticized it before simply don't understand the mountaineering community."

"Key point: This is a completely new area for domestic skating!! This is going to be historic! Haters, open your eyes and see the world!"

"Stop spouting nonsense about Polish geniuses. The Qing Dynasty has been gone for over 100 years. If foreigners can do it, why can't we?"

Liu Li looked at these comments and couldn't help but laugh. She said, "Netizens are really interesting. They change their tune so quickly. The direction of public opinion is shifting too fast."

Li Younan sighed slightly and said meaningfully, "It may not be a good thing."

"Hmm?" Liu Li looked over in confusion.

……

The air in Shigatse is crisp and clear at night.

The RV was cozy and warm. Liu Li was curled up on the sofa scrolling through her phone, while Li Younan was packing her luggage for the upcoming trip to Everest Base Camp.

“Li Younan…” Liu Li said, “Lian Feng and the others… seem to have gotten into trouble!”

Li Younan paused, then walked to her side.

On the screen is a topic that is gaining rapidly attention: the Lianfeng team has lost contact while climbing the north face of Mount Everest.

He picked up his phone and quickly scrolled through the fragmented information.

Rescue efforts have begun, but the specific details are unclear.

Various speculations and harsh voices have begun to spread online.

……

The gale-force winds, like countless cold knives, tore at the brightly colored mountain tents.

Lian Feng looked out through the frost-covered tent window and saw a chaotic white world outside.

"Captain, the wind speed is still increasing, it's over 80!" shouted A-Jie, the team member in charge of weather monitoring. His voice was somewhat distorted by the wind noise.

The marks on Lian Feng's face from frostbite and high-altitude ultraviolet radiation have deepened.

He glanced at his watch, then at his tired but determined teammates.

They arrived here ahead of schedule, and their physical condition and morale were at their best.

"The original window period is still 6 hours away, we can't wait."

Lian Feng's voice was hoarse but resolute: "We don't know how long this wind will blow. If we drag this out, our strength and oxygen won't hold up. Seize the opportunity, reach the summit, and then immediately descend!"

No one objected.

Those who made it this far are all brave warriors who disregarded life and death.

They quickly checked their equipment: ice axes, ascenders, safety locks, oxygen masks... Every movement was slowed by the cold and lack of oxygen, yet incredibly precise.

As Ajay inspected his ascender, his finger paused slightly on a fixing screw.

The extreme cold blurred the metallic touch, and he seemed to feel a barely perceptible loosening, but the gale and the pressing time did not allow him to think about it. He tightened his grip and put the slight doubt behind him.

The line of soldiers resembled a string of black ants, merging into the raging white world.

The "Devil's Bane" zone leading to the summit is a hellish mixture of ice and rock.

With visibility less than ten meters, the team members relied on ropes and ascenders to move with difficulty on the nearly vertical ice wall.

Every swing of the pickaxe and every kick of the ice consumes a tremendous amount of physical strength.

The gale tried to tear them off the rock face, and they had to fight it with all their might.

The disaster struck while they were traversing a particularly steep section of ice wall.

Ajay is transferring his body weight onto the ascender, preparing for the next move.

"Crack—" A slight but crisp breaking sound was almost inaudible in the howling wind.

But A-Jie felt it perfectly clearly in his hand—the ascender he was relying on had suddenly failed! The fixing screws had completely broken!

"what--!"

The screams were swallowed up by the gale.

Ah Jie's body instantly went out of control, like a kite with a broken string, and he was pulled by the safety rope to crash violently into the ice wall to the side and below!

"Bang!" The heavy impact was chilling.

"Ah Jie!!" The team member in front turned around in alarm.

Lian Feng's heart sank to the bottom.

He quickly used the protective post to steady himself and looked down.

Ah Jie was suspended in mid-air by the safety rope, coughing violently, his mask splattered with specks of blood.

“I… my ribs…” A-Jie’s voice was filled with pain, and he began to vomit uncontrollably, a sign of acute mountain sickness.

……

The rescue operation has begun.

This is the death zone at 8600 meters.

Every minute, their body temperature was dropping, their oxygen was being consumed, and the gale was relentlessly weakening their will.

An hour later, A-Jie was finally moved with difficulty to a relatively safe location, but he had almost lost the ability to move on his own.

Retreat became the only option.

Retreat is often more dangerous than climbing.

Dragging a seriously injured person up and down the steep ice wall raging in the fierce wind, every step was like dancing on the edge of a knife.

As we descended the famous "Second Step" and the "Chinese Ladder," a sudden and even more violent whirlwind struck without warning!
The team shook violently, and the young team member responsible for protecting A-Jie below slipped and lost his balance instantly, dragging A-Jie down with him!
Lian Feng, who was at the rear of the formation, reacted almost instinctively.

He plunged his ice axe deeper into the ice, using his body as an anchor point to hold tightly onto the rope connecting his teammates and A-Jie!

The enormous impact force was instantly transmitted through the rope!

"Ugh—!" Lian Feng let out a muffled groan, feeling a piercing pain in his calf.

But he didn't let go, his jaw clenched, veins bulging on his forehead, forcefully stopping his teammate's downward momentum.

The team was saved.

But when they finally made it safely back to the forward camp, Lian Feng's left calf was bent at an unnatural angle—an open fracture of the tibia.

A-Jie fell into a coma due to severe pulmonary edema and high-altitude cerebral edema.

A few days later, the official report and the difficult statement from Lian Feng's team were finally released: "The attempt to climb the north slope failed. Team leader Lian Feng suffered a fracture, and team member A Jie is currently receiving emergency treatment. All members have been evacuated to a safe area. Thank you for your concern..."

The comment section under the statement was quickly flooded with various opinions.

There was heartache and blessings, but even more so, there was glaring doubt and ridicule:
"Heh, it really was a publicity stunt. They've gone too far, haven't they?"

"I told you long ago they were a suicide squad, wasting public rescue resources!"

"The Polish genius is truly amazing; these guys are just overestimating themselves!"

"Chinese people are just not suited to this game, let's face reality!"

Looking at these comments, Liu Li felt very sad and said, "These people's comments have changed again..."

Li Younan remained silent.

He quietly took the phone and silently scrolled through the jarring comments.

"Popularity", "Shameful", "Overestimating one's abilities".

When I saw the top-rated comment—"I've said it before, Chinese people can't handle these top-level extreme sports, they should just stick to making travel vlogs"—I was struck by its impact.

Li Younan's fingers paused for a moment.

Liu Li said, "The comments under that Polish man's video are full of praise... In fact, because of Lian Feng's failure, that Polish man's video became even more popular, and many people went to check it out..."

"Because he succeeded."

Li Younan suddenly spoke, his voice unusually calm.

He put down his phone, walked to the window, and gazed at the distant, faintly visible mountain ranges of Shigatse.

The atmosphere in the room instantly became heavy.

Li Younan calmly added, "Our country has always emphasized something called the Doctrine of the Mean."

"But the truth is, the more something is mentioned repeatedly, the more it is being pursued, and the more we pursue something, the more likely it is that we have never actually possessed it."

"Lu Xun once criticized our national character, which is that we always slide from one extreme to another. We have been advocating the doctrine of the mean for thousands of years, but we have never truly been moderate."

"For example, before the Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese were extremely confident. Even though Western countries at the same time already had powerful ships and cannons and had built modern high-rise buildings, we still regarded ourselves as the Celestial Empire and felt that everything in our country was the best."

"But one defeat completely made the Chinese extremely inferior, believing that anything from the West is the best, and anything from their own country must be backward, ignorant, and ugly."

"The **** was born in this context... and this situation lasted for over a hundred years."

"And now this extreme inferiority complex seems to be evolving into another extreme... Hehe, I digress. What I wanted to say was—"

“This extreme approach is taken to the extreme, especially when dealing with athletes.”

"Li Ning in the past, Liu Xiang later, and Yao Ming later, each of them has endured the overwhelming abuse brought about by this extreme aspect of our national character."

"If you perform well, the people will praise you to the skies, calling you number one in the world, number one in the universe, unprecedented and unparalleled... But if you perform poorly, you will be severely trampled to the bottom, as if you are ashamed to be Chinese."

"We have never been mediocre."

"Li Younan?" Liu Li called softly.

"But this is a double-edged sword."

“I’m not trying to criticize anything, but since everyone likes to win… in this matter, if we can win… let’s give them a victory!”

Li Younan didn't turn around, as if talking to himself, or perhaps speaking to this land:

"South slope, double skis, two days... They call this speed skating, and then you stand on the mountaintop and receive everyone's worship."

He paused, turned around, his face expressionless.

"Our climber broke his leg on the north slope and was told he was 'overestimating himself'."

Suddenly he smiled and turned to look at Liu Li.

"But, the so-called Polish masters... I didn't feel that it was difficult."

These words, spoken casually by him, carried immense weight.

……

On the same night that Lian Feng's team failed to summit Mount Everest, Li Younan posted a video.

Lee You-nan stood in front of the camera and calmly delivered a declaration.

Li Younan said earnestly, "I have no intention of belittling a mountaineering master who climbed Mount Everest and completed the speed skating. He is worthy of respect because this was indeed the first time such a shocking feat had been performed on Mount Everest."

"But first, we reached the summit from the south slope, then we skied down from the south slope, then we used two skis, and then the whole downhill process took two days... Are you sure this is downhill? Think about it, how long would it take to ski down a seven or eight thousand meter slope at a typical ski resort?"

"So to be honest... I didn't feel that it was difficult."

"Since I'm already here, I'll go to the places I just pointed out and give you all a fresh perspective on mountain skating."

In the video, Li Younan simply said these words casually, especially when he said "I didn't feel it was difficult" with a blank expression, which would undoubtedly cause a huge uproar.

After all, not long ago, the young team that claimed to be challenging the speed skating from the north slope to the summit had just failed miserably in this endeavor and even broke their leg.

Therefore, Li Younan was well aware that the release of this video would spark a huge discussion online and quickly become a hot topic.

This trend even started that very day. After all, Li Younan is a super streamer with tens of millions of views. Every video he posts gets extremely high traffic, and his comments and decisions are highly topical, especially since they are made in response to trending topics.

Prior to this, Li Younan already had many labels. He was not only a mountaineering master who climbed Mount Gongga, but his wonderful performance in the program "Living Alone in the Wilderness" also made all his fans understand that Li Younan has extremely strong wilderness survival skills, which also shows his understanding of the wilderness and amazing physical fitness.

On this basis, Li Younan's decision seems even more incredible, given his other identities such as a Palace Museum artifact restoration expert, a parkour proficient traveler, a sharpshooter, and someone who is skilled in electrical work, bricklaying, and carpentry.

After all, having so many seemingly unrelated abilities in one person creates a strong sense of contrast. It's like you can't understand or accept that, in addition to shining in the fields of singing, dancing, and rapping, Brother Chicken can also participate in Olympic weightlifting and win a championship...

However, this is not a joke; Li Younan really is that kind of person.

In a sense, Li Younan is like a modern-day Leonardo da Vinci, with astonishing achievements in multiple fields.

Climbing Mount Everest is not something you can just do on a whim; it's a very complex undertaking.

As described in Lian Feng's video, Mount Everest is different from ordinary mountains; to climb it, you must obtain an official mountaineering permit.

If you climb a mountain without permission, it is illegal and you will face serious legal consequences.

According to the climbing regulations on the north slope of China, to obtain climbing qualifications, one must provide at least one summit certificate for a peak above 8 meters, or two summit certificates for peaks above 7 meters.

In addition, a recent comprehensive medical examination report must be provided, altitude acclimatization must be completed at base camp, and a mountaineering permit fee must be paid.

This fee is more expensive in China than in Nepal, at around 40 RMB.

There's a saying that goes, "No one who can climb Mount Everest is poor; the poor don't even have the right to climb Mount Everest."

Of course, this situation is even more pronounced in Nepal, where those who climb Mount Everest are mostly wealthy, and the number of people who summit from the south side is much higher than from the north side each year.

Not only is the south slope easier to climb, but Nepal is also more commercialized, with various entertainment services available at the mountain camps, unlike the north slope which requires discipline and environmental protection, and even littering is not allowed.

After Li Younan made this decision, the plan to go to the Mount Everest Base Camp was postponed for a few more days.

On the one hand, he was applying for a permit to climb Mount Everest. Although he had no record of climbing peaks above 8 meters or two peaks above 7 meters, Mount Gongga, with its climbing environment similar to Mount Everest, was a training location for the national team to practice climbing Mount Everest. Therefore, it could also serve as a prerequisite for obtaining a permit.

In addition, a border control permit is required.

After paying the fees, Li Younan was legally allowed to climb Mount Everest.

Li Younan doesn't need a guide, so his cost is lower than others.

Of course, Liu Li can't be taken on the Everest climb. Once we reach base camp, we can let her stay there.

During the few days that were delayed, besides handling some related procedures, there was another thing to do: wait for the single board.

Along with the skis, a panoramic camera was also airlifted by SF Express. This type of camera has features such as a selfie stick and stealth capabilities, which can give viewers a thrilling third-person perspective.

It's worth mentioning that there is 5G signal on Mount Everest below 7 meters above sea level, and Li Younan plans to live stream his entire climbing process!
With all preparations complete, Li Younan was ready to depart.

At the same time, the video he posted earlier has also caused an extremely exaggerated stir on the internet.

(End of this chapter)