The pot was boiling with red chili water.
Jiang Fan had deliberately added double the amount of chili powder, which was ground from tree bark.
"Alright, let me finish this bowl of wine, drinking this bowl of wine will clear my throat and stop my cough..."
Dai Xiaomei was the first to come out and show off. Before she could even finish singing "Red Sorghum," she vomited out the chili water with a cry, tears and snot streaming down her face from the spiciness.
"My heavens, do you really need to add so much chili? Even I, a professional spicy food streamer, can't handle it."
"You must drink it all. Back then, our ancestors didn't drink chili water, but they couldn't withstand the snow mountains."
Jiang Fan, unusually serious, forced Dai Xiaomei to drink all the chili water.
Although it was spicy, it would make heat emanate from everyone's pores, allowing them to last longer on the snow mountains.
Under Jiang Fan's coercion, everyone else drank it, leaving only Jiang Fan and Yao.
Jiang Fan picked up a bowl made of ice, clinked it with Yao, and sang the famous "Hero's Song" at the same time.
"The great river flows east, the Big Dipper in the sky points north!"
"Points north, points north, a bowl of wine seals our life and death bond!"
"If we say we go, we go; you and I, we all have it!"
After downing the chili water, Jiang Fan boldly smashed the bowl on the ground and roared.
"Let's go!"
As they stepped outside, the wind and snow had stopped. Following Yao's footsteps, the group immediately discovered the half-raised gate.
Fortunately, it hadn't fully closed yet, so they bent down to pass through the gate and entered the riverbed.
The further they walked, the lower the temperature became. By the time they completely emerged from the riverbed, they finally saw the vast ice plain Yao had spoken of.
From Yao's description alone, they couldn't fully grasp the desolation of the vast ice plain. Now, seeing it with their own eyes, they understood what a cruel world it was.
Even in their thick animal skin coats, after a few steps, everyone felt an unbearable chill and instinctively wrapped their coats tighter.
The path was covered with ice-laden stones, cold and devoid of life.
Jiang Fan and the others had seen snow mountains at tourist attractions before. On those snow-capped mountains, which had long become artificial landscapes, they could see small green shoots and dark red plum blossoms peeking out from cracks in the rocks, evoking a sense of life's resilience and spiritual sublimation.
Alas, those were mere illusions. Only when walking on this authentic wasteland at the foot of the snow mountains did they realize that life's resilience was ultimately just empty talk.
Occasionally, green shoots would emerge from rock crevices, but before they could grow, they were frozen into ice sculptures.
They walked for a very long time, seemingly still far from the snow mountains. This journey felt endless.
Just then, Jiang Fan and the others saw the first living creature on this road.
Strictly speaking, it was no longer a living creature, but an ice sculpture.
It was an old friend with whom they had shared hardships: a green sea lizard.
This green sea lizard seemed to have been swept here by the river and was also preparing to cross the snow mountains. However, before reaching the mountains, it had been frozen stiff by the severe cold.
It stood upright, its claws reaching out as if pointing the way forward, like a signpost.
The whereabouts of the other green sea lizards were unknown.
Zhou Niannian looked at it and couldn't help but feel a sense of shared fate, for the green sea lizard had fought alongside them.
"Can lizard meat be eaten? Is it poisonous?" Dai Xiaomei asked, tilting her head.
"You're always thinking about food. Didn't I tell you we can't make a fire to cook on the snow mountains?"
Jiang Fan stepped forward and examined it. The green sea lizard had only recently stiffened, and there wasn't much frost on its body.
"I heard reptiles are very resistant to low temperatures. Did it really freeze to death like this?" Zhou Niannian couldn't help but feel scared.
"It's not dead yet!"
Jiang Fan sensed a trace of life from the green sea lizard. With a strong pull, he lifted it from the ground like pulling up a bamboo shoot and handed it to Panda.
Panda had a large backpack on his back, carrying most of the team's luggage.
"We are both beastmen; we should help each other. I'll leave it to you."
"This lizard is currently in hibernation. It should wake up soon."
Panda nodded and unceremoniously tossed the green sea lizard into his backpack.
After walking for a while longer, the group finally reached the foot of the snow mountains.
By then, the sun was close to setting, and the red glow of the sunset cast upon the snow-capped mountains.
It was like a solemn white giant, draped in a majestic cloak of twilight.
The red and white hues blended, creating a spectacular scene.
"The sunset is truly magnificent!" Jiang Fan couldn't help but sigh, having not seen such a beautiful sunset in a long time.
"But it's the twilight of the day!" Dai Xiaomei pouted.
Jiang Fan directly flicked Dai Xiaomei on the forehead, telling her to stop saying such inauspicious things.
The netizens in the live stream were also filled with emotion.
"If we weren't on this life-or-death journey, this would truly be a rare and wondrous sight."
"I've never seen such a beautiful sunset!"
"Yes, it's so much better than those staged, filtered, and beautified deceptive scenes on certain social media platforms."
"To see this wondrous sight in my lifetime, I can die without regret."
"Bah, regret your head! Jiang Shen, you must get out of the snow mountains!"
The five-person team, led by Jiang Fan and with Panda at the rear, officially began their ascent of the snow mountains.
Walking on the snow mountains was exhausting. The most troublesome thing was the lack of goggles, which caused their eyes to be irritated by flying snowflakes.
Only Zhou Niannian wore glasses; the others had to shield their eyes with their hands from the oncoming snow.
After walking for a while, Dai Xiaomei, who had weaker stamina, started to pant, walking with heavy steps.
Dai Xiaomei's condition was not surprising. What Jiang Fan found strange was that Yao, behind them, was also walking very slowly.
From a distance, Jiang Fan could hear Yao's labored breathing.
In terms of stamina, Yao was comparable to Jiang Fan, so it was very unexpected that he would be struggling so early.
"What's wrong? Is it altitude sickness?"
Yao gasped for breath, his eyes red. Indeed, he showed signs of mild altitude sickness.
Jiang Fan frowned. This was troublesome!
Altitude sickness was completely unpredictable.
Often, people with weaker bodies were fine, while those with stronger constitutions suffered from altitude sickness.
Sometimes, the stronger one's body, the more severe the altitude sickness. There were not a few cases of sudden cardiac arrest among professional athletes and fitness coaches.
"Let's take a break," Jiang Fan announced loudly.
"My eyes! I can't see! My eyes!"
Yao sat on the ground, panting. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with red veins, and he seemed to be hallucinating.
"What is that?"
Yao reached out and fumbled in the air. Jiang Fan quickly grabbed his hand to calm him down.
"Do you feel something in your eyes, a swelling and pain, and dark shadows flickering before your eyes?" Jiang Fan asked Yao with concern.
Seeing Yao nod, Jiang Fan couldn't help but gasp.
These were the symptoms of snow blindness!
Dai Xiaomei looked worried.