DF Chapter 108

Chapter 108 Song Ji’an Will Not Choose to Let Go of Her Hand Either.

The next day at eight in the morning, they boarded the boat to Aliya Island.

It takes an hour by speedboat from the main island to Aliya Island. Shen Qi, who arrived yesterday, isn’t much different from the photos, but she has her hair tied up high, looking more capable.

After Ellie picked her up yesterday, she became her little follower, wanting to run behind her with a face full of admiration. She even invited Shen Qi to join her Finnish backpacking plan.

However, she only received a cold question from Shen Qi: “What’s your quote?”

She is a professional adventurer with a considerable worth. Having traveled to many places in the world, she will only handle things officially when she is not familiar enough with Ellie.

But this didn’t dampen Ellie’s enthusiasm, because her family had told her since she was little that problems that can be solved with money are the simplest. She doesn’t mind giving Shen Qi a large commission after this trip, and then having her explore the more mysterious places in Finland with her.

Getting back to the topic, Shen Qi quickly ended Ellie’s entanglement, raised her eyes and scanned the other women sitting in the cabin. She didn’t know their identities, but she could tell that most of them were either rich or noble, but this had nothing to do with her. Her task this time was to lead them through Aliya Island and complete this hike. Then she would be able to get a commission that would be enough for her not to worry about money for two whole years.

She took out her tablet and a few stacks of documents from her backpack and distributed them to everyone. “I’ll briefly introduce the environment of Aliya Island to everyone.”

“Aliya Island is divided into two parts. One part is the coniferous forest zone, with dense trees, but the terrain is not high. Crossing it in summer takes about a day. There are several small streams inside, enough to guarantee our water source. Because the journey is long, I suggest we bring lighters and matches. The lighter may not necessarily fail in this weather, but it’s better to bring matches just in case. The trees in the coniferous forest can be used to pick up fallen branches, which are excellent materials for survival.” Shen Qi said, “But there will be no branches to pick up after entering the tundra area, so it is best for each of us to carry three to four solid alcohol blocks and lightweight, quick-burning charcoal in our backpacks. As for the food problem, there are no large animals on the island. The most abundant are water bird groups, as well as some small animals, so it’s best to bring three days of compressed biscuits. Everyone needs to be prepared for this aspect. However, if the fish resources in the streams are abundant, we may be able to have a delicious fish meal. The only problem that needs to be solved is, does anyone here know how to cook?”

As her voice fell, no one answered.

In short, they knew nothing about it. Even Sheng Jia, who had experienced hard times, had never successfully cooked a meal. At most, she would help Sheng Huaiying. She can make milk tea, ice cream, and a little bit of cooking, but obviously these skills are of no use on this trip.

“Okay, it doesn’t matter, didn’t you bring self-heating rice?” Shen Qi comforted in a low voice, “As long as the temperature is above zero, it can also be used to change the taste.”

“Indeed, I also brought a few boxes of self-heating spicy hot pot,” Dong Zhen nodded, “It shouldn’t matter if we don’t fish, but speaking of which, Miss Shen, don’t you often go out exploring? Can’t you make a fire in the wild?”

“I can, but probably no one except myself can eat the food I make.” Shen Qi paused, “But if you need it, I can also try.”

Song Ji’an heard this and said in a low voice to Sheng Jia next to her: “Compressed biscuits should be fine too. I also brought some snacks, which may improve our food.”

Sheng Jia was slightly stunned when she heard this, and suddenly remembered something, and couldn’t help laughing, “The ones Sheng Huaiying brought for us?”

Song Ji’an nodded, “I originally thought that whatever I brought this time would probably be brought back and eaten slowly, but I didn’t expect it to be so useful.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Before Sheng Jia could respond, Meng Yeran kicked their chairs and teased lazily, “Did you hide something?”

Sheng Jia glanced at her, curled her lips, and took out a box of dried small fish from her jacket pocket, “Try it?”

Sheng Huaiying is a good cook. Over the long years, she has turned cooking from a task into an interest, especially when making things for her two daughters, she poured in endless love. This box of dried small fish with its color, aroma, and taste is the best proof.

Although she had hot pot last night, Meng Yeran, who had eaten Western food for the other two meals, swallowed and reached out to grab a small handful without being polite.

“The taste is great,” her eyes lit up, “It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten this kind of dried small fish.”

Seeing this, Sheng Jia handed the box of fish that had been prepared to everyone in the cabin.

Everyone took it and enjoyed a snack before going to the island.

Shen Qi glanced at the information, skipped this little episode, and continued to introduce: “Water birds mostly live on the tundra surface, which is about four hundred meters higher in altitude. There is extremely thick permafrost and water networks, so there is no need to worry about water sources there, but what you need to be wary of is the collapse of permafrost caused by excessively high temperatures in summer. And the area of the tundra is much larger than the area of the coniferous forest, so we expect to hike in the tundra for about two days. On the third day, we can reach the end of the island – Pengze Biga. The information prepared for everyone has markings for most of the survival resources on Aliya Island and notes I took on dangerous areas when I was on the island a few years ago. If you get lost, please follow the safe route in the notes. I have marked fifteen assembly points. If you get separated between two points, the main force will wait and search at the nearest forward assembly point.”

“I have also sent the smart cloud map to everyone’s mobile phones. There is no signal on the island, so it is a wireless satellite map. In addition, there are wireless walkie-talkies. Please adjust to channel 09. Two for each person, in case of damage. The button on everyone’s walkie-talkie is a one-button SOS button. If an unmanageable emergency occurs, you can press it and wait in place. Helicopters from the main island will arrive at your location for assistance within half an hour.”

Shen Qi made sufficient preparations for this trip and thought of almost everything for everyone. Soon the yacht arrived at the shore, and Aliya Island showed them a mysterious corner. The edge of the island was a dense black rock with a slightly steep arc. After climbing onto the island, they immediately fell into the world of the coniferous forest.

This is somewhat similar to the environment in northern Finland, but the trees are denser. Even in summer, the tips of the needles are covered with a thin layer of white. Occasional rustling sounds came from the forest, which were the sounds of timid small animals hiding and observing the strangers.

The forest was beautiful beyond words, more beautiful than they imagined.

Shen Qi looked at her watch and said, “Let’s go. It’s best to get to the center of the forest before noon, so that we can sleep between the tundra and coniferous forest at night, which is always illuminated by the sun and won’t be too cold.”

Several people carried their heavy hiking equipment, and their figures quickly disappeared into the coniferous forest.

The journey was more difficult than they imagined. The forest floor was not a flat road. Aliya Island is the highest island in the entire island group. It still slowly climbs from the edge to the middle and north. You have to start climbing the mountain as soon as you get on the island, but fortunately, they are all healthy, young, and strong young women. Shen Qi’s plan to arrive at the center of the forest at noon was well executed.

After the initial period of sightseeing, everyone began to climb upwards wholeheartedly. The coniferous forests here have grown for a long time, consolidating the land under their feet firmly and reliably. The branches and leaves that fell last winter decompose slowly due to the temperature. At this moment, there are large patches of dead branches on the land, and you can even hear crisp sounds when you step on them.

Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an walked at the end of the team. When passing a steep slope, the two held their trekking poles tightly and supported each other upwards. The other person’s breathing was close at hand, but because the thought of climbing upwards echoed in their hearts, they couldn’t notice that the two were too close at the moment.

But as an observer, they discovered another interesting thing. In exhaustion, people will involuntarily get closer to the people they trust. Hilda and Meng Yeran, who were walking in front of them, were almost close together at many angles. Even when Hilda slipped, Meng Yeran was the first to notice and grabbed her backhand.

Of course, accompanying this was gloating ridicule, “Hilda, how come you can’t even walk?”

Hilda has never been a person who will act strong. She just smiled at Meng Yeran, as if the conflict between the two had disappeared after entering the forest, “I was originally the least physically fit of us, and I haven’t done this kind of physically demanding thing in a long time.”

Meng Yeran’s next sentence of ridicule was blocked in her mouth, and in the end, she could only glance at her, and then snorted softly, “If you fall behind, I won’t go find you.”

Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an looked at each other behind the two, and suddenly realized that the relationship between Meng Yeran and Hilda seemed to be more complicated than they imagined, at least not a truly irreconcilable relationship.

Hiking and climbing is a very physically demanding task, especially since there is no road at all here. The only way to go up is to grab the tree trunk and use force. By noon, they arrived at the location originally planned by Shen Qi, the center of the entire coniferous forest. The sun was at its fiercest at this moment, making people feel a little dizzy.

They sat on the ground and rested for a moment, then set off again.

The higher they went, the steeper the road became. Shen Qi drew a pie in front of them, “Everyone, keep going, once we cross this area, we will enter the highest point of this island. The back is a flat area, and we won’t be so tired. It’s best to go up in one go.”

But the fact is that after crossing this slope, there will be another ridge that is even more difficult to climb. The angle is constantly getting higher, and there is no end in sight from one o’clock in the afternoon to four thirty in the afternoon.

Danger arrived faster than reaching the destination. The higher they went, the harder and slippery the soil under their feet became. As the altitude increased, normal soil gradually mixed with permafrost, making it impossible for the nails on their shoes to penetrate.

When Song Ji’an went up again, she only felt that the ground under her feet was very wrong. Her crampons were completely difficult to penetrate, and the rhythm of climbing upwards was suddenly broken. The shoe nails made a crisp sound between the frozen soil. The next second, her foot slipped, and she suddenly fell to the side.

The slope here had reached more than sixty degrees, and the trekking pole in her hand was also difficult to find a fulcrum for a while.

Sheng Jia, who was closest to her, reacted immediately the moment she heard the sound, and grabbed Song Ji’an’s hand backhand. The climbing gloves worn by the two had very strong friction, but this still could not stop Song Ji’an’s downward trend. Even because there was moss in the place where Sheng Jia was standing, she also slid down with her.

“Sheng Jia, let go!” Song Ji’an quickly said, she already felt her feet were in the air, and the only point of support – that is, the clump of small shrubs that her other hand was even grabbing was also loosening its roots. It probably couldn’t support her for more than two seconds before it would be uprooted by her. One person’s weight would definitely cause Sheng Jia to fall together.

Her voice made everyone realize the problem and hurriedly turned around, but Sheng Jia didn’t listen to her. The eyes under her goggles were a little helpless, “How could I let go of you?”

After saying that, she glanced at the piece of ground under Song Ji’an’s feet, which was about ten meters away from them. Sheng Jia didn’t hesitate, bent her knees, and after the shrubs in Song Ji’an’s hand lost their stability, she kicked down and hugged the other person, Ellie and Shen Qi, who were rushing towards them, touched the hem of Sheng Jia’s pants with their fingertips, but under the huge force, Shen Qi pushed Ellie down, and the two lowered their bodies and crawled on all fours, so that they wouldn’t be taken down together.

“Sheng Jia? Song Ji’an?” Meng Yeran and Dong Zhen shouted loudly downwards, but they could only hear the sound of clothes and soil rubbing quickly.

Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an fell along the texture of the soil for more than ten meters, and finally fell on that small flat ground. Wearing heavy jackets, elbows and knees, Shen Qi asked them to wear knee pads and elbow pads before going to the island. This fall didn’t cause them any harm, but the impact of the fall still made their backs ache slightly, and they collapsed in the dead branches and rotten leaves, panting heavily.

The walkie-talkie they carried with them rang, Sheng Jia tilted her head to the side and took it out of her pocket. Shen Qi’s calm voice came from the other end, “Sheng Jia? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Sheng Jia took a big breath and looked at Song Ji’an next to her.

There were some small marks on Song Ji’an’s face, which were scratched by the pine needles in the soil just now. She shook her head, took a big gulp of cold air, and her throat made a choking sound, and then she said in a hoarse voice: “I’m fine too.”

Other than a sore butt, there were no other problems.

Sheng Jia didn’t get up, just lay on the ground like this, her eyes staring at the sky covered by pine needles, and said to Shen Qi and the others, “You go to the next spot first, we’ll catch up later, we don’t have the strength.”

“You can eat something first and then catch up,” Shen Qi looked at the map in her palm from above, and warned, “We only need one hour to reach the planned night camping spot by going up this road, but the place where you fell seems to have some deviation from my route. Your side is steeper than our normal uphill road.”

“What should we do then?” Sheng Jia asked.

“There is a road next to you, I have marked it on the satellite cloud map. The journey of that road is half longer, you may have to join us after three hours, but that road is not as steep as this side. I suggest that if you are physically exhausted, take that road. That’s the road I took a few years ago when I was going against the island, the scenery is similar to this side.”

Only then did Song Ji’an pick up the cloud map and take a look at her position. There was really a small road next to it.

“Then why don’t we take that road?” Meng Yeran couldn’t help asking, “It sounds like it’s easier to climb there, why don’t we just go down?”

“If we took that side from the beginning, we wouldn’t be able to climb here until tomorrow morning,” Shen Qi replied, “I suggest we take this road first. It will take more physical strength to go down safely, which will require our entire team to rest for at least half an hour or more. But if we go to the camping spot in advance, we can set up the tent before Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an come back, and we can also boil a pot of hot water to wait for them to come over.”

Hilda and Dong Zhen obviously agreed with Shen Qi’s point of view. The minority obeyed the majority. In the end, they agreed to divide into two teams. This team of them would go to build the base first, while Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an would take the other route pointed out to them by Shen Qi after they had rested. It was a one-way street, so they couldn’t get lost anyway, and they would reach the top of the mountain no matter which direction they went.

There was a rustling sound overhead, and the main force had already begun to move. Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an were still lying in the forest.

The exhaustion of climbing for the whole day was slowly sweeping in. Sheng Jia raised her hand and took off her goggles, letting the sun shine on her face.

Song Ji’an suddenly spoke in the silence, “Sheng Jia, don’t do this next time.”

“If it was me who fell off the cliff, would you let go of my hand?” Sheng Jia asked back.

Song Ji’an didn’t speak.

Sheng Jia couldn’t help laughing.

Silence meant the answer.

Song Ji’an would not choose to let go of her hand either.