"The roof of the world"—Mount Chomolungma—has always been a place that thousands of young people with boundless passion and courage yearn to conquer, yet it is also where countless souls have perished due to the harsh and brutal forces of nature.
Recently, rumors have emerged that climbers presumed dead or buried deep beneath the snow have suddenly returned. This bizarre news was broadcast on America's Discovery Channel and quickly spread across scientific journals.
In brief interviews, the survivors who escaped death's grasp all recounted that after losing consciousness, they believed they would be buried forever in the freezing snow. Unexpectedly, however, their bodies suddenly grew warm, and they felt something indescribably soft and silky brushing against them. One witness even recalled that, in his semi-conscious state, he saw an angelic girl with an unspeakably warm smile sitting beside him. But when he regained full consciousness, the vision vanished, leading him to believe it was merely a hallucination experienced at the threshold of life and death.
The news quickly sent shockwaves through the scientific community, sparking theories that the Yeti had reappeared in the Himalayas. However, they quickly dismissed this idea, as there was no explaining how a Yeti could save people from deep comas, nor who the mysterious girl was.
Search efforts yielded no results. Scientists questioned the Sherpas—the Himalayan tribe responsible for guiding climbing expeditions—who stated that this phenomenon had only begun occurring over the past two years, with no prior precedent. Furthermore, no one dared venture up Mount Chomolungma's peak, which stands at over 8,000 meters, to search for clues. The biting cold, dense fog that could plunge a climber into an abyss at any moment, terrifyingly fierce winds, and temperatures dropping to nearly -60 degrees Celsius made it impossible. Not to mention, the air grew thinner with altitude; if the cold didn't kill you, severe oxygen deprivation certainly would.
Despite the sensational nature of the news, within an hour of the survivor's interview two weeks ago, the intelligence department of the Arsène family had already intercepted the information regarding the vague sighting of the girl. Although they had survived a great upheaval, the centuries-old goal set by the family for its hunters—to obtain the "Fox's Tears"—remained unchanged. Since the founding of the family's legacy, not a single hunter had yet risen to greatness by successfully retrieving that treasure.
For this reason, upon returning to inherit the family estate, one of the tasks Chi Zhe assigned to Arsène was to find clues about the fox clan. However, it was an arduous task; clues that had been lost for nearly four centuries were not easily recovered. Consequently, every strange occurrence in the world was documented, then sent to the analysis, statistics, and evaluation department to calculate the probability of the fox clan's appearance before a final report was submitted. Yet, over many years and through hundreds of reports, the highest probability ever recorded was a mere ten percent. This time, however, the report took Chi Zhe completely by surprise, as the evaluated probability reached an eighty percent chance of the fox clan's existence in the Himalayan region.
After confirming the existence of witnesses from all over the world, the hunters began investigating and taking blood samples for deep analysis. In truth, after returning, these witnesses had undergone physical examinations that showed no mutations, but those standard testing technologies could not compare to the research facilities and machinery of the Hunter clan.
The results obtained from the blood samples showed that the blood of the witnesses returning from Mount Everest contained a substance that made up a mere 0.0001% of it. This substance was extremely bizarre, never before seen in human blood, and something the human body could not synthesize. Upon conducting analyses on foxes, they found that this substance resembled certain acids in their gastric juices. Because of this, Chi Zhe personally took action to hunt them down. He went to the Himalayas, and he never expected that this very place would be where destiny brought the hunter and the fox together!
Despite being a technology expert, Chi Zhe could not use a fighter jet to cross an altitude of nearly 9,000 meters, not to mention the extremely powerful winds on Everest. Furthermore, the search could last for several days, and the equipment would quickly freeze due to the extremely low temperatures. Therefore, the best method of exploration was to track from the foot of the mountain to the summit using infrared equipment that allowed them to identify objects with body temperatures different from humans. To achieve this, they needed a guide from the Sherpa people living in this mountainous region.
The guide was a well-built, middle-aged man named Okun, who possessed extensive experience guiding those wishing to conquer the "Roof of the World." Chi Zhe only brought ten people to the summit: one doctor and nine highly elite hunters, while the rest were distributed to guard the supply stations and the base camp. Arsène would monitor from the ground, providing support, communicating with headquarters and the mountain outposts, tracking activities, and standing ready to protect his master should any unexpected events occur.
“Are you all prepared?” A voice as cold as freezing point rang out. A pair of strikingly beautiful blue eyes narrowed slightly, as if everything could be drawn into them, leaving not a single shred behind.
“Master, everything is ready,” Arsène stepped forward and reported respectfully. Everything had been properly arranged by him; the likelihood of any unexpected complications was extremely low.
"Alright, let's begin!" That powerful, commanding voice rang out once more. It was an absolute order that demanded instant, unquestioning obedience. The entire group moved forward.
According to their itinerary and prior discussions with Okun, they would not be taking the route typical climbers used. To save time, Okun had suggested a shortcut that cut through a vast, dense forest, after which they could bypass the main path and head up to the outpost at an altitude of 4,000 meters. There, they would meet up with Bee and Squarrel, Arsène's two closest subordinates.
The reason they chose this detour was also due to the dense forest ahead. Although the witnesses had all been found at the mountain peak, the foxes' territory was vast. Furthermore, the availability of food sources there was likely to attract them, so searching from the forest and working their way up to the summit was the best approach. It was better to be safe than sorry!
The group quickly got into stride, their swift footsteps easily navigating the obstacles. The massive canopies of ancient, woody trees blocked out almost all the sunlight, leaving only faint, scattered beams to filter down to the forest floor, dappling the herbaceous plants below.
An hour passed uneventfully, but it was also the moment they began to penetrate deeper into the heart of the ancient forest. Suddenly...
*Bang!*
A gunshot rang out, shattering the damp silence of the forest. It was followed by the panicked cries of startled birds as the entire forest erupted into a chaotic frenzy, stirred by the sudden scent of death.
"What happened?" a cold voice demanded. His gaze locked onto the subordinate at the very back, then drifted to a bullet hole pinning a small, brightly colored spider to a tree. Seeing the hunter clutching his leg, his entire body stiffening with numbness, it was clear what had happened.
The doctor quickly got to work. Rummaging through the countless medicines in his medical kit, he selected a vial of silver liquid and injected it directly into the hunter. He then applied a white salve to the swollen, red bite on the man's leg. In less than a minute, the hunter sitting on the ground began to recover. Indeed, one had to marvel at the sheer capability of one of America's most powerful families—even their doctor was extraordinarily skilled!
"Damn it, what kind of forest is this? It's crawling with venomous pests," one of them grumbled. Ever since they had ventured deep into the woods, all sorts of uninvited creatures had emerged in droves. Snakes, spiders, and even leeches swarmed toward them, as if they hadn't tasted flesh in ages.
"This is quite common in the forest, but because this area is relatively humid and densely wooded, these creatures are particularly abundant," Okun explained. Indeed, in tropical jungles, such occurrences were perfectly normal. However, for the hunters, who had to remain vigilant against even the slightest change in their surroundings, these pests were not something to be taken lightly.
"How much longer until we cross this forest?" Chi Zhe looked toward Okun, faint ripples seeming to stir in his blue eyes.
"Sir, perhaps in just half an hour, we will be able to take a shortcut along a trail straight to the 4,000-meter outpost," Okun reported respectfully, looking at Chi Zhe.
"Keep moving!" The order was handed down, and everyone quickly sprang back into action.
Half an hour later, they had all crossed the forest safely. Now, they were following Okun's lead, turning onto another path to head straight for the outpost above. Looking back at the lineup, everyone was unharmed. However, after intense physical exertion, compounded by fighting off the bloodthirsty beasts in the forest, everyone was drenched in sweat. Not to mention, their clothes had been snagged by thorns in several places, leaving them far from the pristine state they had started in.
"Moving along this path and crossing the snowy mountain stretch will bring us to the outpost," Okun reported respectfully to Chi Zhe, pointing to the path ahead.
"Proceed. Deploy the wide-range thermal imaging devices." The order was handed down once more. Everyone obeyed instantly, their movements clean, decisive, and disciplined, like a professionally trained military unit.
The next stretch of the road, though free of pesky small creatures blocking their way, was by no means an easy task. Everyone was forced to gear up with climbing equipment, making their movements visibly cumbersome. Furthermore, the higher they went, the colder it became, with the temperature dropping rapidly. Without thorough preparation, let alone reaching the summit, even getting to the outpost would have cost them dearly. Yet, because they had undergone extremely rigorous training, the risk of physical exhaustion was virtually non-existent for these hunters.
Their footsteps never faltering despite the thick layers of snow, they finally reached the outpost. Quickly, Chi Zhe and the remaining ten men were ushered into the supply area for food and water. Chi Zhe stepped into a private, secure room to discuss with Arsene down below and his two subordinates, Bee and Squarrel.
One hour later.
Everyone had been equipped with gear, including thermal regulators, communication and search devices, combat weapons, and rations... Without delaying for even a single second, the hunters resumed their journey.
Under these conditions, they would be able to conduct their search on the mountain summit for about five hours before returning to the supply station once more. It was estimated that this large-scale search would cover a 50-kilometer radius from the peak of Mount Everest and run continuously for two days, or longer if they gathered any valuable clues.
The entire group was dispatched to the areas where the survivors had been rescued, searching continuously. Using images from the HS-Hunter satellite—which captured 1,000 consecutive ultra-high-resolution aerial photographs, precisely mapping the rugged terrain of the mountain and the valleys where life existed—the hunters easily identified clues. The journey seemed to go smoothly, and everything remained a mystery. However, would trouble arise? No one knew the answer to this question, but it quickly revealed itself as the group climbed higher and higher.
The higher they climbed, the more inexplicable it became why these elite hunters—rigorously trained and possessing the stamina of a large bear—were rapidly losing their strength. It was only when the first man collapsed that the true ordeal began.
“Master, he is dead,” one of the hunters reported. Chi Zhe looked at his subordinate's corpse in silence, his eyes narrowing slightly. No one knew what thoughts lay behind those guarded walls; his mind was unfathomably deep.
“Leave him there,” he said indifferently, before turning to walk on. The others continued to follow and press forward, knowing his orders were absolute. Furthermore, as hunters, they could not let emotion interfere with the mission—that was the fundamental rule of survival they had been trained to live by.
It seemed death would not stop at just one. In quick succession, a second, third, and then a fourth fell. By the time the fifth person collapsed, Chi Zhe began to sense that something was deeply amiss. Immediately, he established contact with the ground support, ordering Arsene to dispatch another squad of hunters.