Listening to Chen Wen's question, Hua Yun remained silent.

She was also rapidly thinking of countermeasures.

"Try to walk first, right, hold onto the rope, and slowly move towards the shore. We're only seven or eight meters from the riverbank, the rope is enough."

Hua Yun lay flat on the ice, her heartbeat quickening.

"What about you? What will you do?"

"I'm light, not likely to break the ice surface. You go up first, it's not suitable for us to move together now, it will make too much noise."

As Hua Yun spoke, her tone was slightly urgent.

Chen Wen nodded and began crawling slowly towards the riverbank.

But as he moved, the sound of the ice cracking grew louder and louder.

Chen Wen was immediately hesitant, afraid to move further.

"Don't worry, walk slowly, it'll be fine."

Hua Yun said from behind.

Chen Wen took a deep breath and continued to crawl.

A moment later, Chen Wen reached a point about two meters from the riverbank.

He looked back.

At the spot where the reindeer had fallen, the ice had developed spiderweb-like cracks.

The large white cracks covered the ice, terrifying Chen Wen.

And as Chen Wen kept crawling forward, the path he had traversed was similarly cracked.

Step by step, cautiously!

"I'm okay, you can come now!"

Chen Wen shouted.

Upon hearing this, Hua Yun looked up to check the situation over there.

"The ice seems to have stopped cracking now. Try pulling the sled, see if you can drag it over."

With that, Hua Yun tentatively crawled towards Chen Wen.

She moved faster than Chen Wen and was closer to the riverbank.

As Chen Wen tugged the sled, Hua Yun had already made her way over.

"Phew! Safe!"

Seeing Hua Yun out of danger, Chen Wen couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief.

"Don't relax just yet."

Hua Yun frowned, eyes fixed on the sled not far away: "We're safe, but all the food is over there!"

That made sense.

Chen Wen thought to himself: If that food ends up in the Yukon River, I'd rather fall in myself.

Rescuing a person is relatively simple.

Plus, Chen Wen had cold protection traits.

But if the gear falls in with the fast current at the confluence point—

The jerky wouldn't stand a chance and would probably end up in the river.

"Let's pull together, get the jerky over."

Hua Yun said, joining Chen Wen.

They both grabbed the rope and pulled with all their strength.

Crack, crack!

As the ice began to fracture, Chen Wen and Hua Yun quickly let go.

The good news was: they could pull it, and the sled had already moved a few dozen centimeters.

The bad news was: when they pulled the sled, the ice under it broke even faster.

Chen Wen felt that if they hadn't moved intuitively and quickly let go,

The ice could have just split open!

Chen Wen was about to ask Hua Yun what to do in this situation.

But Hua Yun gritted her teeth and said, "This won't do, we'll haul hard on the rope and see if we can pull the sled over before the ice breaks."

This was a choice of short pain over long pain!

Chen Wen nodded, "Okay!"

They grabbed the rope again, and with a shout from Hua Yun,

They exerted all their strength simultaneously.

Bang!

The rope yanked taut, shaking off the snow clinging to it.

Power coursed through the rope, transferring to the sled.

The sled started moving, and its speed was increasing.

It slowly slid over the spiderweb-like ice cracks, heading for the shore.

Chen Wen was delighted: It's working!

Good, good, so this ice can withstand force but not gentleness!

Hua Yun was equally excited.

She quickly said, "Keep going! Put in more effort!"

"Hmm!"

Chen Wen dug into the ice, his body at an angle lower than forty-five degrees.

"Hey! It's over!"

Seeing the sled successfully slip over the most densely cracked area, Chen Wen couldn't help but cheer.

But before the cheer subsided, the thing that Chen Wen and Hua Yun feared happened.

The ice was overwhelmed and with a crack, it broke apart loudly!

A huge force shot back through the rope into Chen Wen and Hua Yun's arms.

Hua Yun was caught off guard and stumbled.

Chen Wen almost spat out in shock!

"No! Hold tight!"

Chen Wen regained his composure and exerted force again.

The ice cracking started from behind.

At this point, the sled's rear half was already half submerged.

The ice didn't continue to break, and the sled was lodged there.

"Thankfully!"

Chen Wen exhaled in relief.

Hua Yun eyed the cracked ice seriously and said, "Keep pulling, see if we can drag it up."

As Chen Wen and Hua Yun continued to pull, the ice started cracking again.

"Stop!"

Hua Yun immediately called to a halt.

And the sled and the ice entered a new round of stalemate.

She noticed that the fracture was really insufficient to support the sled's weight.

Continue pulling, and the sled would surely sink because it couldn't keep up with the speed of ice breaking.

Hua Yun quickly analyzed the situation, and a way to save the food flashed in her mind.

She quickly asked Chen Wen, "Can you hold onto the sled by yourself and keep it from sinking further?"

Feeling the force, Chen Wen nodded, "I can! What do you have in mind?"

"You hold on, I'll jump in the water and give it a push!"

These words startled Chen Wen, and he quickly said, "No! I'll go; I'm not afraid of the cold."

But Hua Yun, in a soft tone, said, "But I can't pull it! And I'm light, so it's probably okay for me to go. If you go, the ice might just break!"

Chen Wen had no more words.

Hua Yun quickly said, "I've got this side covered!"

After speaking, Hua Yun lunged forward fiercely.

She crouched low, like a lynx, swiftly moving across the thin ice surface.

The few meters' distance was quickly covered.

Staring at the deep river water, Hua Yun took a deep breath.

Then, gritting her teeth, she jumped straight into the river.

Cold!

In the moment she jumped in, Hua Yun temporarily lost her ability to think.

Only one word was left in her mind—cold!

But soon, the icy coldness brought her back to clarity.

She knew what she had to do!

Hua Yun let herself submerge a little, using her shoulder to brace against the sled.

As if wanting to roar out the cold from her chest.

Hua Yun shouted angrily, "Pull!"

On the shore, Chen Wen gritted his teeth and pulled hard.

With the collapse of ice chunks, Hua Yun gave a strong push.

Cooperating with Chen Wen's strength, the half-submerged rear of the sled suddenly leaped out of the water.

Seeing this, Chen Wen quickly reeled in the rope.

His body continued to move forward.

A few seconds later, he grabbed hold of the sled.

With a backward swing, he tossed the sled near the riverbank.

Chen Wen stepped forward several rounds rapidly, throwing out the rope: "Hold on!"

Hua Yun, shivering, clutched the rope to her chest tightly.

With a tug from Chen Wen, Hua Yun turned sideways, letting herself lean against the ice, and was dragged up.

With a few more pulls, as Hua Yun drew closer.

Chen Wen grabbed her shoulder and pulled her onto the bank.

Neither spoke.

Hua Yun was frozen.

In those brief seconds, the icy river water had flooded into Hua Yun's shoes, pants, even up to her chest.

At present, Hua Yun shivered constantly, her teeth chattering.

The most worrying for Chen Wen was that Hua Yun's complexion had turned an unhealthy blue.

Hypothermia!

A deadly physiological phenomenon!

He carried Hua Yun onto the bank, quickly saying, "Hua Yun, stay awake! Move around, warm yourself up, I'll make a fire right away!"

Saying this, Chen Wen took off his jacket and pants, letting Hua Yun change out of her wet clothes.

After falling into the river, being soaked was also quite deadly!

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