You Are Simply Not Human

Hearing Su Yang agree, Liu Bo grinned.

Pan Ning, right beside them, naturally heard it too, but she understood Su Yang's situation better than anyone and wasn't worried at all.

After saying a few words to the group, she took the lead and started walking up the mountain. Meng Qianyu, Tang Ziyun, and the other girls followed Pan Ning with cheerful laughter.

At that moment, only Su Yang and the other guys remained at the bottom of the steps, not yet started.

Meng Wenzhou looked at Su Yang and Liu Bo and said, "You two should still be careful, you know. This is over 4,000 meters above sea level after all. Don't run out of breath in one go and turn our happy trip into a tragedy."

"Yeah, maybe you two shouldn't race. Let's just do a steady training hike, forget all that flashy stuff," Chu Qiunan chimed in.

Liu Bo looked at them, blinking confidently with a smile. "Relax, guys. Don't you know our physical fitness?"

"You're tough, sure, but the altitude is right here. Wasn't Ziming just a perfect example?" someone said.

Zhang Ziming shot a glare at Chu Qiunan who had spoken. "Don't bring up sore subjects, alright? I already said I was just afraid of wasting it. I bought the oxygen, gotta use it, right?"

Meng Wenzhou turned back to Su Yang and Liu Bo.

"Just take it easy, okay? Let's go up too, the girls are already out of sight."

"Alright, let's go, let's go."

Liu Bo then looked at Su Yang with a smile. "Let's start, Brother Yang."

"Okay. Want me to give you a thirty-meter head start?"

"Brother Yang, that's a bit disrespectful, huh? Fair competition, no need for head starts. Even if I lose to you, I'll accept it."

"Fine then."

Liu Bo turned and shouted to Meng Wenzhou, who was walking ahead, "Brother Meng, wait up! Count us down from three before you go."

Meng Wenzhou turned back with a resigned smile. "Alright, alright. Are you guys ready?"

"Ready!" Liu Bo responded, striking a starting pose.

"Okay, one, two, three!!" As soon as Meng Wenzhou shouted "three," Su Yang and Liu Bo shot up the steps toward the summit as if their feet were on springs.

The two sprinted upward at incredible speed. Su Yang practically leaped three or four steps at a time, while Liu Bo covered at least two or three per stride.

However, the steps were crowded with people, which somewhat hindered their speed.

"Coming through, coming through!" Su Yang weaved like a snake past an auntie taking a selfie, startling her so much she nearly dropped her selfie stick.

Other tourists hiking up the mountain watched these two daredevils running wildly at such high altitude with reactions ranging from astonishment to disdain.

"These guys are something else, running so fast on a mountain over 4,000 meters?"

"Pfft, just showing off. Probably trying to impress the girls with them."

"Really worried they might drop dead right here."

"If they like showing off, let them be. They'll find out how tough it is when they can't catch their breath."

"Hope they don't pass out and tumble down, hitting us."

"Right, let's move closer to the edge. Seriously, you run into these show-offs everywhere."

...

Meanwhile, Su Yang swiftly navigated through the bustling crowd. He had already pulled ahead of Liu Bo by over twenty meters.

Truthfully, he was holding back. Mainly because of the crowds. If the path were empty and he ran at full speed, he estimated he could lap Liu Bo.

Pan Ning and the others were currently climbing step by step, holding onto the handrail beside the steps, stopping to catch their breath every twenty or thirty steps.

As they walked, they suddenly heard a wave of exclamations from behind.

They turned to see Su Yang and Liu Bo running up the steps rapidly, one after the other.

Seeing this, Meng Qianyu was stunned and immediately said, "What are Brother Su Yang and Fatty Liu doing? Running so fast at this altitude?"

Tang Ziyun also expressed concern, "Should we tell them to stop? High altitude isn't suitable for intense exercise."

Pan Ning shook her head indifferently. "Don't mind them. Let's keep going."

While the girls were talking, Su Yang, looking completely at ease, reached their side.

"Take your time, guys. I'm going ahead."

Without waiting for a reply, he quickly tossed out the words and resumed his sprinting strides.

All the girls, except for Pan Ning, watched Su Yang's departing figure with worried expressions.

Just then, Liu Bo also arrived beside them. He gasped for air and looked at Su Yang's back. "Whew! My goodness, Brother Yang isn't human. No way, I gotta catch up to him!"

With that, he hurriedly gave chase.

Not long after, Su Yang arrived at the 4680-meter observation deck. Not even slightly winded, he turned to look down.

On the densely packed steps below, a somewhat chubby figure in a red down jacket was still running briskly upward.

Liu Bo was still about a hundred or two hundred steps from the top.

After watching for a few seconds, Su Yang noticed Liu Bo's pace had slowed considerably compared to the start.

He shook his head with a smile, left Liu Bo to it, and walked to the edge of the observation deck to admire the mountain scenery.

Looking out, the continuous mountain range shimmered with a sacred glow under the sunlight.

A sea of clouds condensed around the highest peak of Yulong Snow Mountain, at 5,600 meters. They weren't soft cotton fluff but golden-hued waves, constantly crashing against the cliffs of the main peak.

Gazing at this magnificent sight, Su Yang instinctively reached out a hand as if to touch it. He felt like he could almost brush the clouds overhead with his fingertips.

[Ding. Detected host's first check-in at the Yulong Snow Mountain 4680-meter observation deck. Host is in a very pleasant and enjoyable mood. Reward: 3 million.]

Su Yang smiled faintly. He suddenly remembered a line from a famous rapper's song.

'With a lift of my hand, I can touch the sky. Now I get it.'

"Not bad at all, this place. Feeling the mountain breeze is incredibly refreshing."

Muttering to himself, Su Yang turned to look at the other tourists on the platform. "The only downside here is too many people. Wait, no, another downside: no snow. It would be perfect if covered in white snow."

The observation deck was packed shoulder-to-shoulder, as bustling as a marketplace!

A large crowd of tourists tightly surrounded the stone marker in the center inscribed with "4680m," all vying to take photos with it.

Su Yang glanced over. In his good mood, he also took out his phone, switched to selfie mode, and approached the marker.

Finding a relatively less crowded corner, he turned his back to the 4680 marker, flashed a handsome smile, and clicked the shutter.

Click. A handsome selfie was successfully taken.

"Hmm, not bad."

"Since I've taken it, might as well post it on Moments." Saying this, he moved aside, walked to the guardrail, opened his social media feed, and uploaded the photo.

After pondering for a moment, he came up with a caption: Above the clouds, mountains and rivers enter the soul. Facing the ancient snow-capped peaks, I heard the sound of time crystallizing within the veins of rock!

Satisfied with the caption, Su Yang clicked 'send.'

Two minutes after posting, Liu Bo finally panted his way up onto the observation deck.

Spotting the breathless Liu Bo at a glance, Su Yang walked over with a smile. "Hey, fatty, you okay? Need some oxygen?"

Liu Bo braced his hands on his knees for a few seconds, then walked back to the guardrail, leaning on it and panting heavily. He grimaced, furrowed his brow, and waved a hand. "No... need!"

"Don't push yourself too hard. Take a couple of breaths if you really need to."

"It's fine. I just charged up too fast. I'll be okay after a couple minutes' rest."

As he spoke, he plopped down onto the cold floor. "Oof, man, I'm never competing with you on stuff like this again. You're practically not human."

Su Yang grinned. "I told you to go ahead, but you wouldn't listen."

"Even if you gave me a head start of dozens of meters, I still couldn't beat you. Your physique is just insane, huff puff~"

......

More than ten minutes later, Meng Wenzhou, Zhang Ziming, and the others finally reached the platform. They hadn't walked too fast, so they weren't particularly out of breath.

Su Yang looked over at them and waved. "Over here."

"When did you guys get here?"

"About half an hour ago."

"Incredible."

Liu Bo glanced at Meng Wenzhou. "That's Brother Yang. I only got here about ten minutes ago myself."

"You're pretty incredible too," Meng Wenzhou said with a laugh.

Su Yang looked over Meng Wenzhou, Zhang Ziming, and the others. "No symptoms of altitude sickness?"

"Our pace wasn't as fast as yours, but altitude sickness isn't an issue."

"That's good. What about the girls?"

Ji Bo turned to look down the crowded steps, searching for a moment before saying, "They're probably only about two-thirds of the way up."

"Alright, you all rest up. I'll go down and check on them." Su Yang said, then quickly headed down the steps.