Chapter 10 — Mist Peak Rescue Team

"Here it is. Mark T7." Vu A Tua stopped next to a small wooden pole placed on the side of the road, the surface of the pole engraved with the number "7" had faded from the rain and sun.

Khanh Van looked at the clock. Twenty minutes past twelve. It took them nearly two hours to reach the final check-in point of the missing group - slower than originally expected because of the crack section that had to be wired and the stop at Team B, but still within the weather window forecast by Dac Lam.

“From here, those three could have gone in one of three directions,” she said, spreading the map out on a flat stone slab, pressing down the corners with pebbles to keep the wind from blowing it away. "Direction one, continue following the main trail up the spine of Cloud Dragon — the most likely direction because that's the route they registered for. Direction two, turn down a side trail leading east, maybe they were trying to find a way down when the fog hit. Direction three, the area around Ham Rong area, where the terrain is the most complicated and also the easiest place to get lost if you lose direction in the fog."

Kien bent down to look at the map, his fingers gliding along each marked line. "Split teams to scan in all three directions at the same time will be faster."

"Yes, but it's also more dangerous if each group only has one or two people." Khanh Van looked at him, not to refute but to consider with him. "I suggest splitting into two groups, each with at least two people, not going alone. Group one follows the main trail — most likely, needs someone with rope experience because of the narrow terrain. Group two checks the side trail to the east."

"What about Ham Rong area?"

That question hung in the air for a while. Khanh Van looked in that direction, where the terrain began to become more rugged, hidden behind a thick layer of rolling fog. "If the first two directions don't work, I'll check the area later, with full equipment and at least three people, not two."

Kien looked at her, seeming to understand something behind this decision without needing her to explain further. "Okay. I'll go on the main trail with Mr. Tua because he knows the terrain. You'll go on the eastern side trail with Uncle Tong and Dieu Han?"

"Agree." Khanh Van nodded, then turned to the whole group. "Each group carries a radio, checks the coordinates every fifteen minutes, does not break the formation no matter what traces are found - always report first, wait for confirmation, then take the next action. If you discover a missing person, do not arbitrarily move them if there are signs of serious injury, wait for Uyen Nhi to come and evaluate first."

"Clear." The whole group said in unison.

Long, who was still traveling with Kien in the group, checked the ropes and anchors in his backpack, then asked: "What is the scanning and search technique we use? I'm not familiar with this narrow ridge-shaped terrain."

"Z-shaped scanning, not normal horizontal scanning," Khanh Van explained, quickly drawing a simple diagram on the corner of the map with a pencil. "On terrain as narrow as the spine of a Cloud Dragon, we can't line up like we're sweeping a plain. We walk along the main trail, but at each point there are turns or rock crevices where we can take shelter. We stop and check carefully before continuing — envision it as a zigzag path between suspected spots, not a straight line."

"And always shout out the name of the missing person every ten or fifteen steps," Uncle Tong added. "In thick fog, sound is sometimes more effective than sight."

The group nodded, remembering. Khanh Van folded the map and put it in the breast pocket of her jacket, where she could take it out as quickly as possible when needed. "Departure time, report every fifteen minutes, channel four."

Before the two groups separated, Kien stayed for a second, looking at Khanh Van. "Miss Van, just now you said you would tell me the story of Ham Rong. I still want to hear it, when you are ready."

"I know." She nodded. "After finding them."

He nodded back, then turned around, leading Vu A Tua and Long in the direction of the main trail, the three people's silhouettes quickly fading into the mist after only a few dozen steps.

Khanh Van turned to Uncle Tong and Dieu Han. "Let's go."

They turned onto the eastern side trail, a narrower, less used road, with more trees growing on both sides than the main road. Dieu Han walked in the middle, her eyes continuously scanning both sides of the road, her mouth calling loudly at the exact distance Uncle Tong had just instructed.

"Mr. Son! Mr. Bao Anh! Mr. Nam!"

Her call rang out and quickly dissipated into the thick mist, with no echo, only the sound of the wind whistling through the low trees. Every ten steps, she called once, and after each call, all three of them stopped for a few seconds, listening, hoping that a response would penetrate the air thick with steam.

Nothing. There was only wind, and dew, and the sound of their own footsteps on the damp ground.

"Miss Van," Dieu Han asked quietly after the fifth call with no response, "what if I don't find them in this direction?"

"Then I'll move in another direction, and keep looking." Khanh Van replied, her voice firm even though inside she also felt the weight of time passing. "Rescue isn't about finding it the first time, Dieu Han. It's about not stopping until you find it, or until there's no other way."

She looked up at the gray sky above, where the mist was still hanging like a giant curtain with no signs of lifting, then continued walking, leading the group deeper into the side trails that few people had visited.

About twenty minutes later, the side trail split into two smaller branches, one leading down a gentle slope covered with dry leaves, the other leading around to a higher cliff. Khanh Van stopped and looked closely at both paths, trying to read any signs that someone had passed by recently.

"If it were you, walking in the fog with no direction, which path would you choose?" she asked Dieu Han, a question that was more of a training exercise than one that really needed an answer.

Dieu Han thought for a moment. "Perhaps... the way downhill, because human instinct tends to go downhill when panicking, looking for a way to escape the height?"

"Partly correct," Khanh Van nodded, satisfied with the young girl's reasoning. "But there is also the opposite case — people look for a higher place to observe, to find a phone signal. So I don't guess, I check both, starting with the higher possibility based on the actual terrain."

Uncle Tong bent down, his finger lightly touching a slightly concave patch of soil near the mouth of the downhill path. "There are traces here, but it's hard to tell if they're new or old, the soil is so wet."

"Let's try the downhill route first," Khanh Van decided. "If there's nothing within two hundred meters, go back and check the other way."

They continued downhill, treading carefully on the slippery layer of dry leaves covering the sloping ground. Dieu Han continued to call out the names of the three missing people every short time, her voice began to get hoarse from having to shout continuously in the cold and dry air.

"Miss Van, I think we should take turns calling, to preserve our strength," Uncle Tong suggested.

"Okay, let me call again." Khanh Van accepted the task, her voice rang out clearly and strongly, cutting through the sound of the wind. "Brother Son! Sister Bao Anh! Brother Nam!"

There was still no response, other than the faint echo of her own voice bouncing off the nearby cliff and then disappearing. The walkie-talkie on her belt made a screeching sound.

"Heaven's Gate, this is Team B — Ms. Van's group, Mr. Kien's group reporting. Checked about four hundred meters of the main trail, no signs yet. Continue to advance."

Khanh Van picked up the walkie-talkie. "Understood. My group is checking the eastern side trail, there are no signs yet. Continue."

She turned off the radio and let out a long breath, her breath condensing into thin smoke that quickly dissipated in the cold air. Four hundred meters of the main trail had passed without anything, and now this side trail was yielding the same result. She tried not to let the worry seep into her voice, but inside, the invisible countdown clock was still ticking, each passing minute was one minute closer to the survival limit that she knew down to the numbers.

"Don't be discouraged," she said, more to remind herself than the two people with her. "The search area is still large, but each area eliminated is also a step closer to where they are."

Dieu Han nodded, took a deep breath, then continued to call, her voice was hoarse but still tried to be as loud as possible. Uncle Tong quietly walked next to him, his eyes constantly scanning every bush and every rock crevice that could be a shelter, his hand still holding the coil of rope tightly in case he needed to deploy it urgently.

The path continued downhill, and about a hundred meters later, they came to a small gap between large rocks, where there was evidence of a puddle from last week's rain. Khanh Van stopped and carefully observed the ground around the puddle - where the soft soil was easier to leave traces than anywhere else on the hard rock route they had just passed.

"There are no new footprints," she said after checking carefully, and the three of them bent down to look at each streak of dirt. "Maybe they didn't come down this way."

"So let's go back and check the other way?" Dieu Han asked.

Khanh Van looked at the clock, then looked up at the sky again. Twelve hours fifty-five minutes. "Yes. Come back."

The three of them turned back up the slope, their steps beginning to tire after hours of continuous climbing, but none of them had any intention of stopping to rest longer than necessary — every minute of their rest was an extra minute that the three missing people had to endure the cold that was slowly tightening around their bodies out there, somewhere still hidden behind the curtain of mist that refused to let go.