pilgrimage

I think among the stars

must have a star

guide my life

Through the Unknowable Darkness - Rabindranath Tagore

white.

Endless white.

Ye Jing's vision was blurry, like watching a TV with no signal and snowflakes appearing.He thought he was back at the beginning of the journey again, on the white snow field where he was lost alone, but when his vision gradually became clear, the constantly receding scenery and bumps on both sides made him realize that he was now on a fast-moving vehicle.

After learning that he had been cheated, Ye Jing was shocked and unwilling to be knocked down by a sharp knife hand. When he woke up, he found himself tied up and thrown behind a snow rake.He struggled a few times, but to no avail, cursed a few words, and then saw the tall figure sitting in front of him, he wanted to rush up and kick a few times.

But he still turned his head, suppressed the shock and anger of being deceived in his heart, began to take a deep breath, then raised his eyes to look around, and found that it was no longer the scene around the wooden house.A horse team pulled several snow rakes and galloped across the snow. On the snow rakes next to them sat Li Mu and an old man curled up in a ball. Seeing Ye Jing wake up, Li Mu smiled and gestured to Ye Jing , Seeing him suddenly became angry again, feeling that no matter how you look at it, he deserves to be beaten, and he is terribly aggrieved.

He has always had a bad temper, and he usually looks calm, and even looks a little indifferent, but now, this well-planned scam has ignited a strong anger and unwillingness in him from the bottom of his heart, just like being trusted. The child who was deceived by others, suppressed a raging beast with nowhere to vent.

But the angrier he was, the calmer his brain became, and the bits and pieces from beginning to end clearly appeared in his mind.He clung to the doubts bit by bit, and suddenly knew where the strange feeling along the way came from.

It turned out that I had noticed it a long time ago, but I just didn't want to think about it.

"First of all, it's a matter of identity." Suddenly, the black-haired boy opened his mouth, staring blankly at the figure driving a snow rake in front of him, his tone was unwavering, and even showed a trace of indifference, "You said you You were a hunter, but you didn’t recognize the jackal, and you shot in a place prone to avalanches. If you are a real hunter, you should be very aware of this. Of course, the situation was very critical at the time. It’s okay to say that you forgot because of the danger. , so I don't care.

"Secondly, there are issues of lifestyle and customs. I didn't know much about Tibetan customs at first, but now I can match up with the previous doubts, thanks to the information in Li Mu's computer that I peeked at at that time." Ye Jing said as he spoke. , showing a mocking smile at Li Mu next to him.The young man with glasses raised his eyebrows and let out a long "oh". The man next to him seemed to glared at him. He immediately begged for mercy with a playful smile, and then looked at Ye Jing: "Well, most of us are number one!" It’s the first time I’ve come to Tibet, so I want to make up for the local customs...then what then?”

"Tibetans generally oppose wild killing, but you easily killed young jackals; Tibetans are forbidden to eat horse meat, but you killed horses outside to celebrate when you returned to the wooden house; another point is time, you said this year is the year of the sheep , Namtso has a large puja, but I saw the Tibetan calendar when I entered the back room. Nanka said that Tibet generally uses that timekeeping. This year is 2003. It is indeed the year of the sheep, but it is not the year of the sheep in the Tibetan calendar. The year of the sheep in the Tibetan calendar is in 2013 , It’s been a full ten years, how could you remember the important Dharma conference held by Namtso in the Year of the Goat in the Tibetan calendar?”

"There may be other doubts, but it can be seen from these..." Ye Jing raised his voice with burning eyes, "You are not Tibetan at all! Why are you lying? What are your plans?"

After Ye Jing's last voice fell, no one spoke, only the sharp sound of the wind when the snow rake was moving fast remained around. "That's right." The boy who was sitting on another snow rake with the couple suddenly said, his tone was flat, he didn't turn his head, he just drove the horse calmly, "Except for me, Everyone else is not Tibetan."

"...What the hell are you trying to do?!" Ye Jing looked at Nanka with a little anger in his voice.Probably because of the same age, besides Gesang, he trusted Nanka the most, but at this moment, the figure in front of him sneered, and turned to look at the trembling old man curled up in a ball: "What are you doing, of course It's for the Golden Book."

"... Isn't the golden book in the temple? Why did you design me and grandma?" Ye Jing was a little surprised, the tall man snorted, biting his cigarette and turning his head to look at him coldly: "Fake. Then We have touched the place many times, otherwise you would think that the door would be opened as soon as you pushed the place that has been frozen for so long?"

He turned his head and continued to drive the horse, seemed to be in a better mood, and said, "Do you think that old fellow is really my grandmother? Forget it, anyway, you know so much, so you're not afraid to tell you. About a month ago, His son went to the inland alone, and a friend on the road introduced him to me. He just wanted to ask if there was any work in Tibet, but I didn’t expect that fool to show me a gold book when he was drunk, saying that he stole it. He took it out, and he still has a whole copy at home."

The man whose real name might not be "Gesang" took a puff on his cigarette, smiled sullenly: "That page is indeed true. We detained that guy in the mainland and organized people to come here. We searched all the way to the temple, but we didn't expect The gold book found is a fake."

He paused: "It must be somewhere. That guy's grandfather is a famous priest in the local area. If you ask the local people, they will know that his family has a golden book given by the ****, but the old guy's tone is surprisingly strange." It's tight, she refused to say anything, and she agreed to take us to find her son because she knew how to play hard, but she had to make a pilgrimage before that. Although I'm even a superficial learner of Tibetan, I also know Most people don’t go on a pilgrimage in winter, and it’s no wonder that the old woman didn’t freeze to death on the way when she climbed the snow mountain and walked the snowy road all the way, so I followed her.”

"As for you, it was a complete accident. I wanted to strip you of your equipment and leave you alone, but I didn't expect that old woman to save you." Gesang swung his whip sharply, and the horse neighed a few times. Then he quickened his pace, and the woods on both sides were slowly thrown back, revealing an empty snowfield ahead.

"The incidents along the way were all emergencies, but then Li Mu's scene was specially arranged. Li Mu turned out to be a psychological counselor. Nanka and that woman used to hang out in a local theater troupe, so they had some background. Of course, she The husband is completely useless. Didn’t you notice that he didn’t look you in the eye from the beginning to the end? But whether it’s an emergency or a deliberate act, I’m trying to create a good big brother image with only one purpose, which is to deceive you trust."

When Gesang was speaking, he squinted his eyes slightly and smiled strangely, as if he was enjoying himself. Ye Jing didn't respond, as if he had calmed down completely, but his eyes darkened.The man continued in a low and hoarse voice: "After walking for a while, I felt that the old woman didn't mean to tell me the existence of the real gold book, maybe she was just delaying time. After saving you, although she behaved It's not obvious, but I can see that she trusts you more than I do, and even feels like she's grasping at straws.

"So I think that old woman should tell you something to tell you to take the secret out, and simply follow her tricks. But you are also very vigilant, and you didn't tell me anything. Seeing that you are like this, you are also a master who takes the soft and not the hard, and finally I had no choice but to play a play to force you into a desperate situation of being alone, and now I show up and ask again, no matter whether it is the prayer wheel or what, you have said everything."

Ye Jing's face turned blue, she turned her head and gritted her teeth, and stopped talking.As soon as the truth was revealed, everyone stopped talking and started to concentrate on their journey. Only Gesang, biting his cigarette, began to shake his head and hum, with a sense of pride that the plot had succeeded.The speed of the horse raking the plow was extremely fast, and the wind along the way made Ye Jing's face hurt. Although they drove into another road later, some familiar scenes before let Ye Jing know that they were heading towards the cliff Drive in the direction of the temple below.

In the afternoon of the same day, they took a shortcut and finally reached the top of the cliff.After Li Mu confirmed his position, Gesang led the crowd to a gentle slope on the edge of the valley as a leader, but he was not in a hurry to go down, first he carried Ye Jing over like a chicken, with a blank expression on his face Kicked down.Ye Jing was caught off guard by being kicked, tied up again, and just rolled all the way down, falling to pieces, his chest constricted and his brain buzzing, he almost spit out a mouthful of blood, and his whole body felt like it was falling apart. .But this also made him completely give up the idea of ​​fluke, knowing that Gesang was really ruthless.

At this time, Nanka Li Mu and the others slid all the way to the bottom not far from the bottom with the help of climbing ropes, and then simply jumped down with a splash of snow.

Others also came down one after another, including the old man who looked sick and even on the verge of collapse.A group of people escorted Ye Jing and the old man all the way to the temple. Ye Jing was very calm all the way, basically got up and left without pushing him, but noticed that Gesang was wiping his gun while walking. Concentrating on stuffing the bullets into the chamber one by one, with a sullen and even ferocious expression, he couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

The scene in the temple became clearer during the daytime. If you look carefully, you can indeed find many traces of people who have been there before, but when you enter the door, Ye Jing always feels that the door seems a little low.Seeing Ye Jing dawdling, Gesang impatiently hit him with the butt of his gun, pushing him staggering and almost falling, so he couldn't help turning his head and looking at him resentfully.

"So, what is the connection between this prayer wheel and the Buddha statue?" Li Mu raised his eyes to look at the object in Gesang's hand, and said jokingly, "Then pointing at the Buddha statue and shouting 'Ali Baba' will have a hidden meaning." The door is out?"

"Fuck you, we've searched all over this place, there should be a secret door!" The man in the couple yelled angrily, and the woman pretended to persuade her a few words, but she looked at Gesang with a slightly different look. disdain.At this time, the man stepped forward and snatched the prayer wheel from Gesang's hand, and while turning it, he rested his elbows on his shoulders with an arrogant attitude: "Hey, let me tell you, can you find it?" Huh? For this trip, I followed you all the way, and it cost me a lot of money just to rent the wooden house..."

Gesang's expression was a little gloomy, and he glared at him, but didn't speak.Seeing that he was silent, the man seemed even more proud. He stuck to Gesang, followed him around the room, and made a "tsk tsk" sound while looking around: "I said buddy, I can trust you." I just came here with you, and if you want to be the boss, I will admit it for a while, but look now..."

Gesang still didn't make a sound, but his expression became more and more gloomy, and the man became more and more arrogant, shaking the prayer wheel in his hand, almost poking Gesang's face: "If you can't find it, forget it, I'll take it as bad luck." , it’s just the money I spent on the way, you see…”

"...Shut up!" Suddenly, Gesang let out a low growl, and hit him in the face with the butt of his gun as if it had exploded, causing him to stagger and fly out instantly, rolling on the ground, covering his face and screaming, I saw that the cheeks were swollen, reddish purple, and even the corners of the mouth were oozing blood.Gesang pooh-poohed his cigarette butt on the ground, walked up to him with his gun raised, and said coldly, "You're still talking so much nonsense until now, if you quit, get the hell out!"

The man turned pale with fright at the muzzle of the gun pointed at him, and the woman immediately turned pale with fright and rushed to make amends, Gesang just gave up.Ye Jing was stunned watching from the side, but Li Mu rubbed against him with his pockets in his pocket, and nuzzled over there with a relaxed face: "See, whether it's all the way or not, our boss is like that, so I advise you to cooperate for a while, otherwise he will get angry..."

He raised his hand as if wiping his neck, his smile showed a chill, Ye Jing felt his brain buzzing, and his legs began to feel a little weak.While others continued to study the Buddha statue, Nanka suddenly said blankly: "I remember that the prayer wheel turns to the right."

"Then you mean that the old woman wants to turn the Buddha statue to the right?" Gesang sneered, "This trick has been tried before."

"Why don't you force her to speak out?" Li Mu said, Nanka shook her head: "It doesn't look like it's going to work, the grandma will go crazy if you force her, she shouldn't be able to ask anything, maybe she doesn't know what her name is It's gone." While speaking, Nanka focused her eyes on Ye Jing, Ye Jing's heart skipped a beat, thinking that I really didn't know, but when his eyes fell on the Buddha statue, he suddenly froze for a moment, feeling That night when the old man pointed at the Buddha statue, he raised his hand very high, as if he was pointing at a certain point on it.

Nanka followed his line of sight, suddenly said "I see", and quickly jumped onto the table in front of the Buddha statue, then grabbed the fake gold book inlaid in it, and slammed it towards the Buddha like a plate. Turning to the right, only a few muffled sounds were heard, and the secret door opened and rubbed slowly.

It turned out that the gold book looked like it was inlaid inward, but it was actually inlaid in a raised box, and the secret door was opened when the box was turned to the right.Gesang and the others were a little excited, and one by one cheered up and looked around, but they didn't find the secret door. At this time, Nanka greeted him, and he raised his finger expressionlessly and pointed to the top of the Buddha statue. A dark square entrance revealed out.