As I rode forward , I looked in the direction indicated by the fat man. Through the sparse trees, I saw about thirty people and more than fifty horses bustling about on the lakeside below. It was a large horse team.
Those people were setting up tents by the lake , and it seemed they wanted to spend the night there. One of the women was adjusting something like a radar. I looked through the telescope and saw that the woman was none other than Aning from Hainan.
I cursed . This woman also came here, which means our inference is correct. The people that Uncle San wanted to delay were probably this group. I don't know why the mud-dredging company came to the inland.
Monk Hua also saw the horse team below , his face changed, and he asked Chenpi Ah Si softly what to do.
Chenpi Ah Si looked at them , smiled contemptuously, and said: "It's good that they came, which means we are on the right path. Let's keep going and ignore them."
I looked through the telescope and didn't see Uncle San. However, since Uncle San might have fallen into their hands, it's unlikely that he had much freedom. He might have been locked up in a tent.
What made me uncomfortable was that half of the people below were carrying Type 56 rifles. I also saw satellite phones and many advanced equipment. The fat man looked at the guns with envy and said to Chenpi Ah Si: "Old man, you said you don't want to buy guns, but now they are coming with real guns. How are we going to deal with them if we have to fight? Are we going to use washbasins as shields and sanitary napkins to beat them?"
Chenpi Ah Si glanced at him , waved his hands and said with a smile: "In our line of work, we never rely on numbers. Once you cross the snow line, you will know that following me is the right path."
Our conversation was all in dialect , and Shunzi, who couldn't speak Chinese well, couldn't quite understand. But he had been a guide for many years, and he knew not to listen to what the guests said. If you listen too much, they might kill you.
We continued to walk up until we saw some dilapidated wooden houses and wire doors in front of us, with a slogan written on them: "The motherland's territory is sacred and inviolable."
Shunzi told us that this is the supply station for the Snow Mountain Outpost Battle. After the multilateral talks, several outposts here have moved to new locations, and this place has become deserted. Several outposts on the snow line are also deserted. If we want to go up, we will have a chance to go and take a look.
There was no conversation that night . We spent the night here and got up early the next morning to continue our journey. Shunzi felt strange because few tourists would work so hard, but we were allowed to collect money.
It was snowing when we got up , and the temperature dropped sharply. People in the south could hardly adapt to such weather. Except for Fatty and Ye Cheng, everyone else was frozen stiff.
Going up and over the snow line , we finally saw snow. It was sparse at first, but it became thicker as we went up. There were fewer and fewer trees, but more and more rocks. Chenpi Ah Si said that this was where the snow was leaking.
By noon, everything around us was white , and the snow on the ground was so thick that there was no way to walk. We had to rely on Shunzi to lead the horse in front to clear the way. Suddenly, a strong wind blew. Shunzi looked at the clouds and asked us, why don't we stop here today? It seems that there may be strong winds today. We can enjoy the snow-capped mountains for a while, because it will be dangerous to go up.
Chenpi Ah Si huffed and waved his hand , asking him to wait. We stopped to rest, ate some dry food, and went around to see the scenery.
We are now on the ridge of a low mountain , and we can see the original forest we walked through when we came here. He looked far away, then pointed to a large depression and said to us: "In ancient times, tombs were usually built with local materials. You can see that this large forest is obviously smaller than the one next to it. It must have been cut down by people a hundred years ago. Although our journey here was difficult, there were no particularly difficult obstacles. There must have been a large ancient project nearby, and the mountain in this area has been repaired. Our general direction is correct, and we have to go up."
Ye Cheng asked : "Grandpa, there are more than a dozen peaks in this mountain range, and they all start from here. How do we find them?"
Chenpi Ah Si said : "Let's go and have a look. There must be something strange where the dragon head is. The place where the earth vein stops is the dragon's lair. There are many mountains here, but there is only one earth vein. We are walking along the earth vein now. I am not afraid that I will not reach it. It will just take some time at most."
I followed his gaze and saw only patches of trees, and couldn't tell any difference between them. I felt ashamed of myself.
I turned to look at Menyouping , but I saw that he was only looking at the snow-capped mountains in front of him. His brows were slightly wrinkled, as if he was worried about something. I knew it would be useless to ask him, so I turned around and went to chat with Fatty.
Shunzi heard that we were going to go higher , sighed, shook his head and said that we couldn't ride horses any higher and had to use horse-drawn snow plows. Changbai Mountain is actually the most convenient place for transportation in winter. Except in blizzards, horse-drawn snow plows can usually reach any place that horses can reach. But once the wind starts, we have to obey him in everything. If he says to come back, we have to come back, and there can be no objection.
We all nodded in agreement , unloaded the luggage from the horses, put it on the harrow, and got ready. Shunzi shouted and whipped the whip to lead the way, and our horses automatically followed behind, and the group galloped in the snow.
When I first sat on the snow plow, I thought it was quite interesting , just like a dog sled. But after a while, I don't know if it was because of the strong wind or because it was hard to move on the plow, but my extremities were so cold that I felt like I had lost consciousness.
Because it was a mountain road , the horses were running unsteadily, and the fat guy was too heavy, so he fell sideways into the snow several times, causing us to stop several times to wait for him.
We kept running until the sky turned gray , the wind was getting stronger, and the horses were going slower and slower. We had to wear goggles to see forward. There were white snowflakes everywhere. We didn't know whether they fell from the sky or were blown down from the snowy mountains. Our ears were filled with the sound of the wind. When we wanted to say something, we opened our mouths and the cold wind rushed in. As the fat man said, the curses were frozen in our throats.
As we were running , Shunzi's horse stopped in front of us. I felt something was wrong. It was only two o'clock in the afternoon. How could the sky be gray? We rushed to Shunzi in the wind and saw him rubbing his neck and looking around, his eyebrows wrinkled into his nostrils.
We gathered around him and asked him what was going on . He sighed and said, "The wind is too strong. It seems that there was an avalanche here. The terrain is different and I don't recognize it. Also, you see, the snow in front is from the mountains above. It is too deep and loose. If you step on it, it will reach the belly of the horse. The horse refuses to move forward. There are bubbles under this kind of snow. It is easy to slide and collapse. It is very dangerous. You can't walk in a group when walking."
"What should we do?" Pan Zi looked at the sky . "The weather doesn't look good. Can we go back?"
Shunzi looked at the sky and then at us . He said, "It's hard to say. But once the wind starts, it won't stop for two days and two nights. We are doomed here. The abandoned border post is not far away. We can get away from the wind and snow there. I think it's too late to go back. We can walk there."
The fat man held down his felt hat with ears and took a tentative step. As a result, he was buried in the snow up to his thighs. He took a step forward with difficulty and cursed: "Damn it, I'm going to suffer."
We put on snowshoes , and against the wind, we pulled the sled and moved through the snow with difficulty. This place is a wind outlet, which is between the two ridges. The wind is very strong, so it's no wonder there is an avalanche. We walked into the wind outlet, and Shunzi said that the sentry post could be reached in an hour, but we don't know if we walked too slowly or Shunzi led us the wrong way. We walked until about six in the evening, but we still didn't see the shadow of the sentry post.
Shunzi turned around and around , confused. After thinking for a while, he suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, it's over. I know where this sentry post is!"
We gathered around him , and he looked extremely unhappy. He said, "Why didn't I think of this? This is a small avalanche. The sentry post must have been buried in the snow. It's right under our feet. No wonder we couldn't find it after searching for so long!"
Pan Zi sighed and said something. His mouth shape said: "Fuck!"
The fat man yelled and asked Shunzi: "What should we do now? We have no horses left. Are we going to die here?"
Shunzi pointed ahead and said, "There is one last hope. I remember there should be a hot spring nearby. It is in a hill and the temperature is very high. If we can get there, we can live for several days with the food we have. The hot spring is at a higher altitude than here and should not be buried by snow. If we really can't find it, we can only rely on our will to survive and walk back step by step."
"Are you sure ?" Fatty started to distrust Shunzi.
Shunzi nodded : "I will definitely not make a mistake this time. If you can't find it, you can deduct my wages."
I smiled bitterly in my heart . If your mother really wants to deduct your wages, I'm afraid you will only have this opportunity in your next life.
Everyone had sad faces and followed Shunzi up. It was getting darker and darker, so Shunzi pulled up a rope and had each of us tied to our bodies. Because visibility was too low, we couldn't see anyone and couldn't hear anyone shouting, so we had to rely on the rope to stay together.
As I walked, my eyes started to blur and I couldn't see clearly. The people in front of me were getting farther and farther away, and the people behind me were getting farther and farther behind. When I realized that I couldn't see anyone on either side, I couldn't help but feel a pang in my heart. I wondered if I had made a mistake by going into the mountains at this time. Would I die here?
No , Shunzi was walking quite steadily. Although I couldn't see him, I could feel that the direction of the rope was very firm. He must have gotten used to the wind and snow. It would be fine if I followed him.
I comforted myself and continued to move forward. Suddenly, I saw a dark figure appear in the snow and fog in front of me. I was so confused that I couldn't see who it was. After walking a few steps, the dark figure suddenly tilted and fell in the snow.
I quickly ran over to take a look and saw that it was Shunzi who had fallen in the snow.
Menyouping caught up with us and saw Shunzi, so he quickly helped him up. We carried him on our backs, tightened the rope, and asked the others to gather together.
When the fat man saw Shunzi , he made a very strange expression and yelled: "What kind of guide is this? Not only does he not know the way, but he fainted before we did. What should we do?" He wanted to curse again, but the rest of his words were blown away by the wind.
I looked around , my god, the situation around me was completely out of control. Strong winds carrying a lot of snowflakes were hitting the rocks and swirling around us. We couldn't see anything one meter away. The footprints we left when we came were almost blown away by the wind. We couldn't tell east, west, south, north, and east. The strong wind pressed down on us and we couldn't even lift our heads. If we stood up, we would be blown down.
Everyone's face was pale , Chenpi Ah Si's eyes were bulging, it seemed that the old man had entered a semi-comatose state under such extreme conditions. Even if Shunzi didn't fall down, he certainly wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.
Pan Zi said : "We can't stop and wait to die. The hot spring may be nearby. Let's stretch the rope and disperse to look for it. When we find it, we will pull the rope as a signal."
We scattered in all directions, and I didn't know which direction I chose. I felt dizzy as I walked, and I felt a numbness spreading from my limbs to my whole body.
I have seen many movies before , which say that people will become increasingly sleepy on snowy mountains, and if they fall asleep they will never wake up, and they will also have many hallucinations, such as hot meals.
I tried to remind myself , but I couldn't hold on. With every step I took, my eyelids felt like they were filled with lead, drooping down heavily.
Just when I was at a loss , I suddenly heard the fat man shouting, but the wind was too strong and I couldn't hear what he shouted. I looked back and saw his shadow disappeared in a flash. Menyouping immediately turned his head and found that the rope on the ground was suddenly pulled. His face changed and he shouted, "Oh no! Untie the rope, someone has fallen into the snow pit!"
Before he could finish his words , the snow beneath his feet suddenly collapsed, and the rope pulled him into the snow, followed by me who was closest to him.
We were pulled into the snow one by one by the fat man like a bunch of grapes , rolling around, and I don't know how long it took before we stopped.
My eyes were full of snow and I couldn't open them at all. I only heard Pan Zi telling us not to move. He was the last one to climb down first.
At this time , Ye Cheng suddenly shouted: "Wait wait wait! Damn it! Don't go down, what is that thing in the snow?"