Dr. Bagen returned from outside the tent and said, "Captain, those two guys are showing symptoms of altitude sickness too. The medicine they took doesn't seem to be working."
Captain Hu Yang's face turned pale. After a moment, he said, "Alright, let's do it this way. Immediately send a vehicle to take all three of them to the rescue station. Xiao Liu, stay here. You send them back, and be careful on the way."
Xiao Liu was a volunteer with the research team, a graduate student from the medical university. He had been accompanying Dr. Bagen to learn about high-altitude rescue, and once Dr. Bagen left, he was the only medical personnel left. Dr. Bagen said, "Alright, I'll brief Xiao Liu."
Tashi Danba said, "I want to go too."
Hu Yang snapped, "You're not sick or injured, you're as strong as a yak. What are you going for? Our vehicle can only carry four people, and with the driver, it's already overcrowded. We need to carry essential food and backup fuel. Where are you going to sit? On the roof? You two stay here, quietly!"
Tashi Danba said reluctantly, "I… I can drive."
Hu Yang gave him a dismissive look and asked, "Do you know the way?" He glanced at the helpless expressions on Tashi Danba and Zhang Li's faces, then said, "When the supply convoy returns, you can leave with them."
After Hu Yang left, Zhang Li, full of grievances, muttered, "What is this? They treat us like poachers! Didn't I show them our documents?"
"Shh…" A tall, thin man entered from outside. He had just helped lift Tang Min onto the vehicle. He whispered, "Don't be so loud. Our captain is like this—he's tough. Everyone here has been scolded by him. Just don't make any mistakes here."
Tashi Danba heard the sound of the vehicle starting. He stepped outside the tent and gazed for a long time at the shrinking off-road vehicle, muttering, "They're gone."
The thin man comforted him, "Don't worry. I've been to the rescue station. They have full medical equipment. Your daughter will be fine."
"Hmph." Zhang Li held back a smile, while Tashi Danba felt his ears growing hot. The young man stared at them with big eyes and asked, "What? Did I say something wrong?"
Zhang Li said, "No, no. By the way, you are…"
"Ah, I'm Liu Guang. The 'Liu' from Liu Xiang, the 'Guang' from Guangzhou. You can call me Xiao Liu. From now on, I'll be responsible for your health." Liu Guang was about 1.7 meters tall, and his slightly childish face was already turning purple from the cold.
Tashi Danba asked, "Xiao Liu, are there any patrol teams in this area?"
Liu Guang replied, "Not here. They don't go deep into the heart of Kekexili. The environment is too harsh. They stay near the protection stations and only venture into the lambing areas during the Tibetan antelope lambing season. So usually, the research teams encounter poachers, but I didn't expect you to barge in. By the way, I heard you saw a human bear, is that true?"
Zhang Li recounted their experience with the wrecked vehicle, and Xiao Liu's eyes lit up, far more excited than Zhang Li. He asked nonstop questions. After hearing the story, Xiao Liu seemed disappointed, saying, "We've been traveling from Kuse Lake for five or six days, and we've only seen a few carcasses of yaks. We didn't see anything else. The animals just ran away when they saw the convoy."
Zhang Li comforted him, "You'll see it later. Ah!" He patted Xiao Liu's shoulder friendly, but then he felt a sharp pain in his palm and called out softly.
Xiao Liu grabbed Zhang Li's hand and said, "Wait." He carefully removed Zhang Li's glove, but it wouldn't come off. He peered through the gap and said, "There's frozen blood inside! Quickly, I need to treat this."
Zhang Li's gloves were cut open, and he discovered his hands had been scraped and were oozing blood, which had frozen again, causing his gloves to stick to his skin. He remembered it must have happened when the Hummer was chasing them, but he hadn't noticed until now.
Zhang Li's hands were quickly bandaged, and during dinner, the research team members returned. They had split into three groups to survey the Malan Mountain Glacier, Drinking Horse Lake, and the further Moon Lake, studying geographical and ecological changes. Each group had about ten people, and there were thirteen vehicles, including three large trucks for supplies and one signal vehicle, extending the communication range of their radios to 20 kilometers. At dinner, the team celebrated the fact that Tashi Danba and Zhang Li survived. Tashi Danba noticed that the big-bearded captain, Hu Yang, while harsh with his words, was a man of good character. He kept adding food to their plates and said the environment was tough and they needed to eat more nutritious food to stay healthy. Tashi Danba and Zhang Li recounted their near-death experience, though they omitted the part about being chased by the Hummer. When they mentioned the golden eagle, many of the team members looked excited, but an older team member, Xiao Yuqi, said confidently, "We won't see the golden eagle again. They can fly a thousand miles a day. After being hurt here, they definitely won't stay. They'll probably head south towards Tibet."
The next day, Tashi Danba woke up to find that the research team members had already left, some having departed early. Tashi Danba walked out alone, heading toward the Kekexili Lake, watching the wind whip up waves. His mind felt as vast and empty as the lake. He had originally planned to find the patrol team, retrieve the notebook, and hurry back, but now he was stuck with the research team. He didn't know how Tang Min was doing or when he could meet the patrol team. He thought of the three gray wolves, who, like him, had struggled to survive on the ice field. He didn't know how they were doing now. He took out the bone from his chest pocket—the gift from the gray wolves—and thought, "I guess only wolf friends would consider this a gift."
"Up already?"
"Yeah, Captain." Tashi Danba didn't turn around but knew who it was.
"Still thinking about that girl?"
Tashi Danba didn't respond. Captain Hu Yang slapped him hard on the back and said, "Come on, don't pretend, we've all been through this."
Tashi Danba smiled. Captain Hu Yang came in front of him, gazing at Kekexili Lake, and sighed, "The lake has expanded a lot since I was last here."
"Oh." Tashi Danba watched Hu Yang, seeing a deep sadness in his eyes.
Captain Hu Yang said, "This is the result of the greenhouse effect, it's already quite obvious. The Malan Mountain Glacier is melting at an unprecedented speed, and Kekexili Lake is only getting bigger."
"Ah." Tashi Danba was not very interested in these matters. He thought, "If Professor Fang Xin were here, he would have had a great conversation with the captain. A professor is a professor, he knows everything."
Hu Yang turned around and saw the bone in Tashi Danba's hand. "Hmm?" He curiously leaned closer to look and asked, "Can I see it?"
Tashi Danba didn't expect anyone to be interested in the bone. He didn't want to explain much, so he simply said, "A friend gave it to me."
Hu Yang praised, "This is a good piece." He took out his radio and called, "Lao Xiao, Lao Xiao, come quickly, I have something good to show you. I'm by the lake, hurry up!"
Tashi Danba was momentarily confused and moved to take it back, saying, "This is just a regular bone."
To his surprise, Hu Yang seemed unwilling to return it. He elbowed aside Tashi Danba's hand and turned away, saying, "What do you know?"
Lao Xiao, with a bald forehead and thick down jacket, ran over huffing and puffing like a spinning top. Hu Yang met him halfway, waving the bone in his hand. "Look, what's this?" Lao Xiao took it and began muttering, eyes gleaming like a miser who had found a gold bar.
Tashi Danba walked over and heard Lao Xiao say, "No mistake. This is it. The Tibet Museum has one of these."
Tashi Danba was skeptical, and Lao Xiao asked, "What does your friend do?"
Tashi Danba replied honestly, "Uh, he's a field worker."
Lao Xiao said, "No wonder. He probably doesn't know the value of this thing."
Tashi Danba was puzzled. "But this is just a bone?"
Lao Xiao held the bone up to the rising sun and said, "Look here, these are obvious signs of artificial grinding. See the groove here? And this? These water stains indicate it was often used."
Tashi Danba became even more curious and asked, "What exactly is this?"
Hu Yang laughed, "This is a bone flute. You know? It's a flute made from bone, and it makes a sharp, piercing sound that scares animals miles away. Humans aren't an exception either. Go ahead, blow into it."
Lao Xiao handed the bone flute to Tashi Danba, and both Hu Yang and Lao Xiao looked at him expectantly. Reluctantly, Tashi Danba placed the end of the bone flute to his lips and gently blew. At first, there was no sound, but after changing positions a few times, the flute emitted a sharp "chew—" sound.
But the sound was not as Hu Yang had described, a howling like ghosts or wolves. Instead, it was long, melancholic, like the mournful cry of a lone eagle across an empty plain, the distant yearning of the past, coming from the tiny bone chamber. Hu Yang and Lao Xiao exchanged a glance, both sensing a deep sadness on their faces. The sound felt so sorrowful, and although Tashi Danba could only produce one note, it seemed to echo the sorrow of Kekexili Lake's tides.
After a while, Hu Yang said to Lao Xiao, "It seems the museum's description wasn't entirely accurate. They probably never bothered to try playing it."
"Ah, so you've never heard this sound?" Tashi Danba was taken aback.
"What nonsense," Lao Xiao replied. "This bone flute, there's only one like it in the Tibet Museum. It's a rare treasure. We're lucky to even see it. No one would dare play it. This is a ritual tool in ancient Tibetan Buddhism. Its cultural and historical value is equivalent to the jade rings of the Hongshan culture and the giant-eyed bronze masks of the Sanxingdui culture. So, I'd suggest you hand this over to the national museum for proper study. And make sure to ask your friend where he found this."
Hu Yang added, "This kind of bone flute is usually made from the fibula of a human's lower leg."
"What!" Tashi Danba finally understood why they had asked him to play it, and he groaned inwardly.
Just as Tashi Danba was about to ask more about the bone flute, Hu Yang's radio crackled. He opened the channel and heard a voice urgently say, "Captain! We've found a group of poachers on the north bank of Drinking Horse Lake. Ke Ke and the others went to chase them, and I stayed here to notify you. You need to hurry!"
Hu Yang said, "It's the advance team members, Lin Xusheng and them. Quick, Lao Xiao, take a few men and don't forget your guns. Tashi Danba, why are you still standing there? Let's go, we'll check it out!"
Tashi Danba intended to call Zhang Li along, but remembering his injury, he hurriedly boarded Hu Yang's vehicle alone. On the way, Tashi Danba asked, "Why didn't they all get in the vehicle and chase? Why leave one behind to guard the bodies?"
Hu Yang said, "Idiot. If they go beyond the range of the signal vehicle, the radios won't work. The radio's frequency range is only about 500 meters. We have to catch up to Drinking Horse Lake first, and then Lin Xusheng will guide us." The three off-road vehicles, moving carefully but quickly, headed toward Drinking Horse Lake.
Tashi Danba didn't expect the scenery to be so beautiful. He saw huge ice beams arching across the sky, like the Elephant Trunk Hill in Guilin, and the vehicles passed under the ice beams. There were countless stone piles along the road, and Lao Xiao explained that they were Mani piles—stones inscribed with Tibetan scriptures. The bottom stones, some of which were hundreds of years old, had worn inscriptions, showing that Tibetans had once passed through here, likely on pilgrimage. Tashi Danba closed his eyes and imagined those pilgrims, clad in robes, bowing with each step.
Ahead, a larger Mani pile appeared with prayer flags beside it. A completely weathered yak skull faced southeast, directly aligned with the direction of the Potala Palace. As they rounded a hill, Drinking Horse Lake appeared before them, its waters a deep blue, the shore already frozen. The lake stretched for several kilometers, its center also covered in thin ice, reflecting the blue sky.
The lake was shaped like a ribbon, extending for over ten kilometers. The research team vehicles followed the lake's edge, with snow-covered hills on the opposite shore and several peninsula-like juts of land extending into the lake, looking like a polar landscape. In the distance were snow-covered peaks. Lao Xiao pointed to several peaks and introduced, "To the southwest is Kekexili's highest peak, Gangza Ri, which is almost as high as Bukeda Peak, both over 6800 meters. North of here is Bukeda Peak, but it's blocked by the Malan Mountain Glacier. That's the largest glacier in Kekexili."
Hu Yang, perhaps in a bad mood, didn't say a word on the way.
When they arrived at the destination, everyone got out of the vehicle. They saw Lin Xusheng standing solemnly by the lake, his anger palpable. Not far from his feet, over thirty Tibetan antelope carcasses were neatly arranged, with five of them completely skinned, exposing their bloody, disfigured bodies. The large, white eyes protruded. Hu Yang clenched his fist, and Tashi Danba, filled with rage, felt the proximity of bloodshed at this pristine, almost fairy-like lake. The greedy people, those who sold their souls for money, had long lost their humanity.
Tashi Danba then noticed that Zhang Li was following them in the third vehicle. He slapped Tashi Danba's back and shouted, "You didn't tell me about this! You… you're too…" Tashi Danba said, "Your injury isn't healed, how can I… Hey, let's get in the vehicle first."
Hu Yang stood silently in front of the Tibetan antelope carcasses for a few minutes before saying, "Leave one vehicle and three people to handle the bodies. The rest, follow me and chase after them."
On the vehicle, another team member, Chen Jie, said angrily, "It's a good thing we set up camp by Kekexili Lake, or who knows what those inhuman bastards would have done!"
Tashi Danba was taken aback, and Lao Xiao patted his back, saying, "Kekexili Lake is a wintering habitat for Tibetan antelope. There are larger herds of Tibetan antelope here. We set up camp here to facilitate the study of nearby lakes and peaks like Bukeda and also to protect the Tibetan antelope wintering here. Poachers are most active at two times: winter, when the Tibetan antelope's fur is thick, and spring, when they shed their wool. These bastards know the habits of Tibetan antelope better than we do. This group must have come here following the water and grass. They come every year to the lakes like Zhuonai Lake to lamb, and it's a poaching peak."
Following the vehicle tracks, they headed north. Lao Xiao said, "Do you think those guys are trying to flee to the Kunlun Mountains?"
Hu Yang nodded, "Yes, that's likely. The Kunlun Mountains are crisscrossed with ravines and valleys, making it easy to escape once they get in. But they won't get far in a few days. They'll have to find a place to hide first. The most likely spot is the glaciers; they'll probably try to take shelter there."
"Malan Mountain!" Lao Xiao said. Hu Yang nodded, and they followed the tire tracks, quickly heading up the Malan Mountain Glacier.
As they ascended the glacier, Tashi Danba marveled at the surroundings. The landscape was breathtaking, with towering ice cliffs, deep crevices, and vast stretches of snow. He felt as though he was in a different world—far from the chaos and violence they had just witnessed.
The pursuit continued, with the team making their way through the treacherous terrain. The poachers were clearly familiar with the landscape, using its natural cover to their advantage. Hu Yang and Lao Xiao were determined, though, knowing that the poachers' escape routes were limited. They were closing in, slowly but surely.
After hours of pursuit, the team finally arrived at a narrow mountain pass, where they found signs of the poachers. There were fresh tracks in the snow, and the faint sound of distant voices carried in the wind. The poachers had not gone far.
Hu Yang ordered the team to spread out and proceed cautiously. Tashi Danba, though anxious, felt a sense of resolve. They had come this far, and now they were about to confront the criminals responsible for the slaughter of the Tibetan antelope.
They carefully approached the area where the poachers had been, the air growing colder and the wind howling through the mountain pass. The team remained silent, each member focused on the task at hand. Tashi Danba's mind raced, but he knew this was a fight that needed to be won—not just for the animals, but for the land and its people.
As they neared the poachers' hiding place, the tension in the air was palpable. Would they find the poachers? Would there be a confrontation? It was a moment of uncertainty, but Tashi Danba remained calm, knowing that whatever happened next, they were in this together.
In the distance, a figure emerged from behind a rock, and Tashi Danba's heart skipped a beat. The poachers had been cornered. The moment of truth had arrived.