We walked along the winding mountain road for a day, and Cheng Yiyun and I had exhausted our last bit of strength. We sat helplessly leaning against the rocks. There were very few vehicles on the road. In the twelfth lunar month, most areas here were snow-capped and it was impossible for any vehicles to drive.
.The long-distance bus that was robbed by Mawanggou villagers a few days ago may be the last one this year.
The sky turned dark, and soon a cold wind blew down the snow.
"It's too cold. This is not the way to go. Not only Dolma can't bear it, but we will also freeze to death." Cheng Yiyun hugged Dolma and nestled in my arms, shivering in unison.
"I'll think of a way." I knew very well that in this case, if we couldn't stop the car on the road, we would have to freeze to death and starve to death.
However, there is no way to stop the car at the moment. This place is too eerie and eerie, as if it is a place forgotten by the outside world. Vehicles have cut off all contact with this place during this season. My whole body is numb and I can only lift my head.
I saw the endless gloom in the sky and the biting snow wind howling.
Before, I thought that Yi caravans would pass by here, but now it seems that things are not what I thought. Perhaps, these caravans did appear here in history, but due to historical changes, they have been forced to withdraw. Now, there is no one
Would you like to engage in such dangerous work in this wild place?
"Red lantern!" Cheng Yiyun suddenly saw a glimmer of light in the thick fog.
I smiled desperately and cursed feebly: "Those villagers are here again... You two go away first, I will resist here..."
"The direction seems wrong. Look at the mountainside in front of you. There is a red light there!"
"What?" I looked weakly and saw a red lantern looming on the mountainside not far away like a will-o'-the-wisp. After a while, the red lantern disappeared.
"It seems that the direction is indeed different." I wondered.
"Bang bang" several gloomy bells came from the thick fog, breaking the silence of the snowy night, and the bells in the dark mountains and forests at night were even weirder.
"Is this... a bell? Why is there a bell?" Cheng Yiyun and I looked at each other.
The "bang bang" sound of the bell is somber and soul-stirring, just like ringing the countdown bell to the end of Yangshou, and then the gate of hell will open.
"If there are bells, there is probably a temple. Instead of freezing to death here, it is better to find a temple to escape the wind and snow." I carried Zhuoma on my back and dragged Cheng Yiyun towards the mountainside.
The bells sounded closer and closer, and through the pine forest, a thousand-year-old temple came into view.
The ancient temple is surrounded by forest mist, white snow, and deep dark night, which make the ancient temple a dark and cold blue. From time to time, the strange and sad cries of crows can be heard in the dark mountain forest.
I took a few steps forward. Under the exotic blue ice, I could vaguely see a half-hanging wooden plaque on the broken wooden door, but it was written in Tibetan. I couldn't understand what it meant. It was cold and windy on a snowy night in the wilderness.
Amidst the desolation of the forest, the deserted ancient temple was so cold that it made people's hair stand on end.
"Be careful." I took out the flashlight and quietly approached the temple door. Cheng Yiyun followed behind with Zhuoma on her back.
The weak flashlight aperture distorted the light and shadow between darkness and blue, and the image became strange and bizarre.
This ancient temple has been abandoned for many years. The moss and dead leaves on the waterlogged muddy ground are mixed with rustling sounds. The courtyard is very large, with three temples, surrounded by a ring of earth walls, and two rows of straight and lush pine trees in front of the main hall in the center. Flashlight
Under the light and shadow, you can see that everything is in ruins, the temple houses are in decay, the attics have collapsed, and it is desolate and quiet. Weeds are overgrown up to waist level, the mountain wind occasionally passes by, and the temple buildings creak with wood.
The courtyard extends to the main hall, and when you look away, you can only see a thick black depth. When you listen carefully, you can only hear the gloomy wind, which is like the cry of ghosts.
Stepping into the main hall, the Buddha statue was badly damaged and the tables and chairs on the incense table were covered with thick dust and gray sand.
At this time, a crisp sound of wooden fish sounded in the dark backyard.
"Who!" I immediately became nervous.
"Dong dong dong dong" the percussion sound is very rhythmic.
"In the back!" Cheng Yiyun had already identified the direction from which the sound came.
"Okay." I said and walked to the backyard.
Cheng Yiyun pulled the bolt of the gun and walked with me to the back hall. The sound of wooden fish became clearer, and a faint candlelight came from deep in the dark forest in the backyard.
Following the candlelight, we came to a wooden house and I opened the wooden door. There was a lama in the house with gray beard and hair, sitting with his back to us, knocking on wooden fish.
There is a half-lit candlestick on the wooden table, and the candlelight flickers on and off.
"Two donors, where did they come from?" The old lama did not turn around and spoke in a low voice.
"Who are you?" I asked sharply.
"The uninvited guest actually asked about the owner of this place." The old lama slowly turned his head and saw that his left eye was blind, and the flesh scar was so long that the eye socket was filled.
Cheng Yiyun gasped and took a few steps back.
The old lama sighed: "Don't be afraid, female donor. I am the lama in this temple, not a ghost."
"But there is obviously no one living in this temple..." Cheng Yiyun looked at the lama from head to toe dubiously. He had legs, feet and shadows, so he didn't look like a ghost.
"Oh...what an injustice. This happened a few years ago. The two donors are definitely not locals. They must have wandered into an evil village by mistake, right?"
"Master is right. We were originally a geological team for inspection, but then we got lost and entered Mawang Valley by mistake. Master, please tell us where is the way out?" I said respectfully.
"The two benefactors accidentally escaped into Mawang Valley and escaped death, and then passed through the Dapeng Golden Wing Mountain Canyon and survived the catastrophe. They must be blessed by the gods."
"Strange, this old lama seems to know very much about what we are going through here?" I was surprised.
The old lama sighed: "The mountain is blocked by heavy snow. There is only one way to get here. It must pass through Mawang Valley and then pass through Dapeng Golden Wing Mountain Canyon. It is a blessing that you two have a safe journey."
"Please master, show me the way out."
"Alas... there is no road. We can only wait until next spring when the ice and snow melts before we can see vehicles on the road."
"Master, is there no other way?"
"Unless...but that's impossible, absolutely impossible!" The old lama frowned.
"Unless what? As long as there is a little hope, we will go for it."
"Unless you can pass through the Holy King's Cave in Dapeng Golden Wing Mountain." The old lama's voice trembled slightly.
"Holy King's Cave? Where is it?"
"Two donors, this is a long story. Please come with me."
The old lama led Cheng Yiyun and I to the woodshed and said, "Two donors, this room is quite warm. You two can rest here. The poor monk saw that the little girl was very ill. I'm afraid she was possessed by someone."
Soup, and then caught wind and cold."
"Master, please find a way to save this girl."
"I went into the mountains today to collect some medicine, which can cure the cold."
I suddenly remembered the red lantern I had seen on the mountainside before, and felt chilled. I asked, "Master, when did you come back when you went to the mountain to collect medicine?"
"At dusk. It was already dark."
"Have you ever used a red lantern, Master?"
The old lama smiled and said: "This donor is very wary. The lanterns in the temple are very different from those in Mawanggou. The lanterns in Mawanggou are all made of human skin, but the lanterns in my temple are made of paper. Donor, please take a look...
"
The lama brought a red paper lantern from behind the stove and showed it to me.
After I looked at it carefully, I breathed a sigh of relief and apologized: "Thank you, Master. Please forgive me for any disrespect."
I found old quilts and piles of hay to make a sleeping bed. The old lama boiled a pot of medicine. Cheng Yiyun helped Dolma, fed her the medicine soup, and covered her with a quilt.
"Seeing these quilts, the poor monk remembered that many years ago... there were many monks in the temple and the incense was prosperous."
"Where are the monks?"
"They're all dead..."
"Ah? How did they die?"
"It's a long story... The two donors haven't fasted yet, right?" The old lama sighed and walked to the stove. There were three baskets beside him, which contained some wild yams, elm coins, wild vegetables, and sweet potatoes.
Not long after, a simple vegetarian meal was ready. The old lama moved seven chairs and took some charcoal and added it to the brazier. The vegetarian meal had no salt or oil, and was just a pot of wild vegetables, potatoes, etc. boiled in plain water.
I was quite surprised that there were only four people and Dolma was unconscious, but the old lama had arranged seven sets of bowls, chopsticks and seven chairs.
"Two donors, please take a seat. Alas, in the cold winter, the vegetation in the mountains has withered, and there is nothing to eat. All that is left are the wild vegetables and fruits saved before winter. Don't blame me, the two donors."
"Master's words are serious. It's all up to Master to take care of you."
"Master, what happened in Mawanggou?"
"About three years ago, after the ancient Tibetan sect came here, the villagers began to become cruel and violent. The woods around Mawang Valley also became twisted and strange. They mastered a terrible witchcraft originating from ancient Tibet, which can
Resurrecting the dead can make the vibrant woods become wild and ferocious..."
"Damn it!" I raised my eyebrows.
"After this group of people came here, the villagers raped and looted as if they were possessed. One night, when I came back from chopping firewood, I saw that all the monks in the temple were dead. The abbot was lying near the well, dying.
The old abbot told me before that the well was poisoned... That night, the villagers came to the temple carrying red lanterns made of human skin and burned the dead monks. But I pretended to be crazy and acted like a fool to escape death. Later,
The villagers are becoming more and more terrifying. They are robbing vehicles on the Sichuan-Tibet Road... What an injustice..."
"Master, the miasma at the foot of the mountain is very powerful. Why can the villagers pass through the Dapeng Golden Wings Gorge without being harmed?"
"Sigh... the number of corpses that have died violently in Dapeng Golden Wings Gorge has been increasing over the years, and the resentment is so strong that they are still lingering. Those villagers are so vicious and evil that even the ghosts of grievances cannot hurt them."
The old lama's explanation stems from the belief of a devout Buddhist. His understanding of ancient Tibetan religion may only be due to their atrocities, so he did not get to the essence, so he would explain it by saying that the ghosts are still lingering.
"It probably has something to do with the medicine they take." The terrifying faces of the villagers appeared in my mind again.
"This ancient Tibetan sect is indeed vicious. After they control the thoughts of the villagers, they immediately set out to eliminate dissidents, which is why they are so vicious to Buddhist temples."
The desolate cry came from the distant gorge of Dapeng Golden Wing Mountain, and thousands of ghosts were crying around the black forest of Dapeng Golden Wing Mountain.
"The resentment is so heavy..." With trembling hands, the old lama took out the wooden fish from his sleeve and began to beat it.
At this time, I was finally able to take a rest. With my frown furrowed, I took out my compass. The Dapeng Golden Wing Mountain Gorge in front of me was surrounded by sun and shadow, and the sun was not shining all year round.
"A haunted place like this, where wronged ghosts gather and cause lingering grievances, is really a very dangerous place!"
Chapter completed!