Chapter 125: Predicament

I spurred my horse forward and looked in the direction Fatty was pointing. Through the sparse trees, I saw about thirty-odd people and fifty-some horses bustling by the lakeshore below—a large cavalry.

Those people were pitching tents by the lake, apparently intending to spend the night there. Among them, a woman was unfolding something like a radar and adjusting it. When I looked through the binoculars, I saw that the woman was none other than A Ning from Hainan.

I cursed under my breath. This woman had come here too, which meant our deduction was correct. The people Third Uncle wanted to delay were probably this bunch. I wondered what a salvage company was doing inland. Monk Hua also saw the cavalry below; his expression changed and he quietly asked Chenpi A'si what to do. Chenpi A'si glanced at them, sneered disdainfully, and said, "Good that they've come—it shows we're on the right track. Keep going, ignore them."

I scanned person by person with the binoculars but didn't see Third Uncle. Since he was probably in their hands, he wouldn't have much freedom; he might be locked in one of the tents.

What made me uneasy was that nearly half of the people down there were carrying guns. I also saw satellite phones and a lot of advanced equipment. Fatty eyed the guns enviously and said to Chenpi A'si, "Old man, you said no buying guns, no selling guns. Look, they're coming after us fully armed. If we get into a fight, how do we deal with it? What, am I supposed to use a washbasin as a shield and hit them with sanitary pads?"

Chenpi A'si glanced at him, waved his hand dismissively, and chuckled, "In our line of work, we never rely on numbers. Once you cross the snow line, you'll know you made the right choice following me."

We were all conversing in dialect, and Shunzi, who hardly spoke Mandarin well, couldn't understand much. But he'd been a guide for many years and knew not to listen to what the guests said—many people here were Korean nationalist pilgrims or poachers, and if you overheard too much, they might silence you.

We continued upward until we saw some dilapidated wooden huts and a wire gate ahead, with a slogan painted on it: "The motherland's territory is sacred and inviolable."

Shunzi told us that this was a supply station for the forward outpost on the snowy mountain. After the multilateral talks, several outposts here had been relocated, and this place was abandoned. The outposts along the snow line were also unmanned. If we headed up, we might have a chance to take a look.

That night nothing worth mentioning happened. We spent a makeshift night there and got up early the next day to continue the journey. Shunzi found it strange—few tourists went at such a grueling pace—but since he was paid, he went along with us.

When we woke up, it had already started snowing, and the temperature dropped sharply. Southerners rarely adapt to such weather. Except for Fatty and Ye Cheng, everyone else was frozen stiff.

Further up, after crossing the snow line, we finally saw accumulated snow. At first it was sparse, but the higher we went, the thicker it became. Trees grew fewer, and various rocks increased. Chenpi A'si said this was evidence of engineering work having been done here.

By noon, everything around us was white. The snow on the ground was so thick there was no path at all; we relied entirely on Shunzi leading the horses ahead to break trail. Suddenly a wind picked up. Shunzi looked at the clouds and asked us if we should stop here for today. He said it looked like a strong wind was coming. We'd seen enough of the snowy mountain for a thrill—if we went higher, it would be dangerous.

Chenpi A'si exhaled a breath of air, waved his hand, and told him to wait. We stopped to rest, ate some dry rations, and a few people went to look at the scenery.

We were now on the ridge of a low hill, and we could see the primeval forest we'd passed through on the way up. He gazed into the distance, then pointed at a large depression. "In ancient times, tomb construction usually used local materials. Look, this stretch of forest is clearly sparser than the surrounding area; it must have been logged a hundred years ago. Besides, although our ascent has been arduous, we haven't encountered any particularly difficult obstacles. There must have been a major ancient project near here—the mountain body in this area has been worked on. Our general direction is correct; we need to go higher."

Ye Cheng asked, "Old man, this mountain range has over a dozen peaks, and we're ascending from here. How do we find the right one?"

Chenpi A'si said, "We'll go and see. The dragon's head will surely show unusual signs. Where the earth vein pauses is the dragon's lair. There are many mountains here, but only one earth vein. We're following it now, so we won't miss it. At worst, it'll just take a little time."

I followed his gaze but only saw patches of trees, unable to discern any difference. I couldn't help feeling ashamed of my own lack of insight.

I turned to look at Poker-face, but saw him staring only at the snowy mountain ahead, his brow slightly furrowed, as if worried about something. I knew asking him would be pointless, so I turned to chat with Fatty instead.

When Shunzi heard we still wanted to go higher, he sighed and shook his head. He said that if we went further up, we couldn't ride the horses anymore; we'd have to use horse-drawn sledges. Actually, in winter, the Changbai Mountains were the most convenient place for travel. Except in blizzard conditions, a horse-drawn sledge could go anywhere a horse could. But once the wind picked up, we had to listen to him in everything. If he said to turn back, we turned back, with absolutely no objections.

We all nodded in agreement, unloaded the luggage from the horses, and placed it on the sled. Once ready, Shunzi shouted, cracked his whip, and led the way. Our horses automatically followed behind, and our party sped across the snow.

At first, riding the sledge felt quite interesting, just like a dog sled. But soon, either because the wind picked up or because it was hard to move on the sledge, the extremities of my body became terribly cold, and I seemed to lose all sensation.

Because it was a mountain road, the horses became unsteady. Fatty was so heavy that he rolled sideways into the snow several times, forcing us to stop repeatedly to wait for him.

We ran like that until the sky grew gray, the wind grew stronger, and the horses grew slower. We had to put on goggles just to see ahead. Everywhere was white snowflakes—no telling if they were falling from the sky or blowing off the mountain. Our ears were full of wind. If we wanted to say something, opening our mouths let the icy wind straight in. To use Fatty's words, even curses got frozen in the throat.

As we ran, Shunzi's horse stopped ahead. I had a vague sense of foreboding. It was only two in the afternoon, so why was the sky already gray? We fought the wind to reach Shunzi and saw him rubbing the horse's neck while looking around, his brow furrowed so deeply it seemed to sink into his nose.

We gathered around and asked him what was wrong. He clicked his tongue and said, "The wind is too strong. It looks like an avalanche occurred here—the topography has changed, and I can't recognize it anymore. Also, look ahead—that's all snow fallen from the upper mountain, too deep and too loose. One step and you'll sink up to the horse's belly. The horses won't go through. This kind of snow has air pockets underneath, easy to slide and collapse. Very dangerous. When we move, we can't walk in clusters."

"Then what do we do?" Panzi looked at the sky. "The weather doesn't look good. Can we go back?"

Shunzi looked at the sky and then at us. "Hard to say, but once this wind picks up, it won't stop for two days and two nights. Staying here would be a dead end. Ahead, the abandoned border outpost isn't far. If we get there, we can shelter from the storm. I think it's too late to go back. We can go on foot."

Fatty pressed down his felt hat with earflaps, took a tentative step, and immediately sank into the snow up to his thighs. He trudged forward with difficulty and cursed, "Son of a bitch, we're in for it." We put on snowshoes, braved the wind, and pulled the sled ourselves, advancing with difficulty through the snow. This place was a wind gap—the area between two ridges where the wind was especially strong. No wonder avalanches occurred. We headed into the wind gap. Shunzi said the outpost would be an hour away, but either we moved too slowly or Shunzi had taken the wrong route. By the time we reached around six in the evening, we still hadn't seen any sign of the outpost.

Shunzi circled around, scratching his head. Then he thought again and suddenly cried out, "Oh no! I know where the outpost is!"

We gathered around. His face was extremely grim. "How did I not think of it? This wasn't a small avalanche. The outpost must be buried under the snow—right beneath our feet. No wonder I couldn't find it after all that circling!"

Panzi sighed and said something. From the shape of his mouth, it was, "Fucking hell!"

Fatty yelled, asking Shunzi, "What do we do now? The horses are gone. Are we supposed to die here?"

Shunzi pointed ahead. "There's one last hope. I remember there should be a hot spring nearby, inside a mountain hollow, with very high temperatures. If we can get there, with our food we can last a few days. That hot spring is at a higher altitude than here, so it shouldn't be buried by snow. If we really can't find it, then it's all down to survival will—we'll have to retrace our steps step by step."

"Are you sure or not?" Fatty was losing trust in Shunzi. Shunzi nodded. "I'm absolutely sure this time. If we don't find it, you can deduct my pay."

I smiled bitterly to myself. If we really had to deduct your pay, it would probably have to wait until the next life.

Everyone with long faces followed Shunzi further up. The sky grew darker as we walked. Shunzi took out a rope and had each of us tie it around ourselves, because visibility was so low that we couldn't see each other at all, and even shouting was inaudible. Only by this rope could we stay together.

As I walked, my vision started to blur, and I couldn't see clearly. The people ahead got farther and farther, and those behind lagged further behind. When I realized I couldn't see anyone on either side, my heart thumped. I thought to myself, maybe entering the mountains at this time was a mistake. Was I going to die here?

No, it didn't seem like it. Shunzi was still walking steadily. Even though I couldn't see him, I could feel the rope's direction was firm. He must be used to this kind of storm. Following him would be fine.

While comforting myself, I continued forward. Suddenly, a black figure appeared in the snowy fog ahead.

I hurried over and saw that it was Shunzi collapsed in the snow.

Behind me, Poker-face caught up, saw Shunzi, and quickly helped him up. We carried him on our backs while tightening the rope to let the others gather first.

As soon as Fatty saw Shunzi, he made a very strange expression and yelled, "What kind of damn guide is this? Not only does he not know the way, but he passes out before we do. What are we supposed to do?" He wanted to curse more, but the rest of his words were blown away by the wind before anyone could hear them.

I looked around—my God, the situation was completely out of control. The fierce wind, carrying heavy snow, was swirling around us as it slammed against the rocks. We couldn't see a thing beyond a meter, and the footprints we had made on the way here were almost instantly erased by the wind. We lost all sense of direction. The strong wind pressed down so hard we couldn't even lift our heads, and standing up would knock us over.

Everyone's face was deathly pale. Chenpi A'si's eyes were glazed over; it looked like the old man, under such extreme conditions, had already entered a semi-comatose state. Even if Shunzi hadn't collapsed, he certainly couldn't have held out much longer.

Panzi said, "We can't just stop and wait to die. The hot spring might be nearby. Let's lengthen the rope, spread out to search, and if we find it, pull the rope as a signal."

We scattered in all directions. I had no idea which direction I chose. As I walked, I felt dizzy, and a numb sensation spread from my limbs through my entire body.

I remembered from movies that on snowy mountains, people get sleepier and sleepier. If you fall asleep, you'll never wake up. People also have many hallucinations, like seeing a steaming hot meal.

I desperately reminded myself of this, but I couldn't hold on at all. With every step, my eyelids felt as if they were weighed down by lead, drooping heavily.

Just as we were at a loss, we suddenly heard Fatty shout. The wind was too strong to make out what he said. I turned around and saw his figure flash and disappear. Poker-face immediately turned and noticed the rope on the ground suddenly jerking. His expression changed and he shouted, "Not good! Untie the rope! Someone fell into a snow pit!"

Before he finished speaking, the snow under his feet also collapsed, and he was pulled into the snow by the rope. Then, the one closest to him—me.

Like a bunch of grapes, we were pulled one by one into the snow by Fatty, tumbling and rolling until we finally stopped, not knowing how long we had rolled.

My eyes were full of snow, I couldn't open them at all. I only heard Panzi telling us all not to move—he was the last one in line, so he would climb down first.

At that moment, suddenly Ye Cheng shouted, "Wait, wait! Grab your weapons! Don't go down—what is that thing coiled in the snow?"