The door of the church was open, and a group of Tibetan children were playing in the courtyard of the church, and when we entered the church, we saw an old foreigner with a deep nose handing out cakes and sweets.

Seeing that seven or eight people with green handkerchiefs wrapped in green handkerchiefs suddenly appeared at the door, carrying a backpack on their backs, and entering the church, the old foreigner shook his head and stood up.

I gestured and said, "Hello, I want to ask about something." ”

The old foreigner put away the candy, clapped his hands, walked over, and said, "What do you want to inquire about?" ”

A mouthful of pure Chinese surprised us.

I took out my envelope and said, "More than a month ago, I received a letter from you to our hometown. ”

The old foreigner suddenly realized: "Oh, it turns out that you are here." ”

I was stunned for a moment, and said in my heart that Lin Xia had already told you the news, this foreign old man?

The old foreigner smiled and explained, "My name is Sheringham, a Scottish man, and I am a priest here. I have been coming to China for many years. ”

I said, "Where is that girl now?" ”

Scottish priest Sheringham was stunned for a moment and said, "What girl?" ”

I was surprised and said, "Isn't this a letter from a girl?" ”

Father Sheringham shook his head and said, "This is a letter from a gentleman. ”

I was shocked and said, "Sir? ”

Father Sheringham nodded and said, "Yes, a gentleman surnamed Chen." ”

"Huh?!" I was even more surprised. Could it be that my uncle sent it? How does my uncle know my address?

Could it be that Lin Xia and Uncle met them? So why did Father Sheringham say there were no girls.

I said, "That... So what was the situation then? ”

"It was one evening more than 20 days ago, when I was about to go back to my room after the service when there was a knock on the door of the church. It rained heavily that day, I came out with an umbrella to open the door, only to see a middle-aged man in his fifties standing at the door, he was wearing a hat on his head, wearing a robe, the most surprising thing was that he could speak authentic British English, you know, this Xikang in your China is already very closed place, a year can not see a few foreigners, and the man in front of me can speak authentic English, really surprised me.

I ushered him into the house, and the two of us talked for a long time. It turns out that this gentleman is still studying at the University of St. Andrews in England, you may not know, this University of St. Andrews, which was founded in 1413, is located in our Scottish region, so I feel very cordial.

That evening we talked from bagpipes to whiskey, to golf, and then to some of the peculiarities of your country, and it was evident that Mr. Chan was indeed a learned gentleman, and we had a great time that night.

Later, at about ten o'clock in the morning, he got up to take his leave, and I was surprised why he came to talk to me on such a rainy day, and when I asked him, he did not say it explicitly, but said that there was a letter that he wanted me to forward to his nephew in his distant hometown, and I immediately and happily agreed. The next day, I sent the letter to the address. ”

I said, "He's coming alone?" ”

Father Sheringham nodded, "Yes." ”

"And what else does he have to say?" I asked

"Looks like you're Mr. Chen's nephew?" Father Sheringham said

I nodded, and Father Sheringham looked at me and said, "Then please wait for me here." ”

Then he turned and went back to the house.

After a while, Father Sheringham came out with a wooden box, handed me the box, and said, "Look at this. ”

I opened the wooden box, and I was so shocked that I almost didn't hold it steady, only to see that inside the wooden box was the longevity lock that I handed to Lin Xia in front of the stone wall at the bottom of the cave in Changliu Mountain that day, and a folded note.

How did this longevity lock get into Chen Congxian's hands, and where did Lin Xia go?

Seeing that my expression was different, Father Sheringham naturally guessed a little in his heart, and said, "This is what Mr. Chen left that day, and said that if his nephew saw this, he would know." ”

I took out the road guide that I had opened in our local area, pointed to the name on it, and said, "This is mine." ”

Father Sheringham took the guide, looked at it, and nodded. said, "It seems that it is indeed you." ”

I asked, "Father, did my uncle leave any words?" ”

Father Sheringham said, "Mr. Chen said that when you saw the longevity lock, they must have gone to the snow mountain. He hastily drew a map that marked the places he was going to when he arrived. ”

I flipped open the folded map, and I saw that it was a papyrus torn out of a notebook, and a road map had been drawn with a pen.

"I find it strange that I had a conversation with Mr. Chan when he was drawing, and I had been a missionary from Scotland for fifteen years. I've been to all the places here, big and small, but the place marked on the map he drew is a high-altitude no-man's land, and even the Kham people here don't go there, so I don't know why he went there for anything. ”

I shook my head and said, "It's also my first time coming to Xikang, and I don't know what he's doing." ”

Professor Sheringham said: "The marked place here, if the weather is good, is at least two weeks away from here, and if the weather is bad, it is difficult to reach it for a month. ”

I was confused, I didn't know what my uncle had found, I didn't believe that he was going alone, but I didn't know if Lin Xia was with them.

I asked, "So how do you get there?" ”

Father Sheringham said: "You are on the plateau for the first time, it is best to set off with the caravan, from the archery furnace to the front of more than 20 kilometers is Zheduotang, that is the main road out of the customs, travelers, merchants are there to play the tip, and then to the west there are two roads, one is the north road, over the mountain to Taining, Daofu, Zhanggu side, one is over the mountain through the Yajiang, Lihua, Batang, this is the south road, I suggest you take the north road, although a little farther, but the road is relatively flat, the water and grass are abundant, and there are few bandits to disturb. ”

Then Father Sheringham said: "I know the head of a caravan of the Ya'an Tongxinde firm, named Ding Huai, because this person is well-informed, righteous and wealthy, and has many friends in the rivers and lakes, known as Ding Sanye, he is also a Catholic, and he came to visit me the day before yesterday. If you go with them, it will be much better to cross the valley and branch off. ”

Father Sheringham was a clergyman and a warm-hearted man, so he immediately repaired a copy of the book, let me carry it with me, and handed it over to Ding Huai when I arrived at Zheduotang the next day.

After saying goodbye to Father Sheringham, we only stayed in the arrow furnace that day, there are relatively few hotels opened by the Han here, most of them are the pot villages opened by the Kang Tibetans, this pot village is not a place to sell pots, it is a hotel for the Xikang people, but they are relatively simple, the Kang Tibetans go out with their own bedding, bring their own cooking utensils, the bedding is placed under the saddle, the cooking utensils are packed in the horseback bag, and the robe can be used as a quilt when taken off.

Moreover, there is also a popular kind of dancing pot village, where men and women gather in a circle, singing and dancing, but let us see the rise, and also dance for a while.

On Tuesday, Mao said: "It's really a party of water and soil to raise a person, but I didn't expect to come out this time, and I have grown so much knowledge." ”

I said: "The hardships are still to come, and when the time comes, you will have to go to the plateau, and your baby will suffer." ”

The climate of the arrow stove is much colder than ours, and at night we have to wear a leather jacket and bake the stove.

I asked the Tibetan elder sister of the pot village some questions about the customs, and the Tibetan elder sister was very enthusiastic to tell us that from here to the west is not as good as the mainland, after the fold of many mountains, there will be no more hotels, pot villages, thousands of miles of wasteland, there are no people everywhere, you must set up your own pot stove to cook, pick up dry cow dung to cook tea.

Let us also be sure to buy good leather clothes, leather robes, and leather hats to prevent cold snaps.

According to what the Tibetan eldest sister said, we arranged it that night, thinking that it would be best if we could meet Ding Sanye in Zheduotang on the second day, otherwise, this would really be a little worried about the fact that a few of us walked up to the plateau unfamiliarly.

The next day, we went to Zheduotang early in the morning, forty miles of mountain road, arrived at noon no morning or evening, and asked the local teahouse, this Ding Sanye is a famous person on this road, and we soon met Ding Sanye in an inn.

Ding Sanye was in his forties, with a weathered, rugged face and a oily leather robe, and after we came up to greet him, I took out Father Sheringham's letter and showed it to Ding Sanye.

Ding Sanye looked at the letter and said, "Originally, we would have taken care of each other all the way, not to mention the letter from the priest, so a few brothers will set off with us tomorrow." ”

I arched my hand and said, "I want Ding Sanye to take care of me along the way!" ”

Ding Sanye smiled heartily, waved his hand and said, "Rely on your parents at home and rely on your friends when you go out, your brother is polite!" ”

Tongxinde business is to Lhasa this time to sell Sichuan tea, tea is the largest export of goods in the Han region like Tibet since ancient times, the tea saucer with branches and leaves is put into the rectangular wicker box, put on horseback, yak back, Tongxinde business is one of the largest businesses in Ya'an, this time, mules and horses, yaks are close to more than 200 heads, there are nearly 80 people, and in order to prevent robbery, most of them are carrying rifles, and long knives are pinned to their waists.

Before leaving, Ding Sanye in the Zheduo Mountain under the sacrificial field, when the auspicious time arrived, ringed the gong in his hand, everyone rang the copper bell, Ding Sanye took a handful of lit incense, three knocks and nine bows, picked up the rooster and tore the cockscomb, with the crown blood to the business flag, the copper bell, the yak tail and all the saddle frame blood light, and then everyone together for each horse to stumble the chest, set the back sheath, set up the saddle frame, the group of people to the Zheduo Mountain.