The farther we go west, the more desolate and desolate the plateau becomes, and the population is extremely sparse, as far as the eye can see, there are blue skies and white clouds, snow-capped mountains and meadows, and occasionally we can see a lot of Tibetan wild asses passing by, but we have enough food and grass this time, and we don't need to hunt temporarily.

There are still many fortified points of the Tibetan army along the way, but fortunately, we have the road in Lhasa in our hands, and the road is unimpeded along the way.

On this day, we walked in the Gobi for half a day, the sun was too strong at noon, and we just walked to a riverbed under a high mountain, it was now a dry season, there was no water in the riverbed, and the high mountains blocked the noon sun, so we rested by the riverbed, and prepared to wait for the afternoon to go again.

After days of running, especially the ultraviolet rays on the plateau, we were all tanned.

At this moment, a group of people came from the opposite side, about 20 people, all with guns on their backs, we were a little nervous, this place is not in front of the village and there is no shop in the back, if we encounter the "clamp" of robbery, it will inevitably be a bitter battle.

As these people approached, the Tibetans walking in front greeted us, and we saw clearly that the two people on horseback were two blond, blue-eyed, bearded foreigners, because they were both wearing Tibetan robes, so we didn't recognize them at first.

The rest of the Tibetans were supposed to be the bodyguards and guides of these two people.

I also got up and saluted the Tibetans who greeted me.

The Tibetans were a little surprised when they saw that we were dressed as Han Chinese, and that Han merchants in this place would hardly come.

In half-baked Chinese, the Tibetans asked, "How did you Han people come here?" ”

I said, "We are an exploration team that went to Ali for a scientific expedition. What are you? ”

Tibetans are just ordinary herders and the like, and they don't feel much about the term scientific investigation.

I asked, "Where are you going?" ”

The Tibetan pointed to the distance and said, "We." Far away to go. ”

At this moment, the two foreigners jumped off their horses and came over.

The foreigner looked at us and greeted us in Chinese, but I didn't expect this foreigner to be so fluent in Chinese.

The foreigner briefly introduced himself, and it turned out that the two were Swedes from Europe, and they were two explorers, the older one was called Baynt, who was still a professor, and the younger one was his student, named Goodmanderson.

Berentt claimed to have traveled most of China, this time from Central Asia, only after an inspection in Xinjiang, and now he is in Tibet, preparing to go to Ali's Zada, to learn about the ruins of the Guge Dynasty and a site in the Zhangzhung period.

These foreigners came to China, good and bad, some for exploration, some were independent cultural relics dealers, wanting to make a profit, and many of the good things left by China's ancestors were brought to foreign countries by some so-called foreign explorers, and then sold to various museums and private collectors at high prices.

I don't know anything about this Guge dynasty.

He asked, "What is the Guge Dynasty?" ”

"The Guge Kingdom was established around the 10th century AD by Jidnyima Gong, the great-grandson of the last Tibetan Dynasty Tsamprangdama and his followers who fled to Ali after the collapse of the dynasty, and ruled western Tibet for more than 700 years.

However, the strange thing is that one day more than 300 years ago, 100,000 people of the Guge Dynasty disappeared overnight, leaving only a magnificent ruins and relics with a total area of 720,000 square meters in the huge kingdom. ”

I was shocked, how could it be another ancient country that mysteriously disappeared?

However, according to Baynt, what disappeared more than 300 years ago naturally has little to do with what we are looking for.

Baynt took out a book with some foreign words on it, and said, "This is a note written by a British explorer back then, and it contains a lot of information about this Guge Kingdom. ”

I opened it and looked at it, and I definitely didn't know the words, but I could see the black and white pictures clearly, and I saw that the entire ruins were built along the mountain, winding up, from the ground to the top of the mountain, layer upon layer, forming a group of magnificent and majestic buildings.

I'm not very interested in this, but what Bayantt just said about the ruins of the Zhangzhung Dynasty is a bit interesting.

I asked, "What about the ruins of the Zhangzhung Dynasty?" ”

As soon as Baynt heard me ask about this, he began to be a little vague and flickering.

I asked him a few more times, but Bayentt still didn't say anything, and I saw that he didn't want to say, so I had to give up.

Bayentt asked me again what I was going to investigate.

I lied that I was engaged in surveying and mapping, because when I was in Lhasa, I met a surveyor at the Jokhang Temple and chatted for a while.

Confused, Bayant pointed to our equipment and said, "You have mapping equipment?" ”

I hurriedly said, "Everything is on the side of the people in the back, and we are standing in the front." ”

Baynt shook his head thoughtfully and said: "It's not necessary, it's not necessary, in 1812, the British had already completed the mapping of the Ali area, and it was already very detailed." ”

As soon as I heard this, I was angry, the British had nothing to do and went to Tibet to measure a JB! Isn't this our place in China.

The Goodmanderson had taken a map out of a leather tube and showed it to me where Ali was.

Baynt said generously: "The map has been sent to you, I hope it will be helpful to you Chinese surveyors." ”

I nodded in acknowledgement.

After a few more pleasantries and a few more meals, the sun was no longer so poisonous, and we both decided to go.

Banente led people to go to the wrong place first, and we were going in the direction of reform, so everyone said goodbye.

We walked for a few more days, it was already late autumn, the weather was getting colder and colder, the herdsmen, yaks, and sheep on the grassland were no longer visible, and in the evening, we found a sheepfold, and there was no one around, so we had to decide to spend the night in this sheepfold, after all, it was still a place to block the wind.

These days, we're all exhausted and the altitude is getting higher, and we're all experiencing some altitude sickness.

We sat in the sheepfold at night, eating dried beef and drinking barley wine. I pulled out the map, and it was marked in foreign languages. But based on the mountains and rivers, we can roughly determine where we are.

Now that I have walked for more than half of the way, if I guessed correctly, I will continue along the Brahmaputra River and you will reach Xiongba in a few days.

At this moment, suddenly there was a sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and we picked up our guns in alarm.

I saw a tall man in a Tibetan robe on the grassland in the distance.

I guess I saw some fire here, so I came over to prepare for boarding.

When approaching the sheepfold, the Tibetans were also a little surprised to see that we were dressed as Han Chinese, and that we were holding long spears and short guns, and pointed in half-baked Chinese: "It's dark, stay overnight." ”

I looked the Tibetan up and down, and saw that there was no movement in the darkness behind him, and when I was sure that he was the only one, I let him into the sheepfold.

In the light of the fire, the Tibetan had long brown hair, a red turban around his head, a silver ring on his left ear, a tunic made of wool woven around his waist, a pair of soft leather boots, and several amulet boxes made of silver and brass. A Tibetan knife was stuck in his belt, stuck in the leather scabbard.

I handed the barley wine to the Tibetan, and the Tibetan didn't speculate, so he drank it.

Then he took some jerky out of the bag and gave it to us, and ate it.

I asked, "Where are you going?" ”

Tibetan: "Go to Gar." ”

I said, "It's already winter, and the road is so difficult, why do you come out alone?" ”

It turned out that this Tibetan was called Bianpa, a well-known painter in Shigatse, who specialized in painting murals for the monastery, and this time he was invited by the great living Buddha of the Kaldunqu Monastery to paint murals for the newly built hall, which was ready to be completed on the day of the Ganden Five Offerings Festival, that is, the day of Master Tsongkhapa's Nirvana, so the time was pressing, and Bianpa had to go alone at this time.

It's all men together, and after three rounds of drinking, the unfamiliar ones are familiar, not to mention that the Tibetans are already bold.

Bian Ba asked us where we were going. We said we were going to do some research in the Gangdis Mountains.

Bian Ba sighed and said, "Oh! Kailash! ”

It was the first time I had heard Kailash's name, and I asked, "What Kailash?" ”

Bianba pointed to himself and said, "The highest peak of Mount Gangdis is called Kailash. The sacred mountain of our Tibetans is equivalent to your Kunlun. ”

It dawned on me that this place meant so much not only to the Bon, but also to ordinary Tibetans.

Bian Pa raised his hands and said solemnly: "It is said that the top of Kailash Mountain is the Buddha ”

I asked, "If there is such a magical place, then there must be a sacred lake at the foot of Mount Kailash." ”

Bian Ba took a sip of wine and said, "Of course, of course, the holy lakes are all under the sacred snow-capped mountains, and there is a big lake here, called Martricuo, which means the eternal lake. The lake water here can wash away the greed, hatred, stupidity, slackness, and jealousy of the "five poisons" in the hearts of black-headed mortals. ”

I couldn't suppress the joy in my heart, so I asked, "I heard that this is the birthplace of Bon?" ”

Bian Ba gave a thumbs up and said, "I didn't expect you Han people to know a lot." Bon originated in Zhangzhung and later spread eastward along the Brahmaputra River to the Wei and Tibetan regions and even to the Bolu area. ”

I started the conversation with the ancient kingdom of Zhangzhung and said, "The ancient kingdom of Zhangzhung is said to be very interesting. ”

Bian Ba said proudly: "Yes, before the rise of the Yalong tribe, Zhangzhung used to be the largest kingdom on the Tibetan Plateau, and its territory included almost the entire current Tibet.

In particular, the Dome Silver City looks gray and white on the outside, but legend has it that it is full of gold, silver and jewels inside! ”

As soon as he heard the gold, silver and jewelry, Zhou Mao stood up and said, "What?" Gold and silver jewelry? ”

Bian Ba smiled: "So you don't know the legend about the Dome Silver City? ”