Sangqu Village is a small village in the middle of Ba Qing County, where there are only four households, this village is very remote, and further north is a large uninhabited area, where the snow is covered all year round, the altitude is very high, and the grass does not grow, so no one ever goes there.

Tsering Ngawang was very weak, Rinzeng wanted to give him food, but he refused, he was very anxious, and kept begging the lamas to save his wife, Kelsang Mima.

He said that three nights earlier, they had been attacked in their sleep, knocked them unconscious, and then abducted them from their homes.

When Awang woke up, he found himself in a sack, his wife was not around, he could feel someone dragging him forward, and there was cold snow beneath him, the place of contact with his body had melted, and there was a large water stain on the sack.

The sack wasn't breathless, he could feel it was daylight outside, but he didn't know who was attacking them or where they were going to take them.

His wife must have been in another sack like him, and he gradually calmed down and listened carefully to the sounds outside.

Outside, there were chaotic footsteps, at least seven or eight people, but he couldn't hear them, not a word.

There was a small hole in the side of the sack containing Ngawang, and he wanted to lean over to see who had attacked them and see where his wife was, but he did not dare to move, and as soon as he moved, the people outside would find that he was awake.

Ngawang was in a hurry, and suddenly he felt for a small bag of fried wheat grains in the big pocket of his waist, which was part of the Chema (1) he had prepared for the New Year.

He carefully opened his pockets and threw out a few grains of wheat every other way, and the men did not notice his small movements, and dragged him all the way.

He could feel that the terrain they were walking on was chaotic, the terrain was getting higher all over, and he knew that they must be heading towards the no-man's land to the north.

It was getting dark, and these people finally rested, and there was silence around them, and Ngawang pricked up his ears to listen, but he couldn't hear anything, there were so many of them, but no one said a word, and even the sound of breathing was taken away by the howling wind.

Ngawang was very panicked, he couldn't hear his wife's voice, he didn't know if his wife was there.

The men set off quickly, Ngawang had no chance to escape, he could only let them drag, he felt tired and deprived of oxygen, but he held on, there were not many grains of wheat in the bag, he could only increase the distance to make a mark.

Finally, when the wheat was exhausted, and the people were still walking, as if there was no end in sight, Ngawang fell into despair, and he silently counted in his heart, counting the time.

After a few hours, the sky began to lighten, and the men finally stopped, and he could feel that there was no snow beneath him, and this must be the end.

He heard the door open, the grinding of wood, and he was dragged into a room, the touch of wood beneath him.

Immediately after, he heard another sack being dragged in, with the wheezing of his familiar wife inside.

His wife was still alive, and he was finally relieved, he called Mima, and immediately heard his wife's response, and his voice was very panicked.

The attackers opened the sack, and Ngawang showed his head, and he saw that it was a small wooden building, very old and broken, with black floors and walls, and they were on the first floor, with stairs next to it, but the second floor was blocked by a few pieces of wool felt with rough workmanship, and nothing could be seen.

At last he saw the men who had attacked them, seven or eight men, who looked to be in their thirties, dressed in very shabby and old clothes, and whose collars were knotted with fur that were so dirty that they could not be seen in their original color, as if they had never been washed.

They smelled bad, their hair was dirty, messy and long, and their faces seemed to have not been washed for a long time, like a group of homeless people.

"Who are you? Why arrest us? ”

Ngawang cried out in panic, but the men did not say a word, only tied him and his wife rudely with twine, their eyes were indifferent, their expressions were dull, they gestured with their hands, but did not say a word.

Ngawang understood, these people could not speak, they did not seem to hear, they were all deaf and mute.

What the hell is this place and why are there so many deaf people?

Ngawang looked at his wife, only to see that her eyes were red, she bit her lip and choked in a low voice, he must find a chance to escape with his wife.

These people lived in a huge no-man's land, and he never knew that there were still people living here, and they dragged him for two nights and a day, which was far, far away from the village.

Ngawang suddenly realized that it wasn't necessarily two nights and one day, he didn't know how long he had fainted, maybe there was another day and one night in between.

The men tied them up and walked out, and Mima began to cry loudly, and Ngawang could only comfort her without stopping.

Soon the door opened, and Ngawang looked outside and saw a huge frozen lake with snow-capped mountains in the distance.

The door was quickly shut, and this time in were two women, dressed in tattered clothes even more than the men, with their hair scattered like savages.

Their expressions were glazed, their eyes didn't seem to roll, and they walked towards the two of them, their limbs stiff and their movements uncoordinated.

Ngawang saw them carrying two wooden plates, crudely made, each containing a fish, which was raw, bloody, and smelled very fishy.

Mima screamed and leaned desperately towards Ngawang, who wanted to comfort her, but didn't know what to do.

The two men crouched down, brought the plate close to their mouths, grabbed the fish with their hands and stuffed it into their mouths, Mima tried desperately to dodge, but she refused to open her mouth, but the woman kept stuffing, and Ngawang saw that his wife's face was covered with fish blood and silver fish skin danders.

"We don't eat!"

Ngawang screamed, and the other woman took the opportunity to stuff the fish into his mouth, and a thick smell of blood spread in his mouth, Ngawang always felt that the fish was not only fishy, but also had an indescribable strange smell.

He threw it up right then, but the weird fishy smell was still in his mouth, and he vomited desperately, with no food in his stomach, all sticky water, and he almost vomited bile.

The two women cowered and looked bewildered, as if they thought they would not eat, so they opened their mouths, took a false bite of the fish in their mouths, and then returned it to their mouths.

Their movements were stiff, as if they were mechanical, and just as they opened their mouths, Ngawang found that their mouths were empty, and there were no tongues.

They are not born mute, their tongues are cut out.

Ngawang was scared, he didn't know if he and his wife would suffer from this, but they would never eat raw fish, so they could only turn their heads away desperately and keep their mouths shut.

The two women didn't seem to have a choice, so they put the plate next to them and walked out mechanically.

His wife began to cry, and Ngawang had no choice but to comfort her, and he tried his best to move his body, but the rope was so strong that he could not break free.

The two of them were in a panic, it was eerily quiet, only the wind howled outside the door.

After some time, there was a jumble of footsteps, the door was pushed open, and two men entered, and Ngawang could recognize them as two of their attackers.

They went straight to Mima, and Ngawang was angry and panicked, and he desperately shouted what you are going to do, but the two of them could not hear him at all, and did not even look at him.

Mima cried and was carried out by them, the voice getting farther and farther away from him, he roared angrily, but there was nothing he could do.

He was completely panicked, he didn't know what was waiting for his wife, and he didn't know where she was taken.

This must be a village, there should be more than a few people, if he wants to save his wife, he must find a helper, people here have fish to eat, they will not eat people, and his wife's life should be fine.

Ngawang comforted himself, and he decided to run out to find help, but it was empty but the stairs.

With all his strength, Ngawang moved towards the stairs, which were wooden and not sharp, but he only needed to grind the hemp rope to the point where he could break it.

This is an extremely time-consuming and laborious method, but there is no other way out for him, and it is better to act than to sit in a daze.

He moved over, shaking his body desperately against the steps, grinding the rope on his wrist, there was no sound outside, and his wife was already far away from him.

Ngawang never thought about what to do if someone came in and saw this scene, he just wanted to escape quickly and find someone to help.

He was grinding hot, it was so cold, he was still soaked with sweat, his mind was full of cries when his wife was taken away, and he concentrated his anger and anxiety near his wrist.

It was getting dark, and the room was slowly falling into darkness, and no voice from his wife came, and no one came to see him, as if he had been abandoned.

Ngawang shook his body desperately, he could feel the rope breaking little by little, and after a long time, when he felt exhausted, he pushed hard, and the rope broke.

Ngawang breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't dare to relax, his wrist was very painful, it must have been broken, he quickly untied the rope on his feet, and felt that his legs were sore, and he could barely stand up.

He moved his joints, and it took a while for him to regain his mobility, and he quietly opened the door a crack so that there was no one outside.

The moonlight is very bright, it shines beautifully on the ice lake, and the snow-capped mountains in the distance are so quiet and holy, but here it is so terrifying.

When he came out, he saw that it was a very large village, with houses built on the hillside, at least fifty or sixty households, but none of them were lit, and the whole village was dark.

Ngawang was surprised that no one knew about such a large village, and there was no way to graze cattle here, and they should all survive on the fish in the lake.

Ngawang couldn't help but retch at the thought of the fish, he covered his mouth to keep himself from making a sound, the village was so quiet, he had no idea where his wife was taken.

(1) Chema: The five grain buckets used in the Tibetan New Year are enshrined in the middle of the shrine to pray for good weather in the coming year.