It wasn't until the next day, when I woke up, that it was already dawn.

I can't even forget how I fell asleep last night.

We washed up briefly, re-inventoried the equipment, and found that except for the lack of compasses and oxygen cylinders that Lanxin said, the other missing things were harmless and dispensable.

But fortunately, there are still three oxygen cylinders, which is enough, and the fat man and I can just take less breath.

We changed into warm clothes, hung an ice axe around our waists, changed into alpine shoes and set off.

When we marched to a distance of 1,000 meters to the sea, we met a mountaineering team, and since we were both climbing snow-capped mountains for the first time, we were extremely inexperienced, so we walked with them all the way.

The captain of the mountaineering team is a young and strong veteran male veteran who looks like he is in his early thirties, and everyone in the team calls him Shanzi, who is said to have been born in the Great Snow Mountain, but not on Mount Everest, but on Mount Kunlun, the first sacred mountain in China.

We marched all the way to the sea five thousand meters away, and along the way, we encountered a little cold wind roaring, flying snow and rocks, but we could not stop the blood.

Along the way, Shanzi introduced me a lot of knowledge about climbing snowy mountains, for example, when encountering an avalanche, when you have no time to run, you should lie flat, use a crawling posture to protect your head and other key parts, and cover your mouth and nose to maintain breathing space. Make a large cave around you as much as possible, and try to reach the surface when the avalanche stops before the snow settles.

And save your energy while waiting for rescue, when you hear someone calling out loudly, when you are buried in the snow, stay calm, let the saliva flow out to judge the upper and lower, and then dig upwards if you are still alive.

When we reached the 5,000-meter place, we rested in place, and when I rested, I looked around, after all, the first time I climbed the 5,000-meter-high sea, it was inevitable that I was overjoyed, and there was a feeling of conquering difficulties and surpassing ourselves, and fighting with nature. ”

I accidentally saw some bluestone monuments, and some mounds made of rubble stones, on which scattered layers of snow were piled up, and just as I was looking at it, the voice of the mountain sounded behind me, "This is the tombstone group of hundreds of mountaineering victims" is the voice of the mountain.

"What" I want to make sure again.

Shanzi sighed, looked at the summit of Mount Everest, and said in a heavy tone, "This is to commemorate the people who died during the summit climb. Shanzi said and squatted down, swept the snow from one of the bluestone tablets with his hands, and continued with respect in his eyes, "Although they are dead, their spirits will always remain on the top of this world, and these tombstones of theirs are also for us lucky climbers to guide the way." ”

From Shanzi's introduction, I learned that these hundreds of tombstones have been accumulated over many years, because in a snow-capped mountain like Mount Everest, which has a treacherous terrain, it is a dangerous victory to go down the mountain alive, let alone carry the body down the mountain.

Therefore, the bodies of these unfortunate climbers can only be buried here, and some of them who know their names will build bluestone monuments, and those who don't know their names are the clothes and mounds made of these rocks in front of them.

Shanzi also said that the most serious one was on October 15, 2014, when a sudden avalanche buried more than 40 climbers in the snow-capped mountains, which was the worst mountain disaster in the Himalayas to date.

After listening to Shanzi's introduction, I immediately understood the meaning of those words.

Even if Mount Everest is higher than the sky,

How can you be more ambitious than a hero!

Treading snow and ice flying cliffs,

It must be called the peak of the red flag

These words are the slogans of the Chinese mountaineering team when they successfully climbed Mount Everest, more than 8,000 meters, and completed the feat of climbing the world's highest peak from the north slope for the first time in human history.

This is a kind of "heroic spirit covers mountains and rivers, and dares to laugh at Mount Everest".

After everyone rested for nearly half an hour, they marched to a high place, the more they went up, the more obvious the altitude sickness became, I only felt dizzy, and my breathing became more and more rapid, but fortunately, I didn't practice martial arts in vain in the past few years, and I continued to regulate my breathing along the way, I looked back at the fat man, and the fat man was okay, after all, there was some foundation.

A few girls showed a little worse, it can be seen that Lan Xin is trying her best to endure it, Xiao Jing only looks a little pale, but she can know from her vain steps that she is not comfortable, Yanzi is more special, from her steps can feel that she is uncomfortable, but her expression is also excited, after all, it is the first time to go out.

The wind between the peaks raged coldly, cutting people's faces and causing pain. The snowflakes that are usually gentle in their eyes are now also tyrannical and manic, and they look like they are about to have a blizzard.

I retreated from Shanzi's team to my own team, interrogated them one by one, and made sure that everyone could still hold on, so I rushed to Shanzi's side with confidence.

I have been communicating with Shanzi all the way, because there is an indomitable blood in his body that deeply attracts me, and I boast that he is a hero who sees the same thing.

"Wu Nian, your physical fitness is good, I see that you have been doing well for several days in a row."

Oh, yes! Shanzi doesn't say it, I'm almost forgetting that we've been marching to the peak for more than seven days.

Shanzi said this, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "You didn't come to climb the mountain simply, did you?" I see that you have a smell of earth, but you don't look like a farmer, and your teammates don't look like archaeological team, what did you do before, Captain Jin? ”

I sneered in my heart, "I'll go, master, how can I become Captain Jin." I smiled calmly and replied to Shanzi, "You said, I used to study in a martial arts school for a few years, so I have a bit of a foundation." As for the earthy smell you mentioned, maybe it's because I used to wander around the countryside and fields. ”

Shanzi was skeptical, and after a pause, I asked Shanzi, "Why do you think that Captain Touching Jin will come to this cold and snowy place?" ”

Shanzi said, "I heard that there is a ghost monument in the belly of Mount Everest, and there is an ancient tomb under the monument that has not been there for thousands of years, but it is only from the mouths of some older generations in the past, so I don't know whether it is true or not. Shanzi said embarrassedly and smiled, "I just misunderstood, you don't think it's weird." ”

"Ghost monuments? Why does it sound so wicked? I couldn't help but be curious.

Shanzi replied, "I also heard about it, do you know the Holy Maiden?" ”

"Know! It's the legendary ghost ship? The corners of my mouth slanted as I spoke, and said with a smile, "I usually like to read, I know a little bit, the saint woman you are talking about is the 19th century, a British ship sailing in the Atlantic Ocean accidentally encountered a "saint" sailing ship, but the strange thing is that the ship is unmanned, on the ship to see that there is no one outside the ship, but things are intact, not like the shipwreck, more strange is that there is a bloody axe on the ship, and a wailing black cat.

Later, many people will see this unmanned ghost ship of the Holy Maiden, and this has always been an unsolved mystery. ”

Shanzi said, "That's right, and this ghost monument is said to be similar to a ghost ship, once someone accidentally found it standing in the vast snow-capped mountains, and then people from all walks of life came to explore, but neither the archaeological team, mountaineers, but the captain of the gold school failed to discover its existence, since then its rumors have disappeared, and there are fewer and fewer people talking about it." ”

After hearing this, I smiled slightly, and said tooth for tooth, "Shanzi, you know a lot, you are not a simple mountaineer, right?" ”

When Shanzi heard this, he hurriedly smiled and said, "You misunderstood, my ancestors were all mountaineers, and I have climbed large and small mountains, so I have heard the story of the mountain." "I feel that I feel that Shanzi has something to hide, but I didn't expose his shortcomings, I just laughed and didn't want to.

I chatted with Shanzi all the way, chatting a lot, and the two hit it off at first sight, so Shanzi left his mobile phone number, so that I could go to Kunlun Mountain to play with him in the future. I also happily left my phone number.

The real fear of Mount Everest should start from the Khumbu Glacier. "Shanzi says Khumbu Glacier, which they also call the Terror Glacier. There are several ice avalanches on Khumbu Glacier every day, and there are hundreds of ice crevasses covered in ice and ice, and once you fall, you can't even find the body.

Thirty percent of the victims died on the way to the summit.

Shanzi said this, pointing to the white expanse of snow and ice slag flying in front of him, and continued: "A hundred meters ahead is the Khumbu Glacier, you go and remind your friends to be careful." ”

I braved the snowstorm and returned to my own team, and when I approached the fat man, the sound of the roaring wind interfered with our normal communication, so I shouted to the fat man in my voice, "Follow our previous route, wait a hundred meters ahead and we will be diverted to the north, you go and inform Lan Xin and them, I will go and say goodbye to Shanzi and them." ”

When it was time to enter the Khumbu Glacier, Fat Man and I, Yanzi, Lan Xin and Xiao Jing and I diverted to the north direction.

Less than 30 meters after the reroute, I looked out and saw the ice cliff 100 meters away in front of me, dry snow like a thick fog at the cliff mouth, straight up the mountain to the sky, gusts of biting cold wind rolling, rolling up the snow and ice slag dozens of feet high, the roar of the wind behind me mixed with the sound of the mountain's advice.

But I still braved the blizzard, step by step, and struggled forward, so that the sound of Shanzi's exhortation was buried in the sound of the storm.

The blizzard was not too big, and after about ten minutes, it finally stopped, and when the blizzard had subsided, we had already passed through the ice cliff overhang, which had exhausted us, so we rested in place. Because physical strength is extremely important to us now, Shanzi told me before that most of the people who died on Mount Everest were also due to physical exhaustion.

I sat on the spot, drank some water, and then looked into the distance, enjoying this strange scene, only to see a series of light blue primeval glaciers, endless, even to the horizon as if boundless, looking up to see the remaining wind and snow drifting under the blue sky, and under the blue sky is the gray peaks hidden in the dense fog, the steep mountain rocks are covered with boundless snow.

Seeing this, I couldn't help but say loudly, "The snow is falling, the pride is ambitious, dare to ask who is with the climb?" Mo me, Wu Nian is also" and then stood up, imitating the posture of the ancients chanting poems, "There are so many rivers and mountains, and countless heroes are bent ......"

"!" In the middle of the conversation, the fat man interrupted directly: "If you want me to say yes, there are so many snow-capped mountains, it is difficult for you to make it true that I broke my waist." ”

"You are a vulgar person!" I deliberately clapped my backhand and shook my head and sighed, teasing the fat man, "How can you understand my feelings of being like the sea and walking the world with a sword." With that, I continued to admire my scenery.

"Ngawang! Come and see, are we going off the rails? At this time, Lan Xin took out the data roadmap and asked me to go over to study and study, and when I went to take a closer look, the fat man, Xiao Jing and the swallow all came to watch.

When the fat man looked at it and knew that we had deviated from the route, he said, "I'll go!" It's really going to burp now. Then he looked at me, "Return the damn sword and go to the end of the world, you can't get out of this snowy mountain." ”

Then the swallow said, "It's all because the mysterious man took our compass away last night." ”

Just when everyone was worried and didn't know what to do, I smiled calmly and said, "It's not a dead end yet." "Immediately, everyone present cast hopeful eyes on me.

The corners of my mouth raised a smile and said, "There is a kind of academic called "time-sharing orientation" in the Feng Shui Five Elements chapter of "Hundred Ghosts and Evil Arts", which can be used to distinguish geographical directions and hours. ”

As said in "Hundred Ghosts and Evil Arts", there are many in nature that can distinguish the direction, such as trees, usually the south-facing side of the branches and leaves receive more sunlight, grow more luxuriantly, and the bark is relatively smooth, while the north-facing side is much inferior, including the growth rings can also identify the direction, look at the density to identify the direction, affected by the light, the south side of the tree wood grows faster, and the formed annual rings are often wider, so the sparse side of the annual ring is facing south, and the side with dense lines indicates the north.

There are countless ways to tell us the direction of nature like this, and like this snow-capped mountain, the sunny side of the mountain snows faster, plus the gossip zodiac map mentioned in the book, because each capital of the zodiac corresponds to the corresponding hour, and the trajectory of the sun is judged by the hour, and then through the unchanging law of sunrise and east with the positioning of the eight trigrams, plus some laws of nature, it quickly distinguishes the east, west, north and south.

With the southeast, northwest, and southeast directions, we can tell how far we deviate from the route through the data roadmap.

After finding the direction, I pointed to me diagonally ahead and said, "Walk a few hundred meters from this direction and you'll be back to the route we planned earlier." At this point, I paused for a moment and continued, "And the second blizzard is coming." ”

The fat man was surprised: "I'm grass!" Is it so magical, even you can figure it out. ”

"No! You look ahead. I pointed ahead and said, only to see a hundred meters ahead, snow particles dancing wildly in the sky, stirring the sky into chaos, the distant mountain peaks are completely hidden in the white wind and snow, only revealing a gray shadow, and then the cold wind in my ears whistling wildly, the huge ice avalanche made a thunderous roar, only a few seconds, the blizzard swallowed the one in front of me.

"Run!" I screamed and woke up the stunned crowd, but I didn't rush to say anything, I just heard a "whew", and we were surrounded by a blizzard.

Since we had just put our backpacks down during our break, the storm blew and swept away our water bottles and the only three oxygen cylinders at once.

When the fat man saw this and was about to chase him, I grabbed him in time and shouted, "Don't go, this storm is too big, don't take risks, find a place to avoid it first, and then think about it in the long run." ”

In the panic, Lan Xin found a large crack in the ridge, and all of us retreated into the crack, and after hiding in the crack for nearly half an hour, the blizzard outside seemed to have no intention of stopping.

Lan Xin took stock of the equipment, and the oxygen cylinder and water bottle were all scraped away, Lan Xin said, "It seems that we have to find the water source as soon as possible, otherwise if it goes on like this, I'm afraid we will die of thirst before we reach our destination." ”

This is indeed a problem, without oxygen cylinders and water, then I am afraid we will not be able to go far, we can be buried in this vast snow-capped mountain for a long time, and the bones and it will last forever.

"Ngawang! Look at that. Then the swallow pointed to the crack and said.

I looked along and saw a violent snowstorm in the distance, and a group of hazy gray shadows like human figures were slowly moving in the overwhelming ice and snow.

Xiao Jing said, "Could it be a mountaineering team?" ”

"Let's go! Let's ask if we can order water or oxygen cylinders. Seeing this, Lan Xin said and prepared to chase after him.

"Wait," I hurriedly grabbed her, "You and Xiaojing and Yanzisan will stay, and the fat man can go with me." ”

To lighten the load, the fat man and I set off lightly with only an ice axe and my scimitar, but we also brought a sapper shovel for safety.

As the fat man and I braved the blizzard, the snow and ice on our faces stinged and stinged, and after following for a while, we saw that the mountaineering team was less than a hundred meters away from us.

So we couldn't help but quicken our pace, and the closer we got to the group, the more I felt that something was wrong, and the figures in the group were all about seven feet tall, and they were unusually burly, and they were not at all afraid of the blizzard, and they still moved freely in the face of heavy snow and howling winds.

My first thought was the "snow monster", and I guess it's not far from ten.

The snow monster is also known as Bigfoot Savage or Night Emperor, and is called Migui in Tibetan, which means humanoid monster.

So far, human understanding of snow monsters is only a legend, according to legend, there are snow monsters in the Himalayas, and there have been many traces of snow monsters in the Himalayas on the border between Nepal and China.

As early as 1951, the famous British mountaineer "Eric Zipton" and his companions saw a series of huge footprints in the snow of the Himalayas and took a photo. He set aside his ice axe to make it easier to compare the size of the footprints, which were about 33 centimeters long and 20 centimeters wide. Zipton followed the footprints for about two kilometers until they disappeared into the hard ice and the trail was broken.

As far as I know, snow monsters are higher primates, able to walk upright, they are higher than apes, have a certain intelligence, are animals that live in rock caves or snowy mountains, they are emotionally uncertain, sometimes gentle and sometimes fierce, and they are womanizers, or should I say they like the smell of female bodies, and there have been legends in many places that snow monsters have abducted naked girls.

But I've never really seen this kind of monster, and some of the knowledge about snow monsters I also read from the monster chapter of "Hundred Ghosts and Evil Arts", which records that when ancient Homo sapiens evolved into modern humans, there was a missing link in the evolution of a group, causing it to become a half-human, half-beast thing, and this thing is a snow monster.

In the book, it is recorded that the head of the snow monster is pointed and awl-shaped, the head hair is covered with red hair, the blood-red and green eyes can only see objects with heat, a pair of bat ears can distinguish other sounds in a blizzard, the triangular black nose like a pig's nose is extremely sensitive to the smell of blood and the smell of females, a large mouth of blood is extremely smelly, and the upper and lower rows of serrated fangs tear flesh like tearing paper.

The body is long gray hair, a layer of four-centimeter fat skin under the long hair provides heat, resists the cold, and the strong arms with limbs as thick as a basin mouth are infinite, which can kill a 1,200-pound yak with one punch, and its strength is no less than that of a man and a bear.

It is also quick to walk and move easily through the snow, and its large feet can be quickly adjusted to 180 degrees without turning around, allowing it to climb and escape and attack targets.

The fat man also saw that something was wrong with the figure, and just as we were about to retreat secretly, a lone snow monster suddenly turned to look at me and the fat man, and at the same time its roar like a weeping baby and a wolf cub resounded in the wind.