Before leaving koang, Shen Tangzhi's satellite phone received a message from an anonymous sender, but according to the tone, it should be K.

The message is as follows: "Strangers are guides, follow them, and be wary of them at the same time." ”

We discussed it and there was no conclusion.

If the "stranger" refers to the two people we met on the road who were pretending to be herders...... But we know the "fake Yu Wei", and both of them are dead, how can we "follow"?

It was another difficult day, but at sunset, we made it to the BC of Dhaulagiri Peak.

Because it wasn't climbing season, the BC of Dhaulagiri Peak was deserted, with all the windows of the rows of shelters made of high-strength materials closed, and several tents in the center of the camp looking like they were about to collapse due to the snow.

Tenzin Kava had people find the head of BC.

The person in charge of BC is named Xinan, a dark brown-skinned, short and fat, but shrewd-eyed guy, if Jiajie hadn't contacted him and paid a high fee, in this deserted season, Xinan would only leave a rotating officer in BC, and he himself would rest in a small town eight kilometers away from BC, and he would not have stayed under this damn mountain to get cold.

Tenzin Kava's name is really easy to use, and Xinan, who was originally a little slack, was in a state of complete resemblance after seeing Tenzin Kava, as if he had changed his person, and his enthusiasm was almost flattering.

Xinan quickly found a sheltered place to store our mule cart, and soon we arranged a place to live, while calling a handyman and a cook who were still staying in BC at the moment to prepare hot food.

Because it was necessary to prepare dinner for our entire team, 23 people, Tenzin Kava asked one of his guards named Siko, with four porters, to help in the kitchen.

I took Larry and approached Xinan and asked him if he had any recent mountaineering team going up the mountain, to which he replied that no one had challenged Daulagiri in the near future since the last team that wanted to summit Dhaulagiri was shipwrecked.

However, at dinner, we were surprised to find that there were two more blonde and blue-eyed white men eating with everyone, and looking at the costumes of the two white men, it was obvious that they were also preparing to go up the mountain.

I asked Larry to bring Xinan, I asked in Chinese, and Larry translated for me: "Didn't you say that there is no mountaineering team recently?" What's going on with these two white guys? ”

Tenzin Kawa also ate at the same table with us, and when he heard my question, he also looked to Xinan.

Xinan first apologized again and again, and then said that it was an emergency, and that the two white men came to BC by themselves and did not make an appointment in advance.

A flash of inspiration came to me and I asked, "When did they arrive?" ”

Xinan replied, "At noon." ”

Tenzin Kava put down the spoon of soup and said a word of Nepali, and Xinan's face suddenly changed drastically, and he said what was probably begging for mercy in a panic, and he looked almost crying.

Larry whispered for me: "Mr. Jazz said that he was very dishonest and had lost his credibility in front of him, so don't show up next time." Xinan swore to beg for mercy in the gambling curse. ”

Tenzin Kawa waved his hand to tell Xinan to retreat, and the latter, although he still cried and mourned, must have quietly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

But at this moment, the two white men, uninvited, walked towards our seats.

Tenzing Kava's men in military uniforms stood up one after another, blocking Tenzing Kava, and Jiajie even pulled out the pistol at his waist.

Seeing each other draw their guns, the two white men exclaimed, "My God!" They hurriedly raised their hands, but they still refused to give up, and pleaded with Gyalje in English, hoping to talk to Tenzin Kava.

Apparently, the two whites knew Tenzin Kava's identity.

Tenzin Kawa just glanced at it, ignored it, and ate his own food again.

Jia Jie began to interrogate the identities and origins of the two white men, who explained that they were from Northern Ireland and that they had indeed formed a mountaineering team, but on the way to BC, they encountered a mountain fog, and the whole team lost their way, except for the two of them, everyone else stumbled in the fog and fell off the cliff. And they are now looking for Tenzin Kava because they want to follow us up the mountain, and the reason is to fulfill the last wishes of those who were killed.

Hearing this, I glanced at Shen Tangzhi and Lao Dao, and opened my mouth silently, and the mouth shape was the word "stranger", they immediately understood what I meant, and looked at the eyes of the two white people again, and it became a little different.

Then I motioned to Hyde that it was his turn to come out as an authentic Englishman.

Hyde communicated with the two white men in English, and the other party was very surprised, after all, it was a great fate to meet people from the same country under the snow-capped mountains of the Himalayas, thousands of miles away.

But Hyde clearly didn't have the joy and excitement of "a fellow countryman meets a fellow", he calmly cross-examined some questions, and then said to me: "They have no problem, they are indeed Northern Irish." ”

Tenzin Kava naturally took these "small gestures" into our eyes, but he did not interfere with our actions.

"Don't make a fuss, Jiajie, put your gun away." Tenzin Kawa ate the last bit of food in the bowl, then put down the rice bowl, pushed away the guards standing in front of him, and said in English: "Two gentlemen, what are you doing? ”

"We have a little thing, we want Mr. Tenzin Kawa to take a look, I believe that after Mr. Tenzin Kawa sees it, he will agree to let us go up the mountain with the team." One of the white men said respectfully.

Jiajie took a few steps forward and spread his hands, "Give it to me, I will pass it on to Sir" (PS: Tenzin Kawa was knighted by the King of Nepal after marrying Princess Kolit)

"Oh, no, no, no!" The two white men waved their hands in unison and refused, "I'm very sorry, but we can only let Mr. Tenzin Kava see this thing alone." ”

"Come here." Tenzin Kava smiled meaningfully, "I hope your stuff is worth it, or you will regret your faux pas very much." ”

"Of course, of course."

The two white men nodded repeatedly, and the older of them carefully pulled out a tight bag wrapped in Nepalese woolen sari from the depths of his backpack, held it in his hands, and brought it to Tenzin Kava.

Tenzin Kava took the small bag, and as soon as he opened a corner of the sari, Tenzin Kava let out a "huh", and his expression changed significantly.

I saw a black square box wrapped in gauze, and from my direction, I could only see that the black box was very simple, like a jewelry box used by an ancient Chinese lady, but the pattern carved on the outer box was very similar to a snake pattern.

Tenzin Kava's expression became slightly solemn, and when he was about to open the lid of the box, the older white man reached out and pressed Tenzin Kava's hand: "Dear Sir Sir, the treasures in this can only be viewed by you alone. ”

Tenzin Kawa glanced at the white man and let go of the hand that was about to open the lid of the box: "Jiajie, take these two white gentlemen, and follow me to another room." ”

Tenzin Kawa left the restaurant with three guards, the remaining two guards stood guard at the door of the restaurant, and the two whites were taken away.

I tried to follow, but was stopped by Siko: "Sorry, you can't get out of here. ”

About ten minutes later, they returned.

Tenzin Kawa's face was good, and the two white men were also full of relief on their faces, and at the same time, they were also announced to be members of this mountaineering operation and would participate in this operation.

Tenzin Kawa called Xinan over and gave him a few words, in such a cold climate, Xinan was actually wiped the sweat on his forehead as he was said, and he didn't know how much pressure Tenzin Kawa exerted on him.

I wanted to ask Tenzin Kava what was in the box, but Tenzin Kava wouldn't tell me.

"A secret is a treasure in itself, it can gather people's hearts and make people need each other - you have secrets, I have secrets, and when you are ready to exchange secrets, come back to me." Tenzin Kava said.

Then, Jayjey invited me out of Tenzin Kava's room.

The next day, everyone was woken up at five o'clock and told Tenzin Kawa's order that all those who had gone up the mountain must rest within half an hour, and that they were to arrive and build Camp C1 before sunset today.

Everyone else was asked to act quickly -

Organize and debug equipment, inquire and observe meteorology, study travel routes, and carry out emergency prevention......

You know, we're already on a plateau at 4,650 meters above sea level, and with the cold temperatures and strong winds, these tasks require more physical energy than usual, so whatever you do, you need to hurry.

In addition, Tenzin Kava arranged for two guards to stay behind with a cook and a handyman from BC, and the head of BC, Xinan, was asked to act with us - he tried his best to argue that he was not involved in the mountaineering activities, but under the guns of Tenzin Kava's guards, he still kept his mouth shut, obediently changed into a mountaineering suit, and carried the supply bag that had been assigned to him.

I think it may be that Tenzin Kawa is not very worried about him, afraid that he will reveal his whereabouts, but if he kills people at this moment, it will easily lead to a big drop in the morale of the team, and even lead to more uncontrollable hidden dangers, after all, on the high mountain, anything can happen, and the high-pressure policy will not always work.

Even though it was the first time for the four of us to climb the mountain, the presence of numerous Sherpa mountain guides and alpine collaborators helped us do most of the work.

This did not delay much, and at half-past five, when everyone had finished dressing and eating, Tenzin Kawa immediately announced his departure.

The research was carried out by two renowned mountain guides.

A man named Lob, forty-one years old, but already looked like an old man in his fifties, he was shriveled and thin, only a pair of eyes were surprisingly bright, he was very familiar with the climate of the Himalayas, and was called a humanoid meteorometer.

The other was Yale-in-China, a 37-year-old man of medium heights, with a heavily red face and a thick black mustache that stood out, and he carried a double-barreled shotgun on his shoulder—because Yale-in-China was born in a well-known Orion Village, specializing in hunting snow bears and white foxes in the highlands, and was also an excellent hunter before becoming a mountain guide.

These two people are the most experienced and experienced in this mountaineering team, and they were selected for this important responsibility, and everyone was convinced.

The two of them had already taken the map and GPS navigator and finalized the construction site of C1 with Tenzin Kava, at this time led by Lobu, and the two white men were also arranged in the front, Yali followed Tenzing Kawa in the middle of the line, and the four of us walked in the rear, the whole team was a long snake, stepping on the faintly visible, snow-covered gravel mountain, winding upward.

The construction site of Camp C1 was selected at an altitude of 5,600-5,800 meters, and from the altitude of 4,650 BC, it was necessary to climb a vertical distance of more than 1,000 meters.

1000 meters, which doesn't sound too far.

In fact, even a mountain above 8,000 meters may not be able to make a rookie mountaineer feel the slightest fear in terms of literal height, which is the fearlessness of the ignorant.

In fact, any mountain above 6,000 meters above sea level has already become a deadly danger to humans trying to conquer it from its altitude alone - people who enter the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau above 4,000 meters above sea level for the first time may die due to strong altitude sickness, let alone extreme mountaineering that challenges the limits of human physical strength and will.

Larry told us that the distance from BC to C1 is about three kilometers, and the first half of the road is fine, which is a very safe gravel mountain belt, and the focus is on the second half, which is the glacial belt.

But given the quality of the team, which is overwhelmingly Sherpas who are naturally adapted to alpine life, Larry is confident that he will be able to complete Tenzin Kava's order to arrive at C1 before sunset – the key is to make it through the glacier belt.

The team leader, Lob and Yale-in-China, knew this, of course, so after entering the glacier zone, Yale-in-China had several ropes about 50 meters long from their equipment, and the whole team of 23 people, in groups of 4 or 5, was divided into five groups, and each group of members was connected by ropes before they began to cross the glacier belt.

But the unexpected happened.

The deadliest threat to the glacial belt is the glacial crevasse.

These crevasses in the glaciers are like landmines on the battlefield, and if you lose your attention or make the wrong judgment, you can be killed.

Moreover, since the glacier itself is not a stable entity, it can be seen as a huge jelly, which moves slowly all the time, and the shallow surface of the glacier will continue to "melt-solidify-melt-solidify" due to the change of wind and snow and the transition of cold and warm seasons, so even the glacier zone that mountain guides are most familiar with may be completely different from the previous year every year, and it is wishful thinking to try to avoid danger by relying entirely on previous experience.

Just when everyone was less than 100 meters away from completely passing through the glacier belt, there was a sudden exclamation at the end of the procession!