At noon the next day, the convoy drove into the village of Bago Maha and stopped in front of the house where we were staying.

Jiajie knocked on our door and invited us to the second floor, and then a dozen Nepalese with different looks were brought to the room.

Jiajie first introduced us in Chinese that these are the people who plan to apply for the mountaineering team, and he has already learned that all of these people hold the professional qualification certificate issued by the Nepalese official mountain guide, and have participated in at least one summit of the world's top ten peaks.

These people, who will serve as guides and mountain collaborators, will play a crucial role in our next actions.

The old knife sneered on the side: "Isn't it up to the knight to decide which players to recruit?" Do you still need us to watch from the sidelines? ”

Jiajie ignored the old knife and said a few words in Nepali to the dozen or so mountain guides in front of him, only to see that everyone's foreheads were looking at the four of us - I don't have to guess to understand that Jiajie must have told them that the four of us were the recruiters of this mountaineering team.

Then, Jia Jie suddenly said in Chinese: "Those who can speak Chinese, please take a step forward." ”

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then someone took a step forward one after another, and some people wanted to shake the little wit and quietly ask the person next to him the meaning of the Chinese sentence, but he did not escape Jiajie's eagle-like gaze, and he used Nepali to stop everyone's behavior of exchanging heads.

Unexpectedly, there were quite a few people who could speak Chinese, and in the end, nine people took a step forward.

Jiajie said another word in Nepali and raised his hand to make a "please" gesture, and those who did not take a step forward immediately showed disappointed expressions.

Some people are unwilling, after all, Shen Tangzhi paid five times the usual price, although the timing of this action is very bad - but in the history of alpine climbing in the world, there are also many mountain disasters that occur in the relatively safe "mountaineering season", which is originally a job that requires life, and can earn money for five trips to the top at a time, which is really tempting.

Those mountain guides who were not selected were pleading or playing scoundrels, but Jiajie never wavered on his face.

Seeing that he didn't move, several of the mountain guides with active brains turned to the four of us for help, and although we couldn't understand the Nepali they spoke, we could judge the general content by the look and tone of their voices.

Shen Tangzhi and I were unmoved, but Lao Dao and Haide were a little unbearable, but I grabbed the two of them and told them not to participate in the peace and wait for the change.

In the end, the iron-faced and selfless Jiajie forcibly sent all the people who did not meet the requirements downstairs, and the two cars carrying these unsuccessful mountain guides immediately left the village.

The rest of the mountain guides all speak Chinese, so Jiajie also used Chinese throughout the whole process.

He first congratulated everyone on the first round of deletion, and reiterated the high remuneration for this mountaineering operation, and then said that he would pay half of the amount in advance after officially confirming the identity of everyone's team members.

The old knife whispered beside me again: "Heh, this kid is quite good at making decisions for us, and he dares to spend either his own money, or he is generous." ”

I tugged at his clothes: "If you don't say a word, no one will be dumb for you." Aren't you just threatened by Tenzin Kava? It's a long way to go, you know? ”

The old knife snorted twice, and then closed his mouth.

At this time, among the mountain guides, someone immediately asked in Chinese: What is the standard for "confirming" the official team members?

Jiajie replied: I don't have the final say on this standard, but it will definitely convince everyone.

When everyone was puzzled, all they could hear was the sound of stairs, and Tenzin Kawa walked up to the second floor with two heavily armed guards.

As soon as Tenzin Kawa appeared, all the mountain guides stood up straight with a look of surprise on their faces!

Along with this, there is a name that is whispered by everyone in unison-

Tenzin Kava!

After a brief commotion at the beginning, the room became extremely silent, and all the mountain guides stood as if they were frozen, and the whole room was silent.

In such a different and even somewhat solemn atmosphere, Tenzin Kava stepped into the room.

Tenzing Kawa was wearing a blue jacket and red and white hiking boots on his feet today, and he smiled and raised his hand to greet everyone under the burning gaze of everyone.

He walked straight to the mountain guides, shook hands with them one by one, and asked each of them by name.

Everyone was flattered and trembled when shaking hands with Tenzin Kava, and whenever such a reaction occurred, Tenzin Kava patted the man's arm so that he didn't have to be nervous.

After a circle, after shaking hands with everyone and questioning us, Tenzin Kava came over and stood side by side with us, and when Tenzin Kava turned around, everyone looked awe-inspired—because Tenzin Kava's face, the amiable face just now was gone, and it was replaced by a serious, military face.

Tenzin Kava's gaze glanced at everyone, his gaze was majestic and solemn at this time, including me, everyone who touched his gaze had the illusion of being lightly slashed by a sharp blade against his skin, although I had seen another side of this legendary knight yesterday, but I now understand that Tenzin Kava was right, he was really just joking yesterday.

It wasn't until this moment that everyone was shocked: the person in front of them was the famous Tenzin Kava!

Tenzin Kawa began: "I must make it clear beforehand that whether you have been chosen by me or not, whether you have actually participated in this operation or not, you must forget the fact that you have 'seen me' – you have not seen me, and I have never been present in the village of Bakomaha. If anyone asks, I want you to answer as follows - you are ordinary alpine collaborators, this beautiful Ms. Shen is your employer, this is a risky mountaineering operation, but at the same time it pays a lot of money, and there is nothing peculiar about the whole operation, among them, of course, there will be no Tenzin kava. ”

Tenzin Kava's voice is gentle but powerful, inadvertently submissive – and I nod silently, that's what a legend should be.

It stands to reason that if Tenzin Kava said such a thing that was obviously suspicious of wanting to cover up, even if the people below didn't blow up the pot, they should have talked about it, but because of Tenzin Kava's prestige, everyone only secretly made eye contact with each other at most, and the whole scene was strangely quiet.

"I wonder if you understand and are willing to abide by the agreement I proposed?" Tenzin Kawa asked.

Of course, everyone nodded, but there were also discordant voices—

"I think I have the right to make my own choice, even if it is the Buddha, I allow the world to choose whether to believe in religion or not."

The man who said this had a loud voice, he had a red-chested face, he was as tall as a bear, he was about thirty years old, and although there was a slight timidity on his face, he dared to look directly into Tenzin Kava's eyes.

Tenzin Kawa nodded at him: "Your name is ...... Gililla, right? Great, does anyone have an opinion? ”

Another person who dared to express his displeasure was a stocky young man who looked to be in his early twenties.

"I'm sorry, sir, I have to...... The specific nature of the action must be known in order to decide whether or not to join ......" was a careful wording, "if wrongdoing is involved, I would like to withdraw now." ”

"Your name is Larry?"

The young man nodded with some trepidation, "Yes, my name is Larry, Sir." ”

Tenzin Kawa said to everyone: "Everyone, if anyone wants to quit now, please raise it immediately, I will definitely not embarrass him - but, when I start to explain the situation of this mountaineering, no one will be allowed to quit - so, does anyone want to quit?" ”

Surprisingly, Gililla, who objected at the beginning, did not move, and Larry's face looked very hesitant, but after a change of expression, he did not choose to leave, but a middle-aged mountain guide standing in the corner raised his hand: "Sir, I want to quit." ”

Tenzin Kawa commanded, "Send him downstairs." ”

Immediately, a guard stepped forward and led the middle-aged mountain guide downstairs.

And Tenzin Kava took a few steps forward and stood in front of Gillila: "Why did you stay?" ”

Gililla replied angrily, "My child is going to school soon, and I need this money." ”

Tenzin Kava nodded and came to Larry again: "What about you, why did you choose to quit like that person?" ”

At this time, the old knife leaned close to my ear and wondered, "What is he doing?" ”

I whispered, "Find someone to stand up for - watch." ”

I only heard Larry reply, "I need money too, sir, my family is sick...... I understand my choice and I will not go back. ”

Tenzin Kawa smiled noncommittally, suddenly turned his face to a person standing next to Larry, and slapped the man on the shoulder: "What about you, why don't you quit?" ”

The man was startled and replied, "I—I need money too......"

Tenzin Kawa shook his head: "But in your eyes, I only see panic, but not courage - your name is Kasri, this name does not look like a Sherpa, what ethnicity are you?" ”

"I—I'm a Songwar."

"So, you two—" Tenzin Kawa pointed to Gililla and Larry, "are you both caste-owning Sherpas?" ”

I learned later that Sherpas, like Indians, have a caste system, but there are differences, and the Sherpas mean "pure blood", not social status, because Sherpas only pass on caste to descendants of direct blood.

Both Gililla and Larry nodded scientifically, "Yes." ”

"Very well, Sherpa recognizes staying, and you, Songvar, you can go." Tenzin Kawa reached out and made a "please" gesture, pointing to the door.

Probably not expecting Tenzin Kava to refuse him so quickly, Kasri's face turned red for a while, and finally he snorted, got up and left, but as soon as he reached the door, two big men in military uniforms flashed out of the door, one on the left and one on the right.

"What are you going to do?!" Kasri was shocked and angry, and the rest of the words had changed back to Nepali.

"I'm sorry, you've already met me, and I don't believe you'll be able to keep it a secret." Tenzin Kava was expressionless and waved his hand back.

Kasri had a premonition and struggled desperately, but before he could finish his sentence, the two men in military uniforms shot like lightning, one immediately removed Gililla's chin, and the other turned to Kasri, and kicked Kasri's legs and knees!

"Click! Click! With two tooth-aching crunchs, Kasri shuddered and fell to the ground, unable to utter meaningful words in his mouth, but the screams in his throat sent tremors to the listener's heart.

All the mountain guides were so frightened that they couldn't help but retreat, and Larry, who had also expressed his objection just now, turned even pale, except for Gililla, who didn't seem to have any special expression on his face.

Kasri was dragged out like a rag.

Moments later, there were two low, high-pitched whistling sounds in the backyard, presumably the sound of a silencer-equipped gun firing.

I instantly understood that the middle-aged guide who was led downstairs before was most likely also executed!

Everyone present probably thought of the same judgment as me, and many people's faces were extremely ugly, and some even trembled.

"Confrontation will lead to conflict, I don't like conflict, do you know what I mean?"

Tenzin Kava's expression remained unchanged, as if what had just happened was a trivial matter that was not worth mentioning at all.

The old knife threw a look at me, to the effect that Tenzin Kava was really ruthless, I glanced back, and asked him to be careful not to anger others, the old knife snorted from his nose, very disdainful.

In the end, a total of 7 pure-blooded Sherpa mountain guides remained.

Instead of explaining the specific arrangements for the mountaineering operation, Tenzing Kava asked Jiajie to bring a notebook connected to a satellite signal, and asked everyone to report a bank account number first, and remitted half of the amount of remuneration agreed in the recruitment advertisement to everyone's account on the spot—the money was paid by Tenzin Kava.

As soon as the money arrived, the faces of the frightened mountain guides finally softened.

By now, they must have recognized the situation: they had already boarded the thief ship, and if they wanted to go down, they would have to end up like Kasri, and if they followed the end to the dark, at least they would have money to get.

After spending a night in this village, several of us have already discovered that there are actually very few residents in this village, and most of the houses in the village are vacant, presumably this is a base in Tenzin Kava.

Jia Jie settled the mountain guides in a house next door and let everyone rest for the night.

The next day, we climbed a convoy of eight SUVs and set off for Koang.

Although it is still early autumn, in the Himalayas, this place known as the top of the earth, the climate does not depend on the time of day on the calendar, but even changes several times a day.

Shortly after we set off, there was a snowstorm and the entire convoy had to stop for repairs.

After the blizzard, it was a continuous sunny day, and the temperature in the morning and evening was close to minus 20 degrees, and sometimes it could reach more than 30 degrees at noon.

The direct sunlight on the plateau can make you dizzy, and the light reflected from the snow-capped mountains in the distance can make you dizzy, and the road between the mountains can only pass by one car, sometimes on the ridge, sometimes on the side of the cliff, and so on.

Three days later, we came to a place called Jalta where we could no longer drive.

But it was also a base for climbing, and there was no one to challenge the Douzilari at this time, so we easily hired enough horses and mules to use them, and the people rode them, and the mules carried on with their equipment.

Without the shelter of the carriage, the four of us who entered the Himalayas for the first time finally felt the horror of the alpine climate - when the cold wind between the valleys blew down from the snow-capped mountains in the distance, it was really like a steel knife rubbing against your skin, and despite the use of moisturizer, the skin on our faces was chapped, and the complexion was much darker and redder, but it was somewhat similar to those Sherpas.