Xiangquan River is the "sacred river" in the minds of the Ali people, Tibetan Buddhist classics have described it as follows: "Mount Kailash is surrounded by four sacred beasts: a lion, a white elephant, a horse and a peacock, and they can't bear to see the Ali area suffering from drought for many years, so they spew out spring water to rescue, and finally form today's Shiquan River, Xiangquan River, Maquan River, and Peacock River." ”

Today, the legend of the four rivers is included in the murals of local Buddhist temples for future generations to admire.

The Xiangquan River Basin is the most important birthplace of ancient civilization in western Tibet, and from the map, the Xiangquan River is like a long vine of life, passing through the Ali region, making this wild land surrounded by rocks become vibrant and colorful. Left behind by the car, Zada County is the place where the most bounty from the Xiangquan River, Zada, which means "place of grass downstream" in Tibetan.

According to Ruan Feng's simple map, at dusk, Ding Jun and Fang Qing rushed to the lower reaches of the Xiangquan River, only ten kilometers away from the border, and the location was probably due north of Shibuqi Village in Diya Township, Zada County. However, they did not find any suspicious traces, so they had to temporarily set up their tents for the night.

As the night wore on, the fire outside the tent was gradually extinguished, and the sounds of people around it gradually subsided. All that came to my ears was the sound of rushing water, and beyond that, everything was silent.

Ding Jun couldn't sleep, and his mind was full of thoughts and entanglements. Eventually, he lifted his sleeping bag and stepped out of the tent, all the way to the campfire, where only coals remained.

In the depths of the distant mountains, an unknown birdsong could be heard. He added a few pieces of firewood, and the bonfire gradually rekindled, adding a touch of warmth to the river beach in the night.

He looked at the surface of the river, and the waves reflected a fluctuating cold light, which flowed with the waves, all the way downstream, and made an indescribable cry of laughter or whimpering, high and low, long and short.

"Fang Qing has already slept, right?" He smiled bitterly to himself, his gaze following a series of tumbling waves as he drifted off into the distance.

From the map, the previous section of the river is a 90-degree thrilling angle in the northwest and southwest, after which the Xiangquan River crosses the border and pours into Himachal Pradesh, India, and is renamed the Sutrej River (also translated as the Sutrej River). Further on, the river joins the China Nab River in Pakistan and joins the Panjnad River before flowing into the Indus River, the main tributary of the upper Indus River. This vein of water flows day and night, irrigating and feeding this desolate plateau adjacent to the Three Kingdoms.

The living environment in Tibet was extremely difficult, and after two days of trekking, Fang Qing's physical energy was excessively exhausted, and he suffered from intermittent altitude sickness. If you hold on any longer, I'm afraid there will be problems. Ding Jun had already made up his mind to return to Torin Temple after searching for another forty-eight hours at most.

Suddenly, in the mist on the surface of the water, a picture appeared that seemed to be real and illusory.

Ding Jun tensed, straightened up, and stared intently into the mist.

The most striking thing in the picture is a large expanse of ancient castles, with hundreds of buildings, each with a high, pointed roof, like a pointed cone, reaching into the sky. On the periphery of the castle is a thick and sturdy wall, all made of huge stone blocks, which looks very old.

Ding Jun has flipped through the atlases of all the famous buildings in modern Tibet, whether it is the Buddha Monastery or the Tusi Castle, and he has left a general impression in his mind. However, he could not think of a single building that matched what he saw, the castle and the walls were completely unfamiliar.

"What's that?" He got up, quickly entered the tent, took out a telescope from his bag, and before he had time to return to the river, he stood in front of the tent, adjusted the focus, and looked at the ancient castle through the lens.

The castle seemed to be gone, replaced by another picture of meadows, sheep, rivers and tents. This time, the picture is dynamic, a snow-white steed galloping from a distance, the horse's hooves flying, and the grass on the ground quickly separates to both sides, like two unusual waves. When the steed reached the river, its neck was tilted and its front hooves were raised high, giving it the appearance of standing upright. If it weren't too far away, Ding Jun would have been able to hear the neighing of the horse when it came to a sudden stop.

Then, someone on horseback suddenly rolled over and jumped up, and then spun freely in mid-air, landing steadily at the water's edge.

Ding Jun has practiced martial arts since he was a child, and when he saw the neat and incomparably neat skills of the rider, he secretly cheered in his heart.

The next thing he found out was that the rider was a woman with long flowing hair. The horse bowed her head to drink, and the woman faced this way, with her hands behind her back, staring for a long time.

Ding Jun felt that what she was looking at from afar seemed to be herself.

"What's going on? Is it a hallucination or a ......" he sped forward for a while, reaching the river.

The image in the mist was still there, and the woman's posture had not changed, motionless, as if it had been frozen. However, the horse was athletic, drinking water for a while, turning its head to nibble on the grass by the river, and finally dragging the reins to break free from the woman's hand and walk out of the picture alone.

Ding Jun adjusted the knob of the telescope to maximize the image, but he could never see the woman's face clearly.

"Huh? Is that...... Is that a mirage?" Fang Qing's voice sounded from behind.

The wind is blowing in the picture, the woman's hair and skirt are floating to the right, and the grass on the ground is also rippling with layers of grass.

"I think a girl with such long hair must be very beautiful." Fang Qing said.

Ding Jun didn't answer, just looked at it silently, and endless melancholy rolled in his heart. He didn't know where the castle was, or who the woman's name was or what she looked like, but he had a vague feeling that she seemed to have some mysterious connection with the target he was looking for.

"Backpackers who often come to Tibet know that the mirage is either a fairy or a witch, and ordinary monks and Tibetans will face the picture and bow to the ground, and they dare not take a breath. Usually, they wait until the mirage is completely gone before they dare to get up and leave. Fang Qing said again.

"Is that a real mirage?" Ding Jun asked.

"What do you mean?" Fang Qing asked rhetorically.

Ding Jun replied in a low voice: "I mean, is the mirage in Tibet the same principle as the one common on the seaside?"

According to scientists, mirages are often produced in the sea and deserts, and are special sights caused by the refraction of light rays as they pass through air layers with different densities in a straight direction.

"No one has ever taken this question seriously, after all, not too many scientists are willing to go to the bitter cold of Tibet to do research, but it does appear before our eyes, isn't it?" Fang Qing laughed.

The mist flowed on all sides, and the phantom on the river also slowly rose and fell with the mist, like a huge boundless ark.

If you think the network is good, share this site more, thank you readers for your support

,！