Volume 5 Chapter 1: The Five Holy Mountains

After escaping the snowstorm, we set off again. We found Aning and his horse team at the foot of a slope, and also discovered the mysterious snow-capped mountain in the shadow play of the underwater tomb, which suddenly appeared at the end of our field of vision. Just as we were asking the guide how to get there, Shunzi shook his head and said that we absolutely could not get there.

“Why?” I asked, wondering, “Didn’t you say that you could go to every one of these 800-mile snow-capped mountains? How come you can’t go up this one?

Shunzi explained, “That mountain is called Sansheng Mountain. Only a very small part of it is on our side. Above the snow line, it’s all on the border of North Korea. We can’t go in.”

The fat guy paused for a moment and asked, “Damn! No way! Sansheng Mountain, is it the first snow-capped mountain that General Peng climbed when he was fighting for the United States and helping North Korea, and when the volunteer army’s logistics unit was building the lifeline after the war?

Shunzi nodded: “Yes, that’s the mountain. It’s over 3,400 meters above sea level. If you climb over it, you’ll be in the hilly region of North Korea.”

I heard this and thought to myself, “This is bad.”

Anyone who has served in the military or is interested in modern Chinese history knows that the three most difficult borderlines in the world are the one between India and Pakistan, the one between Israel and Lebanon, and the one between China and North Korea, which is only 14 kilometers long.

In fact, China and North Korea have always been friendly countries. Those who are familiar with the situation know that it is very easy to cross the border on the western slope of Changbai Mountain. There are not many checkpoints. Around 1996, when the Changbai Mountain forest area in China was in decline, many people often crossed the border to dig for a type of Chinese herbal medicine called “high mountain rhodiola” to make money. Although North Korean soldiers also caught them, the Chinese ran away and fought guerrilla warfare. In addition, many people who came to steal the herbs brought cigarettes and alcohol, so they could use them to escape if they were caught. So after a while, this border on the western slope had become a dead letter.

Only this section of the border on the Three Saints Mountain was still tightly sealed. The reason is unknown, but it is said that this section of the border is the old border between China and North Korea. The reason is that this section of the border is the old border between China and North Korea. The reason is that this section of the border is the old border between China and North Korea. The reason is that this section of the border is the old border between China and North Korea. The reason is that this section of the border is the old border between China and North Korea. The reason is that this section of the border is the old border between China and North Korea. The reason is that this section of the border is the old border between China and North Korea. The reason is that this section of the border is the old border between China and North Korea. The reason is that this section of the border is the old

Now our food reserves don’t allow us to go around the high-altitude border sections, so the only way to keep up with the schedule is to go straight from the Sansheng Pass to the China-North Korea border and then into the snow-capped mountains.

Then our problem is not some mysterious and tricky skills or sticky rice dumplings, but the bullets from the Type 81 automatic rifles and the regular army, which can be as few as a platoon or as many as a company.

The other people knew more or less about the situation at Mount Sansheng, and they all looked worried. We exchanged glances and thought about what to do next.

Pan Zi comforted us, “Don’t worry, there must be a way to cross the border secretly. Shunzi, who served in the army here, must know. We can convince him to take us there, and just give him a little extra money.”

He went to ask Shunzi, but Shunzi shook his head firmly and said, “No, it’s impossible. There are only a few roads that can go up the mountain, all of them are high hills, with searchlights every ten meters. From the foot of the mountain, it’s all a military restricted area. Although there aren’t many people, the sentry posts are very dense. Not to mention crossing the border, it’s impossible to get close to our own sentry posts. When I was in the army, I was ordered to shoot into the air at any strangers who came into view to warn you. If you don’t retreat, the second shot will be aimed directly at your legs, without any reason.”

The fat man asked, ‘Can we buy some fruit and pretend to be civilians to express our condolences?’

Shunzi smiled and said, ”Boss, you’re too good at telling jokes. Of course not. First, this is not a place where you can fish in troubled waters. Second, where can we find fruit here? It’s freezing cold. If we carry fruit to the snow line of Changbai Mountain, it’s more suspicious than going empty-handed.

The fat man said with a sigh, “So what do we do? Can’t we go over this broken line? I don’t believe it. The Macedonian defense line has been broken, how can this be stronger than the Macedonian defense line? Are you not satisfied with the money? Just tell me how much you need.

Shunzi scratched his head in embarrassment: “Oh, it’s not a matter of money. If there was a way, I wouldn’t be having trouble with money. If you wanted to go to North Korea, I wouldn’t have taken you this way. Now that we’re here, I really have no choice.”

Shunzi’s words left no room for negotiation. We were all a little surprised, but this area is not rich, and this border is not a big crime. If there really was a way, Shunzi wouldn’t have kept it from us.

Hua and the monk had no idea what to do, so they went to Chen Pi A Si and asked the old man what he thought.

In fact, it was a matter of whether to continue walking or to go back. If they continued walking, they would have to take a detour around the other border defense line, as Shunzi had said, which would probably double the time, and they would have to climb the mountain with an empty stomach for the last few days. If they did not continue walking, they would have to go back and rest, and start over again, which meant that all the hard work they had done in the past few days would be in vain.

I myself tend to continue walking. I don’t know the purpose of Uncle San’s deployment of such an urgent operation. A-ning and their team have put a lot of pressure on me, and I hope to see Uncle San as soon as possible. Of course, at that time, I had such thoughts, but I had no idea of the pain of climbing a snowy mountain in the midst of hunger.

Chen Pi A-si sighed, obviously not expecting this to be such a hassle. These old Changsha bosses, who are the top dogs in their own field, are willing to do anything from murder to arson, but they wilt when it comes to things that involve officialdom. So he thought for a long time, but said nothing, and his brows grew tighter and tighter.

I was a little anxious, and looked at the stuffy oil bottle, wanting to ask for his opinion, but he didn’t participate in our discussion at all. He just looked at the distant snow-capped mountains, not knowing what he was thinking about, as if none of this had anything to do with him.

After discussing it for a long time, no one could come up with a solution. Just when we were at our wits’ end, Ye Cheng called out to us.

We stopped talking and looked down the mountain. We saw that Aning’s horse team had started moving again. Judging from the direction they were heading, their goal was undoubtedly the Three Sacred Mountains.

A lot of supplies were unloaded from the horses and discarded in the snow. Probably to reduce weight and speed up movement, the snow-covered ground at the foot of the mountain looked messy.

Ye Cheng said curiously, “Strange, don’t these guys know that the border is ahead? What does their guide eat? If it’s true like Shunzi said, If they carry so many weapons, aren’t they just giving the enemy a target practice?”

I shook my head and said it was impossible. I knew the habits of their company. They must have a local guide, and maybe more than one. These professional private survey companies are best at research and public relations. They know the situation here better than we do, and they must have set a fixed route before coming here.

The fat man doubted Shunzi’s business ability and asked him how to explain this. Is there a route that someone else knows that he doesn’t know?

Shunzi squinted and said, “There is only one possibility for this route. They want to go around the other mountains from the front pass, then bypass the border and turn back to Sansheng Mountain in North Korea. Although the risk is also great, it is much better than attacking the border defense line. Their team is larger than ours, and if they have enough food or if the North Koreans can make connections, they do have the strength to make a long trek.”

“What should we do? Should we follow them?” Ye Cheng turned to ask Chen Pi A Si.

Chen Pi A Si shook his head and said nothing. Suddenly he pointed to the other side, to a small snow-capped mountain on the edge of Sansheng Mountain, and asked Shunzi, “What mountain is that?”

Shunzi took out his binoculars and looked at it, saying, “That is Xiaosheng Snow Mountain. That mountain is in our country. Sansheng Mountain and Xiaosheng Mountain, together with Dasheng Mountain on the other side, are collectively known as the Five Saints.”

Chen Pi A Si asked again, “Can we go from here to this Xiaosheng Mountain?”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone was taken aback and didn’t know what the old man was thinking. Shunzi was also a little surprised and said, “The problem is that it’s not a problem. It’s a day’s journey, and it’s far from the guard post. The scenery is good, but the road is not easy to walk.”

Chen Pi Ashi patted the snow off his pants, stood up, and said to Shunzi, “Okay, just take us there.”

Everyone was confused, and Hua Monk immediately reminded him, “What’s wrong? Old man, it’s a waste of time to go there. We haven’t had food for so long…”

Chen Pi A Si waved his hand and pointed to the mountains on the side, saying, ‘The mountains here are long and winding, covered in snow all year round and surrounded on three sides. It’s a rare three-headed dragon. According to the great geomancy, this is called ’the group of dragons sitting’. These three mountains are all dragon heads, which is very suitable for group burials. If the imperial mausoleum is on the cliff of the middle mountain, the two small dragon heads there should have the tombs of the empress or the prime minister.

The pattern of the three-headed dragon is very peculiar. The three heads must be connected. Otherwise, the three dragons will fly to their own heavens, and the dragon will have no direction and will be in a mess. The descendants buried here will kill each other. Therefore, if there is a tomb, there must be a secret passage under the tomb that is connected to the main tomb in the middle.

There are many ancient tombs of three-headed dragons in history. For example, the three tombs of the Three Sons of the Warring States Period, which were excavated in 1987, are three related tombs that are located on three peaks of the same mountain range. The two tombs on either side originally had passageways about half a meter in diameter that led to the main tomb in the middle. Unfortunately, when they were excavated, these passageways had already collapsed. The archaeological team did not know whether these passageways were really connected or just a symbolic decoration.

We looked along his hand and saw three snow-capped mountains stretching to the end of the sky and earth, indistinguishable from the surrounding snow-capped mountains.

After Chen Pi A Si finished speaking, he glanced at Mian Youping and asked him, “Young man, am I right?”

Mian Youping, for the first time, reacted to someone else’s question, turned around and glanced at Chen Pi A Si, but said nothing, and then turned back to continue looking at the distant snow-capped mountains.

We didn’t understand the big head feng shui, and we were confused by what we heard. We felt a little strange, but since the old man said so, and Mian Youping seemed to agree, it was best not to doubt this set of rules.

When we got down to the place where An Ning and the others had stayed, we saw abandoned luggage scattered all over the snow-covered ground. Many of them had been ransacked, and there was no food left inside. It was clear that all the equipment had been re-screened, and some useless or duplicate items had been discarded.

Fatty even found a few guns, but the bullets were all taken out and only the empty gun bodies were left. Fatty was so fond of the gun that he wanted to take it with him, but Shunzi stopped him, saying that if you carry a gun, you won’t be able to talk to the border guards here. If you don’t have a gun, they can help us get through it. Fatty was so sad.

After passing the flat slope where Aning had stayed, there was a mountain valley behind us. We saw the tracks of Aning’s horse team extending deep into the valley.

We also took a rest here. Shunzi led us to the Xiaosheng Mountain Pass in the other direction. Soon, we walked into a white world. All we could see were endless snow, rare bare rocks and ice cones.

Changbai Mountain is probably the only snow-capped mountain in the world that you can walk on. Compared to the glaciers in Kunlun Mountain, the environment here is much better. There are no huge ice caps with crevasses, so there is no need to worry about sudden breaks under your feet. However, the glaciers in Changbai Mountain are also typical ancient glaciers. The mountains are not well connected, and there are many ice-eroded landforms, such as ice caves, giant ice bowls, and bottomless ice wells. Anyway, I didn’t learn much about the snow mountain landscape, so I can’t explain it. I just know that often when I walk, there is no way ahead, and the precipice is a thousand feet high.

We had to go around it or climb over it, and it was also very thrilling to walk. We walked for nearly a day before we reached the destination, which seemed to be a straight line that we could reach in a few hours. When we reached the valley of Xiaosheng Snow Mountain, it was already evening.

We pitched camp on a snow slope about 500 to 600 meters above the valley and ate something hot. The starry sky at high altitude was incredibly bright and clear. Chen Pi A-si used a compass to roughly determine the route for the next day, using his inner astronomical compass in conjunction with the stars in the sky.

Everyone was tired from the long walk, but it was still early, so Fatso asked Shunzi if there were any hot springs nearby.

Shunzi also missed the hot springs, but he said that the altitude was already too high here, and he didn’t come here often, so it would be a bit difficult to find a hot spring. If you get bored, you can go around and look for it, and you can also go see the place where the ancient ancestors were buried in ice, which is more than a kilometer away from where we camped.

Those who dig graves always have a special affection for corpses. Anyway, we were all curious to hear about dead people.

Chen Pi A-si was exhausted, so Hua Monk took care of him, while the others followed Shunzi to the valley on the left side of the camp. After walking for less than half an hour, they came to a cliff, and below was the ice valley, which was pitch black and they could see nothing.

Shunzi found a good place to stop and threw a cold firework down.

At the bottom of the ice valley, there were indeed many black shadows curled up in a ball, densely packed. Some could clearly be seen as human shapes, while others were just small black dots.

Shunzi said that in ancient times, it was popular for villagers in the mountains to bury their dead in ice. Even now, sometimes some old people come here to pay their respects. The glacier here is getting thicker every year, so the bodies in the innermost layer, which are almost invisible, are probably thousands of years old, while the outermost layer is only a few decades old.

I roughly counted the black dots I could see and found that there were thousands of them. Obviously, this frozen cemetery has accumulated countless dead people over thousands of years. There should be other ice valleys like this in Xiaosheng Valley, so isn’t this snow-capped mountain a giant tomb?

“Among these corpses, could there be any Dongxia slaves who were working on the construction of the Linggong at the time?“ The fat man suddenly asked.

”You never know.” Mian Youping looked into the depths of the ice valley, at the gradually fading cold light, not knowing what he was thinking.

The bodies were buried in the ice, and it was impossible to dig them up. We looked around, but it was boring, so we went to look for a hot spring. We did find a small one, and a few of us washed our feet and faces in the hot spring, and returned to the camp feeling warm all over. When we told the situation, the monk Hua was envious.

On the snowy mountain, it is strange that people feel sleepy when they are warm, and they also feel sleepy when they are freezing to death. The dinner was noodles, and after eating, the drowsiness hit. It was windy outside, so we all went to bed early to rest in our sleeping bags. Shunzi was on the first shift. We were a large group, so we didn’t need to rotate people through the day. Today, the three people on shift were Shunzi, Langfeng, and Panzi.

I was very tired and fell asleep quickly. I thought I would sleep a sweet dream, but I didn’t sleep for an hour. Hua, the monk, the fat man, Langfeng, and Panzi all started snoring at the same time, one after another, like a symphony. I woke up from a nightmare.

I couldn’t sleep anymore. It was uncomfortable to lie down. I climbed out of the tent and said to Shunzi, “I’ll switch with you. I’ll take your shift and you go to sleep for a while.”

Shunzi was smoking and staring at the huge black mountain in the moonlight. When he heard that I wanted to change shifts, he shook his head and said no, he had taken our money, it would be bad if he couldn’t do this.

I said that’s fine, took out a cigarette and asked him for a light. Then I added some fuel to the stove and started chatting with him.

Talking to the guide is a great way to learn more about the area. I told him a lot about the ancient tombs, and he was very interested. He also told me a lot about the local customs and interesting things about the mountains and forests. I didn’t feel sleepy at all, and the two of us became more and more energetic as we chatted.

Later, we talked about this expedition. Shunzi told me that he was a border guard for seven years, but four of those years were in the reserves. Before he was a soldier, he was a herbalist, so he was very familiar with the snow-capped mountains. His comrades all called him “A Langcai,” which means “son of the snow-capped mountains.” So we can rest assured that we are following him. There aren’t many people who can bring people into the mountains like him.

I doubted him in my heart, thinking that he must be bragging, but seeing that he was serious, I didn’t want to ruin his fun, so I just listened to him.

As we chatted, the conversation became more and more lively, and we felt that the distance between us had also been shortened. At this time, Shunzi suddenly asked me, “Mr. Wu… actually, what exactly are you doing here in the mountains? Can you tell me?”

I was stunned when I heard this, and I didn’t know how to answer. The two of us fell silent again.

What is our purpose? How can I say it? If I say that we are looking for the Genting Palace, can you believe it? It’s not good enough to say that I’m here to rob graves, and it’s not good enough to say that I’m here for tourism. I thought about it for a long time, and finally sighed: “What do you care? I can’t tell you.”

Shunzi seemed to have anticipated my answer, and smiled: “It’s okay, I was just asking casually.”

I felt uncomfortable, because I didn’t want to lie to him, so I casually changed the subject and talked about something else. I asked him why he had become a guide after being a herbalist.

It was more profitable to collect herbs in Changbai Mountain than to be a guide, which was why there were so few guides in the snow mountains.

Shunzi looked at me and suddenly said something that made me almost vomit blood.

He said, “I’m not a professional guide. After I retired from the army, I’ve been collecting herbs. It’s rare for me to take people up the mountain. I don’t go so deep. I usually turn back at the side of the girl’s lake. This is the first time I’ve brought a group in.”

I laughed and said, “Don’t joke around.”

“Really, Mr. Wu, I’m telling you the truth. In this season, no professional guide will take you into the snow-capped mountains. If I don’t take you in, you’ll have to come in on your own.” He smiled at me, ”It’s too dangerous. If it weren’t for the Buddha’s blessing, we would have died. It’s already a miracle that we made it here without missing anyone. But don’t worry, although I haven’t brought anyone in before, I’ve walked through here many times and I’m familiar with it. Nothing will happen.”

He spoke very seriously, and it was clear that he wasn’t joking. I cursed in my heart and said, “If it’s so dangerous, why did you bring us here? Do you really need the money that badly?”

Shunzi looked at me meaningfully and said, “Money is also a factor, and there is another reason… It’s because of my father. He… disappeared ten years ago. At that time, he also took a group of people into the snow-capped mountains, which was similar to the route you were going to take. But in the end, the entire group disappeared in the mountains. I vaguely remember that the tourists who were looking for him at the time were very similar to your outfits were very similar, and it was also winter, and they also had to go up the mountain. So when I saw you, I suddenly felt that I had to follow you. First, I didn’t want you to die in the mountains like my father. Second, I had a very naive idea that maybe your purpose of entering the mountains was the same as that of the group ten years ago, and that maybe I could find out what happened to my father. Of course, this is just my imagination.” He smiled self-deprecatingly, ‘My father may have simply been caught in an avalanche and buried in this snowy mountain.’

I realized, ‘So you asked us why we were going into the mountains…?’ Shunzi nodded sheepishly, ”Hey, you don’t understand. It’s the feeling of knowing that your father is sleeping in this snowy mountain, but you can’t see him.”

I didn’t expect that Shunzi had such a delicate heart, and I couldn’t help but admire him a little. I had always thought that he was just an ordinary tour guide with a glib tongue.

But the tourists who disappeared in the snow ten years ago were dressed just like us. Could they also be looking for the Palace of Heaven on the Clouds? I felt a chill in my heart. But then I immediately dismissed my own thoughts. No, it couldn’t be. There are so many places in Changbai Mountain that can make a person disappear. It’s impossible for there to be such a coincidence. His father may have encountered some accident and died in the mountains.

Shunzi saw that I was silent and thought that I had asked a bit too much. He said to me, “Mr. Wu, I think you are different from the others, so I am telling you this. I hope you don’t tell anyone else about this. I am afraid they will have concerns.”

I thought to myself that I definitely wouldn’t tell anyone that this was the first time you had brought someone here. Not to mention what Chen Pi A Si would do to you, the fat man might even beat you to death.

So I nodded and agreed. At this time, Lang Feng, the second shift, walked out of the tent, yawned, and was surprised to see us two chatting. Shunzi packed up, took a leak in the snow, and went to bed. Lang Feng and I had nothing to say, so we also said hello and went to bed.

In the deafening snoring, I was half asleep and half awake, dreaming of Shunzi’s father ten years ago, a bearded Shunzi leading a group of people up the mountain. Strangely, in my dream, I always felt that I had seen those people somewhere before, and I couldn’t sleep well.

The next day, before dawn, we began to follow the mountain range and continued to climb.

From Shunzi’s questions yesterday, he should have known that we were not ordinary hikers. At the very least, no tourist would be so desperate to get to the top. But we couldn’t care less. After all, he was a Changbai Mountain guide, and he was already prepared to receive all kinds of mysterious groups. There were at least 800 poachers, Korean pilgrims, and illegal drug-picking people here every year. Everyone had secrets, so let him guess what we were doing.

The road on the mountainside is even more difficult to walk on. In many places, the road is slanted, and above our heads are the snow-capped mountains, which are extremely prone to avalanches and we cannot speak loudly. The snow on the road is too thick. The snow layer that has been there for thousands of years is almost empty underneath. Sometimes people will suddenly be buried in the snow, and they won’t be able to get out without help. We can only carefully use long ice picks to dig out the footprints, as if we were walking through a minefield.

The fat man was the fastest, which was related to his previous experience of snow exploration. He walked in the front all the way. Because of the high altitude, our tongues began to numb. Except for Chen Pi A Si who occasionally changed the direction of travel, there was only the sound of gasping for breath in the end. The whole world seemed to have no life.

After passing the snowy road on the mountainside, we entered a frozen zone with giant snow slopes on both sides. Here, the sun never shines, and the snow is frozen. The slope of the mountain gets steeper and steeper, and the temperature is extremely low. Inside, we finally saw the location of the Dragon Head Treasure Cave, which is a steep cliff with an almost 60-degree angle to the mountain, covered with snow.

We continued to climb, one after the other, trying to stagger our movements as much as possible, and began to use ice picks and ice hammers to climb the steep slope.

This small holy mountain is not one of the 16 peaks of Changbai, so we didn’t pay much attention to it when we came, but it is not an unknown small peak. This peak and the opposite Da Sheng peak are far apart, forming a valley in the middle, standing in front of the three holy snow mountains, like two gatekeepers. This landscape is called the heavenly soldiers guarding the fairy gate.

From the perspective of feng shui, the two mountains of Xianmen are like tigers and dragons, swallowing the world. If it weren’t for the border between China and Korea, which has been in constant dispute, this would certainly be a place where the tombs of the royal family and nobles would accumulate. Just now, even someone of my level could see the peculiar trend of the mountains here, but with a strong dragon spirit, we are even more confident in our assumption that there are tombs on the mountain.

Climbing steep slopes is different from walking, and it consumes more physical energy. After Chen Pi A Si had climbed for a while, his physical strength had reached its limit and he could no longer climb. Lang Feng had to carry the old man on his back, and we walked even more slowly.

After another three hours of trekking, we finally reached the snowy slope. At this point, I had completely lost my mind and was completely relying on my reflexes to follow the fat man.

The fat guy arrived first, and his physical strength was so good that he had already reached his limit. After stepping on the snow, he was a little delirious and pretended to make a footprint with great effort. He opened his hands and said to us, “This is only a small step for me, but for the gold-panning officer, it is a leap forward.” Then he fell into the snow and didn’t move.

I was almost exhausted, my legs began to weaken involuntarily, and I began to slide down. Pan Zi tried to pull me up, but I couldn’t muster the strength to do so after a few pulls, and he himself fell to the ground.

I used an ice pick to hit the snow hard, which was when I got stuck. The others also fell to the ground, panting heavily and looking around.

This snow slope is a huge area, and there is almost no boundary between the left and right. If it weren’t for Chen Pi A Si’s guidance, you would never feel anything special. The snow-covered surface is very flat, with only a few black bare rocks protruding. The Three Saints Snow Mountain was now on our left, much closer than it had been the day before. The top of the holy mountain was covered with pure white snow, and the entire huge mountain, like a monster, stood tall and proud. The white top and black rocks made it seem even steeper than the other peaks around it. Due to the setting sun, a strange pale blue mist shrouded the entire mountain, and the scene was very moving.

Ye Cheng panted, and said with emotion, “It’s so beautiful. No wonder they say that Penglai is not as beautiful as Changbai. It’s been a long climb, but it was worth it.”

The others were all rough people, but they were also enchanted by the beauty of the sunset around them, especially in the snow-capped mountains. The feeling of standing under the sky was even more amazing.

Just as I was about to take out my camera and take a picture of the scenery here, suddenly the fat man patted me and asked me to look at his side.

I looked in the direction of his finger and saw that the bottle on the side had already knelt down and bowed very respectfully towards the Three Saints Snow Mountain in the distance. A faint, very sad expression appeared on his originally expressionless face.