Volume 7 Chapter 18: Wenjin’s message

Tingzhu Zhuoma wants to see me?

I looked at Tashi and was a little confused, because I had never spoken to the old woman, nor had I had any communication with her. I didn’t even see her often, so why did she suddenly want to see me?

But Tashi’s expression was very serious, with an unassailable momentum, as if it was a capital crime for the person his grandmother wanted to see not to show up. He looked at me strangely and said softly, “Please come with me. It’s a very important matter.”

I froze for a moment, looking at his expression. I felt that I couldn’t refuse, so I nodded and got up. He immediately turned around and let me follow him.

Dingzhu Zhuoma’s resting place was far away from where we were, separated by parked cars, probably because we were too noisy. I walked about 200 meters before I reached their campfire. I saw that Dingzhu Zhuoma and her daughter-in-law were not sleeping. They were sitting by the campfire, with a thick blanket on the ground. The fire was burning brightly. In addition to the two of them, there was another person sitting on the blanket by the campfire. When I got closer, I was even more surprised. It turned out that the person was no one else but Mian Youbing.

Muyoubing was facing away from me, so I couldn’t see his expression, but I noticed that Dingzhu Zhuoma’s expression was a bit sullen in the flickering light of the fire. I walked over to the fire with a puzzled look on my face, thinking to myself, “This is really strange. What is this old woman doing in the middle of the night, secretly inviting us here?”

Tashi waved me to sit down, and the old woman’s daughter-in-law served me some butter tea. I thanked her and took it, then glanced at the silent oil bottle next to me and saw that he had also looked at me, and there seemed to be a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Then Tashi looked at the direction of the camp behind us, and whispered something in Tibetan to Dingzhu Zhuoma. The old woman nodded, and suddenly said to us in a very heavy accent of Mandarin: “I have a letter here for you two.”

Neither I nor Mian Youping said anything. In fact, I was a little puzzled. I thought to myself, who could it be from? But Mian Youping didn’t show any emotion at all, just lowered his head and drank his tea. I didn’t feel like asking, so I just listened.

Ding Zhuoma looked at us and said, “The person who asked me to pass on this message is called Chen Wenjin. I believe you should all know her. She asked me to pass on a message to you.”

I froze when I heard this. At first I thought I had heard it wrong, and I was about to ask, but Dingzhu Zhuoma continued, “Chen Wenjin had already anticipated this situation when she asked me to send the video. If you have followed the instructions in the notebook and come to find Tamudo, then she told me to tell you that she will wait for you at the destination for a while, but,” Tashi moved his watch in front of Dingzhu Zhuoma, and she glanced at it, ”you don’t have much time. From now on, if she can’t wait for you within ten days, she will go in by herself. Hurry up.”

I was confused. What was going on? Destination? Wenjin was waiting for us in Tamuduo? This… my brain froze, and I looked at Mian Youping. This was no small matter. Mian Youping also had a look of surprise on his face.

But it only took a few seconds for him to return to normal. He looked up at Dingzhu Zhuoma and asked, “When did she tell you this?”

Dingzhu Zhuoma said coldly, “I only pass on messages, I don’t know anything else, and you shouldn’t ask either. There are too many people here.” As she said this, we all reflexively looked in the direction of the camp.

Muyoubing frowned slightly and asked again, “Is she okay?”

Dingzhu Zhuoma smiled strangely and said, “If you hurry, you’ll find out.” As she said this, she waved her hand, and her daughter-in-law next to her helped her to her feet and walked towards her tent.

I stood up to stop her, but was stopped by Tashi, who shook his head to indicate that it was useless.

However, at this time, Dingzhuoma turned her head and said to us, “Oh, there is one more thing I forgot to tell you.”

We all looked up at her, and she said, “She also told me to tell you that it is among you.

After she finished, she continued to turn around and enter her tent, leaving me and Mianyouping sitting in front of the campfire.

I looked at him, but he was staring at the fire, not knowing what to think. I asked him, “What is going on? Why did this message come to us two?”

He didn’t answer, closed his eyes, and tried to stand up.

Seeing his attitude, I suddenly had a lot of questions rushing to my head, and I was a little out of control. I pressed him down and said to him, “You are not allowed to leave!”

He turned his head and looked at me lightly, and really didn’t leave. He sat down and looked at me.

His behavior was very unusual. I thought he would leave, and I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say. He looked at me and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

I was furious and said, “I have something to ask you. You can’t run away anymore. You have to tell me.”

He turned his face back and looked at the fire, saying, “I won’t answer.”

I was furious and yelled, “Damn it! Why? What can’t you say? You’ve been playing with us, and you won’t even give us a reason. What do you think we are?

He suddenly turned his face and looked at me. His face turned cold. “Don’t you think you’re strange? Why should I tell you about my own business?”

I was speechless for a moment, and then I thought, yes, this is indeed his business, and he has no need to tell me at all.

The atmosphere became very awkward, and I didn’t know what to say.

After a long silence, Muxiyoubing took a sip of the already cold butter tea and suddenly said to me, “Wu Xie, why are you here? In fact, you shouldn’t get involved. Your third uncle has already done a lot for you. The water here is not for you to get involved in.”

I suddenly froze for a moment, and subconsciously counted it. Forty-one characters. He actually said such a long sentence. This is too rare. I looked at his expression, but I couldn’t see anything.

“I don’t want to either. In fact, my request is very simple. As long as I know what’s going on, I’ll be satisfied. But everyone is keeping me in the dark. I can’t help but get involved.” I said to him.

Muyoubing looked at me and said, ‘Have you ever thought about why they don’t want you to know the truth?’

I looked at Muyoubing’s eyes and suddenly realized that he was talking to me very seriously. I couldn’t help but be surprised. I thought to myself, ‘This guy must be on the wrong medicine.’

But then again, maybe this time he can tell me something. I immediately looked serious and shook my head: “I haven’t thought about it, and I don’t know where to think about it.”

He said lightly, “In fact, sometimes lying to someone is to protect him. Some truths may be too much for him to bear.”

“Whether he can bear it or not should be judged by himself,” I said. “Maybe others don’t want you to protect them, they just want to die quickly? Do you understand the pain of not knowing anything?”

Muyoubing was silent. The two of us stayed quiet for a while, and then he said to me, “I understand.” Then he looked at me and said, “I understand. For me, I want to know more than you do, but I don’t have anyone like you to ask.”

I suddenly remembered that he had lost his memory, and I wanted to slap myself. I thought to myself, “I shouldn’t compare myself to him, but I’m comparing myself to him.”

He continued, “I am a person without a past or a future. All I do is try to find a connection between me and the world. Where did I come from? Why am I here?” He looked at his hands and said, “Can you imagine that if someone like me disappeared in this world, no one would notice, as if I had never existed in this world, leaving no trace at all? I sometimes look in the mirror and often wonder if I really exist, or if I’m just a phantom of someone else.”

I was speechless and thought for a while before saying, “It’s not as exaggerated as you say. If you disappeared, at least I would notice.”

He shook his head, not knowing what he meant, and then stood up and said to me, “I may tell you about my own business when I know the answer, but you won’t get an answer by holding me. Now, all of this is a mystery to me, and I think you have enough mysteries, you don’t need any more.” Then he walked back.

“Can you at least tell me one thing?” I called out.

He stopped, turned his head and looked at me.

“Why did you sneak into the bronze gate?” I asked him.

After listening to him, he thought for a moment and said, “I was just doing what Wang Zanghai did back then.”

“What did you see inside?” I asked. “What is behind that huge door?”

He turned his head and patted the sand off his body, and said to me, “Inside, I saw the ultimate, the ultimate of all things.”

“Ultimate?” I was at a loss, and I wanted to ask him. He smiled at me lightly and waved his hand to stop me from asking. He said to me, “In addition, I am on your side.” He walked away slowly, leaving me alone. I fell to the sand and felt a terrible headache.