White Bone Monkey King

Jin An seems to have become accustomed to people mistaking goats for white yaks along the way.

After he explained a few words casually,

He smiled and said: "The weather on the plateau is changeable. It is still sunny during the day, but the weather suddenly changes at night. We saw a suitable place to spend the night here during the day, so we thought we would have to travel a little longer to find a shelter from the wind and have a good night's rest. Unexpectedly, it turned out just after dark. It turned into a blizzard that could blow away the cows and horses, but fortunately, we finally arrived safely without any danger."

"excuse me."

"Is there a place for cows and horses to rest here?"

Jin An raised his hand to press the big-eared winter hat on his head, and the three of them stood at the door, blocking half of the wind and snow outside.

These tea merchants confirmed that Jin'an and the other three were living people, not snowmen from the snowy mountains. They were very polite. Not only did they take the initiative to tell the cows and horses where to rest, but the tea merchants also took the initiative to give up their seats to the three of them and poured several bowls of butter tea for Jin'an. The three of them warmed up.

"It must be freezing cold if you drive at night in this horrible weather. Let's have a bowl of butter tea to drive away the cold. I didn't expect to meet us Han Taoist priests in a place as far west as Tubo. I've seen too many red-robed lamas. It's so cold. Seeing you, the little Taoist priest, gave me a sense of intimacy as if meeting an old friend in a foreign land, as if even the ice and snow had warmed up a bit." The tea merchant greeted Jin An and the others in a familiar manner.

And this tea merchant was the middle-aged plateau red tea merchant who swore frankly that he had seen the white yak, the mythical beast of the snow-capped mountains, twenty years ago.

"Then we won't bother you too much."

"Master Yiyun, Qi Bo, then let's sit here."

Jin An and the other three sat down in the corner.

This is an ancient city ruins in the wild. Naturally, there are no tables, chairs or benches. People who want to escape the wind and snow here just find a place to sit on the ground and make a fire with cow dung cakes.

Using cow dung cakes to make a fire is not only long-lasting and difficult to extinguish, but can also bake cakes. It is the best fuel in alpine areas with thin air.

The biggest disadvantage is that the smell is stronger in a closed environment.

At first, Jin'an, Yiyun Gongzi, Qi Bo, and Goat couldn't stand the smell of roasted cow dung. Later, they got used to it after smelling it for ten days and a half. They felt that the cow dung cake was quite fragrant and had a pleasant smell. The fragrance of herbs and earth is something you won’t get used to if you don’t smell it for a day.

After a brief self-introduction, Jin An knew the other party's name, Zhao Jinchuan, from Wuzhou Prefecture. Jin An was also from Wuzhou Prefecture. Such a conversation immediately brought the two of them closer.

"Taoist Master Jin'an, no wonder I felt like old friends at first sight. From the first time I met you, I felt like I was meeting my relatives. It turns out that we are really close friends."

Zhao Jinchuan took out the skin bag containing highland barley wine and said he would drink three glasses with Jin An.

Jin An was also overjoyed to see people from Wuzhou Prefecture here. He had been away from Wuzhou Prefecture for more than half a year. He also missed many friends in Wuzhou Prefecture and the Wu Zang Taoist Temple. He quickly asked about the Wu Zang Taoist Temple. thing.

It's just that although Zhao Jinchuan is from Wuzhou Prefecture, he is not from the prefecture. Moreover, he has been away from home all year round and has spent most of his life doing business on the Tea Horse Road. He regrets that he has never heard of the Five Zang Taoist Temple and cannot answer.

Although there is no news about Wu Zang Taoist Temple, I heard that everything in Wuzhou Fucheng is in order. The impact of the Yinyi River flood in September last year has long passed. Fucheng is still as prosperous as before, with merchant ships and passenger ships coming and going. Weaving, everything is as usual, Jin'an is finally settled.

As long as there is nothing wrong with Fucheng, and the Five Zang Taoist Temple has Lord Fu Yin, General Duwei, and the three great families taking care of him, he will definitely be able to settle down well.

While the two were talking, Qibo beside him took out a cloth bag and then took out some cow dung cakes to light the bonfire.

Then he took out some pots and pans from another cloth bag, burned the snow water, and made butter tea.

Vegetation in the snow-covered plateau is sparse, and there are not many edible vegetables. The Tibetan people mainly focus on animal husbandry and like to eat meat, and tea can "attack the greasy smell of meat and wash away the sleepiness all night long", so these butter teas have become essential nutrients for the human body. A good substitute.

Because tea is not produced in the high-altitude cold zone, the Tea-Horse Ancient Road started from Wuzhou Prefecture, passed through the central and southern regions of Tubo, passed the Gala Kunlun Pass, and reached Ghaznavida, Tianzhu, Seljuk and other places. Merchants exchanged Han tea, silk, and fine crafts from these frontier places for a large amount of sheepskins, cowhide, card mats, bamboo mats, cordyceps, matsutake, precious medicinal materials, gold, good horses and other items, earning profits from the price difference between the two places. huge.

In particular, most of Kangding's war horses came from the Tubo region.

Therefore, if you want to survive in alpine areas, this butter tea is a must-have daily tea for local people.

After Qi Bo cooked butter tea, he took out beef jerky and horse meat jerky. After roasting them, he gave them to Jin An and Yiyun Master to eat with the most valuable ginseng and cordyceps in the snowy mountains to replenish their bodies with calories.

Although Mr. Yiyun is a painter and does not need these things, he still has to put on a simple disguise in front of others.

The division of labor between the three is very clear. Jin An will inquire about information from fellow villager Zhao Jinchuan, Qi Bo will be responsible for logistics, and Mr. Yiyun will pretend to be an individual.

Jin An started eating Cordyceps beef jerky and continued chatting with Zhao Jinchuan while eating: "I never expected to meet so many people in the Gobi desert in the snow season. This place is located in the far west of Tubo, a few steps away from the Ancient Tea Horse Road. Separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, how come there are so many tea merchants running to this no-man’s land? Is there any business to be done here?”

Unexpectedly, Zhao Jinchuan was stunned by Jin An's question.

"Priest Jin An, didn't you come here from Wuzhou Prefecture? Why didn't you know about this along the way?" Zhao Jinchuan looked at Jin An in surprise.

Jin An frowned slightly: "How do you say this?"

This time, Zhao Jinchuan looked Jin An up and down again, and then asked cautiously: "Taoist Master Jin An, didn't you enter Tubo via the Tea Horse Road that our caravan often takes?"

Jin An frowned again: "Indeed not."

Zhao Jinchuan was surprised: "Could it be Xiang Xiong who came from Xizhou Prefecture via Shugu? But that doesn't make sense. If he really came from there, how could he not know that such a big thing happened here."

"The three of us left Yangguan in the west and entered the Western Regions. We crossed the Snowy Mountains from Zhu Jubo and entered Xiangxiong in Tubo." Jin An gave a brief introduction.

Then he asked curiously: "What big thing is the big thing you just mentioned?"

"What! Did you enter Tubo from Zhu Jubo of the Western Region?" Zhao Jinchuan jumped up from the ground in surprise.

This Zhao Jinchuan is a very nice person and knows him well, but he is not good at it. He always likes to be surprised.

"Awesome! I, Zhao Jinchuan, admire very few people in my life, and you three, Taoist Priest Jin'an, are very few people I, Zhao Jinchuan, admire in my life!"

"Not only have you passed through most of the Western Region, but you have also crossed the snow-capped mountains from the most difficult way. The key is that it is still the snow season when the wind and snow are the strongest!"

Hearing Zhao Jinchuan's shout, everyone who was roasting, eating meat and joking in the ancient city's Shenyu also looked over in surprise, and some inquiries and explanations were indispensable.

After finally dealing with the others, Jin An's mouth was dry. This time he was not polite. He took the highland barley wine from Zhao Jinchuan and drank it hard, drinking half of the highland barley wine in the bag at once.

Zhao Jinchuan waved his hand and said generously that this highland barley wine was given to you, Taoist priest Jin'an. If you still want it, he still has a lot of it in his cavalry team.

These highland barley wines were not valuable locally. He could get a lot of tea by just taking out some of the tea he brought from Kangding State.

He was more interested in how Jin An and the others crossed the Western Region along the way, and how they crossed the snowy mountains that were too close to heaven and too close to hell in the bad weather during the snow season.

That's really a look of adoration.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Jin An came to Tubo, he would develop new believers for the Five Zang Taoist Temple.

Qi Bo, who was poking the cow dung cakes in the fire with rocks, looked at Jin An with interest. Jin An showed a dumbfounded expression: "We will talk about this later. First, let's talk about what big thing happened here?"

Speaking of this matter, Zhao Jinchuan rarely showed a serious expression on his face and said: "This matter has to start from last year. Probably in February and March of last year, a large avalanche occurred on a snow peak in the Kunlun Mountains, triggering a chain avalanche. That Although I did not see the scene with my own eyes, according to the Tibetan people, even from a distance, one can feel the vibration of the earth breaking apart..."

Hearing this, Jin An, Master Yiyun, and Uncle Qi all looked condensed.

this point in time.

Isn't it the time when the seal of the Sun Bureau of the Kingdom of the Immortal God was broken and a big explosion happened in the deepest part of the desert basin?

Could it be a coincidence?

Or is there a connection between the two?

Could it be that an explosion deep in the desert basin affected the snow peaks on the Kunlun Mountains, triggering a large avalanche? If it is as speculated, Kunlun Mountain is also somewhat involved with the Four Symbols Bureau of Duantianjiedi.

None of the three people spoke, and continued to listen attentively.

Zhao Jinchuan continued with a mysterious face: "You also know that the Kunlun Mountains are not only our hometown of gods, but also the sacred mountains of the Tibetan people and the people of the Western Regions. A sudden large avalanche in the Kunlun Mountains will definitely alarm the Tibetan people. , but it is located in the extreme west of Tubo and it is bitterly cold, and the mountains are closed during the snow season in February and March, so the Tibetan people planned to wait until the snow season ends in May and June before entering the Kunlun Mountains, but what do you think?"

"Hey, in February and March, although the mountains were closed by heavy snow and ordinary people couldn't enter, those white yaks, the mythical snow-capped mountain beasts, could come and go freely. These snow-capped mountain mythical beasts carried lamas and Juemu who came out of the big monasteries, just like Rulu. Go deep into the snow-capped mountains and glaciers like flat land, into the deepest part of the Kunlun Mountains..."

"It is said that at that time, you could hear the sound of someone flying overhead at night. The locals said it was a powerful venerable master who summoned all the Buddhas and auspicious Buddhas from the ten directions to travel at night..."

"Although I didn't see these scenes with my own eyes, they were all described by Tibetan people. However, those Tibetan people said that they have noses and eyes, and it's as if they were real."

"Around May, even the Tianzhu people outside the Galakunlun Pass got the news and rode their sacred oxen over the Galakunlun Pass, passing through Yangtong and Xiangxiong to the peak where the big avalanche occurred..."

When he said this, Zhao Jinchuan paused and lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "Although they are both sacred cows, Taoist Master Jin'an, do you know the difference between the sacred cows of the Tianzhu people and the sacred cows of the Tubo people?"

Jin An followed the words and asked: "Can it have one more eye and one more horn than a normal cow?"

Zhao Jinchuan was startled: "Taoist Master Jin'an, how do you know so clearly? Have you been to Tianzhu?"

As a dealer who has been walking on the Tea Horse Road all year round, Zhao Jinchuan has a eloquent mouth and is used to talking all the time. He can't sit still. Before Jin An could answer, he had already asked and answered his own question: "Is this really the case with Taoist Master Jin An?" You are right. Some Tibetan people actually saw with their own eyes the masters from Tianzhu riding a three-eyed ox, a triangular sacred ox, and a white yak over the snowy mountains. I don’t know exactly how many people came. Those who were seen rushing were There are three people.”

Jin An frowned slightly.

Unexpectedly, so many great things happened in the Far West last year.

Just because the terrain of Tubo is complex, difficult to get in and out, and it is located in a remote place in the west. There is not much communication between the two places and the news is not available. It will take at least a year for these tea merchants to go back and forth between the two places. In addition, Tubo is Bian deliberately blocked the news, and when the news reached Kangding State, it had already been closed for nearly ten years.

According to Zhao Jinchuan, it was already February this year when Kang Dingguo received news of the unusual movement from Kunlun Mountain and then sent people from Xizhou Prefecture to Kunlun Mountain. At that time, it was the snow season when the mountains were covered with heavy snow. It is unknown how many people enter the Snowy Mountains during the snow season.

Because Zhao Jinchuan and others entered Tubo via the Tea Horse Road from Wuzhou Prefecture, the news from Xizhou Prefecture was not consistent.

Just like Zhao Jinchuan said, even Tubo and Tianzhu have so many Tantric masters and monks who can enter the Kunlun Mountains during the snow season. Kangding Kingdom, whose number has doubled several times, will not be far behind.

At this point, Zhao Jinchuan cursed in a low voice: "Bah, those Kunlun slaves have crossed the line and are trying to get a glimpse of the treasures our ancestors left in the Land of the Gods. I really hope there will be another avalanche and bury these niggas forever. Under the snowy mountains.”

Jin An nodded noncommittally.

"But there are snow peaks and avalanches in the Kunlun Mountains. Does this have anything to do with your caravan of tea merchants going deep into the ancient Zhangxiong Kingdom? If you don't do your good tea business, silk business, and ceramics business, how can you end up in this idle and uninhabited country? Is the district here?”

Jin An: "It is said that businessmen cannot afford to be too early if they are not profitable. Could it be that this avalanche really brought out something valuable?"

Zhao Jinchuan did not hide anything and said in a low voice: "This matter is already known to everyone. It doesn't matter if you tell Taoist Priest Jin'an. We got news that some Tibetan people entered the Kunlun Mountains in May and June, not far from the avalanche. In this place, a glacier ruins were discovered!”

"Some people say that it is an ancient relic of the ancestors, while others say that it is the Palace of the Western Queen Mother, the dojo of Yuanshi Tianzun, which has allowed the Tibetan people to dig up many good treasures. In short, the rumors are getting more and more outrageous, and there is everything."

"But no matter what it is, we want to take this opportunity to go there and see if there is any chance to make a fortune. Even if we don't find anything, we can still sell the horse team's goods to the Tibetans gathered there. Or you can follow Shugu and Xizhou Prefecture and go out to Yangguan to do business with people from the Western Regions. Anyway, you won’t lose money on both ends.”

Jin An thought thoughtfully, this is really the kind of ghosts and snakes that have come to Kunlun Mountain.

But that's not the point.

The point is that this old Taoist priest can really run around blindly.

Wherever there is big movement, there are old Taoist priests.

When he thought of this, Jin An felt that his back teeth were so sore for some reason.

Thinking of the old Taoist priest, Jin An carefully took out a portrait of the old Taoist priest from his luggage and asked Zhao Jinchuan about the old Taoist priest.

This time, like before, I still found nothing.

At first, the ghost mother only said that she heard businessmen from the Western Regions mention seeing people who looked like old Taoist priests near the Kunlun Mountains, but did not mention the specific location in the Kunlun Mountains.

The Kunlun Mountains are a vast and continuous mountain range. Looking for a person in the vast snowy area is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Even though there was little hope and he traveled all over the desert and snowfields, Jin An still insisted on coming to the Kunlun Mountains to find the whereabouts of the old Taoist priest.