Chapter 14 The Limit’s Secret

Now the notebook and picture were lying right in front of me because the old lama had told others to bring them to me.

Without a doubt, I didn’t understand these words. But I could tell that it was German. Little Brother and the others had obviously found a German body.

Even though I didn’t understand the meaning of those words, I knew what this note was saying when I saw the picture. There were many sketches interspersed within the notes and on the first few pages of that picture marked with the Tibetan words “the world’s limit”, I saw a huge bronze door.

The bronze door was drawn in very delicate strokes, which made me think that the owner of this notebook was a master artist. I could see that the giant door wasn’t exactly the same as the one in Changbai Mountain, but I understood that it must be the same kind of thing.

There’s more than one door like this? Is there another huge bronze door in the heart of the Himalayas?

I was surprised to see the phrase “the world’s limit” and the matching picture drawn on the margins.

Was it true that this picture was the Ultimate?

I carefully studied it, and it took me three days before I realized what it was. Next, I will use the most detailed words to describe what was drawn in this picture. Smart people may be able to guess what it is.

First of all, the size of this notebook was probably palm-sized. Second, the above picture was drawn in pencil with extremely fine lines. The notebook’s owner obviously wasn’t recording the state of mind this shape evoked when he drew it but was instead making a standard copy. As a result, the picture was very serious.

Finally, I could see something like a tortoise shell in the picture. There was no scale, and I didn’t know how big it actually was, but based on the people standing beside it, it was very large. There were very small cracks on the “tortoise shell”, and I was greatly surprised to see that the artist had depicted all of them. He was extremely careful when drawing them, but it was obvious that he wasn’t trying to show off or embody his drawing skills.

Right next to this “tortoise shell”, there were eight smaller “tortoise shells”, which were arranged irregularly and formed a strange figure when looked at in conjunction with the large “tortoise shell”.

And all around these shells were many things like tentacles or cables that were connected to each other like spider webs.

Was this the world’s limit?

I was very surprised at that time because these things looked just like some particularly ugly spots. If the artist didn’t specifically draw a few people when creating the picture to show that these things were enormous, then they could be regarded as ordinary things.

What the hell was it? Was it actually the world’s limit?

**

The eleventh day.

Poker-face no longer knew where he was, as he was completely surrounded by white snow. If he was in awe of the lofty snow-capped mountains a few days ago, now he was completely numb to them.

After finding the two golden balls, Laba and the other porter were very happy. Poker-face told them that there might be many more at his destination. Laba thus understood why Poker-Face, a son of a seemingly wealthy family, would come to the heart of the snowy mountain alone. If it was for this reason, he could accept it.

“You also came to this mountain for those golden balls?” Laba asked him when they set off again. The journey these days was on the snowy slope, so they walked at a more leisurely pace and had more opportunities to rest.

Poker-face seemed to have some difficulty in answering Laba’s question. He shook his head after walking for a long time and said, “Not really.”

“It has something to do with a secret,” Poker-face continued. As he walked slowly, he said something that Laba didn’t understand.

A long time ago, Poker-face’s family took a stone box engraved with a dragon pattern from the Chinese emperor. This box was dug up by death row prisoners in the mountain, and one of its special features was that it didn’t have any gaps on the entire thing. As a result, the emperor was unable to open it and turned to several elders in Poker-face’s family for help.

Poker-face didn’t know how the box was opened as the process was very mysterious, but after that, several of the family’s elders held a secret meeting, which caused many things to change overnight.

Laba was mystified when he heard this, but he felt that it was all very magical. He knew Poker-face wouldn’t tell him everything, but it reminded him of a story the lamas used to tell him about dragons. In that story, there was also a box handed down from ancient times.

“It was a mistake to open the box. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know something, but once you do, you carry the irreversible fate,” Poker-face murmured. “In the snowy mountains here, there may be some way to open the box. We received the first half of the news but lost the second half, so I had to come here to try it myself.”

“What about the rest of your family?” Laba asked him.

Poker-face looked at the snow-capped mountains indifferently, “They are now in another place very similar to this.”

Laba didn’t ask any more questions, as he felt that Poker-face was just trying to dispel his thoughts. He didn’t know whether the information was true or not, but in any case, it didn’t make much sense to hear it. Poker-face’s words didn’t move him too much, since only the golden balls were in his heart. With them, he was willing to bet that his life would change completely. He had nothing to lose anyways.

On the twelfth day, nothing happened. Laba was looking towards the setting sun when he suddenly realized that he didn’t know where he was going. The place with the golden balls could be anywhere in this snow.

The only clue was the huge lake in the snowy mountain.

Laba comforted himself that although this vast and uninhabited area was the most mysterious no-man’s land on the roof of the world, the lake was bound to be visible even if it was far away.

He and the other porter were resting in a daze, peacefully thinking about the golden balls and how owning them would change their lives.

I don’t know how long their daze lasted, but I’ve been to snowy mountains before and know that there’s not a lot to do. To pass the time, you can only rely on being in a daze. I also don’t know how Laba discovered the flash of light in the snow up ahead, but it was actually a very difficult thing to notice.

In short, Laba saw the light rhythmically shining from the snowy mountain in front of him as dusk approached.

It was a green light that kept frequently flashing. He thought it was an illusion at first because they were at least ten days away from the nearest village and he had never seen such a green light before.

Laba looked at it a few times before turning to Poker-face and finding that he had already seen it. When he glanced back, Laba found that the shining point was actually moving and seemed to be coming towards them.

Laba was a little flustered and didn’t know what it was. A beast? A big bird? Or some monster? He immediately stood up, looking for a place to hide, but Poker-face pushed him and the other porter behind a snow mound. The three men buried themselves in the snow and watched the green light flickering in front of them. But it soon bypassed several snow mounds in front of them and got closer.

While the green light was moving very fast, they simultaneously heard the faint ringing of bells, which seemed particularly ethereal in the snow.

They soon saw what the green light was. It was a strange line of people wearing Tibetan clothes and carrying a strange object. The head of this strange thing was shining with a green light while the rest of it was covered in hanging bells.

Laba was incredulous, someone is actually active here? He clearly saw those people pass through the valley in front of them and head for the innermost part of the valley.

At that time, Laba was still some distance away from them and couldn’t see too much. He wasn’t even sure if those people were living. Maybe they were ghosts from the snow-capped mountain.

But Poker-face had already gotten up and motioned Laba that they should follow.

“If anyone lives here, they’ll definitely live by the lake,” Poker-face said. “Follow them and we’ll find the place we’re looking for.”

<Chapter 13><Table of Contents><Chapter 15>

****

Updated 12/7/2021

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