Did the deity Zhroma want to see me?
I looked at Tashi, feeling a bit confused because I had never spoken to that old lady, nor had we had any interaction. I didn’t even see her often; why did she suddenly want to see me?
However, Tashi’s expression was very serious, with an undeniable intensity, as if not seeing the person his grandmother wanted to meet would be a grave sin. Seeing my puzzled look, he softly urged, “Please come with me; it’s very important.”
I was taken aback for a moment, looking at his expression and feeling unable to refuse, so I nodded and got up. He immediately turned and led me to follow him.
The resting place of the deity Zhroma was far from where we were, separated by parked vehicles, perhaps because they found us too noisy. I walked for about two hundred meters before reaching their campfire. I saw that Zhroma and her daughter-in-law were still awake, sitting by the fire. Thick blankets were spread on the ground, and the fire was burning brightly. Besides the two of them, there was another person sitting on the blanket by the fire. When I got closer, I was even more surprised to find that the person was none other than the Silent Oil Bottle.
The Silent Oil Bottle had his back to me, so I couldn’t see his expression, but in the flickering firelight, I noticed that Zhroma’s expression looked a bit grim. I walked up to the campfire, feeling puzzled, wondering what this old lady wanted to secretly discuss with us in the middle of the night.
Tashi waved for me to sit down, and Zhroma’s daughter-in-law brought me some butter tea. I thanked her and accepted it, glancing at the Silent Oil Bottle, who also looked at me, seemingly surprised.
Then Tashi looked back towards our camp and whispered something to Zhroma in Tibetan. She nodded and suddenly spoke to us in heavily accented Mandarin: “I have a message for you two.”
Neither the Silent Oil Bottle nor I spoke; I was actually a bit perplexed, thinking whose message could it be? However, the Silent Oil Bottle showed no expression and lowered his head to drink tea, so I felt it was not the right time to ask and just listened.
Zhroma looked at us and continued, “The person who asked me to deliver this message is named Chen Wenjin; I believe you both should know her. She asked me to convey a message to you.”
Upon hearing this, I was stunned, initially thinking I had misheard. Just as I was about to ask, Zhroma continued, “When Chen Wenjin asked me to send the video, she anticipated that this situation would occur. If you followed the notes to find Tamutu, she wanted me to tell you that she would wait for you at your destination for a while. However,” Tashi moved his watch in front of Zhroma. She glanced at it and said, “You don’t have much time left. From now on, if she doesn’t see you within ten days, she will go in on her own. You need to hurry.”
I was completely bewildered, thinking, what is going on? Destination? Wenjin is waiting for us at Tamutu? My mind went blank as I looked at the Silent Oil Bottle, and to my surprise, he also had a look of astonishment on his face.
But just a few seconds later, he returned to normal. He raised his head to look at Zhroma and asked, “When did she tell you this?”

Ding Zhuo Ma said coldly, “I only convey a message. As for everything else, I don’t know at all. Don’t ask; there are too many people here.” As she spoke, we all reflexively glanced in the direction of the camp.

Men You Ping frowned slightly and asked, “Is she doing well?”

Ding Zhuo Ma gave a strange smile and replied, “If you can make it in time, you will know.” With that, she waved her hand, and the woman beside her helped her stand up and walked towards her tent. It seemed she was indeed going back.

I stood up to stop her, but was held back by Zha Xi, who shook his head, indicating it was no use.

At that moment, Ding Zhuo Ma turned back to us and said, “By the way, there’s one more thing I forgot to convey.”

We all looked up at her, and she continued, “She also asked me to tell you that it is among you. You need to be careful.”

After saying that, she turned and entered her tent, leaving just me and Men You Ping sitting foolishly in front of the campfire.

I looked at Men You Ping, but he was staring at the fire, seemingly lost in thought. I asked him, “What on earth is going on? Why was this message delivered to us two?”

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

Seeing his attitude, a rush of questions flooded my mind, and I felt a bit out of control. I pressed him down and said, “You can’t leave!”

He turned his head and glanced at me, but surprisingly, he didn’t leave and sat back down, looking at me.

His behavior was quite unusual. I expected him to walk away, and I was momentarily stunned, not knowing what to say. He looked at me and asked, “What do you want?”

Hearing that made me furious. I said, “I have questions for you. You can’t keep avoiding this; you have to tell me.”

He turned his face back to the fire and said, “I won’t answer.”

I was instantly enraged and shouted, “Damn it! Why? What can’t you say? You’ve been leading us in circles without giving us a reason. What do you think we are?”

He suddenly turned his face towards me, his expression cold: “Don’t you find it strange? Why should I tell you about my own matters?”

For a moment, I was at a loss for words, stammering. I realized, yes, this was indeed his business, and he had no obligation to tell me.

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

After a long silence, Men You Ping took a sip of the already cold butter tea and suddenly said to me, “Wu Xie, why are you following? You really shouldn’t get involved. Your uncle has already done a lot for you. The waters here are not something you should wade into.”

I was taken aback for a moment and instinctively counted—forty-one words. He actually spoke such a long sentence; that was quite rare. I looked at his expression but couldn’t discern anything from it.

“I don’t want to either. My request is very simple; I just want to know what’s going on. But everyone is preventing me from knowing. I can’t avoid getting involved,” I said to him.

Men You Ping looked at me and asked, “Have you ever thought about why they don’t want you to know the truth?”

I looked at the expression on the face of the silent oil bottle and suddenly realized that he was speaking to me very seriously. I couldn’t help but be surprised, thinking to myself that this guy must have taken the wrong medicine.

But speaking of which, maybe this time he could tell me something. I immediately straightened up and shook my head, saying, “I haven’t thought about it, nor do I know where to start.”

He replied calmly, “Actually, sometimes lying to someone is to protect them. Some truths may be too much for them to bear.”

“Whether someone can bear it should be judged by themselves,” I said. “Maybe others don’t want you to protect them; maybe they just want a quick end. Do you understand the pain of not knowing anything?”

The silent oil bottle fell silent. We sat quietly for a while, and then he said to me, “I understand.” Then he looked at me and added, “And I understand it more than you do. For me, the things I want to know far exceed what you want to know, but I don’t have anyone like you to ask.”

I suddenly remembered that he had lost his memory and wanted to slap myself, thinking why I was comparing with him on this topic.

He continued, “I am a person without a past or a future. Everything I do is to find my connection to this world—where I came from, why I am here.” He looked at his hands and said softly, “Can you imagine someone like me? If I were to disappear from this world, no one would notice, just like I never existed in this world at all. Not a single trace would be left behind. Sometimes when I look in the mirror, I often doubt whether I really exist or if I am just a shadow of someone.”

I couldn’t find the words to respond. After thinking for a moment, I said, “It’s not as exaggerated as you say. If you disappeared, at least I would notice.”

He shook his head, not knowing what that meant. Then he stood up and said to me, “As for my matters, maybe when I know the answer one day, I will tell you. But for your own matters, holding onto me will not yield answers. Right now, everything is a mystery to me as well. I think you already have enough mysteries; you don’t need more.” With that, he turned and 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 that bronze door?” I asked him.

After listening, he thought for a moment and said, “I was just doing what Wang Zanghai did back in the day.”

“And what did you see inside?” I asked. “What is behind that giant door?”

He turned to brush off the sand from his clothes and said to me, “Inside, I saw the ultimate—the ultimate of all things.”

“Ultimate?” I was puzzled and wanted to ask him more. He smiled faintly at me and waved his hand, signaling me not to ask further. He said, “By the way, I am on your side.” With that, he walked away leisurely, leaving me all alone. I suddenly collapsed onto the sand, feeling an unbearable headache.