Dong Can was ultimately not found by anyone. The only clue was a letter he had sent, which was delivered to a lama named Derin. Inside the letter was a drawing depicting some strange symbols—a star chart. However, this letter never reached its intended recipient; it was intercepted, and the person who intercepted it could not understand the drawing. They did not realize that the image was a map indicating the location of a certain valley.

Nonetheless, the person who was supposed to receive the letter would not let the matter rest. Thus, a man known as Men Youping arrived in Motuo; he came from the large Chinese family to which Dong Can belonged. He was Men Youping.

Men Youping came to investigate Dong Can’s whereabouts. He had a contact in the area, who at the time was Derin. I can only speculate here that Derin was likely the head of a liaison point established by the Zhang family in Tibet. He might have been an ordinary lama, his master also named Derin. He was in the process of cultivation, waiting for the right moment, and was also taking on a disciple named Derin.

If Men Youping had not appeared, Derin would have merely continued as a lama, and at the appropriate time, he would seek out the next contact for the Zhang family. However, Men Youping’s arrival completely changed the course of his life. The name Derin was no longer just a fixed salary each month; his employer had appeared, and he had to begin working for the salary associated with his name.

I can further deduce that Dong Can’s activities here were likely a cover. He may have had other plans related to a secret within the snow-capped mountains, which is why the Zhang family needed to establish a hereditary contact like Derin in Tibet. The concept of ten years also fills me with imagination.

However, something happened to Dong Can. Perhaps he failed to fulfill his responsibilities, or he may have died, prompting the Zhang family to send Men Youping to ascertain the situation. At that time, the Zhang family was likely on the brink of collapse. However, the matter was extremely important and could not be ignored, so Men Youping came alone.

In the end, he did not find Dong Can; he only discovered the place where Dong Can had lived and found an oil painting in his room. Dong Can had lived there, but everything else had been removed, leaving only that painting.

I need to imagine the scene here. From the notes, I cannot determine Men Youping’s inner thoughts, but I can place myself into Derin’s mindset to infer some details from that time.

The painting depicted a vast lake, with colors that were extraordinarily beautiful. When Derin saw it, a wave of joy and shock surged through him. He could hardly believe that water in the world could exist in such a remote, mysterious, and isolated manner. Where could this breathtaking lake be?

Derin then noticed the reflections in the lake; the surface mirrored the towering snow-capped mountains. He recognized that the peak standing beside the lake seemed to be Gang Rinpoche. The sky reflected in the lake appeared gray and white, creating a sense of sanctity and extraordinary aura about the lake.

Derin was quite resistant to the religious notions of beauty and truth, but upon seeing this painting, he seemed to grasp some things that he had previously been unable to understand.

He imagined what the scene would look like if the light source in the oil painting changed, how the various rays of light refracted by the lake would create a stunningly beautiful landscape. He envisioned different weather conditions: strong winds, heavy rain, light rain, snow, hail, and mist. He also wondered what the fish in the lake would be like, and whether they would be different from the fish in other places.

He stared at the oil painting for a long time, only realizing that the mute bottle beside him had disappeared when he noticed it. The mute bottle was sitting alone at the doorway, facing not the temple, but the distant snow-capped mountains amidst the crowd of people paying homage to the mani pile.

When De Ren walked over, the mute bottle asked him, “Where is the lake in the painting?”

De Ren shook his head; he had never seen such a beautiful lake. If he had to say, it surely existed in the sky. However, looking at the reflection of Gang Rinpoche, it should be nestled within the snow-capped mountains, likely deep in the heart of the Himalayas. He shared his thoughts with the mute bottle, who then asked, “How can I get into the snow-capped mountains? I need your help; money is no object.”

Organizing a team to enter that snowy area was extremely difficult, but if the right people were found, there might still be a glimmer of hope.

The first people that came to De Ren’s mind were the muleteers who transported goods across the border. Only this group had experience venturing deep into the snow-capped mountains. However, the routes they took were those that had been carved out by the lives and time of their predecessors, not places that had never been visited by anyone. Moreover, those paths now seemed hardly better than having none at all.

Another thought he had was that if these people also felt it was impossible, at least they could persuade the mute bottle more effectively than he could.

However, the development of events was beyond his expectations. He easily found three porters willing to accompany the mute bottle into the snow-capped mountains. He didn’t know if it was because of the price the mute bottle offered, but it was clear that the offer was quite tempting.

A week later, the mute bottle, led by the three porters, set off into the depths of the snow-capped mountains. The day before their departure, the mute bottle told De Ren that he would come to find him in ten years.

As De Ren watched the mute bottle leave, he imagined the entire journey into the depths of the snow-capped mountains, the possible outcomes he might encounter, and what he would be searching for in that beautiful lake, as stunning as a gemstone, under such a magnificent landscape.

Of course, ten years later, De Ren had already passed away, but according to tradition, a charcoal stove was still set up at the temple’s entrance, waiting for the mute bottle’s arrival. After bidding farewell to De Ren, the mute bottle plunged headfirst into the vast unknown of the snowy plains.