The following narrative is quite fascinating. It is evident that the way the young man remembers things is different from ours. We tend to memorize events as they occur, without regard to the order or whether we will remember them days later. However, the way he recounts his experiences makes me realize that he has a methodical approach to memory.

Perhaps it is because he knows that one day, he must remember all of this, so he employs a unique method of memorization, starting with the entire terrain. At that time, the area where the young man, known as Men You Ping, was located was a ridge of a snow-capped mountain range. They were already at a considerable altitude, on the roof of the world. However, at this elevation, looking down does not reveal cliffs that drop five to six thousand meters; instead, from the mountaintop, the entire snowy region resembles a fierce and starkly contrasting hilly landscape. The hills are not smooth like those in the south but are all jagged black rocks, as if they have been chopped by a knife, sharp and angular.

Between these mountains are many valleys, all covered in deep snow. In some places, the snow is unimaginably thick; this is a mountain body wrapped in glacial ice, with stones lying beneath the ice.

That group of strange people was walking in the valley, and when the young man saw them, he was undoubtedly at the top of a hill. To catch up with them, the first thing he had to do was descend from the hill. The light was dim, and the setting sun cast a purple and yellow hue over the snow, giving it an enchanting color. However, even with such lighting, getting down from such thick snow and then catching up was an incredibly difficult task.

At the same time, it was very strange that those few Tibetan people moved incredibly quickly over the snow, so fast that it seemed they were floating rather than walking. Anyone who has walked on snow knows that it is impossible to move that fast, and judging by how deeply the Tibetan people sank into the snow, it seemed that the snow was not as thick as it appeared.

Men You Ping only chased them for a few steps before realizing something was off. He stopped to think about what to do, but by the time Laba caught up, that green light had already disappeared.

Only a line of footprints remained in the snow, which would soon vanish in the strong wind. Men You Ping and Laba stumbled down to the valley below and found that something was completely wrong; the snow barely reached their waists. They were not in the same condition as those people.

They struggled through the snow and finally arrived at the footprints. Laba discovered that there was something beneath the snow. After they cleared the snow away, they found a stone bridge built of stones and wood buried underneath. Those Tibetan people must have been walking on this stone bridge.

They climbed up, pushed the snow away from under their feet, and found that the snow only reached their knees. The bridge was very sturdy; stepping on it did not budge at all, and the material used was the common black rock found in the Himalayan mountains.

Who built this bridge here? Laba wondered. How long is it, and where does it lead? If they had known there was a road buried in the snow like this, they wouldn’t have had to take such risks walking along those cliffs, nor would they have spent so much time climbing the snowy slopes.

After stepping forcefully a few times on the stone bridge, Men Youping quickly chased in the direction where the green light had disappeared. The footprints were rapidly fading, and he walked extremely fast, leaving Laba no choice but to follow.

All the scenery here was almost the same, amidst the snow-capped mountains. If one did not understand the basic knowledge, it would be very easy to get lost. However, Laba was not worried because at the peak of the snow mountain, as long as the view was broad enough, one could certainly see a few particularly iconic mountains. These mountains could tell you whether you were going in circles. At night, the starry sky here was exceptionally brilliant, with the Milky Way crossing the entire horizon more clearly than ever. Various constellations and stars could guide you, so Laba was not concerned.

For the first two hours, they walked aimlessly. They discovered that this stone bridge had no branches; it was certainly a specially designated fast route from one place to another, rather than a typical traffic situation. Building such a project in the snow mountains was truly daunting, as it required first completely clearing the accumulated snow, which was a massive undertaking.

After nearly three hours, they caught up with the green light, only to find that it had become somewhat dim. The Tibetan people were still moving ahead. The time that followed was longer than they could have imagined. I will skip over the details here and simply say it took almost three days. They followed this green light for a full three days, moving forward along the snowy path until they finally reached the end of the stone bridge.

When they passed a bend, it was noon, and the sun was very intense. Wearing sunglasses, they suddenly found themselves in a wide and bright area after passing through a mountain pass.

Before them lay a gigantic lake, resembling amber, that suddenly appeared amidst the snowfields, sparkling like a jewel.

The lake was quite peculiar, entirely different from other high-altitude lakes; it had no beach. Surrounding the lake were white snow and ice, with the ice extending towards the center of the lake. It was not until two to three hundred meters away that it turned into water.

Under the sunlight, the lake was completely still, as if it were frozen in time. Light reflected off its surface, making the water appear as if it were covered in a layer of gold foil, creating an incredibly beautiful and unique scene.

How large was this lake? Laba could not judge, as it exceeded all sizes he could compare it to in his understanding. If he were to describe it to others, he might say it was as large as the sky, but by visual estimation, it should be about the size of two snow-capped mountains. In the snow mountain region, such a lake was almost as vast as the sea.

The several Tibetans carrying the green light walked onto the frozen surface of the lake, and from a distance, Laba saw a very old small boat on the lake.

Once they boarded the small boat, Laba said to Men Youping, “Boss, we can’t get across.”

Men Youping remained silent but noticed that the Tibetan people did not depart after boarding the boat. Moreover, one Tibetan did not board but waited at the shore, watching their hidden direction.

Laba also fell silent, and the two remained motionless, watching as the Tibetan looked over in their direction for a long time before waving them over.

Laba looked at the muffled oil bottle, seemingly asking what to do. After thinking for a moment, the muffled oil bottle initially didn’t move, but the Tibetan seemed a bit anxious, continuing to wave his hand. The muffled oil bottle shifted his position slightly, appearing somewhat impatient.

If this were a novel, at this point, in order to create a twist, there would often need to be an unexpected development, “because the plot must drive forward.” Therefore, the most likely development would be for the muffled oil bottle to stand up, engage with the Tibetan, and thus trigger a conflict.

However, in reality, the most rational decision in such a situation would definitely not be to provoke a conflict.

In the end, the muffled oil bottle still did not go outside. The three of them patiently stood there until the Tibetan, having waited for at least twenty minutes, finally shook his head and boarded the boat. The boat’s oars slowly began to move, gliding toward the center of the lake.

On that side was an area of intense sunlight reflection, making it impossible to see anything clearly; they seemed to be rowing into a sea of golden light.

But after that, the muffled oil bottle still did not move. Laba, unsure of the situation, slowly approached to ask him why he didn’t go out. Clearly, those Tibetans were waiting for them.

The muffled oil bottle shook his head and said casually, “He wasn’t waving at us.”

“What was he doing then?”

“There’s something else following them that we completely missed,” the muffled oil bottle said. Laba suddenly became tense. “How do you know?”

“You don’t need to know,” the muffled oil bottle’s eyes were scanning the surrounding snowfield. Although his expression was extremely calm, Laba noticed that all his attention was not on him.

“Did you see that… other thing?”

The muffled oil bottle shook his head but pointed in a direction. “Although I can’t be sure, it’s likely over there; something is hidden there.”

Following the direction the muffled oil bottle pointed, Laba saw a massive black stone, gaunt and bony, surrounded entirely by snow. Only on top of this stone was the snow seemingly rubbed away by something.

“Behind the stone?” Laba began to tremble a little. He normally wouldn’t be scared by the muffled oil bottle, but his calm demeanor made Laba involuntarily place himself in a position of submission.

“Under the snow, this thing has been moving beneath the snow; otherwise, I would have noticed it long ago,” the muffled oil bottle said.

Laba strained to look around the black stone, but it was all a blanket of white snow. He found nothing. After several more minutes, Laba glanced at the other porter, finally unable to contain himself, and said, “Boss, are you sure? I feel like that person was waving at us.”

Before he could finish speaking, Laba suddenly felt a heavy weight, as if something had grabbed his foot, and he was instantly pulled into the snow.

The snow below was incredibly deep, and in an instant, he was engulfed. Just before he was completely submerged, he saw the muffled oil bottle rush over, seemingly trying to grab him, but it was too late. His own reaction was slow; he reached out and grasped nothing but air. Suddenly, everything became pitch black, and the icy snow pressed against his face, nostrils, mouth, and ears, flooding into his body through all the openings.