musicians of old

Chapter 805 Secret Peaks and Wormologists

The apple orchard steps in Kalpa make a good training ground for altitude acclimatization.

It stretches from the ruins of a Bon temple all the way to the snow line. At the end of November, frozen fruits hang from the branches, the flesh inside the ice shell shrinking into brown sacs. The whole permafrost is filled with a sweet and alcoholic aroma.

"Abdominal breathing training is an effective way to improve oxygen exchange efficiency. Expand your abdomen! No, not your chest! Lower your diaphragm, deeper and slower."

"Inhale for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds, and let your abdomen naturally contract as you exhale."

The exiled Tibetan Dorje's leather robe exuded the scent of yak fat. He crossed his arms, giving instructions while observing the details of the young man and woman's movements.

"Chiliu——"

Under the lights, ice shards flew everywhere.

Fanning's titanium-plated ice axe slipped on the rock, the reaction force making his wrist bones go numb.

"The ice axe braking technique is mainly for dealing with the danger of falling. When performing the movement, imagine that you are in a dangerous situation. Turn towards the side of the ice axe's beak, firmly grasp the end with your other hand, flatten the end, flatten the end! Get close to the angle formed by your head and shoulder! Open your legs and press your toes down."

The voice of the Tibetan Dorje rang out again.

"Slurp slurp"

Ruoyi twisted her waist and swung her pickaxe several times, scraping up a pile of ice shards from the soles of her boots.

"Face the snow, and get as close as possible! Put the weight of your shoulders and chest on the pickaxe! Arch your back slightly!"

We practiced diligently for 40 minutes in the first round before taking a break.

Ruoyi exhaled white breaths continuously, her chest heaving.

"Are you tired?" Fan Ning asked, looking at her flushed cheeks.

"That's quite interesting," the girl said, flicking her hair and smiling at him.

At certain moments, like now, the mountain wind suddenly stops, and the prayer flags in the apple orchard fall down in unison, as if the gods were withdrawing their prayers.

"Get up, get up, let's do it again." Fan Ning reached out his hand.

"I'm having a midnight snack! Ten super-sized yak meat-filled momo dumplings! Oh my god!!"

On the snowy slope with an exaggerated angle, Ruoyi slipped on her boots and fell headfirst.

"The zigzag climbing method requires entering the snow slope at a 60° angle! The axe tip must penetrate to a depth of 1/3 of the axe shaft! The stride should not exceed 1.5 times the boot length!"

The cold, instructive voice sounded again from behind.

The day after arriving in Kalpa village was still the planned acclimatization time. In addition to equipment training and skills training, more energy was needed for weighted hiking.

When the two set off from the guesthouse in the early morning, the village streets were not yet fully awake. The resinous scent of Himalayan fir trees was exceptionally fresh, and people were spinning prayer wheels for morning prayers. The sounds of cowbells and chanting echoed through the valley.

"Excuse me, gentlemen."

They had just turned the corner of the first alley when a soft, sweet girl's voice called out to them from behind.

"whats the matter?"

Fan Ning sized up the girl in front of him. She was about fifteen or sixteen years old, not very tall, dressed in purple, and what was more distinctive was that the ends of her black hair were tinged with a hint of wine red, as if about to drip.

“I know how to get there, and I can take at least half the journey.”

"You? You mean..."

“I know what happened on the first floor of Gongjue Teahouse yesterday, and I also heard some things in the private room on the second floor.” The girl stepped forward and lowered her voice.

"Oh, you're a guide too. What's your name?" Ruoyi was happy to have someone else offer her help; the selection of guides wasn't finalized yet, and today's trip also included the task of finding one. "However, are you familiar with the route? Can you take this job? What's your team's strength like? Leo Pargial Peak isn't on the permitted list."

"Just call me Qiong."

The girl in purple with burgundy hair slowly paced around the two of them, without directly answering Ruoyi's series of questions.

"Actually, Leo Pargial was one of the new mountains that the Indian government intended to open to the public this year, but an unexpected incident occurred halfway through the process."

An unexpected turn of events? Fan Ning frowned upon hearing this. "Around the middle of the year, a group of mountaineers who came to 'perform an art activity' planned to climb Leo Pargial. There were quite a few of them. Leridge's guiding team received this large, shady order, and due to their manipulation and bribery, the relevant regulatory officials chose to turn a blind eye."

"But during the climb, the organizer suddenly proposed a change of route, saying that there had been some misunderstanding in the communication between the two parties, and that the place he wanted to go was another secret mountain, Reo Purgyil, which sounds similar."

What!?.
The two pronunciations are truly like two completely different peaks!
Do secret mountains really exist?
A tremendous sense of astonishment struck Fanning. More sunlight streamed into his retina from the branches, and he felt some unknown thoughts or memories beginning to ferment and tremble in some hidden place. The trembling was like a jumble of colorful soapy water, so complex and chaotic that it could not be discerned by reason.

According to the mountaineering organizers, 'Leo Pargial' is also known as 'Reo Purgyil', a twin peak. L is on the left, facing west, while R is on the right, facing east, separated by a deep canyon. 'R' is about 100 meters higher than the former, reaching around 7000 meters, but due to certain peculiar meteorological factors, 'R' is shrouded in clouds and fog, making it difficult to see its shape even on satellite imagery."

"So what happened next?" Fan Ning couldn't help but press.

"The details of the negotiations between the two sides are unknown, but it's likely that Leridge didn't agree to lead the way, or rather, didn't fully agree to lead the way," Joan said.

"He must have been somewhat surprised, as he had never known of the existence of any secret mountains and could not disprove what he was saying. However, as the behind-the-scenes manipulator of the entire Himachal Pradesh guide market, refusing to lead unfamiliar and unknown routes was the most basic professional principle he had personally established. He must have warned them, but in the end, some of the verbal reminders and instructions may have been mixed up, and the guide team watched them walk for a distance."

"Then, the worst thing still happened. Maybe it was an avalanche, maybe they got lost, maybe they got lost because of an avalanche. The entire mountaineering team was later lost without a trace on the mountain, and it is reasonable to conclude that they all perished."

Ruoyi stood there in surprise, while Fan Ning remained frozen in place for a long time.

After a long while, Fanning's neck began to sway up and down, as if nodding in acknowledgment.

The two of them only followed after Joan took a step.

"If this news were to spread, not only would higher authorities investigate and hold those responsible accountable, but its rapid spread within the mountaineering community would also quickly shake Leridge's business foundation. Therefore, the news was strictly censored using iron-fisted methods."

As Qiong walked, she turned the lock on the iron gate.

It turned out that her place was not far from the family-run hotel where the two of them had stayed the night before. The house had an inconspicuous entrance and a cramped courtyard, but once inside, it was a completely different world. The surroundings were very well maintained and beautiful, with brightly colored winter flowers blooming all over the walls.

"Several deputies may have been silenced or placed under house arrest. The relevant government officials were initially warned not to ask any questions and to continue to turn a blind eye. They were also threatened with 'evidence of bribery and the safety of their relatives' to keep them quiet. Later, they stopped making public appearances."

"Furthermore, because this mountaineering group was too low-key from the beginning, more than four months have passed and it has not yet come into the public eye."

"How do you know all this?" After hearing so much, Fan Ning's eyes suddenly sharpened.

"Judging from your appearance, you don't seem to be a pure local?" Ruoyi was also full of suspicion and began to question her.

“My father was a Soviet citizen and one of the employees of that mountaineering team,” Joan said. “He was the only one who survived and turned back.”

"And what about him now?" Fan Ning pressed.

"He has passed away."

"Was he also silenced by Lelic?"

"No, it's not that. Leirich probably didn't know that someone would come down later, but my father went mad."

"It seems to be related to the tragedy they experienced."

"Not necessarily."

"Not necessarily?"

Fan Ning was filled with confusion about the background of the girl in purple.

He and Ruoyi entered the outer courtyard of the cabin. Due to the angle of the morning sun, the lighting here was not very good. Fan Ning stared at a yellowed photograph hanging above for a long time.

A man in black, sitting in a wheelchair, is smoking a pipe, with a river and coniferous forest behind him.

The ink on the signature has faded and blurred, but the words "Scriabin.KI" can still be vaguely discerned.

"Your father? Wasn't he just an employee? How could he be a descendant of Scriabin!?"

"No, this is my great-grandfather, not a descendant of the composer Scriabin you're referring to." Joan sighed softly. "Actually, when he was alive, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was quite well-known in academic circles, including in your China."

"Ok?"

"A great hero of the people's labor, recipient of the USSR State Prize, the Lenin Prize, and the Order of Lenin; professor at the Moscow Veterinary Academy; academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Academy of Medical Sciences; head of the Helminth Laboratory of the USSR Academy of Sciences; representative works include 'General Helminthology' and 'The Founding and Practice of USSR Helminthology.'"

Joan turned around and opened the door to the cabin.

"If we decide to cooperate, let's go inside and discuss the details. I won't ask for an exorbitant price like Leridge did. A guide fee of $1.5 is enough for me to live on for a long time. However, I have one more condition."