The footprints on the cow dung are very similar to the footprints left by human bare feet, but they are much larger. Visually, they are more than twice as wide as the average adult's feet.
"Holy crap! How can this footprint be so big?" I said in surprise.
Everyone else was also surprised. Professor Dong frowned and said: "In the plateau area, the temperature at night is below zero, and it is impossible for anyone to be able to go outdoors with bare feet. So this footprint is definitely not left by humans. Is it possible?"
Could it be that it was really the work of a zombie?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Jianjian said from the side: "The walking corpses are also human beings, they are just dead people!"
"If it's not a walking corpse, what else could it be?" Professor Dong couldn't help but wonder, and everyone else was also puzzled.
Jianjian was bored, so he stretched out his foot and printed his own footprint next to the huge one. His feet were not small. He usually wore shoes of size 43, but now he was like
When you compare the big footprints, the difference is immediately obvious. It looks like a three-year-old child's feet compared with an adult's feet.
Jianjian couldn't help but sigh: "This footprint is really big. It couldn't be the legendary Bigfoot."
The speaker has no intention of listening, but as soon as he finished speaking, Wen Qingshan suddenly turned his head, stared at Jianjian and asked: "What did you just say!?"
"I...I didn't say anything..." Jianjian didn't react for a moment.
"Did you just say Bigfoot?"
Jianjian smiled and said: "Haha, I'm just kidding, I know Bigfoot is a monster in North America, how could it appear on this snowy plateau!"
Unexpectedly, Wen Qingshan waved his hand: "That's not necessarily the case."
I didn't expect Wen Qingshan to say this, and I was a little surprised: "Boss Wen, what do you mean by this? Do you think there really is a Bigfoot in this place?"
Wen Qingshan glanced at me and said: "Bigfoot is believed to be a giant ape that looks more like a human than a human. In fact, there are also widespread legends about a giant ape in this snowy plateau."
When he said this, Professor Dong's face changed and he said in surprise: "Brother Wen San, are you talking about a snow monster?"
Wen Qingshan nodded solemnly.
Jianjian hurriedly asked: "What is a snow monster?"
Professor Dong took a deep breath and replied: "It is said that in the Himalayas on the border between China and Nepal, there is a mysterious creature covered with grayish-yellow or white hair, up to three meters tall, half human and half ape. It is said to be half human and half ape.
Known as the Snowman of the Himalayas, he is also called the Night Emperor by the locals. Records about the Night Emperor can be traced back to the period of Xiangshung in 326 BC.
In the early 1970s, an explorer discovered a rock painting painted in the Zhangzhug period in a cave. On it was a hairy monster several times larger than a human being. In the past hundred years, climbers have continuously claimed to have discovered the
There are traces of snow monsters, and some people even claim to have found the body of the snow monster. But in fact, there is no credible evidence to prove that this mysterious creature really exists."
Wen Qingshan took over what Professor Dong said: "Although there is no credible evidence, it does not mean that snow monsters do not exist. The footprints in front of us, as well as the corpses of these two yaks and Tibetan mastiffs, are enough to show that in this snowy area,
There is indeed a humanoid creature on the plateau."
Professor Dong pondered for a moment, then turned to ask Uncle Qiangba: "Uncle Qiangba, have you ever heard of snow monsters before? Or should I say, Night Emperor?"
However, Uncle Jianba looked confused, as if he didn't understand what we were talking about at all.
Professor Dong asked Basang again, and he also said that he had never heard of it.
This is strange. Since it is a rumor originating from Tibet, why don’t the locals know about it? They have never even heard of it. But if this rumor is just a false rumor, then this huge footprint in front of you
How to explain it?
Just when I was feeling puzzled, Professor Dong suddenly said: "That's right."
Hearing what he said, I became even more confused and asked quickly: "Uncle Dong, why did you say that?"
Professor Dong explained: “Legends about snow monsters are mainly spread in the Himalayan Mountains on the southern tip of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Most of the sighting reports of snow monsters occur in areas above 6,000 meters above sea level in the Himalayas. The Nagqu area has almost never been
There have been no reports of sightings of the Wendigo. In addition, this place is remote and information is limited, so it is normal that the residents in this area have never heard of the Wendigo."
I was right when I thought about it. Tibet covers an area of more than two million square kilometers. It is impossible for everyone in every area to know the rumors about the snow monster. But then I thought about it again, since there have never been any sighting reports of the snow monster in this area.
, why did it suddenly appear now?
Wen Qingshan obviously also thought of this. He frowned and said thoughtfully: "The snow monster suddenly appeared in this area. Is it some kind of sign?"
"Brother Wen San, what do you think is the sign?" Professor Dong asked hurriedly.
Wen Qingshan said: "It is said that in some mountain tribes in the Himalayas, people regard the snow monster as a harbinger of disaster, because every appearance of the snow monster is often accompanied by the occurrence of disasters, such as earthquakes, avalanches and even subsidence.
.It is said that in Nepal, after the appearance of the snow monster, there was a disaster incident in which an entire village fell deep into the ground overnight.”
"This is too exaggerated! It should be just a coincidence."
Wen Qingshan smiled and said: "Haha, there is indeed no basis for this statement. Maybe it's just that some thoughtful people connected some things that happened to happen with the appearance of the snow monster. You don't need to take it too seriously."
After everyone chatted for a while, they searched around the area again, but no more clues were found. Just from a large footprint, it was impossible to determine whether the monster attacking the yak and Tibetan mastiff was the legendary snow monster. Although Wen Qingshan
He and Professor Dong both believed that it was more likely to be a snow monster, but Uncle Qiangba and the herdsmen insisted that it was a walking corpse possessed by evil spirits.
But in any case, one thing that is certain is that the monster appeared after the collapse of Doma Temple. Therefore, whether it is a snow monster or a walking corpse, it seems that it is inseparable from Doma Temple. Doma Temple happens to be where we are.
Wen Qingshan suggested that we go to Doma Temple to find further clues.
Doma Temple is actually more than ten miles away from Daga Doma Village, and they are all on mountain roads, which cannot be reached by car. Although the distance of more than ten miles is not too far, it is after all at a high altitude with low oxygen content.
If we go there on foot, it will be quite a challenge for those of us who are coming to the plateau area for the first time. We may have to fall down from exhaustion halfway through.
In order to save us from being tired on the road, Uncle Qianba brought a few plateau horses and called a herdsman to lead us on horseback to Doma Temple.
Before coming here, I thought that in the alpine zone thousands of meters above sea level, there would be basically no grass growing and a desolate environment. However, I didn’t expect that when we walked onto the road, we would be surrounded by a vibrant scene, with blue sky and white clouds.
, meadows, snow-capped mountains, lakes, and herds of cattle and sheep, form an extremely beautiful picture.
Along the way, we rode horses and enjoyed the beautiful plateau scenery, which was infinitely comfortable. Unknowingly, the group came to a plateau lake with crimson water. Needless to say, this is where evil spirits are said to have been born.
Chishui Lake.
Chishui Lake is long and narrow, with a large water area. Looking around, the lake surface is sparkling, but strangely, there is not a single bird on the lake surface, and there is almost no grass growing within about ten feet of the lake shore.
The group of people dismounted and walked to the lake. Looking at the red lake, I said in confusion: "Why is the lake so red?"
Professor Dong said: "Our expedition team came to Daga Doma Village more than ten years ago and tested the water of Chishui Lake. We found that the lake water contains a variety of mineral salts, which is also the reason why the lake water turns red.
And because the salt content is too high, it is not suitable for fish to survive, so there are almost no living creatures in the water, and there are no birds on the water, and no herdsmen will drive their cattle and sheep to the lake to graze."
After listening to Professor Dong's explanation, Wen Qingshan seemed to understand something and said: "No wonder the chieftain prince two hundred years ago fell into Chishui Lake and drowned and could not rot for several days. It must be because of the salinity of the lake water.
Because it’s too high.”
Professor Dong nodded in agreement, and then added: "Furthermore, according to my speculation, the chieftain prince did not drown to death."
Wen Qingshan was slightly startled: "How do you say this?"
Professor Dong explained: "Because Chishui Lake has extremely high salinity and high density, people who fall into the water will not sink to the bottom of the lake, but will float on the surface, so drowning generally does not occur."
I said disapprovingly: "Maybe the things on that chieftain prince are too heavy."
Professor Dong asked me: "If the things he carried were too heavy, then he should have slept at the bottom of the lake. Why did he resurface after a few days?"
I thought so too. If I think about it carefully, this seems to be a bit strange.
Dong Xiaodan, who was standing aside, listened to the conversation between us and said with a smile: "Hey! Hey! You guys are trying to solve this two-hundred-year-old mystery, right? It's better to save it. Is this true or false?
I still can’t say for sure.”
Professor Dong laughed: "Xiao Dan is right, why should we worry about the real cause of death of this chieftain prince? Maybe this didn't happen at all."
As we were talking, Jianjian, who was standing next to me, suddenly pointed his hand toward the lake and shouted: "Look what's over there?"
Looking in the direction he pointed, there seemed to be a piece of dead wood floating in the middle of the lake. This made me slightly stunned. This was in a plateau area with an altitude of nearly 5,000 meters, within a hundred miles.
If there is no tree in sight, how can there be a piece of dead wood floating on the lake?