The strange events did not end there. Whether it was Brian Foster's greed or his curiosity about the underground tomb, half a month later, he ordered the entire graveyard to be dug up, wanting to open the top of the underground tomb to see what it really looked like.

However, after digging a huge deep pit, they did not find the so-called ancient tomb. Instead, they unearthed a black iron scorpion over twenty feet long. When they tried to dig further beneath the scorpion, the soil kept collapsing. Moreover, this action attracted the attention of various factions, all coming to investigate. Seeing that things could not go on, Brian Foster had no choice but to refill the pit.

Ten years later, he sent people to the address written in the letter given to him by the child and conducted an investigation, only to find that the address was a huge mansion, now deserted. Locals told him that the Zhang family used to be a well-known and low-key prominent family in the area, but for some unknown reason, they suddenly declined and disappeared not long ago.

No one knew where the child had gone, or whether there really was a scorpion-shaped underground palace below. Brian Foster could only speculate that the child’s surname was probably Zhang, and if he survived, he must be an extraordinary person.

藏海花Ⅰ Chapter Four The Second Strange Event

Let’s talk about another strange event.

Ethan Brooks did not really understand Tibet. After being discharged from the army, he came to Tibet and stayed there for more than a year, spending three years in Motuo, but that was all—he was just there.

Tibet in those years was unimaginably difficult, but once you adapted, you would often find your own reasons to stay.

It was the same for Ethan Brooks. His understanding of Tibet was limited to what he saw, and his reason for staying was simply that he had gotten used to it.

In his eyes, listing everything about Tibet in words was missing the point. He didn’t need to understand Tibet, because to him, Tibet was not a concept. What he liked was the place itself, not its name. He didn’t think much of visitors who talked about admiring Tibet’s mysterious culture. Why come here? The reason was in the fresh, thin air, in the vast snowy mountains, in the snowfields as quiet as paradise—not in those exaggerated legends.

In the early years, he made a little butter and mutton by occasionally doing odd jobs for tourists or working as a porter. After arriving in Motuo, he opened a shabby restaurant. Back then, there weren’t so many people with money and existential questions coming to Tibet to search for the meaning of life. Most of his customers were military family members visiting relatives and border guards from the local garrison.

For eight months of the year, Motuo was cut off by heavy snow. The Duoxiong La Mountain was notorious for its fierce snowstorms. During the months when the mountain was closed, there were very few customers. He lived alone in the back of the restaurant, and that kind of tranquility fascinated him. Very few people disturbed his peace.

He didn’t know where his desire to withdraw from the world came from. Maybe it was because, as a child, he had dreamed of standing atop a snowy mountain in perfect calm, and so he came in search of that feeling.

However, not every year could he enjoy such peace. That winter was an exception.

That winter, Ethan Brooks no longer remembered which month it was. He only remembered that it had been snowing for three days straight. When he got up in the morning to sweep the snow, he saw a lama standing at his door.

It was a lama from Jila Monastery, whose name seemed to be Jack. Years ago, he and Ethan Brooks had sneaked some wine together. Jila Monastery was a lamasery on the snowy mountain, not at a very high altitude. When Ethan Brooks worked as a porter, he often went there and was familiar with everyone.

It took half a day to get from Jila Monastery to here. At that time, dawn was just breaking, the snow had not stopped, and Jack was covered in frost, clearly having come down the mountain during the night. Even for a lama familiar with the mountain paths, descending at night in heavy snow was extremely dangerous. Ethan Brooks figured something must have happened to make him take such a risk.

Jack seemed to have exhausted all his strength, standing there unresponsive. Ethan Brooks asked him in rather awkward Tibetan what was wrong.

Jack did not answer him, but took out some money and said, “Please give me something to eat, anything will do. I still have to hurry on my way.”

Ethan Brooks asked, “Where are you going?”

Jack replied, “I’m going to Mapu Monastery.”

Mapu Monastery was a large temple outside Motuo. Ethan Brooks was very surprised, because at this time of year, crossing Duoxiong La Mountain was extremely dangerous. Even with a very good reason, one should wait for the snow to stop and find companions, otherwise it was easy to encounter small avalanches, and at this time, many mountain paths were already impossible to see.

So Ethan Brooks brought Jack inside, prepared a few tsampa buns for him, and asked if something had happened at the monastery.

Jack secretly asked him for a few more pots of wine before saying, “It’s like this: we have a guest, and the master wants me to go to Mapu Monastery to inform them about it.”

Ethan Brooks found this strange. “A guest? Where did the guest come from? Did a tourist enter the mountains?”

At this time of year, would anyone come to Motuo? To cross Duoxiong La Mountain now, even the locals wouldn’t dare to act rashly. Unless a large group came from outside, but if that had happened, he would have heard about it—clearly, that wasn’t the case. What’s more, this was a monastery on a snowy mountain, so having a guest was even stranger.