After the Bhutanese regained their freedom, they recorded all these incredible events. He wrote a book and made many unrealistic speculations in it. Among them, he claimed that most of his wealth was earned by himself, and that the gold was merely his startup capital.

The golden spheres sold by the two Indians were gradually found all over the world. Some had already been melted into other shapes or coins, leaving only twelve in their original form when discovered. At that time, the Indian government paid a high price to acquire these items, and these golden spheres became “gold more valuable than gold.”

藏海花Ⅰ Chapter 11: Gold More Valuable Than Gold

Charles Dean was ultimately never found by anyone. The only clue was a letter of his, which was handed to a lama (Dean). Inside the letter was a drawing, depicting some strange patterns—a star chart.

However, this letter never reached its intended recipient. It was intercepted, and those who intercepted it could not understand the drawing inside. They did not realize that the drawing was actually a map indicating the location of that valley.

Yet, the person who did not receive the letter would not give up so easily. Thus, a Sam arrived in Motuo, coming from the Chinese family to which Charles Dean belonged.

He was Sam.

Sam came to investigate the whereabouts of Charles Dean, and he had a local contact, who was Dean at the time.

Here, I can only speculate that Dean was probably the head of a liaison point set up by the Zhang family in Tibet. He might have been just an ordinary lama, and his master was also called Dean. He was cultivating, waiting for the right time, and would also take on a disciple named Dean.

If Sam had not appeared, all he needed to do was be a lama and, at the appropriate time, select the next contact for the Zhang family.

But the appearance of Sam completely changed his life. The name Dean was no longer just a fixed monthly salary; his boss had appeared, and he now had to work for the salary that came with his name.

I can also infer here that Charles Dean’s activities in this place were likely just a cover. He might have had other plans here, related to some secret in the snow mountains, which is why the Zhang family needed to establish a hereditary contact like Dean in Tibet.

And the concept of ten years makes my imagination run wild.

However, something happened to Charles Dean. Perhaps Charles Dean failed to continue fulfilling his duties, or maybe he died, so the Zhang family sent Sam to find out what happened.

At that time, the Zhang family was probably on the verge of collapse. However, the matter was extremely important and could not be ignored, so Sam came alone.

But in the end, he did not find Charles Dean; he only found the place where Charles Dean had stayed, and in his room, he found an oil painting. Charles Dean had lived there, but everything had already been moved out, leaving only that oil painting.

Here, I need to use my imagination. From the notes, I cannot judge Sam’s inner thoughts, but I can put myself in Dean’s mind to deduce some details of the time.

It was an oil painting of a vast lake, the colors of the lake extraordinarily gorgeous. When he saw it, a surge of joy and awe welled up in Dean’s heart. He had never known that water in the world could exist in such a distant, mysterious, and isolated way. So, where was this stunningly beautiful lake?

Dean then saw the reflection in the lake, the mirrored images of snow-capped mountains on the surface. He recognized that the peaks rising by the lake seemed to be Mount Kangrinboqê. The sky reflected in the lake was grayish-white, and this atmosphere made the lake feel sacred and extraordinary, imbued with an exceptional aura.

Dean was quite resistant to the religious evaluations of so-called beauty and truth, but when he saw this painting, he seemed to be able to comprehend things he had never understood before.

He imagined what would happen if the light source in the oil painting changed, how the various rays refracted by the lake would create a dazzlingly beautiful scene. He imagined all kinds of weather—gale, torrential rain, drizzle, snow, hail, mist—and wondered what the fish in the lake would be like. Would they be different from fish elsewhere?

He gazed at the oil painting for a long time, only realizing that Sam was gone when he finally looked around. Sam was sitting alone at the doorway. Among the crowd worshipping at the mani stones, he was the only one not facing the temple, but the distant snow mountains.

After Dean walked over, Sam asked him, “Where is the lake in the painting?”

Dean shook his head. He had never seen such a beautiful lake. If he had to say, it must exist in the heavens. However, judging by the reflection of Mount Kangrinboqê, it should be among the snow mountains, most likely deep in the Himalayas. He shared these deductions with Sam, who then asked, “How can I get into the snow mountains? I need your help—money is no object.”

Organizing a team to enter those snow mountains was extremely, extremely difficult, but if you found the right people, there was still a glimmer of hope.