Zhuo Xiong and Chao Zi respectively used climbing ropes to tie up the people they were carrying, binding them with military-style marching blankets, so that even if anything happened, they wouldnt lose the unconscious person, truly sharing life and death. Cha Wenbin thought that if Old Wangs consciousness was clear now, he would also agree with this approach.

  Still leading the way was Cha Wenbin, the two brothers were now like his left and right arms, standing on either side of him. Since there was no turning back, they could only go against the tide, they couldnt just wait to die here.

  As he walked past the bend, what was in front of him made Zhang Wenbin involuntarily take a step back. Next to him, Zhuo Xiong had already turned around and started retching, while Chaozi covered his own mouth, trying not to feel nauseous.

  What did they see? The bronze coffin that was left behind had its lid open, and the pond that was originally filled with pebbles was now a white sheet. Whats more terrifying was that these "whites" were moving, to be precise, squirming. Countless white insects swarmed in from all directions, rolling, entwining, and piling their bodies on top of each other, dense and uncountable. All the insects were converging towards the largest bronze coffin in the center, forming a massive pyramid shape. Insects on the side continued to climb up the "pyramid", with some falling from the "peak" and disappearing into the sea of insects below, only for new ones to surge upwards. In an instant, the "insect pyramid" had almost reached the top of the cliff.

  A worm that crawled in front of them was picked up by Cha Wenbin with his treasured sword, and when he took a closer look, this thing was as long as chopsticks but as thick as a rolling pin, its white and plump body twisting back and forth on the ground. When he carefully flipped it over, there were countless tiny legs on its abdomen that kept squirming, making peoples hair stand on end.

  Whats even more frightening is that on its mouth, there is a pair of black pincers, about five centimeters long. Zhang Wenbin tried to pick up a twig from the ground to tease it, and the insect turned its head and bit down with a "crack" sound, snapping the twig in two. When he picked it up to look, the broken end was as smooth as if it had been cut with a knife, showing just how sharp those pincers were.

  Zhuo Xiong pointed at the worm wriggling on the ground, his heart had been feeling creepy all along, and he finally couldnt hold it in: "Wen Bin ge, what is this thing, why is it so disgusting? Ive grown up in Sichuan since I was a kid, but Ive never seen such a worm before."

  Zha Wenbin turned around and asked He Yichao: "Yichao, youve been active in the wilderness for years, what do you think this insect looks like?"

  Chaozi covered his mouth and was about to retch, when he heard Cha Wenbin ask him, he put down his hand: "Ive seen this thing once in Tibet"

  "Have you seen it in Tibet? Tell me about it."

  He pointed at the insect and said, "That was when I was a soldier. Once, a herdsman from the Tibetan region lost his cow and came to our company for help. Because of the low population density in Tibet and the many uninhabited areas, herdsmen often lose their livestock. When they cant find them, they come to us for help. We attach great importance to military-civilian unity, especially with these Tibetan villagers. Our instructor didnt say much, but he let me and the deputy squad leader each ride a horse, taking the old man to search.

  Before departure, everyone brought enough dry food and water, because similar things had happened in the past, often taking a long time to find them. The Tibetan Plateau is not only harsh in natural conditions but also home to many ferocious beasts. The three of us followed the footprints and dung of the cattle to the foot of a snowy mountain, looking at the footprints, they went up the mountain.

  The cattle rarely go up the mountain, unless they are chased by wolves and run wildly. So, my classmate and I decided to go up the mountain to search, but the old Tibetan villager refused to go back. We were anxious at that time, thinking that we had come all the way here and had a clue, why not take a look? The old villager mumbled for half a day, but we didnt understand him. We still decided to go up and take a look, because if the Liberation Army helped you, they couldnt give up halfway. If this got out, my classmate and I would have no face in the regiment. The old villager saw that we were determined to go up, grabbed the horses reins tightly and refused to let go. After shouting and gesturing, he finally made us understand his reason for not letting us go.

  In the eyes of Tibetans, many mountains and lakes are sacred, but this mountain is not only a sacred mountain in his eyes, but also a place where he has all sorts of taboos, because the top of the mountain is also a sky burial site!

  Cha Wenbin interjected: "Sky burial?"

  "Ah, sky burial. You should ask Zhuo Xiong about that, hes also been to Tibet." Wen Bin turned to Zhuo Xiong and looked at him, who nodded towards Wen Bin: "Ive also heard that it indeed exists there."

  "Oh? What kind of funeral is that?"

  "Regarding sky burial, Ive never actually seen it myself, but Ive heard that the sky burial master selects a location, usually at the top of a mountain. The corpse is placed with its back to the sky, and the limbs are broken. The skin is then torn open at the center of the body and on both shoulders, exposing the muscles. Then, they retreat. A large number of vultures will swoop down from the sky, competing to feed. Once the flesh has been pecked clean, only the skull remains on the sky burial platform. The sky burial master then uses stones to smash the skull into a pulp, and the vultures will again swoop down in droves until theyve eaten everything, after which they disperse. Only then do the people around begin to kneel and pay their respects."

  Zha Wenbin listened and said: "The sky burial you mentioned, we Han people actually have it too. In the Zhou Yi · Xi Ci Zhuan regarding funeral, there is a record that says: In ancient times, those who were buried wore thick clothes made of mulberry bark, and were buried in the middle of the wilderness, without being covered or planted with trees. This refers to people dying and being abandoned directly in the wild, neither entering the earth nor entering a coffin, allowing them to be devoured by wild beasts. You continue speaking."

  Chaozi continued: "At that time, both of us were still young and reckless, with big guts. We had been in Tibet for so long and wanted to do something real. So we rushed to Lao Xiangs place, gesturing and telling him, The cow group is lost, its on this mountain. If you dont go find them, how will your family make a living? The big snow is about to seal the mountain, if you dont go up now, Im afraid the cows will freeze to death. Who will bear the loss?"

  The old fellow from the Tibetan area really had no choice, all his property was left there, and he didnt dare to go up. After we urged him for a while, he finally agreed to follow us to take a look. I and the class leader were so excited that its not worth mentioning. The road up the mountain was difficult to walk, and we could only lead the horse on foot. It took half a day to finally reach the top of the mountain, and the sky had already started to darken. Following the hoof prints of the cattle, we indeed saw an ox on the back side of the mountain top. The old fellow said it was a leading male ox, and the herd must be nearby. We need to find them before dark, otherwise they would disperse again.

  We hadnt walked many steps when we followed the cow hoof prints to the back of the mountain, where the cows corpses were scattered over an area of about 200 square meters. The old villager took one look and saw that all his cows had died here. This was unbearable! He raised his hunting rifle and rushed forward immediately. My squad leader and I looked at each other, thinking that there must be enemies of our socialist society here. We held up our Type 81 rifles, pulled back the bolts, and chased after him. As we approached, we saw that none of the cows had any visible wounds. A few cows lying on the ground in the distance were still gasping for air. All the cows shared a common phenomenon: their bellies kept twitching as if something was moving inside. The old villager took one look at this scene and instinctively retreated, saying he wouldnt take revenge anymore. He pulled us to leave the mountain. My squad leader and I didnt understand - with so many cows dead, why werent you taking revenge? Instead, youre in a hurry to leave the mountain? The old villager gestured to us, saying that there were devils here and these cows had all been sacrificed to them.

  I was a materialist back then, although I respected the Tibetans beliefs, but deep down I didnt believe in the existence of devils. Looking at those cows that were still breathing in the distance, I thought to myself that this time the villagers had suffered a great loss, and I felt indignant. I wanted to get to the bottom of it. The squad leader squatted down next to a dead cow, pointing at its belly which was still moving, and said to me: "Superior son, look, this cow is dead, why is its belly still moving?" I said, "Why dont you cut it open and take a look?"

  This kid is even more stupid than me, pulled out the bayonet, and with a "whooshing" sound, it was cut open. Suddenly, a bunch of white insects rushed out, one of which bit onto the squad leaders bayonet, which was made of pure steel. Later, when we checked, there was actually a tooth mark left on the blade!

  One of them crawled onto the class monitors calf, and he let out a loud "ah" in pain. I quickly used my bayonet to try and pick it off, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldnt get it off. In the end, he gritted his teeth and pulled the bug off with all his might. Guess what? A big chunk of skin came off with it.

  That old fellow, after seeing that worm, shouted "devil" and pulled the ox, turning his head and running away, without caring about us two. Just after finishing bandaging for the squad leader, I saw that the dead cow group from earlier had mostly become skeletons, with a large number of white worms crawling towards us. I shot a burst of bullets at those worms, splashing their juice all over me. Seeing more and more worms, I could only carry the squad leader on my back and run down the mountain. When we met that old fellow at the foot of the mountain, he applied some herbal medicine to the squad leaders leg wound. Before returning to the unit, the squad leader began to have a fever, became unconscious, and vomited. The unit instructor sent him to the Lhasa Military Region Hospital overnight, and finally, the doctor said that if it werent for that herbal medicine, he would not have survived, but the squad leader still had his leg amputated. He lost one leg forever. I remember the appearance of that worm, just like this! Chaozi pointed at the one in front of Cha Wenbin and said "Just like this!"

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