We searched towards the ancient temple ahead. In the overgrown weeds, there were no human footprints, only scattered weeds and rocks, occasionally revealing the bleached bones of animals half-buried in the mud. Judging by the shape of the skeletal remains, there were even large animals like Tibetan bears and yaks. It was unclear if they had died of old age here or were the leftovers of some other fierce predator.

During the trek to the temple’s main gate, the Lama briefly recounted the history of this abandoned shrine. Ancient Tibetan legends spoke of the World-Conquering Jewel King, who, at the request of Princess Jiadi (in ancient times, Tibetans referred to the Han lands as Jiadi), and with the aid of the Lotus Master, slew the wicked consort who had hidden in the Kunlun Mountains. This event was described in detail in oral narrative epics passed down through millennia, which claimed the consort was the reincarnation of the Demon Kingdom’s Ghost Mother.

Since ancient times, this depression near the Kunlun Sacred Spring has been a cursed place. Herders and their livestock passing through would often vanish without a trace. Local Living Buddhas had dispatched Iron-Rod Lamas and Vajra Dharma Protectors more than once to investigate the cause in the mountains, but they always returned without any leads.

It wasn't until the Qianlong era that a violent landslide occurred, revealing an unmarked ancient tomb at the foot of the slope. The tomb faced the lake with its back to the mountain. The stone gate of the ancient tomb had collapsed, lying wide open, but the local herders, steeped in superstition, dared not enter. They only peered inside from the outside, catching glimpses of ancient Jiumu wood within.

The stone path leading to the tomb was half-submerged in the lake, and the guardian stone figures and beasts, such as the Yanghu (Goat-Tiger), were all damaged. Any inscribed tablets or markers had vanished, making it impossible to know who was buried within. Anyone who lingered nearby often met with disaster.

The Living Buddha dispatched Lamas into the cracked tomb to investigate. They excavated some human bones from the tomb chamber; everything else had decayed. Additionally, they unearthed a stone tablet inscribed with a scene from ancient Tibetan lore: the "Ghost Mother Striking the Bowl Picture."

The locals believed that all the preceding calamities in the area must be related to the wicked consort of the Demon Kingdom; perhaps this was her final resting place. Later, the imperial court learned of the matter. Because of frequent unrest in the Tibetan regions at the time, and in an effort to win favor and display the Emperor's benevolence, the court funded the construction of a temple consecrated to "Hayagriva" on that spot, intended to sweep away evil spirits. A Living Buddha was asked to send someone to manage all the temple's affairs.

After the completion of the "Great Phoenix Temple," it flourished for a time, attracting many herders who traveled great distances to circumambulate the mountain and the lake. However, strange occurrences in the region continued unabated. Many people reported seeing an unfamiliar figure dressed in green haunting the nearby lake shore at night. The next day, inevitably, someone would drown in the water. Furthermore, regardless of whether the victim was fat or thin, once submerged, even if immediately rescued, they would be reduced to nothing but dry skin and bones, shriveled like tree bark.

On more than one occasion, witnesses claimed to have seen a colossal, wheel-sized cyan hand rising from the water, seizing people and livestock from the shore and dragging them in. The Lamas tried to dam the water sources to drain the lake and find the root cause, but all they found at the bottom were heaps of dry bones. Performing great consecration rituals and chanting sutras had no effect whatsoever. Finally, they sealed the entrance to the ancient tomb with heavy stone slabs and abandoned the temple. In the devout Buddhist region of Tibet, abandoning a temple was exceedingly rare. From then on, people warned each other to stay far away from this inauspicious forbidden ground.

By the 1970s, these events had faded from memory, except among a few elderly Lamas. Some people, prioritizing convenience, began coming to the grassy meadow to collect winter fodder. The stone path we discovered was actually the very sacred stones used to seal the ancient tomb’s fissures, all engraved with the esoteric Dainichi Sutra of the Cycle Mantra—which should never be trodden upon. As the Lama recounted this, he shook his head repeatedly, sighing softly, mumbling, "Alas, few people take the Buddha's words seriously anymore."

Hearing such eerie tales, Big Guy leaned over and whispered to me, "Old Hu, do you really think things like that happen? That’s BS, right?"

I offered no comment, thinking about the recent frequent volcanic activity beneath the Kunlun Mountains, which had caused a major earthquake. Perhaps the shock had re-cracked the sealed ancient tomb. However, since everything inside that tomb had already been cleared out during the Qianlong years, this place was now merely a 'vacant tomb.' I understood that one shouldn't linger long in a vacant tomb, but the strange legends about the temple remained beyond my comprehension.

To avoid leaving any clues, the four of us spread out with an equal distance between us, advancing toward the ruined walls of the ancient temple. Yet, we found no suspicious signs along the way. Just then, the First Squad, led by the Company Commander, emerged from the tall grass; they hadn't found anything either. The two squads merged temporarily and entered the "Great Phoenix Temple."

The temple was severely damaged and dilapidated, with only a few rings of broken, crumbling walls remaining, vaguely hinting at its former scale. At that moment, a large, perfectly round moon emerged from behind the heavy, leaden clouds, illuminating the ruined temple as brightly as day. Yet, the heavy snow on the ridge continued to fall incessantly. The cold wind swept down, chilling one's bronchial tubes to the core, making the internal organs feel frozen solid. No one had the inclination to admire the spectacle of half-moonlight and half-snow.

The local garrison troops had a saying: "Past the Kunlun Mountains is the Gate of Hell; reaching the Unfrozen Spring, tears turn to ice; Kunlun Pass—even wolves freeze to death." The mountain pass where the ruined temple stood was a huge vortex for the wind, which howled in from all directions, creating a strange, mournful whistling sound that lingered over the ancient temple and the overgrown grass. Most strangely, although the temperature here was very low, the surrounding green vegetation still managed to survive, and the lake never froze over. It contained no fish or aquatic plants. Legend held that in ancient times, even without wind, the water here surged three feet high. A large portion of the lake basin had dried up long ago, leaving only a small patch—a 'water blister'—which was seen as the precursor to "Ghost Lake, La'ang Co."

As soon as the small team entered the perimeter of the ruined temple, the Company Commander instructed the Lama to give everyone a detailed explanation of the temple and the surrounding terrain. Once the briefing was complete, the Commander still divided the men into two groups: he personally led a group toward the entrance of the ancient tomb behind the temple; the second group was tasked with searching the temple ruins. They had to confirm the situation clearly to avoid unnecessary ethnic conflicts. If the missing squad hadn't been found by daybreak, headquarters would dispatch the entire battalion from the military sub-district for a full-scale search and rescue.

With the arrangements made, the Company Commander led his men straight through the gaps in the broken walls. In reality, the ancient tomb behind the temple was not vast, only the size of two ordinary dwelling rooms. The reason we had seen the sealing stones in front of the temple was that the earthquake had widened geological fissures, splitting the entire mountainside layer and connecting it to the burial chamber on the other end.

We dared not delay, letting the Lama lead the way as we searched the ruined temple inside and out. In the very center, we found a damaged statue of a deity with a human body, a bull's head, and multiple arms; its expression was fierce and angry—this was the Great Wrathful Hayagriva, possessing the power to subdue evil and support the good.

Beneath the Hayagriva statue was a large stone slab, over a meter thick—this was the one excavated from the ancient tomb behind the temple, heavily aged and ruined. I wiped off the dust with my cotton gloves, revealing the carving on its surface. Big Guy, Adjutant Xu, and I were all curious to see what the Ghost Mother looked like. The carvings on the massive stone were nearly worn away, completely devoid of color, but fortunately, the grain of the stone was clear enough that we could discern about six or seven-tenths of the original image.

It depicted a naked woman, three eyes, six arms, adorned with strange jewelry all over her body. These ornaments were grotesquely shaped, seemingly related to serpent deities. Beside her lay a massive water bowl, its surface etched with a cicada-wing pattern. Slumped inside the bowl was a small child, also possessing three eyes and six arms, holding a short, snake-like staff, striking the side of the bowl. The background of the scene was countless piles of stacked ox skulls.

The lower half of the stone slab had turned black and decayed due to prolonged burial in the earth and erosion from water and soil, so only the upper half of the image was visible. We merely regarded it as a curiosity; none of us found the Ghost Mother particularly frightening. Adjutant Xu remarked, "This depiction shows disrespect toward women. Fortunately, the wicked feudal forces have been overthrown, and the million serfs of Tibet have achieved liberation, all thanks to Chairman [Mao]!"

I replied, "Of course. So, when we drink water, we must not forget the well-digger; we must never forget the Chairman’s teachings. We must always keep the string of class struggle taut!" After uttering these timely remarks, I turned and asked the Lama what this Ghost Mother did. Was she a running dog of the feudal ruling class?

The Lama led us toward the lake behind the temple, chanting sutras as we walked. He explained the Ghost Mother’s origins: in the epic poem narrating the deeds of the Hero King, the greatest enemy of Ling Kingdom was the Demon Kingdom. The Ghost Mother was a person of extremely high status in the Demon Kingdom, akin to an Empress. She was specifically responsible for the reincarnation cycle of the Demon King after his death. The Ghost Mother would also reincarnate after each death. To completely eradicate the royal family of the Demon Kingdom, the Ghost Mother had to be killed; otherwise, the nightmare for the Ling Kingdom would never cease.

In that era, the people recognized many layers of death. The death of the Ghost Mother had to be a complete annihilation that terminated her cycle of reincarnation. Once these topics arose, we became increasingly reluctant to listen, quickening our pace. Suddenly, a thought struck me: the Nine-Story Demon Tower, buried deep under the great glacier, was the tomb of a noble from the Demon Kingdom. Now another damned Ghost Mother appeared here—did this suggest that a large area nearby was once an ancient imperial burial ground for the Demon Kingdom?

The area behind the ruined temple was even more desolate and broken. The old Lama had never been there either. At this point, everyone proceeded with caution. I am usually nonchalant, but standing there in person, my feet treading on this barren ground existing in ancient legends, I couldn't help but feel my muscles tense. The lake behind the temple was now just a small pool. The herders reported that the spot where their yaks were dragged into the water was exactly here. There were many signs of struggle and dragging on the ground, not resembling anything staged by enemy agents.

The water in the pond was almost entirely black, thick with rotten weeds and mud, emitting a pungent stench. The four of us stood at the edge of the pond, afraid to breathe deeply—it stank to high heaven. Big Guy pointed at a black object in the water and said to me, "That looks like a military cap."

Big Guy stood at the edge of the pond, extending the bayonet on his rifle to prod the object, which resembled a shearling sheepskin hat, toward us for inspection. Just as I was about to stop him, the foul water in the pond subtly rippled, as if a massive, cyan hand was quietly rising from the bottom, intending to grab Big Guy and pull him in. I immediately raised my semi-automatic rifle, which was already chambered, my finger hovering over the trigger. Before I could squeeze it, a volley of rapid gunfire suddenly rang out from the northwest—the other squad must have run into unexpected trouble...

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