Tropical Highway

Leaving Sera Monastery, the young monk escorted them all the way to the gate.

After hearing the plans of the two, the monk expressed regret that they might not be able to go to Pabangka, and enthusiastically suggested: "If you have time tonight, you can go along the mountain road to the back mountain. The top overlooks the city of Lhasa. Many people It’s rare to miss it. However, the view is not good when walking on the mountain road at night..."

Then they were given a flashlight.

According to his guidance, You Zhen asked Zhai Lan if he could still adapt to his body, and decided to continue walking after getting an affirmative answer.

Maybe they were very lucky that day, and the good deeds they had just done were immediately rewarded. Before walking a few steps, they met an enthusiastic Tibetan who asked them if they were going to the back mountain.

The so-called car was an electric three-wheeled car, and it was very bumpy when sitting up. The Tibetans sang loudly all the way up the path, passing a maintenance shop, and Zhai Lan, who had been empty all the time, finally spoke.

"So 'Rinpoche' is a living Buddha?"

You Zhen pondered for a while: "It doesn't seem to be the case. Just now the little master said that 'Rinpoche' is their respectful name for all masters, but they must be relatively prestigious people in Sera Monastery."

Zhai Lan: "Wow."

Either way, it seems like a great deal.

Suddenly there was a divided expression similar to the characters that would only appear in textbooks, You Zhen couldn't help laughing, and said, "What did he give you just now? He didn't mention the taboos of wearing it or carrying it with you..."

Zhai Lan showed him the vajra, there was a small hole at the end that could be worn as an amulet, and it seemed that it could also be hung on a keychain.Master Rinpoche didn't say much when he gave it to Zhai Lan. The two of them researched it, but they didn't come to any useful conclusions. Finally, they put it in the middle of Zhai Lan's card bag with a sense of awe.

This can be regarded as an unexpected joy, and it has a taste of resignation and heartfeltness in Buddhist allusions.Zhai Lan only felt that she rushed forward when she saw someone in need of help, she didn't think too much about it, and even felt a little "I don't deserve it" ashamed.

"It's too precious." Zhai Lan said sadly, "He won't trust anyone..."

You Zhen commented: "It must be because you are very close to Buddhism, young man."

"yes……"

"Yep."

"But the little potatoes that Rinpoche gave are really delicious."

"Hahaha……"

They were talking, and they took the electric tricycles of local Tibetans and headed for the back mountain.

The sun gradually set in the west, the scorching heat at noon faded, and the shadow of the mountain enveloped the land with a strong sense of oppression.In the evening, the evening wind blows across Banpo, and the prayer flags in the distance move with the wind.

The wind in Tibet is endowed with different meanings. It blows the prayer flags of Najin Mountain, and every time it is a blessing. It also takes away the simmering smoke, and the paper pieces flying all over the sky after Saronda are also carried by the wind , spread prayers to mountains, rivers and seas.

The electric tricycle is parked in front of a residential house, which is the home of Tibetans.You Zhen thanked him, and regardless of the other party’s refusal, stuffed some cash as a thank you gift. The Tibetan uncle reciprocated, and brought two large bottles of water, milk tea, and tsampa enough for two people to eat. Fa, and bid farewell to You Zhen and Zhai Lan.

The road that can be driven ends at the Tibetan people's house, and the back section is all along the mountain, and it becomes a small road when there are many people walking.Occasionally, there are boulders lying across, and places where the slope is too steep even need to use both hands and feet.

It was manageable at the beginning, but the terrain became more and more steep as we went forward, but the scenery gradually revealed the whole picture.

You Zhen crawled across a small cracked ditch, turned around and said, "Give me your hand."

His tone was resolutely undeniable, Zhai Lan paused for a moment, his palms covered with dust and mud pressed against each other for a second, and their body temperature was much higher than before climbing the mountain.

"Can you still persevere?" You Zhen looked up at the road ahead, "You must say if you feel uncomfortable."

Zhai Lan is a little breathless but he doesn't have the feeling of abnormally fast heartbeat and tinnitus. He can still joke with You Zhen: "Why, tell you, and then you plan to carry me?"

"Then give up." You Zhen said, "I won't try to be brave."

The two laughed out loud at the same time, Zhai Lan shook his head, and he was pulled across the ravine and continued to walk forward.No one needs to mention it, they all want to feel the wind at a higher place.

I didn't feel much when walking in the city. Standing in the middle of the mountain at this time, I could already see half of the low city wall before I reached the viewing platform.There are no obvious boundaries, no high-rise buildings, even roads and bridges. The tall mountains suddenly rise from the flat bottom, and the peaks of the mountains point straight to the sky. The city of Lhasa seems to be isolated from the world.

The bright sun hid in the clouds, and a golden crown was placed on the mountain in the distance, and the shape of a lotus flower could be vaguely seen.

The footsteps stopped slightly because of this spectacle, and Zhai Lan couldn't help murmuring: "It's so spectacular..."

Facing the Potala Palace, he only admits that it is a supernatural workmanship; in the Jokhang Temple and the Golden Dome is one step away, he thinks it is the power of faith; In the field, he felt the practice like no one else...

Only when he climbed high and looked into the distance, and the snow-capped mountains watched him quietly, did Zhai Lan meet the majestic nature.

He never thought that he would come to Lhasa, and even if he did, it would be absolutely impossible to climb this not-so-famous mountain.It was strangely familiar, as if he had seen this scene before, but the shaking in his dream made him at a loss as to what to do.

"The top of the mountain is almost here." You Zhen's voice called him back, "Tired?"

Zhai Lan said "no", but his steps froze because of the short-lived out-of-body experience.

You Zhen took his forearm, slid down, and held Zhai Lan's five fingers together in his palm.The body temperature was even hotter, and the hotness climbed all the way from the back, and Zhai Lan shivered fiercely.

You Zhen's voice also began to pant while speaking in front, but he couldn't tell whether it was because of fatigue or something else.

"Zhai Lan, tell me, we walked like this for almost an hour...does it count as 'trekking'?"

What he said at the exit of the Potala Palace was remembered by You Zhen, and the soles of Zhai Lan's feet collapsed for a moment. He lowered his head and saw that he had stepped on a footprint on the loose sand and gravel.

"Forget it." Zhai Lan said, holding You Zhen firmly.

The rest of the road will be reached soon. The so-called viewing platform is just a relatively flat piece of land.

The hillside is sloping behind, and further forward is the valley, with snow remaining, the sunset folds the shadows, and the dark green color reminds Zhai Lan of You Zhen's hair.

The setting sun has sunk into the horizon, the mountains are getting thicker, and the shadows are gradually engulfing the city.The Lhasa River is still white, passing through somewhere like a thin bright ribbon, with no source and no way out, it is ethereal without beginning or end.

They were on the way when the sunset was the most beautiful, so they were not missed, but they felt indescribably lost if they didn't see the whole picture.

Zhai Lan stood very far away, almost dangling with one foot sticking out of the cliff.

"Come here." You Zhen called him from behind, "Don't go there to play!"

He gave a light "um" as an answer to You Zhen, but obediently took two steps back.Zhai Lan took a look at the surroundings, it was desolate, only them and dust.

Yuzhen was tired, so he sat cross-legged on the ground, took out tsampa from the food bag and gnawed.

The tsampa is made for them by the Tibetan uncle. The highland barley flour is mixed with buttered tea, milk dregs and a little sugar, and kneaded into a ball. It is easy to store, easy to carry and can fill the stomach.At that time, You Zhen was still wondering in his heart whether the other party was exaggerating too much, but only now did he realize that this was the indispensable dry food for them to climb the mountain.

Although the taste has degraded due to being left for too long, and occasionally you can bite the grains of highland barley, but with the wind all over the mountains and plains, there is a little licorice fragrance in the air, facing the vast world, drinking a sip of milk tea, this roughness seems to be the right time.

The two ate half of the tsampa in silence, and there was still some milk tea left.

"...We are so primitive." Zhai Lan suddenly smiled, "I never thought that there would be such an overwhelming meal before I came here."

You Zhen slightly raised his eyebrows: "Are you comfortable?"

"Comfortable."

It wasn't a lie, Zhai Lan supported himself on both hands and fell backwards, his legs stretched out, and his tired body stretched out.Looking up, the sky is from light to dark blue, the clouds gather, and the top of the mountain in the west is covered with snow.

If it wasn't for the strong night wind, it would be difficult for Zhai Lan to realize that he was standing at such a high place.

On the top of the 4500-meter mountain, he did not suffer from hypoxia.

The last light of the setting sun was also swallowed by the mountains, and there were no lights on the mountain roads. They lit the flashlights for illumination, but did not leave immediately.You Zhen plays a song on his mobile phone, it may be a live band, so the lead singer's panting sound is also very clear.

Guitar-like whimpers, distortion and overdrive effects change repeatedly.

You Zhen hummed a few words along with the melody, floating in the empty mountains, even the echo was silent.

"Let's all go with sadness.

"To the next place, to the next night,

"With grief."

It was getting dark, but Lhasa was slowly getting brighter.

They sat on a rock, accompanied only by the light of a flashlight.You Zhen played two songs, but the battery ran out, and suddenly there was no sound, only the most real breathing, right beside you.

"It's so quiet." Zhai Lan said suddenly.

You Zhen turned his head: "You will be quieter if you don't talk."

He made a joke but Zhai Lan stopped talking immediately, and looked at him sideways.The small animal-like eyes are particularly bright at night, the light of the flashlight in the pupils will occasionally flicker due to the breathing rate, the shadow of the eyelashes is like fluffy crow feathers, Zhai Lan's eyes are focused, and his lips seem to smile when he purses his lips slightly.

Gentle, with a sense of aggression and possession at the same time, such eyes.

You Zhen didn't dare to look at him, he clearly felt that Zhai Lan's invisible ear was getting redder and redder by those eyes, but it was too much to simply avoid him—when there were only him and Zhai Lan here. Deliberately.

The clouds in the sky dispersed, and he hurriedly looked up at the brilliant Milky Way.

Zhai Lan also looked up at the night sky like him: "Do you like stars, You Zhen?"

You Zhen answered after a while: "It's okay."

At night, the starry sky, clean oxygen, the shadow of the mountain, dust, purple clouds, the lights of Lhasa city flickering like fireflies under the feet, all these things are superimposed, and the secret cannot be hidden, as if anyone can see the deepest heart - it seems only in At this moment and here, life and death are just a few seconds at a time, and the original heaviness is lost.

"You Zhen, how did you get there?" Zhai Lan asked.

They relied on each other in the hospital. At that time, they felt that there was no need to say anything. Now they sit side by side, and their fingers touch each other.It's like being powered on, making many dispensable details important.

You Zhen took a deep breath, he hadn't mentioned these things for a long time, but this time even the psychological construction was logical, as if he could mention those pains to Zhai Lan.This is not enlightenment, and he is not qualified to use himself as a textbook to persuade anyone, he just... suddenly wants to tell the truth.

You Zhen used to be brave for too long, he was tougher than his parents at that time, and others even said he was too hard-hearted.

He reached out and grabbed a handful in the void, lowering his eyes.

"I didn't go there."

Zhai Lan: "..."

"My younger brother...one day he accidentally fell down while playing, and there happened to be a stone...Suddenly, he didn't even have the chance to issue a critical illness notice. He was just in primary school, and for me, the feeling at that time was Like, a person you see every day can't be found in the blink of an eye, and you know he'll never get a chance to come back, you can't apologize for a fight, you can't keep a promise that hasn't been kept—"

In Zhai Lan's silence, You Zhen pointed to his heart: "I've always put him here, and I don't want to 'go past'."

"Past" equals "forgotten".

"I always feel like I'm the only one who will remember... This feeling is terrifying." Zhai Lan said, he didn't want to open the scar, but the pus inside would always have to be pierced to become a scar, "I didn't tell you, You Zhen, I'm afraid You feel sorry for me."

"Ok?"

"I'm a single parent. Later, my father left."

You Zhen lowered his head, his fingers twirling in the dust unconsciously.

It took him a long time before he changed into a bright tone: "Zhai Lan, let's put it this way, I like some very clichéd lies, such as seeing the sun shine on a golden mountain and you will be lucky for a whole year, and the dead will become a star."

"But there are too many stars."

"It's okay. He'll find you."

You Zhen's words came softly from the wind, as far as the eye could see, the galaxy above Dongshan Mountain seemed to be flickering.

Zhai Lan's nose suddenly burst into intense sourness, and before he could react in time, tears flowed down involuntarily.

He seems to have returned to the morning in the cemetery, sending everyone away, refusing his aunt to pick him up and leaving, squatting beside his father's tombstone and wiping the marble over and over again with a handkerchief, covering his tears with movements.

But even then, he didn't make any sound.

"He will find you" is just right, filling Zhai Lan's vacant corner.

The abnormal breathing gradually turned into nasal congestion when inhaling continuously, and then there was a small sob, Zhai Lan curled up, covered his face with his hands, his shoulders kept shaking, and finally burst into tears.

The warm and hot body dispels the coolness of the night, You Zhen hesitated for a moment, stretched out his arms to hug Zhai Lan, gently brushed his face so that he leaned towards him, and patted him comfortingly.

You Zhen didn't say anything.

He knew that these tears belonged to Zhai Lan, and farewell is the only way in life.

The author says:

The song is "つぎの夜へ" (Go to the next round of night) by Swing Empire. The guitar solo in the live version is amazing!Be sure to try it!