Chapter 11 chapter Ten

The road to Lowari Pass is steep and winding, with many 180-degree turns, and the narrow pass sits on snow-covered hills thousands of feet higher than the hills on either side.Standing on the summit and looking back at the road she just walked, Bei Ni felt that the dirt road was like hair pins scattered all over the ground by the goddess of carelessness.The mountain peaks are like huge waves, blue and undulating, and the two horizons extend. She pulled her coat tighter. Leo had warned her it would be cold up the mountain, but she didn't expect it to be this cold. Come, have some of this.

She thanked him in a low voice, and took the hot tea he brought.She didn't know how he sent the cook up the mountain to prepare tea for everyone first, but he seemed very capable in this regard. A gust of cold wind blew, and even though she was wearing gloves and holding hot tea, she was still shivering with cold.He took off his coat and spread it over her shoulders.She waited for a moment, and when she heard him go away, she finally turned her head and glanced at him. He was standing beside the mule cart without a coat, and a gesticulating coolie was talking to him. She wanted to cry so much.

When she was thinking wildly alone, she magnified his cheating that day into a habitual vice. She showed mercy everywhere in London during the engagement, and continued to have affairs after marriage. It's actually not that serious at all. His behavior was indeed vulgar and outrageously wrong, even if he was abandoned by her, he deserved it.But instead of abandoning him, she married him.Are marriage vows like confetti, fireworks in the air, turned into garbage and swept out the next day?Shouldn't she have given him a chance instead of being indifferent and closing the door. Although this frankness is embarrassing, it is absolutely necessary. If they had talked so frankly when they were husband and wife, would it be possible to make amends?

she does not know. She will never know. The surface of the canyon is all black rocks, and because the slope is too steep, all the soil and plants are washed away during the rainy season.The remote valley floor is barren and rugged, and the powerful currents have shaped the landscape and disappeared. The mountain road they walked was engraved on the surface of the cliff. On one side is a cliff piercing into the sky, and on the other side is a valley at least fifty meters deep. straight down. They had lost a mule less than an hour ago.The poor animal stumbled and fell, and it took what felt like a whole day to finally hit the ground.From the bottom of the valley came the sound of flour sacks exploding, as well as wailing sounds similar to human cries.

The most frightening thing was that the mule was still alive. Although he was seriously injured, he was not dead, and his four hooves were twitching due to severe pain. Gunshots rang out.The marksmanship was terribly accurate, and a bloody hole appeared between the mule's eyes.It struggled for a while and then stopped moving. Bernie turned just in time to see Leo remove the magazine from the breech-loading shotgun.She knew vaguely that he had been adventuring outdoors as a boy, that his godfather loved hunting and that he was the only son, and that he took Leo with him wherever he went.She had never seen him shoot, though, and hadn't even noticed before that moment that he was carrying two shotguns.

The accuracy of that shot made her terrified.This man used to be her husband.In her perception, however, he was just a social darling who occasionally published incomprehensible papers on difficult details of mathematics. Maybe it was because of the mule's tragic experience that cast a shadow on her heart, or maybe it was because the road really became more difficult, and after starting again, her hair stood on end all the way.She tried to comfort herself that just two years ago, 16,000 people marched this way to the north to rescue the besieged Chitra Fortress; many messengers also used this route to deliver letters and packages.But she still walked tremblingly, thinking of the mule's wail when it fell to the bottom of the rugged valley, and the bullet that hit it right between the eyes.

The mountain road goes around the outer edge of the cliff, and every turn is thrilling.The originally very narrow road was less than forty-five centimeters when turning.What's worse is the road condition, even if it's uneven, it's even more downward-sloping now, and it seems to her that the slope is at least forty-five degrees. She stopped, searching for the little bit of courage left in her heart.Intellectually, she knew that after passing the rock blocking the road in front of her, the road would continue to move forward, and both Leo and the guide had safely bypassed it.But she couldn't see the way ahead.Her mountaineering experience is not enough, it is really difficult to calmly face the sloping road, the abyss is like a big mouth full of sharp teeth, and she will fall into it if she is not careful.

Leo turned back toward her.Are you okay? He also chose to walk on this road.However, her feet.It's like walking a tightrope, but he is walking on the ground. She nodded habitually, then shook her head slowly. He stretched out his hand without saying a word.She only hesitated for a second before holding it, and her fear was instantly reduced by half. He led her safely across the sloping ledge and around the rocks jutting out of the cliff face.After reaching the other end, she didn't let go of his hand, because the road conditions were still just as creepy.He held her hand until the road under his feet turned into an ordinary path, and he would no longer fall into the deep valley because of a momentary slip.

When she reached safety, she wanted to kneel down and kiss the ground.She let go of his hand, took off the glove, and moved her fingers that were almost numb due to tension.She looked up to find him staring at her hands. Their eyes met. He heard that the road conditions have improved a lot in recent years, he said. I can tell, she replied. He chuckled softly. Thanks, she went on. He smiled, and his sweet smile aroused the deep pain in her heart.Holding your hand isn't too hard a job. The Upper Dier district is quiet and simple, with several small villages standing on the hillside.Fragmented rocks are scattered everywhere, and the Hindu Kush Mountains occasionally have haze, and the shaken rocks are washed away by the flood during the rainy season.From time to time, between the steep cliffs, there will be a small plateau, green as the Alps, and once I saw a bright purple field full of purple aurora.

After you recovered, everything worked much more smoothly. While she was sipping her afternoon tea and admiring the violet flowers, her mind was still on the other side of the mountain, thinking about what happened the night before and the process of revealing the truth this morning. Is anyone asking for trouble when I'm sick? She shook her head. Imran and his son restrained the coolies tightly.But coolies will also rebound, constantly complaining and being lazy.That's when she understood the value of Leo's talent for making a ragtag group of coolies happy to work and coordinating their work so that everything was done in the right way at the right time.

She glanced at him.He looked better, but was still tired.Although the departure time was delayed, they had already made two trips, and he planned to make another trip before dark.She really wanted to rest his head on her lap and watch him fall asleep peacefully. What's your secret to managing coolies? It feels so strange that they can still talk about such an ordinary topic even though tomorrow is collapsed.However, she was eager for his company, as if she was suffering from lovesickness, but in fact he was always within fifteen meters. He shrugged.Probably experience.Do you remember my uncle? She thought for a moment.The medallioned old soldier at our wedding. He was a colonel officer in the Royal Bengal Army.When we were young, we clamored for him to tell stories about wars. He told us that the army fought on its stomach. Although the strategic layout is very important, the key to victory or defeat is actually the logistics supply.So I always volunteered to manage the logistics when Sir Rob and I went out on safari.he said with a smile.As the youngest of the five brothers, I was overwhelmed by the feeling that I was finally in control. The belated awakening made her stunned.She should have found out earlier: he had been in charge of housekeeping all along. She knew little about the intricacies of housekeeping.However, during their short marriage, housework ran smoothly.Her clothes and shoes are clean and tidy.Every day when she went out to go to work in the hospital, the carriage must be waiting outside the gate.There is dinner on the table every night, and there must be dishes she likes. She doesn't have to discuss with the cook at all, and she doesn't even know what the cook looks like. Even after she refused to let him have sex. After he left, the dinners became too greasy, the chauffeur sometimes drove drunk, the housekeeper complained about the maid's suitors, and the letters waiting to be answered by Bernie piled up.At that time, she was very confused, and she only regarded the disorder of housework as one of the symptoms of life collapse. In fact, when they were husband and wife, he took care of her daily life very carefully, and she never knew it and never appreciated it. Her delicate weight weighed on him.She called his name on her lips.In his grip, her hips were soft and supple.He straightened himself up from the camp bed, and in the joy of dying, he let go of her body. The man's mind is really strange, the woman in front of him is obviously well-dressed, and she doesn't do any provocative behavior, she just looks into the distance with tea and thinks. He made thousands of wishes, hoping that they were just two travelers who met by chance and met only now.I hope that sweet but nasty thought is just a happy fantasy to pass the time when he gradually falls under the spell formed by her lonely beauty and deep inner focus, instead of tearing his heart in two. He would have stories to tell her, ways to get her to let her guard down.He would hold his breath expecting to see her smile for the first time, hear her laugh for the first time.He will have endless curiosity about her, eager to put her body and mind naked in front of his eyes. Holding hands for the first time.first kiss.It was the first time I saw her take off her clothes.For the first time in one. For the first time, pick up what the other party said. It's a pity that they have known each other for a long time, as early as his childhood.Their fate came and went.Now there was only a rough road ahead of them, and a final parting. Who are those people?she asked. He looked in the direction she was pointing.In the distance, a group of men with turbans and beards came towards here. A soldier of King Dirhan.He said.They are responsible for maintaining order along the way. At the request of the Indian government, King Dirhan sent troops to maintain the road to Chitra. Such frequent patrols may also have the intention of declaring the king's prestige. King Khan was friendly with Britain, which caused resentment from the people.In fact, they seemed to regard him as a puppet, manipulated by the distant British government to allow the hideous British powers to penetrate deep into their mountain strongholds. Leo motioned to serve tea to the soldiers.Inquire about Swat's situation, he instructed Imran. After the soldiers were back on the road, Imran came to report the news.Since Leo first heard the name of Miracle Priest, in just one week, his influence in Dier cannot be underestimated.All three tables were talking about the priest's deeds, and over tea arguing about his success. Leo thought that the priest was just a charlatan and shouldn't have much ability.However, in such a mountainous area, ordinary quack warlocks or small characters who dream of becoming martyrs usually cannot spread their reputation very far, let alone the people who are 230 kilometers away and enthusiastically praise his deeds. Will it affect us?Bernie asked. Not to worry just yet, but the situation must be closely monitored.In the event of credible evidence, however small, of a real danger, we abort our journey until the commotion is over. She nodded and reached for a slice of cake. He looks at her. Her blue-black long hair is loose, like the cloak of a dark god.Her skin was naked, fresh and soft, like a sea of ​​purple flowers, he really wanted her to lie in that sea of ​​flowers.Her small mouth is warm and her body is sweet and soft.There is no past and no future.Only that moment of eternal splendor, untainted by shame or regret. She caught him peeking.A blush crept up her cheeks.He felt like a smoldering ruin. eat it.She thrust a piece of cake into his hand.You need to eat more.