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The
four-wheel-drive was able to handle the narrow tracks easily for the first few
miles, but was slowed considerably as the forest became more dense. Li seemed to
have a plan and assured his two companions that everything was under control as
they proceeded along the dense ancient tracks at a snail's pace. Every now and
then they would stop and leave the vehicle to view some significant landmark, or
to study the telltale signs of tiger prey such as wild pig and deer that became
more visible the further they travelled. Beth completely lost track of time and
couldn’t believe that they’d been travelling for nearly five hours when they
finally approached a large mountain range that rose from the forest like a giant
temple. When they came to a small clearing, Li stopped the truck and turned the
engine off. He told them that he had hoped to reach this spot slightly earlier,
but as they were all quite hungry it turned out to be a perfect place to stop
for lunch and rest.
"Where are we actually going Li?” asked Beth.
“You’ll see….” he replied with a smile on his
face.
After lunch he informed them that they would make their
way around the mountain for about another four hours, abandon the vehicle, and
travel the rest of the journey on foot. Beth looked at Yu and frowned after she
translated Li’s last statement. Li merely smiled again as he started the
engine.
As they rounded the mountain exactly four hours later
it became obvious that the vehicle was no longer of any use. For before them lay
an enormous almost perfectly symmetrical, rectangular shaped, bluestone
monolith, which stretched as far as the eye could see. The steep jagged cliff
that rose out of the forest at an amazing ninety-degree angle was very smooth
except for deep vertical gouges that looked like stripes. It had no sign of
vegetation on it, and the top was shrouded in mist. Beth unable to even estimate
its height could only muster the word:
“Awesome!”
“The Blue Tiger.” Li said as he spun around on his
seat.
The air felt still and a strange eerie silence
enveloped the forest as they climbed out of the four-wheel-drive and stared at
the marvelous rock. The trees stood perfectly still as if watching and waiting
for something to happen, even the birdcalls and distant animal cries that had
been almost deafening throughout the day had fallen silent. The only sound they
could hear was the harsh breeze that whistled across the flat plateau of the far
off summit.
Before she had even looked at him Li seemed to have
read her thoughts and started to laugh once more. Beth frowned again and looked
at Yu who was also looking uneasy now. Beth was afraid of heights and
hadn’t planned on doing any rock climbing.
“Trust me, Trust me.” Li giggled, as he
proceeded to take the backpacks out of the truck and hurriedly placed them on
the ground. “Come-come…we still have along way to go before night fall.”
“Night fall!” Beth cried, “I thought this was
just a day excursion you didn’t say anything about staying over night.”
“Trust me-trust me, it will all be worth it…the
less you know the better.”
They set off through the trees and followed the rock
face along for about two miles. The girls were exhausted when Beth finally threw
her bag down complaining to Li that she must rest.
“OK,” said Li. “But we must reach Bi An Dun, the
secret place, before night fall and make camp there.”
As Yu was repeating what Li had just said Beth's ears
suddenly pricked up as she heard the words, secret place.
“Secret place?” she repeated out loud.
Li looked at her and smiled again as Yu translated.
After ten minutes they were on their way once more.
Beth realized that Li had purposely triggered her curiosity, and her imagination
quickly took away the boredom and the pain of her blistered feet. She began to
imagine an ancient lost city waiting for them, or a magical hidden valley that
nobody had entered for thousands of years. She suddenly felt like Indiana Jones
and walked with a little more haste, as she grew more and more excited.
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