Chapter 11 11. Shadow at Dawn

It was four o'clock in the morning when Morgan walked out of the Kew-style hotel in the aristocratic mansion.At that time, the night sky was clear and cloudless.He was not happy to schedule his departure at such a time, but Dr. Sarat assured him that the inconvenience of getting up early would be more than fully compensated. "If you don't go to the top of Sri Konda to see the dawn scenery, then you will never know the true face of this mountain." Visitors are not accepted at other times. He thinks this is the best way to get rid of curious tourists." As if on purpose, the Taborobani driver turned out to be a formidable babbler who kept talking and asking questions—seems like he wanted to know the passenger's situation. Learn as much as possible.As annoying as it was, he did it in a very simple way, which made it difficult for others to get angry with him.

Along the way, Morgan wished the driver would stop nagging and be more careful when turning.The pre-dawn darkness makes it almost impossible to see anything.Maybe it's better though, so you don't have to see all those abysses and cliffs flashing past you as the car plods its way up the hill... "Look, this is Mount Sri Konda!" the driver said proudly as they circled the hills in front of them. Mount Srikunda was still immersed in darkness, and there was no sign of the dawn coming.Only a narrow band of light winding up towards the starry sky and suspended in the air as if miraculously announced the existence of it-Sri Konda Mountain to people.Morgan knew they were just streetlights, installed two hundred years ago to make it easier for pilgrims and tourists to climb the world's longest stairway; The band of light now seemed to be the incarnation of his own ideal hidden in his heart.In the centuries before Morgan's birth, people, inspired by philosophies beyond his comprehension, had begun the great work he now hopes to accomplish.This is the initial stairway they built to lead to the interstellar road...

Morgan had shaken off sleepiness.The bands of light that were getting closer and closer gradually fell apart, becoming a string of twinkling night pearls.The dark triangular outline of the mountain peak was faintly visible on the sky, and in its silence, there seemed to be some kind of ominous omen.It seemed that this was the residence of the gods, and these gods had already seen Morgan's intentions, and they were summoning all their strength to fight him. When the car reached the cable car station, these gloomy visions that had arisen in Morgan's mind were forgotten.Although it was only five o'clock in the morning, no less than a hundred people had already gathered in the small waiting room.To pass the time, Morgan ordered two cups of coffee—one for himself and one for the chatty driver, who, thankfully, hadn't offered to accompany Morgan on the summit assault.

"I've been up there twenty times," he declared, with a striking air of faux indifference, "before you come down the mountain, I'd better get a good night's sleep in the car. " Morgan bought a lift ticket.According to his calculations, he could catch the third or fourth train.The altitude here is 2,000 meters, but the temperature is already very low.If we go up more than 3,000 meters to the summit, the weather will be much colder. When the silent and sleepy-eyed people started lolling in a line, Morgan was surprised to find that he was the only one without a camera. "Where are the pious pilgrims?" he thought. Rely on the machine. However, there are still cases where it will not work without the machine.”

Finally, all the passengers were seated, and the small carriage started immediately with the screeching sound of cables rubbing against each other.At this time, Morgan was immersed in a strange feeling again, as if he was walking in the footsteps of others.The lift he envisioned would be tens of thousands of times more powerful than a system apparently built in the twentieth century.However, their principle of action is the same. The cable car moved staggeringly in the darkness, and the stairways illuminated by street lights came into people's sight from time to time.The stairways were deserted, as if the endless stream of pilgrims who had climbed the summit for three thousand years had vanished at once.But this is just a feeling: those who walk to meet the morning glow are already walking far in front of them.

At an altitude of 4,000 meters, the cable car stopped, and the passengers walked to another cable car station after getting off.Morgan put on an insulated jacket sewn from metal-coated fabric.Frost creaked underfoot, and the thin air made it hard to breathe.Morgan was not in the least surprised when he saw the many oxygen cylinders at the cable car station; right there, in a conspicuous place, hung the instructions for use. Just as we climbed the last stretch of ramp, there were signs of approaching daylight.The east was still shining with the brilliance of stars-the brightest of the stars was Venus, and at this moment, high in the sky suddenly flashed thin and transparent clouds reddened by the morning glow.However, there was still half an hour to wait before dawn actually came.

A passenger pointed to the steeper and steeper hill below. Following the pointer, people saw the winding and majestic stairway on the hill.Now, the stairway is no longer deserted.Dozens of male and female believers are slowly and laboriously climbing up the endless steps like sleepwalking.How long have they been on the road?All night!And many people spend more time on the road than that.Those are old people who are not capable of reaching this height in one day.Morgan never expected that there would be so many devout believers in the world. A moment later, he saw the first monk—a tall man in an orange toga, walking at a deliberate pace, looking straight ahead, paying no attention to the sky above his bald head. Slowly moving cable car.He seemed equally indifferent to the power of nature: his right arm, bare from the shoulder, was completely exposed to the harsh cold wind.

After the cable car arrived at the station, it stopped, and when the cold passengers got off the car, they headed for the return journey.Morgan joined a crowd of 200 to 300 people gathered in a small semicircular theater carved out of the western hillside.All the people stared nervously at the darkness, but for the time being, they could not see anything except the narrow band of light woven by lights that meandered into the bottomless abyss.Those late-night travelers are desperately trying to climb the last section of the stairway-faith overcomes fatigue. Morgan looked at his watch: there were still ten minutes left.Before this moment, he had never encountered a scene where so many people gathered together and remained silent.Now, camera-toting tourists and pilgrims are united by a common hope.

From the top of the hill, from the temple still invisible in the darkness, came a melodious tinkling of bells, and for a moment all the streetlights on the great stairway were extinguished.Those who stood there to welcome the dawn began to see the faint dawn light illuminating the clouds far below.However, the mountains still cover the morning glow. As the rising sun flanked the last bastion of night, the slopes of Sri Konda loomed more clearly and brightly with each passing second.From the crowd immersed in waiting patiently, whispers of prayers came out. For a moment, it seemed that everything had condensed into a stillness; then, under completely unexpected circumstances, a well-defined and extremely symmetrical triangle enveloped almost half of the Taborobani country.The holy mountain has lived up to its admirers - the famous figure of Mount Sri Konda appeared in the sea of ​​clouds.As for the meaning it symbolizes, it is up to each pilgrim to deliberate in detail according to his own understanding...

Because the straight line is so perfect and unreasonable, it gives people the illusion of a substance—as if it is a pyramid that has been brought down, rather than a game of light and shadow.There was a flood of light around it, and the shadows seemed thicker and deeper by comparison with the first few rays of direct sunlight coming in from behind the hillside.But through the thin veil of cloud, the shadow's ephemeral source of life, Morgan could vaguely make out lakes, temples, and forests of land awakened from slumber. The morning sun was slowly rising above the mountains, and the top of the misty triangle approached Morgan at a tremendous speed, but he did not notice this movement.Time seemed to stand still; for the first time in real life, he was unaware of the passing of the minutes.As the shadow of a mountain is reflected in the clouds of dawn, so is an eternal shadow hanging over his soul.

The shadows disappeared quickly, and the darkness dissolved in the sky like dye in water.The dreamy, half-discovered scenery under the sky began to have a sense of reality.About halfway to the horizon there shone a light--the reflection of sunlight on the east window of some building; The region must be the vast sea. A new day has come to Taborobani. The crowd slowly dispersed.Some people returned to the cable car station, while other tourists who hadn't finished their entertainment walked towards the stairway because they mistakenly thought (this is a common fallacy) that going down the mountain is easier than going up the mountain.For most of them, being able to walk to the cable car station below is a thankful thing.Only a small number of people can complete the whole journey down the mountain. Morgan was the only one who stepped up the stone steps leading to the monastery on the top of the mountain accompanied by people's curious eyes.When he came to the smooth plastered outer wall, the wall was frozen in the light of the rising sun.He leaned against a heavy wooden door with relief. Obviously, someone was watching his actions.Before he could find the button of the doorbell or any other signal that could announce the arrival, the wooden door opened silently, and a monk in yellow clapped his hands to greet him: "Amitabha, Dr. Morgan. Mahanayagai-Tello is waiting for you."