K sent an email to corporate requesting a few more days of additional PTO via mobile phone. Within half an hour, K’s PTO request was approved. The author and the masked man organized the trip including the logistics. After a few hours of car ride, they arrived at the foot of the sacred mountain at dawn. The masked man told his people to wait at the foot of the mountain. After about a six-hour hike deep into an ancient forest, K, the author and the masked man arrived at the upper portion of the mountain. To get to the monastery, they had to scale a steep and narrow cliff walkway carved out of rock. Once they arrived atop of the summit above the clouds, they had to walk across a dangling woods bridge nestled between the two mountain peaks. One mishap, a miles-long drop taking at least 30 seconds will probably ensue.
A few moments later, K, the author and the masked man arrived on the other side only to find a lush forest covered in snow as far as the eye can see. Upon entering the forest, it was already in the early afternoon with a muted glow from the sky and they were immediately surrounded by a thick layer of dense fog. Traversing in half a foot of snow with each step, they were exhausted after three hours of searching for the monastery to no avail. At this point, the sun has set and they were shivering from the cold and they were lost in the forest. The situation got even worse when the tent they were trying to set up was carried away by strong gust and is nowhere to be found. There was no phone signal on the top of the mountain, they only have enough food rations for a light meal and they were deep in the forest. They never expected it would be this cold and didn’t anticipate how difficult it was to find the monastery.
They knew their chances of survival in these conditions were extremely low. The only way they could survive at this point is to find shelter to get through the night. The masked man cleared the snow from a small area beneath his feet, put his ear to the ground and listened intently for any kind of sound. He was able to determine there was a cavern system underneath with water flowing to a nearby location. With his knowledge of gravity, topography and distinguishing direction by utilizing the moon, the masked man was able to lead K and the author the entrance to a karst cave on a lake. After inflating the packraft, they paddled into the cave.
The Legend of Ocekay novel series is based on a true, original story written by The Permanent Contrarian. The Legend of Ocekay novel series will be updated weekly on this site until the conclusion of the first part of the multi-part series. I live in America which means I have the rights to exercise reasonable free speech as permitted by the law. All posted content(s) on this website are my opinions only which means they should not be taken as advice of any kind. I am a non-celebrity, non-public figure posting anonymously for my own entertainment on a website that is not affiliated with any individual(s), organization(s) and/or any entity/entities.