Riding a yak to enlightenment amid wind and snow; where mountains rose beyond birds, man became the peak!

Golden sunlight bathed the mountains and rivers as Chen Jue rode the yak westward. The wind and snow gradually subsided, and everywhere he looked, gray, white, and blue intertwined.

Gray was the original color of the Qilian Mountains, white was their covering of ice and snow, and above them stretched a clear, washed-blue sky, with the occasional wisp of cloud drifting among the mountains.

The elevation here had already climbed above four thousand meters. Carrying Chen Jue, who weighed nearly a hundred kilograms, the yak began panting after traveling several dozen li along mountain trails, white vapor streaming constantly from its mouth and nostrils.

Chen Jue looked at the rolling, snow-white ridges around him, then at the wild yak's continually rising and falling back. He discovered that the earth and living creatures bore remarkably similar forms in certain respects.

"Huff, huff." Chen Jue could hear the yak's breathing grow heavier. The oxygen in the air was thinning, and even an animal as powerful as a wild yak had to bow before nature.

He patted its neck to signal it to stop, swung down from its back, and dug through the snow to pull up some grass roots to feed the simple creature.

"Moo!" The yak gave a long call, clearly fond of this temporary master who understood the hardships of a yak's life. It knelt on the ground, chewing the roots while watching Chen Jue.

Through its pure, dark eyes, Chen Jue could see its gentleness, its wildness, and its feelings of awe and affection toward him.

People said the eyes were windows to the soul. If two people looked into each other's eyes long enough, they could perceive each other's emotions, which would affect their own mood, and their tear glands would begin secreting tears uncontrollably.

Looking into a