The caravan was sizable, with over a hundred merchants, armed guards, cooks, veterinarians, and others, along with eighty yaks, mules, and horses. Before setting out, they invited a monk from Nagarjuna Victory Temple to chant scriptures and pray for blessings, and hung a consecrated protective charm and colored cloth around the lead yak's neck.
That tael of silver was rather needlessly spent, Qu Zan grumbled inwardly.
Listening to the monk chant scriptures, Qu Zan thought the man was not even as good as he was.
The plateau stretched beneath an immensely broad sky, snowcapped mountains spanning the horizon and clouds hanging low. The entire caravan looked as tiny as a wisp of drifting dust.
There were no official roads on the long journeys through Mìdì, only pack trails trodden by people and livestock. Hugging the mountainside, the caravan wound through the snowy mountains like a long, sinuous snake.
The caravan took the northern route through the rolling Xionglian Mountains.
The slopes here were steep, their peaks piled with pristine snow. Unlike the level roads of the southern route, these mountain paths were extremely rugged.
Qu Zan sat high on his horse.
Bodhi carried two bags of salt across his rump, balanced on either side, and walked along quite leisurely.
Qu Zan cautiously swept his gaze over the mountain trail. His eyes half closed as though he were dozing, he visualized the Mind Secret Cultivation Method in his mind, practicing the Peacock Wisdom King Esoteric Method.
When this round of visualization ended, incantations continued to surface in his consciousness. The image of his principal deity grew more solid in his mind, and the sea of Karma Fire from his visualization appeared within his spirit.
For this sort of meditation and visualization, the easiest way to enter meditative absorption was to find