When Gesar arrived at the black ravine, his way was blocked by a big black frog, which opened its mouth wide and tried to swallow Gesar and Gyaingar Pebo.
This frog was stationed there by the king of Hor. After he had stolen Queen Cholmo, the Hor king was very scared that Gesar might take revenge on him. He had deployed nine different guardians to try to stop and kill Gesar on the way.
Gesar fought with the frog. The frog jumped here and there to dodge the attacks from Gesar. In order to finish it as soon as possible, Gesar clutched the belly of Gyaingar and he immediately turned into a giant crow and gulped down the frog. The Heavenly horse proved itself once more a staunch helper in a critical moment.
Gesar continued on his way. Soon he arrived at the foot of a steep cliff. This time it was a yaksha that guarded the only pass. Gesar didn’t want to waste time on her so he changed his bow into a huge grinding stone and squashed the yaksha.
In various ways Gesar beat all the other monsters stationed by the Hor king to stop invaders, such as a lion, a horse, a dog and an ox, on the way. Finally, he had broken his way through eight blocks and came to the last one.
This was the most difficult one of all, where high steep cliffs cut out a narrow path into a valley. Only one person at a time could ride in. The Guardians of this pass were two big, mean musclemen. Gesar knew it would be hard to take both of them down; so he disguised himself as a servant.
These two musclemen were quite alert when they heard Gesar’s footsteps coming near them. Gesar spoke before they made any move: “Hello, I am a servant of Chalho from the State of Ling. I have a letter from my lord to Queen Cholmo and I also bring some of her favourite snacks.”
The two men believed him as they dared not cause problems to a messenger of Queen Cholmo. They came down the pass to welcome Gesar. Gesar added a knockout drug to the wine and took the opportunity to propose a toast to them. He waited until the two men fell unconscious and then he killed them. As he went through the pass, he heard a song in the air. It was his Aunt Norman Garmo, singing:
“To get into the fortified palace of Hor you need climbing chains.
Go straight ahead and cross the three mountains in front of you.
You will find the intelligent fairy Chichun Yexei in a cave on the third one.
She is your perfect mate.
Marry her first.
She will help you to enter the palace.”
Gesar listened till the song finished. He crossed the three mountains as told. After he crossed the third one, he saw a beautiful girl drawing water from a stream flowing out of a cave. She was dressed in a black velvet gown with an embroidered portrait of a golden dragon. She wore a rainbow-colour belt at her waist and had a Buddhist box trimmed with black gold on a necklace around her neck. Gesar was surprised that the evil land of Hor possessed such a pretty lady. But why did king Bacham not marry her? Gesar disguised himself as a beggar and approached the stream.
After reading King Bacham’s horoscope, Chichun Yexei had stayed in the state. She never forgot the divination revealing the failure of Bacham. The day before Gesar arrived, she had a dream that a deity would come to her home. Waking up early in the morning, she told her father to prepare a feast for the guest and left to fetch some water from the spring. However, there was no deity near the spring. The only one she found there was a young beggar. Wondering if he was the right person that she was looking for, she asked: “Where do you come from? Why are you here? Are you looking for revenge?”
Gesar was impressed by the girl’s intelligence. To manoeuvre her away from the subject, he answered quickly: “I was born a beggar. Why do you see me as a deity? I came to Hor looking for food. I have no one to revenge.”
The more Gesar explained, the more suspicious Chichun Yexei grew. Why not just bring him home to dinner!
Chichun Yexei went home together with Gesar. Her father was not very pleased when he saw the man his daughter introduced. Gesar seemed a nice enough young beggar so he invited him in to dinner. When the meal was over, Gesar expressed his appreciation and went to leave. Chichun Yexei stopped him, saying: “Where are you going?”
“I have no idea. I am just wandering around looking at the beautiful scenery because I have nothing else to do.” Gesar replied in an innocent tone.
“Dad, do you see how poor he is? Could he stay with us?” Chichun Yexei turned to her father.
“All right.” Prince Gar Ponar said kindly and to Gesar he said: “What can you do, boy? Can you build fire or forge iron?”
“I can do both of them,” Gesar replied firmly.
Chichun Yexei was happy. So Gesar stayed with the Gar Ponar family helping them with the cooking and forging.
One day, Gar Ponar said to Gesar: “Son, our family has run out of charcoal, could you go with Chichun Yexei to burn some wood for charcoal?”
Gesar agreed and after preparing dinner, Chichun Yexei and Gesar left for a forest near the mountain. When they got there Gesar told her: “Sister, let’s work separately.”
Chichun Yexei agreed. She left to chop some wood and burn it into charcoal. But Gesar just lounged on the ground and fell asleep. Chichun Yexei was very angry with him. After she finished her part of work, she just headed home and told her father. Gar Ponar was also annoyed with the way Gesar acted. They decided to teach him a lesson.
Shortly afterwards, Gesar showed up. To everyone’s surprise, he brought back a bunch of charcoal. Gar Ponar exchanged a suspicious look with his daughter. Chichun Yexei suddenly became aware of something. But she did not say a word.
When the charcoal was used up again a few days later, Chichun Yexei said to her father she wanted to make charcoal with Gesar again. They went to the same forest. This time, Chichun Yexei just sat on the ground and chanted something quietly. A few minutes later, she stood up and started making a brew. She sacrificed the first cup of tea to the Heaven and Earth. Then she presented the second cup of tea, a hada scarf and a pair of ivory bracelets to Gesar who was still lying on the ground. Gesar was puzzled. Chichun Yexei started to sing a song with a low but merry voice:
“The snow-capped mountain is the destination of you White Lion.
Why didn’t you show your neck hair?
