More than 30 heroes led by Chatsa and Rongcha Chageng and many ministers came to see Cholmo. After Cholmo had described her nightmare to them, all of them, except Zhaotoin, thought this was a bad omen that would bring misfortune on the State of Ling. By contrast, Zhaotoin said: “It is an omen promising that the Lion King will be back soon.” But no one believed his version. Following a discussion, Cholmo and others were determined to send a unit of cavalry led by Dainma to spy into the movements of the Hor State army.
Dainma left with 21 cavalry and headed for the region of Hor. While just walking along the brow of a hill, they saw 12 divisions of troops in black and red crowded on the rocky valley in front of them and their cooking smoke was rising upwards. They also noticed that all the camp doors of the troops were facing towards the State of Ling. When they saw this, they realised that these troops were on the way to attack the State of Ling. Dainma immediately ordered his patrol to return quickly and report. He would further observe their actions to see what they would do.
While he was watching, the Hor army Dainma unhurriedly picked some holly twigs from the Mountain. Then he started to sing a song praising the God of War and prepared to turn back the entire army by himself. Suddenly, Dainma’s silver-grey horse said: “We will surely be defeated if we, only a man and a horse, fight so many men and horses. Let’s pretend to be a cripple and a lame horse. You travel on foot and I will go ahead without a saddle. When we get closer to them, we attack them with all our might.”
Dainma thought this was a good idea. He walked slowly while the horse went lamely ahead. As expected, the armymen of the Hor ignored them. When they were near the front of the camp, Dainma swiftly put on his white helmet and jumped on his horse. He stormed into the Hor’s camp like a bolt of lightning. In an instant, Dainma had cut down 18 tents and kicked over 18 cooking ranges in the vanguard camp of Tsinpa Merotse. As a result, there was smoke and ash everywhere, darkening the sky, and the Hor soldiers, who were shocked by the abrupt assault, were in total chaos. In the disorder that followed, Dainma drove their war horses away.
Having seen the confused situation, Tsinpa Merotse tried to dissuade King Bacham again: “My king, we’d better not attack the State of Ling if just a crippled man and a lame horse are of such strong fighting capability. If the army of Ling arrives here, what will the result be? Don’t start a war just because of a woman. Our state has many, many beautiful women. You can marry any one of them?”
“I merely want Cholmo. Don’t talk any more! That cripple took your war horses away, why don’t you look for them instead of talking nonsense here. You are the bravest general in our state. But how do you become a cowardly person now?” King Bacham ironically scolded Merotse. Saying nothing, Merotse went and led 20,000 soldiers on a forced march to the State of Ling immediately.
The Ling army had already prepared for the onslaught invasion. When the two armies met, they had a fierce battle resulting in thousands of corpses and blood flowing like a river on the ground.
Cholmo was so worried that she couldn’t sleep day and night. She thought to herself: “It seems that the king of Hor will not retreat until he gets me. What should I do? Perhaps I can gain some time from the Hor king by trickery till the Lion King comes back. When King Gesar returns, he will definitely beat off the Hor invaders.”
Cholmo promptly ordered Ngachonchi to tell Chatsa and other Ling ministers her scheme and told them to inform the Hor king that Cholmo had decided to go with them. In the meantime, Cholmo wrote a letter to Gesar and sent a white crane, who houses his soul, to deliver it to the Lion King in the demon kingdom.
Cholmo’s plan was approved by the Ling ministers though Chatsa was reluctant to accept the idea. But considering their army’s heavy losses in the battle, he thought perhaps: “It is good for us to use delaying tactics till Gesar is back.” And then he sent a message to King Bacham saying that Cholmo had agreed to marry him.
King Bacham could hardly contain his joy when he thought he was going to marry the most beautiful woman in the world.
Three years passed but Cholmo still had not arrived in Hor. The Prince of the Yellow Tent and the Prince of the Black Tent began to lose patience, whereas King Bacham became quite demented. So he sent Tsinpa Merotse to urge Cholmo to come to Hor soon.
During this period, Cholmo was even more anxious than King Bacham. She was waiting for information from Gesar. Year after year went past and she heard nothing from Gesar. She thought to herself: “Could it be that he is dead? Otherwise, how could he not come back?” Just as Cholmo had her heart in her boots, Tsinpa Merotse came back again to say, “Queen Cholmo, our king has been waiting for you for three years with patience. You always have thousands of excuses not to start your journey for Hor. What’s the reason? If you don’t come with us quickly, our three kings will come back to fight again.”
“Tsinpa, don’t worry! Cease your anger! I, Cholmo, grew up in the State of Ling. In order to leave here, I have to deal with many things. You know that getting married is a serious undertaking. I can’t take it lightly. Today I am going to Shanggo Mountain to visit my aunt. She has grown old. If I am to leave the State of Ling, I may never see her again. Before leaving I must call on her.” Cholmo said in a relaxed voice trying to keep her anxiety unnoticed.
Merotse had no choice but to accept meeting her requirements. Merotse followed her everywhere for fear that Cholmo would disappear. When they were at the foot of the Shanggo Mountain, Cholmo took out a bottle of wine and said to Merotse: “Kind Merotse, you stay here and have a drink while I go to see my aunt. I am afraid that with your vicious look you will frighten her.”
After he looked around the mountainous path and made sure that Cholmo had no way to run without him seeing her, he answered: “Okay, that sounds fine!”