Even if this not-so-small, near-miss episode is over, who knows what troubles may be waiting for us in the depths of the sand sea in Xiye Ancient City. I still have to find a way to persuade Professor Chen and the others to go back.

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We are less than half a day away from the ruins of the ancient city of Xiye. The wind has stopped and the sun like a fireball hangs in the sky. The most important thing when traveling in the desert is to keep yourself hydrated. Traveling during the day is not easy.

It was a big no-no, but we still had plenty of water, and we could replenish it when we arrived at Xiye City, so we headed forward in the desert under the scorching sun.

There is another scene in the desert during the day. In ancient times, the orogeny of the Himalayan Mountains formed the Tarim Basin. The terrain of the entire Xinjiang is like a big bowl, and the bowl contains a bowl of golden sand.

The caravan consisting of nine people and nineteen camels is too small, and its proportion is less than one ten thousandth of a grain of sand in this bowl of golden sand.

The desert is vast and boundless. If it weren't for the long footprints behind you, you wouldn't even feel that you are moving forward. I really admire those explorers who enter the Gobi desert alone. Maybe they can only walk in the world so lonely.

During this time, they will experience the true meaning of life and admire it. I am not going to do that in this life, or collective life is suitable for me.

Satipeng and others were very curious, so as they walked, they told him that they had never seen desert army ants before, but they had only seen villages plundered by desert army ants. People and animals were chewed up until only their bones were left, which was terrible.

The reason why this kind of ant colony is called army ants is because they have a high degree of organizational discipline and are mainly soldier ants. If compared with the human army, in addition to mobility and firepower, the well-trained human army has

The ability to coordinate and organize cannot be compared to that of desert army ants.

As they walked, they talked about how the sand dunes under their feet were rising and falling, with unprecedented undulations. An Liman said that under these dense sand dunes were ancient cities swallowed up by yellow sand. He led everyone up to the tallest big sand mountain and pointed out

Heading to the south, we will tell you that there is our intermediate station and the ruins of Xiye Ancient City.

I raised my telescope and looked south. I could see an oasis in the hinterland of the sand sea.

Sand Sea Magic Nest 10

The oasis in the desert is like an emerald on a gold plate. From a distance, the ruins of a black city stand in it.

The ruins of Xiye City are quite well preserved. The city was also relatively late. It was not destroyed by war until the end of the Tang Dynasty. Since then, it has been abandoned to this day. In the early 19th century, German explorers discovered this place.

Most of the murals, statues and other cultural relics with artistic value in the ruins were looted.

There is only this empty city left in the desert, the oldest ancient Kongque River channel. So far, because underground water veins have passed through the city all year round from ancient times to the present, it has become an important supply point for travelers in the desert.

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The camel team descended from the Dasha Mountain and slowly moved towards the oasis. An Liman and I discussed that we should rest for two more days in Xiye City before entering the Black Desert. Once in, it would be difficult to turn back. The camels were frightened these days.

Carrying a large amount of supplies, I had to strengthen my legs before I could go out again.

This is exactly what I want. I wish I could stop for a few more days so that I can find an excuse to persuade the archaeological team to go back home. Instead of looking for some exquisite ancient city, I just dig two pits nearby and wander around. Recently, I feel more and more like

If you don't have enough strength, if you go deeper into the desert, something big will happen sooner or later. By then, I'm afraid you won't be as lucky as you were in the past few times.

I slowed down the pace of the camel and rode side by side with Professor Chen. I said to him: Professor, let's go into Xiye City, rest for three to five days, and then go out again in five or six days. An Liman said that the camels are all tired.

It's broken. If we don't give them enough rest, we will have to switch to No. 11.

Professor Chen was puzzled and asked: How do you open it?

I said: Professor, why don’t you even know No. 11? You just walk on two legs. After saying that, I used two fingers to imitate walking on two legs: Isn’t this No. 11?

Professor Chen laughed: Brother Hu, where did you come from so many new words? It’s really interesting. Well, let’s just renovate it in there for a few days. I also want to take a closer look at the ruins of this famous city.

It looked like we were not far from the oasis on the sand hill, but we walked for three hours to get there. The city wall was made of black stones, and some places had been weathered and damaged. Only the main city was quite well built.

In order to be strong, and the glorious scene of that year can still be vaguely seen, some oil well workers, expedition teams, and geological exploration teams passing by here stayed overnight in the main city, blocking the door with stones so that they did not have to worry about attacks by wolves.

Since the mid-1970s, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet have carried out vigorous wolf hunting activities. Large-scale wolf packs have been completely extinct, leaving only some small groups or lone wolves acting alone, which are not a problem.

Besides, there are many of us and we carry guns, so we don’t have to worry about wolves. It’s the windy season, and no one else comes here except us. So we found a spacious room in the main city, lit a campfire, and ate.

Make tea.

An Liman and I found the ancient well in the city. It is said that this well has never dried up for thousands of years. An Liman said that this was Hu Da's miracle. I was not sure about this and used a leather bucket to get a bucket.

Well water, the well is very deep. I had to put dozens of meters of long rope before I could hear the sound of falling water. After taking it out, I took a sip first. It was cold and refreshing, and it penetrated my heart and spleen. The anger caused by being exposed to the poisonous sun in the desert suddenly disappeared.

, I feel indescribably comfortable and useful.

He placed all nineteen camels next to the well, drank them one by one, and gave them salt croton cakes to eat. Then he picked up two large buckets of well water and returned to the house where the archaeological team members were resting.

These people were all exhausted and fell asleep on the ground. Some of them still had half a piece of cake in their mouths and fell asleep after eating half of it. I didn't disturb them, and they had suffered enough in the past few days.

After boiling a large pot of water, Professor Chen and others were woken up one by one, forcing them to scald their feet with hot water and then pop the blisters on their feet.

After all this work, I went to bed. I slept groggily for a whole day and night. My tired body finally recovered. In the evening, everyone sat around and listened to the fat man bragging.

The fat man was eloquent, telling everyone how rich the products were in the old forests of the Northeast and how delicious the delicacies were. It was nothing like a desert. Except for sand, it was just sand. The wind was so strong that even one bite of a yellow sheep would leave a mouth full of sand.

Particles, especially the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains, are full of delicious food. There has been a saying since ancient times: sticks beat roe deer and gourds scoop out fish, and pheasants fly into the rice pot. Can you imagine the free life of hunters?

The few students with little experience made the fat man dumbfounded. Sa Di Peng pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and asked curiously: Brother Wang, what does it mean to beat a roe deer with a stick?

The fat man said: Glasses, I see that you are very studious, so I will tell you. It means that if you are walking in the mountains, you can pick up a stick and swing it casually and kill a roe deer. You can also fish it out blindly with a gourd in the river.

If you go to Big Fatty Fish, it means you are rich in products.

He snorted and dismissed what the fat man said: The desert also has its advantages. The types of animals and plants in the desert are no less than those in the forest. Moreover, although the Taklimakan Desert is at the lowest point of the basin, in a sense, this place is

A peak of ancient civilization. What else is there in the forest besides wild deer, dogs and bears?

I was afraid that the two of them would start fighting, so I quickly told her that there was a lady in the house, and we two brothers were going out to smoke. While talking, I pulled the fat man outside.

The bright moon in the sky was like a picture, and the stars were like a brocade, illuminating the earth with a silvery light. I lit a cigarette for the fat man and advised him to be more patient. The fat man said that of course I can't be as knowledgeable as her. They Americans are not sensible, so we can't be ignorant.

, not to mention that he is a womanizer. If he were a man, his head would have been ripped off and used as a football.

I laughed and said: That's right, that's right. Who are you? You can make a big hole in the cement floor by peeing. You have to be a big man and don't rip off your head. Otherwise, we will pay you for it.

Who are you looking for? Twenty thousand dollars, that's not a small sum.

After joking for a while, I raised my head and blew out a smoke ring. In the sky, I saw the giant star on the left, the auxiliary star, and the right star. The three stars were shining brightly, arranged in an equilateral triangle. The central sun, the lunar star, and the lunar star appeared side by side. It was like a group of armors.

Jinxi is a lucky star.

I had never studied Tianxing Feng Shui carefully before. I just read it several times in order to make some money for the archaeological team. At this time, when I looked at it, the contents of the Tianzi scroll in the secret technique of Feng Shui immediately emerged in my mind.

I quickly ran back to the house, took the compass, stepped up to the top of the tower, and compared the stars in the sky. This place shrouded by auspicious stars was at the ancient well in the city. This was my first time to practice Tianxing Feng Shui, and I was unsure.

, but most of them will not be mistaken. My sixteen-character Yin-Yang Feng Shui secret book is not a vulgar thing, so it means that there must be ancient tombs near underground water veins. It is said that there are water-holding tombs, but is this too far away?

Close.

Anyway, this is a major discovery. I have to tell the archaeological team about it. It's best if they find something here and gain something, so they probably won't have to go into the Black Desert.

Sand Sea Magic Nest 11

Professor Chen was overjoyed and rushed to the well with his students excitedly, planning to go down and have a look. The well's railings and nooses were reinstalled later, and the previous ones had been destroyed at some point.

An Liman stopped everyone and said: This is a holy well, Hu Da does not allow mortals to go down.

Hao Aiguo pulled An Liman aside and talked to him about the archaeological policy. The purpose of digging ancient tombs is for better protection, so that this cultural wealth can be left to the people. Tomb robbing incidents are common in Xinjiang now, and even foreigners come.

Digging secretly, if the government does not come forward to protect it, these precious things will be lost.

I discussed with him that the well is very deep, so we can make a double-buckle safety lock and hang people down to see what is inside.

I had to go down there. Although there was water veins down there, I still didn’t dare to be careless. I put on a gas mask, a flashlight, a whistle, an engineer shovel, and a dagger. I secretly hid the black donkey’s hooves and the golden charm, and I stretched out my hand to try the rope.

The firmness of the rope should be discussed and the method of contact should be discussed. If you wave the flashlight upward three times, the people above will stop and stop putting the rope down when they see it. The second time you wave the flashlight upward, it is to pull the rope upward. In order to prevent accidents, also

Carry a whistle and use the whistle to communicate if you cannot see the light of the flashlight.

By this time, An Liman had been cleared by Hao Aiguo. Fatty Chu Jian and him were joined by three people who lowered the rope for me, and I descended from the wellhead little by little.

It was night at this time. Except for the light of the flashlight, everything was pitch black. You couldn't see clearly where the wellhead was when you looked up. The temperature dropped deeper and deeper in the desert. The temperature in the desert at night was very low. Coupled with the high humidity in the well, it made people feel like they were never there.

Cold from the core.

The walls of the well were slippery, making it difficult to stand. It is said that this ancient well is much older than last year's Xiye City. This well existed first, and then Xiye City came into being. Suddenly a cool breeze blew, and I hurriedly

I used a flashlight to shine and saw a stone door on the wall of the well.

I aimed it at the top of my head, blew the whistle and waved the flashlight. It was not far from the mouth of the well, only fifteen or six meters deep. As long as I spoke loudly, the people above could hear it. When they received the signal, they immediately stopped and put down the rope.

It hangs just below the stone door.

The cold wind blew out from the gap in the stone door. When I pushed it with my hand, I felt that the stone door was very thick and there was no stone lock or bolt. Although the gap was large, I couldn't push it. I needed to use a crowbar to open it.

Seeing that I couldn't get in, I gave a second signal and asked them to pull me up. I explained the situation underground in detail. Professor Chen was amazed and said: Strange, maybe this is not a mausoleum, but a secret passage or something like that.

, how can there be any mausoleum in the world built beside a well with such a mysterious passage?

The fat man volunteered: "Whatever he is, there's no point in guessing. Let's go in and take a look. You get me down, and I'll pry open the stone door."

I said: Forget it, if you want to go down, I'll go down with a crowbar. Fatty, you are too heavy. If the rope breaks, we have to go down the well to fish you out.

This time we made a rope ladder, so that after the stone gate is opened, anyone who wants to go down can climb down the rope ladder. In the end, the people who decided to go down included Professor Chen Sa Dipeng and four of me, while Fatty and others stayed on top.

I still went down first and used a crowbar to pry open the stone door. It seemed that this door had been opened and closed frequently in the past, otherwise there would not have been such a big gap. However, it may not have been opened in the past few hundred years, and it cannot be used on the rope ladder.

It took a lot of effort to open this door.

Behind the stone door is a masonry-structured walkway, which is spacious and neat, and the inside is pitch-black and unfathomable. I called the people above to come down and pulled the three people into the walkway one by one.

Distribute a pill to everyone, saying it can prevent hypoxia, and then put on gas masks and go inside without risk.

The four of them walked inside for about fifty meters and passed two stone doors in a row. The last door was sealed tightly. There were unknown strange beasts embossed on the stone door. There were dead animal skins stuck to the cracks in the door. They used a flat shovel to remove the animals.

The skin was cut off piece by piece before the door could be opened.
To be continued...