Chapter 9 Chapter Eight Xiaohe Graveyard

When Tan Yundan was taken away by the frightened camel, he panicked at first, but calmed down quickly.She realized that she had to find the time to jump off the camel, otherwise she would die if she was taken to the center of the sandstorm by the disoriented camel.In the blurred wind and dust, Tan Yundan always pays attention to the terrain and landforms passing by.When she saw a small Yadan, she immediately rolled off the camel. The camel continued to gallop forward, and was soon submerged in the shadow of the sand. The sand is soft, which relieves the pain of falling.She groaned softly on the ground, and before she could move, she was hugged by a pair of big hands.Even in the dust flying all over the sky, you can still see Zha Haiyang's handsome and resolute face.Tan Yundan's heart warmed, and he hooked Zha Haiyang's neck.

Zha Haiyang hugged her, ran a few steps to Yadan and put her down, the two of them let out a sigh of relief.Zha Haiyang only had time to say "Hold me tight", and the overwhelming sandstorm swept over.Zha Haiyang held her tightly in his arms, and used his body to protect her from the sandstorm. In this world of sand all over the sky, even breathing is extremely difficult. I do not know how long it has been.After finally getting through this life-and-death moment, the sky covered by yellow sand suddenly became clear again.Except for those dunes that have been quietly moved, nothing seems to have happened.Tan Yundan and Zha Haiyang crawled out of the sand in a panic, and the shaken sand fell down.Looking at each other's appearance, Tan Yundan couldn't help but burst out laughing.Zha Haiyang also laughed.The laughter of the two seemed to rejoice that they survived the catastrophe, and also seemed to be relieved that they were not separated from each other.

Looking around, a heavy heart quickly climbed into the hearts of the two young people.The archaeological team disappeared, and neither did the two camels.Fortunately, when Zha Haiyang jumped off the camel, he carried the water bag and food hanging on the camel.Although it is not a hopeless situation right now, it is by no means an easy task to find the archaeological team on foot in this desert. Zha Haiyang didn't want to make Tan Yundan worry, so he pointed to Dongfang and said, "I remember the direction when the camel came, and the direction of the archaeological team should be over there. Let's walk over there. If we're lucky, we should be able to find them soon."

The two of them walked all the way to the starry sky from the afternoon, but they didn't find any trace of the archaeological team.The sand dunes and landforms were changed by the sandstorm, which made them lose the basis for finding the archaeological team.At last they had to admit the fact that they were lost and slept in the open behind a gentle slope. The night in the desert is surprisingly cold.They hug each other tightly to minimize heat loss.On this dark and cold Gobi night in 1979, Tan Yundan always remembered to check the temperature of the ocean's breath.His even and powerful breathing made her restless mood finally settle down, and she fell into a deep sleep.

At two o'clock in the morning, the two young people embarked on the search again.After a whole day of futility, the two adjusted their direction on the road for the next day. They gave up looking for the archaeological team, but instead went to the nearest corps station for help.According to their memories, the Thirty-Five Regiment was stationed on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Tarim River, which should be the nearest human gathering place to them.After discussing and calculating, the two young men started to walk westward, trying to reach the place of survival before running out of ammunition and food.

They minimize their personal physical needs, and the unbearable hunger, thirst and severe heat make this journey of survival extremely difficult and difficult.In order to avoid the unbearable heat, they try to walk at night as much as possible, and take a rest when they encounter Yadan with shade during the day.At the most difficult noon, they even had to dig a hole with their hands and bury their faces in it to gain a moment of respite. Zha Haiyang seldom drank water, and only took a sip when he couldn't stand it anymore.He left most of the food and water to Tan Yundan.They learned the lesson of getting lost, tore a piece of blue clothes into shreds, dug a hole every time they walked, buried the cloth strips, and exposed the other end as a mark.

Walking in the steaming desert, people are prone to hallucinations and lose their sense of direction.This is not only a physical ordeal, but also an extreme test for the human spirit.By the evening of the third day, they found that there was still no sign of the 35th Corps.Zha Haiyang's hand is always holding Tan Yundan, and he rarely separates.Even in the most difficult desperate situation, he is unwilling to bow his head in fear before fate.He's calmer and stronger than ever. Zha Haiyang took Tan Yundan to rest on a gentle slope.The sun is sinking, the heat is gradually disappearing, and soon the cold will take over the wilderness.At this moment, Tan Yundan suddenly stood up and looked south into the distance.Her eyes were surprised at first, and then she slowly smiled, with a look of intoxication.

Zha Haiyang looked at her worriedly, and asked, "Yundan, what's the matter? Let's rest for a while." Tan Yundan shook his head, and continued to look at the south side. Her voice was soft, soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing a dream, and as if the picture suddenly came alive in the frozen time: "A place where a thousand coffins are buried, a death hall where devils and gods dance together... the ocean , I think we found the Xiaohe cemetery." Cha Haiyang stood up. In the south, on a sand dune not far away, hundreds of standing Populus euphratica wooden posts are painted in decayed red, pointing their heads up to the sky.This pile of tombs is like a secret diary that endured in the long river of history, luxurious and splendid in the depths of the desert, waiting quietly.

He sighed deeply, looking at this sleeping, extremely beautiful tomb with moist eyes.At the same dusk, 45 years ago, Bergman staggered to Xiaohe cemetery with wet eyes. Holding hands, the two young men walked slowly towards the sand dunes. This mysterious tomb hidden in the sand sea unexpectedly appeared in front of Zha Haiyang and Tan Yundan at this moment in this way.Since Bergman left here, Xiaohe Cemetery has lost its trace, and many people have been chasing her mysterious dance steps for decades.Before that, the Xiaohe cemetery had been sleeping quietly for 3,800 years.Such a long time and waiting seemed to be a joke of fate for the surprise, astonishment, and bewilderment at this moment.

Is this a fateful encounter, or a predestined exile? Even in a difficult situation, the two still could not give up their bounden duty as archaeologists.They roughly measured the scope and area of ​​the Xiaohe cemetery, and estimated the amount of remains. The main body of the Xiaohe cemetery site is an oval-shaped protruding sand hill with an area of ​​at least 1,000 square meters.In a small number of exposed coffins, the appearance of the deceased can be vaguely seen.There are more than 140 poplar stakes standing upright.They looked at the Populus euphratica wooden posts with different shapes in admiration. These carefully carved wooden posts are mainly in two forms.One is paddle-shaped stakes, the other is polygonal, with 7, 9, and 11 ribs, thick at the top and thin at the bottom.Careful Tan Yundan discovered that the top of the paddle-shaped columns is painted black, the handle is painted red, and the size varies greatly; the height of the multi-rhombic columns is generally about ~ meters, the upper part is painted red, and is wrapped with seven red woolen ropes.Each of the pillars went deep into the ground, revealing some of the shallower coffins on the surface where the sand had been removed by the wind.Apparently there is a dead person buried under every stake here.

Zha Haiyang pondered: "The two shapes of the column may be selected according to the gender of the deceased. These seven red lines..." His eyes lit up, "Yundan, remember the seven circles of the sun tomb in Gumugou Is it? Apparently in the culture of Xiaohe Cemetery, 'seven' is also an important number." What surprised them most was that the coffins in the Xiaohe cemetery were all in the shape of canoes and covered with hard cowhide.After uncovering the cowhide, the gender of the sleeping dead inside really corresponds to the different shapes of the pillars, the male is a paddle-shaped wooden post, and the female is a polygonal wooden post. At the same time, they found an exciting thing among the funerary objects, and they held it in their hands to ponder and ponder over and over again-it has appeared in every tomb in the Sun Cemetery in the Ancient Tomb Ditch. In the tombs of Gumugou, there must be a small basket made of straw in each tomb, which contains ephedra branches.This point has caused W a lot of headaches, and everyone has speculated, but there is still no answer.At this moment, in the boat-shaped coffin in the Xiaohe cemetery, Tan Yundan and Zha Haiyang once again discovered this beautifully woven small basket, which also contained ephedra. Is this an amazing coincidence, or is there a hint of something somewhere?And what did this small basket and ephedra mean to the people on the Robe Wasteland nearly 4,000 years ago?It is so important that it appears in every grave of the dead. When Tan Yundan and Zha Haiyang were thinking and discussing, their eyes coincidentally were attracted by a paddle-shaped stake more than one meter high in the middle of the Xiaohe cemetery.This wooden post is particularly beautifully carved and huge.It is painted red all over and points straight to the sky, frightening people's hearts and souls.At the bottom of the stake, there are seven inscribed lines carved out, also painted with red paint. "This must be the tomb of a very important man in the tribe." Tan Yundan said while looking at it in amazement, "The location of this tomb and the exquisiteness of the paddle-shaped stakes illustrate this point." Zha Haiyang pondered for a moment and made up his mind: "Let's open this coffin and have a look. We will set off from here in the middle of the night and try to record the features along the way. Once we find the 35th Corps, we will inform Mr. W and tell him the good news!" Tan Yundan nodded and smiled: "It's the same as I thought." The two dug by hand in the central area of ​​the cemetery until the coffin was revealed.This is also a canoe-shaped coffin, which is more delicately made. The cowhide is tightly wrapped on the outside, and it looks well preserved. Zha Haiyang took out his pocket knife and carefully pried off a corner of the cowhide.He paused for a moment when he uncovered the cowhide, then raised his head and said to Tan Yundan: "It's about to start." Tan Yundan suppressed his excitement and nodded to him. Zha Haiyang and Tan Yundan held their breaths to condense their steam, and coordinated precisely, slowly uncovering the cowhide.Different from other coffins, this coffin did not directly expose the body of the deceased after it was uncovered, but was covered with a layer of wool cloth on the body of the deceased.Some words were written on the felt cloth with red paint, which was eye-catching and dazzling.Tan Yundan couldn't read the text, so she looked up at Zha Haiyang questioningly. Zha Haiyang didn't respond to her gaze, but stared at the writing on the white mourning cloth.His expression was focused, and he was immersed in the concentration of thinking for a long time, as if isolated from the world. Tan Yundan finally couldn't help asking: "What kind of writing is this?" Zha Haiyang was interrupted from his contemplation by her question, and smiled apologetically: "I was distracted just now." He put his hand on the white cloth and rubbed it lightly, and said in a dreamlike voice: "Yundan, this is Tocharian script." Tan Yundan couldn't believe it, and turned his eyes to the white cloth: "The Tocharian script is dead—you, how do you know it's the Tocharian script?" Zha Haiyang raised his head and smiled: "Not only do I know that this is Tocharian script, but I also understand the meaning of it." He seemed to sigh softly, "When I was studying in P University, I was fortunate enough to attend Mr. Ji Xianlin's class. Now that I think about it, it's God's will. At that time, I had a strong interest in the article "Various Versions of the Tucharian Version of "Prince Fuli Karma Sutra" written by Mr. Ji. Under his tutelage, a lot of time was spent studying the Tocharian language." "Then... what is written in this text?" Tan Yundan asked eagerly. Zha Haiyang's expression became serious, he was not in a hurry to answer Tan Yundan's question, but looked at the night sky, and asked her a question. "Yundan, do you believe in the existence of God?" Even in China today, atheism and materialism are still mainstream values, let alone in that era.This is a sensitive and unspoken issue. Tan Yundan was taken aback by Zha Haiyang's question, not knowing how to answer it.After a moment of silence between the two, Zha Haiyang said, "Just pretend I didn't ask this question." Pointing to the wool cloth, he deciphered it word for word. "When the sea of ​​death covers the earth i will be resurrected your soul I will lead you to the other shore be reborn" Every word is heart-wrenching. Every word is like an allegory from the dark world, which makes people's hearts bewildered. This text was engraved in Tan Yundan's heart like a sharp sword.She stared intently at the white cloth, as if trying to memorize every word on it. The sound of the wind in the vast desert is like the whisper of the undead. During the millions of years of change, they have been dying and being born again and again.Existence or nothingness is still unresolved when Tan Yundan rereads the thoughts of Sartre, Camus, and Foucault many years later.She lives in a duplex mansion on the top of the 29th floor, but her soul is forever nailed in this Gobi desert. The two young men were silent for a long time in this sentence that was like a spell or a vow.In the end, Zha Haiyang broke the silence: "Let's check the owner of the tomb, and then bury him." Tan Yundan nodded. Zha Haiyang reached out and lifted the woolen cloth.Surprisingly, what appeared before their eyes was not the expected male tomb owner.He and Tan Yundan took a step back involuntarily, panting with bewilderment and vague fear. This is so unexpected, so incredible.In the careers of Zha Haiyang and Tan Yundan, they have never seen such a strange situation.The faintly flickering moonlight in the darkness, like a gloomy background in this treacherous world, stared coldly at them and at the terrifying boat coffin on the sand dunes. The owner of the tomb is a woman. A woman wrapped in a black cloth. It was vaguely visible that her eyes had been gouged out. Food and water finally ran out.This was Tan Yundan and Zha Haiyang's fifth day in the desert. They re-buried the black cloth woman's body with shock and respect, and Zha Haiyang kept the funeral cloth with the oath written on it, and carefully put it in his arms.After they left Xiaohe Cemetery, a series of thoughts and questions did not stop. The extraordinarily exquisite piles and boat-shaped coffins, the weird oaths, and the frightening black underworld clothes are all undecipherable puzzles.In particular, Tan Yundan pointed out that the burials in the Xiaohe cemetery are strictly male corresponding to paddle-shaped stakes, and women are corresponding to prismatic stakes. Why is this woman in black doing the opposite, using paddle-shaped stakes, and there are seven burials? Inscribed lines? Soon, more serious problems than pondering these problems arise.When they made efforts to march toward the 35th Corps again, they were still lost.After a long and desperate struggle, they drank the last drop of water.After the water was cut off, they started drinking their own urine.Later, I couldn't even urinate. After being physically exhausted to the limit, Tan Yundan began to experience hallucinations, delirium and dehydration.When they returned to the place marked by the blue cloth again, it was like the last straw that broke the camel's body, Tan Yundan finally passed out. In those hallucinations and dreams that cannot be measured in time, she frequently saw a woman in black, sometimes standing beside her, sometimes standing on a sand dune a little further away.The woman in black was expressionless and pale, and there seemed to be black air lingering around her body. Every time I wake up from the coma, I can always see Zha Haiyang's ashen face, still sticking to her side, constantly moving her position so that she can always lie in Yadan's shadow.She muttered: "Give up on me and let me die." Every time she fainted, she wished she would never wake up again.At the end of such suffering, death is a relief.During those persistent hallucinations and coma, her parched tongue could often taste fishy and sweet.It was an unspeakable deliciousness, moist, cool, and sweet.She thought it was an inevitable hallucination when she was dying. After waking up again briefly, she intermittently narrated to Zha Haiyang the scene of seeing the woman in black.That woman occupied her heart in an incredible way, and Tan Yundan no longer cared about his own life and death.In this time when the world was about to come to an end, she was entangled endlessly by the vision of the woman in black, which made her eager and frightened to express this weird thought. But Tan Yundan has lost the complete expression ability of language.She could feel Zha Haiyang's cold and weak fingers stroking her face, as if trying to calm her anxiety.In a trance, she heard Zha Haiyang's low voice reciting that passage of her favorite poem. "Like the melancholy of the Hebrew wanderer in the legend, it is a doomed fate that cannot be escaped. He does not want to spy on the dark hell, and he cannot hope to rest in peace before death. There are many places where fate wants me to wander. How many lamentable memories do I still carry with me? But my only consolation is that I know that the most unfortunate encounters are not surprising." She smiled slightly, and tasted the cool and sweet taste on her lips again.With her eyes closed, she floated in the void, greedily sucking the nectar. When Zhong Weihong found Tan Yundan, Tan Yundan was pillowing on Zha Haiyang's right arm.The two snuggle together, like two sculptures, standing still. It was the blue cloth strips buried in the desert by Tan Yundan and Zha Haiyang that became the key clue to guide Zhong Weihong to find them.At that time, their location was only 21 kilometers away from the 35th regiment field. Tan Yundan hugged Zha Haiyang, in a coma, still breathing.Zha Haiyang had been dead for a while, and there were spots on his body.Shockingly, there were several deep wounds on Zha Haiyang's left arm.So deep that even the flesh rolls out. Zhong Weihong opened the water bag and poured clear water into Tan Yundan's mouth.These days he is extremely patient, saving water and food as much as possible.Tan Yundan was awakened by the clearness of the water, looked at him blankly, and quickly closed them again. Zhong Weihong gritted her teeth and wanted to hug Tan Yundan to the camel, but the delirious Tan Yundan hugged Zha Haiyang tightly and refused to let go.Zhong Weihong tried several times but failed to separate them, so she had to break Tan Yundan's fingers one by one. Tan Yundan opened his eyes, and grabbed Zha Haiyang's body again in a trance, unable to speak, he could only let out an urgent cry of "ho, ho".She looked at Zhong Weihong angrily, her eyes were scattered and fanatical. Zhong Weihong went to break Tan Yundan's hand again, and said in a choked voice: "He is dead. I want to take you away." While separating Tan Yundan and Zha Haiyang, he said in a low voice: "I promise you, I will definitely come back and find him. Take him away." Tan Yundan still refused, she hugged Zha Haiyang stubbornly and hopelessly.Zhong Weihong has never been able to conclude whether Tan Yundan, who was in a mental state at the time, knew that Zha Haiyang had died.But he knew very well that even though Tan Yundan was on the verge of death and unconscious, she was clinging to her determination to depend on life and death.This made Zhong Weihong extremely sad and irritable. "He's dead! Even if you refuse to leave, he's dead!" He pulled Tan Yundan roughly, and pulled her to his side without any explanation: "He is also my teammate and comrade, I will come back to find him! I swear to you, to heaven and earth!" He finally carried the extremely weak Tan Yundan onto the camel.Tan Yundan's half-opened and half-closed eyes kept looking at Zha Haiyang, the corpse was still in his arms, even though his arms were empty.Zhong Weihong hugged her, hugged her tightly, and urged the camel to go far away. Behind the camel, Zha Haiyang's body got farther and farther away, gradually turning into a small black spot, and slowly disappearing into the vast desert. In her desperate and confused dream, he seemed to be not far behind her, looking at her with a smile.She stretched out her hand to grab him, but he disappeared in an instant. Because of another sudden sandstorm, the comrades of the 35th regiment did not find Zha Haiyang's body.They speculate that wind and sand buried or moved his body. Tan Yundan was sent by helicopter to the General Hospital of the Lanzhou Military Region.She was treated in the hospital for up to a month and recuperated in the hospital for more than a year thereafter.For a long time after returning from Rob Desert, she has been reticent and silent most of the time.What is strange is that she did not shed a single tear because of Zha Haiyang's death.She just likes to sit by the window and watch everything outside the window quietly for a long time. Her eyes seemed to be gazing, but also seemed to be circling empty in some unknowable world, not knowing where her heart stopped. Zhong Weihong followed the People's Liberation Army several times in search of Zha Haiyang's body in the area between the Kongque River and the lower reaches of the Tarim River, but all failed. 1979 was a watershed, a turning point in the fate of Tan Yundan, Zha Haiyang, Zhong Weihong and Gumugou cemetery. After coming out of the hospital, Tan Yundan gave up following Mr. W to do further research on the Gumugou cemetery.This means that she gave up the opportunity to become the world's top figure in this field, and instead devoted herself to the identification and research of Song Dynasty porcelain.She never married and never gave anyone a reason. Zhong Weihong never really left Rob Wasteland.After the last failed search for Zha Haiyang's remains, he applied to the organization and assigned himself to work in the XJ Museum.Over the years, he has continued to pay attention to the progress of the archaeological work on the Rob Wasteland.From the most basic administrator, he has been the director of the museum.He is rigorous and conscientious, and has made remarkable achievements in museum work, especially in the study of cultural relics in Xinjiang.There are many bold girls who actively pursue him, but he always laughs at it and never marries. The discovery of Gumugou cemetery caused a sensation all over the world.All of a sudden, the photo of the Tomb of the Sun appeared prominently in major newspapers around the world.The research on Lop Nur has quickly become a hot issue in the eyes of cultural, historical and archaeological experts. Only a corner of this mysterious place has been uncovered lightly, but such a turbulent sea has been set off. Attached: Dedicated to Cha Haiyang, and this night of sleepless tears for him.