Chapter 13 Chapter 12: The Entrance to the Kingdom of Death

There were five people on the other side, and the masked man was their leader, and they all called him Uncle Yan.Lao Liu and Tudou were the ones who ambush us. The round-faced boy was called Gengzi, and the younger, even childish one was called Xiaofei. Each of them has a gun in their hands, and Uncle Yan has a small submachine gun in his hand.Confusingly, there was no car nearby, and they had no equipment with them except guns.Gengzi ordered us to bury the bodies of Xiao Qi and Zhou Qian on the spot.They seem to be very clear about Yu Yanyan's role in the team. Gengzi strongly advocates killing Yu Yanyan, but Uncle Yan does not agree.Although Gengzi is vicious, he is very afraid of Uncle Yan, and Uncle Yan is right about him.

The sixth child was overjoyed when he heard that Yanyan was let go, and immediately ran up to help Yanyan bandage the wound.Yu Yanyan looked at him coldly without any expression. The strange thing is that Uncle Yan and others have no interest in our car full of cultural relics.Under the leadership of Gengzi, Xiaofei destroyed our satellite phone.Uncle Yan found archaeological excavation records and cameras, video cameras, voice recorders, etc., and carefully read them all.From his demeanor, I can tell that Uncle Yan is not an ordinary robber. He is very focused on reading the text, and he is an educated person.

We didn't shed any tears when we buried Xiao Qi and Zhou Qian.Anger, doubt, and hatred burn in our hearts like flames.When Xiao Qi and Zhou Qian were put into the shallow grave, Yu Yanyan knelt down on one knee beside the grave.She leaned over and whispered to the two deceased, with a focused expression, like a prayer, and like a farewell confession.Soon when she stood up again, her face was more grim and severe than before, and there was a hidden murderous look in her eyes. To our surprise, Uncle Yan and others did not use our camp, but urged us to bring our respective equipment and supplies to prepare for departure.Due to limited desert excavation conditions, we did not carry large-scale scanning equipment, only two probe tubes with cameras and some conventional excavation tools.They didn't even use the desert vehicles in the camp, and they escorted us, a group of nine, to hike southward toward the lower reaches of the Peacock River.

I wonder why these villains don't even use desert vehicles.Old Wei whispered beside me: "They are afraid that there is a GPS positioning device hidden in the car." Professor Tan nodded, his face as calm as ever: "It seems that they don't want anyone to find us. These people have already made up their minds to make us disappear in this desert." "You are wrong." Uncle Yan heard our conversation.Even with the mask on, I could feel him smiling slightly. "Why do you want to disappear? On the contrary, I want to take you into another world. A world that you have never imagined and cannot predict."

Except for the fierce-looking Gengzi, the rest of the robbers were kind and even polite to us.But their guns were never far from their hands, watching our conversations and actions even though they seemed to be indifferent during the long journey. Walking in the Gobi is by no means an easy task.Although the life in the camp was hard, everyone didn't feel tired because they had work goals and guaranteed life.But now walking along the barren ancient channel of the Kongque River, the eyes are full of yellow sand and desolation, thinking of the dead teammates and the uncertain future, the heavy atmosphere permeates the whole team.

Except for the occasional conversation between Gengzi and Uncle Yan, the others basically had no communication with Uncle Yan.All the instructions were given by Gengzi from Uncle Yan.I judged that Uncle Yan should be the absolute authority leader of this team, while Gengzi is the executor and task assigner.Lao Liu and Tudou are the ones who carry out the tasks, while Xiao Fei has the lowest status and is basically in charge of logistics. Although it is already autumn, the noon in the Gobi is still extremely hot.The dead branches of Populus euphratica that can be glimpsed occasionally remind us that this is a dry place of death. If the heat and desolation make people irritated, the boundless loss makes people almost desperate.

Uncle Yan and the others did not touch any of our unearthed cultural relics.The artifacts we dug up with painstaking efforts were discarded on the desert vehicle in the camp.This point really confuses me, and I think Professor Tan must also be suspicious.During a short break, Old Wei asked Professor Tan softly, "Professor Tan, who do you think this group of people are from?" Professor Tan pondered for a moment: "Your supervisor, Professor Fan, once encountered tomb robbers in Guangxi. The purpose of the tomb robbers was money, and they would not let go of cultural relics. But this group of people seems to have another purpose. Judging from their words, they may be interested in We have a conspiracy. Our lives are not the object of their conspiracy, nor are the cultural relics, money, equipment, which confuses me.”

I exchanged glances with the two great gods. Based on our experience, we really can't figure out the origin of this group of people.Their purpose is clear, they are not greedy for small profits, and they act quickly and effectively, which is by no means what ordinary tomb robbers or robbers can do. It's time for a break.Lao Liu and others urged us to set off, and everyone got up from the ground one after another, feeling sore all over, but remained silent. "Professional soldier." When Yu Yanyan passed us with a simple backpack on her back, her voice was cold and she passed us gently.

A gust of hot wind blew by, rolling up small wind and sand, making it difficult for us to breathe. We arrived at our destination in the evening.Two large desert off-road vehicles were parked on the south bank of the ancient river.I immediately understood why these men hadn't carried their supplies with them, and this realization gave me a thrill of horror. These people parked their cars tens of kilometers away in order not to expose their targets, and walked to our camp to hijack us.They have enough perseverance to walk in the desert, and they also have absolute confidence that they can conquer us with one blow.The fact is the same, everything is proceeding according to their predetermined plan.Meticulous planning, extraordinary physical strength, and the determination to kill people, their purpose must be beyond our expectations.What's more, we have become more and more convinced that the disappearance of the former archaeological team and search and rescue team, and even the disappearance of Li Renxi may have something to do with this group of people.They hijacked us again, it must be that they had some unknowable obstacles on the way to their goal, which made them abandon the original hijackers and put their hope on us.

They didn't reveal a word to us, and they ignored our questions.After walking near the desert vehicle, Gengzi ordered us all to get on the vehicle.At this time, Chen Wei, whose mental and physical strength had reached the limit, finally collapsed. He cried and knelt down while holding the hem of his clothes: "I'm a family man, I can't die... please let me go! " The people in the team looked at Chen Wei silently, with pity and contempt in their eyes.Gengzi ignored him and just urged us to get in the car quickly.Chen Wei cried bitterly, trembling all over, knelt on the ground and covered his face.Gengzi finally couldn't hold back anymore, and pointed the gun at Chen Wei's forehead: "I'll give you three seconds to get in the car. After three seconds, if you're not in the car, you'll be a dead body here."

Chen Wei had never experienced being pointed at the forehead with a gun in his entire life, and at this moment his whole body was shaking like a sieve. "one." Gengzi opened the safety of the gun, and the muzzle of the gun was deeply imprinted on the skin of Chen Wei's forehead. "two." Chen Wei looked at Rengzi dumbfoundedly, his trembling turned into rigidity like a fool. "three." Just as Gengzi's finger was about to pull the trigger, Professor Tan put his hand on Gengzi's hand and removed the barrel of the gun.With a calm face, she said lightly, "Killing people is a coward's act." Uncle Yan came over and gave Gengzi a stern look. Professor Tan turned around and called Wei Datou and Li Dazui: "Help Chen Wei into the car." Lao Wei and Lao Li hurriedly threw Chen Wei into the car.Chen Wei was probably frightened out of his wits, and sat in the car dumbfounded. The brother took me and Professor Tan into the second car.Sitting in the car, you can see that Uncle Yan seems to be reprimanding Gengzi. Gengzi is obviously unconvinced, biting his jaw and looking fiercely at Professor Tan.Yu Yanyan stood not far from them, watching everything coldly.After Uncle Yan finished speaking, he took Xiao Fei into our car.He probably noticed that Yu Yanyan was still under the car, so he gave her a hand and motioned her to get in the car with him. The two cars started and drove one after the other.In this huge barren background, the two cars are like two small grains of sand, instantly swallowed by the desert. Uncle Yan was speechless all the way, Xiaofei drove and followed the car in front.I noticed that Uncle Yan had a GPS in his hand, and even though his face was covered by a mask, I could still feel his stern expression. Yu Yanyan next to me had a fierce expression on her face, which made me dare not look directly at her.She seems to be a beast with lurking minions, waiting only to smash its prey when the time comes.The car bumped in the sand and ravines, and we swayed in the car.Yu Yanyan's wound was bumped, but she didn't even frown, she clenched her teeth tightly.Uncle Yan glanced at her, and said in a muffled voice, "You can't possibly succeed. Except for Xiao Fei, you have no chance of winning one-on-one here." Yu Yanyan turned her face out of the window and said nothing. "Where are you taking us?" Li Dazui's words must have been held back for a long time, and finally came out.He just kept talking and didn't expect an answer.Unexpectedly, Uncle Yan didn't reprimand him, and replied: "It's up to you, it's up to Professor Tan." We all looked at Professor Tan, who was sitting in the car with the same demeanor.It is not something anyone can do without being surprised, but Professor Tan is such a person.She looked into the distance lightly: "Why pretend to be mysterious? Tell me what you have to say." Through the mask, I seemed to hear Uncle Yan sighed softly.There is both melancholy and loss in the voice, which surprised me a little. "East longitude 88°55' north latitude 40°40'." he whispered. My heart skipped a beat.The location of this coordinate is Gumugou cemetery. Uncle Yan knows this exactly, but he doesn't know what he means?Is he going to take us to Gumugou cemetery?However, after crazy plundering by tomb robbers and archaeological excavations in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Gumugou cemetery site is already an empty tomb, which is worthless to these people.Uncle Yan mentioned this coordinate, which is unpredictable. Professor Tan's face was as deep as a deep pool: "The ancient tomb ditch cemetery is no longer worth excavating." She smiled contemptuously, "What benefits can you get?" Uncle Yan shook his head: "I just want to know if you can decipher the true meaning of the 36 burial tombs and 6 sun tombs." Professor Tan thought for a moment and replied, "Even if I know the meaning of the tomb, what does it have to do with you?" Wei Datou has been on fire for a long time, and at this moment he couldn't help but sneer: "Unexpectedly, tomb robbers are also advancing with the times. They are no longer satisfied with plundering tombs, but also want to find out the cultural significance of tombs." Uncle Yan smiled slightly, as if he didn't care about Wei Datou's words, but his voice was serious: "A correct interpretation of the meaning of this tomb group will determine your future destiny, including ours. Life or death lies in it." We looked at each other and asked almost in unison, "Why?" Uncle Yan said slowly: "Because the Gumugou cemetery is a password. It is the password for us to enter the world." There are many turning points in a person's life. Sometimes you have a long time to think about the choice, and sometimes it is an imminent decision that must be made.Long or short, these turns are like intricate paths in the maze of fate, leading you to each uncertain ending.In fact, the ending is just our wishful thinking. You knock on strange doors, learn or abandon the truth and lies, and go from one ending to another, like falling from one whirlpool into another.These are what I slowly thought of when I was sitting by the window drinking tea one afternoon many years later.When you are young, people are always easily moved by unknowable curiosity, and jump into the trap that makes you feel scared after the fact. Uncle Yan's words hit our hearts like a shot in the arm. We temporarily forgot the sadness when we bid farewell to Zhou Qian and Xiao Qi, and the anger and hatred towards Uncle Yan and his party. We looked at him intently, expecting him to say more secret.Uncle Yan just kept his mouth shut, staring out the window, subconsciously rubbing the GPS in his hands.He never left the MP5, just kept it at hand. Professor Tan did not look excited, but fell into deep thought.I leaned against the window, trying to see from the uniform Yadans and sand dunes whether the desert vehicle was heading for the ancient tomb ditch cemetery.But to my disappointment, the car headed south, gradually deepening into the desert.The heat is baking everyone in the car, making people crazy in this golden desert.Without roads, without signs, we are strangers in the land of the dead. It was about afternoon, but the car still didn't intend to stop, and was running towards an unknown goal. It suddenly occurred to me that the real goal of Uncle Yan and his party might be Xiaohe Cemetery.The Little River Cemetery has remained a mystery in the desert since Bergman's plunder.Except for Professor Tan and Zha Haiyang who met him by chance, Xiaohe Cemetery has been sleeping quietly in the depths of the desert for decades.If Yu Yanyan's judgment is correct, then this special team composed of professional soldiers must be doing something earth-shattering.Only 200 cultural relics from the Xiaohe cemetery were taken away by Bergman, each of which is a priceless treasure.If Uncle Yan and the others rob the Xiaohe cemetery, there must be foreign museums willing to spend huge sums of money to buy every unearthed cultural relic.From Uncle Yan's few words, it seems that the sun cemetery in Gumugou is the key to deciphering the location of Xiaohe cemetery. Thinking of this, I pulled the drowsy Li Dazui: "Take out the map." My finger moved from the ancient Moshan country ruins on the map to the possible location of the Xiaohe cemetery. Judging from the position, our route was correct.Lao Li and Lao Wei leaned over their heads, seeming to understand my intentions. They calculated silently in their hearts, stared at the map, and looked up at the scene outside the window from time to time. Uncle Yan leaned his head on the back of the chair, didn't even look at us, and said in a tired voice, "Don't look, I'm not looking for the Xiaohe cemetery." old fox. I cursed silently in my heart, and put away the map embarrassingly. At this time, Professor Tan who had been silent all this time suddenly said, "If you need our help, we can cooperate." Uncle Yan's head finally left the back of the chair, and he could see that he was very serious: "How to cooperate, tell me." "First, no personal threats to my team members are allowed. Second, you must first explain clearly your identity, purpose, information you have, and action plan. Third, I would like to know, the archaeological research on the missing XJ cultural relics The archaeological team, the later search and rescue team, and the disappearance of Li Inxi are related to you." Uncle Yan pondered for a moment: "It's sharp and fair. I accept it. But one thing, I can only tell you what I know and what I can say. That's all, you can't cross the line." Professor Tan nodded: "Very good." Uncle Yan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and seemed to be sorting out his thoughts.We looked at him expectantly, with thousands of guesses spinning like a revolving lantern in our hearts. Unexpectedly, the first sentence that Uncle Yan spoke was a question.As for this sentence, I vaguely remember that Zha Haiyang once asked Tan Yundan the same way. "Do you believe in the existence of God?" Our silence is the same as that of Tan Yundan when he was questioned by Zha Haiyang more than 20 years ago.Sometimes silence is an answer, sometimes it is an attitude, and sometimes it is really at a loss like us so we don't know how to answer.Uncle Yan seemed a little disappointed, and I didn't understand his mood at that time until later.In his cognition, there has never been such a position of silence. Everyone was silent in embarrassment.After a long time, Uncle Yan said in a low voice: "I will take you to a place first. Maybe you will understand why I asked you this after reading it." Uncle Yan leaned his head on the back chair again.Confident and peaceful, he seemed to be sleeping but not sleeping, letting the car gallop and wander in the vast sea of ​​sand.On the way, Tudou came over to change Xiaofei's shift, so Xiaofei was able to go to the previous car to take a quick rest.The desert at night is icy, and the severe cold is closer to the original intention of barrenness than the heat.I poked my head out of the car window and looked at the sky full of stars greedily.The stars that have spanned hundreds of millions of years watched us run wildly in the desert overnight, heading towards the fate of life and death. Old Wei pulled my head in through the window and whispered, "Stupid, are you not afraid of catching a cold?" There's only one person in my life who can call me a fool.Seeing my displeasure, Old Wei hurriedly said, "Forget it, you'd better poke your head around and take a look. I'd rather offend Uncle Yan than you." Li Dazui sighed deeply: "Look, look, one less look." This sentence evoked our infinite sadness. The passionate young people missed the days in Yingpan one after another. Although it was difficult, it was very fulfilling. Even the cold buns in Yingpan made people feel nostalgic.Tonight's moon is incredibly big, hanging in the sky warmly and sadly, as if mourning for us young people who are preparing to devote themselves to the cause of archaeology.Ever since we saw Xiaoqi's corpse, we have understood that walking with these gun-wielding thugs, this road is basically guaranteed to never return. "It's a pity that I'm not married yet." Wei Datou said quietly, "It's a fly in the ointment to die like this." "It's better than I have a home and can't go back." Li Dazui comforted him, "How can a single understand the sadness after marriage, just like how can one not understand the darkness of night during the day." "You can shut up now." Uncle Yan's dull voice sounded, "We're here." The car stopped abruptly at an unknown coordinate in the desert.There is nothing to recommend here except low hills and the occasional yardang.Uncle Yan picked up the MP5 and got out of the car slowly.He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, dropped one on the pouch, and the two of them lit the lighter and started smoking. Li Dazui stepped forward and pulled Uncle Yan's sleeve: "Uncle, here's a cigarette." Uncle Yan was stunned for a moment, probably no one among his hostages had ever blatantly asked for cigarettes.Li Dazui chuckled: "There is no convenience store here, and I have run out of cigarettes." Gengzi gave Li Dazui a hard look, his eyes full of vigilance.Uncle Yan seemed to smile slightly, and threw a cigarette to Li Dazui.Li Dazui was not polite, and after lighting it with Uncle Yan's lighter, he leisurely exhaled the smoke ring.I didn't know that the power of Li Dazui's smoke had reached such a state, the smoke circles were blown out continuously, tremblingly drifting into the distance, and then disappeared instantly in the wind. Our people jumped out of the car one after another, only Chen Wei climbed down holding the handle.He knelt on the ground and vomited as soon as he came, the sound was so terrible that our throats tightened for a while. Seeing the stars under the car and being in the car are two different feelings. When I was running at a speed of 70 yards, the stars followed me relentlessly, and the flickering brilliance was like the whispers of those fleeting undead, happy or sad in this huge and vast night.But now standing quietly in the desert, I looked up at the starry sky, as if I had been here before the prehistoric times. The serene and quiet wind wrapped in the piercing cold wind left a gentle and hard imprint on my heart.I looked at Professor Tan, her face under the moonlight had a moist and dignified light.I vaguely remember the first night when I first arrived in the camp, she ran on the Gobi and caressed the sand and cried bitterly, so close at hand yet seemed a lifetime away.In just over a month, the changes in the world have caught us off guard, but now, in this moonlit night where life and death are uncertain, my heart is at peace.I smiled at Professor Tan, and she returned the same warm and reassuring smile. With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, Li Dazui wandered into the distance.Xiao Fei shouted: "Why are you going?" Li Dazui waved his hands without looking back, and his voice was a little far away: "It's okay. You can't pee in front of lesbians, that's called hooliganism..." Xiao Fei hurriedly called out: "Be careful!" This anxious cry made us tense up when we were sorting out our tired and puzzled mood.Although this desert seems normal, Xiao Fei's nervousness is unusual.Gengzi snatched the cigarette from his mouth and howled, "Stop, stop!" I know very well what Li Dazui is like.He looks slick, but he is a stubborn person in his bones. The more he is asked not to do, the more he will wring it out.Seeing that Li Dazui casually raised his hands, indicating that he would not run away, he continued to walk forward.Xiao Fei's neck became stiff with anxiety, his veins bulged, and even Uncle Yan took a step forward.I had a vague feeling of panic, and my mouth suddenly became dry.In the blink of an eye, Gengzi pulled out his pistol, opened the safety, and fired a shot into the air.A series of actions were completed almost within a second, fast and smooth, but with a self-evident panic. Almost at the same time as the gunshots sounded, I saw Li Dazui's footsteps stop.To be exact, he didn't stop, but shook his body and sat on the ground. The sharp gunshots cut through the night sky, making us look at each other as if we had just woken up from a dream. Professor Tan ran towards Li Dazui in a hurry. I knew she was afraid of stray bullets hurting him, and Lao Wei hurriedly followed behind Professor Tan.Although the distance and sand made it extremely unlikely that Li Dazui would be injured by stray bullets, I still ran out behind Old Wei. When Professor Tan, who was running at the front, approached behind Li Dazui, she didn't ask Li Dazui who was sitting on the ground as I expected, but stopped suddenly, as if being twisted by an inexplicable force, and pressed on the ground. in place.Even Old Wei is the same. I slowed down and walked towards them slowly. I have thought about miracles, fate, or these unknowable issues related to it thousands of times, and of course every time the final outcome is that the banner of materialism prevails over everything.I firmly believe in the relationship between man and the earth, and firmly believe that the place where we stand is the land illuminated by the brilliance of science and reason.But this time I was not only confused, but also deeply afraid. Yes, fear, bewilderment, emotion, sadness, ecstasy, tremor—these incomparable emotions flooded my mind and soul in a split second, leaving me stumbling, gasping, and helpless. In front of us, on this land that has been turbulent for hundreds of millions of years and evolved from an ancient ocean to a desert, a perfectly circular abyss with a diameter of 100 meters appeared. All my knowledge and reason paled in an instant.Not only me, but everyone around me held their breath, staring frantically at this unreasonable and incredible abyss.It is very strange and unfathomable under the moonlight, and it seems to lead to another world. It is endless, like a huge hole hollowed out in life. Many years later, when I read the poems of the Swedish poet Haydenstein, I suddenly realized that he wrote this fable in a strange country. "Now people feel sorry for the dead, They can't be in the spring hour bathed in sunshine Sitting bright and warm on a hillside full of flowers. But the dead may be whispering To the primroses and violets, No one alive can understand it. The dead know more than the living. when the sun goes down, Maybe they'll be more merrily than we are Wandering in the shadows of night, those secret thoughts, Only the grave knows. "