Chapter 92 Chapter 4 Cyril Riors

The herdsmen by the campfire looked at the sky and chattered, but they were all in dialects that we couldn't understand.Uncle An looked up for a long time, I asked him what was wrong, but he didn't respond for a long time.Zhao Shuai thought who was setting off the fireworks and praised the herdsmen for knowing how to enjoy life. He didn't know which bastard spread rumors that people in remote areas lived a hard life.Only the little cousin could tell that it was a signal flare for help, and it was estimated that something happened to the leading exploration team. Uncle An was a little gloating: "Who told them to leave me behind? I've been to the Taklamakan Desert a few times and I don't know how high the sky is?"

The night sky was full of stars, and it didn’t look like there was a sandstorm blowing in the desert. Seeing this scene, I asked worriedly: “Did they encounter sand wolves? How can you be sure that something happened to that exploration team? Didn’t it mean that there were two exploration teams?” team?" Uncle An is not sure: "There are only two teams going in these few days. The old team borrowed the car to go to the provincial capital, not into the desert. The new team should not go far on camels. Look at the signal flare. On the edge of the desert." Zhao Shuai also said: "Why are you so stupid? If you drive in, you can drive and run when you encounter a wolf. How can you run on a camel? If you run with your legs, can a human outrun a wolf? It seems that there is a hunter around, so it is really safe." feel."

Mu Qingxiang didn't look at the sky just now, but kept looking at the desert in the distance, not knowing what she was thinking.It didn't take long for the armed police stationed there to rescue people. They had guns and cannons, so they wouldn't be afraid even if the wolves came.We couldn't follow to watch the excitement. When the armed police disappeared into the night, everyone went back to the concrete bungalow trembling.Uncle An has always emphasized his role, almost elevating himself to the height of a god. Without him, no one would be able to enter the depths of the Tengger Desert.

Before departure, Uncle An prepared a large amount of water for us, but more of it was a strange brown tea.I have seen a lot of strange teas, so I curiously asked what kind of tea it was, maybe it was for camels to drink.Uncle An shook his head and said no, Serriors is for people to drink, one sip equals ten sips of clean water on the ground, and it can also treat various discomforts in the desert. I always felt that the name was a mouthful, so I asked if there was a simpler name for this strange tea, so as not to make it so dialectical.After listening to Uncle An's introduction, I realized that Serriors is Xiaohua Apocynum tea.This kind of plant grows mostly in the east of Lop Nur, the Shule River, the Kongque River basin in the south, and the Dunhuang area. The Mongolians here are used to calling it "Sairiors".Old herdsmen like to bring this kind of tea with them, and it is essential to go into the desert. Firstly, this kind of tea can really quench their thirst. Second, the growth conditions of this kind of tea are very harsh. The intention is to say that people are lost in the desert. , can also survive.

Hearing this, I remembered that there was an article in Canjing that specifically introduced tea from remote areas.Among them, there is a kind of wild hemp tea, which is a carry-on of ancient herdsmen.This kind of tea can also be used as medicine, and Hua Tuo has also used it to treat dizziness, which is described in "Three Kingdoms * Hua Tuo Biography".I want to come to the wild hemp tea described in the Canon, it should be the Sel Riors mentioned by Uncle An.I took a sip, the tea was fresh and fragrant, unlike other teas, sometimes the more I drank it, the thirstier I became. In the early hours of the morning, I tossed and couldn't sleep, because it was too cold in the cement house to wear autumn clothes.Tomorrow I will really enter the desert. Although there are hunters accompanying me, I am still not at ease.The ancient city of Yuequan is located in the hinterland of the desert, but no one has found it all these years, or if they found it, they died.I'm afraid there are sand wolves in the desert, and there are other unknown dangers. What I have encountered during this period has opened my eyes, and nothing can be inferred from the existing knowledge.

Although it is confirmed that the ancient city of Yuequan is in the Tengger Desert, no one even knows the exact location, so this trip will have to rely on luck.If we find it, then we are lucky; if we can’t find it, then we can’t force it. After all, we can’t stay in the desert for too long, and the supplies will not keep up.According to the information obtained some time ago, the ancient city of Yuequan is in the desert near Gansu. I don't know if it is accurate. The Tengger Desert is 180 kilometers wide from east to west and 240 kilometers long from north to south. We plan to cross the desert this time and come out from Gansu.To cross the desert, it can be completed in a maximum of 20 days, and the fastest in three or four days, which is related to the personal route.The further you go to Gansu, the faster the sand dunes flow, which is very difficult to walk.Whether the ancient city of Yuequan stands on the sand sea in the fastest-moving desert in the country can only be known when we find it.

The next morning, the armed police hadn't come back yet. Uncle An told us not to worry, this kind of thing happens occasionally, and the armed police can successfully rescue people and come back. It is estimated that they are already on their way back.After breakfast and getting ready, we were about to set off, but we couldn't wait for the hunter.Uncle An was in a hurry, so he went to the hunter's house to find someone, and finally urged the hunter to come. Introduced by Uncle An, the hunter's name is Chen Yepeng. He is the same age as Uncle An, so we all call him Uncle Chen.Uncle Chen has a scar on his face. It is said that he was scratched while hunting sand wolves. Besides a short earthen gun, he also has several machetes and daggers.On a hot day, Uncle Chen wore clothes as thick as a padded jacket. According to Uncle An, the clothes were made of wolf fur.I thought to myself that Uncle Chen really had some tricks. He followed us with a murderous look on his face, and the sand wolf would definitely stay away.After a brief introduction, Uncle Chen stared at me, as if doubting our purpose of entering the desert.Because people who came to investigate the desert environment in the past rarely clamored to cross the desert as soon as they came.Fortunately, we are all young, so Uncle An said that young people are eager for quick success, and after suffering, they will take it easy next time.

On this day, the sky was clear and the sun was so hot that no one dared to look up.There are several small rocky mountains and scattered earthen houses on the edge of the desert.In the depths of the desert, there is another family, but our route is different, almost all of them are in no-man's land.The reason why we go this way is very simple. If there are people living there, there will be newspapers in Yuequan Ancient City in the morning, so we all run to the most difficult places. In the route, there is no lake in the place we are going, which is considered an area that is rarely visited by people.There are Moon Lake, Sun Lake, Swan Lake and so on in Tengger.It is said that the Swan Lake in this desert is covered with jujube trees, and there is also a black mud area one kilometer long and one hundred meters wide. From the end of March to the beginning of April every year, there are swans living and playing on the lake.It's a pity that it was already autumn when we came, and the swans had already flown away without even a single feather left.

Although we walked in no man's land and the conditions were difficult, Uncle An said that the area was easy to navigate, but if something went wrong, we would be in a dilemma.We walked through the low black stone mountain on the edge of the desert, and an ancient river channel appeared in front of us, but because the sand dunes flowed quickly, it was not every day that we could see the ancient river channel.Walking along the ancient river, if you are lucky, you will see several historic sites.No one knows which dynasty those ruins belong to, but they existed a long time ago. In modern times, some archaeologists wanted to study those ancient sites, but the sand dunes moved too fast, and the ancient sites were buried deep under the yellow sand, rarely showing up.Finally, they found a corpse, but they were very disappointed.Judging from the clothes on the corpse, the man was a late Qing soldier.The late Qing Dynasty was not like the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties. It had no research value, and everything that could be studied was in the capital. In addition, archaeologists could never find those ancient sites, so they gave up.

Uncle An said that the herders of the older generation said that when the great powers invaded, a group of Qing soldiers entered the desert. The route they took was the same as ours, which was a very dangerous area.I was secretly excited when I heard that, that group of Qing soldiers was probably the group of tea king Yangchishan, and there must be countless precious tea leaves in the ancient city of Yuequan.Of course, I didn't dare to show it, but apart from Mu Qingxiang, Zhao Shuai and the little cousin were a little too excited. We walked all morning, and at noon, we finally stepped on the yellow sand.When we arrived in the desert, we felt the wind was strong, and we could even feel the sand under our feet moving.Fortunately, we really saw an ancient river channel. Although it was only a small section and it was almost filled with sand, it made us satisfied.

When we led two camels to the edge of the ancient river to admire the vicissitudes of life, I found that the sand and stones in the ancient river were not quite right.Mu Qingxiang also noticed the situation. She pointed to the sand pile in Guhede and said that there were some pots there that had not been completely buried.Everyone was surprised, because very few people came to this area, and even when Uncle Chen hunted and killed the wolves, the wolves would not escape here. In 1995, folk adventurers were not as popular as they are now, but they were the same as people today, and people often left garbage where people passed by.The ecology of the desert is already very fragile. If human beings throw garbage everywhere like this, wouldn't it be another stab in the harsh environment. I jumped down the ancient river and scraped the soft yellow sand. There were a few empty metal tanks underneath.When I unscrewed it and smelled it, there was a familiar smell inside. I frowned and thought, isn't this the Sel Riors prepared by Uncle An, which is the wild hemp tea mentioned in the Canon.Although the jar is empty, there is still a small gray leaf inside, which is wild hemp tea.The smell of the pot is very weak, full of sandy smell. Thanks to the practice during this period, I have gradually gained some Taoism. When Uncle An saw the pot, he exclaimed in disbelief, and said that it might be brought by the flowing sand, because even herdsmen rarely come to this area.I put the cans on the pannier on the back of the camel, planning to be a cleaner in the desert.However, just as I approached the two camels with the jar, they were panting a bit, trying to step aside and ignore me.I grabbed the thick rope in a hurry, trying to adjust the direction of the camel, but I didn't want the camel to go crazy and break free from the thick rope in my hand as soon as it saw the pot. When the little cousin saw it, she said: "Cousin, do these two camels hate you? They sprayed white foam on your face yesterday." Zhao Shuai followed suit and made noises: "Yuwei is right, he must have seen the small roads using them as trash cans, so he didn't want to do it." Uncle An saw that I was stunned. He hurriedly pulled the camel back, and then said to me: "Today they are a bit strange, they would not be like this before, you give me the jar, and I will put it. They may really hate you. " I handed over the jar speechlessly, and made a face at Mu Qingxiang, trying to laugh at myself, but at this moment, Uncle Chen yelled, which startled us all.It turned out that when Uncle An put the pot into the pannier bag, the camel also seemed to go crazy. It raised a thick leg and almost kicked Uncle An in the stomach.I spread my hands helplessly, this time I was finally cleared of my crimes, it's not that camels hate me, even Uncle An can't use camels as trash cans. Next, except for Mu Qingxiang, everyone tried to put the empty jar that had contained Serriors into the bag, but they all failed.This matter seems normal, but it is not reasonable, the two seniors, Uncle Chen and Uncle An, can't figure out the reason.Standing on the yellow sand, exposed to the wind and the sun, I watched their actions and wondered if there was something wrong with those jars, or camels are naturally afraid of jars, but is it possible? In the end, Mu Qingxiang took the jar, and they all said she couldn't do it, but I thought Mu Qingxiang would definitely do it.I saw that Mu Qingxiang took out a pot of Cel Riors first, then rinsed the pot, and put the pot into the pannier bag after cleaning.Sure enough, the camel didn't respond this time, no matter how much Mu Qingxiang tossed about, she didn't move.Uncle An was so amazed, he even forgot to blame Mu Qingxiang for wasting water, and praised her as a natural herdsman, if only she could help him raise camels in the future. Uncle Chen has a bad temper, and after we chatted for a while, he began to scold us, urging us to hurry up and get on the road, don't f*cking dawdle.The sun has indeed begun to sink to the west, and we dare not delay, so we continue to walk along the hidden ancient river.There are no high sand mountains in the Tengger Desert, so walking is not very strenuous, and it is much easier to walk than the Xinjiang desert.But even so, before it was dark, we started shouting and screaming, and we were exhausted. Uncle Chen couldn't hear our complaints the most. As soon as Zhao Shuai opened his mouth, he scolded: "Stop arguing, if you keep arguing, get the hell out of here! You don't know that you talk too much, you get thirsty easily, and you drink water faster ?" When Uncle An saw him, he immediately eased the atmosphere: "Old Chen is right, it is difficult for us to come across water sources along the way, we should cherish these waters." Zhao Shuai was not convinced, but he didn't say it explicitly, but said to me secretly: "Isn't it just a few sips of water, I have a few sips less, and I can leave it to the camels to drink." I don't like Chen Yepeng either, he's just a guide, why are we so fierce that we have become his subordinates.Having said that, but people are also thinking about us, so it is inconvenient to attack.I advised Zhao Shuai to be patient, if he ran into a sand wolf, he would still count on Chen Yepeng to rescue him.Zhao Shuai is very good at watching the situation. After listening to my analysis, he nodded and stopped talking. I comforted Zhao Shuai, then hurried forward a few steps, keeping parallel with Mu Qingxiang.Just now the camel refused to let the pot approach, I was always curious, so I asked Mu Qingxiang to know what was going on.But Mu Qingxiang couldn't explain clearly. She thought that camels didn't like the smell of Serriors, so she washed it with tea just now to increase the smell of Serriors. After the smell became stronger, the camels were not afraid anymore. . The weather was so hot that our group walked slowly on the back of the dunes, winding towards the depths of the desert.Just as we looked into the distance and imagined that we had already seen the ancient city of Yuequan, the two camels seemed to go crazy again, refusing to take a step forward, as if there was danger ahead, but when we looked around, there were only hills piled up with yellow sand Qiu, there is not even a desert cobra, and there is no sign of danger at all.