Chapter 8 Chapter Eight: The Secret of Beita Mountain

Beita Mountain is the border mountain between China and Mongolia. Yuan Sen and the others are in the base of the 755th Division. Dr. Zeng Hetian has carefully analyzed the location where Usman may have had an accident in Beita Mountain.The Usman bandit army entrenched in the southern mountain of Beita Mountain for the longest time, and then retreated to the desert area, and the number of people was reduced during the retreat.After Usman withdrew to the desert, he attempted to ambush the bandits at a place called Yema Spring in the south of the mountain, but the bandits fought back.The anti-bandit troops discovered that Usman's army was less than half of the original force. They were surprised at the time, but they didn't think much about it. Their purpose was to encircle and suppress the bandit army, and they didn't investigate why Usman's army was so reduced.

The first target location of the expedition team's exploration of Beita Mountain is the Nanshan Mountain of Beita Mountain.After July, Beita Mountain will be blocked by heavy snow at any time, and the snow season lasts for more than 200 days a year.Yuan Sen and the others carried their big bags, parked their car in a hidden cave at the foot of the mountain, and started to prepare for climbing. The slope in the south of the mountain is very slow. In addition, Beita Mountain is not a high mountain, and the highest altitude is less than 3,000 meters.Compared with the main peak of the Altai Mountains, Beita Mountain is only a hillside.

In the first three days after entering Beita Mountain, the expedition team wandered around Nanshan for three full days without finding anything.This expedition was the most leisurely of all their actions. Except that it was not very convenient to climb the mountain in the snow season, the rest could be called an outdoor picnic.They brought a charcoal stove, sleeping bags, all kinds of food, and even coffee. Yuan Sen searched the suspicious area very carefully at the beginning, but after two days, he was very tired.Under the instigation of Akailamu, his junior sister, Bahargul, never lacked hot water and hot tea in the thermos. He often drank coffee while investigating, and his work rigor was completely negative.

Baharguli also often brought hot coffee to Yuan Sen, which directly reduced Yuan Sen's work efficiency. They originally divided into two groups. Yuan Sen, Akailam and Bahargul formed a team, and Wang Hui and Kangbasa went in another direction. They met at the starting point the next night, but they didn't find anything. . On the third day, it snowed heavily all day. They found a mountain depression, pitched a tent in it, and lit a pile of charcoal. A group of five people drank coffee and analyzed the next step.After analyzing and analyzing, no conclusion can be drawn.So Akaila slipped aside, set up the stove, called Bahargul, and the two of them started cooking there.

They quickly roasted a gazelle, which Yuan Sen found in the snow.He was carrying a gun, and after aiming, he killed the sheep with one shot, and Ekailam dragged it back. Ai Kaila's bragging ability is first-rate, and his ability to roast whole lamb is not bad. He quickly roasted delicious lamb, and the three people who were analyzing and discussing at the side were vividly hooked.After they had eaten and drank enough, Wang Hui suddenly said, "At dawn tomorrow, we are going to visit the main peak of Beita Mountain." "why?" Wang Huidao: "I analyzed Usman's marching route. In the process of escaping from the pursuit of the bandit forces, he hid in the mountains, and the army broke up many times. In a relatively long period of time, Usman The army has been to Nanshan, Xishan, Beishan and other directions successively, but just during the battle of Yemaquan, the bandit suppression troops believed that Usman was mainly entrenched in the south of the mountain, so our judgment before departure was very one-sided. Usman The bandit army detours between different directions of Beita Mountain, and they must pass the main peak of the mountain many times, and the main peak is also the main battlefield of the Sino-Mongolian Beita Mountain Battle, so it is necessary for us to go there."

They slept comfortably all night in a tent with a bonfire, and were woken up by Wang Hui early the next morning.The heavy snow outside has become much lighter. Ai Kailamu went out to have a look, and found that the snow outside the tent was half a meter deep, and the other places did not know how deep it was. He said to Wang Hui: "You see the snow is so deep, if you accidentally step into the snow nest, you will disappear. Let's wait a few more days until the snow stops before we leave." Wang Hui glanced at him, then looked at everyone, and said: "Our situation is very urgent now. The mystery of Usman's head is related to the overall situation. If this drags on, I don't know when we will find clues. After breakfast Let's go immediately."

Ai Kailam cast a look at Bahargul for help, and Bahargul took Wang Hui's arm and said, "I agree with Sister Hui's decision and set off for the main peak of Beita Mountain immediately." On this day, they climbed from morning to night before arriving at Obo, the main peak of Beita Mountain.The wind and snow in the morning were relatively light, and the higher they climbed, the more violent the wind and snow became.Ai Kailamu went to several snow nests, and when he stepped on it, he disappeared.The strong wind with snow particles whizzed and blew randomly, and the sky and the earth were full of whistling winds, no one could hear how they shouted.

Fortunately, they were prepared in advance, and they all walked together, holding hands.Akailamu fell into the snow nest several times, but Bahargul later suspected that he wanted to be lazy, and wanted to camp and rest on the spot, and ran to the snow nest specifically.Ai Kailamu jumped into the Yellow River and couldn't clean it up. He repeatedly argued that he was mean in the morning, said taboos, was cursed by something in the mountains, and went to snow nests wherever he went. The two were arguing endlessly, and the white light was shining in the snow, which illuminated the deep night sky, and when the snow was a little lighter, you could see far away.

Yuan Sen wiped the sweat from his forehead, he suddenly rubbed his eyes and stopped.Yuan Sen walked in the front, he stopped, and the others also stopped.Yuan Sen stared forward for a long time, Wang Hui said, "What's going on?" Yuan Sen whispered, "Why do I feel that there is someone in the snow in front of me?" Ai Kailamu took a flashlight to shine a few times, the front was covered in silver, and there was no figure there. Yuan Sen wondered to himself, he also turned on the flashlight, and pointed at the place where there were intuitively people, but there was really nothing there except the thick snow.Yuan Sen only thought that he was wrong and didn't pay attention.

They walked in the snow for more than three hours and climbed up to Obo, the main peak of Beita Mountain.There is a wide snowfield on Aobao. At a glance, the snow extends to the depths of the skyline. Above the snow is a dark blue sky. Everything in the snow looks dark, like a shadow. Yuan Sen and Ai Kailam placed the camping tent under a big tree. The big tree was covered with snow, and it would shake off the snow when touched. They made a charcoal fire, and burned a large pot of water with snow on the charcoal stove.Kang Basa was clearing the snow around the tent, Yuan Sen pulled Ai Kailam, took a gun and left the tent.

The two walked in front of each other without turning on the flashlight, and went all the way to the depths of the Aobao snowfield. Yuan Sen had already heard the sound of wild birds calling.They plan to hunt some pheasants, yellow sheep or wild wolves for tonight's dinner. The compressed food is disgusting, but the wild animals are delicious.Moreover, Yuan Sen wanted to take this opportunity to scout the surrounding terrain.A few hours ago, he suddenly saw a black shadow in the snow. The shadow moved quickly and disappeared after a few shakes in front of his eyes.Such a long time of exploring life has cultivated his keen vision. Ai Kailam suddenly patted Yuan Sen on the shoulder, pointed to the right and said, "Brother Yuan, look, what is that thing?" Yuan Sen turned his head to look and found an animal curled up in the snow. The distance was too far, and he couldn't tell what it was.It looks like a huge wild wolf standing with its forelimbs raised and its two hind legs raised.The thing was covered with a layer of snow, and it stood there motionless. If you didn't look carefully, you would think it was a snowdrift. Yuan Sen gestured to Ai Kailamu, Ai Kailamu nodded, and the two separated, one left and one right outflanked the past. The wild animal was at least 50 meters away from them, and it was hard to see anything clearly in the snowy night. Yuan Sen was afraid of shooting in the wrong direction, so he didn't dare to shoot casually.They carefully outflanked half of the distance, the thing seemed to have found something in the snow, and suddenly shook, a lot of snow fell off its body.Yuan Sen and Ai Kailamu hurriedly stopped, staring at the thing neither far nor near, watching its next move.Yuan Sen raised his gun to aim, he could only take a general aim, and he didn't dare to shoot casually. The thing moved, then stopped.Yuan Sen held his breath and moved forward step by step. Ai Kailam followed Yuan Sen's rhythm, and the two tried their best to pretend to be excellent hunters, aiming their guns at their prey. Suddenly, the prey trembled again, and the distance between the two of them was only 20 meters, so Yuan Sen rushed over without trying to hide it.The thing in the snow shuddered, and suddenly shot out in the opposite direction like an arrow off the string. The speed caught the two of them completely by surprise. The thing drew a line in the snow, and in a moment it was a dark dot in the depths of sight.Yuan Sen yelled at Ai Kailamu, "Hurry up—" He turned on the flashlight and ran quickly in the direction of the thing in the snow. At this time, the snow had stopped, and there was no trace of snow falling on the snow field. The thing left a series of palm-sized footprints on the snow, more than half an inch deep. Yuan Sen and the others ran less lightly than that thing in the snow. After chasing for more than ten minutes, Ai Kaila said awkwardly: "I don't think they can catch up, and I don't know what that thing is. Why don't we go hunt some wild birds to eat?" , the taste is also very good.” Yuan Sen took a flashlight to look around, and the footprints in front of him stretched far away. He wanted to see what it was, so he said to Ai Kailam: "I will chase first, you go hunting wild birds, an hour Then we meet up in the tent." Ai Kailam sighed, and said: "This is a dark place, and there is a vast snowfield, and there is no living person for hundreds of miles nearby. How can I rest assured of you, Brother Yuan, let's go." The two chased for more than ten minutes, and even Yuan Sen was a little discouraged.There were footprints of that thing on the snow, but no shadow of that thing was seen. This thing was flying back and forth in the snow, God knows where it fled to. Yuan Sen stopped to take a sip of water, and shone forward with the flashlight. Deep in the beam of light, a mass of snow-white things flashed by.Yuan Sen was shocked and shouted: "It's there, it's there, hurry up and chase after it." His flashlight locked on to the thing and shone on it as he ran.In the beating line of sight, I only saw a group of white shadows continuously flashing across the flashlight beam, but I still couldn't see clearly what it was. The two were panting after chasing, going down and up the mountain all the way, and they didn't know how many hills they turned over.Ai Kailam gasped and said: "Brother Yuan, if you chase him like this, you will be tricked to death by that guy. Lao Ai shot, let's talk about whether he hits or not." Yuan Sen said: "Okay——" Ai Kaila held the gun in his hand, raised his hand and fired a shot, and the bullet sank into the snow.He fired a few more shots in a row, but the guns missed. The snow-white shadow was still jumping back and forth between the beams of the flashlight. He didn't know if he really couldn't avoid the flashlight, or he was playing tricks on the two of them. Ai Kailam said angrily: "Brother, you are good at marksmanship. If you come and shoot twice, I still don't believe that I can't subdue this little beast." Yuan Sen held up the flashlight in one hand, caught the thing with a beam of light, aimed at it with the other hand and fired two shots, both of which missed. Ai Kailam suddenly exclaimed: "My mother, what is this place?" Yuan Sen looked up and was shocked. It turned out that they had entered a huge valley unknowingly, and a huge building complex stood in the valley.The building complex is all covered with snow, it looks like a palace of ice and snow, only the outlines of watchtowers, towers and city walls can be vaguely seen. Yuan Sen raised his head like this, and then used the flashlight to shine on the wild animal. It had already disappeared in the snow, and he couldn't find it no matter how hard he searched. Ai Kaila said woodenly: "Brother Yuan, I always feel that it is strange that a castle appears in such a strange place." Yuan Sen took out a cigarette, lit it, took a puff, and said, "Nonsense, there is no one in this place for hundreds of miles, so there must be something wrong with the buildings appearing for no reason." Yuan Sen shined a flashlight on two watchtowers more than ten meters high in the distance. The whole body of the watchtowers was white, and there was a row of half-meter-high shooting holes on the top, and the back of the shooting holes was empty. There is a distance of tens of meters between the two watchtowers. There is an archway in the middle, and a plaque is hung in the middle of the archway. The plaque is also covered by falling snow, and only a few pieces are exposed. It seems to be written, but you can’t see the end What is the word.Below the archway are two tightly closed gates. Yuan Sen and Ai Kailamu were standing on a soil slope with a relatively high angle, and they could vaguely see the corner of the house behind the archway, which looked like a wooden house. After careful observation, Yuan Sen felt that this building complex should be a stockade with military defense capabilities. Ai Kaila said awkwardly: "Look at how tightly the door is closed, it looks like there are people inside, maybe Mr. Ai took the courage to climb over the wall and enter the castle to see what monsters and ghosts are hidden inside." Yuan Sen stared at the stockade for a long time, his heart was also up and down, and he felt that everything was wrong.He said to Ai Kaila: "Let's not be in a hurry, you use the walkie-talkie to inform Kang Basa and Wang Hui, report our situation, and then make arrangements." Ai Kailam took out the walkie-talkie from his backpack, pressed a button, and the walkie-talkie made a crackling sound.In this quiet snowy valley, it sounds like a thrilling feeling.Yuan Sen didn't know whether it was due to the environment, or there were some problems in the village. He always felt that there was a pair of eyes staring at them in the dark, and those eyes were full of hostility.He had photographed the village countless times, but he couldn't find where those eyes were. Ai Kaila fiddled with it, and sighed: "It's over, I can't find the signal." Yuan Sen continued to observe the village, and said casually, "What's going on?" Ai Kaila said: "There is no signal at all, maybe the distance is too far. We followed the beast and ran around. God knows how far we ran." Yuan Sen said: "That's right, then don't notify them for now. With the two of us' skills, we can even get out of the underground space of the Flame Mountain. This small village should not be able to do anything to us." Ai Kaila said woodenly: "Brother, I think so too." The two put out the flashlight first. In this kind of place, if there is something in the dark, the light is the target of attack.With their guns in hand, they slowly approached the archway of the village with the reflection of the snow in the dark night. Yuan Sen heard the sound of him and Ai Kaila stepping on the snow. Yuan Sen pushed hard on the wooden door of the archway, and the door, more than ten meters high and six meters wide, swung open, revealing a piece of darkness behind the wooden door, like a wild beast with its mouth open. There was light behind the archway, and it was so dark that neither of them could see clearly what was inside, so they stooped and hid in, and Ai Kailamu closed the door smoothly. The two walked out of the corridor behind the archway, their eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the village, and only then did they see a huge martial arts training ground inside.In the middle of the martial arts training ground, there was a big drum covered with snow, a weapon rack, and a horse trough. Yuan Sen took a closer look and didn't pay much attention to it. Behind the martial arts field, there is a faint row of houses and buildings, a large area is connected together, and behind the houses is the cliff of the valley.This valley is very deep, looking up, the cliff seems to be connected to the sky, and the row of low houses in the huge black shadow of the cliff seems to be contained in the mouth of the cliff. Ai Kailam suddenly pointed to the side and said, "Look, the corridors over there are all collapsed, let's go and have a look." The two walked across the martial arts field and saw that it was a promenade leaning against the cliff. Part of the promenade was buried in the snow, and part was blocked by the cliff, revealing the collapsed ruins outside, and the wood and planks were piled together.Akailamu turned on the flashlight and found that the wooden boards were all burnt. When Yuan Sen came in, he found that this huge village had indeed been abandoned for a long time, and no one had visited it for many years. If we really counted it, it was probably at least something from Usman's era. Ai Kaila said woodenly: "Do you want to go to the house to have a look?" Yuan Sen said: "Go and have a look, there may be written materials inside, and you can tell who built this village and when it was destroyed." Ai Kaila smiled wide-eyed, and said: "This cottage must be a bandit's den, and there may be gold, silver and jewelry hidden by the bandits in it, let's go and look for it carefully." Yuan Sen took the flashlight and pointed at the row of black shadows obliquely, revealing the dilapidated wooden houses, and the doors of some houses were opened, creaking and creaking in the wind. A wind blew up in the valley, and the snow on the roof whizzed down. Yuan Sen couldn't help shivering.Ai Kailam suddenly yelled, and hurriedly covered his mouth. Yuan Sen turned to look at him and said, "What's your name?" Akira pointed to the direction of the wooden house, took off his hand and said, "Look—look—hell—there's a light in that room." Yuan Sen also saw a glimmer of light peeking out from the crack in the door of the last wooden house in that row of houses.The bright light was particularly conspicuous in the dark village, and it also made the whole deserted village dark and terrifying. A terrible thought flashed in Yuan Sen's mind, could there be people still living in this ruined village? Ai Kailamu's face was pale, and he said: "Brother, Beita Mountain is surrounded by hundreds of miles and there is no one inhabited. Now is the season when the mountain is covered by heavy snow. Even hunters can't enter the mountain. Who else do you think will be in the village?" Yuan Sen extinguished the flashlight first, and he gestured to Ai Kailamu. The two walked onto the training ground and quietly approached the wooden house.At this moment, a bullet screamed through the quiet valley. Yuan Sen was so frightened that he dragged Ai Kailamu to lie on the snow, and the bullet hit the drum frame of the training ground. The two of them lay on the ground in the snow, ate a lot of snow, and dared not look up for a long time. Ai Kailam whispered: "Brother Yuan, this time it's a hell—" Yuan Sen said: "Act separately——Action separately——" The two got up from the snow one after the other.They walked past the training ground and came to the dark shadow of the cliff.The cold wind passed through the valley, making a long whistling sound, and the unclosed wooden door slapped the door frame of the wooden house crazily, making a bang bang bang bang sound. Yuan Sen looked from room to room. Even without the flashlight on, he could still see that most of the entire row of wooden houses were abandoned.Houses with collapsed walls and no roofs were everywhere, but there was only one wooden house with faint lights on. Yuan Sen took a deep breath. At this moment, another gunshot pierced the night sky, and Yuan Sen subconsciously rolled to the ground. The bullet hit the wall of the wooden house beside him. Yuan Sen lay in the snow and dared not move. He carefully recalled the location of the gunshot, and suddenly realized that the gunman was on the watchtower. He raised his gun and fired a shot at each of the two watchtowers, rolled on the spot, and rolled to the back of the wooden house, which was the dead end of the watchtower's shooting. Sure enough, two more shots were fired from the watchtower. Yuan Sen is now completely sure that the gunman is hiding in the watchtower on the right.Seeing Yuan Sen shooting towards the watchtower, Ai Kaila also fired two shots in that direction. Yuan Sen huddled behind the wooden house, and turned on the flashlight to shine on the watchtower where the shooter was hiding. A black shadow flashed, and he was never seen again. Yuan Sen wondered, how could there be gunmen in the ruins of this barren village?This gunman shoots at people indiscriminately without asking questions. Who the hell is he? Someone from a mysterious organization?Yuan Sen felt that it was impossible. If they were not trying to grab something, they would usually not show up. This group of people has a clear purpose, and they must have a plan in their actions.They don't have any valuable things or clues in their hands now, and the gang of mysterious organizations can't afford to waste time. Then who would this shooter be? Yuan Sen glanced at the wooden house with the lights on, and thought to himself, "Could it be that there are still people living in this abandoned village?" Immediately, he denied his own idea. It has been half a century since the liberation, and the world has been updated for several eras. How can there be people living in such a barren mountain and wild place? I don't know when a bright moon hung in the sky. The moon shone brightly on the snow, and the surrounding houses and the cliffs in the distance suddenly became much clearer.Yuan Sen saw Ai Kailam lying motionless more than 20 meters away from him, and he couldn't help cursing in his heart: "This idiot, don't find a place to hide, the moonlight is so bright, don't you give yourself to the person in the watchtower fight?" He grabbed a handful of snow on the spot, crumpled it into a small ball and threw it at Ai Kailamu. Ai Kailamu screamed and looked at Yuan Sen.Yuan Sen gestured to him and pointed to the watchtower. Ai Kailam understood, bent his waist, and quickly walked across the training ground.Yuan Sen rushed to the tower and fired a few shots, covering for Ai Kailamu. There was no response from the watchtower, so Yuan Sen quietly went to the back of the wooden house and walked into the corridor.There is a roof blocking the promenade, and the bullets from the watchtower cannot be shot. Yuan Sen quickly ran to the bottom of the watchtower, and Ai Kailamu climbed a little bit along the ladder of the watchtower.Yuan Sen turned on the flashlight to shine on the watchtower, carefully guarding against the people in the tower firing black guns. Ai Kailamu quickly entered the observation room, and Yuan Sen was even more worried. The flashlight did not dare to leave the observation hole.Ai Kailam yelled inside: "Hey, no one?" Yuan Sen suddenly felt that something was wrong, he got on the ladder and quickly climbed up to the observation room of the observation tower.It was a low space of less than two square meters, and it was difficult for a big man like Yuan Sen to stand up straight, let alone a Tibetan. Yuan Sen was also surprised, he kept staring at the watchtower, the moonlight above his head was bright again, and the people in the tower would never escape his eyes if they slipped down, why was there no one inside in the blink of an eye? Ai Kailam whispered: "Brother Yuan, let me tell you the truth, Mr. Ai thinks this house is very wrong, and most of the people living in it are not human. Let's go down and sneak away, and we will check it out at dawn tomorrow." Yuan Sen also felt guilty after being told by Ai Kailamu, and the light in the farthest wooden house became extraordinarily dim, as if it was unreal.A layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on his back. Akaila said woodenly: "How is it?" Yuan Sen took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He thought for a while and said, "Let's go and see that wooden house first. If there is no one inside, we will leave immediately, mark the road, and come back tomorrow." Ai Kaila said woodenly: "Okay, Master Ai will risk his life tonight." The two got off the watchtower and approached the last cabin in the row of houses at an extremely fast speed.Yuan Sen pushed the door of the wooden house, but the wooden door was locked tightly, no matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't open it.Ai Kailamu pulled Yuan Sen away, and was about to kick the door, but Yuan Sen stopped him.Yuan Sen walked to the window of the wooden house. The window is the kind of push-pull wooden window. He gently lifted the wooden window with his hand, and the light in the wooden house poured out. Cold sweat, trembling hands, the wooden window fell down. Ai Kaila said woodenly: "Brother, what's going on?" Yuan Sen took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "There are spirit tablets in the cabin!" Ai Kailamu was also frightened and turned pale. He didn't know what to say, Yuan Sen raised the wooden window again, and the lights in the room suddenly went out silently. Yuan Sen's heart sank as well. He lost the wooden window and lay down on the ground, reaching for the gun with one hand and the flashlight with the other.He didn't draw out his gun, but Ekailam suddenly touched him and pointed behind him. Yuan Sen turned his head to look, and couldn't help but gasped.On the martial arts training ground in the middle of the stockade, there were actually ten fine horses standing in a row. The knights on the horses were wearing old black military uniforms, velvet caps, armed belts, and holding sabers in their hands.The black velvet hat had a very long brim, covering the faces of the knights, making it difficult to see their faces. The silhouettes of the knights were elongated by the moonlight, and their sharp sabers gleamed with luster.The troop of cavalry stood just under the moon, facing the cabin, motionless, not even a horse neighing. Ai Kailamu's face was pale. He shivered and replaced the pistol with a new magazine, pushed the bullet to load, and whispered: "Brother, I think we have run into a ghost. Look at that white furry thing in the snow. Most likely it was to lure us into the bait, and when they come to Kangbasa tomorrow morning, they probably found our bodies and the empty canyon. What we see now is all fake, an illusion created by the monsters of Beita Mountain." Yuan Sen's heart was also beating wildly. He made a silent gesture to Ai Kailam and stared at the row of ten black horses in the snow.The clothes of those knights are definitely not Chinese, and they are definitely not the military uniforms used by any faction of Chinese warlords. They are more like the costumes of Soviet Cossack cavalry in the 20th century in old movies. Beita Mountain is the border mountain between China and Mongolia. In the late 1940s, China and Mongolia had a war over the Beita Mountain. With the support of Soviet aircraft and artillery, Mongolia crossed the border and broke into Beita Mountain. It was entrenched on Beita Mountain. A cavalry company of the Kuomintang Army blocked the attack and was defeated and returned.This battle once caused a sensation in the world at that time. Since then, the border between China and Mongolia has been demarcated, and the entire Beita Mountain belongs to China, and troops have been stationed on the border. It is difficult for such a large target of the cavalry to cross the border. What's more, how can anyone still use this kind of equipment that has been eliminated for a century? Yuan Sen thought over and over again, and felt that the problem was very complicated. The cavalry was in the middle of the training ground, blocking the gate of the archway, and their escape route was completely blocked. Ai Kailamu picked up a wooden door from the ground and placed it in front of the two to block the wind. The cold wind and blizzard were blowing in front of them, making their hands and feet stiff with the cold.The two shrank behind the wooden door, not daring to move.The ten-man cavalry did not move at all, holding their sabers high, letting the wind blow snowflakes on them without shaking. The two of them squatted for a long time, their hands and feet were completely stiff. Ai Kailam stood up and moved his hands and feet, and saw that the cavalry was still motionless, as if they were frozen.Ai Kailam squatted down again, and whispered to Yuan Sen, "I said, brother, you see that they don't move, and even the horses don't respond, are they all frozen to death?" Yuan Sen rolled his eyes at him and said, "How can they run to the middle of the training ground without making a sound after freezing to death?" Ai Kaila patted his thigh and said: "So, it is very unlikely that they are living people. Think about it, living people come on horses, and the surrounding area is so quiet in heavy snow. We are not deaf, and the sound of horseshoes can always be heard Do you hear me?" Yuan Sen's heart was pounding too. The cavalry team had been covered by the wind and snow for more than half, and it looked like a row of snowmen from a distance.Listening to Feng Xue's call, the two felt that something was wrong with that group of cavalry, but they didn't dare to move forward to take a closer look.The two were struggling, and Ai Kailam suddenly exclaimed: "Damn it, the cavalry moved, they really moved." Yuan Sen looked up and saw that the team of cavalrymen shook off the snow, the horses under their crotches shook their manes and snorted, a cavalryman shook the reins, the horses suddenly rushed towards the two of them, the cavalrymen raised their heads The saber shone with a snow-white cold light. Ai Kailam yelled in fright, dragged Yuan Sen into the nearest cabin, and locked the wooden door behind his back.After Yuan Sen entered the house, he remembered that there was a life and death tablet in this wooden house. He hastily turned on the flashlight, looked up and down the room, and saw a table in the middle of the room with a spirit tablet on it, and an oil lamp in front of the spirit tablet.Yuan Sen walked to the table and saw a series of connected characters written on the spiritual tablet. Ai Kailam said that it was in Tatar, that is, Mongolian. Ai Kaila leaned on the side of the window and looked out. After watching for a while, he retracted his head. Yuan Sen asked, "Did the cavalry surround the wooden house?" Akira looked confused and said, "They dismounted to shake the snow where we were just now, and they didn't seem to know that we hid in the wooden house." Yuan Sen patted Ai Kailamu on the shoulder and asked him to move away. He pushed open the wooden window, revealing a gap, and saw the cavalrymen shaking off the snow from their bodies, walking back and forth in front of several nearby wooden houses as if nothing had happened. , as if they didn't exist at all. Yuan Sen was secretly surprised. He racked his brains and couldn't understand the situation in front of him. The moonlight was so bright in the snow, and the cavalry were facing them, so they must be able to see him and Ai Kailamu.Since these people chased outside the wooden house, they acted as if they hadn't found them, and went about their own business. With his logical ability, he couldn't figure out the relationship between them. He closed the wooden window and speculated repeatedly on the incredible behavior of the cavalry. After "World War II", the cavalry was gradually replaced by mechanized troops, and the so-called cavalry no longer existed.These cavalry in old military uniforms are not soldiers, and they definitely don't look like bandits. Who are they and what do they want to do? These questions have always troubled Yuan Sen. He also doubted whether the gunman who disappeared from the watchtower was one of the ten cavalrymen. Ai Kaila said woodenly: "Brother Yuan, these grandsons must have seen us. Why do they stay next to our small wooden house and not leave? They just guard us and pretend that they don't know there are people in the house. What is this trick called? Playing with monkeys, get tired of playing with monkeys, and then kill them." It's not that Yuan Sen never thought about this possibility, it's just that he saw that these people were doing their own things like no one else, unsuspecting. Ai Kaila said woodenly: "It's not an option for us to hide in the wooden house. Instead of being played to death, we might as well do something." Then, he took out his gun and compared it to the window. Yuan Sen understood, in order to test whether they were human, he had no choice but to take a risk.He put the gun out of the cabin, and chose a very concealed angle to aim at a tall cavalryman who was smoking, and the flames flickered under the brim of his high hat.Yuan Sen shot the cavalryman right in the forehead. There was the sound of bullets bursting through the wind and snow. Yuan Sen was confident in his marksmanship. At such a distance, tall cavalrymen would surely die. The bullet shot past, but the tall cavalryman didn't react at all, just like before he was shot, he continued to smoke his cigarette, Mars was bright and dim in the darkness, extremely mysterious.The other cavalrymen were not affected either. Talking, smoking, and shaking snow were all like normal people. Yuan Sen's gun was still stuck in the crack of the wooden window, and the reality in front of him made him collapse. The hand that pulled the trigger was numb from the recoil of the pistol.Reality reminded him that he had indeed shot the tall trooper, and the tall trooper was fine. Yuan Sen patted his head, trying to clear his head.Ekailam also noticed this strange phenomenon and was stunned.Yuan Sen squatted down and hugged his head tightly. He needed to be calm, absolutely calm. Ai Kaila said woodenly: "Brother, let's stop being brave, let's ask for help!" Yuan Sen said: "Okay, try again, maybe Kangbasa and the others will find it, and they will be able to search for the signal if they get closer." Ai Kaila took out the wireless walkie-talkie and pressed the operation button back and forth, and a strong busy tone signal came out from the walkie-talkie.Ai Kailam fiddled with it for a while, and said desperately: "I still can't get in touch, what should I do?" Yuan Sen took a deep breath, pushed up the wooden window, and fired another shot at the tall cavalryman.The tall cavalryman seemed to have noticed him just now, and looked up at him. Yuan Sen's heart tightened, and the wooden window fell down and closed again. Ikela said woodenly: "Did you hit———" Yuan Sen tried his best to suppress the fear in his heart, and said, "It must have been hit. It was hit twice, but the tall cavalryman who was shot was fine!" Ai Kailam sighed: "I saw it, and they acted as if we didn't exist." Yuan Sen sat down on the ground and said, "But the problem is that the tall cavalryman just looked up at me, and I saw him stop smoking for a while." Ai Kaila was stunned, and said: "They finally paid attention to us, we are finished." Yuan Sen's back felt cold for a while, his temper came up, he simply did not stop doing anything, replaced the magazine with a new one, and pushed the bullets into the barrel of the gun.Ai Kailamu held him back and said, "Are you still going to fight tall cavalrymen? Why are you just biting one? There are so many people, you can fight differently." Yuan Sen said: "That's what I think." As he spoke, he pushed open the wooden window again. The tall cavalryman was still smoking his cigarette, and he didn't look at him any more. Others did what they had to do, and no one noticed that there were two outsiders in the wooden house.This picture made Yuan Sen start to wonder if his eyes were dazzled. The tall cavalry didn't look at him, it was just his own eyes that were dazzled. However, he can't control that much.He raised his gun again and chose a cavalryman closest to him to aim at. The cavalryman had his back turned to him, not knowing what he was doing.Yuan Sen aimed calmly, and just as he was about to pull the trigger, a bullet shot over and hit the wooden window, less than two inches away from his head.Yuan Sen was so frightened that he fell on his back in the wooden house. Ai Kaila couldn't help him up, his hands and feet were trembling.Ai Kailam asked nervously: "Brother, what's the matter? It's not that you made the old ghosts and little ghosts in this village uneasy, have they all been dispatched?" Yuan Sen took a breath and said, "No, I observed very carefully. The ten cavalrymen didn't move. There were other people who shot at us. The ones hiding on the watchtower and shooting black guns couldn't be the cavalrymen." Ai Kaila was in a hurry: "There are other thugs! My grandpa, he didn't pay homage to the patriarch when he went out this time, and he caused some messy things." Yuan Sen said: "The guy who hit the black gun must be hiding in a corner. Don't turn on the lights in the room. If there is no light, he can't hit the point, so don't make a sound." Ai Kailam lowered his voice, and said: "Yes, Master Ai will stay with him until dawn, when the ghosts and gods are gone, let's see where the grandson can hide." 两人商量着，袁森不敢再推窗户往外看，不知道外面情况怎样了，只能隐约透过木屋的缝看到外面骑兵抽烟的火光一闪一闪。 这时，木屋外响起了一阵敲门声，“咚咚——咚咚——咚咚——”一阵一阵的，缓慢又有节奏，由此判断敲门的人很镇定。 木屋里的两人这下全慌了，艾凯拉木哭丧着脸，说：“小哥，实在不行，咱们就冲出去跟他们拼了，艾爷十八年后还是一条好汉。” 袁森道：“你认识蒙古文吗？” 艾凯拉木不明所以，道：“艾爷汉字都认不全，哪儿识什么鸟蒙古文啊，你想做什么？” 袁森道：“要是能读懂屋里供的灵位是谁的，咱们就不会那么被动了，至少知道外面是何方神圣。” 艾凯拉木快哭了，道：“是啊，可艾爷他娘的真的不认识蒙古文字啊。” 袁森无奈，屋外敲门的声音一下子急了起来，袁森握枪的手出了一把汗，手上都是湿湿的。他拿衣服擦了一把手，木门突然被人一脚踹开。 袁森抬枪就打，两枪都打了个空，还没抬头就察觉到有人进了屋子。屋里背光，伸手不见五指，袁森不敢再说话，他用手去摸艾凯拉木，提醒他找到一处隐蔽位置再射击，却摸到一根冰冷的枪管。 袁森心底一凉，还没等他反应过来，那枪杆用力朝前一伸，抵在他胸口上，一个冰冷的声音道：“别动——放下枪——” 袁森没动，那枪杆用力在他胸口上顶了顶，袁森胸口一疼，只得把枪扔在地上，同时，他听到艾凯拉木丢枪的声音。袁森心里暗叹：“这回真完了！” 黑暗中的人用脚把两支枪拨到一边之后，便一直用枪抵着袁森的胸口。过了很久，他才语气生硬地说：“你们是什么人，谁让你们来这里的？” 袁森听那人能说话，心里的恐惧减了几分，便道：“你又是谁，这里是哪里？” 那人怒道：“是我在问你，赶快给我老实回答。” 袁森想了想，这里与乌市相隔那么远，自己与人又没有大仇，说出身份也无妨，便简单把自己上北塔山找半个世纪前乌斯满军队离奇遭遇的真相的缘由说了一遍。 那个人听袁森说完，久久没有说话。袁森在黑暗里不能识物，只感觉那人站在他面前，身材可能很高，用粗管枪抵着他胸口，其他一概不知。这种情况下，他不敢暴起发难。也不知道艾凯拉木怎么样了，那孙子除了丢枪，其他时间一直在装死，他想着就有气。 抵在袁森胸口上的枪杆子突然就松了，袁森一时之间还不明白情况，不久，房间里亮起了油灯。 袁森在黑暗环境里待得太久，油灯光刺得他眼睛一阵发痛。他揉了揉眼睛，看到摆灵位的桌子前站着一个体形庞大的中年人。那人裹着一身兽皮，腰上绑着麻布带子，左右斜背着两个子弹带，手上扛着一杆长筒枪，枪上还加了瞄准镜，是一把改装过的狙击步枪。 那大汉披着一头长发，头上还顶着一团没化掉的雪，眼神桀骜警惕，瞪着袁森和艾凯拉木。袁森扭头看艾凯拉木，他趴在地上，有气无力地冲袁森点了点头，又指着大汉说：“那孙子下手真他妈狠，黑咕隆咚就给了你艾爷一脚，把你艾爷隔夜吃的烤羊肉都踹了出来。” 风雪从木门外卷了进来，吹得人冷飕飕的。大汉起身去关了木屋的门，袁森想站起来，大汉厉声喝道：“别动——”说罢，抬了抬手里的枪。 袁森只能继续蹲着不动，心里纳闷此人到底什么来头，看他一身打扮，连猎户也不像，很像是古代的猎人。 大汉在屋子里找到一个木凳子坐下，继续敏锐地盯着两人，看得袁森很不自在。这么僵持了一个小时，大汉的警惕才渐渐消失，袁森对大汉的身份作了无数揣测，他更担心外面的骑兵在做什么。看大汉的动作，似乎对这间木屋非常熟悉，难道他就是木屋的主人？ 袁森很清楚，寨子是一片废墟，从经验上来说，这里不再适合人居住了。即使这间木屋看起来是完好的，墙壁也由于时间太久干裂炸开了不少，漏风很厉害。袁森思来想去，觉得大汉很难在寨子里生活。 他在灯光下把大汉上上下下打量个遍，直到他能确认大汉是个活人，心里的恐惧才消了一大半。只要是活人，就好办了，他袁森打娘胎里出来还没怕过人呢。 大汉坐了一会儿，又站起来在屋子里来回踱步，突然他指着艾凯拉木说：“你，去把那些木材搬过来生火。” 艾凯拉木有气无力地站起来，去屋角把那里堆的木头搬了一些放到木屋中间的火盆上。火盆里有一些干泥似的东西，没有火灰，铁盆边上有许多缺口，看起来很多年没用过了。艾凯拉木搬了五趟，才把火盆填满，中年大汉让他坐在旁边的椅子上，艾凯拉木高兴地答应了，坐在大汉身边。 大汉往火盆里倒上灯油，用古老的火折子点燃灯油，火焰一下子裹住木材，熊熊燃烧了起来。 中年大汉指指袁森，又指指火盆，说：“你——过来坐——” 袁森答应了，木屋里再没有椅子，他就找了两块木材垫在地上坐在火边。生了火，冰冷的木屋里立刻暖和起来，艾凯拉木抖抖身子，对大汉道：“大哥，你的身手真是不错，以艾爷的身子骨，野牛踢了都没事儿，你一脚就差点儿送艾爷归位了。” 大汉从腰上解下一个旧水壶，递给艾凯拉木，说：“有酒，喝了舒服。” 艾凯拉木接过来，喝了一大口，赞道：“味儿真大，够劲，好酒。” 他又喝了一口，拍着大汉的肩膀道：“兄弟，你是哪里人啊？艾爷看你人不错，咱们交个朋友吧。” 中年大汉把手放在火上烘烤着，他对袁森和艾凯拉木完全没有了警惕。沉默了一会儿，他才说：“我叫巴特尔，是蒙古人。” 艾凯拉木道：“看巴特尔兄弟你这一身打扮，我猜就是蒙古人，你怎么跑中国来了？” 巴特尔道：“我就生在这里，从来没有离开过北塔山。” 艾凯拉木和袁森对望一眼，都觉得不可思议，这个蒙古人竟然出生在北塔山，看他年纪也就四十多一点，他出生的时候，北塔山就毫无争议地属于中国了。 巴特尔道：“这座寨子是我爷爷建的，后来寨子里发生了很多事情，家人先后死去，只剩下我一个人守在这里。” 袁森实在忍不住了，插话道：“外面一队十人的骑兵是怎么回事？” 巴特尔黯然道：“他们是我爷爷的兄弟。” 艾凯拉木正在喝的一口酒全喷在火里，火势被酒一浇，暴涨三尺，艾凯拉木吓了一跳，嚷道：“巴特尔兄弟，那些真的是鬼啊？” 巴特尔道：“不是，他们不是鬼魂，我爷爷他们太留恋寨子，不愿意走远，一直在寨子里徘徊着——徘徊着——” 袁森道：“寨子里是不是曾经出过事，我看到外面的长廊、木屋都有被火烧过的痕迹。” 巴特尔道：“我爷爷为了躲避蒙古国贵族内斗，带着兄弟们来到北塔山隐居，在山里住了很多年一直没出过事。这座山谷也很隐秘，随便没有人能发现。有一天，山谷外来了很多人，黑压压的到处都是，看不到头，也看不到尾，我从来没有见过那么多人。他们发现了寨子，就来抢粮食，寨子里的人是比那些人少，但也有几百人，双方厮杀起来，我们利用山谷的许多优势，把一拨一拨来犯的敌人全部杀死。无数次击退来犯之敌后，我爷爷死在战马下。寨子里几百口人，死得只剩下我父母亲，他们后来生下我，几十年前也去世了。” 艾凯拉木道：“你就一直藏在大山里，也不出去？” 巴特尔道：“我不知道去哪里，我父母去世时说，一定不要再回蒙古了，那里的人会杀死我。” 袁森想到一个问题，北塔山在近几十年发生过大规模军事事件，除了中蒙北塔山之战，就是新疆和平解放后，匪首率部逃进北塔山，剿匪部队与乌斯满匪部在北塔山多处发生过激战。从时间上推算，袭击巴特尔山寨的，很有可能是乌斯满匪军。 巴特尔道：“听我父亲说，当年发生的那场惨烈的屠杀，为首的人叫乌斯满，是个哈萨克巴图尔。” 艾凯拉木听得目瞪口呆，道：“乌斯满匪军在北塔山减员超过军队的50%，原来是折损在你们手里！你爷爷太厉害了，真想拜会拜会他老人家。” 巴特尔指着桌子上的灵位，道：“那里就是我爷爷的灵位，你可以给他磕头。” 艾凯拉木一时嘴贱，没想到巴特尔心眼太实在，只得去给巴特尔的爷爷磕了几个响头，说了一大堆中蒙友好一家亲之类的废话。 袁森很好奇他爷爷到底是个什么人物，能率领几百人的队伍让乌斯满匪军折损过半人马，他肯定不是普通人。听巴特尔的意思，他爷爷逃出蒙古是为了躲避什么人，袁森就更有兴趣了，便问道：“灵位上的字翻译成汉语是什么意思？” 巴特尔道：“就是我爷爷的名字，南兹德巴特尔。” 袁森在脑子里搜索了一遍，没听过这么怪的名字。 巴特尔道：“我爷爷以前是蒙古特务机构的首脑人物，他被追捕，是因为做了一件大事。听我父亲说，参与那件事情的大部分人后来下场都很惨。” 艾凯拉木磕头回来，拍干净身上的灰尘坐下，道：“巴特尔兄弟，别跟讲故事似的，说话还老吊人胃口，弄得艾爷和袁小哥心里跟夜猫挠似的，你就说说你爷干了什么大事吧。” 巴特尔道：“你们听过黑喇嘛吗？” 袁森当然知道黑喇嘛，艾凯拉木也对这个人熟得很。黑喇嘛的传说曾经传遍新疆南北，是新疆家喻户晓的传奇人物。有些孩子不听话，大人就用黑喇嘛来了吓唬他，一直吓唬到知道黑喇嘛已经是死人的年纪。 黑喇嘛是土尔扈特族的后裔，坐过沙皇的牢，修习过藏传佛教密宗绝技，后来他介入蒙古贵族内斗，站错了队伍，苏联、得势的蒙古新政府四处悬赏捉拿他，据说悬赏告示从蒙古一直贴到西伯利亚。 此人特别厉害，这么大规模的缉拿行动，还是让他逃脱了。他从蒙古一直逃到新疆、内蒙古、甘肃交界的一处无人区——黑戈壁，占据丝路要塞，占山为王。各路匪首竞相归顺，他一时风头极盛，靠打劫过往商旅聚集了富可敌国的财富。 袁森很奇怪巴特尔的爷爷怎么和黑喇嘛这种传奇人物扯上了关系。 巴特尔道：“黑喇嘛就是被我爷爷南兹德巴特尔亲手砍的头，我爷爷由此成为蒙古的英雄，也因为这个成为一些王公贵族的眼中钉，这里面涉及太多利益和仇恨。后来，蒙古要像对付黑喇嘛一样，对付我爷爷南兹德巴特尔，库伦到处张贴捉拿我爷爷的悬赏告示。我爷爷后来带着以前的部属及家眷几百人逃到北塔山隐居起来，躲避了追杀。”