Chapter 4 Chapter Three

We analyzed the photos you mailed and found a major doubt.You mentioned in your letter that Maimaiti disappeared in the desert, but the background of the photo is a vast mountain. We analyzed the photo and found that there is a great possibility that there are a large number of pu stone mines hidden in the mountains in the photo. . Tushala Township is more than 100 kilometers away from Hotan City. It has a simple and unsophisticated border style, and most of the residents are Uighurs.Yuan Sen bought an introduction brochure of various places in Xinjiang in Urumqi, and he had already thoroughly studied the situation of the destination he was about to arrive on the train.

There are 19 natural villages in Tushala Township, and almost every village has its own mosque. Uyghur women in headscarves and men in long "loops" can be seen rushing by everywhere on the road. The long-distance bus stopped near Tusala Township. Yuan Sen squeezed out of the car with the flow of people. He was dressed in casual clothes, which was in stark contrast to the Uyghurs walking around on the road. It was more or less eye-catching. Many Uyghurs were amazed at him. gaze. Tushala Township has a long history and simple folk customs. Most of the residents are Muslims and are used to wearing national costumes, so it is somewhat surprising to see a modern person occasionally.

Holding a map, Yuan Sen stopped a Uighur man in a double-breasted gown to ask for directions. The man had a curly beard on both cheeks. He was walking forward quickly, and the loops were covered with dust. Yuan Sen felt a little regretful when he stopped him. This guy looked like he was going to fight for his life, so he probably wouldn't tell him how to go. The man was grabbed by force, turned his head and glanced at Yuan Sen, then put his right palm on his chest very politely, bowed his body slightly, and said politely: "Young man, hello, may Hu Da bless you!" Yuan Sen hastily imitated his appearance and returned the salute, saying: "May Hu Da bless you, hello!"

The man smiled kindly at him. Yuan Sen handed him the map, pointed to the location of Yingavati Village, and asked the man how to get there. The man smiled and said, "You really asked the right person. I am from Yingavati Village. May I ask if you have anything to do there?" Yuan Sen explained the purpose of his visit, and the man was surprised: "You really found the right person. The mine manager Kurban is the mine manager of our jade mine in Yingavati Village. I am a worker in the jade mine. My name is Bayi." When night fell, Yuan Sen and Bayi approached Yingavati Village on horseback.Yuan Sen was riding a very beautiful little red horse with a forged mane and a gallant gallop.Yuan Sen picked this horse at a glance at the market. The horse market in Tushala Township was monopolized by Kurban. Bayi explained that Yuan Sen, the guy in the horse market, was a guest of Kurban's mine manager, so he borrowed this horse for free. horse.

The little red horse was very fierce, Yuan Sen was not very good at equestrianism, and was thrown several times in a row. Bai Yi repeatedly asked to change his gentle horse with him, but Yuan Sen stubbornly refused, which caused a lot of delays on the way. time. The sun has already set in the west, and there is still a touch of rosyness hidden in the sky. Under the gradually darkening sky, the night is sinking heavily.Yuan Sen and Bayi rode their horses galloping on the prairie. There was a large area on the prairie, and many wooden houses were sparsely lined up. This must be Yingavati Village.

Bayi whistled, tightened the reins, and the galloping horse gradually slowed down.At the entrance of the village, a young man was feeding the horses in front of the stables. There were four horses of different colors tied to the stables. Bayi handed the reins to the young man and said, "Timur, is mine manager Kurban at home?" The boy nodded, took Yuan Sen's reins, and led the little red horse to the stable.Bayi led Yuan Sen towards the big house at the entrance of the village, when the boy suddenly shouted from behind: "Brother Maimaiti is dead—" Bayi froze for a moment, then turned his head to look at the sad boy, the little flower hat on his head was trembling constantly.

Yuan Sen was also shocked. It stands to reason that death is inevitable after being missing in the desert for more than a month.But judging by the performance of this young man, could it be that Maimaiti's body has already been found? Kurban's big house stands at the entrance of the village, with a single door and a courtyard. Looking at it from a distance, it feels like it stands out from the crowd.Bayi pushed open the big wooden door, and with a "squeak" sound, a dead body appeared in front of Bayi and Yuan Sen. According to the customs of the Uighurs, the body is covered with snow-white cloth and laid on a wooden board.An old man who looked rather simple and honest stood in front of the corpse with his head bowed, as if he was praying.Standing beside the old man was a middle-aged woman who was wiping her tears, her old and red face was full of sadness.In the corner of the room stood a Han man with a shotgun strapped to his back, looking at Bai Yi and Yuan Sen who came in.

Bayi put his right palm on his chest, and bowed to the corpse, "Bless you Hu, Maimaiti's corpse has been found." Kurban's eyes widened and he shouted, "Yes, Wang Zhongnan's gang found Maimat in the desert, but he died." Bayi bowed down again, and said: "Hu Da bless you!" Kurban wiped his face, and then he noticed Yuan Sen who was with Bayi, and cast a questioning look at Bayi. Bayi introduced: "Mine Manager Kurban, this is a guest from Urumqi at your invitation. His name is Yuan Sen." Only then did Kurban come to his senses, and went up to receive Yuan Sen, saying that Professor Yang Jian had already called him and recommended you to come over to help investigate the truth of this matter.

Yuan Sen imitated the same pattern and saluted Kurban as a Muslim, then went straight to the point and said, "Where did Maimaiti's body be found?" Kurban glanced at the Han man named Wang Zhongnan. Wang Zhongnan walked over and said, "It's in no-man's land. We found the place where Maimaiti camera is located!" Yuan Sen frowned, and said, "I've read the letter you wrote to Professor Yang Jian. You mean, the first time you went there, you only found the camera, and you went to that place for the second time, only to find his body ?” Wang Zhongnan nodded and said, "Yes!"

"How long is the time between the two times?" Yuan Sen seemed to smell something abnormal. "One week, exactly one week!" Wang Zhongnan confirmed earnestly. "So, after a month of disappearance, Maimaiti reappeared at the place where he lost his camera? Can you rule out the possibility that he was buried in the sand dunes? Or that his body was artificially moved?" Wang Zhongnan pondered: "Basically, these possibilities can be ruled out. During the week, there was basically no trace of movement in the sand dunes, and when we found the camera at that time, we searched the vicinity of the sand dunes carefully. There was no clue that Maimaiti was killed. Buried in the dunes."

"So, Maimaiti walked back by himself after disappearing in the desert for a month, and finally died where he lost his camera?" Yuan Sen looked at Mine Manager Kurban. At the same time, Mine Manager Kurban stared at Yuan Sen with cloudy eyes. Wang Zhongnan also cast a mysterious look at him.Yuan Sen saw these things in his eyes, and he knew that this must be unusual. The mine manager Kurban was silent, and Bayi automatically stood behind him. Even Maimaiti's mother, who had been sobbing softly, stopped her voice. The whole room was like a black hole, and the dull and strange air was oppressive. Out of breath, the electric lights in the house gave off a blurry orange light. After a long silence, the mine manager Kurban said: "Yuan Sen, Professor Yang Jian and I have been good friends for many years. It is also my request that you can come to our place this time. Therefore, after careful consideration, I decided to put this Let me tell you a secret. In fact, Maimaiti died yesterday or the day before yesterday, because the highest daytime temperature in the desert in no man’s land is higher than that of the Flame Mountain, and the corpse will be completely dehydrated after three days in the desert. But Maimaiti The dead body is less than half dehydrated, so that's why I'm so sure." Yuan Sen was a little confused when he heard this. He had heard of the Huoyan Mountain in Xinjiang. On the northern edge of the Turpan Basin, the stones of the Huoyan Mountain are all crimson red, with an average temperature of 40 to 50 degrees. It is quite scary when it reaches about eighty degrees, and it is not suitable for people to stay for a long time. Wang Zhongnan, who had been silent all the time, also said: "In that kind of place, even if you bring enough water, you can't survive for more than a week, but Master Maimaiti can survive there for more than a month." Yuan Sen frowned. A normal person can only live for seven days without water in a normal environment, let alone survive for a month in a desert where high temperature and severe cold alternate. What happened to Maimaiti in the no man's land in the desert? Yuan Sen asked the mine manager Kurban, "Can I see Maimaiti's body?" He didn't know much about some customs of the Uyghur people, so he felt that it would be presumptuous or harmful to the Islamic rules to look at the dead body again. Mine manager Kurban nodded. He lifted the snow-white cloth, and Yuan Sen saw that Maimaiti's head and neck had begun to dehydrate and dry, and his skin was wrinkled.He didn't wear shoes on his feet. It is not known whether they were taken off later or lost in the desert. Maimaiti's feet were frozen black from the ankle to the ankle, and the muscles were completely necrotic.If he hadn't died, he would have had both feet amputated. Yuan Sen carefully observed Maimaiti's body. The clothes on his body were torn and torn, with holes everywhere, and there was a lot of sand on the clothes.Yuan Sen picked up a few grains with his fingers, held them in front of his eyes, and examined them carefully, his expression suddenly changed. The mine manager Kurban asked, "What's wrong?" Yuan Sen raised his head, frowned deeply, and said: "Before we parted from Professor Yang Jian, we analyzed the photos you mailed and found a major doubt. You mentioned in your letter that Maimaiti disappeared in the desert. , but the background in the photos is vast mountains, we analyzed the photos and found that there are very likely a large number of pu stone mines hidden in the mountains in the photos." Wang Zhongnan is very big, close to 190cm tall, with thick dark skin, giving people a calm and capable feeling.At this moment, he was standing in front of Yuan Sen, looking into Yuan Sen's eyes, and said: "We have discovered all the doubts you mentioned, and it is because of these unreasonable problems that Mine Manager Kurban mailed the photos to you. Ask for help." Yuan Sen nodded and said, "Actually, my biggest question is that Maimaiti's purpose of going deep into the desert is very clear, but how did he know that there will be jade mines deep in the desert? Who gave him the news?" The mine manager Kurban suddenly realized that, yes, Maimaiti has always been only interested in photography, and he rarely asks about the affairs of the mine, but why did he suddenly have the idea of ​​​​going deep into the desert to find jade mines? ? Yuan Sen followed up and said: "Mine manager, I still have some doubts about your statement. You just repeatedly emphasized that Maimaiti has no interest in jade, but according to the analysis, it is found that the shooting method used in the photo is a kind of It is a difficult photography method, and it is often used in various types of mine location photo shooting." He did not say what he said next. Mine manager Kurban said: "I don't know much about photography, but the photos taken by Maimaiti are usually landscapes, and few of them take jade." Yuan Sen said: "That's right. Maimaiti is usually good at landscape photography, but his photos of Pu mines completely deviate from the method and requirements of landscape photography. These are two extremes." Mine Manager Kurban said: "However, the traces we found along the road that Maimat went deep into the desert prove that he entered the desert alone. Many herdsmen who have seen him can prove this." A thought came to everyone's mind, "Did Maimaiti meet other people in the desert?" Mine manager Kurban told Bayi: "Take someone to investigate Maimaiti to find all the people who have been in contact with the jade mine a few days ago, and tell me as soon as you find the clues." Bayi nodded, turned around and went out, it was obvious that he was a very efficient person.Kurban thought about it for a while, and suddenly asked: "Where did Bahar Gul go? I have been busy with shopping for the past few days, and I didn't notice her." Yuan Sen's heart moved. The professor had mentioned this junior sister many times. Before coming to Xinjiang, he also repeatedly emphasized that Bahar Guli would make his trip fruitful. Bayi stopped under the wooden door, Kurban keenly noticed something was wrong, and said loudly: "Bayi, do you want to hide something? What happened to Bahar Guli?" Bayi is a very honest person, he hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Miss—Miss has entered the boat of death along the Hotan River." Kurban's face darkened immediately, Wang Zhongnan was also taken aback, Yuan Sen was a little confused, the "death boat" must be the desert, right? Could it be that Balhagul went deep into the land of death in order to find his brother? land? Kurban stared at Bai, and said, "Why didn't you tell me when she left?" With a bitter face, Bai told the whole process of what happened.It turned out that one day ago, Bahar Guli dragged Bayi with him on the pretext of going to Hotan City for business.Unexpectedly, she had premeditated and tricked Bayi to her high school classmate's house in Tushala Township, and encouraged that burly male classmate and his brother to tie up Bayi and not release him until this afternoon.Yuan Sen thought of Bayi rushing in Tushala Township in a state of embarrassment. The fierce posture was because he was in a hurry to report to the mine manager Kurban. Mine manager Kurban was very angry, so he hurriedly prepared two Mitsubishi off-road vehicles known as "Desert Kings", took food and water, and some necessary equipment and drove along the Hotan River.