Chapter 2 Section 1 Witch Lake

Run, run, damn it, why don't you have a head! Somewhere deep in the Kunlun Mountains, amidst the thick black fog, a faint light flickered on and off.A tall man was running wildly.His speed was very fast, but the strange thing was that he didn't run very far, and seemed to be just circling in circles. The man's whole body was in a mess. It turned out that his blue eyes were shining strangely because of fear.He had been running for a long time, so long that his legs were as heavy as lead, but he didn't dare to stop at all.Thinking of what happened in this place, his scalp tingles!The speed under his feet also accelerated.

However, no matter how hard he ran, this gloomy road seemed to never end.A look of extreme terror and despair appeared on his face.Although he was exhausted, fear drove him not to stop his heavy steps.He was afraid that once he stopped, he would not have the courage to run again. Suddenly, a bottomless mountain stream appeared in front of his eyes.An ecstatic expression appeared on the man's face, even if there was only a glimmer of hope, he would not let it go.He closed his eyes and jumped: what-- A terrifying scream echoed among the Kunlun Mountains. The only witness to all this is Xuefeng who has stood here indifferently for thousands of years.Just like thousands of years ago, they point to the sky without knowing it.

The alpine pastures in the Kashi Tash Mountain area in early May have the rarest beauty in the world. The pale yellow pastures that have experienced the cruel winter extend soothingly and dignifiedly.Beyond the pale yellow is white snow, which has been condensed into the purest beauty under the sun for thousands of years.Under the blue sky, the snow-capped mountains and the wilderness confront each other and have an eternal blind date. In the vastness, there are sporadic stars, beating a little bit of green.It was a bit of spring green after a whole winter, just like a child's breath in the ear of an old grandmother, soft, gentle, and tender, which makes people's hearts soften.

The cows and sheep that have been hiding in the pen for a whole winter are strolling on the grass. The posture looks soothing and idle, but like any creature that grows in the vast Kunlun, even if it is idle, even if it is small, it has full patience and endurance. . Kashi Tash means "jade" in Chinese, and this ranch belongs to the village of Karagutage.Karagutage Village is a village hidden in the folds of Kunlun Mountains. According to the name of the Han people, it is called Heishan Village. It is located under a very high earth hillside. On the other side of the village is the Yulong Kashi River. Due to inconvenient transportation , Usually few outsiders visit.

If something serious hadn't happened, Li Yulin, director of the Armed Forces Department, wouldn't have rushed here. "This time, six more are missing." Thinking of this, Li Yulin's curiosity couldn't stop boiling again. He rode on the donkey and hurried forward while silently recalling in his heart. "This time there were six people, the last time there were four people, and the last time it seemed to be four or five people... Just counting what I have heard of in the past two years, this is already the fourth time. I don't know how many people I haven't heard of."

"Russians... illegal mountaineering... Kunlun... missing..." Li Yulin didn't understand, what were these big-nosed Russians thinking? "One group after another, they traveled thousands of miles to Kunlun to climb the mountain, and then disappeared here, and even died. The last group was rescued by the search team, and the next group came again, endlessly." Li Yulin squinted his eyes. Heishan Village was in front of him. He temporarily put these thoughts to the back of his mind. The village has always been quiet, and it is the busy lamb picking season. People are busy preparing for the newborn lambs at home. Therefore, although it is almost noon, there are not many people on the trails in the village.

Li Yulin slowed down a little and turned towards a house along the path. Seeing the old man standing in front of the door from a distance, Li Yulin's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly greeted in a herdsman's unique way: "Hey, Yushanjiang old man, spring is here, how much greener is your meadow compared to last year? How many jewel-like stars have your ewes brought back for you?" He greeted and jumped off the donkey , to meet the old man. "Haha! Thanks to the blessing of the sun, the air in my house is fresh; according to Hu Da's will, my life is a flock of sheep like stars on the grass, and my friend is a kind guy like you!" Seeing suddenly Li Yulin, who appeared in front of him, the old man's eyes also brightened. After performing a Uighur chest salute, he caught up with him and held his hand, "It's really a rare visitor, Director Li, what brought you here?"

The old man is Yu Shanjiang, the village head of Heishan Village. His complexion was darkened by the wind, and his face has as many wrinkles as the snow peaks of Kunlun Mountain. After Li Yulin was transferred from the army, he became the director of the township's armed forces department. He met the old man at a township meeting.The old man's son wanted to join the army the year before last. As soon as the old man tried to raise a topic, Li Yulin immediately agreed.From then on, the old man regarded him as his best friend. "What kind of wind?" Li Yulin smiled wryly, "It's not a good wind! Brother, I'm asking you for help today."

"Ask for help?" The old man was taken aback, "What happened?" Li Yulin subconsciously looked down at his watch and began to talk about what happened. Three days ago, six Russian tourists quietly entered the Kunlun no-man's land without the permission of the Chinese government, saying they were going to go rafting on the Yulong Kashi River, but they never came back. It was not until around midnight yesterday that the 110 Center of the Minfeng County Public Security Bureau received a distress call from these Russians, saying that they had lost their way in the mountains and their current situation was very bad, and they requested humanitarian assistance from the Chinese government.

This is not the first time that Russians have disappeared in the Kunlun Mountains.The Minfeng County Public Security Bureau was urgently dispatching personnel, and then received a call from Beijing—less than an hour after the Minfeng County Public Security Bureau received the distress call, a note from the Russian embassy also arrived at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Call for humanitarian assistance.Considering the international influence, Beijing instructed the local government to make every effort to search and rescue the six Russian tourists in distress. The township government, as the local grass-roots government, has a heavy burden after ordering from layer to layer.

The terrain of the Kunlun Mountains is complex. Under the ice and between the peaks, there are countless dangers lurking.For search and rescue, locals who are familiar with the terrain are undoubtedly the most useful help. Therefore, Li Yulin immediately thought of Heishan Village—the Yulong Kashi River flows along Heishan Village. The villagers have lived in this mountain area for a long time, and they know the situation along the river best.Human life was at stake, so he didn't dare to waste time, so he rushed over immediately and asked the villagers to help him go up the mountain to search and rescue. Li Yulin briefly talked about the situation, and looked at the old man Yushanjiang expectantly. Of course, as for why there are always Russians coming here from thousands of miles?Why don't they always go to the developed scenic spots, but go to the deep mountains where the locals dare not go?Li Yulin would not talk about these curiosity. He is the head of the township armed forces department, and his size also represents the government. The old man Yushanjiang didn't respond immediately, but frowned, as if he was remembering something.After a while, he opened his mouth unhurriedly: "You said that, but I remembered. Three days ago, a boy told me that he saw six 'old men' rushing to the west of the village." Li Yulin's eyes widened and he almost jumped up: "Really? Hurry up! Find that kid for me." Zhang Guomin, Minister of the Armed Forces Department of Minfeng County, arrived in the evening. It cannot be blamed for his inefficiency. Although it is only 50 kilometers from Kashitash Township to here, the 50 kilometers of mountain roads are particularly difficult to walk, and you have to cross four or five icebergs. Daban (note), the road is also very steep.For so many years, the only means of transportation that people can rely on on this road is donkeys. In this way, Zhang Guomin also saw many donkeys fell to death along the way. Zhang Guomin was not alone when he came. Apart from his subordinates, there were also some local people recruited in Kashgar to help. In fact, for this search and rescue operation, the entire Hotan area mobilized a total of 30,000 people.Not only that, the armed police, the police, and the militia were all mobilized. Leaders at all levels personally led the team, and the troops were divided into more than a dozen groups. They also specially dispatched more than a dozen maritime satellite phones from the military sub-district, and made every effort to find the missing person.Zhang Guomin is the on-site commander in charge of the search and rescue in the Kashgar Tash area. As soon as Zhang Guomin arrived, Li Yulin immediately reported in detail what he had learned, and then pushed the old man Yushanjiang and Erken, the young man who saw the Russian, in front of him. Erken is the only person who has seen the missing tourist, and his description will have a directional impact on the entire search and rescue. "You did see them?" "I swear to Hu Da, I really saw them!" "Where did they go?" "I don't know either. The one going southwest is the way down the mountain." "What? The way down the mountain? Are you not mistaken?" "Swear to Hu Da!" Zhang Guomin hesitated, fell silent for a while, and muttered something. The voice was low and vague, but Li Yulin who was standing next to him could still hear it clearly. What he said was— "what the hell?" Li Yulin understood what Zhang Guomin meant, because he also had the same question. The Yulong Kashi River is to the east of Heishan Village, but these Russians are traveling in the southwest, and they are taking the road down the mountain. If you say they are drifting ghosts, it seems that they have another purpose... Zhang Guomin turned to the old man Yushanjiang: "Old man, do you know what is in the southwest?" Yu Shanjiang was confused for a while after hearing this, then shook his head slowly and firmly.Southwest?Southwest?No matter whether it is east, west or south, it is full of mountains, and they all belong to the Kunlun Mountains.Apart from the endless mountains, the old man couldn't think of anything else. Zhang Guomin sighed in his heart, and was about to ask again, when the satellite phone he carried suddenly rang! His expression changed immediately. Before departure, these dozens of satellite phones urgently transferred from the military region were limited to only receiving distress signals from this mountainous area.To put it simply, what is needed to make this call is not a phone number, but an international emergency number (such as 110 in China), and it is limited to this mountainous area. So now the phone is ringing, indicating that there is a call for help in the area. Before he had time to think about anything else, Zhang Guomin eagerly connected the phone and pressed it close to his ear. On the other end of the phone, amidst the rustling noise, came intermittently high and low Chinese with a strange accent: "... Life... help... save... save... me!" "Hello? Where are you? What's the situation?...Hello?...Hello?" The phone is disconnected. Zhang Guomin swallowed, put down the phone silently, and raised his head. The eyes of the people around him were all staring at his face, some were serious, some were worried, and some were nervous.He smiled wryly and shook his head. Someone is sighing. Zhang Guomin ignored it, he was busy contacting the command center, and notified the distress message he had just received. Soon, the satellite positioning found the signal source of the distress call—a place about 80 kilometers southwest of this place. "Uncle Yushanjiang, where is it if you walk about 80 kilometers southwest from here?" "Southwest... eighty kilometers... Well, let me think about it! Could it be————" Thinking of a possibility, the old man gasped, and his expression changed. "What is it?" Zhang Guomin was anxious at this moment. The higher-ups attached great importance to this search and rescue. If no one could be found, it would be difficult to explain. Finally, there were clues, so they must not be missed. "Lake!" There was some fear in the old man's eyes. "There is a lake in that place. My father once told me never to go to that lake. It is a witch's lake. There are devils in the lake who can eat people! This It was his dad who told him, and his dad told him by his dad's dad." "Anyway, they must have arrived at the Witch Lake and were eaten by the devil there." The old man asserted with a pale face. The mountain road was rough and difficult, Zhang Guomin led his people, although they hurried all the way, but it was already noon the next day when they arrived at the Witch Lake mentioned by Yushanjiang. Rescuing people was the most important thing. Seeing a green lake in front of him, he didn't care to catch his breath. He immediately dispatched his men and divided them into two groups to search for the victims along the lake. While ordering, he took out the location of the distress signal received yesterday and carefully compared it. As a result, the more he compared it, the uglier his face became. Seeing his pale face, Li Yulin leaned over, relying on the fact that the two of them had a good relationship in private, "What's the matter?" "...Based on this positioning coordinates, the distress call I received yesterday should have come from the center of the lake!" At 7:23 p.m., in the living room of a family in the professor building of Peking University, the news anchor with a perpetually meticulous expression on the TV screen was making a formulaic report. "Our station reports that two of the six Russian tourists who disappeared in the Kunlun Mountains of Xinjiang four days ago have been rescued, three bodies have been found, and one is still missing. It is understood that these six Russian tourists entered the park six days ago. According to the survivors, their purpose of entering the mountain was to raft at the source of the Yulong Kashi River. As a result, an accident occurred during the rafting process, resulting in three deaths and one missing. It is reported that their actions have not been informed by the local Chinese authorities. Government permission is illegal..." Ling Rukai, a professor at Peking University and a leading figure in the field of ancient Chinese characters, looked at the screen quietly, his face sinking like water.He glanced at his old friend, Zhang Zhiping, dean of the School of Humanities at Nanjing University, and found that the other party was also looking at him. For the first time in history, Ling Rukai turned off the TV before the end of the news broadcast, breaking his old habit of decades. "What do you think about this matter?" "The Russians seem to have a plan!" "It can't go on like this!" Ling Rukai said decisively, with a high-spirited and anxious taste in his voice, "We can't wait like this and do nothing!" Zhang Zhiping nodded thoughtfully, and after a long silence, he sighed: "If the things of our Chinese ancestors are really there and foreigners get them, we will really become unworthy descendants." "Old ancestors? That's right, it's not just our Chinese ancestors." Professor Ling pushed his glasses with his fingers, "I still think that the legendary Kunlun Shrine is the ancestral home of the entire human civilization! Not It only refers to our civilization in the Yellow River Basin. It's just..." He paused, "Since this thing is currently within our territory, there is absolutely no reason for others to get it!" Zhang Zhiping laughed: "Old man, after decades, you are still so stubborn! Back then, you insisted that the legendary holy mountain Kunlun really existed, and I reluctantly agreed; later, you thought there really was a so-called 'Kunlun God'." Palace', and the legendary 'Stairway to Heaven' is in the Divine Palace, I was also convinced by you. But you said that Kunlun is the ancestral home of the entire human civilization, I really disagree." "Why not?" Ling Rukai asked back. "We all know that various legends say: In ancient times, there was indeed a Heavenly Ladder or Tongtian Tower, but for some reason—probably some people's selfish desires—the Heavenly Ladder was withdrawn and the tower was destroyed , so human beings can no longer reach the sky. This is not my imagination! For the "ladder to heaven", both Eastern and Western civilizations have credible records in ancient books. "It is said that the void of Kunlun is 800 miles square and 10,000 ren high. It is the place where hundreds of gods live. The Yellow Emperor planted trees in Kunlun Mountains. The trees are the ladders connecting the world and the heavens. The gods and wizards use the ladders to go up and down. Not only that, "Guoyu" and "Historical Records" also have records of the heavenly ladder, and it is more clearly pointed out that Emperor Zhuanxu Gaoyang's order "Nanzheng is responsible for the sky, and Huozheng Li is responsible for the land" is to pass through the heavens. "Chapter 11 of "Old Testament Genesis", the Lord confused the accent of the people in the world, scattered them, and destroyed the Tower of Babel—also known as the Tower of Babel. Don't forget, it is also "Genesis", In verses 10 to 19 of the twenty-eighth chapter, there is another famous legend recorded!" "You mean 'Jacob's Ladder'?" Zhang Zhiping thought for a while, walked to the bookshelf behind Ling Rukai, and casually pulled out a "Bible" that had been turned out of its rough edges.There has always been a clear division of labor between the two old professors. Professor Ling is more talented, but he is impatient to do some trivial and specific work in dealing with people. Professor Zhang has always been in charge of this aspect.The consequence of this cooperation model remaining unchanged for decades is that Professor Zhang is as familiar with the Ling family as the master himself. He opened the "Bible" in his hand and found that passage, but he only read it intermittently: 28:10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. ... 28:12 He dreamed that a ladder was standing on the ground, with its head reaching to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on the ladder. 28:13 The LORD stands above the ladder... "And the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it..." Zhang Zhiping murmured, completely lost in thought. "So, in fact, the religious classics have left all kinds of records of the same origin of world civilization, but we have been unwilling to believe that's all!" Professor Zhang, who came back to his senses, was much firmer in his eyes. "Yes, since the myths of various civilizations have records of intercourse between humans and gods, why can't it be true? I think it is not illusory, it is a topographic map of the ancient world! I firmly believe that in ancient times there was indeed a In the world of Datong, everyone speaks the same language, can communicate with each other, and even accept the same civilization inheritance!" Ling Rukai became more and more excited as he spoke. Zhang Zhiping didn't respond immediately to his words. He thought silently and shook his head with a wry smile: "Now the scientific nature of the science has been proved by more and more archaeological objects, which is beyond reproach. But..." He raised his hand and pressed his temple: "People of our generation have all been educated by Marxism-Leninism, and atheism has taken root in my mind. Kunlun Shrine, Kunlun Ladder, etc. I can accept it, because it’s just a difference in name, and they are essentially relics left by the ancestors. But you insist that the history of free communication between humans and gods is real, and that the entire human civilization originated from the same God', I can't agree to that!" Ling Rukai was not angry, but smiled slightly. "Old Zhang, you are being roundabout! The so-called 'god' must be the kind of god worshiped by idealists? Can't it also be called a name? Now it can be found no matter whether it is prehistoric civilization or extraterrestrial civilization." My own basis. Based on the information you and I have come into contact with, it is said that modern civilization has not received the influence of external forces in its inheritance, do you believe it?" This is true! Zhang Zhiping is very clear that from the perspective of the development and evolution history of ancient characters, there are many places that cannot be explained. Let’s just talk about the ancient Egyptian civilization. Most of its archaeological archaeological objects of ancient writing belong to the products of 6,000 years ago. It is a kind of pictorial writing, which has many similarities with the pictorial inscriptions of Indians and Eskimos.Later, the epigraph script appeared in Egypt, that is, the holy book script.But this kind of writing was "suddenly formed". Although it was all derived from pictorial writing, the rapid change between the two made people think that it might have been formed by imitating other writing styles. As the initiators of the Mesopotamian civilization, the Sumerians are even more amazing!So far, modern archaeology has not been able to find the origin of the Sumerians.This nation does not know where it was born, where it came from, and it has already possessed a very mature civilization since the day it appeared.Six thousand years ago, the Sumerians suddenly appeared in Mesopotamia out of thin air, even carrying words with them, and a thousand years later, the oldest syllabic symbols emerged from Sumerian writing.Many achievements of the Sumerians were borrowed and developed by the ancient Babylonians, including writing. As for the characters of ancient China and ancient India, they are all predicated on the sudden creation of a certain person, such as the Chinese myth of Cangjie's creation of characters.But as experts in ancient characters, Zhang Ling and the others naturally knew how unreliable this statement was. Zhang Zhiping knows that his old partner has always insisted that world civilizations have a common ancestral land.This ancestral homeland is actually the prehistoric period, where human beings at that time accepted the influence of an advanced civilization together!And in this place, Lao Ling pointed directly at Gu Kunlun!Having partnered with this old man for many years, it is obviously false to say that he has not been affected at all, but after a lifetime of learning, we must make bold assumptions and carefully verify. Isn't this insufficient evidence at the moment? "Old Zhang, I want to go to Xinjiang. How about a survey project?" Ling Rukai is obviously aware of this problem: if there is not enough evidence, go find it!This idea has been brewing in his heart for a long time, and the Russians' eagerness to move made him unable to sit still. "Hehe, old buddy, you're lazy again. It's better to apply in your name than me!" Professor Zhang joked. Professor Ling didn't have any embarrassment on his face: "Old man, it's been decades, hasn't it been like this all the time? It's not like you don't know, I'm impatient to deal with these things, please be more careful!" Zhang Zhiping smiled wryly: "Okay, I'm used to being 'exploited' by you! Are you going directly to Kunlun Mountain in Hotan area?" A strange look appeared on Ling Rukai's face: "Old Zhang, are you kidding me? Don't tell me you even forgot that ancient Kunlun is not the same as today's Kunlun!" "Of course I know that the 2,500-kilometer Kunlun Mountains today are just the tip of the iceberg of ancient Kunlun. According to the concept of the Great Kunlun in ancient times, the ancient Kunlun area should extend from the Tianshan Mountains and the Altai Mountains in the north to the entire Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the south. , the east reaches today’s Qilian Mountains, and the west covers a vast area of ​​the entire Pamir Plateau. But isn’t this caused by the Russians? Which piece?" "I don't know what happened to the Russians. The ancient Kunlun area you mentioned looks big enough, but I don't think it may be the real area of ​​​​the ancient Kunlun. I want to go to Loulan. I always feel that Loulan should have something to do with Kunlun what relationship!" Ling Rukai always felt that Loulan's demise concealed some secrets.Loulan is one of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions. As an important point on the Silk Road, Loulan once flourished and was known as the "Country of Outer City".However, 1,600 years ago, this country seemed to disappear overnight and mysteriously perished. Some said it was because of war, some said it was plague, and some said it was because of the opening of the Northern Silk Road. In recent years, There is also a popular saying in the academic circles that the drought and water shortage caused by human activities are the real cause of Loulan's demise. As the Taishan Beidou in this industry, Ling Rukai would naturally think of a deeper reason. No matter why Loulan died, it has left behind a thousand-year-old mystery. The British say that truth is the daughter of time. Ling Rukai believes that lies always come with time. Time is like a river, and the truth is like morning dew, not on this side, not on the other side, not in the middle.For a long time, the truth is always the first to be concealed and annihilated, leaving lies to breed prosperity. In 442 A.D., Bilong, the last king of Loulan, had clearly won the victory in the face of foreign invasion, but inexplicably took 4,000 households in the kingdom to flee to Qiemo after the victory, and the Loulan kingdom was in chaos.Not only that, before fleeing, Bilong also left a suggestive sentence, saying that he was afraid that others would know his "state affairs", so he hurried to hide in an isolated place.It was clear that he ran away because he didn't want others to know the state secrets of Loulan Kingdom.And it was his action that directly led to the demise of Loulan Kingdom! With professional sensitivity, Ling Rukai felt that the secret that King Loulan Bilong wanted to guard even at the cost of the country might have something to do with Kunlun, which he had been pursuing. "This—that's fine!" Professor Zhang pondered for a moment, "However, isn't your proud student planning to bring him back? You have indulged him for four years, and it's time for him to come back and help you." The last sentence, with a little persuasion, is very gentle. Hearing this, Ling Rukai's slightly tired old eyes lit up immediately: "Hmph! You're right, it's time to bring that brat back! Originally, I understood that he was hit hard and in a bad mood, and he needed time to recover. , so I didn’t care about him, but it’s been four years, since he didn’t realize it, he can’t blame the old man for relying on the old to sell the old!”