Chapter 4 Chapter 3 The Most Ferocious Bandit in the Desert

We drove off in the early morning of the next day. It was a cloudless and fine weather. One hour later, the car had driven into the desert. Looking ahead, the sand in the desert was undulating, like the sea waves.But the waves on the sea are alive and alive, but the waves on the desert are still and dead, bringing people a kind of hopeless terror. Before I set off, I made an agreement with Jiang Wentao that the two of us would take turns driving, and he would drive the first part of the journey, because he wanted to go to the place where he saw the virtual image of Sandei last time. At noon, we arrived at the place, Jiang Wentao got out of the car, his feet were stuck in the sand, he pointed forward: "It's just ahead, the last time I saw her, she was just ahead—"

I followed his expectations, and naturally there was nothing in front of me, only an endless desert. Jiang Wentao stood there in a daze, he naturally hoped that the same mirage would appear before his eyes again.But looking forward, there is nothing but light yellow sand and blue sky. After a long time, Jiang Wentao sighed and returned to the car. He murmured, "She won't show up again!" I was a little annoyed, and I said, "Wen Tao, are you looking for a virtual image, or a real person?" Jiang Wentao smiled wryly: "Before I find the real person, it would be good for me to see the virtual image one more time."

I didn't say anything more to him. It's useless to talk to a man who is possessed, because he has his own set of thoughts of being possessed, which is different, so I naturally don't need to waste my words , I just said: "In about an hour, we will arrive at Yali Oasis!" Jiang Wentao didn't say anything, and drove forward again. When our car passed by, long ruts were left on the sand, but the sand that seemed to be completely still was actually flowing slowly. The ruts left on the desert gradually disappeared in less than a minute, and our car seemed to be completely swallowed by the entire desert.

An hour later, we saw scattered palm trees and the soil exposed on the desert like an isolated island. After driving for half a mile, we saw the Yali Oasis. The oasis itself is already a miracle in the desert. Yali Oasis has a fairly large lake with clear and green water, and the lake is full of trees. Next to the large lake, there are two small lakes. There are not only tents but also simple buildings by the lake. Arabs lead camels and walk through the tents and buildings, like a small market. When our car was parked by the lake, all the people looked at us respectfully, because they all recognized that it was the sheik's car. I got out of the car and waved to an Arab.

The Arab hesitated for a moment before walking towards me, and I said, "We're looking for someone—" I haven't said who I'm looking for, but Jiang Wentao has already said, "There's no need to waste any more time here, she's not here." I turned around and said, "Why did you say that?" Jiang Wentao said: "Look at the environment in the photo, is it the same as here?" The situation in the photo was indeed completely different, but I still did not give up my hope. I took out the photo: "The girl in the photo, has any of you seen her?"

The man shook his head: "The chief has sent someone to look for her, but we have never seen this girl before." As soon as I heard the man say that, my heart couldn't help sinking. But Jiang Wentao didn't know there was another reason for it. He smiled wryly at me: "It seems that your method is still useful. People from the Arab tribes are also looking for Sandei!" I would rather the chiefs of those tribes not find Shandai, because they will never look for Shandai for Jiang Wentao. They have only one purpose for finding someone, and that is for themselves! I turned my head away, not daring to look directly at Jiang Wentao, lest Jiang Wentao would see my sad expression on my face, and I said: "Yali Oasis has no one we are looking for, so where is our second stop?" Where to go?"

Jiang Wentao said: "Whatever you want, I have no idea at all." I changed seats with him, and I drove the car slowly through the Yali Oasis. In the oasis, there are quite a few Arab women, most of whom cover their faces with cloth, with water jars or baskets on their heads, walking around, and their faces cannot be seen at all. When I saw those Arab women, I had a question in my heart, until I drove the car out of the oasis, and continued to drive forward, while saying: "Wen Tao, you have noticed something, you have photographed In the photo, none of the Arab women covered their faces!"

Jiang Wentao nodded and said, "Yes." I said, "Isn't this strange? Under what circumstances do Arab women not cover their faces with cloth?" Jiang Wentao frowned: "In front of their very familiar acquaintances──" When he talked about this, he paused for a moment, and suddenly said: "I understand, the place where Shandai lives must be a very small oasis, there are not many people at all, so the women there don't need to cover their faces every day!" I also hurriedly said: "Exactly, I also thought of this!" When Jiang Wentao said those two sentences just now, he showed a very excited expression on his face, but then he became depressed, because the point we thought of was not very helpful for finding Sandei!

Since I left the Yali Oasis, I have kept detailed records of the itinerary at each stop. However, after more than 40 days in a row, my records are almost the same: no discovery. The car's fuel had already been used up four days ago. We had contacted the sheikh by wireless phone and asked him to send a small plane to drop fuel to us, but I don't know whether it was because we couldn't find our location or the sheikh had withdrawn his help to us. , we didn't get resupply of fuel. After waiting for two days, a caravan of camels happened to pass by, so Jiang Wentao and I had no choice but to let that gorgeous car be abandoned in the desert and join the caravan.

The speed of camels is naturally not comparable to that of cars. In the past two days, we have not seen anything except the desert bordering the sky. The dry wind has made our skin begin to tear, and we can only look like Arabians. Like people, we wrap our whole body with cloth. During the day, we were scorched by the scorching sun like a fireball, and at night, under the moonlight, a pale white desert exuded a deathly silence. The Arabs in the camel team were obviously used to this kind of life, but for me and Jiang Wentao said that it was like going to another planet. We followed the caravan for eight days, and the caravan arrived at its destination.

So we had no choice but to follow another camel caravan. I couldn't take any interest in making any records anymore. I just felt that the two of us were like two robots! I don’t know how many days after we gave up the car, I can’t even remember the days clearly. During the monotonous journey in the desert, it is not easy for me to maintain my spiritual balance and not become crazy. Can you remember how many days have passed? All I remember is that we have changed camel teams five times, and during those five changes we have passed through five large oases, and many small oases, but Sandy is more elusive than the clouds in the sky. That night, we stayed together in a small earthen city. That Tucheng has long been abandoned, and the reason for the abandonment is very simple, because the original pool there has dried up, leaving only some thick mud at the bottom of the pool, and the palm trees by the pool have long since withered. When I entered this earthen city, I only saw circles of earthen walls, which were the walls of the original houses, and a large group of groundhogs. The Arabs in the camel caravan seemed very happy because they found such a place to stay, because it was much better than sleeping on the sand next to the camels, smelling the pungent smell of the camels. Jiang Wentao and I sat down in a circle of walls, we smoked spicy Arabian tobacco, and each remained silent. After a while, Jiang Wentao licked his lips: "You shouldn't do this kind of stupid thing anymore." I smiled wryly: "If it's a stupid thing, we shouldn't do it anymore." Jiang Wentao shook his head: "I'm different, because no matter how much I suffer, if I find Shande, I will have compensation, but what are you? What can you get?" I said slowly: "I only hope that with me and you, you will realize one day that what you are doing is a foolish thing. I think, let's leave together!" Jiang Wentao lowered his head and kept silent, looking at him as if he was considering my proposal. At that moment, a glimmer of hope rose in my heart, as long as he accepted my proposal, we could resume our normal life! Although, I can leave the desert and return to my comfortable home at any time, but I can't bear to leave Jiang Wentao alone in the desert, wandering without hope. But after two minutes, Jiang Wentao raised his head: "No, I won't leave, I still have to look for it!" In my heart, I sighed secretly. As a result of my consideration, he still rejected my proposal, but I still put on a look of indifference: "Okay, then I don't want to leave for the time being, I will accompany you!" Jiang Wentao said slowly, "You will have to leave sooner or later." "Of course, I can't stay with you forever," I said, "but at least for now, I don't want to go!" We all lie down.Everything tends to be well preserved in the desert, and so did the straw mats we found in the wall, which, though worn out, gave us enough to sleep on. The Arabs in the camel team were laughing. Jiang Wentao and I looked at the deep black sky. The stars in the sky were bright and clear. I don’t know if the starry sky looks the same from other places, but I always feel that the sky above the desert , there seem to be extraordinarily many stars. Jiang Wentao and I gradually fell asleep, because we had nothing to think about. All we needed was to have enough physical strength to cope with tomorrow's ups and downs on the camel's back. I was woken up by a burst of noise. When I opened my eyes and sat up, I saw that Jiang Wentao had also sat up. When people didn't understand what happened, four Arabs in white had already jumped into the earth wall. The four of them were all holding glaring Arabian scimitars in their hands. Seen under the moonlight, that kind of Arabian scimitars were extremely sharp, making one's heart chill at the sight of them. As soon as the four people jumped in, one of them yelled loudly at us. I could hear them yelling in Arabic, ordering us to stand up.Jiang Wentao didn't know what the man was calling for, so I hurriedly said, "Wentao, stand up quickly, it's best not to resist, what we have encountered is the most vicious robber in the desert!" Jiang Wentao's face became very pale, we both stood up, and the four Arabs came to us, fought each other, and dragged us out. When we were dragged to an open space in Tucheng, we saw that there were as many as twenty or thirty robbers in white long clothes, and all the people in the camel team had been subdued. We also saw three corpses. It was obvious that three people tried to resist, so they died under sharp knives, or the vicious robbers killed three people in order to prevent others from resisting. There were also about twenty of us who were driven together. The robbers in front of us were pulling camels full of goods and water bags, and walked out of the Tucheng. Among us, an Arab rushed out and called Said: "Leave us some water!" Another person wanted to grab that person, but that person had already rushed out. At that moment, two scimitars slashed at the person who rushed out, and the person screamed a second time. , before even having time to send it out, he fell down in a pool of blood! Seeing such a situation, I couldn't help it anymore, shouted loudly, and rushed out. I kicked up the floating sand on the ground first, and kicked one of the robbers in the face, and waited until the robber covered his face. While retreating, I had already snatched the scimitar from his hand. Immediately afterwards, I turned around and confronted another robber three times in a flash. Most of the vicious robbers in the desert are good at swordsmanship, but I am confident that as long as it is one-on-one, I will never lose to any of them! As soon as I passed the three swords, I turned around and slashed down obliquely. The sharp point of the knife flew past the bandit's right flank. The bandit took three steps backwards and fell to the ground. In an instant, half of his white clothes turned bright red. This point is just a matter of a moment, and in that moment, it can be said that it is extremely quiet. However, the silence only lasted for a few seconds, and then all the robbers shouted together. They left what they were doing and surrounded me together. I heard Jiang Wentao's cry, and I hurriedly said loudly: "Don't be afraid, I can deal with them!" The robbers who turned towards me didn't even look at their seriously wounded companions, but just surrounded me and shouted, but I couldn't make out what they were shouting. Suddenly, their shouts stopped, and a very tall man walked out from among them. The scimitar in that man's hand was bigger and longer than ordinary scimitars. Comes sharper too. As soon as the man came out, the scimitar in his hand made a "huh" and drew a circle. His movements were so fast, he had already retracted the knife, but in front of my eyes, there seemed to be a circle of light shining with the knife! I do understand the meaning of the man's action. It is an Arabian warrior who admires the opponent's martial arts and hopes to fight with the opponent. It wasn't until this time that I realized that I had attracted the attention of the two robbers I had just dealt with. They screamed loudly, not wanting to rush over to deal with me together, but to express their admiration for my saber skills. The tall Arab bandit seemed to be the leader of the gang, and I knew at once that if I could outwit that fellow who was at least a head taller than I was, I would command greater respect. Naturally, using such a sharp scimitar to win respect, the price I pay may be my life!But under such circumstances, I really have no room to back down and think about it! Immediately, I shook my arm and waved the scimitar in a circle to show that I accepted his challenge! The big man looked very serious, and the robbers around him cheered. Amidst the cheers, the big man jumped forward and slashed at me with a knife. I raised the knife quickly and set up one. When the two scimitars collided with each other, I felt my shoulders go numb, and I couldn't help but take a step back. As soon as I retreated, the opponent's scimitar sank quickly, " With a sound of swish, the light of the knife passed less than half an inch away from the door in front of me. That cold light made my face feel cold! I immediately slashed his wrist back with the knife, but he withdrew his hand and slashed at me again.After the two-knife intersection just now, I already knew that the opponent's arm strength was amazing, and I would only suffer losses if I confronted him head-on, so when he slashed, I rolled on the ground and avoided it. Will come in stride.Sure enough, he rushed over, and I immediately raised my knife to cut his legs, and then rolled away to the side. When I took out the knife and rolled away, I had no way of knowing whether my knife had hit the opponent. It wasn't until I had rolled away that I heard the big man let out a roar, and I jumped up immediately, and saw that the big man's left leg was covered with blood, and he had already been cut by me! I immediately pinched the tip of the knife with the fingers of my left hand. This action means that I have gained the upper hand, and I don't want to fight with him anymore, it completely means "stop it". But I forgot that the ones who fought with me were not traditional Arab warriors at all, they were robbers, robbers who saw blood! I only heard the big man suddenly yelling, and then, the robbers who had already surrounded me rushed towards me like a tide. I didn't even have a chance to strike again, and my arms were tightly held by the people rushing from behind. The attack came too abruptly: I thought that after I had expressed my unwillingness to do anything, nothing would happen again, but the change of things was completely beyond my expectation! So, all I could do to resist was to kick straight out with both feet, hitting the faces of the two robbers who were rushing towards me. But at this moment, my head was hit hard, and the whole desert seemed to be turned upside down. After a violent feeling of wanting to vomit, my eyes went dark and I passed out. I don't know how long I was unconscious, but when I regained consciousness, the pain in the back of my head was like a burning pain. I opened my eyes and found a leather bag on my head. In this way, the eyes are naturally pitch black, and I can't see anything, but I can also know that I am tied to the back of a camel.Moreover, that camel is galloping. From the fact that the wind blowing on my body is extremely cool, I can tell that it is still night. Of course I also remembered what happened before I fainted, so there was no doubt that I had fallen into the hands of robbers and became their captives. I held back the pain in the back of my head, didn't moan, and tried to calm myself down. I found that my hands and feet were bound.These bandits, where are they going to take me, and what are they going to do with me?I accompanied Jiang Wentao to find an Arab girl he had seen in a mirage, but it turned out like this! I thought of Jiang Wentao again. Did Jiang Wentao, like me, fall into the hands of the robbers, or was he already killed by the robbers? Under such circumstances, I had no choice but to wait until they had brought me to my destination. The camel kept running forward, and my stomach was pressed against the back of the camel. The feeling of bumping was really uncomfortable.About half an hour after I woke up, the camels stopped, and then there was a burst of cheering, mostly women's voices. There are more female voices asking: Are you back?What did you catch this time? Hearing such inquiries, I laughed even more wryly! They are not ordinary desert robbers, but a whole family of robbers! Arabs are just a general term, and among the Arabs, there are many different nationalities.Some ethnic groups are peaceful in nature; some ethnic groups are very fierce, but there is nothing more fierce than a whole clan of bandits who appear and disappear in the desert! Naturally, there are not many bandits in the desert, and they often separate and fight with each other. The living environment in the desert is poor, so the number is getting smaller and smaller! But also because of this, the surviving members of the Bandit Clan are all vicious murderers with the strongest vitality, the fiercest, the best use of scimitars, and the most murderous! They are not a group of people, but a whole family! During World War II, during the battle in the Sahara Desert, on the side of the Allied Forces, Zeng Qi made the first move, and first bought the bandits like the three tribes in the desert at a high price, and gave the German army marching in the desert a huge reward. Create. However, the three clans of robbers annexed each other after the incident was completed. I heard that in the end, only one of the clans, with about 200 people left, is still in the Sahara desert, specializing in robbery! I never thought that there would be such a whole family of robbers in Sander Desert, but judging from the current situation, even women and children think that it is only natural for men to go out to rob, so naturally I fall into the whole family In the hands of robbers! At that time, my mood was extremely bitter. I secretly struggled to break free from the bindings on my hands and feet, but then I found that I couldn't do it at all. I was still put on the back of the camel, but because I had reached my destination, the camel was no longer galloping across the desert, but was walking slowly forward, so I didn't suffer as much as before. Now that the matter has developed to the present stage, there is really no other way but to resign to fate. I heard the loud voices of people, but suddenly it fell silent, maybe I had gone to another place, and then I heard the sound of gurgling water again. It was incredible to hear the sound of water in the desert. I almost thought it was my hallucination. I could hear a man talking in a rough voice amidst the gurgling water. What the man was talking about, I couldn't understand at all. You must know that since they are a whole family, they naturally have their own language passed down from generation to generation, and since they are robbers as a profession, their natural actions are mysterious, and they rarely have the opportunity to contact the outside world, their language will naturally not be handed down Go outside so I can't understand him. After the man finished speaking, I was slapped heavily on the back twice, and then, there was the voice of the man who had confronted me with the knife, and he was speaking something I couldn't understand. But when he was talking, he kept patting me on the back, as if he was introducing me to someone. Then, the man was talking again, and someone pushed me, and I fell off the camel's back. The camel's back was five or six feet high on the ground, and I couldn't struggle to avoid it at all. When I fell, I thought to myself, in the current situation, if I break a bone, I can say that I will be twice as bad! However, when I fell on the ground, beyond my expectation, I fell on a very soft felt! Of course I wasn't hurt! I lay down on the carpet without struggling. I heard several people talking, and then fell silent. Not long after the silence, the leather cover on my head was ripped off. As soon as the leather case was pulled off, I felt the light was dazzling, and I closed my eyes for a while before opening them. I was in a building, and that building was probably built around a natural cave, because I saw steep rocks. I saw the scarlet carpet again, and saw a huge red curtain, which was shaking slightly, and I could immediately imagine that there were many people watching me behind that red curtain. In front of me were two very tall Arab warriors, and there were huge torches stuck in the crevices of the surrounding rocks. My hands and feet were still bound, and from the tense faces of the two Arab warriors, I couldn't see what my future fate would be like.At this moment, behind another yellow curtain, an Arab came out. The man came to me and smiled at me: "Sorry, I have wronged you!" As soon as he opened his mouth, he was actually extremely fluent in English, which really surprised me! He smiled at me again: "Strange? I'm a doctor of law from the university!" I stared at him, speechless, the Arab waved his hand to the two Arab warriors, and the two Arab warriors swished out the scimitars at their waists, and with a flash of light, they slashed at me! At that moment, my whole body was almost paralyzed! I was lying on the ground, but those two sharp scimitars slashed at my back. Will I survive?I really thought of the panic in the moment before death! However, that was only in a very short time, about no more than a second, I heard the "swish" sound of the two scimitars passing behind me. Then, there were two "snapping" sounds, and my bound hands and feet were loosened immediately, and the two Arab warriors immediately drew their knives and took two steps back. My hands and feet can move freely! Only then did I understand that the two Arabs slashed at my back with their knives, not to take my life, but to cut off the ropes that bound my hands and feet. So fast and skillful, it's really unbelievable! The Arab in front of me smiled again and said, "Please get up." I put my hand on the ground and stood up. Because I had been bound for too long, and the binding was so tight, when I tried to stand up, my hands and feet were numb for a while, and I was almost unable to stand upright. But I naturally didn't want to fall down in front of them again, so I rubbed my wrists again and again, while still trying to stand up. The Arab looked at me and held out his hand: "Wait for me to introduce myself, my name is Pengdu." I reached out my hand, shook him, and gave my name. Peng Du looked at me, suddenly showed an unbelievable expression, and said: "They said that you competed with Sidura, did you beat him?" I don't know who the "Sidula" he is talking about is, but I can imagine that it must be the person who once competed with me in the Tucheng. I said, "That's nothing!" Peng Du smiled: "That's nothing? Sidula is the second warrior in our clan who is proficient in sword skills!" I'm really not interested in how Sidula's saber technique ranks among them, so I hurriedly said: "I can know, my companion, how is he doing now?" Peng Du raised his eyebrows and said, "Your companion?" I said: "Yes, in the camel caravan that was robbed by you, I am not only a Chinese, but also a Mr. Jiang!" Peng Du suddenly laughed and said, "Then, that Mr. Jiang must be a coward!"