Cao Cao called me to rob a tomb

Chapter 417 Natron Lake (4000)

With Fang Qiong's early warning, everyone in the Huan army was somewhat uneasy.

However, everyone has already seen the big wind and waves, so they are not directly intimidated. At most, they are more cautious in handling things.

Not to mention Wu Liang.

Under his leadership, everyone has passed through many dangerous situations safely, at least so far there have been no casualties, which naturally makes everyone have full confidence in Wu Liang.

So little time.

Wu Liang and the others had already found the two soldiers of the Tuan Army who had been left behind by Yang Wanli to monitor them.

"what's the situation?"

When he came to the two soldiers, Wu Liang asked the two soldiers while looking at the small lake in the low-lying place.

"My son, since Yang Dubo left, the two of us have been monitoring every move of those four people by the lake, and we dare not relax in the slightest, but those four people have never moved a bit. This subordinate suspects that they may not be alive. , maybe some statues standing here deliberately to scare people."

A soldier said quickly.

Another soldier immediately added: "The camel standing in the lake has never moved. It may be intentional for people to stay still, but this kind of beast doesn't know what is intentional or not. There is no reason to be able to do it." I can hold back, at least my subordinates have never heard, let alone heard of any animal that can be so honest."

This is the truth, let alone an ordinary camel.

It is the unique image that Boss Cao gave to Wu Liang before, it is a very spiritual BMW, still unable to obey this order of staying still and pretending to be dead, its nature makes it always shake its head unconsciously, kick its legs , or snort, anyway, it is never possible to be idle.

"Um……"

After hearing the report of the two soldiers, Wu Liang nodded slightly.

At this moment, he has seen the situation below clearly. The area of ​​this small lake is roughly equivalent to a standard football field.

Indeed, as Yang Wanli and the two soldiers said, there were four people standing by the lake in different postures below, with their backs facing the lake, as if they were walking towards a square away from the lake.

And in the lake behind them, about two or three meters away from the shore, was a camel carrying two large wooden boxes on its back.

The camel kept its head down drinking water, motionless.

And if this camel is used as a reference, it can be seen that the water at that location should not be deep, probably less than half a meter, because the knee joints of this camel are not submerged by the lake.

Besides.

The small lake itself is also very distinctive.

Different from ordinary lakes, the water in this small lake is not the more common green, blue or other darker colors, but a very eye-catching deep red, which is very similar to blood plasma at first glance. It rendered a bloody and terrifying atmosphere for it.

"My lord, the color of this lake is disturbing, I'm afraid it's unknown."

Yu Ji was still wrinkling his old face and admonishing Wu Liang, trying to prevent Wu Liang from continuing to take risks.

"The camel looked like it was drinking water, and then settled in it for no apparent reason."

But Wu Liang said to himself, "Tell me, what kind of person dares to drive a camel to drink the water in the lake after seeing such a strangely colored lake?"

"Normal people don't know it. Even if they are really curious about this lake, they will only go to check it out. They will definitely not touch the water source in the lake easily, let alone drink it. As a human being, they will not teach themselves animals to drink, unless..."

Although Yu Ji didn't quite understand the meaning of Wu Liang's words, he still replied very seriously, "Unless it's someone who hasn't entered the water for several days and is completely in a desperate situation, then don't say it's this weird lake water." , Even my own urine has to be swallowed up, if I drink it, I can still live, if I don’t drink it, I will definitely die, it is the principle of two evils fighting for the lesser."

"You're right."

Wu Liang nodded slightly, "This Bailongdui is already a land heavily eroded by salt and alkali. It is arid, lacks water and has no vegetation. If the water is cut off in Bailongdui, it will be tantamount to cutting off the source of life. I can't help myself, even if I see such a lake, I have to take the risk to drink it."

"So I guess that these four people and the camel may be some merchants who were in distress."

"As for the reason why they were fixed here, I'm afraid it has something to do with the water source in this lake..."

In fact, after seeing this blood-red lake, combined with the phenomenon that it can "fix" people and animals, Wu Liang suddenly remembered a magical lake that has many similarities with it that later generations have known.

That lake hides a deadly ability.

It can turn any animal that touches the lake into stone, so it is called "petrified lake" by later generations of scientists.

This formidable lake, called "Lake Natron", is located in eastern Africa, south of the equator.

Along the shore of "Lake Natron", there are often unusually vivid "statues" of animals, including water birds, mice, bats, hyenas, and occasionally some large carnivores and human "statues".

This weird "petrification" phenomenon undoubtedly cast a weird veil on "Lake Natron".

Later, through the in-depth research of "Lake Natron" by scientists, they finally discovered the secret of the formation of these "statues", and the culprit was the blood-like deep red lake water in "Lake Natron".

Because of the high concentration of natural salt minerals, the lake water in "Lake Natron" is extremely alkaline, and "Lake Natron" is also the most alkaline lake in the Guinness Book of Records.

Such a strong base is fatal to most animals.

Once the animals enter the lake, their bodies will be eroded by strong alkali immediately, resulting in an unimaginable "calcification" phenomenon, and the "calcification" phenomenon will also allow the animals to maintain their final posture when they die, turning into a statue. Lifelike "statues".

The four people on the edge of the small lake in front of them and the camel in the lake have remained still for so long, which fits the characteristics of a "statue".

In addition, Bailongdui is an endless saline-alkali land.

The most indispensable thing here is the high concentration of natural salt minerals similar to "Lake Natron", which naturally provides convenient conditions for the formation of such a small strongly alkaline lake, which is logically feasible.

but.

This is not the reason why the water in the lake is dark red.

What really makes the lake water dark red is actually a kind of "extremely halophilic archaea" that can survive in this kind of strong alkali salt lake. This kind of magical archaea has special adaptability and needs for salt, and when they When a large number of them gather, the lake water will turn a deep red like blood plasma.

and so.

The small lake in front of us met the conditions of a fully alkaline lake. "Statues" appeared on the lakeside and in the lake, and it also showed a special color that would only appear when "extreme halophilic archaea" gathered.

It is very similar to the characteristics of "Lake Natron" in every respect...

Wu Liang felt that he might have cracked the secret of this mysterious small lake, but there was still a flaw that could not be ignored.

Devil!

According to Wu Liang's analysis, the four people on the shore and the camel in the lake have undoubtedly "calcified" into "statues", which means that they should have lost their lives and turned into a "calcified" corpse .

According to Fang Qiong.

When someone passes by, these "statues" can still come to life, and try to drag the living person into the small lake.

And Fang Qiong claimed that she saw it with her own eyes, and even almost became a wronged soul in the lake because of it...

This is very mysterious.

With Fang Qiong's current state, Wu Liang thinks it is unlikely that she is lying.

And he couldn't think of Fang Qiong's purpose for telling such a lie. Even if he believed it, it didn't seem to bring her any substantial benefits... Wait!

If Fang Qiong was just pretending to be crazy, then it might be another matter.

For example: there may be secrets that Fang Qiong is trying to hide in the lake, so she wants to prevent herself from going to check in this way?
"..."

Thinking of this, Wu Liang looked back at Fang Qiong who was still concentrating on cleaning the carriage.

At this moment, Fang Qiong still had a fake and ingratiating smile on his face, and there was no sign of peeking at him, nor did he show any other abnormalities.

Wu Liang couldn't see anything suspicious about her for the time being.

then.

"Dian Wei, Yang Wanli, pick five brothers with the best skills, bring guys with me, and go down with me to investigate!"

Wu Liang turned around and shouted to Dian Wei and Yang Wanli, "Jingjing, you come too."

Facts have proved that Bai Jingjing's extraordinary hearing is very useful, especially when they are exploring unknown places, they can always play an early warning role.

As for Yu Ji and Zhuge Liang, the old and the young, this kind of physical work in the lead should be forgotten.

It would not be too late to let the two of them come down after the preliminary investigation confirmed that it was safe.

……

Soon after.

Wu Liang and others have come to the edge of the lake.

At this moment, Wu Liang finally saw all the details of those four people.

He was very sure that these four people were human beings. He could clearly see the frightened expressions on the faces of these people, and he could also see the hardened strands of hair on the top of their heads, and even the slightly bulging hair on the back of their hands. Vessels are clearly visible.

The only difference from living people is that all parts of their bodies present a lifeless off-white color at the moment, as if a very thin layer of cement has been coated on the surface.

The color makes them look like a carved stone statue.

But as far as Wu Liang knew, the stone statues of this era could not reach this level at all, and even with the carving techniques of later generations, it was still difficult to produce stone statues that were so realistic.

Besides.

The bodies of these four people have various degrees of tiny holes. The smaller and denser holes look like sponges, while the larger and looser holes look like lotus pods or honeycombs.

This should be the erosion phenomenon caused by the impact of harsh environment after "calcification".

This is also explained from another aspect.

This "calcified" corpse should not be preserved for too long, and will eventually fall apart under the erosion of nature and turn into a small pile of saline-alkali gravel, which will become part of the Bailongdui.

and so……

"Could it be that Fang Qiong is really pretending to be crazy, she is lying to me, and she doesn't want to come to investigate this lake?"

Wu Liang frowned.

Through the details of these four people, Wu Liang has determined that it is impossible for them to "live".

Because through some larger holes, Wu Liang can also see part of the situation inside the holes, and there is also a serious "calcification" phenomenon inside the holes.

In other words, these four people should have turned into hard and brittle calcified substances from the inside to the outside.

In addition, there are so many large and small holes distributed on the body, which makes it no longer strong enough. Wu Liang even suspects that as long as he squeezes it with a little force, it can be crushed like a corner of the earth.

How could they "live" like this, even if they really came alive, even if they just moved a little, their arms and legs would be broken immediately, and then they would fall to the ground and be smashed into powder.

But even though he had such a judgment in his heart, he always kept an appropriate distance from these four people, and did not touch them lightly until he fully understood the situation.

As for Fang Qiong.

He also put it aside for the time being, when he brought people down just now, he had already specially asked Yu Ji, Zhuge Liang and the rest of the soldiers to take good care of her, and he was not afraid that she would take the opportunity to run away.

After observing these four people so carefully.

Wu Liang also ordered the two soldiers accompanying them to keep an eye on them to prevent them from making an unexpected surprise attack, and he led the rest of them to the edge of the lake a few meters away.

At the edge of the lake where the land meets the lake water, layers of off-white crystals with impurities can be seen condensed out layer by layer.

This once again proved Wu Liang's previous guess.

This should be a "Natron Lake" rich in high concentrations of natural salt minerals, and these off-white crystals with impurities should be the mineral salts dialyzed during the evaporation of the lake water.

This kind of salt is usually poisonous, and some are even extremely poisonous, and eating it directly may cause death.

Therefore, Wu Liang didn't intend to try, but just dug out a few small pieces from the top with a dagger, and wrapped them well with a piece of sackcloth for later verification.

Then he looked at the lake again.

There is a wide shoal beside the lake. When looking at it from a high place, the whole small lake is a deep red color, but looking at this shoal from this distance, Wu Liang finds that the water here is very clear Translucent, you can see the bottom about a foot deep at a glance.

That crimson can only be seen from farther and deeper.

If it weren't for the four standing corpses and the white-like crystals condensed by the lake, Wu Liang would have thought that this small lake was a rare source of life water in the Bailongdui.

at this time.

"Wu Youcai, there is movement!"

However, Bai Jingjing's complexion suddenly tightened, and her eyes looked vigilantly at the camel standing in the shallows not far from them!

(End of this chapter)