ghost market

"Ah? You mean, the mission you were to perform after you were transferred was related to those red-robed people?" Ruan Yu's expression was very surprised, and other people, including me, also had similar expressions to hers.Obviously, none of us expected that the story told by Slamu would have a follow-up, and he also personally participated in the new story.

"The July [-] construction site, this was where I was stationed at that time." Slamu said these words slowly.

Yan Daojie, who was sitting across from me, couldn't help but look at him when he heard the words, and said, "This name should be a confidential code, the number of years..." His implication was "the number of years of confidentiality", and he wanted to ask Slamu if he could say Listen to us.

Slamu smiled when he heard the words, and said: "The young man is also a soldier. Hehe, don't worry! Although this name is indeed a confidential code, there is no designated period of confidentiality for the matter here. Of course, people who know it will not I won’t say it outside. Besides, you are already insiders, even more than ordinary insiders, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

After speaking, Slamu told us what happened when he was at the "July [-] construction site". [

This place called "July 20 Construction Site" is located at the junction of the Lop Nur Gobi and the Kumtag Desert and is a completely populated area.Although it is called a "construction site", in fact there is no construction here. Apart from a small outpost, there are no other facilities here.There are three soldiers stationed in the outpost all year round. Except for a monthly rest, they will not be replaced during each round of stationing missions, and each stationing period is as long as [-] years.All the supplies here are directly distributed by the higher-level troops, and there will be a supply team coming and going once a month.Otherwise, there is almost no contact with the outside world.The soldiers stationed here have only one task, which is to always observe a Yardang rock group near the "construction site" and monitor whether there is any change in the people living there.

"People? It can be said to be a 'forbidden zone', right? It's impossible for anyone to live there!" Xiaoqian's eyes widened in surprise. "Could it be that the people living there are those red-robed weirdos?"

"Ilias," Slam nodded, "this is the name of their tribe. The word means 'the power of Allah' in Uighur."

"My God! It's really them!" Xiaoqian said in surprise, then frowned and said doubtfully: "Even if they are very powerful, they still have the most basic survival needs, right? Even the most drought-tolerant plants can’t grow in the human zone, so how does a whole tribe live? Even if they are ‘vegetatives’ who rely on ‘photosynthesis’ to live!”

Slamu couldn't help laughing out loud at Xiaoqian's strange metaphor, shook his head and said, "Hahaha, your kid's imagination is really rich! Although the group of people in red robes are a bit strange, they are not very different from ordinary people. It’s a big difference. It’s not them that perform photosynthesis, but real plants. Although I haven’t been inside, I know that there is an oasis in their rock group.”

"Oasis? It's no wonder! However, there is an oasis in the depths of a completely dead place. This alone is enough to be considered a miracle!" Xiaoqian couldn't help but marveled, her eyes were full of love for that strange land look forward to.

"That's right, that's a miracle, it's Hu Da's reward for the loyal warriors." Slam sighed.

"Uncle, judging from your tone, have you been in contact with them?" I asked.

"It can be counted, or it can't be counted." Slam sighed, and glanced out subconsciously. "Actually, at the beginning, I didn't know that the objects I observed every day were the 'red robe tribe' in the story my father told. They don't usually wear that red robe. They just wear ordinary clothes, except for young girls. , and no one deliberately covered their faces. They looked like a primitive tribe following ancient dogmas. My comrades in arms usually called them 'Desert Remnants'. I discovered their identities by accident. Our outpost The task is to monitor their daily life. If they find any changes, they must report to the superior immediately. In fact, I stayed there for several years, except for the guards guarding the entrance of the rock group, I did not see them at all. Some of them have come out, let alone any changes. But that day, I found that their guards suddenly increased..."

The weather that day was as hot as usual, the sun was dazzling as usual, and the sand was flying with the wind as usual.Everything seemed to be the same as usual, but Slamu found something unusual in his telescope.

That's right!The guards increased.

There are usually only two guards guarding the entrance of the rock group, and there may be several hidden guards in the deep passage. Slam doesn't know, he only knows that he saw as many as six guards in the telescope at this time , the number is three times that of the past!This situation obviously means that something important is about to happen.

Do you want to report?No, wait a little longer, and take another look - Slam thought so.He stared at the eyepiece of the telescope without blinking, hoping that he could see something from the behavior of the guards, but unfortunately, after observing for a long time, he couldn't find any clues.Just at this time, there was a commotion at the entrance of the rock group, and then, a caravan of camels and a team of pure black horses came out of the rock group, and quickly landed on the sand in front of the rock group. After queuing up, it was obvious that they were going somewhere soon.

Seeing this situation, Slamu knew that he could not wait any longer and had to report what he saw to his superior immediately.He put down the binoculars and turned his head to return to the outpost, but he stopped after taking a few steps. After being stunned for a few seconds, he quickly turned around and rushed back to the observation point at a faster speed than before. He raised the binoculars and looked at the rock group again. looked over.

Two, three, four... Sure enough!all of them!

The world in the telescope was a little shaken, and Slamu's field of vision couldn't help being quickly filled with a blur of red.He wanted to stop the blur and take a closer look at the team in red robes.However, he couldn't control the trembling of his arms.

Is it them?Da Da (the name of the Uyghurs for their father) is that mysterious team?

The red robe from head to toe, the sturdy and stern demeanor, the strange seclusion, the mysterious residence, the official surveillance...

"That's right! It must be them! I don't think there will be anyone as strange as them in the entire desert!" Slam said in a deep voice.He couldn't help clenching his fists on the table, as if he had returned to the monitoring point that day, "At that time, only this sentence was echoing in my mind, buzzing, and later, I didn't even know that I What are you thinking? I never expected that the mysterious tribe my father mentioned would appear in front of me like this, and I have been monitoring them for several years. Until the team on the other side started to set off I was woken up by those noises, and suddenly remembered that I still had a mission, so I hurried back to the outpost to ask my comrades to report to their superiors, like a recruit who had just joined the army, hehehe.

"After you found them, did you find a chance to get in touch with them?" I asked, lighting a cigarette.

"No, I don't know how to contact them." Slamu shook his head, "After reporting to the superior that day, I ran back to the monitoring point to continue to monitor the new situation. Two days later, the team they went out I'm back. From the outside, there is nothing special about them. There are no injuries, and there are no few people. It doesn't feel like going out to do anything dangerous. Moreover, nothing happened in the past two days, After receiving the report, the higher-level unit did not send any additional manpower to us, nor did they issue any special orders, just let us continue the original task."

Slam paused, and continued: "Although I have always been worried about my father's disappearance, I am still quite confused. I don't know how to solve this problem. Even if I find this red-robed tribe Similarly, I don’t know how to contact them, and I don’t know what I want to ask them. Ask about my father’s lair when he was a sand thief? Ask them what secrets they have been keeping?” Slam shook his head, “This It's unrealistic, and they definitely wouldn't say it. Even if they did, I don't know what to do next. After all, I was in a strange state about my father's affairs, wanting to know the truth, and somewhat Fear of knowing the truth. In fact, it has been so many years, and I have long known in my heart that my father is no longer alive. What I am afraid of is not reconfirmation of his death, but something else, something that even I don’t know , is a simple but pure fear. I don't know where this fear comes from, maybe, it's that small metal box? Maybe, it's something else..."

Slam fell silent, with a dazed expression, as if thinking.After a long while, he said leisurely: "I think, I need a reason, I need a reason to face the inexplicable fear in my heart. And I found this reason not long after, and the person who helped me find the reason was Batu you."

"After listening to him that night, I blurted out the name of 'Ilias' and told him the stories about my father," Slamu picked up the teapot and slowly filled the cup, as if His own memory poured out, "He was very surprised when he heard it, and even the wine seemed to wake him up. Except for the core part of the mission that he had to keep secret, he immediately said everything he could say, and then started We discussed it with me. We discussed it for a long time, and finally, we decided to go to them, to go to Elias." (To be continued...)