The Secret Art of Refining the Dead: The Walking Corpse File

Chapter 31 Fishbone Return Lines

The car was speeding on the national highway, and when it reached the last transit station, it was already late.The population here is sparsely populated, and a regiment is stationed in the nearest place, surrounded by green trees and orchards planted under desert reclamation.

The green landscape is artificially planned very neatly, so the green flora and the dim Gobi desert form a strong contrast.

Due to the prosperity of the tourism industry, many small hotels have been opened here, and the shops on the streets are very complete.The fellow driving the car is from XJ, but he speaks fluent Chinese. He told us that this place is more lively during the day, but we came too late, so it seems calmer now.

After running around all day, everyone was exhausted, so they found a small hotel to stay at random, ate their fill with mutton and stewed noodles in steamed buns, and the group washed up separately.The conditions of the hotel are simple, and the housing is relatively small, so there are two people in one room.

Since it was still early, we didn't feel sleepy, so we got together to discuss tomorrow's itinerary.After a day of getting along, everyone has gotten to know each other well. Wang Zehai is quite down-to-earth. Although he is rich and powerful, he doesn't have the feeling of being a big boss. He is very easy-going and humorous. , made us laugh out loud.

Han Xu couldn't understand the nasty jokes he said, and Han Zitong couldn't laugh, Tan Ren was too funny, so in the end only Zhou Xuanye and I joined in.

At this moment, we were sitting around with the TV on, Wang Zehai picked out one eye, and asked Han Zitong beside him, "Miss Han, do you mind if I smoke a cigarette?"

Han Zitong nodded slightly and said, "Please go ahead."

Wang Zehai then lit a cigarette, puffed out the clouds, and asked Tan Yan and his next plan. After all, the leader this time was Tan Ren, and Wang Zehai himself knew nothing except a general direction.

Tan Ren knocked on the table, looked at the dark night outside the window, and said, "Let's talk when we enter the desert. Don't worry now. Are the equipment ready?"

Wang Zehai nodded, and said: "There is a friend here to help, I will go to him tomorrow morning, and we will go on the road after picking up the equipment." After spending more than an hour, sleepiness almost came up, and we went to sleep separately.

Early the next morning, everyone had breakfast, packed up their things and went to meet Wang Zehai's friend.When they arrived, they saw a middle-aged fat man wearing an XJ cap and shirt and trousers squatting on the ground smoking a cigarette. When the two met, they first hugged.

"Ark, long time no see."

The XJ compatriot named Alke smiled and said, "Old Wang, how was the last product?"

Wang Zehai said: "TOEFL TOEFL, it's pretty good. When things here are over, let's discuss cooperation." It seems that these two should be business partners.I heard the two of them exchange greetings there, they were all polite words, after a while I felt bored, so I turned my eyes away.

I saw three camels tied to the nearby tree, one of which was full of luggage, and the other two camels were empty.The three camels had thick hair, strong bodies, and bulging humps. They were obviously fed with water and food.

Camels have always been known as the boat of the desert. They can store water and nutrients in their humps. When there is no water and food, they will convert water and nutrients from their humps. They will not eat or drink for eight to ten days. In some desertified areas, camels are known as the favorite of Allah Huda.

Han Xu circled the camel excitedly, trying to climb up, but failed for a while, and suddenly beckoned to me: "Zhu Tiangu, push it."

It's Su Tiangu, not Zhu Tiangu, okay...

I thought it was funny for a moment, and naturally I would not care about a disabled person with a brain problem, so I pushed him and got him onto the camel.At this moment, a gentle voice suddenly came from behind: "Thank you." I turned my head and found that it was Han Zitong. Feel sorry for her.

Of the two siblings, one became facially paralyzed and the other mentally retarded. I don't know what happened to become like this.Han Zitong was injured the day after tomorrow, so what about this Han Xu?Was he born mentally retarded or had he suffered some kind of injury?
These thoughts flashed through my mind. Although I was very curious, it was too rude for me to ask.Unexpectedly, Han Zitong suddenly opened his mouth and said, "He wasn't like this before, and it was because he was injured." After a pause, she continued: "Xiao Xu is not sensible, and I hope you can take care of him on the next journey." .” I looked at Han Xu’s silly smile, nodded, and said, “Don’t worry, I’m very experienced in this area.”

"Experience?" Although Han Zitong was expressionless, his voice was full of doubts.

I smiled awkwardly, made a haha ​​and didn't answer.In fact, many of the children in the orphanage are mentally handicapped, and there are about a dozen mentally handicapped children. We older children will be responsible for taking care of them, so I am quite experienced in getting along with people with intellectual disabilities.

Seeing this, Han Zitong didn't ask any further questions. He glanced at Han Xu, then leaned against the Poplar euphratica tree and was lost in thought, as if he was thinking about something.From time to time, her gaze would fall on Han Xu, and that gaze gave me an indescribably strange feeling.

I always feel that those are not the eyes a sister should have when looking at her brother.

Soon, I was frightened by my own thoughts, and secretly spurned myself in my heart; Su Tiangu, your thoughts are too evil!

After more than half an hour, the two finally finished talking about the past, and we got our equipment and set off.

The camels were prepared for us by Alk, and they are mainly used to carry equipment.Most of what we carried were camping equipment, food and water, and the rest were some ropes, daggers and medicines. After all, the desert environment is complex, and no one knew how Wang Aiguo's expedition team disappeared.

Other than that, it is the personal equipment of Tan Ren and Zhou Xuanye, there are not many things, but they are strictly solid and have not been shown.

It was early morning at this moment, the weather was not very hot yet, and the cool wind from the desert was blowing over in gusts.This is not deep in the desert, there are water sources around, so there are many plants such as Haloxylon splendens, Achnatherum splendens, seabuckthorn, and rabbit silk. Of course, I don’t know these plants. Han Xu asked things along the way. Han Zitong replied, so I heard it.

She has probably traveled a lot, so she knows most of the animals and plants.

There were only three camels, two of which were loaded with equipment, and Han Xu rode the empty one.He is just like a child, he refuses to leave when he is tired from walking. We can't argue with a mentally handicapped person, so this camel became Han Xu's exclusive use.

Along the way, I found that Han Zitong would look at Han Xu distractedly from time to time, that kind of gaze...that kind of gaze made me feel goose bumps all over my body.

To be honest, I myself came out of an orphanage, so I can understand the pain of the disabled very well.Although Han Xu was quite noisy along the way, I didn't feel impatient. After all, it is already very unfortunate to become like this. If we normal people still get bored or discriminated against, wouldn't it be too cruel?
It's just that at this moment, Han Zitong's gaze made me involuntarily have a terrible association... Could it be that she likes her younger brother?My God, just thinking about it makes me feel a little unbearable.

Helpless, I can only divert my attention.

We haven't walked too far yet, so we don't feel tired. Everyone is in good spirits. Only Wang Zehai has started to pant because he is too fat.

According to the information obtained by Wang Zehai back then, Wang Aiguo's expedition team consisted of seven people, three women and four men, and Wang Aiguo was the leader of that expedition team.At that time, the investigation of places such as Gurbantunggut had not yet started. At that time, more emphasis was placed on industry and production, and many investigation projects were very difficult to carry out.

Compared with meaningful research goals such as oil extraction and gold mining, the significance of the inspection of places like deserts seems to be very small. Therefore, Wang Aiguo and the others did not have a heavy task, and the investigation they did was only a very simple topographic survey. .

To put it bluntly, it is to go in and see what the overall picture of Gurbantunggut is like. After all, the equipment in those days was poor. Few people have entered the depths of the desert, let alone what the overall picture of the desert is.Now that we have entered a new era, we must understand every inch of the motherland.

Therefore, the second largest desert in China became the target of the investigation.

You said why not inspect Taklamakan, the largest desert?The reason is very simple, because the desert is too big, there is not enough manpower, and there is not enough funds. Unless there are oil or gold mines in it, otherwise the above will not allocate funds for you to do this kind of "less urgent investigation".

At that time, the national debt was still owed, and people all over the country paid off the national debt, and their lives were tight. The desert inspection is of great significance in modern times, because it is related to the earth's environment and ecology, but at that time, its significance was not great.

Due to various reasons such as funds, Gurbantunggut was chosen.

The traveling route of Wang Aiguo and others is the "fishbone turning route", that is, crossing the desert, but in the process of crossing, they will conduct a radial return inspection of the surrounding area.Therefore, our general route is to follow this 'fishbone return line'.

This route is very long. If the whole journey is completed, it may take two months.Fortunately, we are not here to investigate, but to search for the bones. It is definitely impossible to stay in the desert for two months, but how long it will take depends on Tan Ren and others.

(End of this chapter)