Yellow River Craftsman

Chapter 57
In the next two days, we discussed and analyzed, and formulated a rough roadmap.Depart from Xi'an, pass through Gansu Province to the westernmost city of Dunhuang, exit from the famous Yumen Pass, and go all the way north into the Taklamakan Desert, which is known as the Sea of ​​Death.

In order to deceive others, we went to Dunhuang in three ways. One group took the train, the other group took the car, and the other group took the plane.Two days later, we met at the Sunshine Shazhou Hotel in Dunhuang.As soon as you enter Dunhuang, you will immediately feel a sense of vastness and magnificence.The floating clouds in the sky are like golden sea waves, and the sunlight splashes on the ancient city. The pale yellow land and the blue sky complement each other, giving Dunhuang a layer of mysterious color.

Going to Lop Nur this time is full of dangers, and we need a group of excellent preparations.The northwest area is the powerful territory of the Li family of the Seventh Family of Tomb Raiders. The Li family has a lot of status and connections in the rivers and lakes here, so the task of purchasing equipment naturally falls on Li Xiaoli.

Li Yingxin was also unequivocal. He left after everyone had dinner together, and did not come back until the evening of the next day. He took out two heavy snakeskin pockets from the trunk of the off-road vehicle: "Old Ye, I bought the equipment, you come have a look!"

Li Yingxin looked haggard and tired.

Professor Ye patted Li Yingxin on the shoulder: "Thank you!"

Wang Dongyu reached out to take the snakeskin bag, and couldn't wait to go back to the hotel room: "Let me see what good things are in here!"

A snakeskin pocket is filled with all kinds of modern expedition equipment, including climbing ropes imported from Germany, night vision goggles used by the US military, combat uniforms and tactical gloves, field tents, lighting equipment, cold light sticks, First aid medicine, nutritional bento, etc.

The other snakeskin pocket is full of hot weapons from the black market, including homemade imitation May 47th pistols, special warfare sabers smuggled from abroad, and even two AK[-] assault rifles, as well as several bullets. box and several grenades.

The room was smoky, and all of these people had stern faces, biting cigarettes, and skillfully fiddled with the weapons in their pockets. The only sound in the room was the rattle of pulling the bolt.

Gu Meidi quietly pulled me aside, and asked in surprise: "Didn't Professor Ye say that these people are friends from previous archaeological work? Why...why do these people look like desperadoes to me?"

I muttered secretly: "You are really right, these people are desperadoes!"

"What are you mumbling about?" Gu Meidi asked.

I gave Gu Meidi a brief explanation of the identities of these people, and Gu Meidi opened his mouth in surprise: "You mean, these people... were originally tomb robbers?!"

I nodded, put my right index finger on my lips, and signaled Gu Meidi to keep her voice down.

Gu Meidi lowered his voice and asked, "How did Professor Ye know these people?"

I shook my head: "I don't know too well, anyway, as long as they can help us!"

"Hey, why are you two standing there making out? Come and pick out equipment!" Wang Dongyu yelled at us in a rough voice.

Gu Meidi and I walked over, and Wang Dongyu handed me a May Fourth pistol: "Hey, have you ever used a gun?"

I nodded, took the pistol and put it in my pocket, Wang Dongyu grinned, and handed me two more magazines, then turned around and asked Gu Meidi with a smile: "Beauty, how about you?"

Gu Meidi waved his hand: "I'm not very good at it!"

"Then you take this with you!" Wang Dongyu handed Gu Meidi a special warfare saber: "This is a shark blade. The serrated blade is as sharp as a shark. Even if you encounter a big rice dumpling, you can still kill him." My head is messed up!"

Han Jing laughed and cursed at the side: "She is still a little girl, can you stop scaring her?"

Wang Dongyu made a haha, and handed us two gray-green combat backpacks: "Hurry up and pack your things!"

Li Yingxin said to Professor Ye: "Actually, the biggest gain from my trip this time is not only the equipment!"

"Oh? Then what else do you gain?" Professor Ye asked.

Li Yingxin's face revealed a smug look: "I found someone!"

Everyone looked at Li Yingxin: "A person? Who?"

Li Yingxin said: "He is a very capable man, his name is Lao Luo, his ancestors were big merchants on the Silk Road, and now he is doing some smuggling business outside the customs. He is very familiar with the desert terrain and has rich experience in desert survival, so I paid a high price to ask him to be our guide, and he will arrive at Dunhuang early tomorrow morning!"

Professor Ye nodded and said: "Well! You did a good job! The desert is full of dangers. We have never lived in the desert, and the experience of survival can be said to be blank. With such an experienced guide, I think we can avoid many problems. Trouble! By the way, have you checked the details of this person?"

Li Yingxin said, "I've checked it, and there's nothing wrong with it!"

Professor Ye nodded: "That's good! Also, is the car we need connected?"

"Everything is done!" Li Yingxin said.

Professor Ye unfolded a map on the bed, drew a circle on the map with a red pen, and then drew a straight line to the west: "This is Dunhuang. We will start from the city tomorrow morning and walk west along this desert road. You will be able to enter the Lop Nur desert! Rest early tonight, and we will set off early tomorrow morning!"

When we got up in the morning, we each drank a bowl of Dunhuang's very famous mutton powder soup.The production process of this kind of powder soup is very particular. It is necessary to select fat and strong sheep raised locally in Dunhuang, slaughter them, wash them and cut them into large pieces, and then put them in a pot with clean water.After the meat is cooked, take out the shaved bones, return the bones to the pot, and simmer over high heat to make soup.When eating, first mix the bone broth with water, then add appropriate amount of ginger, garlic, pepper, cinnamon and other spices to boil, then cut the cooked meat into thin slices and put jelly noodles cut into pieces into a bowl, scoop into the boiling soup, sprinkle on top Served with shallots and leeks, the aroma is tangy and very refreshing. We ate with red faces and enjoyed it.

Wang Dongyu patted Gan Hongxin's shoulder with a smirk: "You must make up more, you boy, you are so skinny, you can see that you have kidney deficiency!"

"Damn!" Gan Hongxin clapped his chopsticks: "Your kid has kidney deficiency! Your whole family has kidney deficiency!"

After breakfast, the guide invited by Li Yingxin arrived as scheduled.

"This is the old Luo I told you about!" Li Yingxin walked in front of us with a black and thin middle-aged man.

I took a closer look at Lao Luo. He is about 40 years old, probably because he has lived outside the customs all year round. His skin is dry and dark, especially his face, which is as black as a burnt sesame seed cake. Red in the skin, deeply wrinkled.He looks a little thin, giving people a sickly look. I have looked around, but I have never found out what is so special about him.But I didn't underestimate this old Luo. Someone who can be so respected by Li Yingxin must have his extraordinary ability.

Lao Luo grinned: "Hi everyone, my name is Lao Luo!"

"Hello, welcome to join our team!" Professor Ye smiled and shook hands with Lao Luo, and Lao Luo also shook hands with us one by one enthusiastically.

beep - beep - beep -

The horn of the car sounded, and at the entrance of the hotel, a slightly worn-out medium-sized van was parked there. The body was covered with dust, and it was completely impossible to tell that it was originally a white van.

A dark-faced man poked his head out of the car window and waved to us.

Li Yingxin frowned: "Didn't I ask you to wash the car yesterday?"

The black-faced man yawned and said, "The wind and sand in this ruined place is terrible. After washing it, it's not going to be dirty. It's going to be dirty anyway, so why bother to wash it?"

The black-faced man had a loud voice, and these few words were like tongue twisters, which amused us all.

Professor Ye waved his hand: "Forget it, don't worry about it so much, let's go!"

There are ten people on our side, including the driver and Lao Luo, a total of twelve people. This medium-sized van can originally carry more than 20 passengers, so it doesn't look crowded when we sit in the van.

I opened the co-pilot's door and got in, handed the black-faced man a cigarette, and chatted with him.

After a brief conversation, I learned that this black-faced man is called Rong Fei, a Mongolian, and his main business is to rely on this van, which usually transports guests from surrounding villages and towns, and occasionally carries goods. Yes, the car does not have a formal operating license, anyway, it is an illegal car.

Having said that, Rong Fei puffed out a puff of smoke, patted the steering wheel and said, "Hey, it's hard to live in this society!"

The van spewed out a tail of black smoke and drove out of the downtown area of ​​Dunhuang with bumps along the way.

Han Jing said: "Master, you are not driving a car, but a boat?"

Rong Fei said: "My car is considered good. Some cars are like trains. You can hear the rumbling sound when you step on the gas pedal!"

"Hahaha!" We all laughed happily, and the journey kicked off amidst laughter.

The scenery of the city was far behind us. The van was speeding on the suburban road, passing many Populus euphratica trees on both sides. They were like guards standing on both sides of the road. They were tall and mighty, with a height of 30 meters.Populus euphratica is a common tree in Northwest China. It is very tenacious, not only drought-resistant, but also cold-resistant.The local people praised Populus euphratica as a hero tree that "grows for a thousand years, does not fall for a thousand years after death, and does not rot for a thousand years when it falls to the ground".

After driving for about an hour, the Populus euphratica trees on both sides also became sparse, and a sense of desolation emerged spontaneously.The sky on the plateau is very low, like a pot lid on the top of the head, as if you can touch the golden sun with your hand.The gray mountains in the distance are endless, like a long dragon lying quietly for thousands of years.

Continuing to drive forward, both sides of the road became bare, even more desolate and lonely.Due to the strong wind and sand on the plateau, the originally blue asphalt road has now turned into a yellowish brown, covered with a layer of yellow sand, and the wheels are running over, and the dust is flying all over the sky.

desolate.

It is the first and only feeling we have when we set foot on the desert road.

(End of this chapter)