Anecdote of the Yellow River

Chapter 52
When we entered Lop Nur, it was dusk, and the setting sun was like blood, staining the desolate desert red.The boundless wind ran back and forth across the vast desert, setting off brownish-yellow sand and gravel flying all over the sky.Looking around, yellow, yellow, will always be monotonous yellow.In the boundless sand sea, there are occasional clumps of salix, which seem to be the only life left in the desert.Standing in this boundless sea of ​​sand, we suddenly feel that life is small, and there is an inexplicable sense of sadness in our hearts for no reason.

We chose a sheltered depression and set up our tents.

At night in the desert, the wind and sand are particularly strong. Lao Luo told us that if you sleep in a wide and flat place, you may be buried by the wind and sand in the middle of the night, and you will never be able to wake up again.

Moreover, the temperature difference between day and night in the desert is very large, like a stove during the day, but like an icehouse at night, the temperature difference can reach tens of degrees from morning to night.In order to resist the cold night, Lao Luo took Wang Dongyu and me to chop some willows back and used them as materials for making fire.

The sun soon sank to the horizon, and the night enveloped the desert, the surroundings were dark and quiet, only the whistling sound of the wind and sand rolling over, melancholy and melodious, like a ghost, it was creepy to hear.

We built two bonfires outside the tent, and took out the food and water in the backpack.Like a magic trick, Lao Luo took out a small portable pot and put it on top of the fire.

Lao Luo said: "We often walk in the desert, and these are all necessities! Occasionally, we also need to eat some hot food to supplement some nutrition. If we only eat dry food, our body will not be able to handle it!"

While talking, Lao Luo poured water into the pot. When the water boiled, we put in a few packets of instant noodles and dropped a few marinated eggs in it.Although this is just a simple meal of instant noodles, at least it is much more delicious than any compressed biscuit, and with the delicious marinated eggs, we also enjoyed eating it.

After running around for a whole day, everyone felt tired, and got into the tent early after eating instant noodles.

I originally planned to stay and watch the night, but Lao Luo said no, there are no ferocious beasts in the desert, and there will be almost no creatures at night, so let me go to sleep with peace of mind.

Strange to say, during the day, the gravel on the ground is scalding hot, but at night, the gravel on the ground is bitingly cold.Fortunately, we had been prepared for a long time, and we took out the cashmere blanket in the backpack and spread it on the ground, which felt a lot warmer.Although the gravel on the ground hurt our backs, we were so exhausted that we fell asleep after chatting for a while.

"Tuoba Gu, wake up! Tuoba Gu, wake up!"

When I was drowsy, I felt someone slapping my cheek with a hand.

I tried my best to open my eyes, and saw a figure standing in front of me. I shivered suddenly, and took a closer look through the firelight outside the tent. I lost all sleepiness for a moment. I opened my mouth wide in surprise, and looked at it with incredible eyes. Looking at the figure in front of him, he cried out, "Rong Fei, why is it you?"

Rong Fei nodded: "That's right, it's me!"

Rong Fei's voice sounded a little weird, gloomy and cold, which made me feel an inexplicable chill.

I sat there blankly, my mind was in chaos, didn't Rong Fei disappear on the highway of death?How could he appear here?

In the hazy darkness, a cold light suddenly flashed through my eyes.

I raised my head abruptly, only to see Rong Fei holding a dagger in his right hand, which was stained with blood.

I looked at Rong Fei in amazement: "Rong Fei, what are you going to do?"

Rong Fei looked at me gloomyly, and said in a cold tone: "You abandoned me on the highway of death, and I want you to pay with your lives... You abandoned me on the highway of death, and I want you to pay with your lives ..."

Rong Fei repeated these words over and over again, and approached me step by step with a dagger in his hand.

A chill came down my spine, and I tried my best to persuade Rong Fei: "Rong Fei, calm down! Listen to me, we didn't abandon you! You disappeared at that time, really, you disappeared, We can't find you..."

As I was talking, I stepped back, suddenly tripped on my foot, and fell to the ground with a thud.I raised my hands and found that the palms of my hands were full of blood.I looked down in horror, and there was Lao Luo lying on the ground covered in blood. I reached out and probed Lao Luo's breath, and my heart trembled fiercely: "Rong Fei, did you kill Lao Luo?"

Rong Fei giggled, and his voice was particularly sharp: "I killed them all! I killed them all!"

what? !

My body trembled crazily. Could it be that Gu Meidi, Professor Ye, and Wang Dongyu were all... all killed?
The blood in my whole body seemed to be ignited instantly, my eyes were red, and I rushed towards Rong Fei recklessly.

"what--"

I sat up from the ground all of a sudden, in the darkness, I could only hear my heavy breathing.

The bonfire outside was crackling and burning, I opened my eyes and looked around in a daze, where was Rong Fei's shadow?

I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead, it turned out that everything just now was just a dream!

It's just that this dream is too real and terrifying!

Maybe it was because they didn't have a good rest last night, everyone was a little listless and didn't talk much that day.After walking in the desert for a whole day, when it was getting dark, we finally arrived at the famous ruins of the ancient city of Loulan.

Loulan is one of the 36 ancient countries in the Western Regions. The name was first seen in "Historical Records". It used to be a necessary place on the Silk Road and had a very glorious history.At that time, Loulan was known as "Pompeii in the desert" where there were many business travelers, bustling markets, orderly streets, and majestic pagodas.But for unknown reasons, about 600 years ago, the ancient country of Loulan suddenly died out, leaving an unsolved mystery for mankind.

Today's Loulan ancient country is left with only a large area of ​​barren ruins, weathered city walls, collapsed houses, and incomplete pagodas. Looking around, it is desolate and desolate.It is hard to imagine that this was once a fertile fertile land.

Traveling through the ruins of the ancient city is like traveling through a vast river of history, which makes people feel excited.The ancient city is very quiet, only the whirring sound of wind and sand blowing, as if whispering the dusty history.In the ancient city of Loulan, except that the city walls were built with loess, almost all the houses in the city were built with poplar wood. The doors and windows of the houses are clearly identifiable, but now they are in dilapidated ruins.

We boarded a beacon tower in the northeast corner. At this time, the last ray of golden light of the setting sun passed through the sea of ​​clouds and shot obliquely on the beacon tower.

Looking at the entire ancient country of Loulan, a sense of vicissitudes came over us.Close your eyes slightly, as if you can hear the sound of camel bells, as if you can see the colorfully dressed businessmen leading the camel caravan across the vast desert.

With this feeling, this scene, this feeling, this understanding, I finally understood the wind and frost and pride of the desert, and couldn't help but sing: "Under the sunset in the desert, who is the person who plays the flute? Let the years strip off the red clothes, but he is full of scars. Desolation In the ancient castle, who is playing the pipa, just waiting for me to come and go in a hurry, the meeting in this life..."

Wang Dongyu lit a cigarette: "Hey! Do you think there are any valuable treasures in the ancient city of Loulan?"

Professor Ye said: "According to reliable records, the ancient city of Loulan was excavated in 1901. During the investigation in the early [-]th century, a large number of ancient cultural relics were looted by foreign investigation groups!"

Wang Dongyu said with a dejected look: "You mean there are no more treasures here? Oh, it's so boring!"

Soon, the last ray of golden light slowly receded, and the heavy night shrouded the ancient city of Loulan.

We walked down the beacon tower and came to the "Sanjianfang" site not far to the southwest of the beacon tower.This nearly [-]-square-meter house is built on a high platform and enters the courtyard. There are three horizontally arranged houses in the north and south respectively. In the ancient city, this courtyard building is obviously more ostentatious.Lao Luo said that it was rumored that Sanjianfang was the official office of the ancient Loulan Kingdom at that time, so it was so grand.

Today's government office is only left with some dilapidated beams and wooden frames, but it is still a good safe haven, so we decided to rest here tonight.

We took down the cracked doors and mullions, built a bonfire, and sat down around it.The flames crackled and danced like an old song.Many, many years ago, the residents of the ancient country of Loulan were like us now, chatting, singing and dancing around a bonfire, creating a peaceful scene.

The nutritious bento has been eaten, and the temperature in the desert is very high. In order to prevent the nutritious bento from spoiling, we finished eating the nutritious bento early.Now there were only some dry food and canned food left in the backpack. We boiled a pot of boiling water, put the canned food in the pot and cooked it, and then swallowed the dry food whole.

After dinner, it was still early, and it was not easy to fall asleep when we wanted to sleep, so we asked Lao Luo to tell us some legends about the ancient country of Loulan.Lao Luo has a lot of knowledge in his belly. After taking two puffs of dry smoke, he slowly explained: "Loulan is a powerful tribe in the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty. The capital of the Loulan people is the ancient city of Loulan where we are now. , a prosperous economy and rich products, it is a prosperous country on the Silk Road. Because it is located in the fortress of the Western Regions, it has become a battleground for military strategists. Although the ancient city of Loulan is desolate and lifeless, it used to be a place where people lived and multiplied There is the misty Lop Nur beside the city, and the clear river surrounds the city gate. People go boating and fishing on the blue waves, hunt in the dense Populus euphratica forest, and bathe in the gifts of nature!"

Wang Dongyu interjected and asked, "Then, why did the once prosperous Loulan ancient country suddenly disappear?"

Lao Luo coughed twice and said, "As for the mystery of the disappearance of the ancient Loulan kingdom, until now, there is no definite conclusion. Archaeologists and historians from all over the world have different opinions, and roughly put forward six guesses."

"One guess is that Loulan disappeared in the war. After the fifth century AD, the Loulan Kingdom began to weaken, and the northern powers invaded. Loulan City was destroyed and then abandoned."

"The second guess is that Loulan declined due to drought, water shortage, and ecological deterioration. The upstream river was cut off and diverted, and people had to leave Loulan."

"Third guess, the disappearance of Loulan is related to Lop Nur's north-south migration."

"Guess four, the disappearance of Loulan is related to the opening of the northern Silk Road. After the opening of the northern Silk Road passing through Hami and Turpan, the Silk Road that originally passed through Loulan was gradually abandoned, and Loulan also lost its former glory."

"Guess five, Loulan has encountered biological invasion. A mole cricket insect introduced from the Mesopotamia has no natural enemies in Loulan, lives in the soil, can live on the white paste soil in the Loulan area, and enters residential houses in groups Among them, people could not destroy them, so they had to abandon the city."

"Guess six, this is also the guess that has received the most support. Loulan was destroyed by a plague disease. This is a terrible acute infectious disease. According to the legend, it is called febrile nest disease, one disease, one village, one family death. "

"In the face of a huge disaster, the Loulan people chose to flee. People blindly went up the Tarim River, wherever there were trees and water, they went there. Wherever they could survive, they went there, and only a few survived. The people of Loulan wanted to cry but had no tears. When they were on the road, they encountered an unprecedented wind and sandstorm. It was a big formation that buried the sky and buried the ground. The sky was dark and the sky was dark, and the sound was like a ghost. ..."

When Lao Luo talked about this, he couldn't help but sigh.

We listened silently to Lao Luo's speech, and no one spoke. The annihilation of the ancient Loulan country is really regrettable.If Loulan did not perish, what a huge wealth of civilization would be left to the world today!

"My stomach hurts a little, you guys keep talking, I'm going to have a bowel movement!" Wang Dongyu stood up holding his stomach.

Gan Hongxin pinched his nose and said, "Go, go! Go farther away, don't stink us to death!"

Wang Dongyu hurriedly ran into the room to the north, saying that it was a house, but in fact it had collapsed to such an extent that there were only some ruined walls and broken beams hanging in the air, creaking and creaking in the night wind. the desolate sound.

Soon, there was an earth-shattering sound of farting in the room, and Wang Dongyu moaned in satisfaction: "Ah—oh——"

Li Yingxin frowned and said, "Please keep your voice down, don't fart and blow the house down!"

"Ah—" Wang Dongyu's scream suddenly came from the room.

Liu Hanhao scolded: "Aren't you disgusting? Didn't I tell you to keep your voice down?"

Before the words fell, Wang Dongyu staggered out of the north room with his pants in hand, shouting in horror while running: "Snake! There are snakes in the room!"

Liu Hanhao adjusted his glasses, and said mockingly, "What? Classmate Wang, who is fearless and fearless, a mere snake scares you into such a virtue?"

"Fart... fart..." Wang Dongyu's face was pale, and he looked quite frightened, "It's more than just a snake! If you have the kind...you can go and see it!"

"Just take a look and see, what's there to be afraid of!" Liu Hanhao took out a torch from the fire, strode to the door of the north house, and raised the torch to illuminate the room.

pat!

The torch slipped from Liu Hanhao's hand and fell to the ground, and then he let out a terrified cry almost from the depths of his throat: "My God!"

"I'll go and have a look!" I felt that something was wrong, and I exchanged glances with Lao Luo, each took out a torch, and walked quickly to the door of the North House.

Liu Hanhao pointed to the inside of the room, and said in a trembling voice, "Snakes...a lot of snakes..."

Lao Luo and I passed the torch forward, and the bright fire drove away the darkness. Although we couldn't fully see the situation in the room, we could still get a rough idea.

I saw a long yellow-green snake coiled on the beam of the house, looking at us sullenly, constantly swallowing the scarlet snake core.There are diamond-shaped black and brown spots on the back of the long snake, and there are strips of horny rings on the tail of the snake.At this moment, the snake's tail was swinging rapidly, making strange rattling noises.

Lao Luo's expression changed slightly, and he blurted out, "This is a rattlesnake!"

When I heard the word "rattlesnake", my heart trembled violently.

The rattlesnake is a venomous tube-tooth snake that usually lives in deserts or red soils.Rattlesnakes have horny rings on their tails, which are formed from dried scales after the snake's body has shed its skin.These horny annular membranes form a cavity, and when its tail shakes, there is airflow in the cavity, making a rattling sound.This sound is used to warn enemies and lure small prey.

The rattlesnake looked at us very unfriendly, and I was a little apprehensive. Rattlesnakes are nocturnal animals. This time period is when the rattlesnakes go out to hunt, and the rattlesnakes are most aggressive at this time.

"Look! There's another one there!" Lao Luo pointed to a small corner of the house, where a one-meter-long rattlesnake wobbled out from under the ruined adobe.

"There's one there too!" I pointed to the top of the beam in horror.

There was a weird rattling sound in the room, and that weird sound gave me goosebumps all over my body.Accompanied by those weird rattling sounds, more and more rattlesnakes came out from every corner of the room and wandered wantonly in the room. This room is completely a terrifying snake nest!

When I thought that we spent the night next to the snake's nest tonight, I couldn't help but feel hairy.If Wang Dongyu hadn't discovered it early, we might have slept until midnight and been bitten to death by snakes without knowing it!
"Quick! Tell everyone to pack up and get out of here immediately!" Lao Luo said hastily.

Liu Hanhao and I turned around and ran back to the fire, telling everyone to pack up and leave here.

Lao Luo picked up the torch that Liu Hanhao dropped, and threw it into the house together with the torch in his hand, then turned and fled.

The ruined wood in the house was very dry, and after the torch was thrown in, it quickly ignited the house.Billowing thick smoke rose up and was torn into various shapes by the night wind.The fire spread rapidly, and the raging flames reflected the night sky red.

Gala!Gala!
(End of this chapter)