Mountain and Sea Treasures

Chapter 42 Stepping into the Dead Zone

Lao Yan let out a muffled grunt, apparently deeply concerned about Wu San's death due to his own negligence.

But the next few days were unusually calm. I found that Yu Chengze's route gradually matched the one on Lao Yan's map. I couldn't help but wonder what he wanted to do?
On this day, because the temperature was too high, we couldn't go on the road during the day, so we found a slope to rest behind, and planned to go on the road in the evening.

Lao Yan held the map and didn't know what he was researching. Yu Chengze was also hiding in the corner, holding a notebook in his hand and silently drawing strange patterns. The atmosphere was rather dull.

It should be said that since Wu San's death, the atmosphere has been very dull, and almost no one said anything except rushing and necessary conversations every day.

Yu Chengze seemed very satisfied with this situation, because there was a smile on his usually expressionless face.

"How long?"

Finally, Lao Yan broke the silence and turned to ask Yu Chengze in the corner.

Yu Chengze pointed to the map in Lao Yan's hand, and said, can't you see it?

Lao Yan folded up the map, and said flatly: "This map is not accurate! The big pit back then fell into the ground again for some reason. The map in front of us is just our guess, but Professor Yu is different, you You escaped from there, so you should know more, right?"

I think Lao Yan's attitude is a bit strange, it seems that he really regards Yu Chengze as a partner, and there is no anger in his voice.

Yu Chengze reckoned and felt weird, stared at Lao Yan for a while before saying: "At that time, I was running around in the desert like a headless chicken. I was lucky to be able to save this life. How can I remember the route?"

With the change of Lao Yan's attitude, Yu Chengze's attitude also changed. This is the longest sentence he has said since I saw him. There is still a touch of helplessness in his tone. escaped people.

After hearing the words, Lao Yan actually agreed: "It's true, so should we discuss the way to go next?"

Only now did I know the purpose of Lao Yan. If Yu Chengze said that he remembered the route, then Lao Yan would definitely ask about the ancient country of Changye, and Yu Chengze would not be able to say anything at that time.If he doesn't remember, that's just fine, he can't decide the route by himself.

Yu Chengze's face darkened, and then he nodded, agreeing.

After that, Lao Yan got together with him, studied the map for a while, and finally decided on the next route to take.But after achieving his goal, Lao Yan's face was not very good, which made me feel a little strange, so after he walked away from Yu Chengze, I leaned up to him and asked him if there was something wrong with the route he made?
He shook his head and said nothing, just handed me the map and pointed to one of the routes for me to see.

I held the map and studied it for a while, then matched the route on the map with the real one, and looked at Lao Yan in disbelief: "Are you sending everyone to die?"

Although I don't know what is on this road, but if we have been walking through no-man's land before, then the next place we need to go deep is the dead zone. Maybe someone can survive from no-man's land, but so far I have never I have never heard of anyone who can come out of the dead zone.

Seeing that Lao Yan didn't speak, my tone became more aggressive: "At that time, it was impossible for the Air Force to choose the dead zone as a shooting range, right?"

"That's right, the Air Force's shooting range is indeed in no man's land, but..." He paused here, as if he didn't know how to express it, and finally spit out slowly: "But if we want to go there , at least make a circle around the dead zone."

I asked him why, and he swiped his hand on the map: "Do you see it now?"

I frowned, his stroke almost drew out the route we had taken before, and then I found a problem-although we seemed to be walking forward all the time, because of danger, so many times the route was Somewhat deviated, the actual route we are taking now actually faintly forms an incomplete pattern: a semi-ellipse.

Because one piece is missing, I can't see what the pattern is, but if you add the route that Lao Yan made next, the pattern will form a complete oval...

"Look at the shooting range of the Air Force." Lao Yan pointed again, and only then did I realize that the place turned out to be a point on the oval.

I still can't agree: "Then why don't we go the other way?"

One side of this oval is going through the dead zone, but the other side is a no-man's land with a less dangerous level.

Lao Yan pointed to the side of no man's land and said: "The people I sent before, including the comrades who came to search for the Sino-Japanese expedition five years ago, all left here. You know what happened to them..."

Of course I know, according to Lao Yan, although the comrades who were looking for the Sino-Japanese expedition team were not wiped out, they were also damaged a lot. As for the people who were sent by Lao Yan before, none of them returned.

"So, I think there may be a glimmer of life in the dead zone!" Old Yan said: "I always let them avoid the dead zone before, because no one knows what's inside, but now it seems that perhaps the most dangerous place is is the safest."

I didn't speak because I knew he was betting too!Although many people were lost in the no-man's land, it did not prove the safety of the dead zone. The danger in the desert was never relative.

But what he said is right, since so many people have been lost in the no-man's land, it might as well try the dead zone, maybe it will make a difference.

"That can only be tried." I returned the map to him, and watched him go to the blind man and explain the route, feeling heavy in my heart.

But the blind man and the others are obviously not like me, they didn't even blink when they heard that they were going to the death zone.

In the evening, the heat finally subsided a little, we packed up our things and hit the road.The place we are now is about three or four days away from the dead zone. Lao Yan said that there should be an oasis nearby. Let's go around there to fill up the water first, and then go to the dead zone.

In his words, everything in the dead zone is undecided, and we must prepare everything!
In the past two days, we traveled at night and rested during the day. After walking for two nights, we encountered the oasis mentioned by Lao Yan, but with the stimulation of the strange fish, neither the poisonous snake nor I dared to go up.It was Lao Yan who made sure that nothing happened before we went up to fill up our water bottles and drank to our fullness by the way.

After resting in the oasis for half a day, we headed towards the dead zone.

It was only two days' journey from the oasis to the dead zone, so we were close to our destination in no time.

These days, Yu Chengze is also very quiet, he doesn't comment on all the decisions of Lao Yan, he seems to be just one of us, but I don't dare to take it lightly, because I always feel that after the route is determined, his purpose then reached...

It was early morning when we arrived in the dead zone, the moon was still hanging in the sky, covering the dead zone, making it look very mysterious!

"Go in tomorrow during the day and rest first." Lao Yan waved his hand, seeing that it was almost dawn, we didn't set up a tent anymore, but wrapped our sleeping bags and fell asleep.

I didn't sleep well. After all, there was only a thin line between the dead zone and us. I always felt that something would come out in the middle of the night, but unexpectedly this night was very peaceful. There is no sound of ghost crying.

When I woke up the next day, I found that Lao Yan had slept well, and he couldn't help laughing when he saw me: "Did you become a thief at night?"

I complained how is it possible to sleep well in such a place?
Lao Yan slapped his head and said that he was negligent. In fact, the boundary between the dead zone and no-man's zone is the safest place. This can be regarded as the law of nature. The two places do not interfere with each other, just like rivers with clear lines generally.

I looked at him resentfully, this was the last night before entering the death zone, how could he forget such an important thing?
But everything is over, even if I stare out my eyes, it's useless.

After eating some dry food, we set off. The moment I stepped into the death zone, my right eyelid twitched, and I felt that some bad disaster was about to happen!
But it seems that I was thinking too much, nothing happened on the first day in the dead zone, even the sun above the head was not so strong, which made us travel much faster.

The next few days were pretty much the same. If it weren’t for the endless sand, I would suspect that I wasn’t actually in the desert anymore, so I couldn’t help being a little excited.

"Old Yan, don't tell me, maybe this dead zone is really the lifeline." I drank my saliva and said excitedly.

Lao Yan looked up at the sky, he was not as optimistic as I was, and asked if I noticed anything?
I wiped the corner of my mouth and said: "I know, what you want to say is that there is no life here, but there is no danger, right?"

I naturally understood what he meant. We could find some vegetation and some small animals in the no-man's land before, but ever since I stepped into the dead zone, I found that there is nothing but sand here.

Lao Yan sighed: "How can there be no danger, the desert itself is dangerous."

I didn't understand what he meant for a while, but I understood when I entered the death zone on the seventh day-we were almost out of water.

Before entering here, each of us filled two large jugs of water, and we could not drink if we could not drink along the way, but the water slowly bottomed out, and we did not find any traces of water sources.

Not to mention me, even a veteran like Lao Yan did not find any traces, which shows that there is really no water in this area...

Then everyone became more cautious when drinking water. When we were thirsty, we only dared to pour a layer of water that covered the lid of the kettle, and then licked it carefully. But even so, we only persisted for three days before there was no water left.

"What should I do?" I licked my dry lips and asked Lao Yan weakly.

Lao Yan lost a lot of weight and stopped me from licking my lips: "Stop licking, the more you lick, the more dry you will be."

After speaking, he looked to the blind man beside him and asked him if he could do anything.

The blind man was silent for a long time before uttering one word: pee!

(End of this chapter)