The next journey is extremely difficult. After leaving the Mogao Grottoes, we can no longer see any traces of human beings.
I asked Mr. Diao where to go?
Diao Ye pointed his hand forward: "Continue heading west!"
In this way, we ran around for a whole day. We were hungry and both the people and the horses couldn't stand it anymore. Only then did Mr. Diao allow us to stay and camp.
Since we traveled lightly and did not carry tents or other props, we could only find a sand dune and dig a hole to spend the night.
There is a big temperature difference between day and night here, it is hot during the day and cold at night.
What's more important is that there is no water source in this place. We can only drink the water bag on the horse in small sips, break open the naan bread that is as hard as a stone, and eat it bit by bit.
How can this be swallowed?
I subconsciously looked at Diao Ye, wanting to see the joke of this pampered old man, but unexpectedly Diao Ye was eating with gusto.
Is this still the fussy Mr. Diao?
I was dumbfounded. At this time, Shahu came over and said to me for the first time: "I didn't expect it, this is the real Lord Diao."
"What about the one in Magic City? I remember that when he was in Magic City, he was not like this. He wanted the best food, clothing, and housing." I asked doubtfully.
Shahu smiled wisely: "No, I always do that just to protect the Samanatra. There are many strong enemies in the magic city. Only the outside world feels that Master Diao is crazy and useless, so they won't unite to deal with the Samanatra."
"Actually, Mr. Diao has a good heart. He is protecting the children who are practicing ascetics in a secret way."
While we were chatting, Diao Ye suddenly waved to me strangely: "Little Chi, come here, come here!"
I pointed at myself to make sure he wasn't calling me Shahu, and then I went over. As soon as he passed by, I asked him to take off the funny big-headed doll mask, otherwise I would always feel like a little Nezha was talking to me, making a lot of noise and not being able to hear clearly.
Mr. Diao refused to pick them, so he secretly put a small box of canned fruit into my hand: "I finally got it, please help me bring it to Yueyue..."
I cut it off and then refused: "You have your own hands and feet, why should you ask me to serve tea and water to others? I just promised you to protect her, not to be a servant."
Diaoye's eyes narrowed slightly, and I couldn't help but swallow my saliva. I thought to myself, since Lao Jiang and the others were here, I shouldn't be killed to vent my anger, right?
What I didn't expect was that he gritted his teeth and took out a small golden object from his arms and secretly stuffed it into my palm: "Little Chi, this is the gold earring I dug from the ancient Loulan country. It will allow you to buy a small building in Peiping." Yes. Are you satisfied?”
I weighed it up and realized that what Mr. Diao was carrying must be a good item. I hurriedly went to deliver the cans: "Wouldn't it have been better if I had done this earlier?"
Who would have thought that just because of a can, Yin Ling'er almost strangled me to death, thinking that I was dedicated to courting other girls.
When we camped that night, we decided to send two people from each side to take turns on duty to prevent emergencies!
On Qilin's side are me and Banban, on Diaoye's side are Shahu and Luotuo, and in the Free Commune are brothers Dawu and Xiaowu.
I stayed with my companion in the early part of the night. I don’t know why I always felt uneasy in my heart, but I felt like something would happen at night!
Even after our vigil ended and we returned to the cave, I kept my ears open to listen to what was going on outside.
However, in the second half of the night, there was not even a sound of birdsong for hundreds of miles, only the footsteps of the night watchman walking back and forth, so I put down and fell asleep.
When I woke up one after another the next day, Lao Jiang suddenly asked me to go to the toilet with him, not even letting me go with him.
I still don’t know Lao Jiang’s nature?
My heart sank immediately, something must have happened...
When he reached a Haloxylon ammodendron weed, Lao Jiang put away his smile and pointed at a place: "Did you see it?"
I looked over curiously and saw a very shallow shoe print printed on the dry sand. This shoe print was very fresh, otherwise the climate in the northwest would have been completely covered by the wind and sand the next day.
So it must be from last night!
I immediately asked Lao Jiang what was going on.
It was rare for Lao Jiang to say that he didn't know. He only found out about it when he got up this morning.
But last night we were obviously on duty in turns. This area was an open area. As long as there were people nearby, there was absolutely nowhere to hide.
unless……
I took a deep breath and asked Lao Jiang: "Is this a fucking human?"
If it had been before, Lao Jiang would have slapped me on the back of the head, but this time for the first time, Lao Jiang answered again: "I don't know."
There was an indescribable undercurrent in his eyes, and I subconsciously felt that he was hiding something from me, so I broke the casserole and asked him to the end.
Lao Jiang then vaguely said that the problem lies in the shoe print.
"I checked it just now. The shoe prints come from boots produced by a company in the United States 20 years ago. However, due to the war, that company stopped production long ago and they are not available on the market."
"But why does it appear here? And there is only one shoe print in a radius of several hundred meters? I don't know."
I asked Lao Jiang if he needed to tell others?
Lao Jiang shook his head: "The young people in the Free Commune are too young to cause panic in the large army. Let's continue walking and see what we can do when the time comes."
After returning home, I immediately urged everyone to get on the road. Although everyone didn't know why, they also rode on the fast horses one after another.
The further I walked, the more I felt the vastness of the northwest and the insignificance of myself. The sky was full of wind and sand, and I couldn't see the edge.
A feeling of ‘thinking about heaven and earth for a long time, crying with sadness’ arises spontaneously!
On my left hand side, there is a tall blue mountain range that can be seen as far as the eye can see. On my right side, there is a yellow desert, which makes me sigh.
This is the only place where you can see such an unexpected sight.
Professor Xiang Wanli waved the reins and said, "Do you know? On the left is the famous Qilian Mountains, and on the right is the Alxa Desert bordering Western Xinjiang. If we continue walking for one day, we will arrive at Yumen Pass."
"Zhang Qian followed this path when he went on a mission to the Western Regions and opened a bridge between China and the world."
When I heard this, my eyes lit up: "Is this the famous Silk Road?"
Professor Xiang Wanli nodded: "From then on, our silk teas can be sold to Central Asian countries one after another, and their gems and spices have also entered China in an endless stream."
These words made us sigh with sadness. Thinking that we were walking the same path as Zhang Qian, the young people in the team invariably felt a sense of pride in their hearts.
At this time, Lao Jiang was concerned about another issue. He raised his concerns to Diao Ye: "We simply don't have enough water and food. What's even more lacking is an experienced local guide and a team that can carry the load... The camel team of 18 people. Chief, what do you want to do?"
Diao Ye smiled mysteriously: "Haha, you will naturally know when you get to Yumen Pass. There is an old friend of mine there, and he will give you everything you want in the desert."
Lao Jiang became interested and asked, "Who is he?"
Diao Ye pushed up the big-headed doll mask on his face, and from under his funny and cute face came a deep and rich voice: "When a Hui Hui'er comes, we all call him: Desert Boat!"
