Sand Sea Magic Nest 8

Ever since we encountered a violent black sandstorm at noon, we chased the white camels and broke into the ruins of this unknown town in the sea of ??sand. I felt that this ruined city was shrouded in a mysterious veil from the inside out, making it difficult to see clearly. Is there any danger hidden under the veil, so I have always maintained a high degree of vigilance. Everyone has taken a rest, and I dare not slack off a little.

Suddenly I saw the eyes of the stone statue moving. Although it was a little far away and the lights in the room were dim, I still believed that my eyes could not see it wrong, so I stood up and walked to the stone statue with giant eyes on the wall to check it out.

The gas lamp hanging on the beam was shaken by the strong wind that poured into the shabby house. The light flickered, making the shabby house flicker in and out of light. The dark stone statue looked like a dead person buried alive, with only the head exposed. The whole thing below is buried in the yellow sand.

When I got closer, I saw that there was a big ant lying on the stone man's eye, as big as a knuckle, with a black body and a blood-red tail. When it was swayed by the light of the gas lamp, it flashed a faint light. , from a distance, it looks like the eyes of a stone man are shining.

When I saw it was just an ant, I flicked it to the ground and stepped on it. I only heard a soft crunching sound in my ears and it was crushed to pieces. What I found a little strange was that the body of this big ant was larger than the size of the ant. It's much tougher than ordinary ants.

I looked around. There was ventilation everywhere in the broken house. I didn¡¯t know where the ant crawled in. Miss Guo came over and asked me what was going on. I said it was nothing, there was just an ant that I crushed to death.

I woke up the sleeping monkey and asked him to stand guard. Then I added some solid fuel to the fire to make it burn brighter. I turned out the gas light and got into my sleeping bag to sleep.

My body was tired and I fell asleep quickly. When I woke up, it was already around nine o'clock in the morning the next day. The sandstorm outside had been blowing all night and it didn't stop. It was just that the wind was much weaker than before. This time The devilish sandstorm is finally coming to an end.

A large part of the ruins of the ancient city has sunk into the yellow sand, and not much of it is exposed to the ground. If there are two more large sandstorms, I am afraid that this nameless ancient city will disappear into the desert, but even if it is completely covered by the yellow sand Buried does not mean that it will be buried forever. Most of the Taklamakan is a mobile desert. As the desert moves with strong winds, it is unknown how many years later it will see the light of day again.

Hao Aiguo was directing the students to excavate the stone figure in the corner. They had already dug up the stone figure's thigh. Everyone was watching. Only An Liman took advantage of the wind to weaken and went out to look after the camels hiding under the city wall.

I took out some dry food from my bag and watched them digging while eating. This time I followed the archaeological team into the desert. In addition to seeing if there were any large ancient tombs, I also wanted to learn some archaeological experience from these experts.

They were afraid of damaging the carvings on the stone figures, so they only used engineering shovels to dig out the surrounding sand, and then used flat shovels and brushes to clean it up bit by bit, digging out part of it and cleaning up part of it, while also making various records.

When Professor Ding saw that I was awake, he nodded and said hello to me. It seemed that he was in good health. He told me that this time he was just letting the students practice their skills and gain some practical experience. Although the study of theoretical knowledge is important, But for the field of archaeology, on-site internships are also very important. Only by seeing more, getting in touch with and doing more hands-on work on site can you have an intuitive feeling, and it will be much faster when combined with theory.

After a while, the students cleaned up the base of the stone statue. This was the first time I saw this kind of giant-eyed stone statue. This stone statue was dressed in Hu clothes, with arms hanging down, and many patterns carved on the body, which seemed to be some kind of Tantric scripture. , according to Professor Ding, these words have never been deciphered, but with the expansion of the field of archaeological research in recent years, experts believe that these should be some kind of symbols or codes, recording some ancient religious information. As for why these symbols were carved on the stone figures, it may be related to the sacrificial behavior. However, there are no relevant documents, murals, historical records and other relevant information at all. Up to now, these are just speculations.

Zheng Yonghai listened to the professor's explanation and asked for advice: "Professor, the shape of this stone man is very different from ordinary people. I think it is possible. In ancient times, there was a religion that worshiped aliens. They have seen aliens. After that, they thought they were gods, so they made some of these stone figures to worship. The symbols on these stone figures were in an alien language."

Hao Aiguo immediately criticized him: "Xiao Sa, you usually don't study hard. How many times have I told you that you are a very smart child. Don't use your brain in a wrong way. Why did you even create aliens?" ? Treat history and archeology seriously."

The professor was not angry, but showed a kind smile: "It is not a bad thing to have imagination. It is good for young people to have active thinking. There is no contradiction at all in being united and tense, serious and lively. However, we do archeology and study history. That is, we must follow a principle, make bold assumptions, and verify carefully. Imagination must be based on reality. Imagination without evidence is unreliable. Let¡¯s take this giant-eyed stone statue as an example. Ancient people liked it. Using astronomical phenomena to judge good and bad luck, when they look at the stars at night, do they hope that their eyes can see farther? Will they include this possibility when making stone statues? The sex is very high. Some statues have been unearthed in Sanxingdui, Sichuan, with long eyes extending out. To be conservative, this is most likely an expression of the ancients' desire for exploration. "

When I heard this, I couldn't help but be impressed. The professor was still very capable and did not bully people with big principles. Compared with the realm of understanding professors, Hao Aiguo was far behind.

Professor Dong continued: "The aliens you mentioned are not impossible. The mention of aliens does not mean the fictional science fiction in foreign novels. In fact, the earliest records of aliens appeared in our In ancient Chinese notes and murals, as early as 7,500 years ago, in the murals of primitive tribes in the Helan Mountains, the image of astronauts wearing space suits appeared. They walked out of a large disk, and the surrounding animals and residents scattered. Escape, these are probably not something that human beings could imagine at the time. It should be a record-keeping mural that records major disasters and events. Similar situations can be found in tripods from the Zhou and Xia dynasties, as well as some ancient books. There are records..."

At this time, An Liman braved the wind and sand and jumped back from the hole in the roof, telling everyone that the sandstorm was almost over, and the sky would clear up in less than half an hour. With the blessing of God, the sand had almost swallowed up the city wall outside. , if it had been scraped for two more hours, we would have been buried alive here today.

At first, everyone was a little worried. Although the wind had subsided, they didn't know when it would stop. With An Liman's words, they completely let go of their worries. The students listened intently to the professor's lecture. I was on fire. A pot of tea was boiled on the pile, and everyone was ready to drink it before setting off on the road.

The tea had just boiled when several people surrounding the giant-eyed stone statue suddenly screamed in unison and jumped back. Some people shouted: "Ah... why are there so many big ants?" Some people shouted: "Ouch! ! There¡¯s one here too!¡±

I hurried to look and saw a big lump rising from the sand under the stone man's feet. Countless big ants came out like a fountain. Someone used a shovel to hit them, and killed hundreds of them at once, but at the same time they popped up from the sand. Thousands of them. It's so densely packed that it makes one's scalp feel tight.

At first I thought they were digging the sand and excavating the ant nest, but I soon discovered that this was not the case. There were more than a dozen large holes on the ground, and more and more ants crawled out of them. Each one had a dark body. The red tail, red and black, is as countless as the tides on the embankment.

An Liman only glanced at it, turned around and ran out. Monkey and others wanted to use the engineer shovel to take pictures. At this moment, there were so many ants that it was impossible to start.

Miss Guo is a photographer for National Geographic magazine. She has been to many places and has seen a lot. She shouted anxiously to everyone: "Everyone, climb out of the roof quickly. These are desert army ants. Walk slowly." Chewed to the bone."

Tens of thousands of desert army ants have filled half of the room, and more are crawling out of the ground. They are not only crawling out of the ground, but also on the beams and walls. They are crawling out everywhere. Professor Ye Yixin and others were so frightened by this horrifying situation that their feet became weak and they could not even walk half a step.

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Sand Sea Magic Nest 9

Not to mention those intellectuals, even Monkey and I felt like we were trembling all over. These desert army ants were so terrifying. Maybe the original human skeleton in the house was their masterpiece. No wonder there was no skin or flesh left. .

I tried to calm myself down, and when I looked at the people around me, I found that old guy An Liman had escaped first. Damn it, this old fritter ran away when he saw danger. Yesterday he vowed to share the joys and sorrows with us.

I didn't have time to curse An Liman, that stinky old man. Seeing that the blows of the engineer shovel could no longer stop the tide of desert army ants, I kicked over the fire where tea was brewing, poured out all the half-iron cans of solid fuel, and placed A wall of fire formed in the house, and the ant colonies that encountered the wall of fire were immediately scorched, slightly blocking the progress of the desert army ants.

There were too many desert army ants, and they rushed towards the wall of fire without hesitation, trying to use their numbers to put out the flames. Thanks to the strong burning properties of solid fuel, it was only a matter of time before they were wiped out by the ant colony.

Taking advantage of this little time, we grabbed the luggage and equipment we could carry and pulled them out of the hut. The wind and sand outside were already very small, and we saw hundreds of yellow sheep, wild camels, sand wolves, gerbils, The beasts were running around in the ruins of the ancient city. Not only the big house we were in just now, but also patches of desert army ants appeared in many places. Some animals ran a little slower and were immediately covered by desert army ants.

The mouths of desert army ants contain a lot of formic acid. Thousands of them bite them together. Even elephants can't bear it. Some sand wolves and yellow sheep fall to the ground. After the desert army ants pass by, they are left with only a pile of bones. .

There are tens of millions of desert army ants in this city, as if the entire ancient city is a huge ant nest. We are trapped on the roof, and we can only use the engineer shovel to sweep down the army ants that have climbed up.

Under the city wall in the distance, An Liman was busy untying the rope that tied the camel. I threw the rifle to the monkey and said, "Hit his hat."

The monkey raised the rifle, pointed it at An Liman and pulled the trigger without hesitation. With a "pop" sound, An Liman's leather hat was hit by the bullet. He shrank his neck in fright, and turned back to look at the people on the roof. .

I shouted to him: "Old man, if you dare to run, I'll spank you with the second shot. Hu Da will definitely have no objection."

An Liman waved his hands repeatedly, signaling not to run away. But the house was already covered with desert army ants. We couldn't get out for the time being, and there was no way we could get on the roof. Just as we were ignoring it, we saw a broken wall collapse, and a big ant as big as a calf crawled out of it. out.

This is a queen ant with six pairs of large transparent wings. It may be that the attack of the sandstorm has alerted the queen ants hiding deep in the nest, and they are preparing to migrate.

Seeing the Queen Ant's momentum, everyone on the archaeological team changed their faces. Miss Guo shouted: "Catch the thief first, capture the king first, shoot and kill it quickly."

The monkey clapped the sports rifle in his hand and stamped his feet anxiously: "The caliber of this gun is too small, it can't fucking shoot." Even so, he still fired and used all the remaining bullets in the magazine. Shot at the queen ant.

I took off the scarf that was used to block the wind and sand, wrapped all the remaining solid fuel in the scarf, took out a lighter and lit the corner of the scarf, using it as an incendiary bomb, and smashed it from the roof to the queen ant below.

This move had a miraculous effect. The fire took advantage of the wind and surrounded the body of the huge queen ant. The queen was in pain and struggled to roll on the sand. The fire grew bigger and bigger. Only a little bit of this compressed fuel can burn for ten seconds. In a few minutes, not to mention the half-barrel, which weighed about one kilogram, the fire grew bigger and bigger. The surrounding desert army ants exploded their camps and rushed towards the queen regardless of their own safety, hoping to extinguish the flames with their numbers.

Seeing the opportunity coming, I waved to everyone, jumped out of the broken house first with an engineering shovel, and dispersed the scattered desert army ants. The big man Chu Jian carried Professor Dao on his back, Hao Aiguo, Ye Yixin and others supported each other. After the monkey was broken, The group of people rushed out from the breach.

At this time, An Liman had already controlled the frightened camel herd. Everyone climbed on the camel and urged the camel team to run out of the city. Various wild beasts jumped around from time to time. Usually they would fight to the death when they encountered this. At that time, no one could care about anyone else, and they all ran away desperately.

The camel team ran a few hundred meters away. When I looked back, I could no longer see the dilapidated ruins of the ancient city. Countless desert army ants were boiling and swarming out of the ground like boiling red and black sea water. But as long as you are not surrounded by this large group of ants, there is no danger.

An Liman explained that he wanted to go out first and untie the ropes of the camels. Otherwise, the ants would chew the camels into bones and we would not be able to escape even if we wanted to. He did not want to escape first.

The monkey didn't believe it and pointed at the rifle on his back with his thumb: "Don't tell me. You have to explain it to me later. Explain to me this gun."

An Liman's reasons seemed to be very good, and we couldn't just assume that he left everyone behind and ran away alone. There would be many places in the desert where we couldn't do without him in the future. I didn't want to fall out with him, so I stopped the monkey and refused to let him go. He continued.

I said to An Liman: "We saw the auspicious white camels in the desert together, and escaped the siege of desert army ants. This was all Hu Da's will. He thinks that we are brothers and are both devout believers. So we all believe in you. Anyone who betrays his friends and brothers will be punished by Hu."

An Limanlian claimed: "Praise Allah, Hu Da is the only true God. We are all the best friends and brothers. Allah will definitely bless us."

Even if this not-so-small, near-miss episode is over, who knows what troubles may be waiting for us in the depths of the sand sea in Xiye Ancient City. I still have to find a way to persuade Professor Xing and the others to go back. .

We are less than half a day away from the ruins of Xiye Ancient City. The wind has stopped, and the sun like a fireball hangs in the sky. The most important thing when traveling in the desert is to keep yourself hydrated. Traveling during the day is originally It was a big no-no, but we still had plenty of water, and we could replenish it when we arrived at Xiye City, so we headed forward in the desert under the scorching sun.

The desert during the day has a different scene. In ancient times, the orogeny of the Himalayan Mountains formed the Tarim Basin. The entire terrain of Xinjiang is like a big bowl, with a bowl of golden sand in it. The camel team consisting of nine people and nineteen camels is too small, and its proportion is less than one ten thousandth of a grain of sand in this bowl of golden sand.

The desert is vast and boundless. If it weren't for the long footprints behind you, you wouldn't even feel that you are moving forward. I really admire those explorers who enter the Gobi Desert alone. Maybe they can only walk in the world so lonely. During this time, they will experience the true meaning of life and admire it. I am not going to do that in this life, or collective life is suitable for me.

Zheng Yonghai and others were very curious and asked Miss Guo to tell her about desert army ants as they walked. Miss Guo had never seen it with her own eyes before, but she had only seen villages that were looted by desert army ants. People and animals were chewed up until only the bones were left. , miserable.

This type of ant colony is called army ants because they have a high degree of organizational discipline and are dominated by soldier ants. Compared with the human army, in addition to mobility and firepower, the well-trained human army has The ability to coordinate and organize is simply not comparable to that of desert army ants.

As they walked, they talked about how the sand dunes under their feet were rising and falling, with unprecedented undulations. An Liman said that under these dense sand dunes were ancient cities swallowed up by the yellow sand. He led everyone up to the tallest big sand mountain, pointing out Heading to the south, we will tell you that there is our intermediate station and the ruins of Xiye Ancient City.

I raised my telescope and looked south. I could see an oasis in the hinterland of the sand sea.

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Sand Sea Magic Nest 10

The oasis in the desert is like an emerald on a gold plate. From a distance, the ruins of a black city stand among it.

The ruins of Xiye City are quite well preserved. The city was also relatively late. It was not destroyed by war until the end of the Tang Dynasty. Since then, it has been abandoned to this day. In the early 19th century, German explorers discovered this place. Most of the murals, statues and other cultural relics with artistic value in the ruins were looted.

There is only this empty city left in the desert, the oldest ancient Kongque River channel. So far, because underground water veins have passed through the city all year round from ancient times to the present, it has become an important supply point for travelers in the desert. .

The camel team descended from the Dasha Mountain and slowly moved towards the oasis. An Liman and I discussed that we should rest for two more days in Xiye City before entering the Black Desert. Once in, it would be difficult to turn back. The camels were frightened these days. Carrying a large amount of supplies, I had to strengthen my legs before setting off again.

This statement is exactly what I want. I wish I could stop for a few more days so that I can find an excuse to persuade the archaeological team to go back home. Instead of looking for some exquisite ancient city, I just dig two pits nearby and wander around. Recently, I feel more and more If you don't have enough strength and go deeper into the desert, something big will happen sooner or later. By then, I'm afraid you won't be as lucky as the previous times.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I slowed down the pace of the camel and rode side by side with Professor Dongdong. I said to him: "Professor, let's enter Xiye City, rest for three to five days, and then set off again in five or six days? An Liman said that the camels They are all exhausted. If we don¡¯t let them rest enough, we will have to switch to No. 11.¡±

Professor Ding was confused and asked: "What... No. 11? How to open it?"

I said, "Professor, why don't you even know No. 11? You just walk on two legs." After that, I used two fingers to imitate walking on two legs: "Isn't this No. 11?"

Professor Miao laughed loudly: "Brother Hu, where did you come from so many new words? It's really interesting. Okay, let's just renovate it in there for a few days. I also want to take a closer look at the ruins of this famous city."

It looked like we were not far from the oasis on the sand mountain, but we walked for three hours to get there. The city wall was made of black stones, and some places had been weathered and damaged. Only the main city was quite well built. In order to be strong, and the glorious atmosphere of that year can still be vaguely seen, some oil well workers, expedition teams, and geological survey teams passing by here stayed overnight in the main city, blocking the door with stones so that they did not have to worry about attacks by wolves.

Since the mid-1970s, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet have carried out vigorous wolf hunting activities. Large-scale wolf packs have been completely extinct, leaving only some small groups or lone wolves acting alone, which are not a problem.

Besides, there are many of us and we carry guns, so we don¡¯t have to worry about wolves. It¡¯s the windy season, and no one else comes here except us. So we found a spacious room in the main city, lit a campfire, and ate. Make tea.

An Liman and I found the ancient well in the city. It is said that this well has never dried up for thousands of years. An Liman said that this was Hu Da's miracle. I did not comment on this and used a leather bucket to get a bucket. Well water, the well is very deep. I had to put dozens of meters of long rope before I could hear the sound of falling water. After taking it out, I took a sip first. It was ice-cold and refreshing. It penetrated my heart and spleen. The anger caused by being exposed to the poisonous sun in the desert suddenly disappeared. , I feel indescribably comfortable and useful.

He placed the nineteen camels next to the well, drank them one by one, and gave them salt croton cakes to eat. Then he picked up two large buckets of well water and returned to the house where the archaeological team members were resting.

These people were so exhausted that they fell on the ground and fell asleep. Some of them still had half a piece of cake in their mouths, and fell asleep after eating half of it. I didn't disturb them, and they had suffered enough in the past few days.

After boiling a large pot of water, Professor Dong and others were woken up one by one, forcing them to scald their feet with hot water, and then pricked the blisters on their feet.

After all this work, I went to bed. I slept drowsily for a whole day and night. My tired body finally recovered. In the evening, everyone sat around and listened to the monkey bragging.

The monkey was eloquent, telling everyone how rich the products were in the old forests of the Northeast and how delicious the mountain delicacies were. How could it be like a desert? Except for sand, it was just sand. The wind was so strong that even one bite of a yellow sheep would leave a mouth full of sand. Particles, especially the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains, have all kinds of delicious food. There has been a saying since ancient times: sticks beat roe deer and gourds scoop out fish, and pheasants fly into the rice pot. Can you imagine the free life of hunters?

Several students with little experience made Monkey Kan stupid. Zheng Yonghai pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and asked curiously: "Brother Wang, what is beating a roe deer with a stick? Do you use a stick to beat it?"

The monkey said: "My glasses, I see that you are very studious, so I will tell you. That is to say, if you are walking in the mountains, you can pick up a stick and swing it casually and kill a roe deer. You can also use a gourd in the river to fish blindly." Catching big fat fish means the product is rich.¡±

Miss Guo snorted and dismissed what the monkey said: "The desert also has its advantages. The types of animals and plants in the desert are not less than those in the forest. And although the Taklimakan Desert is at the lowest point of the basin, in a sense , this is a peak of ancient civilization, what else is there in the forest besides wild deer, dogs and bears?¡±

I was afraid that the two of them would start fighting, so I quickly told her that there was a lady in the room, and we two brothers were going out to smoke. As he spoke, he pulled the monkey outside.

The bright moon in the sky is picturesque, and the stars are shining brightly, illuminating the earth with a silvery light. I light a cigarette for the monkey and advise him to give in to Miss Guo. The monkey says that of course I can't be as knowledgeable as her. They Americans are not sensible, and we can't. I don¡¯t understand, let alone a woman. If it were a man, his head would have been ripped off and used as a football.

I smiled and said: "That's right, that's right. Who are you? You can make a big hole in the cement floor by peeing. You have to be a big man and don't pull Miss Guo's head off. Otherwise Who can we ask for the salary? Twenty thousand dollars, that¡¯s not a small amount.¡±

After joking for a while, I raised my head and blew out a smoke ring. I saw the Jumen star, the left auxiliary star, and the right Bixing star in the sky. The three shining stars were arranged in an equilateral triangle. The central sun star and the lunar star appeared side by side. It was a wonderful scene. The group is a lucky star.

I had never studied Tianxing Feng Shui carefully before. I just read it several times in order to make some money for the archaeological team. At this time, when I looked at it, the contents of the Tianzi scroll in the Burial Scripture immediately came to mind.

I quickly ran back to the house, took the compass, stepped up to the top of the tower, and compared the stars in the sky. This place shrouded by auspicious stars was at the ancient well in the city. This was my first time to practice Tianxing Feng Shui, and I was unsure. , but most people will not be mistaken. My "Beidou Incense Burial Sutra" is not a vulgar object, so that means there must be an ancient tomb near the underground water veins? The tomb is said to hold water, but is it too close?

Anyway, this is a major discovery. I have to tell the archaeological team about it. It's best if they find something here and gain something, so they probably won't have to go into the Black Desert.

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11Sand Sea Magic Nest

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Professor Ting was overjoyed and rushed to the well with his students excitedly, planning to go down and have a look. The well's railings and nooses were reinstalled later, and the previous ones had been destroyed at some point.

An Liman stopped everyone and said, "This is a holy well. Hu Da does not allow mortals to go down."

Hao Aiguo pulled An Liman aside and talked to him about the archaeological policy. The purpose of excavation of ancient tombs is for better protection, so that this cultural wealth can be left to the people. Tomb robbing incidents are common in Xinjiang now, and even foreigners come. Digging secretly, if the government does not come forward to protect it, these precious things will be lost.

Miss Guo and I discussed it. The well is very deep. We can make a double-buckle safety lock and hang people down to see what is inside.

I could only go down there. Although there was water veins down there, I still didn¡¯t dare to be careless. I put on a gas mask, a flashlight, a whistle, an engineer shovel, a dagger, and secretly hid the black donkey¡¯s hooves and the golden charm. I reached out and tried the rope. The strength of the rope should be discussed and the method of contact should be discussed. If you wave the flashlight upward three times, the people above will stop and stop letting go of the rope when they see it. The second time you wave the flashlight upward is to let people pull up. In order to prevent accidents, also Carry a whistle and use the whistle to communicate if you cannot see the light of your flashlight.

At this time, An Liman had been cleared by Hao Aiguo. Chu Jianhou and him were joined by three people who put the rope down for me, and I descended from the wellhead little by little.

It was night at this time. Except for the light of the flashlight, everything was pitch black. You couldn't see clearly where the wellhead was when you looked up. The temperature dropped deeper and deeper in the desert. The temperature at night in the desert was very low. Coupled with the high humidity in the well, it made people feel like they were never there. Cold from the inside out.

The walls of the well were slippery, making it difficult to stand. It is said that this ancient well is much older than last year's Xiye City. This well existed first, and then Xiye City came into being. Suddenly a cool breeze blew, and I hurriedly I used a flashlight to shine and saw a stone door on the wall of the well.

I aimed it at the top of my head, blowing the whistle and flashing the flashlight. It was not far from the mouth of the well, only fifteen or six meters deep. As long as I spoke loudly, the people above could hear it. When they received the signal, they immediately stopped and put down the rope. It just hangs a little lower than the stone door.

The cold wind blew out from the gap in the stone door. When I pushed it with my hand, I felt that the stone door was very thick and there was no stone lock or stone bolt. Although the gap was large, it could not be pushed and I needed to use a crowbar to open it.

Seeing that I couldn't get in, I sent out a second signal and asked them to pull me up. I explained the situation underground in detail. Professor Xiao was amazed and said: "Strange, maybe this is not a mausoleum, but a secret passage or something like that." Yes, how can any mausoleum in the world be built next to a well with such a mysterious passage? "

The monkey volunteered: "Whatever it is, there's no point in guessing. Let's go in and take a look. You guys get me down and I'll pry open the stone door."

I said, "Forget it. If you want to go down, I'll go down with the crowbar. You're too heavy, monkey. If the rope breaks, we have to go down the well to fish you out."

This time we made a rope ladder, so that after the stone gate is opened, anyone who wants to go down can climb down the rope ladder. The people who finally decided to go down were Professor Dongdong, Miss Guo, Zheng Yonghai and myself, while Monkey and others stayed on top.

I still went down first and used a crowbar to pry open the stone door. It seemed that this door had been opened and closed frequently in the past, otherwise there would not have been such a big gap. However, it may not have been opened in the past few hundred years, and it could not be used on the rope ladder. It took a lot of effort to open this door.

Behind the stone door is a masonry-structured corridor, which is spacious and neat, and the inside is pitch-black and unfathomable. I called Miss Guo and the others above to come down, and pulled the three people into the corridor one by one.

Miss Guo distributed a pill to everyone, saying it could prevent hypoxia. Then he put on a gas mask and walked inside without risk.

The four of them walked about fifty meters inside and passed two stone doors in a row. The last door was sealed tightly. There were unknown strange beasts embossed on the stone door. There were dead animal skins stuck to the cracks in the door. They used a flat shovel to remove the animals. The skin was cut off piece by piece before the door could be opened.

When we reached the end, we entered a spacious and dry stone room. The length and width were almost sixty or seventy meters, and the height was three meters. The four people standing inside didn't feel cramped at all.

Although this space is spacious, the atmosphere is by no means relaxing. There are so many bones on the ground that you can't find a place to put your feet. It seems that those bones are from animals. They are extremely loose and will break when stepped on. There are dozens of wooden pillars standing around it. There were dried human bones tied up, and they all looked like strong men.

Professor Guo, Miss Guo, and I have all experienced training for a long time, but we just found this place mysterious and didn't feel scared. Only Zheng Yonghai saw so many mummies and was so frightened that he couldn't even speak. Wherever the professor went, he would follow him. Where, I dare not take a step away.

Miss Guo looked at the mummies and sighed: "It's so miserable. They are all slaves or prisoners who were buried. It's really too barbaric."

Professor Dong said to everyone: "It seems that this is a place where sacrifices are held for important deceased people. This was the custom of Pu Mo in ancient times. These individuals were all criminals. They were tied up in the desert and died of thirst. After they were completely dried, they were placed on the Here, the blood of the slaughtered animals is poured onto these mummies. Let¡¯s look for it. There should be a tomb here.¡±

We turned around and looked around. There were stone walls on all sides. After knocking a few times, it was obvious that the back was solid and there would be no other space.

Miss Guo was still careful and found something wrong with the floor of the stone room. I pushed aside all the broken bones on the ground, and a large stone slab with relief was exposed on the ground, with two pull rings at both ends.

I asked Zheng Yonghai to help me pull up the slate. I saw that his whole body was shaking into a ball. I couldn't help but laugh. I asked him to go back the way he came to avoid peeing his pants again. I also changed Hao Aiguo. He must be worried about this. Interested in weird tombs.

Zheng Yonghaixiang received the amnesty and hurried back. Professor Mingming was angry and funny: "Oh, this kid is too timid. He is not material for archeology."

Miss Guo and I worked together to pull open the stone slabs on the ground, and then threw in a cold firework to illuminate the place below. Under the ground was a tomb chamber about the same size as above, with a square coffin placed in the middle. The difference between the coffin and the mainland is too big. There is no decorative pattern, and it is not rectangular. It is square, but looks like a large box.

Not to mention that I have never seen this type of tomb and coffin, and even the knowledgeable professors cannot figure it out. I am afraid that this is a long-lost ancient burial form of ethnic minorities, which is largely influenced by Han culture. Influence, but made it plausible, adding a lot of their own things, which is really rare.

At this time, Hao Aiguo came with Chu Jian. When he saw the scene here, his eyes were so excited that he put on a gas mask and jumped down first. He looked here and there, and the back of his head was filled with joy. , I always thought he was a serious and old-fashioned person, but I didn't expect that he was like a child at this time, and now he was dancing and scratching his head and ears.

We also went down to the tomb chamber on the ground floor one after another. When we looked around, we couldn't help but say "ah". The four walls of the tomb chamber were all covered with exquisite colorful murals.

When Professor Miao saw one of the paintings, he was very excited: "This... the things recorded in this painting are related to Jingjue Kingdom."

What I want to see most are the valuable burial objects. This coffin is not small, and there might be something good in it. Although they can¡¯t take it away in front of the professor, it can open their eyes. Now I feel like it¡¯s the tomb of a nobleman. It's more luxurious than the general's tomb at Heifengkou.

But Professor Understand was looking at the murals in the tomb and ignored the coffin in the middle. I had to wait patiently and listened to Professor Understand's explanation of the murals to Hao Aiguo and others.

The first few paintings indicate that the owner of the tomb was the prince of Gumo during his lifetime. Gumo was a vassal state of Jingjue and was greatly oppressed. Every year, he sacrificed a large number of treasures and cattle and sheep slaves. He once went to request Queen Jingjue to give him The subjects were free and went there three times in a row but never saw the queen.

This painting probably means that he is unwilling to give in. The brave prince is the incarnation of the sun god of war. He sneaked into Jingjue alone to assassinate the evil queen, but he discovered a big secret.

As I listened, I was also attracted by the professor's words. I was curious about what the secret was? Walk over and listen to the professor's explanation with Miss Guo and others.

Professor Dong walked to the next mural and looked at it carefully for a long time: "This meaning is very strange. Look at this painting, the prince is hiding in the corner and peeking, and the face of the exquisite queen is the same in all the murals. Covered with a veil, the queen only has her back in this painting. She lifted up the sand with one hand, and the person opposite, who seemed to be a slave, turned into a shadow... and disappeared? "

I was confused and was about to ask more questions, but I heard Miss Guo say: "This queen is...a monster."

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Sand Sea Magic Nest 12

"Monster?" Professor Dong was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then said to Shirley: "It's interesting, tell me what you think."

Miss Guo pointed to the mural and said: "The painter who painted this mural is very skilled in painting. The composition is gorgeous and expressive. It describes the major events in the life of the prince of Pu Mo. Although there is no textual annotation, the characteristics are very distinctive. We can get it through the mural. Intuitive feelings and clear understanding of the events and characters in the painting.¡±

I watched her analysis carefully while listening to her analysis of the murals. Indeed, as she said, the characters, costumes, buildings, and expressions in the murals are all lifelike. If you know something about the culture of the Western Regions, you can roughly grasp the painting through this information in the paintings. The background of the events recorded in.

Just listen to Miss Guo continue to say: "Professor, the mural you just mentioned is the most difficult to understand among all the murals. In the painting, the queen lifts the veil that has always been covering her face. The figure opposite her is It became a dotted line. All the characters in the murals are realistic. Only the person who saw the front face of Queen Jingjue became a dotted line. Only a vague outline was drawn. From this only outline, We can't tell the identity of this character... We can only speculate that the dotted character is a slave or an assassin, an enemy that the Queen wants to get rid of. "

When I heard this, I couldn't help but interjected and asked: "Miss Yang, you mean... the person in the painting disappeared after seeing the queen's face?"

Miss Guo said: "What Mr. Hu said is almost the same. If I use my words to explain it, I would say that the Queen's eyes looked at this person and this person disappeared."

I shook my head and smiled bitterly: "A living person? Disappeared after just one glance? Disappeared? This... this is too... unbelievable. To be honest, it is a little difficult for me to understand."

Professor Ding seemed to understand what Miss Guo meant and motioned for her to continue.

Miss Guo said: "Although I am just speculating, I am not talking out of thin air. My father liked to read a book called "The Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" during his lifetime. It was written by the eminent monk Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty. I have read it several times. It records many legends from the ancient Western Regions, some of which are myths and legends, and many of which are real events. Among them is the legend of the Queen of the Desert. Deep in the desert, there is a city in which a minority ethnic group from underground lives. They ruled and conquered other surrounding small countries. After hundreds of years, the throne was passed to the last queen. Legend has it that the queen's eyes were the passage to the underworld. As long as she looked at her enemies, they would disappear into thin air. There is no trace, and they will never come back. Where the disappeared people have gone, I am afraid only the missing people themselves know. The queen adopts a high-pressure rule. She wants all the people of neighboring countries to worship her as a true god. All those who resisted were skinned and executed alive. Perhaps her actions offended God, and the queen fell ill with a strange disease within a few years and died. "

What those slaves feared the most was the queen. As soon as she died, the slaves and several surrounding countries that were oppressed by the queen formed a coalition and bloodbathed the queen's royal city. The coalition was preparing to destroy the queen's mausoleum. At this moment, the color of the world changed. The terrible wind and sand swallowed up the royal city and the coalition forces together. The queen's tomb and the countless treasures she collected were buried under the yellow sand. After hundreds of years, the flow of the desert made the royal city see the light of day again. Some travelers passed there, As long as they take any property in the city, a desert storm will occur, smoke will rise, the road will be lost, and those who take the Queen's treasure will never be able to leave.

However, there are no clear records in the book about the mysterious royal city, the evil queen, the historical background, etc. Today, I saw the murals in the tomb here and compared them with the ancient legend. There are many similarities between the two. This place makes people feel that it is not only a legend, but perhaps such things have really happened in the dusty history.

Miss Guo asked everyone to look at the next few murals: "The reason why we are sure that the queen in the painting is Queen Jingjue is because of the special costumes of Jingjue people, as well as Jingjue's unique buildings and decorations. They are all the most powerful evidence. Professor, Mr. Hu, if you look at the following murals, it further proves the reliability of my inference. The meaning expressed by these murals is very clear. The prince's assassination was not successful. What will he continue to do after returning to China? In order to get rid of the queen in this way, the prince met a fortune teller from a distant country. The fortune teller asked the prince to hide a special chronic poison in the meat of the golden lamb, and then pay tribute to the queen. As expected, not long after that, the queen suddenly became violent. At the same time, the prince died prematurely due to overwork. He and his beloved wife were buried together in a mausoleum and buried under the altar of the holy well. "

It turns out that the altar above was built first, and then the tomb was built, and the events recorded in the murals are closely related to the legends in the book. Professor Guo meets Miss Guo, although he is a photographer, but after all, he comes from a family of archaeologists and studies Origin, old classmate has a girl like this, I feel very happy. At this time, thinking of the old friend who disappeared deep in the desert, I can't help but burst into tears.

Miss Guo said to the professor: "Take care of yourself and don't be too sad. We have gained a lot this time. We have made breakthrough and substantial progress in our understanding of Jingjue's relics. I believe that we will be able to find Jingjue in the near future." In the ancient city, my late father has a spirit in heaven and can rest in peace."

I secretly complained in my heart. I wanted to find an ancient tomb and let them turn around and go back. Unexpectedly, it backfired. Looking at this situation, it was useless to persuade them. If I had known, I would have pretended not to see it.

I suddenly remembered that Miss Guo said that the queen of Jingjue Kingdom was a monster, and asked: "Miss Yang, I remember hearing you talk about it before, that the queen is the most beautiful woman in the Western Regions, and other women in front of her are just like The stars are dimmed like the sun, so why do you say she is a monster? If she is really a monster, wouldn¡¯t we risk death by searching for her tomb?¡±

Miss Guo said: "These things are all legends, and our inferences may not be certain to be facts. Archeology is like this. Legends, records, unearthed antiquities, and scholars' speculations. The more these things, the more likely they are to be true." The closer we get to the truth of history, but what we can do is only infinitely closer to reality. It is impossible to restore any history. In ancient times, human beings had a very low level of understanding of the world, and some phenomena that now seem very common. , would be exaggerated into monsters or miracles in ancient times. Even today, when science is highly developed, there are still some phenomena that cannot be explained by science. I believe this is not because gods and demons really exist, but because the field of scientific exploration is still unclear. It¡¯s not extensive enough. In the years to come, we will surely be able to find the answers to all the unsolved mysteries through scientific means.¡±

I asked again: "Then the Queen of Jingjue Kingdom can make people disappear with her eyes. How should we understand this matter today when science and civilization are very advanced?"

Miss Guo said: "Mr. Hu, I don¡¯t know if you have heard of a sensational incident in the United States. At the Special Phenomenon and Pathology Research Center in Kansas, the United States, a strange patient appeared. This was a twelve-year-old A boy who has had a special ability since he was a child. If he stares at an object less than five centimeters in diameter for a long time, the object will disappear, as if evaporating in the air. Neighbors regard the boy as an alien and say he is a monster. His parents are also deeply troubled, so they hope that relevant government departments can help them cure their child.¡±

This is strange. I have never heard of it. I don¡¯t know much about China, let alone the strange news in the United States. What exactly is this disease? It sounds exactly like the monster queen. Was the child finally cured?

Miss Guo said: "After research by scientists, they found that this little boy's brain waves are different from ordinary people. His cranial nerves and optic nerves produce a kind of transport energy. This energy is connected to an imaginary space (an unexplorable space). , the proportion of this kind of special function in humans is one in three billion. Finally, a researcher found a way. They made a magnetic helmet and put it on the little boy¡¯s head. A year later, his The special ability disappeared. At that time, the U.S. military had planned to secretly send the child to a military research institute, but this was revealed and caused an uproar among the people, and the military had to abandon the plan. "

After hearing this, I still muttered in my heart. I'm afraid the legendary Evil Queen is not as simple as that American child. I'm not afraid of death. If we really find the Queen's ancient tomb, what if she turns her into that? I don¡¯t know where the place is, so what should I do? Anyway, let's take one step at a time. If there is real danger, I will use strong methods to bring them back. Who dares to disobey orders? Damn it, I don¡¯t believe it anymore. The arms of these intellectuals can¡¯t twist my thigh, and they turned against them.

This long conversation has wasted a lot of time. I have finished studying the surrounding murals. I ask Professor Qing, do we still want to see the contents of the coffin?