Professor Chen waved his hands repeatedly: "The coffin where Prince Gumo and his wife were buried together cannot be opened.
It is a national treasure.
We do not have the conditions now, and the environment is not suitable.
Once opened, the sealed coffin and the items inside will be destroyed.
The purpose of our trip It’s just a matter of submitting an evaluation report to the superiors, applying for excavation, or giving due protection to these ancient civilization heritages.
Just go back and let Aiguo take Chu Jian and the others to prepare the records.
I will write the report myself.”
It seemed that I didn't have a chance to see what good things were in this coffin.
Even though I knew that the professor was right, I was still a little disappointed.
So I climbed back to the sacrificial room on the upper floor with them.
There were originally many animal skins sealed on the stone door of the sacrificial room.
I chopped them up with a flat shovel.
Professor Chen said that these were to keep the sacrificial room dry and isolate the moisture from the holy well.
In ancient times, the Gumo people brought live animals into the sacrificial room and slaughtered them.
Then they immediately put the freshly peeled animal skins, still with warm blood, on the gaps in the stone door.
The meat and internal organs of cattle and sheep were cut clean, leaving only the bones. , the stone gate will not be opened again until the next festival.
This strange ritual of slaughtering animals, skinning and deboning them, and tying their mummies to wooden stakes is to maintain the water source of the holy well so that it will never dry up.
People in the ancient desert believed that the soul of life came from sacred water.
This is very close to Darwin's theory of the origin of life to a certain extent.
We can no longer use those animal skins to seal the stone door.
There are no large animals around except camels, but the nineteen-humped camel is particularly precious to us.
We cannot peel the camel skin to seal the door, so we stick it with several layers of tape.
The archaeological team rested in Xiye City for three days, then set off south, finally entering the sand sea that the locals call the "Black Desert".
There are no more Populus euphratica in the desert, nor are there any undulating sand mountains.
The sand dunes all have similar heights, and are like flat buns, boundless.
From any angle, the scenery is the same, without any sign of life.
I asked An Liman if he had ever been to this desert before.
Old man An Liman smiled bitterly and said: "This is the hell of Huangsha.
Even Hu Da and his old man are not willing to come.
Well, I have only been here once in a while, and this is the time now.
If not Your cadre master, and Hu Da’s beloved white camel, I will never come here even if I die a hundred times.”
Complaints are complaints.
An Liman is known as the living map of the desert, and his reputation is not in vain.
He is as familiar with the desert as a woman playing with pots and pans.
Although it was the first time in his life that he had entered this forbidden black desert, but with his two fox-like eyes, he could still spot the pickerel grass, sagebrush and other plants in the sand nests, and he followed the traces of these plants. , and years of experience in the desert, can lead the archaeological team forward.
The desert contains the largest inland water system in China, but many of the water systems such as the Tarim River seep into the sand.
On the surface, there is no grass growing in the desert, but deep underground, there may be raging underground rivers.
Some plants that grow specifically in deserts survive tenaciously by relying on the little bits of water vapor that rises to the surface of the desert from underground water veins.
In fact, in addition to a small number of plants, there are also many animals here, but most of them only come out to look for food in the cold nights.
In the Han Dynasty or even earlier, Taklimakan was known as the "ancient homeland".
At that time, the degree of desertification in this area was not serious, the rivers had not penetrated into the ground, and there were oasis towns, forts, Buddhist temples, and inns everywhere.
Countless caravans carried silk, spices and tea back and forth here.
Until the Yuan Dynasty, the famous Italian Marco Polo also passed here with the caravans heading to the Central Plains.
By the Ming Dynasty, the Ottoman Empire across Europe and Asia had risen, and wars blocked commercial trade between Europe and the Asian continent.
That era was an era of the ocean.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
Navigators opened up new routes, and the main route of trade shifted from land to sea.
This great era is also called the Age of Geographic Discovery.
Coupled with the increasingly serious desert erosion and the harsh living environment, countries large and small in the desert have completely declined, and their former prosperity and glory have been taken away by the gods.
The Black Desert was the first place abandoned by the gods.
The civilization here stopped during the Jin Dynasty.
To this day, the Black Desert is still lifeless.
On the first day we set out, we encountered a slight sandstorm.
The sky was slightly yellow, but the sandstorm was not strong and it just blocked the sun, so we could travel during the day.
Shiry Yang held the notebook left by the British explorer and discussed the route with An Liman as he walked.
The notebook records that after leaving Xiye City, the explorers discovered a place nearby with a large number of stone tombs.
They planned to excavate when they returned, so they drew a detailed route in the notebook.
An Liman's experience and Shiry Yang's notebook, although unable to accurately locate, provided us with great help in terms of distance and direction.
When camping at night, An Liman found a raised land.
They built a sand-proof wall on the dune, settled the camels, and then lit a fire on the leeward side of the dune to keep warm.
It was a very hard day's walking.
Although the wind was not strong, it was very distracting.
An Liman kept saying that it was windy season.
In the Black Desert, this kind of weather happens once every two days on average.
When there is no wind, , the vicious sun will drain the last drop of moisture from the traveler.
The fat man said: "The hot spot is good.
Sweating can help you lose weight.
It's nice to be in the sun.
It's just that the wind keeps blowing.
I can't even talk on the road.
It's really boring."
An Liman said, what do you know?
This is the edge of the Black Desert.
It takes another five days to walk into the depths.
Although I have never been in, I know some friends who have been.
They are all survivors who came back from the Black Desert. .
The scary thing about the Black Desert is not the trapping quicksand, the gold-eating ants that can eat all the cars, or the black storm.
Legend has it that there is a dreamy land in the depths.
After people enter, they will see lakes, rivers, beauties, mythical beasts, snow-capped mountains, and oases.
Those who are thirsty and tired will naturally walk hard towards these beautiful scenery, but I can't leave until I die of thirst and exhaustion. arrive.
In fact, they are all traps set by the devil to lure people to die inside.
But Hu will bless us, Allahu.
Shiry Yang said: "What they saw may be a mirage in the desert.
People who don't know what's going on are easily confused."
While talking, Ye Yixin came over and pulled Shirey Yang aside.
The two of them whispered a few words.
Shirey Yang turned to me and said, "We have something to do behind that sand dune."
I knew it might be Ye Yixin's convenience.
She was too timid to go by herself, so she had to drag Shiry Yang to accompany her.
He nodded to them and told them: "Bring a flashlight and a whistle.
If something happens, blow the whistle as hard as you can, and go back quickly."
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
Shiry Yang agreed and walked hand in hand with Ye Yixin to the back of a sand dune not far away.
The fat man asked me if I had any more wine.
I said no, even if I bring a bucket of liquor, I can't stop you from drinking like this.
Drink a few sips of hot water and go to bed quickly.
If you can't find a water source in five or six days, by then, you won't even be able to drink the water rationed per person per day.
It's going to be reduced.
This is just to scare the fat man.
Even if I can't find the underground river in the desert, I have a way to ensure that everyone has the minimum amount of drinking water.
But that's a last resort, it's troublesome, but it does work.
I learned desert survival skills when I was a soldier.
An Liman initially refused to enter the Black Desert.
One of the main reasons was that there was no fresh water in the Black Desert.
Although there were underground rivers, it was impossible to dig that deep.
Digging down from the roots of Haloxylon ammodendron, a desert grass, Three to five meters down, there was only wet sand and salt water.
The more I drank, the thirstier I became.
An Liman also understands this method.
I have repeatedly studied its feasibility with him, and we agreed privately that when we reach a place where Haloxylon ammodendron is not even long, we will never take another half step forward.
Only then did he agree. .
Anyone who has received desert survival training in the military knows that the shallower parts of the desert in Xinjiang are mostly salty water with a high mineral content.
By digging down at the root necks of desert plants, you can dig out wet sand and salty water.
After simple sunlight evaporation and filtration, a small amount of fresh water can be obtained.
Although it is small, it is enough to sustain human life.
At this time, the wind and sand were a little stronger, and a sharp whistle came from behind the dune on the opposite side.
Everyone was startled, and they picked up the engineering shovel and rifle and ran towards the scene of the incident.
Fortunately, we were very close, less than two hundred steps away.
If we took three steps and took two steps at a time, we would be there in an instant.
Half of Ye Yixin's body was seen trapped in the sand.
She was struggling constantly.
Shiry Yang was grabbing her arm and trying to drag her out.
In the rush, I don’t know who shouted: “Quicksand” We rushed forward following the footprints on the ground and desperately grabbed Ye Yixin.
A few people had no time to find the rope, so they took off their belts and tried to wrap her arms.
Unexpectedly, Ye Yixin was dragged out of the sand without much effort.
It didn't look like quicksand.
Ye Yixin was frightened and cried in Shiry Yang's arms.
Everyone asked them what was going on and if it was quicksand.
Shiry Yang comforted Ye Yixin and said to everyone: "As soon as we walked behind the sand dune, Ye Yixin stepped on the air and her whole body sank halfway.
I quickly grabbed her and blew the whistle for help.
But it didn't seem to be quicksand.
Quicksand swallowed People speed The suction power is strong.
If it were really quicksand, I wouldn't be able to hold her back with my strength.
Moreover, after she fell halfway, she stopped, as if the bottom was solid.
Otherwise, if you came after hearing the news, you would have been delayed for more than ten years.
Seconds, it’s too late to save people from the quicksand.”
Ye Yixin also came to her senses, wiping her tears and said, "I seemed to have stepped on a stone slab under the sand.
There was a section under the stone slab that was empty, and it collapsed as soon as I stepped on it."
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
ShiryYang Qi said: "Could it be those stone tombs?
Let's go and take a look."
We used a shovel to dig a few times where Ye Yixin had been trapped.
Under a not too thick layer of yellow sand, parallel to the slope of the dune, a sloping stone wall was exposed.
A large hole was blown out of the stone wall with explosives.
It seems that it exploded not long ago, that is, in the past few days, the wind and sand thinly covered the entrance of the hole, and Ye Yixin stepped on the gravel beside the hole and sank in.
Everyone looked at the stone cave.
You looked at me, I looked at you, and they looked at each other.
This was obviously a stone tomb.
Could it have been stolen?
I carefully inspected the rubble at the entrance of the cave and the precise direction of the explosion.
I used small directional blasting.
I have been an engineer for so many years.
I think that my familiarity with explosives is unparalleled.
It would be impossible for me to blast this ancient stone tomb.
That's it.
It seems that the people who blasted it fully understood the resistance of the rock mass.
The explosion only collapsed the stone wall and spread the rubble outward, without damaging the interior of the stone tomb at all.
Looking at the power of explosives, they are definitely not civilian explosives.
I have been away from the army for several years.
Is it possible that even active-duty soldiers are now fighting?
It's definitely not the case.
Maybe it's stolen explosives.
Moreover, in this vast and boundless desert, how did the inverted fighters find these ancient tombs?
The topography and landforms near the tombs are exactly the same.
Is there really any other inverted masters in this world who can see Tianxing Fengju except me, who is a half-timer?
The sand dune was gradually cleared.
It was a mallet-shaped stone wall.
Except for the blasted side, the rest was buried deep under the yellow sand.
It seems to be a typical stone tomb from the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
Huge and thick mountain stones are built into an arch, and the gaps are glued with fish glue.
Such stone tombs are very common near the Xiye ruins.
In the early 19th century, a European explorer once described it this way: "There are numerous stone tombs, large and small, that can be seen everywhere in the desert.
More than half of them are buried under the yellow sand, with the black spiers exposed outside. , like a miniature version of the Egyptian pyramids, walking through the desert lined with stone tombs, the scene is breathtaking. " Now these stone tombs have been completely covered by the desert, and it is difficult to find traces of them.
Professor Chen estimated that it may be related to the big sandstorm a few days ago.
The strong wind exposed part of the stone tombs.
Unexpectedly, those tomb robbers came well.
Hurry, the archaeological team is still a step too late.
Along the way, we have seen several ancient tombs that have been stolen and damaged.
No wonder Professor Chen is so anxious that he will risk his life to enter the desert.
If the tomb robbing activities in this area are not stopped, I am afraid that in the near future, nothing will be left.
Come down.
The hole in the tomb was dark, so Professor Chen, Hao Aiguo, and I went in with flashlights to check.
The tomb was about the size of a small bungalow, with four or five wooden coffins scattered inside.
The coffin boards had been broken and thrown aside, and everything was turned into a mess.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
The coffins ranged from large to small, and seemed to be a shared tomb.
The only ancient corpse left in the coffin was the mummified body of a young woman with long and braided hair.
Only the head was relatively well preserved, and the body was broken.
The rest of the remains were all lost.
The tomb robbers moved it away.
In the ancient tombs in the Xinjiang desert, the mummies in the tombs are as valuable as the treasures.
I heard Professor Chen say that ancient corpses are divided into wet corpses with moisture, such as the female corpse in Mawangdui; there are also wax corpses, which are specially treated corpses; and frozen corpses exist in places where the snow has not melted for thousands of years.
Glacier areas; tanned corpses are similar to zombies; the rest include stuffed corpses like specimens, etc.
There are several types of mummies.
There are mummies that are placed in coffins with desiccants such as lime or charcoal.
There are also mummies that are artificially made using special antiseptic techniques like ancient Egypt.
The mummies in Xinjiang are completely formed naturally in a special environment of high temperature, dryness and sterility.
This kind of mummies, if they are slightly older, are quite valuable.
Some overseas museums, exhibition halls and collectors are vying to buy them at high prices. .
Professor Chen couldn't help but sigh when he saw that all the other mummies in the stone tomb had been stolen and completely damaged.
He had to ask a few students to sort out the broken items in the tomb to see if anything else could be salvaged. .
I was worried that the professor was too excited and his body could not bear it, so I advised him to rest early.
Professor Chen gave Hao Aiguo a few more instructions and asked him to take someone to record the situation of the stone tomb in detail, and then the fat man sent him back to the camp to rest.
The wind still didn't stop the next day, blowing unhurriedly.
When the archaeological team set off, Professor Chen found me.
He said that the stone tomb he saw last night had been stolen no more than three to five days ago.
Maybe there is a group of tomb robbers who have entered the depths of the Black Desert earlier than us.
We cannot delay, it is best to catch them.
I casually dealt with it a few words, thinking to myself, don’t fucking run into each other.
We are enemies in the same industry, not to mention that the guys who robbed this stone tomb had military explosives and maybe some sharp instruments.
I encountered them. , inevitably there will be a fight.
I don't care.
The problem is with these archaeological teams.
If there are casualties, the responsibility will be too great.
But then again, in the vast desert, it is not easy for two groups to meet.
If we hadn't seen yesterday that this sand dune is the highest place nearby, we would not have camped here, let alone accidentally hit each other.
It was such a coincidence that we bumped into the stolen stone tomb for the second time.
Maybe those guys went back after stealing the mummy.
In the following ten days, the archaeological team went deeper and deeper into the black desert, and finally lost the trace of the Ziduan River, and kept going in circles for several days.
Zidu means "shadow" in the local ancient language.
This underground river is like a shadow and cannot be captured.
Old man An Liman's eyes turned red, and he shook his hands for the last time.
There was nothing he could do.
It seemed that Hu Da only allowed us to go this far.
Everyone was exhausted and no one could walk.
There has been no wind in the desert these days, and the sun hangs in the sky for an exceptionally long time.
In order to save drinking water, the team members dug a hole in the sand during the day and set up a rainproof canvas on it to absorb the cool air from the ground to keep them warm.
To keep my body hydrated, I could only travel at night and in the morning, riding a camel half the way and driving No. 11 half the way.
If we go further, we will run out of food and water.
If we don't turn back within a day or two, we will have to kill the camels and eat them when we go back.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
Looking at these exhausted people with chapped lips, I knew they were almost at their limit.
Seeing the sun rising and the temperature getting higher and higher, I asked everyone to dig a hole to rest.
After settling in, Shiry Yang found An Liman and I to discuss the route.
Shiry Yang said: "Captain Hu, Mr.
An Liman, in my notebook of the British explorer, there is such a record, that the British explorer also lost the trace of the Zidu Dark River in the depths of the black desert.
In this barren sea of death, two huge black magnetic mountains stand facing each other in the afterglow of the setting sun, like two ancient warriors wearing black armor, silently guarding ancient secrets, passing through the gate-like valley, A legendary city appears before our eyes
.
":