The wind was raging, the sand was flying, and the Gobi Desert seemed to have become a devil's world, and the car was shaking violently, and there was a possibility of being overturned at any time, which scared the people in the car and screamed "wow".

Luo Fang was a woman after all, and she couldn't take care of it much at this time, and said to Yao Chunsheng with a crying voice: "Professor Yao, what can I do about this?" Will the car be blown over by the wind? ”

Under such circumstances, Yao Chunsheng, as the team leader, has become everyone's spiritual pillar, he must not have the slightest emotional fluctuation, and he must hold on to it even if he grits his teeth: "Xiaofang, don't be afraid, it will be fine!" Calm down, don't panic! ”

Yao Chunsheng lay on the steering wheel and thought to himself: This wind and sand is too big, and it is dangerous to walk, and it is also dangerous not to go, what should I do? I am their boss, and I must not drop the chain at a critical moment, and I can only gamble and break through!

Thinking of this, he suddenly raised his head and shouted to everyone: "Everyone sit down, I'm going to start the car!" Qin Kexin shouted behind him, "Professor Yao, isn't it too dangerous to do this?" Let's go back the way we came! ”

Yao Chunsheng was so angry that he scolded his mother, and yelled: "You shut up for me!" If you're afraid of death, get out of here as soon as possible! ”

With this voice, Qin Kexin was so frightened that she immediately closed her mouth and didn't dare to speak casually anymore.

The city in the sky was changing back and forth, suddenly huge, suddenly small as a wall chart, and fluttering by the raging wind; After a while, it had floated to the top of its head, as if a bubble was blowing bigger and bigger, and it seemed that it was about to burst and fall.

Yao Chunsheng couldn't care so much, he stared at the base of his tongue with his teeth, stepped on the accelerator with all his strength, and rushed forward quickly. The wind roared and roared in the sky, rolling up piles of sand and smashing them on the windshield like hail, but fortunately the car was full of bulletproof glass, otherwise it would have shattered into powder.

The off-road vehicle ran crazy in the desert, but it could only move forward crookedly, as if dancing in the wind, along the way there were dangers and dangers, and there were several times when the car almost overturned, thanks to Yao Chunsheng's calm and firm control of the situation, he was able to turn the danger into a disaster and rushed out of the storm zone.

Finally, at about four o'clock in the afternoon, I arrived safely near the ruins of the ancient city of Loulan.

Thankfully, there was no sign of wind in the place, and everything seemed so calm and peaceful. "Look! There are some red-colored walls over there! Qin Kexin couldn't bear it anymore and shouted happily.

Yao Chunsheng rolled his eyes at him and reprimanded: "You bear child, who can treat you as a dumb person if you don't speak?" ”

Qin Kexin stuck out her tongue and said with a smile: "Professor Yao, don't be like me, I'm young and don't understand the world, and when I came to the desert for the first time, I was a little too excited." ”

Yao Chunsheng didn't pay any attention to him, took out a compass from his satchel, identified the direction, and then said to Luo Fang beside him: "Xiaofang, now our location is on the west bank of Lop Nur, which belongs to the Yadan landform group, and the city walls rammed with clay and red wicker in front of it are the ruins of the ancient city of Loulan. ”

Luo Fang just glanced at it casually, she didn't have much interest in this ruin, her main purpose here was to find out the origin of the mysterious creature: "Hehe... Professor Yao, I really responded to what people said, "It's better to see the scenery than to listen to the scenery"! What's so beautiful about these ruins? ”

"Hey! You can't say that! Yao Chunsheng did not agree with Luo Fang's statement, he pointed to the city walls and talked about the history of the ancient kingdom of Loulan: "Loulan is a small country in the ancient Western Regions, which was once a necessary place on the Silk Road, and was first seen in the "Historical Records", located in the northwest corner of Lop Nur, on the south bank of the Peacock River. In 77 B.C., Loulan was renamed Shanshan again, and moved the capital to Nicheng, to the Han Dynasty as a vassal, and later the Xiongnu planned to occupy Loulan, and the Han Dynasty could not fight. Until the Northern Wei Dynasty general Wandu returned to the west, after more than 600 years of Loulan Kingdom, it was destroyed. ”

Yao Chunsheng stood there and talked endlessly, and he was tired of listening to Luo Fang, but after all, he was his own leader, and for the sake of face, he could only pretend to be full of interest and listen patiently.

After Yao Chunsheng finished speaking, Luo Fang gave him a thumbs up and said with a smile: "Professor Yao, you spoke so well, you are more detailed than our history teacher. You see—what's next? ”

At this time, Xu Lai, who had been standing next to him and had not spoken, spoke: "Professor Yao, can you give me a chance?" I want to ......," Yao Chunsheng looked at the somewhat wooden man in front of him and said, "Yo ho! If you don't open your mouth, it's definitely a blockbuster! Well, you say come and hear it. ”

"That's what I think, Professor Yao, since we've come here, why don't we go to the ruins of the ancient city of Loulan and take a look at the legendary Sun Tombs, and it's not in vain to come here!"

Yao Chunsheng nodded, and said in a loud voice: "Mmmm! Not bad, not bad! Such a simple thing, if I don't satisfy you, won't it seem that I am too unkind! Xiaofang, let's go over and have a look, shall we? ”

But Luo Fang was not in that mood, she smiled bitterly and said, "I don't like to look at the graves of those dead, I don't think it's lucky, let's go with the three of you, I want to stay in the car and be quiet." ”

"How can that work?" Yao Chunsheng felt that this woman was so strange that she still had such thoughts, "Xiaofang, we are engaged in biological research, and we will definitely inevitably come into contact with all kinds of things, besides, if you stay in the car alone, we are not at ease!" ”

Qin Kexin stepped forward and grabbed Luo Fang's hand, pouted and said, "Oh, Sister Luo, you can go!" Didn't you dig up a dried corpse in that place before, what is it called? Ah, by the way, it's called "Xiaohe Princess", she has been dead for thousands of years, and it's like she's asleep, with a smile on the corner of her mouth, don't you say it's magical? The most important thing is that if you go there for a spin, you might find something unexpected! ”

Xu Lai also continued: "Assistant Luo, we should go to the Sun Tomb Group to have a look, the purpose is not to listen to the wind and watch the scenery, if you want to find the traces of the strange beast as soon as possible, you must run to the tomb, or the place where there are ruins of the ancient city." ”

In desperation, Luo Fang had to follow everyone and walk towards the front on foot.

The ruins of the ancient city of Loulan cover an area of about 120,000 square meters, close to a square, with a side length of about 330 meters, and are almost completely buried by quicksand. The city walls are made of rammed clay and red wicker, there is an ancient canal that runs diagonally through the city from northwest to southeast, an octagonal domed adobe stupa on the northeast side of the canal, and a group of tall wooden structures on the earthen platform to the south of the tower.

A few miles through the ruins to the lower reaches of the Peacock River, there is the mysterious sun tomb group of the ancient kingdom of Loulan. The tomb was built at the cost of a large number of trees, and when you step inside, you can see a group of concentric circles surrounded by seven-layer poplar stakes, with a diameter of more than 30 centimeters. The entire cemetery is like an ancient vicissitudes of the sun, embedded in the deepest part of the desert.

Why use wooden stakes to create burial mounds? Archaeologists believe that the use of wooden piles can fix the sand and strengthen the mounds, because it is very difficult to excavate and build a tomb with a depth of more than two meters on the sandy land, and many wooden piles must be used to stabilize it to take shape.

The most curious thing is that the owners of the tombs are all lying on their backs and facing west.

Such a form of burial has always puzzled the archaeological community and other related fields, and the use of wooden stakes to fix sand still makes sense, but why does it have to be made into a pattern of the sun? What does it mean? Is it the so-called "sun worship"?

Also What is the meaning of the form of burial of the deceased? Why the West and not the East? Could it be that the reason for the eventual disappearance of the Loulan Kingdom was the result of the construction of a large-scale "Sun Tomb" and the cutting down of too many trees?

"Professor Yao, in your personal opinion, what kind of factors ultimately led to the disappearance of the ancient kingdom of Loulan?" Xu Lai looked at the group of tombs in front of him and raised his own questions.

"Hmm...", Yao Chunsheng frowned and thought for a moment before he said slowly: "I have summed up three reasons, one is the burning and plundering of the war, which has gradually reduced the population of the Loulan Kingdom; The second is the man-made destruction of the environment, the wanton felling of the surrounding forests, perhaps in order to build this sun tomb group; The three are the result of natural disasters, the invasion of sandstorms, the advent of plagues, the factors of desertification, the loss of water sources, and the difficulty of Loulan people to maintain basic living conditions, so they had to withdraw from the stage of history! ”