I have to say that Cuicui's words attracted everyone's attention.

If the old village chief's words were enough to shock them.

Then Cuicui's words undoubtedly refreshed their shock again.

Cuicui looked at all the people, and suddenly held back the tears that were about to burst out of her eyes.

Slightly choked up, he said, "From the time I started remembering."

My father was constantly in and out of the desert, sometimes occasionally leading the way for some explorers.

Earn some living expenses for me.

Although he was the only one who came back with the camel, I never had any doubts about it.

Because he is my father, my only relative.

But even when no expedition came, Dad would still drive his camels into the desert.

At first it was three days and five days, then it was thirteen days and fifteen days, and then it was ...... Trimester?

I don't remember exactly, but the only thing I can remember is that Dad went into the desert more and more often.

The time to go in was getting longer and longer, until the last time.

He came back with his camel in droves, as if something was really wrong.

But I can't tell what's wrong with him.

I can still vividly remember that he sat there that night.

We finished dinner and I was about to clean up the table when my dad suddenly stopped me.

said that he had something to tell me, and looking at his expression, he was very dignified.

I knew it had to be a big deal. ”

When Cuicui said this, she finally couldn't hold back her tears, like crystal pearls.

One by one, her cheeks slid down, and Sun Xiaoan took out a bag of wet wipes from his pocket and handed it over.

Everyone also tacitly did not urge her to hurry up.

Instead, they all sat there quietly, waiting for her to adjust her emotions.

It took about five or six minutes.

Cuicui wiped her tears and continued, "I'm sorry.

Dad said that night he would never go into the desert again.

I once asked him why, and he just shook his head.

But what happened later made me really think that there might be some devil in that desert. ”

When Cuicui said this, her emotions were obviously a little excited.

Gu Liusheng looked at this scene and suddenly asked, "Then why did your father die?" ”

Gu Liusheng's question was to the point.

Next, Cuicui told about her father and the desert.

Cuicui's father didn't tell her all about the whole thing.

Since that night, her father has been silent, and his whole person seems to be preoccupied.

And those camels, strange things have also happened.

Although they are still able to eat and sleep as always, their weight is getting less and less day by day.

It's the kind of rapid weight loss that is visible to the naked eye.

Until one afternoon, three months after that night.

Cuicui had just finished cooking and came over to call her dad for dinner.

Suddenly, she found her father sitting in a high chair next to the big bed in the room.

The head is drooping, and the whole person is really weird when viewed from the back.

Cuicui is not a fool, as if she has expected something terrible.

I saw her slowly move behind her father, and then an incredible scene appeared.

She touched her father lightly.

But her father suddenly fell to the ground, his neck still bent at that level.

Cuicui was immediately frightened and lost the three souls, and hurriedly retreated a long distance.

Then she noticed her father's eyes, which were as big as marbles.

The white eyes were all red and bloodshot, and even the eyeballs turned light brown.

Cuicui was frightened, but she still had the courage to slowly approach her father again.

Only then did he realize that his father's body had stiffened.

Looking at the dead state, it didn't look like a corpse that had just died.

But the night before, her father was still talking to her.

It can't be that after just one night, not only did the person die, but even the corpse became stiff, right?

It's just not realistic.

Cuicui was stunned, but still bold, and checked her father's body again.

Eventually, a lot of yellow sand was found in his nostrils.

She knew that the yellow sand was only found in the desert.

Cuicui was at that moment, after repeatedly confirming that her father was indeed dead.

Then I suddenly broke down and cried.

But because their home is far away from the rest of the village.

It can be said that it is a single family, so Cuicui's cry did not attract other people in the same village.

Wait until Cuicui has cried enough.

Only then did she realize that her father seemed to be holding something in his hand.

She broke her father's hand hard, and realized that it was a letter.

I'll talk about the things mentioned in the letter later.

After reading the letter, Cuicui complied with her father's last wishes.

did not reveal her father's true death to the public, but only said that it was because of a sudden illness.

People went suddenly, and not only that, but she did her father's funeral by herself.

That night, she once again complied with her father's wishes.

A fire burned even the coffin with the corpse in a pit.

Then she buried the pit.

This incident did not cause any waves in the village.

Everyone is still living as usual, and Cuicui can barely get by with some of the money left by his father.

The camels in the backyard are still slowly emaciating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Again, the letter that Cuicui's father left for her.

The letter briefly mentions a few things.

First of all, the content of the original letter looks like this.

This is what everyone saw when Cuicui took out the letter and handed it to Gu Liusheng and Sun Xiao'an.

"Cuicui:

By the time you read the letter, Dad was gone.

However, there is no need to be sad, Dad has long expected that he will have such a day.

But the only thing Dad can't worry about is you.

Your mother left early, and you didn't get a good life when you were a child.

As a father, I feel ashamed and guilty of this.

When I'm dead, you must remember not to let anyone see my body.

Don't let anyone know how I died, be sure to remember.

Don't bury me directly, burn me to ashes and bury it again.

Don't ask me why, in short, you must listen to Dad.

And then there's the desert, which has a terrifying secret that you can't go.

Whoever goes, you can't go, Dad can tell you the truth.

The expeditions that followed my father into the desert were all dead.

Dad was not lucky to come out alive again and again.

But the rest of the dads can't say much, but you have to remember that you can't go in there.

Dad just wants you to live this life safely. ”

That's what the letter says.

Of course, Cuicui's father was not a literate person.

The above is the general content of the letter.

There are still many typos on the original letter, and there are some pinyin.

About Cuicui's father, I can be regarded as having a rough understanding here.

Sun Xiaoan patted Cuicui's back and comforted her softly.

At this time, the root on the side also suddenly said: "I can testify to this, it is true!"

It's really evil in that desert, and those expeditions don't know what to think.

Once, out of curiosity, I followed Cuicui's father into the desert with those expeditions.

Walking into the depths of the desert was already a remarkable feat.

Cuicui and his father and I persuaded them to come back, but they all followed the devil, and they couldn't persuade them.

Later, the two of us came back with our camels.

But then, really, I never saw anyone from that expedition come back from the desert.

That time when I was out of the desert, I really asked Cuicui's father.

I clearly remember that Cuicui's father told me so at that time.

He said that there was an unknown palace in the desert, and that palace could only be touched by those who were destined to do so. ”

When Genzi said these words, Sun Xiaoan's first feeling was.

Cuicui's father may have said that it was actually a mirage in the desert.

But Gu Liusheng suddenly said, "Cuicui, did your father tell you this?" ”

Cuicui shook her head, and Yu Hong on the side looked at Genzi again and asked, "Cuicui's father told you that he had ever encountered that palace?" ”

Genzi also shook his head, and then for the next half hour or so.

Everyone sat there in great silence.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Meng Haochuan suddenly stood up and said, "Is there any, don't you know if you go in and see it!" ”

As he spoke, he glanced at Gu Liusheng again.

So I saw Gu Liusheng suddenly get up and said, "Okay, Genzi will be the guide, and we will give you the guide fee."

Take us in 50,000, and bring us out safely and give you another 50,000.

A total of 100,000 for one trip and one return, is it okay? ”

Genzi probably didn't think in his heart that there would be so much money.

When Gu Liusheng said this, he was stunned on the spot.

After a long time, he smiled and agreed.

Immediately afterwards, Gu Liusheng glanced at Cuicui again, and then asked with some hesitation: "Your father's letter contains a thousand instructions, and he will not let you enter that desert......

Are you sure you want to go in again? I don't think his request is unfounded or reasonable. ”

Cuicui looked at Gu Liusheng, but said extremely firmly: "I'm going, I don't know why my father didn't let me go."

But I will never be able to leave this village in my life.

If I had to choose between living in the village or dying in the desert.

I would choose the latter. ”

Sun Xiaoan understood the idea of Cuicui's words, for Cuicui, if she would never be able to leave this village.

It's like a criminal being sentenced to life imprisonment.

She longs for the outside world, and she longs for the future to be able to do what she loves.

This is the life that everyone will want to aspire to, and Cuicui is no exception.

But at this moment, Heaven has completely closed this door.

This is the most cruel thing for Cuicui.

At this time, Sun Xiaoan got up and looked at Gu Liusheng and said, "Let her go."

She has the right to choose how her life should go. ”

Gu Liusheng really didn't speak again.

At this time, Sun Xiao'an suddenly said again: "Cuicui, when you enter the desert, you have to listen to us in everything."

No matter what happens, it's important to put safety first, you know? ”

Cuicui nodded again with great firmness.

Gu Liusheng said: "Okay, let's rest today!"

We'll leave tomorrow. ”

So everyone dispersed one by one, and when Gu Liusheng and the others returned to the old village chief's house again.

The old village chief, who is over half a hundred years old, obviously has some surprises.

In the whole process of getting along, the old couple seemed very cautious and cramped.

Gu Liusheng naturally knew what it was, after all, their identities might have really scared him.

After dinner, a group of people sat in the courtyard and blew a cool breeze.

The old village chief and his wife sat next to them and didn't say a word for a long time.

Occasionally, when Gu Liusheng asked him a question, he would say a sentence or two.

Early the next morning, Cuicui came to the old village chief's house with her things.

Sun Xiao'an smiled slightly, she knew that this girl was probably worried that they would not take her.

After a while, the roots also arrived, and a group of people were assembled.

At nine o'clock in the afternoon, he immediately began to move into the desert.

This time, after repeated confirmation, they did not bring the camels with them again.

First of all, those camels are so thin that to bring them in, in fact, to put it bluntly, is to send them to death.

In the end, it may not be of much use to them, but will drag them down.

It was worth the loss, and they deliberately walked very slowly along the way.

The purpose is to maintain physical strength and reduce the rate of water loss in the body.

Everyone seems to understand that water is the most important life-saving resource in the desert.

Therefore, they cherish water very much, and they will not drink it easily unless they have to.

When I first entered the desert, the soil there was not particularly dry, and some of the soil at the edges was still very wet.

Occasionally, you will see some greenery that cannot be named.

The wind in the desert is not the same as the wind in the snowy mountains.

If Sun Xiaoan had to choose the direction of the wind, she might really choose the wind in the snowy mountains without hesitation.

After all, compared to the pain on her face, the dry wind that evaporates the water in her body all the time.

Of course, she prefers to choose the wind in the snowy mountains.

Along the way, Cuicui was very quiet, silently following Sun Xiao'an's side, and never spoke.

On the contrary, it was the root, as if he had opened the chatterbox, and kept telling about the time he went into the desert with Cuicui's father.

But the root is obviously not strong in narrative ability, and he always speaks intermittently.

It is often only after this paragraph that I remember that the previous paragraph seems to be unfinished.

But because he was the one who talked the most along the way, his water turned out to be the fastest to consume.

Fortunately, there are still some puddles at the edge of the desert occasionally, and the water inside is quite clear.

Later, gradually going deeper, Gu Liusheng ordered him not to talk more.

Several people kept their heads down in silence along the way, all the while hurrying.

It wasn't until the sun went down that I found a relatively high sand dune and stopped.

A place like a desert is really different from a snow-capped mountain.

It can be explained that compared to avalanches and quicksands, the former has almost several times the chance of surviving the latter.

After all, if it is buried in snow and sand, the one will die faster, and there may be a very intuitive result without thinking about it.

Gu Liusheng and Yu Hong were setting up tents, while Sun Xiaoan and Cuicui sat on the side to watch the "scenery" in the desert.

。 m.