1

A strange sound came, at first it was rustling, then the wind, slowly, slowly the wind was wrapped in the music, the music seemed to be very far away, Tang Feng slowly opened his eyes, listened attentively, it was very cheerful music, beautiful flute, pleasant pipa, and rhythmic drum music, it seemed that he could still hear the woman's singing, a happy scene, Tang Feng listened a little intoxicated......

Suddenly, the music changed tone, Tang Feng was shocked, because the music became very sad, and the rhythm slowed down, Tang Feng wanted to get out of the sleeping bag to see where the music was wafting, but he suddenly thought that this was in the depths of the desert Gobi, where did the music come from? At this moment, the mournful music began to become strange, as if there was a fierce monster hiding in the middle, and the strange music became louder and stronger, and almost swallowed up the sad music.

Tang Feng closed his eyes again and listened to the music quietly, he could distinguish the direction from which the music came, like the west side of the poplar forest, but he couldn't judge how far away the music was from him?

The music seemed to be getting closer and closer, Tang Feng nervously touched the dagger, he grabbed the dagger, but found that his hand holding the dagger was trembling, and his body was trembling slightly, Tang Feng's heartbeat began to accelerate, his breathing became short, he mustered up his courage, sat up suddenly, and got out of the sleeping bag, in the dark, Tang Feng held the dagger tightly, staring at the direction from which the music came from.

That's right, this weird music came from the west of the poplar forest, but Tang Feng looked west, but couldn't see a little light, he didn't dare to push the flashlight, for fear of seeing the terrible scene, the music was getting closer and closer, Tang Feng walked a few steps, came to the edge of the poplar forest, he held a peculiar shape poplar, silently looked at the west, at this time, the music suddenly became much smaller, Tang Feng looked up at the night sky, a bright moon through the dark clouds, sprinkled bright moonlight, Tang Feng with the help of the moonlight, looked to the west again, no one was seen, the music seemed to be drifting away, Tang Feng vaguely saw many tall sand mountains, which were strangely shaped and scattered......

Suddenly, Tang Feng felt a gust of wind behind him, as if someone was behind him, Han Jiang? Liang Yuan? Don't allow Tang Feng to think too much, he turned around suddenly, there was no Han Jiang, there was no Liang Yuan, and even their cars and sleeping bags were gone, could it be that he had walked far away? No, the poplar forest is that big...... Just when Tang Feng was thinking wildly, the wind started again, this was a strange wind, the wind mixed with the yellow sand rolled up the fallen leaves all over the poplar forest, Tang Feng didn't expect that there were so many fallen leaves in the poplar forest, just when Tang Feng was surprised, "bang-", a bright fire reflected the night sky, and also illuminated the entire poplar forest, Tang Feng still didn't see Han Jiang and Liang Yuan, but saw the woman wearing a mask.

Just like what you saw on the black stone during the day, gorgeous robes, high hats, a dress of a party aristocratic woman, and a strange mask that shone with a metallic sheen! The woman walked from the depths of the poplar forest, Tang Feng felt strange, a poplar forest that was not big during the day, but at this moment it became vast and dense, the woman wearing the mask walked with noble steps, graceful and luxurious, with thousands of postures, and walked towards Tang Feng, the strange music came from the depths of the desert again, closer and closer, louder and louder, like a huge band, coming from the desert.

2

Tang Feng's body began to tremble violently, he was surrounded by a terrifying and strange atmosphere, he instinctively retreated, but he couldn't tell the direction at all, all around were poplar forests, out of the poplar forests, it was an even more terrifying desert Gobi, where was there a way to retreat? At this time, the woman wearing the mask stopped, stood five meters away from Tang Feng, and looked at Tang Feng quietly, Tang Feng leaned against a strangely shaped poplar tree, and the two held each other for two minutes, and the woman finally spoke, "Why are you afraid?" ”

"I ...... I'm not afraid! Tang Feng pretended to be calm.

"Not afraid? Then why is your hand shaking with a weapon? ”

"Ahh

"Did I really scare you?" The masked woman asked again.

"You...... You're human, and you're still ...... Or a ghost? Tang Feng asked tremblingly.

"Ghosts? Haha......" The woman laughed wildly, laughing so creepy that Tang Feng was shocked, and after laughing, the woman asked Tang Feng instead, "Do you say I am a human or a ghost?" ”

"You...... If you're human, why are you wearing a mask? Tang Feng wanted to raise his right hand and point to the strange mask, but he moved his arm and couldn't lift it at all.

At this time, there was a little light at the edge of the poplar forest, the light became brighter and brighter, the strange music became cheerful, the passionate drum beat sounded again, and there seemed to be someone dancing outside the poplar forest, but Tang Feng couldn't see the situation outside.

"Young man, do you want to know why I'm wearing a mask?" The woman said and walked forward again.

"Think...... But you ......" Since Tang Feng knew the answer, he felt frightened.

The woman approached Tang Feng step by step, Tang Feng wanted to retreat, followed by the strangely shaped poplar tree, there was no way to retreat, the woman stopped one meter away from Tang Feng, and stood under the poplar tree almost face to face with Tang Feng, Tang Feng felt the breath of death, but he involuntarily straightened up and took half a step forward, he didn't know what force was attracting him, the breath of death? Upbeat music? Or is it this weird mask?

"Come, come!" The woman called out to Tang Feng softly.

Tang Feng involuntarily took another half step forward, walked to the woman's mask, looking at the strange mask, Tang Feng felt that his heartbeat seemed to stop, his whole body stiffened, there were two holes in the mask, that was the position of the woman's eyes, Tang Feng wanted to see the woman's eyes clearly, but ...... But those two black holes are like deep caves, bottomless!

Tang Feng's pupils dilated rapidly, why...... Why can't I see the woman's eyes? Tang Feng wanted to speak, but he couldn't say a word with his mouth half-open, but ...... But his stiff hands miraculously lifted up straight up in front of the woman's mask.

Tang Feng felt that his arms no longer belonged to him, he couldn't control his hands at all, he forced himself to concentrate his consciousness and take back his hands, but everything was in vain, he clearly felt that his fingers had touched the cold mask, but he couldn't control his hands, he gently lifted the woman's mask, at that moment, Tang Feng's heartbeat suddenly stopped, and his dilated pupils stared at the incredible scene in front of him - under the woman's high hat, there was nothing, The back of the mask was empty, but Tang Feng clearly saw the concave and convex curves revealed in the woman's gorgeous robe, which ...... What's going on here?

Tang Feng stepped back in horror, his arm seemed to return to his body, at this moment, the mask was in his hand, he stared at the woman helplessly, or rather, stared at the woman's robe, the woman's voice sounded again, "Young man, do you know why I am wearing a mask?" ”

"You...... You are a ghost......" Tang Feng finally held back such a sentence.

"No, it's all because someone stole my face." The voice still came from the woman, but Tang Feng couldn't see the woman's mouth moving at all.

"Stealing...... Stealing face!? Tang Feng retreated under the poplar tree again.

"Yes, so I can only wear a mask. Alright, young man, give me back the mask! The woman said and walked towards Tang Feng again, no! Tang Feng noticed that this time the woman was almost drifting towards him, could it be that there was no body in her gorgeous robe?

"No, you...... Don't come here! Tang Feng suffocated against the trunk of the poplar, and the woman had already raised his right arm at Tang Feng, like a ...... Just like on the black stone during the day, Tang Feng felt as if his chest had been penetrated by something, and there was a heart-piercing pain, and then, his hands once again picked up the mask without obeying the call, and respectfully returned the mask to the woman.

3

At the moment when the woman put on the mask again, Tang Feng thought of escaping, he couldn't bear it anymore, he couldn't stand this poplar forest, everything here! But as soon as Tang Feng was about to turn around, he felt that his body was entangled by something, and he couldn't move, he looked down, a withered, shrunken, and bloodless arm, this was a strange and familiar scene, Tang Feng's mind immediately realized - dry corpse!

Tang Feng collapsed, the music in his ears changed from cheerful to sad, Tang Feng suddenly found that the strange poplars in the poplar forest began to change, slowly, slowly, one by one, the poplars turned into a terrifying dried corpse, Tang Feng didn't dare to look back, he felt that there were countless dried corpses behind him stretching out towards him...... And the woman in front of her, wearing a mask, showed a weird smile, yes! Tang Feng saw that the woman wearing the mask did smile at him again, and the cold mask seemed to transform into the woman's face in an instant, which ...... How is this possible?

But all this is clearly happening in front of Tang Feng's eyes, Tang Feng screamed, woke up, the surroundings were unusually quiet, he found that he had another nightmare, and at this time, the dawn had broken in the east, Tang Feng shook his heavy head, he suddenly remembered that he should be on duty in the second half of the night, and now that it was almost dawn, why didn't Han Jiang wake himself up?

A bad premonition rose in Tang Feng's heart, he hurriedly sat up, the sleeping bag next to him was empty, Han Jiang was missing, and then looked closely, the sleeping bag seemed to have never moved, looking around, he was still in this poplar forest, he didn't see the woman wearing the mask, and he couldn't hear the weird music, Tang Feng's heart fell, what about Han Jiang and Liang Yuan?

Tang Feng got out of his sleeping bag, opened the car door, and saw Liang Yuan lying in the car dreaming, so he was a little relieved, what about Han Jiang? Tang Feng turned the car body, only to find that Han Jiang was sitting on the ground, leaning back against the body, sleeping soundly. However, what made Tang Feng feel strange was that Han Jiang, who had always snored loudly, did not make a sound at all at this time, and was as quiet as a sleeping baby!

Tang Feng walked over and kicked Han Jiang, "Hey! Ay! Wake up, wake up, it's time for a shift. ”

"Shift change?!" Han Jiang woke up.

"You're good, you're asleep at night, and you've been tested for a long time?"

"I ...... How did I fall asleep? Han Jiang was also surprised, "What time is it now?" ”

"It's almost dawn!"

"Damn, it's almost dawn, and you're here to change shifts?" Han Jiang was a little annoyed.

"Nonsense, it's you who call me every time, who knows that this time you'll also fall asleep, ha, don't talk about me in the future!" Tang Feng was unforgiving.

"Even if I'm asleep, you should get up at the right time to change me, do you know what happens if someone sneaks up on us at night? Yes! We're going to die a terrible death! Han Jiang said angrily.

"Forget it, in this hellish place, don't take it too seriously, let it be fate!" Tang Feng seemed to be indifferent to Han Jiang's alleged danger.

"Damn, maybe it's fate, I ...... What's wrong with me? I would never make such a low-level mistake, and I actually fell asleep at night, and overslept, which ...... How the hell did all this happen......" Han Jiang muttered to himself again, as if reminiscing.

4

The quarrel between the two woke up Liang Yuan, Liang Yuan pushed the car door, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and yawned, "What are you two arguing about early in the morning?" It woke me up. ”

"Hmph, my eldest lady, you can eat and sleep soundly!" Tang Feng said angrily.

"Yes! I slept soundly, wasn't it? Liang Yuan flashed her big bright eyes and looked at Tang Feng, "And...... And I remember, I had a dream last night. ”

"Dreams?!" Tang Feng and Han Jiang exclaimed at the same time.

"Dream, what's wrong?" Liang Yuan didn't understand how Tang Feng and Han Jiang could be so surprised.

"I remembered, I had a dream too! The dream is very long, no wonder I slept until dawn. Han Jiang said first.

"What? You've all dreamed? Tang Feng was shocked.

"What? Are you dreaming too? Han Jiang and Liang Yuan turned to Tang Feng together.

"Yes, I'm having nightmares again! I dreamed ...... Dreaming of the woman in the mask? ”

"Ah-" Liang Yuan and Han Jiang exclaimed almost at the same time, "I also dreamed of it, the woman in the mask!" ”

"This ...... How is this possible?! All three of us dreamed of that masked woman?! Tang Feng was in extreme shock.

"But...... But...... But I'm not having a nightmare. Liang Yuan said hesitantly.

"Not a nightmare?" Tang Feng was surprised, and then turned to Han Jiang again, "What about you?" ”

"I ......" Han Jiang held the car body, frowning, as if he was reminiscing, but it seemed to be very painful, and after a long time, Han Jiang spoke: "My brain hurts now, I remember, it was a terrible nightmare last night, at the beginning, I drove on the Gobi Desert, chasing the black Grand Cherokee, just like what happened to us yesterday, but the strange thing is that the road is long, long, long." ”

Han Jiang deliberately used several "very long", and Tang Feng said angrily, "What does it mean to be very long, very long?" ”

"It means very long, long!" Han Jiang said four more "very long".

"Damn, can you be more specific!"

"I don't know how long it is, anyway, I spent most of my time chasing in my dreams, the endless Gobi Desert is endless, endless, I don't know how long I chased on the Gobi Desert, but I just couldn't catch up with the Grand Cherokee, the two cars always kept a distance of more than ten meters, and finally, we came to the Black Rock, the woman in the mask appeared again, she stood on the high Black Stone, and raised her right hand at me, and then the Gobi Desert was on fire......"

"You're dreaming of yesterday's daytime!"

"No, it's different," Han Jiang looked excited, "this time the raging fire surrounded me, and I drove through a wall of fire, only to see the masked woman standing straight in front of my car, and if I hadn't braked in time, I would have crashed into the woman; I was amazed, unexpectedly, the masked woman raised her right hand at me again, and this time I was so close to her that I even ...... You can even clearly see the mask on her face, which seems to be smiling at me, no! It was her, the masked woman who was smiling at me, I didn't understand how she came to me from the black stone in an instant, but the instinct to survive forced me to stop her from raising her right hand at me, and at the moment when she raised her right hand at me, I slammed on the accelerator, first fell backwards, and then rushed towards the woman, I watched as the car crashed into the masked woman, but ...... But she was unharmed and reappeared in front of me. ”

"Did you really bump into it? Didn't see the dazzle? Tang Feng asked in surprise.

"I'm sure, I must have bumped into it. But the woman appeared in front of me in an instant, and before I could react, she raised her right hand again, and then, my car fell into a sea of fire, I hurriedly jumped out of the car, and the car exploded quickly, and I escaped, sitting on the ground in embarrassment, at this time, the woman in the mask appeared in front of me again, I was annoyed and angry, and without waiting for her to raise her hand, I punched her, but I didn't hit anything, but because of the unstable center of gravity, I fell and ate, I sat up, and found that the mask really changed, The mask was smiling at me, and I pounced on it, but it still fell into the air, and so many times, I was exhausted, and I collapsed on the ground, and I yelled at the woman, 'Who are you?' The woman didn't speak, she just smiled at me, it was a strange and weird smile, I shouted a few times, but the woman didn't speak, I was even more angry, I tried to get up from the ground, but I found that I didn't have any strength in my body, I couldn't stand up, and then I saw ...... I saw the masked woman raise her right hand slightly, and then I was surrounded by raging fire......"

"And then?" Liang Yuan asked.

"Later? Later, I was woken up by this kid Tang Feng. It's weird to say, I've never been so careless, and I rarely have nightmares, it's ...... What's going on? ”

"Blame me, if I hadn't woken you up, you'd have been burned to death by the flames of hell!"

"Hellfire?" Han Jiang suddenly remembered something again, "By the way, when I came face to face with the woman wearing the mask, I clearly remembered that there were two holes in the weird metal mask, which were the parts of the eyes, but I couldn't see the woman's eyes. ”

"Because she doesn't have eyes at all!" Tang Feng Road.

"What? Don't have eyes? Han Jiang and Liang Yuan exclaimed.

"Not only do you have no eyes, but you don't have a face!" So, Tang Feng told Han Jiang and Liang Yuan about his nightmare.

5

"Stolen face? What you said is too bizarre, why did I ask the woman alive and dead, the woman didn't speak, and she told you so much? After listening to Tang Feng's dream, Han Jiang felt that it was too bizarre.

"It's very bizarre, but I remember everything in the dream clearly." Tang Feng said with certainty.

"Stealing faces?" Han Jiang seemed to be in thought, and after a long time, Han Jiang suddenly patted Tang Feng, "This dream of yours reminds me of a person." ”

"Who?"

"Didn't you say yesterday that this masked woman is probably the queen of the Hidden Queen?"

"Well, but that's just my feeling, isn't there a resurrection of Queen Zang?" Tang Feng said very unconfidently.

"Do you remember the bones in the Buddha statue? It's what we brought back from Petersburg......" Han Jiang suddenly mentioned the bones.

"Of course I remember, Professor Chen and Xiao Lu also died because of this, of course you are still the suspect who killed Xiao Lu, hehe!" Tang Feng smiled bitterly at Han Jiang.

"Come on, don't talk nonsense, to get down to business, Tymoshin once told you that this Buddha statue was discovered by Koznov in 1909 from the Great Stupa of Blackwater City."

"Yes, that tower was called the 'Great Tower' by Koznov because of this shocking discovery."

"Later, Russian scholars found the bones in the Buddha statue, according to Yi Fengge's conclusion, this skeleton is likely to be the bones of the Empress Wuzang, during this period, the skeleton and skull of the bones have been separated for a long time, when we brought the bones back to Beijing for Chen Zijian identification, Professor Chen once suspected that the skull and body did not come from a person's bones."

"That's right! Professor Chan found that the skeleton was 8 to 10 years older than the skull, so Professor Chan repeatedly asked us if we had made a mistake with the bones. Tang Feng's thoughts returned to Chen Zijian's laboratory.

"Although we felt strange at the time, we didn't think much about it, thinking that it might be that when the bones were in Russia, they were confused, and then, Professor Chen died mysteriously, and then Xiao Lu also ......" Han Jiang wanted to say and stopped.

"Now that I think about it, it is very likely that Misha and the Russian scholars were not mistaken, so there is only one explanation, and the skeleton that Koznov found from the stupa of Blackwater in 1909 was originally like this, and the head and body of the skeleton belonged to two different women."

"And the age difference between the two at the time of death should be eight to ten years, and they both belong to the two party women in the early Western Xia." Han Jiang added.

"Yes, it should be."

"So, which one is the real Queen of the Hidden Treasures?" Han Jiang stared at Tang Feng and asked.

Tang Feng's eyes lit up, "Are you suspicious ......?"

"First of all, whether it's our hallucinations or dreams, if the woman wearing the mask is the Queen of the Hidden Treasures, then the Queen of the Hidden Treasures who was stolen is wearing a mask, and where did her face go?" Han Jiang asked Tang Feng rhetorically.

"Went to that Buddha statue in Blackwater City! Mounted on the corpse of another woman! When Tang Feng came to this conclusion, he was shocked, "This ...... It's incredible. ”

"I also think it's incredible, and we can't prove that the woman wearing the mask is the Queen of the Hidden Mountains, how can she appear in the desert Gobi? According to my previous rigorous and rigorous logical reasoning, everything I just said is actually difficult to establish, but all this is such a coincidence, the bones of two different women are sealed in the Buddha statue, and the mask of the party aristocratic woman has been stolen from the face, I can't help but think about the two together! Han Jiang frowned and looked into the distance.

6

After a period of silence, Tang Feng suddenly heard Liang Yuan muttering incessantly, "What...... How can this be? ”

"What do you mean?" Tang Feng didn't understand what Liang Yuan meant.

"Yes, Miss, what should it be?" Han Jiang also asked.

"I slept soundly and deeply last night, and I had a dream, but it was different from both of you, I didn't dream of such a horrible scene, my dream was quiet, peaceful, and even ...... Even cozy. ”

"Quiet? Placid? Warm! Do you dream of a woman in a mask? Tang Feng was confused.

"I dreamed it too!" Liang Yuan replied.

"Miss, do you have a fever, you dreamed of a woman wearing a mask, and she is still quiet, peaceful, and warm? Even I was scared to death! Han Jiang sneered.

"Yes, my dream is also very long, I dreamed that I was in a poplar forest, of course not this small poplar forest now, the poplar forest in my dream is very large, very beautiful, golden poplar forest, there is a clear spring next to the poplar forest, I live in a snow-white tent, and when I wake up in the morning, I hear beautiful music......"

Tang Feng interrupted Liang Yuan, "I also heard beautiful music, but it quickly turned into weird music. ”

"Don't interrupt me, mine hasn't changed!" Liang Yuan seemed to be very excited, and there was still a smile on her face when she recalled, "The beautiful music seemed to come from outside the tent, so I wanted to go out and have a look, but as soon as I jumped out of bed, someone brought me fresh mare's milk, fruits, barbecue, and many delicacies, I asked who sent them, they said that they were their masters, I didn't care so much, I enjoyed a big meal first, just when I was satisfied, the woman in the mask came in, I was startled at first, and I couldn't help but take a few steps back." But the woman smiled at me. ”

"Damn, she smiled at me too, and I ended up on me!" Han Jiang said angrily.

"No, I'm not like you, I think she smiles beautifully, very sincerely, although she wears a mask, but I can perceive a beautiful face behind the mask, a sweet smile."

"Damn, something must be wrong with your senses, behind the mask is a terrifying ghost!" Tang Feng said angrily.

"I believed in my own feelings, and her smile made my initial horror completely disappear, and then we both sat down and talked for a long time."

"Talked for a long time? What are you talking about? Tang Feng sneered.

"He asked me a lot, what was my name? Where did it come from? What are you here for? ”

"You've said it all?" Han Jiang asked rhetorically.

"Say it!"

"Did she tell you who she was?" Tang Feng asked.

"No, I asked, but she only said she was the owner of the land." Liang Yuan looked at Tang Feng innocently.

"See, the little girl is just a liar, let her say whatever she wants!" Han Jiang had a crying and laughing expression.

"And do you see what she's looking like behind her mask?"

Liang Yuan shook his head again, "No...... But...... I asked her why she was wearing a mask. ”

"What did she say?"

"She said it was because she had lost her most beautiful look."

", what do you mean? When you're old and don't look good, you have to wear a mask and come out to scare people? The more Han Jiang listened, the more funny he felt.

"I don't understand what that means."

"Then you talked to her for a long time in your dream, and the co-authorship was all about you, what did she tell you?" Tang Feng asked.

"Anyway, she said that I was very beautiful, very similar to her when she was young, and said that I looked like a kind-hearted girl."

"Damn, I said earlier, you are a stupid girl, when people praise you for your beauty, you will be so happy that you can't find the north! is also kind-hearted, what is kind-hearted? That's to say you're stupid! Tang Feng angrily counted Liang Yuan.

"Okay, okay, Tang Feng, you still take it seriously, isn't it just a dream?" Han Jiang hurriedly persuaded.

"That's what I had in my dream, by the way, I said I was going to Hanhai Mi City, and the woman in the mask advised me not to go, saying that the road was difficult and dangerous, and that it had been fatally destroyed, and that it was no longer glorious."

"Gotcha! It's another nonsense, of course we know it's a difficult road. Tang Feng is still counting Liang Yuan.

Liang Yuan's face darkened, but Han Jiang said: "No, I think Liang Yuan's words are not nonsense, they are very valuable." If we really believe in these dreams, if this masked woman is the Empress of the Lost Treasure, then it is valuable for her to say, 'It has been mortally destroyed, and its glory is long gone.' Tang Feng, have you ever thought about what the party members of Hanhai Mi City mean to the slaughter of Qianhu Town? ”

"What does that mean?" Tang Feng immediately understood what Han Jiang meant, "It means more violent revenge." ”

"Well, how could the Mongol iron horsemen, who swept across Europe and Asia, endure such humiliation? Kublai Khan would definitely have sent a large army to conquer it. Judging from the ruins we have found and the evidence we have, the party members of Hanhai Micheng still insisted on fighting for decades after the fall of the Western Xia, from the Ogedai era to the Kublai Khan era, but since the time of Kublai Khan, this land seems to have been calm, and no relics have been found. ”

Tang Feng took Han Jiang's words and said: "This shows that since the time of Kublai Khan, the party members of Hanhai Micheng have disappeared, and the city is likely to be destroyed, and its glory is long gone!" ”

"So, think about it, when Kublai Khan first became the Great Khan, the party members of Hanhai Micheng still had the strength to slaughter Qianhu Town, why did they suddenly disappear after that?"

"It must be after this that the party members of Hanhai Mi City suffered a catastrophe, so that they no longer have the strength to write history on this land!"

"I think the most likely catastrophe is the revenge of the Yuan Dynasty's army!"

Tang Feng thought about Han Jiang's inference, and shook his head again, "Although I agree with your inference, why did we only see the slaughter of Qianhu Town, but we didn't see any sign of the Yuan Dynasty's army retaliating?" If Kublai Khan sent a large army to conquer them, how could they let those dry corpses and violent corpses in Qianhu Town? This is unreasonable, in short, we have come all the way and have not found the slightest trace of the retaliation of the Yuan Dynasty army. ”

Tang Feng's words made Han Jiang unable to explain, and Liang Yuan suddenly said, "Could it be that the party members have encountered some natural disasters or plagues." ”

"I don't rule out this possibility, but it's hard to imagine that in the face of the slaughter of Qianhu Town, Kublai Khan can sit idly by?" Han Jiang still insisted on his inference, "We haven't found the remains of the revenge of the Yuan Dynasty army now, it doesn't mean that we won't find it later, only when we get to Hanhai Mi City, can the truth be revealed." ”

7

After the three of them recalled last night's dream, the sky was already bright, and everyone began to discuss where to go next, Han Jiang proposed to check in the poplar forest first, and then take the poplar forest as the center to investigate the surrounding area, on the one hand, to find new clues, and on the other hand, to find clues left by the scientific expedition team.

The three of them hurriedly had breakfast, and began to carefully investigate in this small poplar forest, Han Jiang was a group of people, Tang Feng and Liang Yuan were in a group of two, respectively, in the poplar forest, Tang Feng and Liang Yuan soon came to the edge of the poplar forest, this is the west of the poplar forest, there is a weeping old tree, almost lying on the ground, Tang Feng couldn't help but sigh, "This poplar tree has a history of at least thousands of years." ”

"Older than Western Xia?" Liang Yuan asked.

"Well, older than Western Xia, it must have witnessed everything that once happened here." After Tang Feng said this, the scene of those poplars turning into dried corpses in last night's nightmare resurfaced in front of him.

Tang Feng beat his spirits, not wanting to be haunted by that nightmare again, "Hey, you look at the tree trunk and there seem to be words on it." "Liang Yuan found something on this toppled poplar tree.

"Where?" Tang Feng leaned in to check.

"Here, it seems to be in Russian."

"That must be left by the expedition team!" Tang Feng felt a burst of ecstasy in his heart, he now needed all the relics and materials left by the scientific expedition team back then, the best was the written materials.

Tang Feng saw that there were several big letters on the trunk of the poplar tree that had dried up, it was indeed Russian letters, like a word, Tang Feng connected several letters together, and slowly spelled out this word - fate?!

"Fate?! What a strange word? Reminds me of the ugly bell ringer and the beautiful Esmeralda in Notre Dame. Liang Yuan muttered to himself.

"yes, how did that word come up in this place, too...... It's incredible! Tang Feng shook his head and said.

"Maybe it's just that a member of the expedition team was bored and wrote and played, such as my grandfather, who could speak Russian."

"I don't think it's so simple, you know, the poplar is cracked like this, there is no moisture, it is extremely hard, to engrave on it, it takes a lot of effort, you find that there are not these Russian letters each carved so deeply, obviously the person who carved the words took a lot of effort to engrave it."

"That's just as well!" Liang Yuan thought for a while, "Let's see if there are any other engravings around here." ”

So, the two of them searched carefully on this stout poplar tree, the word just now was engraved on the side of the trunk, and one side of the trunk that had fallen down was facing the ground, Tang Feng lay on the ground, put his head under the trunk, and looked for it slowly, and suddenly, he found that it was just under the word he had just found, and there seemed to be handwriting.

"There seems to be a word here!" Tang Feng shouted.

"What word?"

"I can't see it clearly, I'll have to turn over the trunk." Tang Feng said and climbed out from under the trunk again.

Tang Feng and Liang Yuan worked together, but this poplar was extremely heavy, and it was very difficult for them to lift it, even if they turned it over. Liang Yuan wanted to call Han Jiang to come over to help, but Tang Feng waved his hand, "Let's continue to investigate first, and then call Han Jiang to come and move after the survey is completed." ”

The two carefully surveyed the western half of the poplar forest, but found no valuable relics, at this time, Han Jiang also finished surveying the eastern half of the poplar forest, only to see Han Jiang walking over with an iron guy in his hand, "Did you find anything?" Han Jiang asked.

"Let's talk about yours first!"

"Me? I found one of these things. ”

Han Jiang stretched out his right hand, and Tang Feng and Liang Yuan saw that Han Jiang had a huge rivet in his hand, a strangely shaped rivet.

8

Tang Feng stared at the strangely shaped rivet and asked, "Where did you find this?" ”

"Right there, under a poplar tree at the edge of the forest." Han Jiang pointed to a poplar tree on the east side of the poplar forest.

"I speculate that this rivet was probably used by the scientific expedition team to support the tent back then." Tang Feng reasoned.

"Yes, the tent of the expedition team should have been very large, and it was windy here, and there might be sandstorms, so such thick rivets were used. But what do you see from this rivet? ”

"It seems...... The shape of this rivet seems to be a bit special, how did it bend into this shape? Tang Feng was confused.

"Yes, the shape of this rivet has changed, a big change, I think this thick and long rivet was deeply inserted into the ground, I can't imagine such a thick rivet, what force made it become the shape it is now?" Han Jiang tried to break the rivets back to their original shape, but with Han Jiang's strength, it was in vain.

"What do you mean this rivet witnessed what happened on the night of the expedition team's accident?"

"Yes, if it were a video camera, a camera would be fine, but it was just a rivet, but with this rivet, I can conclude that there was a powerful force attacking the expedition camp that night, Makarov once recalled that when he and Liang Yunjie returned to the camp, the camp was empty, but most of the equipment and personal belongings were still there."

"Well, but now we are here, and we can't find anything but this rivet."

"It means that the force swept through everything in the camp and turned the rivet into what it is now." Han Jiang inferred.

"What a force! You can bend such a thick rivet like this! Liang Yuan sighed.

"Alright, tell me what you found!" Han Jiang asked as he threw the rivet into the trunk of the car.

"Our discovery is much bigger than yours, but we need your help!" Liang Yuan pretended to be mysterious and said.

"Oh! Much bigger? What else can be found in this place? Do you need my help? ”

Han Jiang suspiciously followed Tang Feng and Liang Yuan to the poplar tree that fell to the ground in the west, "What are you looking at?" Just this tree? ”

"If you have the strength to turn this tree over, you can see a big discovery." Liang Yuan smiled mysteriously.

"Turn it over? You're not going to play with me, are you! Han Jiang hugged the thick trunk with both hands and gave it a try.

Tang Feng was about to step forward to help, but Liang Yuan grabbed Tang Feng, Tang Feng understood that Liang Yuan was calling Han Jiang, Han Jiang shouted, his arms were forced, but the trunk did not move.

"Haha, it seems that the Korean team has been lacking in training recently!" Liang Yuan said with a smile.

"Girl, try it!" Han Jiang was quite annoyed.

Tang Feng walked over and said, "We found a Russian word on the trunk of this poplar tree. ”

"Oh! Russian words? Han Jiang was surprised.

"It's 'fate', and then I found words under the trunk, but I couldn't read clearly, so I wanted to turn this tree over, and it was thankless for you to hold it like this, and the three of us worked together to turn the trunk over."

"You said it earlier! Call the silly boy! ”

So, the three of them worked together, with all their strength, and then turned the trunk over, and when the dust cleared, Tang Feng couldn't wait to brush off the dust on the trunk with his hands, and a few Russian words were faintly revealed.

"It's still Russian!" Liang Yuan muttered.

"This is the person who carved 'fate'?" Han Jiang asked rhetorically.

Tang Feng carefully identified it and shook his head vigorously, "No, it wasn't carved by that person." ”

"Oh! How so? ”

"Look!" Tang Feng pointed to the Russian words, "First of all, these words are not as deep as the word 'fate', obviously with different forces; secondly, the handwriting is not the same, of course, we are not experts in this area, this can only be used as a reference; more importantly, under these words, there is a person's name." ”

"Ahh "This is a big discovery!" Han Jiang and Liang Yuan looked excited.

"Yes, the name is important." Tang Feng pretended to stop and looked at Han Jiang and Liang Yuan.

"You mean!"

"This name is Koznov." Tang Feng said the person's name.

"What? Koznov! Koznov even came here too? Han Jiang and Liang Yuan were shocked.

"Yes, I was shocked too. According to our previous understanding, in 1909, Koznov made two expeditions into the Badain Jaran Desert, and the only discovery was the famous city of Blackwater, which was never recorded in his later memoirs and expedition reports. Tang Feng spoke slowly, as if he was searching for something in his memory.

9

After a short silence, Han Jiang suddenly remembered something, "Since Koznov has left relics here, there is no doubt that he has been here, don't forget, he got a jade insert in Heishui City, according to our inference, before this, the person who held the jade insert in Dunhuang found Koznov and returned to the Badain Jaran Desert for the second time with Koznov." ”

"In other words, it is entirely possible that after discovering Blackwater City, Koznov went deep into the depths of the Gobi Desert with his tentacles in an attempt to find Hanhai Mi City?" Liang Yuan said.

"It's entirely possible. Tang Feng, you are a translator, what did Koznov write on this? Han Jiang urged.

Tang Feng seemed to have just woken up from his thoughts, and then said: "This is like a map, but it is not a map. The word at the top, translated as 'Blackwater City', is lined up in the southwest direction of the other words, which is what we already know - 'Jiulipu', 'Wolf Valley', 'Qianhu Town' and here, but here, he wrote not 'Yue'er Spring', but 'where there are poplars and water sources'. ”

"Oh! This proves my judgment, Koznov really set out from Blackwater City after discovering Blackwater City to find Hanhai Mi City. Han Jiang is confident in his judgment.

"But he didn't mark it as 'Hanhai Mi City'." Tang Feng Road.

"This shows that Koznov has not found Hanhai Mi City."

Tang Feng nodded and said slowly: "Okay, I'll talk about my opinion!" These words led me to several important clues, first, Koznov also came to look for Hanhai Mi City, but did not find it; Second, Koznov came to look for Heishui City, which confirmed the judgment of me and Han Jiang after returning from Helan Mountain, before Koznov, there was a mysterious person X who first discovered the jade insert in Dunhuang, when Koznov first discovered Heishui City, he did not pay enough attention to it, Koznov continued to follow his plan, and headed for the Sichuan region, but why did he suddenly turn back to Heishui City after walking to Qinghai and carried out a large-scale excavation of Heishui City? I deduce that this mysterious figure X may well have played a decisive role. ”

"Yes, this finding fully confirms our previous hypothesis."

"Three, Koznov is exactly the same route as us, which makes me think of a few questions, we are referring to Misha's route, so how did Misha decide on this route back then?"

Liang Yuan's eyes lit up, "I understand, Misha and the scientific expedition team probably referred to Koznov's roadmap back then. ”

"Yes, although Koznov did not mention his adventure in the public information, it does not mean that he did not leave any written information. Before, we already knew that the joint scientific expedition team was established at the request of the Soviet side half a century ago, and the Soviet side proposed the scientific expedition at the suggestion of Sinologists such as Misha and his teacher Arik. The famous sinologist Menlev wrote in one of the letters that it was he and Misha who found the jade interstitial screen in the vast treasury of the Winter Palace, so they must have searched through the archives of the Hermitage and the Institute of Oriental Studies for this scientific expedition, and all the archival documents of Koznov's expedition were stored in these two places, so it is entirely possible that Misha and they found Koznov's account of this unsuccessful expedition, and it was precisely because they had Kozlov's record that the scientific expedition team did not find all the jade interstitials. Rush to action! Tang Feng's thinking suddenly broadened.

"It's a pity they all stopped there." Han Jiang sighed and said.

"This is the fourth point I want to make, the Sino-Soviet joint expedition and Kozlov's expedition ended here, the difference is that the expedition team was almost completely wiped out, and Koznov seems to have retreated, at least he himself is fine. It makes me shudder! Tang Feng's face was embarrassed.

"Chilling! Why? Liang Yuan still doesn't understand.

Han Jiang explained, "Don't you still understand what Tang Feng means? The first two times stopped here, and now that we're at this place, can we move on? Will we be luckier than Koznov and the joint expedition? ”

"Yes! Maybe there's a big threat waiting for us......"

"Cut! You two big men are scared now? Am I not afraid? Liang Yuan didn't care.

"Well, there's the last point, the fifth point, you see." Tang Feng pointed to the "place with poplar and water source" on the trunk of the tree and said, "Judging from the name of this place, when Koznov came here, there was a water source here, and according to the memories of Makarov and Misha, the expedition team originally thought that there was a water source here, but when they went out to look for it, they did not find a water source." ”

"It seems that Koznov misled the expedition team!" Han Jiang Road.

"That's not the most critical thing, it's the most critical thing." As he spoke, Tang Feng pointed to the west side of "where there is poplar and water source", where a mark faintly appeared, and there was also a Russian word next to the mark, but the font of this list was very small, smaller than the others, and it was easy to ignore if you didn't look carefully, "See?" To the west of the poplar forest, Koznov marked another place name, a Russian word that translates to a terrible name - Devil's City. ”

"Devil's Town? What is this? Sounds scary! Liang Yuan was not only not afraid, but very interested.

"Devil's Town? Could it be the Hanhai Mi City we are looking for? Han Jiang suddenly made a bold speculation.

"This ......" Tang Feng hesitated a little.

Han Jiang said again: "You look at the right direction!" ”

"I've thought of what you've said, but it's too early to tell, and it seems necessary for us to continue west." As he spoke, Tang Feng looked at the continuous sand dunes to the west of the poplar forest.