Yang Wenhao talked about the experience of the past ten days, saying that the pickup truck was not so empty at that time, but was full of boxes of mineral water. This truck is used to replenish water for rest stations on this road, so even if it is only ten days away from the nearest Hangu town, it will take at least three or four days to get to the town.

He also talked about the customs of this second largest desert in China, saying that in this desert, life and death compete, green waves and yellow sand are intertwined, and modern and primitive coexist, which is an ideal place for archaeological teams. There is no grass and endless sand sea and yellow waves, and there is a green island scenery with a forest of shuttles and red willows in full bloom; There are ever-changing mirage illusions, and there are strange wind erosion landforms; There are quiet pictures of the wind and sun, yellow sheep roaming, and goshawks swirling low, and there are thrilling scenes of strong winds, flying sand and rocks, and dark sky.

It is also said that the yellow sand at noon is hot, and the eggs can be warmed; The night was cold, as if it was winter. If you want to explore in the desert, you can continue north from the host road Haizi, and follow the ancient camel road through the hinterland of the Gurbantunggut desert to Altay.

The vast desert oasis not only has a variety of wonders and strange scenes, but also retains a large number of precious cultural relics of the ancient "Silk Road". I talked about many, many things related to archaeology, and when I realized that I could make a sound, the first thing I said was, "Where is Sheng Shiyao?" ”

Yang Wenhao, who was foaming at the mouth and talking endlessly, suddenly closed his mouth, his eyes flashed and he didn't dare to look at me. Looking at him like this, I can't tell how I feel, I just feel that something numb, blunt floats from an unknown place, and then spreads out, sweeping all over the body, and when I speak again, I realize that this thing is called ...... Pain.

"Tell me, where is he?" Forced Yang Wenhao with a paranoid and determined gaze, because he didn't want him to dodge or lie to me in this matter. At this moment, a hoarse and ugly voice suddenly sounded beside him: "Little sister, don't ask him, Brother Yao didn't come out." ”

I was stunned, turned my eyes, and found that Zhou Tong had opened his eyes at some point, and the words just now came from him. And he didn't look at me, he looked straight up, his eyes were empty and unwavering, and I fell silent.

After that, Yang Wenhao said anything, I didn't listen to it, I lay there on my back, and my mind was blank. After that, he stopped talking, only sighed from time to time, and fed me water and food at some point. During this time, the sixth son also woke up, and after glancing at me, he sat down on the edge of the car, lowering his eyes and being silent.

Suddenly, my eyes were moist, and I still remember that the five of us were talking and laughing in the car when we came, and I was still snickering in my heart when I saw Liu Yue wrapping them up as Arabs. But when he didn't think about it, there were only three people left, and even if he woke up alive, he didn't have the strength to speak, and his eyes were only gloomy.

"Cheng Xiao, it's time for the rest stop, do you want to get out of the car and go in and sit for a while?"

I was silent and didn't move, I didn't even roll my eyes, Yang Wenhao sighed and said: "Then I went down to buy some things, and I had to help the truck driver move the goods, and they saved us." After saying that, he got up and walked to the back of the pickup car, and said something to someone, and saw him hand down boxes of mineral water, and there should be someone standing there to pick it up.

Now we are lying on the front half of the carriage, according to Yang Wenhao, it was full of goods before, and most of the way has been delivered. Turning my head to look at Zhou Tong and Liuzi, I saw that their eyes were half-closed, and their ears didn't hear anything outside the window, I knew that they weren't actually asleep, but like me, they didn't have the idea of moving.

Over there, Yang Wenhao had already moved a hole at the back of the car, and I saw the person receiving the goods below, with an ordinary appearance and an average figure, wearing a dark jacket, which should be the driver Yang Wenhao said. Suddenly, I saw that the driver was short, and then there was another person, who was a little taller, and his eyes were half-drooping, as if he couldn't open them. It seems that there are two people taking turns moving below, maybe one of them is a staff member at the rest stop, and I don't know which one is the driver.

After Yang Wenhao finished delivering, he looked back at us, gestured at me, and carefully rolled out of the car. I saw that he had difficulty moving and knew that his foot injury was not healed, in fact, his injury was not light, but he was the first to recover. If he hadn't taken care of us all the way, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been treated so well, and we would probably have been thrown at a rest stop by the driver.

Not long after, Yang Wenhao came back, carrying a bag and a few bottles of water. He opened the bag and took out two loaves of bread, stuffed one for Zhou Tong and Liuzi, and without saying anything, they opened the plastic packaging and gnawed on it. He used to feed me all bread, and I thought it was the cheapest dry bread in that bag. Seeing my eyes on the mouth of the bag, Yang Wenhao explained a little embarrassedly: "Our bags have all fallen there, and all the money on my body has been used to buy medicine in the rest station, so I can only rely on helping to move goods and labor in exchange for these food and water for the past few days, endure it for two more days, and when I get to the town, I can call for help." ”

It's nothing more than that, and I feel a little sad.

I bothered myself with my hand and wanted to sit up, but Yang Wenhao hurriedly stepped forward to help me, and after supporting me well, I silently took the bread from his hand and nibbled quietly. I put down the bread and slowly pulled down the zipper of my coat, and the first thing that caught my eye was my grandmother's purple gold box, lying quietly in the pocket I had specially sewn. And that's not what I'm going to see, I lift the hem of my clothes and keep my eyes steady.

The Shadow Moon, which I thought had disappeared with the torrent of darkness, was pinned to my waist safely, it had no scorching luster, it was as dull as every time I took it, but it was condensed with a thousand-year-old spirit in it. The things that I deliberately ignored and didn't want to think about hit my brain like a thunderbolt, and I shivered with pain.

I seemed to hear Yang Wenhao's exclamation in my ears, but I couldn't hear what he was shouting, so I just opened my eyes blankly and watched his lips float up and down. It hurt, it hurts, I hugged my head and rolled in the carriage, my mouth smelling of blood.

Maybe my movement was too big, attracting other people's onlookers, when I rolled in pain, I saw the car standing outside the car and didn't know whether it was the driver or the staff, Yang Wenhao was at a loss for words, suddenly a black shadow stepped forward and hugged me, I couldn't see who it was, but I felt that he kept repeating something in my ear. That embrace gave me a familiar feeling, and gradually the disordered heart calmed down, and the voice of the outside world could be transmitted into my ears, and I heard the other party saying over and over again: "Little sister, don't think about it anymore, it won't hurt if you don't want to." ”

Be...... Zhou Tong! I quieted down, leaned against his chest, listened to the powerful heartbeat, and the pain in my head eased. I knew I shouldn't ask, but I still asked: "Zhou Tong, do you hurt?" "Liu Yue was confirmed to be dead in that dark space, needless to say, her body didn't come out of it, so my question now is digging into Zhou Tong's heart, but only he, like me, can empathize with it.

Zhou Tong's voice was pale above his head: "It hurts!" Little sister, my old Zhou has never hurt so much, from the body to the heart, so I practiced a skill, let myself be numb, if you don't think about it, it won't hurt, you should learn from me. ”

I buried my face in the hem of his chest, not letting the gushing liquid flow, but wetting the hem of his garment.

After that, my headache did not occur again, I learned to be at peace with the situation, drink water when I have it, nibble on bread when I have it, and after recovering my strength, I went to help Yang Wenhao move the goods. Knowing that the short one is the driver, the tall one with drooping eyelids is the guy, the driver is more talkative, but he speaks non-standard Mandarin, which sounds very laborious, and it is really difficult for Yang Wenhao to communicate with him. The guy was very silent, he hardly heard him speak, the two of them drove alternately, they didn't drive at night, if they just drove to the rest stop, they would stay in the rest stop for one night, and if they didn't arrive, they would stop on the side of the road, put up a tent and sleep.

Zhou Tong and Liuzi occasionally had a sentence, but most of the time they were silent. But it is no longer languishing, like mud. After five days of tossing and turning in the desert, all the goods in the carriage were delivered, and we arrived at Hangu Town.

The town is not ornate, but it is completely modern, with no antique buildings and a majority Uyghur population. The driver dropped us off when he took us to the town and drove away from sight, not to blame him for his indifference, in fact he was kind enough to save us in the desert.

The four of them stood in place and stared, all penniless, and finally Yang Wenhao and Zhou Tong went to find their own way, and Liuzi and I sat on the side of the road and waited for them. After a while, they came back one after another, their faces were not very good, not that they did not contact anyone, but that there was no bank in this town, and the money could not be called, so they could only rely on mail, and went to the post office to ask, saying that this was a remote area, and the mail was very slow, and it would take at least four or five days to arrive. How are we going to spend these four or five days?

Just when we were worried, the pickup truck drove up again, Yang Wenhao stopped without thinking, the driver stopped the car, frowned at us, and there was still the spiritless guy sitting next to him.

Yang Wenhao told the driver about our situation, and Zhou Tong also stepped forward to help, hoping to ask the other party to find a place for us to settle down for a few nights, and wait for the money to be sent to him as a reward. But I heard the driver say don't believe in the mail, once his relatives sent something back, and it took a full two months to receive it, and even the people from the courier company couldn't recognize the road here. Hearing this, everyone's hearts are cold, and they may be able to ask the driver to help in four or five days, what should they do in two months?

Zhou Tong asked if there were any bigger towns nearby, the kind with banks, and the driver said that there were, but it took four or five days to drive. As soon as he saw our faces, he hurriedly waved his hand and said that he had something to do, so he planned to start the car and leave. Zhou Tong glanced at the six sons, and the two of them looked at the car door and were responsible for playing blackface, while Yang Wenhao pretended to be white, discussed with the driver's eldest brother, and asked him to drive again.

The driver said with a bitter face that it was a way to save us, and then go to that big town, and the fuel cost a lot back and forth, and it also delayed his work. As soon as he heard this, Yang Wenhao immediately patted his chest and said that we will cover all the fuel costs, and when the friend over there transfers the money to the card, he can immediately give the money to the driver, and promised to give him a not low reward, so the driver reluctantly agreed.