Captain Garlic is also in his prime, but at first glance he only looks like he is in his fifties.

He did not have a beard like the other locals, his face was clean-shaven and red, and he spoke in a loud voice and a hearty smile.

"Teacher Shen, Teacher Yan, I won't be outside when I come to Yecheng. Today, my youngest son brought his grandchildren to see me, and if you don't dislike it, you can eat pilaf at my house. When we're done, we'll talk about it in detail. "Although Captain Garlic has a strong accent, he is very fluent in Chinese.

"Yes, yes!" Hua Hu was so happy when he heard what he was eating.

I couldn't help but worry a little - with her big stomach, what would happen if this meal scared the old man again......

In order to avoid embarrassment for a while, I decided to carry a black pot.

"That...... Uncle Shamushak, I have a lot of food...... It's kind of ...... Big. I said hesitantly.

Captain Garlic laughed: "Young man, what are you shy!" A large amount of food is a blessing! I also eat a lot, you see, how good this body is. ”

As he spoke, he stood up, walked to the kitchen door, and shouted inside, "Old woman, cook more!" Entertain guests from afar! ”

He laughed and walked back.

"Young people with a lot of food can be relied on!" Captain Garlic patted me on the shoulder with his broad palm and said.

We sat down on the couch, and Captain Garlic brought a bunch of all kinds of dried fruits, then made tea in a copper kettle, and poured it for us.

"Thank you, Captain Garlic." Hua Yan unceremoniously reached out his hand, and then put a handful of raisins in his mouth.

"This stuff is so sweet, it's delicious." She said with a lot of words.

Captain Garlic looked at her: "Teacher Shen, I feel that you are not the same as on the phone. ”

"Really? Is it different? ”

"It's different, it's different."

The old criminal investigators are very powerful, and I was afraid that Captain Garlic would find out something, so I hurriedly played a round and said: "Uncle Shamushak, she is a little unpredictable, and the police on Weiyang's side call her 'neurotic'." ”

"yes, I'm insane." Hua Hu hugged my arm and said with a smile.

"Look, nerves?" I spread my hands and made a helpless gesture.

Captain Garlic couldn't help but laugh when he saw the two of us playing with treasure.

"Thirteen years." He said with emotion, "In the past thirteen years, I have never forgotten that case. To tell you the truth, since I retired, I have been investigating it privately. ”

"Any progress?"

Captain Garlic smiled slyly, he stood up, walked to the back room, and came out in a few moments, a journal book in his hand.

He sat on the couch, put on his reading glasses, and turned the pages.

"In the past few years, I've been to all the places that are relevant to the case, except for the ruin, which I haven't found. Anyway, I'm still cooking, so let's talk about work first......"

Over the years, one of the places that Captain Garlic has frequently visited is the village of Kalaya Tuer, from which Wen Mushan and Fei Tang set out, took ten hired temporary workers into the vast desert, and then never returned.

Captain Garlic explained to us as he spoke.

"The word 'Kara' is very common in Xinjiang place names, Karakoram, Karamay, and Karatag, all of which have Kara.

"I checked the book, and it said that the word 'Kara' means black, and 'Yatur' means beacon tower, so the place name of Kara Yatur is probably named after an ancient black beacon tower."

"The beacon tower, fun and fun, is it the beacon used by the princes of the beacon theater?" Hua Man's eyes lit up, "Is there still this thing now?" ”

"It's long since I couldn't find a trace, and it's gone. When I asked the old people in the village, they couldn't remember where the black beacon was—the soil was white. ”

I couldn't help but explain, "Uncle Garlic, in fact, the word 'Kara' means more than just black. ”

"Oh? I would like to hear about it. ”

This word, in fact, has existed since ancient times, and is more common among the northern nomads, the Turks call it 'Kara', and the Mongols call it 'Hara', which may have originally meant black, but later it was extended to have a variety of meanings. For example, there was a Qarakhanid state in the history of Xinjiang, which was previously transliterated as 'Black Khanate' by historians, but now it has been transliterated.

"Why? Because they realized that it was wrong to translate it as 'black sweat', because there are many more meanings in Kara.

"Look at the Mongolian word 'Hara', the original capital of the Mongol Khanate was called 'Hala and Forest', which was built by Wokotai, where at the bottom of the Hangai Mountain, the water and grass are abundant, full of greenery, and it has nothing to do with black. In terms of place names, Karamay refers to oil, which is related to black, but the Karakoram is a perennial snow-covered mountain range, "

"It's amazing." Hua Fei began to hold his cheeks and act like a nymphomaniac again, and I began to feel cramped when I saw it.

"Go on." Captain Garlic also listened attentively, "It's really interesting." ”

"Therefore, some people think that 'Kara' is actually the meaning of praise for 'greatness, exaltation, and holiness......"

Captain Garlic's eyes lit up: "Could it be that Kalaya Tur is referring to the tall beacon tower, if so, there is a lonely dirt hill not far from the village, this hill is a hundred meters high, and it doesn't fit in with the surrounding terrain - could it be that this is the beacon tower?" ”

"If it's a beacon tower, then does it have anything to do with the ancient Western Night Kingdom?" I also fell into deep thought.

We were discussing the origin of the name of the village of Karaayatur when the doorbell rang suddenly.

Captain Garlic slapped his thigh: "My grandson is here!" ”

He happily ran to the door, opened the door, and saw a young Uighur couple walking in. The woman's facial features were very marked, and she looked somewhat similar to Guli Nazha.

"Dada." They called Captain Garlic.

"There are guests at home, and we are eating together at noon." Captain Garlic said happily, "Where's my precious grandson?" ”

"Jondada!" There was a lively voice outside the door.

An eight or nine-year-old boy with curly hair rushed through the door, and when he saw me and Hua Wei sitting on the sofa, he was stunned.

I was also dumbfounded, because this child was none other than the child I bumped into when Hua Hu and I fell in the backyard of the community, climbing the vine trellis and picking vine flowers!

It's really a coincidence that there is no book, I thought it would not be a big deal to be witnessed by a child both of us falling from the sky, who knew that this child was the grandson of Captain Garlic!

So, the boy looked at us a few times, and when he saw that I was staring at him, he suddenly burst into tears.

"Apa! That's them! ”

The entire Shamushak family was stunned, and Captain Garlic was even more surprised.

"What's going on? Adili, do you know them? ”