The Uighur guide was like a cowering goshawk, prostrate on an old felt mat, kneeling down to the long river that winds like a red snake in front of him, his expression full of awe, and in that look, fear prevails.

This river is a lifesaver for us. It can be used to replenish the dying of thirst with sufficient water, and also serve as a signpost to show us the way to Hades. All the people were overjoyed when they saw the river, and they longed for a fierce man to plunge into the river and make their skin that had been exposed to the scorching sun for days a good drink. Only the Uyghur guides are afraid of the big river that appears in this desert, and there is an unknown reason for this.

I stopped and politely said to the Uyghur guide: "Uncle guide, you and these old camels have worked the way, hurry up and go to the river to drink some water." ”

The Uyghur guide did not reply immediately, but knelt down to the river, and after bowing, he slowly stood up, stared at me with deep eyes, and said in a hoarse voice: "I don't know why you came here with this group of people, but you once saved my camel, you are a good person, I have a few words to say to you, in the desert, this kind of river that appears out of thin air, is called the demon river, they are all devil's bait, legend has it that this river can suck people and animals close to it, gods and ghosts into hell unconsciously, After replenishing the water, we have to hurry up and get on the road, stay away from this demon river. ”

It dawned on me that the fear of the Uyghur guide actually came from a local legend. It was the first time he had spoken since he stepped into the desert, and it was clear that he trusted me more in this group.

I smiled, moistened my lips with my saliva, and said to him, "Don't hide it from Uncle Guide, the demon's theory is a mythical thing, and most of it is fiction. We're going to have to walk along the river for a long time, and if you're not worried, we'll be a little farther away from the riverbank. ”

With that, I patted the camel, and the tall old camel rushed to the bank of the river as if it had received an order, and the other camels followed it to the shore.

The Uyghur guide shouted to stop it, but these thirsty camels could not still hear the shouts of their masters, and rushed desperately to the river. The Uighur guide had no choice but to trot down.

Near the river, the black cow poured some water on me with a kettle, and a cool feeling instantly refreshed me, and I rushed into the river with a jump.

The water is cold and clear, and the fine sand at the bottom of the river is clearly visible near the shore, and five meters away, the water is pitch black, and it looks very deep.

It is said that it is a big river, in fact, the width of the water surface is only twenty or thirty meters, on one side is the sand slope with a drop of nearly 100 meters high, on the other side is the vast, relatively low sand sea, the vast desert is divided into two layers here, forming a peculiar desert landscape, this river flows from a farther place along the dividing line between high and low, slowly changes its course not far ahead, flows towards the low-lying sand sea, swims in the low-lying sand sea, like a line outlined by vermilion ink, spread out on the yellow sandpaper. As far as the eye can see, there is no source or end.

Gu Yixin, Liuye and others washed their faces with river water on the bank, and drank water in a kettle.

Gao Moli tore off the floral turban on his head, drank a few sips of water in his hand, and then sat on the sand by the river, looking at the red water.

The water is bone-chilling, in stark contrast to the blazing heat of the desert. Hei Niu and I soaked our clothes, greedily shrunk into the water, and only leaked our heads out of the water, like chilled watermelons, not much, refreshing all over the body.

The black cow shrank under the water very much with his hands, plucked the river water with his hand, and asked: "Old Su, did you say that those beauties in the Western Regions in ancient times also shrank under the water to escape the heat like this?" I have heard that there was once an ancient kingdom of Loulan in the depths of this desert, which was full of beautiful women with big eyes and long necks. ”

I snorted out laughing and said, "You can imagine that if all the beauties of the Western Regions shrank under the water like us, only leaking long necks and big eyes on the surface of the water, don't you think it's ridiculous?" ”

Several fake mercenaries and black-clothed people around laughed, and one of the fake mercenaries with a Tangshan accent also talked about the method of a Xinjiang cook in their garrison to escape the summer, which made everyone laugh. However, as soon as he was halfway through the speech, Ban Cuntou quickly put away his laughter as if he remembered something, coughed dryly twice to stop it, and the Tangshan soldier closed his mouth in amusement.

The black bull gave me a look, which meant that these people didn't recruit themselves, and they were indeed a regular army stationed in the frontier.

As the sun set, the crimson on the water receded, and the river became colder and colder, and one after another people got up from the river and walked to the shore.

"The water in this river is too cold, I'm afraid I'll get sick after soaking for a long time, so let's take it easy." With that, I stood up, and the water flowed down my sides, making splashes on the rippling surface of the river.

The black bull also stood up reluctantly, and said with emotion: "The sun sets on the long river, and the jackdaw plays in the water!" Damn, the half life that Lao Tzu lost in the desert has finally been picked up. ”

As we spoke, we walked to the shore one after the other, and suddenly, the afterglow of my eyes glanced at the surface of the water, and I found that the water above my thighs suddenly moved violently, and I vaguely felt that something was wrong, and hurriedly looked back. I saw a man in black sinking into the depths of the river in a strange posture, and it was pitch black a few meters away. The man in black faced the shore, his limbs thrashed and struggled hard, and he opened his mouth to shout, but the river suddenly poured in!

That sinking posture was like a huge force that dragged him towards the heart of the river!