On the second day, the leaders of the township got a Jeep 2121 and took us to visit the ruins of the ancient city, and there was yellow sand everywhere we could see. In the Han and Tang dynasties, the Yangguan soldiers lived by this water, which was originally an oasis, the upper reaches of the Xitugou usually dried up, and the downstream springs flowed into the water stream to the north, and there were flash floods from time to time. After the flood peak, the ditch banks collapsed, the river widened, and a large amount of sediment flowed downstream, and then deposited downstream. As the sediment is blown and carried by the northwest wind, sand ridges are formed, and the ancient city of Yangguan is gradually destroyed by water and buried in sand.

About the Sui and Tang dynasties, the depression gradually began here, and how many literati and rioters came to this Yangguan and sighed: the quicksand was annihilated for three hundred miles, and I don't know the drums of the Yangguan war.

There are also the remains of a few willow trees on the side of the ancient river, and there are several people hugging just a rotten hollow tree stump, so you can imagine how prosperous it was back then. There is a fairly wide road, and on both sides of the road you can see the remains of perhaps private houses, half-height walls, stone pillars for tying horses, and occasionally three well-preserved rooms.

The township chief surnamed Xu introduced out of the car window in a strong Gansu accent: "This used to be Yangguan Village, and Boss Zhu's grandmother may be from here." Further ahead is Longshou Mountain, where there is a gap called Hongshan Pass, which is where the ruins of Guyang Guancheng are located. ”

After getting out of the car and walking on this desolate Gobi, the sense of vicissitudes of history suddenly came to my face, and the endless next door and the occasional broken bricks formed a shocking beauty. Especially the Longshou Mountain, it is really lifted to say that it is a mountain, but in fact it is a small hill, I don't know what geology, the mountain is red, it is similar to the legendary flame mountain, especially eye-catching. It lies alone on this ancient ruin, as if quietly waiting for the old man who came out of the west to ring the pleasant camel bell again.

I leaned down and gently pulled it twice with my hand, and sure enough, tiles still appeared under the sand, and the township chief smiled and said: "We have an old saying: "We have an old saying: into the antique beach, empty-handed do not return, in the early years here unearthed cultural relics are local farmers with horse-drawn carts pulled back, many of them have been disposed of as rags, not much value." ”

I believe that if the fat man were to come to this place, he would drool, it was a treasure trove, and I saw that there was no half guard patrolling here, so I asked, "It's scattered like this?" ”

"It's not that it doesn't matter, it's that it can't be managed, the conditions are poor, and there is only this car in the township. After receiving the news to send someone, the treasure hunters have already slipped away, and there is no money to hire people in the township, it is said that there is a reserve to be built above, who knows when Ma Yue can do it. These days, there is no money to shout slogans and make a fart. ”

I heard that the township chief is also a real person, and he speaks straightforwardly, so I glanced at Zhu Zihao a few times, and he immediately understood and said: "I came here to investigate this ancient city, I want to invest in a tourist attraction, so that there are tourists who come in and have income, and then use the income to protect the ancient city, which can be regarded as making some contribution to the people of my hometown." ”

This kid is endless, and he said: "I also plan to build a Yangguan Ancient City Museum here, this museum is a public welfare nature, so that future generations can remember this history, so that these exposed cultural relics have a home." ”

"Oops." When the township chief Xu heard this, he grabbed Zhu Zihao's hand and kept shaking it: "Finally looking forward to this day, Boss Zhu is really a patriotic entrepreneur with ideals, worthy of the pride of our Yangguan people, I will report to the county immediately after I go back, if this thing can be done, I will let the county give you a statue on this ancient city, so as to commemorate your great achievements today!" ”

These two sang and harmonized, and I heard that I wanted to find a place to laugh, which was too ridiculous......

Back in the township, the township chief wanted to continue drinking but was stopped by us, saying that he wanted to walk around, but he just asked him to borrow the car key and wanted to look around the beautiful scenery of the wilderness next door.

I proposed: "I have heard that the night scene on the Gobi Desert is invincible and beautiful, and this friend of mine happens to know a little astronomy, so it is rare to come here, so I won't stay here tonight, and it would be best if Township Chief Xu could find a tent for us." ”

"Yes, this is convenient, we have a lot of herdsmen here." With that, he sent someone to clean up for us, and this guy was quite kind enough to prepare a grill and charcoal fire for us, as well as a whole leg of lamb, and a shotgun.

"Barbecue is the most comfortable, and I also liked to go camping when I was young, but there are many wolves in this generation, with self-defense."

The desolation of the night next door changed from the daytime, the fire, the tent, and the barbecue suddenly made me feel that I was back in the young generation. Taking a sip of the local liquor, it was a little choking, and the temperature difference between day and night was huge, so I said to Cha Wenbin, who has always been less drunk: "Come and take two sips." ”

He smiled slightly, took the bottle and poured it, hissed as if he was not very used to the stimulation of the alcohol, but he did not return the bottle to me, still holding it in his hand, he played with the fire on the ground, and the sparks flew. He poured a little of the wine on the ground in front of him, then held the bottle above his head, and I knew he was toasting to the fat man.

"Master Long, is there any news?"

Cha Wenbin hung his head and replied: "I sent someone to find it again, but there is no news, and so is Ye Qiu, he and the fat man have evaporated from the world like that." He was playing with the jade ring again, the jade that he said was not jade, and it had been tied around his waist, and he said it was the last thing the fat man had left him.

I comforted him, "Don't think about it so much, maybe that kid is doing well, and he won't suffer anywhere with his temper." ”

"Do you believe that people have past lives?" He asked me the question out of the blue, and he asked it in a serious way. A Taoist priest asked a new youth of proletarian faith, and I naturally replied: "I don't believe it, if I had a previous life, he would definitely not let me continue to be reincarnated in this broken place." ”

He also laughed, slapped me and said, "The son is not ugly, the dog is not poor, how can you talk like this." ”

"Come on, what, do you believe it?" "I believe it, I'm wondering if that painting is a fat man's past life."

I suddenly remembered something in my mind, and a very nervous feeling came up, and I said to him: "Yes, Wen Bin, I suddenly remembered one thing, do you remember that our educated youth also found a painting in the valley of Savage Tun at that time, and the person who painted the painting is exactly the same as Yuan Xiaobai, is this a coincidence?" ”

Cha Wenbin looked up sharply and asked me, "What about Xiaobai?" ”

"I'm going to the United States." I thought to myself, don't you know.

Cha Wenbin said: "I will call the county tomorrow to ask about the current situation, I am also a little panicked in my heart, and finally found the clue of Yangguan in order to find out the origin of the painting." Early on, I felt that these two things seemed to be unrelated but related, and they could not be so coincidental, so the matter of the ancestors of the Yangguan Jiang family was particularly important. ”

I got up and looked around and said, "It's all desolate, what are you looking for?" ”

"If you can't find it, you have to look for it, this big family won't say that they don't leave anything behind, at least the ancestral grave must still be in this generation."

"Do you want to ......" I immediately understood what Cha Wenbin meant, the living person is gone, the dead man is always there, do this, I looked back at Zhu Zihao who was sleeping inside, and thought that this kid doesn't matter, there is no emotion here for him.

"There's a story to this place." Cha Wenbin paused and continued: "According to legend, in the Tang Dynasty, in order to maintain friendly and harmonious relations with the Western Regions of Khotan, Taizong married his daughter to the king of Khotan, in exchange for peace and tranquility on the border.

The team that sent off relatives took the dowry and traveled a long way to Yangguan, where they rested and prepared to leave the customs. Unexpectedly, the wind blew fiercely at night, the yellow sand rose everywhere, and the sky was dark. The wind blew for seven days and seven nights. When the wind stopped and the sand stopped, the towns, villages, farms, relatives and dowries were all buried under the dunes, and from then on, the place was deserted. Over time, the wind blows, the quicksand moves, and the things under the dunes are exposed to the ground and picked up by people, which is the origin of the antique beach. ”

"What did you hear, what you said seems to be true."

"Last night when you were drinking, an old man in the village told me that he had picked up a sword before the liberation, which was said to be a general's sword, and he invited me to his house to see it. I guess he thinks we're antique dealers, Hong Kongers, rich. ”

I smiled and said: "Maybe the story he said is to sell that sword for a good price, it's not uncommon for something to be unearthed in this place, so we have also done business for a few years, don't worry, Ming'er will go back to accompany you on a trip, anyway, the guy who slept in it now has a big golden calf." How's it going, is it time? ”

We didn't come out camping this time, Cha Wenbin came to see the celestial phenomena, the night before yesterday he suddenly saw a lone star in the northwest shining particularly red, the location of the star is called greedy wolf, that is the first star of the Big Dipper, and it is also a famous killing star.

Cha Wenbin looked up and said that the Lian Zhen Star in the sky was still the same as usual, this Lian Zhen Star and Greed were a pair of stars, and they were also famous Peach Blossom Stars. The greedy wolf kills the main peach blossom, and if these two stars have mutations, the biggest possibility is the peach blossom robbery.

"Not yet, there should be a while, as the saying goes: 'Greedy wolf bell fire four tomb palace, rich and wealthy marquis; When the fire meets the greedy wolf, the palace is fateful, and the marquis is a hero. If there is no murder in these three parties, they should know Fu Shoulong when they are old. 'The greedy wolf has fire, there will be a heroic man will come out, since ancient times, it will be a success, I don't know how many people will die, I hope everything is okay. ”