At the same time, it was about 1,600 kilometers away from Tianshu Town.

A team of more than 30 people, most of whom were heavily armed soldiers, had only two geological exploration experts in civilian clothes, carefully driving eight large green mules through the mountains.

One is Professor Payette, a 50-year-old French white geologist, and the other is Zheng Yuan, a young expert in his 30s, who wear wide-brimmed cowboy hats with Australian characteristics to block the strong sunlight in the mountains.

The average altitude of this mountainous area has reached more than 3,000 meters, and the temperature is about a few degrees above zero, making the climate quite cold.

The expedition leader Li Xuanzhu gasped for breath and came to the side of the mountain rock to stop and look around, only to see that the endless mountains in the distance were layered on top of each other, which were taller and more steep than the mountains at his feet, and the top of the mountain was shrouded in snow that did not melt all year round.

There are steep mountains with a height of more than 4,000 meters, and looking at it makes people's scalps tingle, Li Xuanzhu encouraged loudly;

"Brothers, ahead is a branch of the Central Mountain Range, called the Fubilan Mountains, everyone work hard, we will be there in two more days."

Wangshan ran dead horses, not to mention that there was no road here at all.

The soldiers and brothers behind him came out of the sparse fir forest one by one, standing on the hillside and panting heavily, Duan Qirui, who was walking behind, also caught up, and sat on the stone with his ass so tired that he said; "Captain, rest your feet,"

"Okay, let's rest for a while, eat some dry food and drink saliva." Li Xuanzhu waved his hand to disband the team, sat down next to Duan Qirui, took out the kettle on his body and drank a few sips, and handed it to Duan Qirui.

Duan Qirui took the kettle and took a few big sips, wiped his wet chin with his hand and said; "Brother Zhuzhu, we've been walking around this mountain range for more than ten days, I see that Bergkamp is also a little dizzy, maybe this bastard took us around in circles, do you think this is possible?"

Li Xuanzhu frowned and thought about it, and said; "It's impossible to say that people's hearts are separated from their stomachs, it stands to reason that there is no point in lying to us, if the mine really exists, the Dutch ghost will never have a chance to get it, this is harmful to others and not to themselves, I think Bergkamp's desire to survive is very strong, and he will not joke with his own life."

"This makes sense, why take us around in the mountains?"

"Be more patient, this place is full of mountains, not to mention that you have only been here once, even those who live here all year round may be lost, Bergkamp said that there is a crescent-shaped mountain lake near the mine, and now you are going around to find this crescent lake, otherwise it is difficult to locate where you are?"

"Brother Zhuzhu, it's not okay to go on like this, the supplies we carry with us can't last for 10 days, you see that these big green mules have lost a lot of weight, we have to think of a way."

"Brother Qirui, what do you think?"

"I've figured out a solution, do you think it's okay?" Duan Qirui ripped off the wide-brimmed cowboy hat on his head, the hair on his head was wet with sweat, and the faint heat was steaming, he fanned the cool breeze a few times and said; "These big green mules are too cumbersome, let's find a place with a stream in the valley to set up a temporary woodland, put the big green mules and logistics baggage in the camp, the brothers are divided into several roads to go into battle lightly, with a week's supplies on the road, there are no other ruthless characters in this mountain except wolves, I don't need to bring a rifle, just take a revolver with you for defense, search forward for three days, whether you find the crescent moon lake or not, you will return as soon as you arrive in three days, do you think this will work?"

"It makes sense, it's a solution to the dilemma." Li Xuanzhu obviously listened to it, and said after pondering repeatedly; "A platoon leader Chen Yong leads a team, you lead a team, I lead another team, we can search in three directions, Bergkamp follows my team, two experts one with a team, so that you can find both Crescent Lake and minerals, the efficiency is much higher than bundling together, okay, then do it."

Half a day later

The expedition set up camp in a valley at a low altitude with an abundance of subtropical trees and shrubs, and a clear mountain stream meandering through a large area of bare pebbled riverbank, the mark of thousands of years of flash floods.

Eight tents formed a semicircle at the bottom of a steep mountain wall, and the soldiers built rudimentary stoves out of rocks, gathered a large number of dead branches and leaves, and lit a bonfire, in which the mushroom soup picked in the mountains was boiled.

A dozen or so soldiers pierced the fish with bayonets by the stream, and after a while, they caught more than a dozen fish, happily scraped off the scales with bayonets by the stream, removed the internal organs, chopped off the fish head, and then cleaned the snow-white fish, chopped it into pieces and threw it into a large pot to boil, and sprinkled with a little salt, it was a delicious fish and mushroom soup.

Then take out the dough and bake it on the bonfire, and you can have a delicious meal with a large piece of fish and mushroom soup.

"Professor Payette, here's for you." Li Xuanzhu took two pots of fish soup, handed one of them to Professor Payette, and then sat down on the large stone beside him.

"Thanks, this looks very tasty." Professor Payette took the fish soup and put it under his nose to smell it, a look of intoxication on his face.

"In the mountains, this is the condition, I have enough food and drink before I have the strength to continue to climb the mountain, to be honest, these two weeks have almost finished climbing the mountains of my life, and I now see these mountains have a feeling of vomiting."

Li Xuanzhu looked up at the rolling mountains and sighed helplessly, then lowered his head and began to deal with the delicious fish soup, which was extremely sweet.

Professor Payette was already hungry, so he baked hot bread in his hand and drank fish soup in large gulps, and after the hot food was in his stomach, his whole body warmed up, and the hard work of the day's trek was thrown into the clouds.

Not much effort

The two of them even drank the last soup base, patted their full bellies with their hands, looked at each other and smiled.

There is no hardship that cannot be solved by a bowl of fish soup, if there is...... That's two bowls of fish soup.

Li Xuanzhu asked with some curiosity; "Professor Pateay, I take the liberty of asking, how did you come up with the idea of leaving beautiful France for Australia in the first place? I know that in the eyes of Westerners, Europe is an eternal holy place in their minds. ”

"Holy Land...... Maybe! ”

Professor Patye chewed on these two words with a complicated expression, and looked up at the sky above the valley, where the golden halo of evening gilded the clouds with a layer of gold, and against the clear blue sky, it looked particularly magnificent and charming.

"Tell me my story;

After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the proud France was defeated, and the anger of the people burned like a prairie fire.

The Third Reich ruled by Napoleon III collapsed in an instant, countless nobles were executed by the angry and revolutionaries, the revolutionaries occupied Paris, and His Majesty Napoleon III went into exile in London.

At that time, from Paris to Lorraine, from Auvergne to Provence, it was a sad moment when emotional anarchists occupied the cities and villages, guillotined many nobles indiscriminately, and many officers who had fought for France, stained the land red with blood.

At this time, the German occupation forces were sitting on the crater of a volcano, freeing more than 700,000 French prisoners of war for their own benefit and arming them with guns and artillery.

This army fought back in Paris, counter-attacking the former revolutionaries, and slaughtering corpses and bloodshed in the cities and villages.

I fled France with my wife and children that year and boarded a cruise to Australia, because many people made a fortune panning for gold, and I wanted to try my luck. ”

Speaking of which

Professor Patyle, shaking his head self-deprecatingly, continued; "There is an insurmountable gap between dream and reality, and I didn't realize it until I arrived at the Victorian gold mine;

I'm not a respected geology professor here, knowledge is useless here, I'm just an ordinary gold digger.

Without a strong physique, unable to occupy a good position in the gold panning, or even to keep the fruits of his labor, I watched as two of my companions were shot in front of my eyes because they were unwilling to hand over the dog's head gold they had scavenged.

The gold fields weren't a place for people like me, and I probably died quietly by some bush, so it wasn't until I was hired to teach at Red River Valley University that my life settled down after a few years.

The glorious France has faded in my memory, and the Red River Valley is my home, where I own a beautiful French-style villa, a respected professor, and a stable and happy family.

I've been through so much turmoil and killing for most of my life, and I don't have any nostalgia for the so-called holy places, and those who carry butcher knives are just as brutal as they kill, and all these strife are tiresome.

I just want to live a peaceful life with my wife and children, the Red River Valley is such a beautiful and inclusive city, I love it, there is the elegant and peaceful life I want, and that's enough. ”

Professor Pateay's eyes stared into the distance, immersed in the memories of the past.

The wind of the valley blows his gray hair, and perhaps there is more to him in his heart, an old man who just wants to live a peaceful life, but this simple wish has become a luxury in the midst of fierce and turbulent social changes.

Although Li Xuanzhu is not very old, he can understand Professor Patye's state of mind at the moment, and in his 19-year-old life, he has experienced unimaginable ups and downs.

He was born in a remote village in the northwest of Shandong, and his family was poor when he was a child, but with the love of his parents and relatives, he could get by.

I remember that at the end of the summer when I was 11 years old, locusts flew in and devoured the crops that were about to ripen in the field, leaving no grass growing in the area.

When a serious locust plague broke out in his hometown, and the villagers went out in droves to beg, and those who stayed in the village could only starve to death, 11-year-old Li Xuanzhu embarked on a wandering journey with his parents and younger siblings.

The father used his not tall body to provoke the family, a flat burden and a basket containing pots and pans, a basket containing a 6-year-old sister and a 4-year-old brother, a suona and a kettle hanging on the head of the flat shoulder, picking up a heavy flat burden and hitting the road.

From summer to autumn, from autumn to winter......

Along the way, I have seen countless people die on the way, and my 4-year-old brother also died of typhoid fever, all the way to Jinan City, there are black and oppressive refugees outside the city, and the fierce soldiers do not let the refugees enter the city, they can only suffer in the cold wind outside the city, and their lives are like mustard.

I remember that it was a snowy day, my father finally fell, he gave most of the food he begged to his wife and children, long-term malnutrition and overwork crushed the man's backbone, he could no longer blow the moving suona begging, no longer able to shoulder a heavy burden, no longer able to protect the children and his wife......

It didn't take long

Seeing that the family of three was about to starve to death in hunger and cold, my mother was forced to sell herself and only sold a piece of bread.

Li Xuanzhu still remembers that he and his sister cried and chased in the cold wind, but they were kicked to the ground by the fierce family members, and a piece of dough mixed with soil was casually dropped, and his mother was forcibly loaded into a carriage and taken away.

From now on

11-year-old Li Xuanzhu and 6-year-old sister Li Qiaoer relied on each other for their lives, and luckily mixed into Jinan City, relying on the charity of well-wishers to survive the cold winter.

But who would have thought that he would lose his sister Li Qiaoer......

On that day, the brother and sister were begging separately in the bustling market, and Li Xuanzhu only heard his sister's cry, and by the time he ran desperately past, there was no one in sight.

At that moment, Li Lianzhu's heart was broken.

He wept bitterly and ran around the streets looking around, until in the dead of night, Li Xuanzhu, who was only 12 years old, clearly knew that he had lost his sister and could never find it again......

Since then, Li Xuanzhu has fallen into a problem, that is, when he encounters a lively market, he can wander all day, carefully identify every little girl passing by, and hope that a miracle will happen to let her reunite with her sister Li Qiaoer.

He couldn't forgive himself in his heart, he didn't dare to imagine what would happen to his sister, in that cannibalistic society, she would really eat people......

Fate changed after entering the Eagle School, where Li Shuzhu met many brothers and sisters, received a comprehensive education, was able to eat and dress warmly, and even crossed the ocean to Australia......

All these changes in fate are thanks to the merciful Earl, who is the guiding light in Li Xuanzhu's life, and accepts the lonely young man with a fatherly broad-mindedness, and this kindness will not be completed in his life.

Unconsciously

Silent tears were already hanging on his cheeks, the mountain wind was blowing cold, Li Xuanzhu suddenly woke up from his memories, silently wiped away the tears on his face and left......

Night soon came, and the terrible howl of wild wolves echoed in the valley.

Out of fear of the wild wolves, the eight large green mules tied to the center of the camp snorted uneasily, and in an irritable mood, they scraped the ground with their hooves and made a "bang-la-la" sound, which made people uneasy.

"A long line."

"Here."

"Take the brothers to ambush for a while, listen to my orders for a while, the wolves will aim and fight after they appear, it depends on you whether you can sleep well tonight."

"Don't worry, Yingzao, I, Chen Yong, discipline it, and the wolves will not come back."

"A few of you will make the bonfire more prosperous for me, put the jerky we brought into the pot and boil, and cook all the fragrance, I don't believe that these hungry wolves will not take the bait."

"No problem, Captain, look at it!"