Without the moon on New Year's Eve, the ancient city of Loulan already looks extremely dilapidated. This dilapidation does not mean the ruins everywhere, but the thick dust. The whole city is covered with dust, and some fluffy grass is blown by the night wind.
The movement on the ground and the rustling sound made the whole city seem even quieter.
The stars didn't illuminate the market, and neither did the fires. The orange flames dyed people's faces red. Di Renjie was holding a book in his hand and was wearing a white bear skin cloak, but in the night his bearskin cloak
But it seemed to have turned black, so a strange half-white, half-black phenomenon appeared.
He occasionally changed his hands and put the hand holding the book close to the fire to warm it up. Xu Jingzong, who was sitting opposite him, took a sip of wine and said to Di Renjie: "Xiaojie, are you sure that the squirrel can survive on a moonless night like this?"
Find the entrance to the tunnel? What's the point? You can't see it in broad daylight, or even when there's a moon. It has to be at night like this to see the clues?"
Di Renjie put down the book in his hand and said to Xu Jingzong: "Sir, we have seen everything we should see and searched for everything we should look for, but we found nothing. There is still no trace of the people in this new city.
Uncle Cheng has thoroughly checked the border troops here and is about to torture them. The students think that they are not lying. The disappearance of people in Loulan City is none of their business. Now that we have read and listened, it is now time to investigate.
At this stage, sunlight and moonlight are of no help to our investigation and will only disrupt our inherent thinking.
Now that the investigation has begun, we might as well get to know Loulan again blindfolded and go through it with our own hands. What day can be better than a dark night like New Year's Eve?"
Xu Jingzong raised the wine bottle in his hand towards Di Renjie to show respect, took a big sip and said: "You look very much like your master. Sometimes I doubt that you master and apprentice were killing people."
Not everyone will tolerate it."
"Killing is actually a laborious matter. Ever since we had the idea of family and country, we believe that we cannot kill our own kind casually and use the most severe punishment to restrain us.
Since these punishments have been introduced, our methods of killing must become hidden and secretive, hidden from everyone's eyes, so that we can enjoy the pleasure of killing alone.
My master said that he liked the ancient times best, when people would wrap animal skins around their waists and hold wooden sticks. If they saw anyone they didn’t like, they would knock them to death with a stick. If they saw a woman they liked, they would knock them unconscious and take them back to the cave to live.
Baby, there are no fancy moves, no need for hard planning, no need for three matchmakers and six hires, it’s simple, everything can be said with a wooden stick. What a wonderful era."
Xu Jingzong laughed loudly after hearing this. Not only did he laugh, but Cheng Chumo, who was sleeping with his eyes closed, also laughed. Cheng Chumo took out the horizontal knife from his waist and stuck it in the sand and said: "I, Old Cheng, also liked that era, but your master is gone."
You're probably going to be knocked down by someone with a stick, and your small body won't do it, but I, Old Cheng, will definitely live a prosperous life in that era."
The three people chatted and laughed happily, and their voices spread far away. Loulan City seemed to be a little more alive because of their existence. An unoccupied house will soon be ruined, but an inhabited house will be very different, even if it is a broken cave.
It is a rule that if there are people living in it, it will appear full of vitality. The world will look very different when there are people.
The warriors of the Tang Dynasty were almost fearless. On the way to Loulan, they saw many strange animals, such as salamanders galloping on the sand and scorpions hiding in the cracks of stones. These things are not strange, but when encountered
A large lizard over one foot long is unusual. (See the anecdotes of the Ming Dynasty. A military general killed a giant lizard, which was said to be a dragon.)
When these warriors saw the big lizard, their first reaction was not to turn around and run away, but to rush forward with cheers. Especially with Cheng Chumo running the fastest, it was already too late for the lizard to escape. The overwhelming javelins and crossbow bolts had already flown over. By the time Cheng Chumo caught up with him, it was already too late.
In front of him, he jumped on his feet and yelled at the fierce soldiers under his command. The giant lizard had turned into a porcupine, and its body was covered with javelins and arrows. A good dragon skin was ruined.
Things are never wasted in the academy. Those who like to make specimens will remove all the skin and flesh of the lizard and pick out the bones to make specimens. The lizard meat was not wasted. It was said to be a bit sour after being eaten by Cheng Chumo and the soldiers.
tasty.
The time passed quickly while chatting and laughing. Di Renjie stood up and looked around with a torch. He said to Xu Jingzong with a little worry: "Sir, the yellow rat has been down for a long time. Why hasn't it come up yet? The student is a little worried."
Xu Jingzong shook his head and said: "The yellow rat has been eating this bowl of food for generations. It is a trivial matter for him to dig holes into the ground. If you wait a little longer, he might come up."
While they were talking, a dark human hand emerged from the sand. Several soldiers quickly took the hand and lifted it up. As the sand and dust flew, the wet yellow rat came up from the ground and threw it away.
He took the shovel and poured a large mouthful of water into his mouth to rinse away the sand. He took off his clothes in a few steps, until he was completely naked. Then he wiped himself dry with a dry cloth. Di Renjie quickly put on his cloak.
He put it on him and asked repeatedly: "Have you found the water veins?"
"I found it, it's not a water vein, it's an underground river. This river is obviously an artificial canal with a lot of water. I have tasted it and the water is very sweet. There is no problem at all in drinking it.
As he spoke, he found a kettle from his pile of wet clothes and handed it to Di Renjie. Di Renjie poured a little into the cup, observed it carefully for a while under the firelight and said, "The water is very clear, there is no strange smell, and the cup is silver."
, there is no acidic poison, we need further testing to see if there are other poisons, weasel, don't drink water from unknown sources in the future. People in the entire Loulan City have disappeared. We are investigating the cause. I suspect that the water is
One of the incentives.”
These words frightened the yellow rat so much that his face turned pale, and he hurriedly stuck out his tongue to let others see if there was any change in his tongue.
Mr. Jinzhu, who was sleeping in the carriage, got out of the carriage and said: "There is no shortage of water and food, the two major elements of human survival. We have also looked at the farmland. The moisture is not bad. You can see that those tall poplar trees can survive.
There’s no reason why we can’t grow crops. The vast swamp of Daze next to us is a treasure land. Are there tens of thousands of Loulan people there?”
Di Renjie shook his head and expressed his incomprehension. Cheng Chumo walked up to a school lieutenant and said: "If it is really you who did it, just say that we are all from the military family. It is easy to talk about anything, and everyone who comes is also from the academy."
Sir, they are all closely related to our military. Now that we have said it, we can still think of ways to remedy the situation. If His Majesty sends someone else here, once they are found out, you will die without a place to die. We are not punishing you for killing people.
The crime is to punish you for deceiving the emperor, think clearly."
"Captain Cheng, what happened in Loulan was indeed not done by the brothers. If it was done by the brothers, we would have recruited you on the first day you came here. After all, those missing people are from Loulan, not from the Tang Dynasty. If they were from our country,
In the Tang Dynasty, even a humble person with a hundred heads would not be enough to chop him off. Since he is from Loulan, as long as the general says a few nice words, it is just a beating with a military stick, and the humble person can still afford it.
But the disappearance of these bastards has nothing to do with the brothers, and we can't take the blame for others." The captain of the border military academy said so sincerely that he almost swore an oath.
But Di Renjie heard the clues from it, handed the wine bottle to the captain and said: "You are the local defenders, so you naturally know that the situation here is very complicated. There are Tubo people, Rouran people, Kuche people, and
The Tuyuhun people are desperately trying to expand their own ethnic group. It is too troublesome and takes too long to survive one by one. In fact, robbery is the best way.
If we didn’t do this to these people, tell me who is the most likely person?”
The captain's face was flushed by the firelight, and there was an indescribable weirdness in his eyes. He hesitated for a long time before saying: "There are some strange things in the desert. We will see big lakes and even fairyland in the desert.
Hear the howls of ghosts and gods, and if you are unlucky, you will encounter a flying yellow dragon. If you are even more unlucky, you will encounter a black storm.
To put it bluntly, I really can't stay here any longer. Even if you treat me as a prisoner and escort me back to Guanzhong, I don't want to stay here for a moment longer.
There is something I must tell you. Legend has it that this place is a cursed place. When Fu Jiezi killed King Loulan, King Loulan Changgui said before he died that his ghost would come back.
It will take away all Loulan people, and no one can stop it."
Mr. Jin Zhu did not hesitate to cut off the captain's words: "Fu Jiezi killed King Changgui in the fourth year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty. It has been seven hundred years. You want to say that a man has been dead for seven hundred years?"
Did the young people take away all the Loulan people?"
The captain did not answer Mr. Jinzhu's words, but continued: "There is also the Tomb of the Sun here. In the past, brothers wanted to dig up the Tomb of the Sun to find some treasures. As a result, all the brothers who went down to the tomb died.
Not a single one survived."
Di Renjie saw the yellow rat who was drinking and suddenly trembled. He couldn't ask what was going on face to face. He yawned and said that it was getting late. Everyone should go to bed early. He would go to the Loulan people's cemetery tomorrow.
, it makes no sense that these Loulan people don’t even want their ancestors anymore.
Back in the tent, a thin layer of cowhide was not enough to withstand the cold wind in the desert. Before Di Renjie got into his sleeping bag, Gouzi and Xiaotie also entered the tent. The order they received was to ensure Di Renjie's safety no matter what.
It was safe, so the two of them never left Di Renjie for a step.
The yellow mouse also walked in with his own sleeping bag. I didn't know what stupidity he had committed. He looked directly at Di Renjie and said: "Don't touch the Tomb of the Sun. Don't go there..."