"How come there is such a large area of quicksand? If there is sufficient groundwater, an oasis should be formed..."
Zhuang Rui was scratching his head. He didn't know whether the ancient temple was covered by the quicksand. If that was the case, even if he had great abilities, he would not be able to uncover the secrets in the ancient temple.
But Zhuang Rui didn't know that this area is just at the junction of the desert and the North Gobi. Due to the increasingly serious desertification, wind and sand have been eroding the area for decades, causing the original soil structure to change. Although there is groundwater,
Even though it exists, it is difficult to change the fate of this land being desertified.
"Huh? Is this soil?"
Just when Zhuang Rui was a little anxious, he suddenly felt that the aura in his eyes seemed to have left the yellow sand with a trace of aura. He couldn't help but be overjoyed. After feeling it for a long time, he finally determined that there were about a thousand people in this quicksand area.
There is real existence at a distance of two hundred meters.
In addition to being happy, Zhuang Rui expanded the scope of the spiritual energy survey, but what made him a little disappointed was that even if he released the spiritual energy ten kilometers away, he could not find the existence of the ancient temple ruins. This shows that the ancient temple is far away from here.
The quicksand area is still some distance away.
Fortunately, Zhuang Rui didn't feel that there was any quicksand landform ahead. The only thing that needed to be solved now was how to bypass this area and head towards the road leading to the North Gobi.
"Xiaozhuang, what are you doing?"
Just when Zhuang Rui wanted to use his spiritual energy to survey the left and right directions, a voice suddenly rang in his ears. Zhuang Rui trembled in fright, and the released spiritual energy was retracted into his eyes like mercury.
Zhuang Rui looked back and saw that it was Professor Man. He couldn't help but smiled bitterly and said, "It's Teacher Man. You...your voice almost scared my soul out..."
As the saying goes, people are frightened to death. Zhuang Rui was immersed in the release of spiritual energy just now, and he was completely unprepared. He was really taken aback by Professor Man.
Professor Man smiled and handed Zhuang Rui a cigarette and said, "Hey, you archaeologists have been dealing with dead people's bones all day long. Are you still afraid of this?"
Zhuang Rui took the cigarette, lit it for Professor Man and himself, took a deep breath, and said: "Hey, let me tell you, Teacher Man, this archaeologist doesn't necessarily live in the cemetery all day, right? See you.
Ghosts are still afraid..."
"Zhuang Rui is right. Those of us who deal with the dead are more afraid of those unclean things coming to our door..."
Following a voice, Dr. Ren also came out of the tent, thinking that tomorrow he would survey this quicksand area, which the locals call the "Devil's Forbidden Zone". Dr. Ren didn't sleep well either, hearing the conversation between Zhuang Rui and Zhuang Rui.
, simply put on his clothes and walked out.
"Well, it's a good thing that you two are both at the associate researcher level, and you're talking about feudal superstition here..." Professor Man laughed when he heard this. It's really hard for two brothers to deal with him alone.
"Teacher Man, this is an issue of ideology. If quicksand were placed 100 years ago, it would be a devil eating people. Wouldn't anyone talk about feudal superstition..."
After Zhuang Rui and Professor Man made a joke, their expressions became serious, and then said: "Teacher Man, I have a question for you. If according to the information, there were still people living here eighty or ninety years ago.
, why did it become so desolate in just a few decades? Didn’t the original water source of the oasis have the effect of blocking the wind and sand? "
Zhuang Rui had just used his spiritual energy to examine the quicksand area, and he had always had doubts in his mind. Professor Man happened to be an expert in desert management, so he asked.
"Xiaozhuang, the vegetation growing in this soil is different from the plants in the desert. After those plants are buried by the yellow sand, they will die quickly...
Coupled with the evacuation of the people living here, over time, the original water source was covered by the desert, which should be the main reason for the formation of the quicksand area..."
Professor Man took a puff of cigarette and then said: "Xiaozhuang, you study archeology. Do you know the reason why the ancient city of Loulan disappeared?"
"Of course I know this. There are different opinions on the reasons why the ancient city of Loulan disappeared, but it should be because it was located on the edge of the desert at that time and was transformed into desert, right?"
In archeology, Loulan archeology is listed as a separate subject, but Zhuang Rui's main focus is not here, and he only has a slight understanding of it.
"Yes, but do you know the cause of desertification?"
It was a long night, and since he couldn't sleep, Professor Man started chatting with Zhuang Rui. He had been dealing with the desert all day long, so the things he talked about were naturally related to the desert.
"I don't know..." Zhuang Rui shook his head.
"In fact, many places have been desertified, and man-made disasters are also very important..."
Professor Man once participated in an archaeological team that conducted Loulan archeology in the 1990s. He went there personally and recalled that an ancient city with a glorious history of 500 years disappeared in the desert. Professor Man was also a little sad.
According to Professor Man, the disappearance of Loulan has a lot to do with people's destruction of the ecological balance of nature. Loulan is located at the hub of the Silk Road, and the Han, Xiongnu and other nomadic countries often provoked wars on the land of Loulan.
Countries have overcultivated crops for their own benefit, causing serious damage to water conservancy facilities and good vegetation. Blind and indiscriminate deforestation by the Loulan people has resulted in soil erosion, sand invasion, river diversion, abnormal climate, and rampant plague. The legend says that "
"Hot fever disease" affects a whole village and a whole family dies.
In the end, the people of Loulan chose to flee. At this point, the glorious ancient city of Loulan disappeared silently from history forever. After the original ancient city was excavated today, it is like a ghost, leaving many unsolved mysteries.
.
"The reason why this area formed quicksand and was eroded by the desert has a lot to do with people's living habits. Perhaps it is not the fault of this generation, but our generation has tasted the bad consequences..."
Professor Man shook his head. Today, as desertification becomes increasingly serious, China is still exporting large quantities of timber, and even in some places, windbreaks are cut down for export. This makes Professor Man sad and helpless.
"A good chat has turned into me complaining. Okay, let's stop talking. There will be a heavy workload tomorrow. Let's all go to bed early..."
Professor Man smiled mockingly to himself. After venting his dissatisfaction, he felt much better. He actually stood up, waved his hand and went back to the tent. Zhuang Rui and Dr. Ren were left looking at each other in confusion.
Even though he had been riding a camel all day, he was still very tired. Dr. Ren yawned and couldn't hold it in any longer. He looked at Zhuang Rui and said, "Teacher Man is also a temperamental person. Zhuang Rui, go to bed early."
, I have a hunch that if we can find the ruins of that ancient temple, we will definitely make a major discovery..."
"sleep……"
Zhuang Rui curled his lips, "It's so new. It seems like I'm dragging you to chat. I interrupted my brother's survey of quicksand and I haven't talked about you yet..."
As for major discoveries, Zhuang Rui also had this premonition. He always felt that Nakagawa, the young and old, would definitely not be as simple as an adventure when he came to China.
Moreover, the word "adventure" has a very broad meaning. When Nakagawa's ancestor Yoshikawa went to Dunhuang, wasn't he also a Japanese explorer?
…
In the desert in the early morning, a rare mist appeared, covering the quicksand area. There was silence all around. Except for the sound of Zhuang Rui and others packing up their tents, there was no sound in the desert.
However, when Erdan and others who got up early looked at the sandy surface, they could not help but recall the scene of the camel being devoured, and they subconsciously took a few steps back.
"Erdan, you stay here to guard the camels. Xiaozhuang, we are divided into two groups, each surveying on both sides. Remember, if you fall into the quicksand, you must not struggle. The quicksand can only swallow you up to your waist.
Stopped..."
After everyone had something to eat, Professor Man assigned tasks. He didn't bring any professional tools, so he had to use clumsy methods to conduct the survey.
"Okay, Teacher Man, I'll go to the north..."
Zhuang Rui nodded in agreement, "Brother Ren, Peng Fei, please stop wandering around and wait here. Teacher Man and I will survey the terrain first..."
"Brother Zhuang, that won't work, I want to follow you..."
Peng Fei shook his head. What he heard from Erdan yesterday was that it was so dangerous. He was worried about letting Zhuang Rui go alone. If he fell into the quicksand, it would be too late to rescue him if there was someone around him.
"Okay, then you follow me..." Zhuang Rui thought for a moment and nodded. He would not give up if he didn't let this kid follow.
In fact, the real danger was not Zhuang Rui, but Professor Man. After Zhuang Rui returned to the tent last night, he measured the depth and width of the entire quicksand on both sides.
This quicksand area, which the locals call the Devil's Forbidden Zone, is more than 1,000 meters deep and 400 meters wide. Zhuang Rui thought that there must have been an oasis lake before here to form such a large area of quicksand.
The place where Zhuang Rui is now is just on the edge of the quicksand. As long as he walks more than 40 meters north, he can bypass the quicksand area and move forward safely. Therefore, in order to avoid wasting time, Zhuang Rui took the initiative to choose to go there.
Northern survey.
"Damn, now I know the origin of the name Liusha River. This is where Ganqing comes from..."
Peng Fei followed Zhuang Rui and was astonished when he saw the warm stone that Zhuang Rui threw casually, as if it was thrown on the water, and it sank directly into his body.
A stone cannot bear the weight of it. You can imagine what would happen if someone stepped on it.
"Huh? Brother Zhuang, that's not quicksand..."
After walking thirty or forty meters along the edge of the quicksand, sharp-eyed Peng Fei finally saw a warm stone thrown by Zhuang Rui and left on the surface of the sand.
