Daomu Biji

The wind here is no longer as overbearing as before. The wind whipped it around. There must be something to block the wind in front. But where are the two guys who followed me just now? I don't walk fast either. You can also fall behind in this way. Did he get hit by a flying rock? Fallen behind?

I raised the miner's lamp and looked around. Didn't see any shadow. I can't help but feel a little regretful. I was too focused just now. I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings. but. Traveling in such a strong wind. In fact, there was nothing to pay attention to around him. The wind was so loud that nothing could be heard. All energy must be focused on the immediate goal and the balance of the body.

All at once. I still felt a sense of fear for a moment. But I quickly pushed away my fear. I rested for a while and took a few breaths. Just start moving forward. I couldn't back away to find them at this point. I have lost my sense of direction. If I go back, I don’t know where I will end up. The best thing to do is to move forward.

I ditched a bag of gear. This thing is really too heavy. Foreigners’ adventure equipment is very personalized. Once I saw someone carrying a photo frame as big as his wife’s shield and an information book as big as a phone book. I was too lazy to carry it for them. I packed lightly and ran towards the light.

But. How can I run when there is no way? The light was still out of reach. It's like it's not close at all. I was breathing heavily. I wanted to give up. But he was unwilling to do so. Run, run. The lights in front became blurred. Just as I was about to lose consciousness. When he fell on it. Suddenly. Someone grabbed me at once. I have no energy left. As soon as they pulled him, he fell to his knees. Look up. Through goggles. I recognized the eyes of these two men. One is a stuffy oil bottle. One is black glasses. His goggles are also black. These two men urgently pulled me up. Drag in the other direction.

I break away from them. Point forward. I want to tell them where there is shelter from the wind.

But I looked again. But he was stunned. Saw nothing. The light in front disappeared. There was total darkness. Even the huge outline was gone.

The oil bottle and the black glasses ignored me. Dragging me all the way. At this time I saw the man with black glasses holding a flare gun. The strength of two people is great. My weight of nearly 180 kilograms was lifted very quickly by them. Soon I woke up too. Started pedaling. It means I can run by myself.

They let me go. I immediately regretted it. These two people ran too fast. It took all of my strength to follow them. I gritted my teeth and ran. Follow along. I ran for a full twenty minutes. In the end, only the two shadows running in front were left in his eyes. In a daze I knew we had washed up on the river bank. Around a mound of dirt. Then the two black figures in front disappeared.

I yelled, wait for me. His feet suddenly stumbled. I fell down several times. It rolled down some slope. I struggled to get up and spit out the mud in my mouth. Look around. There turned out to be a deep ditch under the slope. It was full of people. They all huddled in the ditch to avoid the strong wind.

Saw me fall. They all looked up at me.

We huddled at the bottom of the ditch. Sand and dust rolled over our heads. The Gobi Desert is not always flat. Especially where rivers once flowed. There are many branch canals on both sides of the river that emerge during tidal floods. These Gobi scars won't be very deep. But there are also two or three meters. It was enough to shelter us from the wind.

I'm exhausted. Several people came over. Pulled me to the bottom of the ditch. It turned out there was a large depression on one side of the bottom of the ditch. It seemed like a huge poplar tree had been blown down. The pits formed by broken roots are washed away by water. The trunks of Populus euphratica have been buried at the bottom of the ditch. Only a small part can be seen. They all huddled in this depression. Light the smokeless stove to keep warm. There was no wind at all.

I was dragged in. The depression is very shallow. Not high either. It was already very cramped inside. They made room for me. Someone on the side handed me water. This is the dead end of the wind. Can already speak. But my ears haven't gotten used to it yet. I couldn't hear what they were saying for a while.

After drinking some water. I feel much better. He took off his goggles. Just sigh. China has so many good things. Why do I have to come here?

but. Such winds should not be uncommon in Qaidam. This is not the most terrible wind. In my early years, I watched a documentary about the qualitative exploration of Qaidam basins. At that time, the trade wind came while the exploration team was setting up tents. As a result, people were blown up like a kite. All matter was blown out more than ten miles away in an instant. But I feel something strange. Why didn’t Dolma warn us? The trade winds in the Gobi are very noticeable. Don't talk about old people. As long as you live here for a period of time, you can feel the rules.

same. I don’t know when the wind will stop blowing. I often hear it from people in the Gobi. The wind only blows twice a year in this area. Every scraping for half a year. Once you start scraping, it's endless. If it doesn't stop for a long time. We're screwed.

The oil bottle and the black glasses soon went out again. Definitely looking for someone else. The people here are obviously frightened. Few people spoke. All huddled together. I feel funny inside. Xin said that he thought these people were like Indiana Jones. It turns out that this is also the case. But then I found that my feet kept shaking. I couldn't stand up at all.

The person who handed me the water asked me if I was okay. Are there any contusions on your body? I shook my head and said I was fine.

Speak the truth. The experience of braving a snowstorm in Changbai Mountain is still fresh in my mind. Now compared to then. It's already quite comfortable. At least we can hide. No need to worry about freezing to death.

I poured some water to wash my face. My eyes hurt from the goggles. At this time, it gradually eased.

After relaxing. I just have to observe the people in this pit. I didn't see Aning. The three people selected were Dolma, her daughter-in-law and Tashi. In the innermost part of the depression. Wu Laosi is also here. Not many people. It seems that most people are still outside. No Caucasians were seen.

There are too many people on this team. I wonder. Aning and the others must still be looking outside. So many people. Even though they are stupid, they have only three heads and six arms. I can't take care of it either. Luckily it's not in the desert. otherwise. I'm afraid the rest of us are dead.

Three hours later. The wind has slowed down a bit. Menyouping and the others could occasionally bring a few people back in the beginning. Later, their physical strength could no longer bear it. I won’t go out anymore. We all huddled inside. Drowsy. Wait until it gets really dark. It was really dark. The sound of the wind outside was like the howling of evil spirits. It was irritating at first. Later I just felt like sleeping.

I had already prepared myself for the night. There is no surprise there. Many people have actually fallen asleep long ago. Someone braved the wind and went out. I dug out a lot of food from the luggage piled outside. We divided it and ate a little hastily. I fell asleep leaning on the yellow sand.

I didn't sleep for long either. When I woke up, the wind had dropped a lot. This is a good sign. I saw most people were sleeping. Tashi sat on the sunken opening. It seems to be keeping vigil. It's not safe here. What is above our heads is not a rock. It's cracked earth and sand. So from time to time sand falls from above. I ate a mouthful of sand while sleeping. It feels very uncomfortable. Baht out at the same time. On the other hand, he walked to Tashi.

I don't want to talk to Tashi. Tashi is not an easy person to get along with. In other words, he is wary of us. And I'm not the kind of person who can put a hot face on a cold butt. So I don't care about his attitude. I walked over to him. Just wanted to take a breath of fresh air. Sleep somewhere else.

But when I walked over. I heard a sound outside. Then I saw the light of a miner's lamp outside. It seems like someone is outside.

I felt strange. Ask Tashi what happened. Tashi handed me a local cigarette. Said An Ning was back. The wind dropped. They sent someone out to find the others. Stop by to see how the car is doing.

I thought of the car stuck in the sand. I also have some worries in my heart. Such a big wind and sand. I don’t know if these cars can still be driven after being dug out. And I'm more worried about Caucasians. I don't know if he's back. So I put on goggles. He put on his cloak and walked out. I want to ask about the situation.

Once outside. I felt relieved. The wind outside was lighter than I expected. It seems the limelight has passed. There is essentially no sand in the air. I pulled off my cloak. Take a few big breaths of the cool air in the Gobi. Then walk in the direction of the miner's lamp.

That's the direction of the river bed. I walked down. came to them.

They were looking at a car. The car was stuck sideways in the sand. There is only one head left. Aning held the radio. He was anxiously adjusting the frequency on the side.

I asked them: "How was it?"

One person shook his head. He only said one sentence: "My wife and my son are separated."

I'm baffled. I don't really understand what he means. Then he looked at Aning.

She sees me. He smiled reluctantly. He came over and explained: "Just now the host Zhuolma said that the wind may rise again. We must find a better shelter as soon as possible. But our cars are trapped. Some of them must be scrapped. I'm afraid the others will also be It doesn't work. It needs repairs." She paused. "The most troublesome thing is that four people are missing. They may have lost their way when the wind started. We just searched around and couldn't find them."

I asked who they were. Aning said it was the Caucasian. There are three other people I'm not familiar with.

The Caucasian was with me when he disappeared. I gave them directions. Ask them if they have ever searched in that area. Aning nodded. He said he had found them all nearby. These people must have gone further than she thought.

I sighed. He comforted her a few words. Tell her not to worry. These people have GPS. And the wind is so strong. It certainly won't go far. It's still windy now. The view is not very clear. Wait until daybreak. It will be easier to find.

She bit her lower lip and nodded. But the expression didn't change. It makes me feel like something is wrong. I'm not familiar with the Gobi either. Don't know what will happen at this point. I had to shut up. We forced the door of the car open. He took out the equipment inside. Then they have to find the next one. I had no choice but to follow.

At this time I found that the car was stuck in the river bed. It does not seem to be the quicksand often mentioned in novels. But at the bottom of the river bed. The face was crushed. The car completely sank. There is no top. Someone told me. It's the salt crust that's been crushed. There are a lot of salt crusts in many places under the Gobi here. This is the river bed. When there was water before. The situation at the bottom of the river is very complex. There is a lot of sediment. After drought. When the salt crust crystallizes, it leaves a lot of voids. So some of these riverbed species are actually like dry cheese. Not under pressure. We parked in the wrong direction.

I said strangely: "But we walked on the river bed all the way here. Nothing happened."

The man said: "That's because the river we walked on has been dry for a long time. But now the river under our feet has been dry for up to half a year. Didn't you notice that there is almost no grass and shrubs here?"

I looked around in surprise. Sure enough. All around was bare. Even Haloxylon ammodendron is not long.

The man said to me: "We must be heading upstream of the river now. The end of the river must be a high mountain. If the river has not changed its course, there must be ancient cities or ruins near such a river. . This shows that the old Tibetan woman is not leading the way blindly. I thought this old woman was a liar a long time ago."

I looked up the river where he pointed. On the flat Gobi. There seems to be something. Thinking of the huge black shadow I saw in the wind. I always feel that it's not my illusion.

That night. We found all the cars. Then gathered all the luggage. At dawn. Others woke up one after another. Aning began to organize their work. Car repairers. Those who are looking for people are looking for people.

Me and a few other people who were looking for cars in the evening just had something to eat. Catch up on some sleep in your sleeping bag. Very tired. As soon as I fell asleep, I slept until the sun set.

After waking up. The wind had died down completely. The dust is gone. That group of people was very efficient. Several cars were repaired. All ready to go. All kinds of supplies have also been redistributed. Reloading the vehicle.

Aning didn't sleep all day and night. I kept listening to the radio. Neither the oil bottle nor the black glasses are there. Just ask. Two people were still looking for the four missing people outside.

I felt bad after hearing this. It's been a day. Those four people haven't been found yet. Doesn’t it have a GPS? Is it really what Tashi said? Doesn't this thing work in the Gobi?

I took out the dry food from my bag. While eating, he went to An Ning's side. Ask about specific situations.

Aning frowned. Dark circles appeared. Feeling haggard. I asked her and she didn't have the heart to answer me. Walkie talkies have always been for conversations with people outside. It's in English. I listened curtly. None of this is good news. I asked her if she wanted me to go out and look for it too. She just shook her head and said no. We have been divided into three groups and gone out. I'm looking for it for the third time. I went there but it didn't work. Let me tidy up. Tashi and the others discovered a devil city twenty kilometers ahead. We will set off there to rest in a moment. It will also be windy at night.

I saw that she looked very anxious. I don't want to bother her either. I went to see another group of people repairing the car. Help pass tools.

I watched it for probably more than half an hour. Tashi came back from the riverbed in the distance. The wind is blowing for us again. The flat line in front has already become sandy. We need to go quickly. Otherwise the car will be repaired in vain.

We'll get ready right away. Got things ready quickly. Because there are fewer cars. Unrepaired cars were dragged behind. I was in a car with several Tibetans. Set off towards the direction where the sun sets.

It took about twenty minutes to drive on the vast desert. Under the setting sun, the shadow of Yadan's appearance appeared in the front. Mountains of stone rise flatly. Tashi's voice came from the intercom. Guide us to adjust our direction. Soon we saw a huge "castle". appear in view.

That was the place Tashi chose to take shelter from the wind. We drive straight through. When looking closer. I found that it was a big rocky mountain like a steamed bun. Behind it is the appearance of a large area of ​​Yadan that gradually becomes denser. Like the fortifications behind a castle.

Devil City is also called Windy City. It is a strange shape carved out of large rocks by strong winds. within a large area. There are a large number of strangely shaped rocks scattered around. It can be imagined as all kinds of weird things. And when the wind blows over these rocks. Because of distribution. It will make a howling sound. That’s why it’s called Devil City. In the Gobi. This appearance is very common. I have visited Xinjiang before. Not curious this time either.

We are outside the "castle". A rocky mountain with a flat bottom stopped. Tashi jumped down first and shouted. We all came down and started setting up camp. Two hours later. Sure enough, the wind started to pick up. All of a sudden, the wind and sand covered the sky and the sun again. It went on until midnight. Just like yesterday, it slowly became smaller.

The wind is too strong. Ghosts are crying and wolves are howling in the devil city. No one can sleep. The wind dropped. Then they gradually fell asleep one by one. The two who sleep during the day keep watch. Both men were interested in Devil City. Look, Tashi and I didn't sleep either. They all went outside to take pictures. Tashi told them to be careful. Don't walk in. It's easy to get lost in there.

I slept during the day. Very spiritual. Aning is thinking about tomorrow's search method. His hand was still holding the walkie-talkie. It seems that those people are not found. An Ning will not rest.

I went over and advised her to take a nap. Haven't said a few words yet. Suddenly, someone shouted from the distant Gobi: "Team doctor! Team doctor!"

Aning's team doctor is a fat man. I didn’t even fall asleep reading a book. I woke up as soon as I heard it. We looked over there too. I heard shouting from the other side: "Come here quickly! I found Ah K!"

Ah K is one of the four missing people. We all jumped up when we heard it. Three steps merged into two steps and ran over. Immediately I saw it was the two people who filmed Devil City. Waving to us from a mound. Rushed over to take a look. I saw a big hole on the mound. There was a man lying at the bottom of the pit. It was that Ah K.

The team doctor was running out of breath. Jumped down. Touched it. Just yelled: "Still alive."

Several people hurriedly rushed down to carry people. The team doctor yelled for them to carry him to the tent.

The scene was chaotic. Tashi picked up the man and ran back. I pushed aside. Looked at the pit. Then we looked to the side in the direction we came from. My heart says oh my God. How could this man fall here? This is more than 20 kilometers away from where we parked yesterday. And it was still a headwind in this direction at that time. Did he come here against the wind?

Return to the team doctor's tent. Watching the team doctor perform rescue operations. Soon the old K was rescued. The team doctor breathed a sigh of relief and said he just fainted due to fatigue. The team doctor gave him an injection. Soon he woke up.

After he woke up. We asked him what was going on. He said he didn't know what was going on. Go all the way. while walking. I saw a shadow in front of me. He thought there was a mountain of rocks. Just lean over. As a result, I walked and walked. I don’t know how long I’ve been gone. Just fell into the pit. As he said that, he asked: "Hey. Have that old Gao and the other two people come back?"

Lao Gao is Caucasian. When I heard him talk about the shadow. There was a thrill in my heart. I want to ask him for details. But when Aning heard him, he asked Lao Gao. Immediately ask him why he asked that. Have you seen them?

He said: "They were right in front of me at the time. No matter how I called them, they didn't look back. I thought I was walking against the wind. They couldn't hear me. Then I fell unconscious. What? They didn't come back?"

Aning said in surprise: "You mean you saw them before you fell unconscious?"

Ah K nodded. An Ning turned his head. He said to me: "Did you hear that? The place where I found Old K is outside the Devil City. In front of me is the Devil City. So, they have entered the city! No wonder we can't find them no matter how hard we look."

Her eyes suddenly became bright. Clap your hands and let us out immediately. We walked out of the team doctor's tent. One discussion. Aning insisted on going into the Devil City immediately to search.

These people don't know what's going on. We walked more than 20 kilometers against the wind. Old K fell unconscious outside. The people inside were probably exhausted, too. They must be found immediately. This way we can feel more at ease.

I'm in good spirits. Just nodded in agreement. We immediately assigned the teams. Many people fell asleep. Didn't wake them up. It’s just the team doctor and me. Prepare three people to go and take a look first. Others wait two hours. Wake up again and follow up.

After that, we started preparing immediately. Just picked up the bag. Tashi on the side came over. Stopped us. Said: "Wait a minute. My grandma said. You can't go in."