In addition to small countries, there are also villages in the desert.
Mostly because the underground water source is too small, or the underground water veins are exhausted and it is not enough to support too many people, so only a few people gather sporadically, and finally a village is formed.
In fact, there are not many villages like this.
Just like rare birds scattered throughout the desert, you can find the tranquility of being isolated from the world.
The small underground water veins mean that there is a possibility of drying up at any time. Things like this are not uncommon in history. Old Sadiq said that their village encountered this problem, causing the village to use less water every year.
It was a village called Teshsata.
The total number of men, women, old and young in the village is less than a hundred.
Old Sadiq and young Sahab chose to trust Jin'an and finally agreed to take everyone to Teshsata Village.
They have gone too far now. If they want to go to the desert village, they must first walk back for two days, then find two dead poplar trees growing together, and then walk in one direction for five days before reaching the village.
But the delay was too long, and if they couldn't find water, they wouldn't have enough water left to return to Xi Tuo Kingdom, so Jin An decided to take a risk and take a shortcut with Old Sadiq.
You don't need to go back by taking a shortcut. You can reach the village in about three days. The only thing you have to be careful about is that neither old Sadiq nor young Sahaf have ever taken this shortcut. It is a vulture. Ayesha told them two years ago
of them.
Two years ago, as a vulture, Aisha got lost in the desert and accidentally found an isolated village deep in the desert.
But now two years have passed, and no one knows whether the original terrain has changed drastically or become unfamiliar.
There are too few road signs for reference in the desert, and the terrain often changes drastically after a sandstorm, making it difficult to find the direction.
Next, Jin An called everyone and said that he had decided to change his direction and wanted to find water in a small, isolated village deep in the desert, and explained the stakes involved.
Yari, Sureti and the others didn't have any objections. Jin'an, who was not afraid of the devil and could kill it easily, had a very high status in their minds and almost blindly worshiped him.
Since no one had any objections, the team deviated from the route and continued to move forward. In the vast sea of ​​​​yellow sand, accompanied by the crisp sound of camel bells, it gradually faded away. The camel team left a long trail behind them. In the heat-expanding and distorted air,
The camel caravan slowly disappeared at the end of the desert where the air twisted.
…
…
Four days later.
In the desert that was so hot that there wasn't even a breeze, a camel team came from a distance from the end of the horizon, accompanied by the ringing of camel bells.
Ari and the others are even more depressed than they were four days ago.
Along the way, in order to save water as much as possible in case they could not find water in the village and return to Xituo Country, the water allocated to each person was reduced to the minimum, province after province, to ensure only the most basic survival needs.
Not just people, but also camels and sheep.
so.
Everyone was extremely weak.
Some people were shaky, weak from being jolted by the camels, and were on the verge of dehydration, leaving only walking zombies with numb eyes as they hurried on.
If we say that the only one in the team who is in the best condition is Jin An.
Old Sadiq and young Sahaf, who were firmly tied to the camel's back to prevent them from falling, although they were also in extreme weakness after lack of water, there was a bit of anxiety in their eyes that no one else had.
Two years away from home.
There are so many changes deep in the desert.
The weather is so abnormal. I wonder how the relatives in the village are doing and whether they are okay?
In the past, when they followed the vulture, they did not dare to sneak back to the village to visit their relatives, for fear that the vulture's group would find the village again to retaliate against the entire village.
In the desert with a dull and monotonous scenery, the air was so hot that it distorted and there was no breeze. Suddenly, a few dead poplar trees appeared in the endless sea of ​​yellow sand. This gave the dull and monotonous desert a refreshing sense of upliftment, which was originally numb.
The atmosphere of the silent team suddenly became lively.
Along the way, we saw more and more Populus euphratica trees. Later on, we actually saw a large forest of Populus euphratica trees.
A quick look at Jin'an revealed that there are more than a hundred poplar trees here!
This is a large forest of Populus euphratica!
Seeing such a large area of ​​Populus euphratica forest in the depths of the desert, even desert people like Yari and Sureti showed incredibly shocked expressions on their faces.
Even though the Populus euphratica forests here are all dead, they still can't suppress their inner shock. In the desert where no grass grows, each Poplar euphratica tree with a thick trunk has survived thousands of years of wind blowing, standing firm and strong in the strong wind.
Vigorous and ancient, they are like majestic and grand palaces that took thousands of years to carve. They protected the civilization behind the Populus euphratica forest from the burning fires in summer, the erosion of sandstorms in the wind season, and the cold winds in winter.
The closer you get to the Populus euphratica forest, the more you can appreciate the ancient and immortal will left by the torrent of time here.
Jin An once read an article describing Populus euphratica. Populus euphratica is the most tragic tree. Populus euphratica survives for a thousand years when it is born, does not fall for a thousand years after it dies, and does not rust for a thousand years when it falls.
"There must have been an ancient river flowing here in the past! If it could give birth to a desert forest and a civilization, the ancient river here must have abundant water!" Perhaps it was because seeing such a large poplar forest in the depths of the desert was too shocking, Yari said.
Said excitedly.
As the camel team walked into the Populus euphratica forest carved by the vast years, the team began to see a large number of salt crusts, which are traces left after the lakes and rivers dried up.
The salt crust here is as hard as rock after drying, indicating that the water has dried up for a long time. If it had only dried up within the past few hundred years, there should still be sporadic ruins of the ancient city. If even the ruins of the ancient city were wiped away by the desert wind,
It is flat, indicating that the water here has dried up for at least a thousand years.
millennium.
Enough to make the sea change and the East China Sea raise dust.
Great changes occurred.
"Sadiq, how did your ancestors find such a forest of Populus euphratica in the depths of the desert? The desert is vast, and finding such a large forest of Populus euphratica in the depths of the desert is no less difficult than finding a needle in a haystack." Jin An, who was riding on the back of a camel, said toward him.
Old Sadiq, who was also lying on the camel's back, asked in surprise.
This trip to the deserts of the Western Regions was indeed an eye-opener for him.
What I saw and heard along the way was bizarre and bizarre, even more exaggerated than what the storyteller said.
At this time, entering the Populus euphratica forest, with the bare branches providing some shade and coolness, the originally numb and silent team gradually regained its vitality. The atmosphere became more and more lively along the way, and everyone was marveling at the magic here.
Old Sadiq from Camelback Mountain replied: "Our people have lived here for hundreds of years from generation to generation. In fact, many things about our ancestors have been gradually lost. Maybe the village genealogy will have some records about our ancestors."
Jin An didn't dwell too much on these side details.
He looked curiously at the ancient Populus euphratica trees along the way, and kept moving forward. Suddenly, a sharp-eyed person in the team pointed forward and shouted excitedly: "Is there a village there?"
Everyone looked in the direction of his finger, and saw a small gap between the long yellow sand and poplar trees. There were some dead grass growing there, and there were a few fences. Behind the fence were small sheds built from dead branches.
There is little rain in the desert.
These tree branch huts are not used to keep out rain, but are used to shelter from wind and sun.
It can be seen that the folk customs here are simple and the life is simple.
I even saw several living Populus euphratica trees with green and yellow leaves here.
After getting closer, I discovered that the air here is slightly humid. It seems that the Populus euphratica forest that resists the wind and sand and the scorching sun makes this place a closed-loop climate. In addition, there are underground rivers flowing through it, so it forms a suitable habitable zone in the Populus euphratica forest.
"Taoist Master Jin'an, is this the Teshsata Village you mentioned?"
Ari and the others were in high spirits, and it seemed that even their weak bodies had recovered a lot, and everyone was in a good mood.
Even Jin An was in a good mood.
This time, even the desert gods were on his side. He didn't expect that finding the village of Teshsata would be so smooth. Except for being delayed for a day by going in the wrong direction, he found the village so smoothly.
The village was very quiet. When the camel team entered the village, there was a lot of movement in the quiet village. There was not a single person walking around in the empty village.
"Is anyone there?"
Ari shouted several times into the village using the language of desert people. The shouts spread far and wide in the empty and quiet village, but the village remained quiet and no one responded to him.
"Is anyone here?"
Ari shouted again.
The village is still quiet.
Old Sadiq and young Sahaf on the camel's back began to struggle hard, trying to break free from the rope, making urgent and uneasy screams from their mouths.
They suddenly had a very bad premonition in their hearts, and they were begging Jin to let them down.
Before Jin An could let anyone let them down, the two of them had already struggled violently to break free from the rope, fell off the camel's back on all fours, and ran into the village desperately.
To be continued...