Chapter 214 Loulan Ancient City
After nightfall, the caravan set off.
Sui Yu's caravan followed the caravan in front and took a detour to the north. After walking for half a day, they saw a wide river channel in the desert. A thick layer of sand had fallen on the river channel. A trickle of water coming from the east soaked the sand and gravel, and slowly a clear spring seeped out on the sand layer, then overflowed the accumulated sand and gravel and spread to the surroundings.
"Just keep going along this river. There is a big lake in front, and Loulan is backed by this lake." Sui Yu took out the parchment scroll, on which was the route marked by Song Xian's ancestors.
Song Xian leaned over to take a look. Starting from Loulan, the route was divided into two lines, one leading to Cheshi and Qiemi in the north, and the other to Luntai and Qiuci in the south.
Sui Yu pointed to another line that branched out from the Gobi Desert. This line was biased to the south and belonged to the southern end of the desert. Countries such as Ruoqiang and Qiemo were distributed here.
When they stopped to rest again, Sui Yu caught up with the caravan in front and asked where they were going this time.
"We'll bypass Loulan and head north to Cheshi, then cross the mountains to Wusun, then take a detour to Dayuan and Kangju. If time permits, we'll also visit Dayuezhi. Next autumn or the spring of the year after, we'll enter the Western Regions from the Shule River and return via the southern end of the desert." The caravan members spoke frankly, "Manager Yu, we might part ways in Loulan."
Sui Yu nodded and said, "We are going in different directions. I plan to go west along Loulan, pass through Luntai, Qiuci, Wensu and other countries, and then turn back."
"Can."
Sui Yu thought for a few moments, wanted to say something but gave up. She didn't want to disturb others' rest and returned to her caravan.
"How?" Song Xian asked.
"We took different routes. Once we reached Loulan, we went our separate ways," said Sui Yu.
Song Xian looked at the parchment and thought for a while. She looked up and said, "We can't always rely on others. From now on, it's time for us to make our own way. After going through this time, we won't be afraid next time."
Sui Yu nodded and waved for Gan Da, Gan Er, Qingshan and Zhang Shun to come over. After entering Loulan, when it was inconvenient for her to speak, the four of them would be responsible for talking.
After the agreement was reached, some people stayed to keep watch while the others went into the yurt to sleep.
In the middle of the night, the camels sleeping in the desert sensed danger and quickly rose. The chaotic and dense tinkling of the camel bells quickly awakened the sleepers. Sui Yu grabbed the bow and arrows that were placed under the hay and leaped to his feet, emerging from the yurt in a few steps. Xiao Chunhong, Liu Yaer, and the others followed without hesitation.
The male servants who were sleeping in the other two yurts also came out. Gan Da threw a bundle of hay onto the fire. The flames suddenly soared up, and a group of black shadows a mile away retreated in fright.
“Ouch—”
A wolf howl finally allowed everyone to figure out what had caused the camel to startle.
"Burn a few more piles of firewood and don't let the fire go out." Sui Yu made arrangements.
Xiao Chunhong led his men into action immediately, and the other male servants took bows and machetes, staring at the wolf pack in the north and ready for battle.
The fire was lit, and the caravan in front also started a fire. Sui Yu understood at a glance that they were planning to confront the wolves and scare them away with fire, without intending to see bloodshed.
With a "dong" sound, a deafening gong sounded, and the caravan in front used a gong to intimidate.
Sui Yu remembered this incident. She had borrowed a bronze gong from the caravan two years ago. It was said that it was used to scare away wolves. However, she forgot about it when she left the country this time.
"The machetes hit each other." Sui Yu thought for a while and remembered that her caravan brought iron pots and iron-cast machetes.
The man with the machete fought back with the knife, and the iron pot was taken down from the fire. Qingshan hit the iron pot with the machete.
The sounds of bang bang and bang bang came one after another. Song Xian felt that it was too chaotic, so she asked everyone to shout slogans and hit together, which would make the sound more powerful.
The wolves howled and dared not come closer.
Outside the Gobi Desert, people who were lightly sleeping woke up and looked north towards the sound. They could not see anything in the darkness, but they could understand from the sounds that the caravan had encountered a pack of wolves.
"The jade shopkeeper from Dunhuang may have gone north."
"Um."
When it was getting light, the wolves retreated. Without Sui Yu's order, the servants led the camels loaded with luggage and goods and walked west along the river, leaving only a field of steaming ashes.
The sound of camel bells rang out again, and a group of skinny sand wolves, with their tails between their legs, chased the caravan tenaciously, following from a distance, with an attitude of fighting to the death.
"Madam, no, boss, I will take some people to block them and shoot them?" Qingshan's eyes were full of ruthlessness.
Sui Yu glanced at the caravan ahead and said, "No need to waste time and energy on the wolves. Wolves hold grudges. As long as you don't wipe out this pack, they'll always be thinking of seeking revenge on us. Let's speed up. When they see no hope, they'll give up and let the caravan behind them deal with it."
Driving the camels to run, the wolves behind also quickened their pace. Sui Yu looked at the road ahead. There was a continuous sand hill blocking the way, running from north to south, blocking the east and west. They had to cross this hill to get around to the west.
After walking for another half a day, they arrived at the foot of the sand hill. The river changed its course and meandered northward. The two caravans in front followed the river, and Sui Yu ordered them to climb the sand hill.
The camel, carrying a heavy load, walked up the smooth slope. With one kick of its hoof, the tightly packed gravel loosened and rolled down.
Nearly a hundred camels scattered and walked up the mountain together. The sand layer collapsed and yellow sand flew all over the sky. The wolves following behind stopped, changed direction, and chased the caravan heading north along the river.
Song Xian retracted her gaze, pressed the scarf against her face, and said vaguely, "The caravans leaving the border are all self-interested. They can travel together when there's no danger or trouble, but when there's danger or trouble, they each protect themselves."
Sui Yu looked at her and said nothing.
Song Xian reacted and explained: "I'm not blaming you..."
"Well, you can't completely trust people who don't have common interests with you." Sui Yu interrupted her.
Just as he finished speaking, the howling of wolves came from below. Without Sui Yu's caravan following behind to lure the wolves, the two caravans no longer continued their journey calmly. They started fighting with the wolves.
While it's still daylight, either kill all the wolves or drive them away.
The flying yellow sand blurred Sui Yu's vision, and she couldn't see the specific situation clearly. She thought for a moment and said, "Gan Da and Gan Er, you two take ten people and follow me. Sister Song, you lead the team up the sand hill first."
"I'm going too." Xiao Chunhong drove the camel around.
Liu Yaer hesitated for a moment, then she grabbed the rattan bow and drove the camel back.
Song Xian called four servants and asked them to go with Sui Yu, and instructed them to "protect Manager Yu."
A group of fifteen people were riding camels rushing down and ran into a pack of fleeing wolves head-on. Sui Yu pulled the rattan bow and shot the first arrow. The male wolf with yellow hair on its forehead fell down. The arrow hit its hip and it was difficult for it to stand up again.
Three groups of people surrounded and robbed and killed people, and wolves howled in the wild.
The people chased the wolves far away. After about half an hour, except for the dozen or so wolves taken away by the leader, the rest were killed at the foot of this sand hill.
Song Xian led the camel caravan to the top of the sand hill. Standing on the top and looking west, a towering city came into view, connected to a calm lake. The water surface was vast, and the light of the setting sun shone on the lake. Even from a distance, the human eye could see the halo on the lake.
"Thank you, Manager Yu, for your help." A burly escort spoke.
"When we're traveling together, we naturally help each other when we encounter difficulties." Sui Yu smiled slightly. She glanced at the wolves lying in a pool of blood and said, "We'll take five, and the rest will be yours. Is that okay?"
"Shopkeeper Yiyu's."
Gan Da and Gan Er jumped off the camel, picked up the five dead wolves and threw them on the camel's back.
"After crossing this sand hill, Loulan is to the west." The leader of the caravan came over and said with a bow, "Manager Yu, we part now and will meet again next winter."
"Have a safe journey." Sui Yu said.
"Have a safe journey," the merchant sincerely wished. He warned, "Shopkeeper Yu, be careful and prudent when you enter Loulan. The people of Loulan are of mixed races and their minds are fickle. You should avoid interacting too much with the locals."
"Thank you, Mr. Sun, for your advice." Sui Yu thanked him sincerely. "It's getting late. We're going up the mountain. When we return to Dunhuang, we'll go to Changgui Guesthouse. You can stay here for free."
"good."
Without further ado, Sui Yu led his men on camels to climb up the sand hill.
When she climbed to the top of the mountain, it was already dark and the city in the distance was hidden in the night.
After wasting half a day, we continued our journey at night. The slope was steep when we went down the mountain. We got off the camel and trudged on the soft sand hill, taking one deep step and one shallow step.
If you slip three times with every step, you will fall down.
Song Xian swallowed a mouthful of sand and rolled around dizzy. She sat at the bottom of the slope, looked at her own miserable appearance, and suddenly burst into laughter.
"It's the middle of the night, it's so scary." Sui Yu smiled and said to the Song family servant beside her, "She should have laughed when she encountered a wolf last night. She was scared to death by the wolf."
The servant smiled and said nothing.
By the time the caravan came down the mountain, Song Xian hadn't been able to shake off the sand on her body. There was sand hidden in her hair, clothes, and every corner.
The wind started to blow, and we couldn't sleep at the bottom of the slope, so we had to continue on our way.
When the sun rose, Sui Yu led the caravan onto the territory of Loulan. There was green grass everywhere and farmland, but few people made a living by farming, and more people made a living by grazing.
Entering the city, Gan Da and Gan Er went to sell wolf meat. They saw stall owners with Han Chinese looks, as well as Huns, and a group of white people with high eyebrows and deep eyes. They thought to themselves that it was no wonder that Master Sun said that the people of Loulan were of mixed races.
Sui Yu stood outside the city, feeling emotional that she had the chance to walk into the ancient city of Loulan, which disappeared after hundreds of years.
There is abundant water vapor here, and the lakes cover an area of tens of thousands of acres. However, in later generations, all the palaces turned to dust, the world changed, and the lakes turned into deserts, with no trace of human habitation left.
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