Chapter 213 On the Road
In the wind-eroded stone forest, under the cover of night, the bizarrely shaped boulders are like a dense net covering the sky. The sky is full of stars and the night is quite beautiful. However, inside the stone forest, the light suddenly dims, and the starlight and moonlight fade, and it seems difficult to penetrate the sky and fall into the Gobi Desert.
The two caravans ahead stopped simultaneously, and Sui Yu's caravan followed suit. Zhang Shun rode his camel over to inquire and came back with the news, "Boss, the caravan ahead plans to spend the night outside the Gobi Desert and continue their journey tomorrow morning."
"Then we'll rest here tonight. You guys clean up and gather firewood, fetch water, and make felt mats," Sui Yu instructed. "There's no water source in the stone forest, so if you want to wash something, do it as soon as possible since we're close to the river tonight."
"Have you been in there?" Song Xian asked.
Sui Yu hummed, "It was several years ago. At that time, the guesthouse had not yet been built. Zhao Xiping and I came to harness the camels, and we went in."
"What's it like inside?" Song Xian asked again.
"Maze." Sui Yu uttered these two words as she walked towards the river carrying a string of water bags.
Seeing this, Song Xian took off the water bag hanging on the camel's neck and followed.
Although spring has arrived, the temperature has not risen yet. The snow-capped glaciers are melting slowly, and the winding streams in the desert are only as thick as a finger, and look like they will dry up at any time.
The people from the first two caravans came over first. They lined up to fetch water. Sui Yu and Song Xian stood behind them, listening in a daze to the howling wind in the desert.
"Shopkeeper Yu, Headmaster Song, why do you want to go out to do business? Look, this journey is so difficult, with sandstorms, drought, no people, and you may get lost at any time." The merchant standing in front of Sui Yu turned around and spoke.
Sui Yu glanced at him and said calmly, "There's no surprising reason. It's just like you. Why do you want to go into business? It's the same for us. It's nothing more than making a fortune and taking risks."
The merchant chuckled and said, "It's so comfortable to stay in Dunhuang."
"Yes, it is comfortable." Sui Yu looked back at the road he came from. It was dark at night and he could not see anything clearly, but the road he had walked was already engraved in his mind.
"Life isn't just about comfort. If I die thirty years from now and still live the same life as I do today, then those thirty years would seem a bit boring." Sui Yu tilted his head and asked, "What do you think?"
"But this adventure of yours may make it very likely that you won't live past the next thirty years," said another merchant.
Sui Yu blinked and nodded, "You're right. Everyone has their own destiny. If your life is short, you might die if you fall while walking on flat ground. So I bet my life is long, and no matter what happens, I can live to be seventy or eighty years old. Of course, the same goes for you all."
The others laughed, and the person who had asked the question before did not pursue the matter any further. The people at the border were tough, so it made sense that these two women had the same wild hearts as men.
After waiting for a long time, it was finally Sui Yu's turn to fetch water. She squatted down, leaned over, and supported the mouth of the water bag to cut off the gurgling stream.
Song Xian sat down cross-legged, looking at the desert to the north. The tops of the sand dunes were visible under the moonlight, and correspondingly, the shady slopes cast large shadows.
"My dad certainly didn't expect me to go this far," she said with a smile.
"He will scold you if he finds out." Sui Yu changed his hand to hold the water bag.
Song Xian nodded. If the old man knew about this, he would definitely curse at her.
It takes a cup of tea to fill a water bag. Sui Yu has ten water bags, and it takes half an hour to fill them all. When he stood up, his legs were numb.
The line for fetching water was very long again. Sui Yu saw Qingshan and Xiao Chunhong in the line. She had her own people with her, so she didn't have to worry about Song Xian's safety. She said something to her and left first.
The fire was already burning, the felt house was built, and the cargo on the camels' backs was unloaded. Zhang Shun and Li Wu sat on the side to watch, while Gan Da and Gan Er took their men to drive the camels to find food.
Sui Yu opened the lid of the pot. There was only a shallow layer of water in the iron pot. She poured the water from the ten water bags into it, filling up half the pot. She could cook some vegetables and eat rice.
Put millet and rice into the pot without washing, cut a piece of pickled meat, grab two handfuls of dried radish and dried vegetable leaves, and finally scoop a spoonful of soybean paste to enhance the flavor, cover the pot and continue cooking.
Sui Yu looked at the people queuing up for water. She told Xiaoxi something and went into the felt tent to rest first.
Zhao Xiping used a mat woven from wheat straw and spread it on the sand to prevent sand scorpions and insects from crawling up. He then spread some hay on the mat. Sui Yu lay down on it, spread the wolfskin mattress over himself, and fell asleep in no time.
When she first left home, she missed her child so much she couldn't sleep all night, often dreaming of her child crying and waking up in tears. Later, after traveling day and night, her body could no longer bear it and she would just fall asleep. Whether it was a nightmare or a good dream, it couldn't wake her up.
Song Xian came back with a water bag and asked, "Where's your wife?"
"Go to bed." Xiaoxi said softly.
Song Xian lifted a corner and peeked in. The person inside was breathing steadily, apparently sound asleep. She quietly withdrew, picked up Sui Yu's string of water bags, and went back to the queue for water.
"Miss, I'm going to queue up to get water. You rest here." The Song family's servant caught up with her.
After thinking about it, Song Xian decided to go over by herself. The merchants queuing for water were talking about selling goods, so she went over to listen.
The crescent moon in the sky moved slowly. When the rice was ready, the man who fetched water had not returned yet.
Xiaoxi woke Sui Yu up. Sui Yu came out covered in a wolfskin mattress. Xiaoxi took the bowl and ate a mouthful of rice. She asked, "Where's the headmaster Song?"
"Going to fetch water again."
"Okay, let's eat first and then sleep. When we wake up, there will probably be fewer people fetching water. You can go fetch water then." Sui Yu instructed.
The dried radish hadn't been soaked, so even after steaming it, it was still hard and tasted like old cowhide. Sui Yu took Song Xian's water bag, drank a few sips of water, chewed a few more times, and managed to swallow the dried radish.
After filling his stomach with a bowl of rice and vegetables, Sui Yu drank a few sips of water and was now completely full.
The others were also full. They each wet the walls of their bowls with a little water and wiped them, washing them roughly. Then they carried their bags and went into the felt tent to sleep.
Sui Yu also went into the felt tent and continued to sleep. After a while, the hay behind her sank. She woke up alertly and realized that it was Song Xian who came back. She closed her eyes again.
The camels that had been foraging for food also returned. They lay down around the yurts. The sounds of their heavy breathing, the smacking of their chewing, and the ringing of their bells, along with the rustling of moving gravel, all crept into people's dreams.
In the second half of the night, Sui Yu woke up. This was the first time she had a full sleep since leaving Dunhuang.
After getting out of the felt tent, the cold wind drove away the warmth in his body, and Sui Yu shivered.
The five people who were on night watch were dozing off by the fire. When they saw Sui Yu coming, they rubbed their faces and perked up.
"You guys go to sleep, I'll keep watch." Sui Yu sat down and looked to the north. There were actually people irrigating the river.
"It's only an hour until dawn. I can't sleep comfortably now, so I'd better not sleep." Qingshan stood up and said worriedly, "I'll go get two more kettles of water so we don't run out."
"I'm going too." Erhei followed.
Sui Yu ignored them and took a few water bags to roast them by the fire.
As the sky began to brighten, the water in the water bag heated up, and everyone in the yurt woke up. Sui Yu called Song Xian over, using the excuse of getting something, and the two of them huddled together, using the water bag as a base, to wash themselves thoroughly.
The two of them went out, and Xiao Chunhong and her group came in one after another.
After they dismantled the yurt and left, a wet mark was left on the sand.
The sun rose, and three caravans walked into the wind-eroded forest on the Gobi Desert one after another. The camels and people broke in and disappeared in an instant, leaving only the sound of camel bells echoing.
Song Xian looked up at the sky. People standing under the huge mound were like rabbits lying on the roots of a tree. The blue sky was divided into countless small pieces. Her eyes moved to the strange-shaped mounds and stone statues. At first glance, they were all different. After looking at them for a few more times, she felt dizzy and fear suddenly rose in her heart. The huge mound seemed to have consciousness, looking down at her from above.
Suddenly the wind blew, blowing up sand, and the mound and stone statues seemed to be moving.
It was too late for Sui Yu to notice that Song Xian was acting strangely. She leaned over and tapped her with her hu flute, reminding her, "Look at the road! Where are you looking?"
Song Xian looked at her with a pale face, then looked around and asked nervously, "Which direction did we come in from?"
Sui Yu pointed back and saw a pile of camel dung still steaming.
Song Xian clutched her chest to calm herself down. She whispered, "It's quite spooky in here."
"Look ahead, don't look up." Sui Yu loudly reminded the servants, "Don't look left or right. There are so many huge rocks here, with different shapes. Even a charcoal pencil can't fully record their shapes. Don't trust your eyes too much, the more you look, the more dizzy you will feel."
Some people withdrew their gaze, with panic still lingering on their faces.
"Camels know the way, and there is a caravan leading the way ahead, so they won't get lost." Sui Yu said in a gentle voice.
These words soothed the frightened hearts.
Sui Yu drove the camel closer to the mound. She drew the short blade from her waist. Every time she passed a protruding mound, she would use the short blade to carve a scratch on it and mark an arrow pointing in its direction.
Sui Yu felt uneasy because she kept relying on others. On the way forward, she looked up at the sky from time to time. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The moon also rises and sets from east to west. Their destination is in the west, so there is no need to turn and they can just go straight.
After walking in the wind-eroded forest for seven days, three caravans finally emerged from the Gobi Desert when the moon rose. The moment they came out, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Luckily, I have someone to accompany me. If I were to walk in there alone, I would die of exhaustion and still not be able to get out." Song Xian slumped on the ground and confessed honestly, "There's been no exit for the past few days. I've been terrified, and I'm worried about affecting others, so I've been holding it in and not daring to say anything."
"Me too." Xiao Chunhong continued, "On the second day after I came in, I already lost my bearings."
"Don't we have sunrise and sunset? In the morning, we should walk in the direction where the sun rises, and when we go down the mountain, we should follow the sun." Sui Yu was surprised. "Didn't I tell you that?"
Xiao Chunhong smiled awkwardly and whispered, "I'm almost doubting whether the sun is real."
"I won't bring her with me from now on," Qingshan said. "I can't rely on her. It's better to bring more camels with her. Camels can also carry goods."
Xiao Chunhong glared at him, but couldn't refute it, because what he said was true.
"They lack experience. If they make a couple more trips, their temperament will stabilize and they won't be like this anymore." Sui Yu intervened, not wanting to dwell on this matter. She ordered, "Disperse and find firewood and water. Unload the camels. They've been tired for a few days, so let them rest."
There was still desert to the west. Song Xian took a closer look and asked, "What should we do next?"
Sui Yu didn't know either, but she knew that the most lacking thing in the desert was water. If she found a river and followed the flow of the river, she would find an oasis where people gathered.
It was already March, and spring was coming back to the earth. The river, which had been dry for a winter, was now gurgling with streams, and tiny sprouts were popping out of the cracks on the edge of the river.
"Uncle, it's sprouted." The kid ran into the house with the little black dog. He climbed onto a chair and rummaged through the drawers and took out the silk cloth from a small box.
"What's sprouted?" Sui Liang followed in.
"A mulberry tree, planted by my mother." The kid stuffed the silk cloth into his armpits, then took it out after a while, saying that it was bitten by insects.
Sui Liang took a look and took out a piece of reed fluff from the old mattress, wrapped it in silk cloth, and then wrapped it with another layer of cloth. He said, "I'll cover it for you."
"No, no, no." The kid reached out to grab it and wanted to cover it himself.
Sui Liang stared at him motionlessly. The boy glanced at him, then slowly stretched out his hand and said with a pained look, "Half for me, half for you."
Sui Liang snorted, he used a pair of scissors to cut the silk cloth in half, and said complacently: "That's right, your mother is your mother, but also my sister. What she gave you, I also have a share."
The little black dog came over panting, and its tail knocked on the door. The kid looked at it warily, then looked at his uncle. After thinking it over again and again, he reluctantly took out a silk bellyband from under the pillow and handed it to him.
"What?" Sui Liang was puzzled.
"My mother gave it to me."
"Oh." Sui Liang took the bellyband and compared it on his body, saying, "It's too small, wear it yourself."
The kid laughed immediately and quickly put it back.
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