Chapter 74 The fear on his face was obscured by the sudden onslaught of yellow sand
The Taklamakan Desert is nicknamed the "Sea of Death." Swedish explorer Sven Hedin and his expedition team were nearly wiped out while exploring the desert, leaving only him and two assistants alive. From then on, he called the Taklamakan Desert the "Sea of Death."
This is also the main reason why the local government cannot open the Niya Ruins to tourists. The Niya Ruins are located in the heart of the Taklamakan Desert. In Uyghur, Taklamakan means underground and Makan means city. This translates to an underground city, or the underworld. This means that you can get in but you can't get out.
Once in the Taklamakan Desert, cell phone signals are cut off, and they will be cut off from the outside world. In recent years, the popular stories of Ghost Blows Out the Light and Grave Robbers' Chronicles have ignited the Jingjue Kingdom, prompting a surge in visitors to the Niya Ruins, a cause of concern for the local government. The Taklamakan Desert's capricious nature will punish anyone without awe.
Tong Zhongyuan listened attentively while driving, occasionally asking questions, such as whether this season was a mild one for the Taklamakan Desert.
Azati replied, "April to August is the peak season for sandstorms. The golden period for tourism in the Taklamakan Desert begins after the end of October. We are currently at the intersection of the two. But the weather looks good right now, and the car you chose is also very good. You will have good luck today."
Qin Tian listened in the back seat, feeling increasingly ashamed. She knew the Niya ruins were renowned, but she'd assumed they were already fully developed. She hadn't imagined they were in this state. She was too arrogant. The desert was unconquerable, unaffected by human activity.
The car had entered the desert highway, theirs the only car on the road. The desert on both sides spread out layer by layer like scales, quiet as if time had stood still, yet shimmering as if full of life, vast and boundless.
A tall memorial archway stood dryly on the road ahead, its crossbeam inscribed with the words "Jingjue Ancient City." Tong Zhongyuan stopped the car, and Azati jumped out, handing a document to the staff who greeted them. The two chatted briefly in Uyghur.
Tong Zhongyuan and Qin Tian both got out of the car. Although the weather was sunny, the wind still blew sand. Qin Tian's skin felt dry and tight. Tong Zhongyuan took a gauze scarf and a mask from the trunk and handed them to Qin Tian. He also carried a few bottles of water to the back seat and said, "Drink more water."
Azati came back and said to Tong Zhongyuan with a smile: "Let me drive next."
Tong Zhongyuan walked to the passenger seat, stopped, and said to Qin Tian, "You sit in the front."
Qin Tian really wanted to sit in the front for a better view, but Azati and Tong Zhongyuan got along well, so she didn't want to spoil the fun and sat in the back seat.
Tong Zhongyuan looked at her and asked Azati: "How many kilometers is it to drive in?"
Azati smiled and said, "30 kilometers. Three hours' drive."
Tong Zhongyuan and Qin Tian were both shocked. Seeing their expressions, Azati smiled even more happily.
"If you're prone to motion sickness, take your medicine now. You'll vomit if you get jolted."
Tong Zhongyuan opened the passenger seat and climbed in. Seeing Qin Tian sitting alone in the back seat, he'd considered joining her if the journey wasn't long. But after Azati complained about the rough ride, he changed his mind. After three hours of swaying sideways against each other, he decided not to test his willpower.
Azati drove the JEEP into the desert. The road conditions were good at first. They followed the tracks of the car in front and headed south. There were low desert plants on both sides. The wheels rubbed against branches and gravel and made a squeaking sound. Gradually, the low plants disappeared. The JEEP went over the hills and drove into the depressions again and again. The things in the car were making clanging sounds. The supplies in the trunk must have been in a mess. They kept knocking against the car and making a clanging sound. In addition to fastening the seat belt, Qin Tian had to hold on to the handle to barely maintain his balance. Azati was no longer talking. His whole mind was on driving. Tong Zhongyuan frowned. He was in the front seat and knew the current situation better than Qin Tian. Rather than rolling over, they were more likely to get stuck in quicksand. Several times, Azati ran over the edge of the dune, and the dune immediately collapsed. The sand moved like a snake, leaving a terrifying hole.
Azati's expression was grim, the smile he'd had before completely gone. He'd driven this road hundreds of times, always prepared for the challenge. The desert was ever-changing; no two grains of sand in the Taklamakan Desert were alike.
After driving for about three hours, the vehicle finally arrived at the Niya Ruins. The moment Azatila made his move, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Azati's smile returned. He pulled a headscarf from his backpack, wrapped it around his head, and put on sunglasses. He pointed to a dilapidated stone tower protruding from a distance.
"This is the pagoda. Let's start from here."
Tong Zhongyuan and Qin Tian donned their protective gear and exited the car. Before them lay the vast expanse of desolate sand dunes. Countless withered poplar trees stood eerily upright in the gravel, their eerie likenesses of bones. It was these very trees that proved this place must have been an oasis, the very reason the Jingjue people founded their nation there.
Azati picked up a piece of poplar wood and threw it far away.
"The Niya ruins were originally discovered by the British, but all the valuable finds were taken away long ago. Now, all that's left to us are these pieces of wood and tiles. The real treasures are all in the British Museum."
After he finished speaking, he realized that Tong Zhongyuan, who had been interacting with him in the car before, didn't respond to him, and the pretty young lady also remained silent.
"Here," he pointed to a terrace, "N14, we call it the Royal Palace. It's the Chinese characters on the wooden slips here that tell us about the existence of the Jingjue Kingdom. Although the British swept away everything here, there's still more beneath the quicksand, but we don't have the ability to explore it now."
"Where was the Kharosthi wooden slip discovered?" Qin Tian asked.
Azati led them to a burial ground.
"Our country and Japanese archaeologists jointly excavated this tomb. The woven cotton with the inscription 'Five stars rise in the east, auspicious for China' was found here. A large number of Kharosthi wooden slips were also discovered here. But as you know, deciphering it is difficult. It is already a dead language."
Qin Tian gazed at the ancient cemetery, slipping with each step as he stepped onto the sand dunes. The remaining wooden structures still held the long-carved Kharosthi carvings, but he wondered how many years it would take before the wind and sand completely erased them.
Tong Zhongyuan looked at her figure standing on the high ground. A corner of her scarf was lifted by the wind and fluttered in the wind. Her glass-like eyes looked through the endless sand dunes and traveled through the AD era.
In the distance, a boundless black wall slowly rose from the sea of sand. Silently, at the speed of light, it expanded and extended, merging with the sky. The glaring sunlight faded into a small, blurry yellow, and the blazing heat in the air suddenly cooled.
Qin Tian looked back and saw that the ground was shaking. An ominous whistling sound vibrated in the air. A gust of desert wind blew her long hair apart, and the fiery red scarf fell from her head and disappeared with the wind.
Tong Zhongyuan ran towards her, shouting her name, but his voice was completely drowned out by the overwhelming roar.
It was a sandstorm! Azati looked in panic at the black air rolling in like a huge wave.
"Hurry up and get in the car! Hurry up and get in the car!" He shouted with all his might. But no one heard him. Tong Zhongyuan's figure disappeared in the yellow sand. Azati couldn't chase him. If the car didn't move now, it would be buried in the sand in a few minutes. He had to get in the car first.
The endless sand dunes suddenly danced as if they had come to life, like a demon descending. Qin Tian had seen Tong Zhongyuan just a second ago.
A sandstorm swept over her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com