The scene inside the city is even more shocking.
Although the building is dilapidated, it still retains the primitive and rugged beauty of ancient Egypt three thousand years ago.
The stone pillars are crumbling and the murals are mottled, each telling the story of the past glory and vicissitudes.
On both sides of the street, pedestrians were dressed in different clothes, some in rags, as if they had just struggled out of the abyss of suffering;
Some of them are dressed in gorgeous clothes and have complicated head ornaments, showing their former nobility and glory.
Their eyes show both the desire and indomitable spirit for life, as well as the nostalgia and sorrow for the past.
There is a complex and subtle emotion in the air.
This so-called oasis is actually a corner forgotten by fate.
The loess and a small, lonely lake depend on each other for survival, barely maintaining a trace of life.
The lake water glowed with a faint yellow light, as if it were the dried tears of Mother Earth.
The surrounding vegetation, although a bit more stubborn than the sparse green in the desert, is far less lush than that on the plains.
It's more like a ray of hope struggling in despair.
Jin Shile looked at this scene and couldn't help muttering to himself, his tone full of disbelief and sympathy:
"It's hard to imagine that our ancestors in ancient times had to survive in such a harsh environment. Their lives were so difficult and miserable."
Feng Feng turned around quickly upon hearing this, his eyes sharp as an eagle, and shouted in a low voice:
"Second brother, now is not the time to be sentimental, hurry up and catch up!"
"Okay, I'll be there right away!" Jin Shile said hurriedly.
As they went deeper into the heart of the city, a depressing and tense atmosphere quietly spread.
The soldiers' reinforcements appeared silently like ghosts.
Their faces were expressionless and their movements were rough.
The slaves, who were staggering due to exhaustion, were forced into cold iron cages like livestock.
These cages moved around the city, and every bump was accompanied by the groans and wails of the slaves.
It seems to be declaring to every soul still working:
The price of betrayal is endless torture and humiliation!
As I walked, a low voice of conversation drifted into my ears on the wind. It was the cold and cruel conversation between the soldiers.
They discussed the recent surge in slave mortality and the decisions being made to fill the labor shortage.
——Cancel the punishment of public exposure to the sun, which was originally used as a deterrent.
Instead, they adopted more direct measures to force the slaves to recover their strength quickly.
Continue to be the gear that keeps this city running.
"In their eyes, slaves are worse than livestock!"
Jin Shile's heart tightened. He had never felt the distortion and indifference of human nature so deeply.
The words of those soldiers were like sharp daggers, cutting off his last bit of fantasy about this world.
Upon hearing this, Jin Shile's eyes burned with anger, his fists clenched, and he could hardly control his emotions.
"It's so cruel! This is not the human world, it's hell!"
"Are we just going to watch these innocent lives being trampled upon like this?"
"Is there not even a tiny bit of power that can change this?"
His voice trembled with anger, but also revealed deep helplessness.
Mai Xuan patted Jin Shile's shoulder gently, his eyes deep, as if he could see through the essence of everything in the world.
"Second brother, calm down. Don't forget, we are in an illusion now."
He emphasized again.
"A world built by a powerful will!"
"Here, we are like ghosts deprived of our physical bodies, unable to directly interfere with anything."
"Even if I feel extremely unwilling, I can only be a bystander and witness all this silently."
Upon hearing this, the light in Jin Shile's eyes dimmed a little, but the unwillingness and anger were even more deeply imprinted in his heart.
He sighed heavily and could only turn his anger into motivation to move forward.
As the cage carriage slowly moved forward.
The group followed it and witnessed it passing through a strict security cordon.
Finally, they drove into a gloomy and terrifying place - a centralized management place for slaves.
Here, the air is filled with the smell of despair and decay.
It is surrounded by towering walls covered with sharp iron spikes, as if even the sky is imprisoned in this ruthless cage.
As night fell and everything was quiet, it was time for the slaves to have their meal.
However, the "food" they face is shocking.
——They were buckets of foul-smelling porridge with a few unrecognizable vegetable leaves floating in them.
Even the most basic calories seem so stingy!
Feng Feng looked at this scene, and an indescribable sadness and anger surged in his heart.
He seriously doubted whether these soups could fill him up!
Such food is for slaves who work day and night and suffer torture.
It's just a drop in the bucket and can't meet their most basic survival needs at all!
The food for the escaped slaves was even more miserable, just a little porridge with vegetable leaves floating in it.
After eating, they were pushed into a shelter made of a few pieces of broken straw piled up in a hurry.
This so-called "shack" is so simple that it can hardly be called a residence. It is more like an abandoned object inadvertently left behind by nature.
Several huge holes on the roof were like eyes in the sky, mercilessly spying on everything below.
The stars are hidden above the desert, and only the cold wind is like a knife, cutting through every inch of space.
The moonlight occasionally shines through these holes, casting mottled light and shadows, which adds a bit of desolation and despair.
The figures of the slaves flickered in the dim light.
They were all covered in wounds and shivering in the biting night wind.
His lips had lost their color due to long-term thirst and were as pale as the last dead leaf in winter.
Inside the shack.
The air was turbid, and all kinds of indescribable smells intertwined together to form a suffocating stench.
It was a mixture of sweat and fear, the cry of long-uncleaned excrement and some kind of meat that had been rotting inadvertently.
They silently tell the story of the suffering and despair here.
In this dead silence and despair.
Six figures passed through the simple wall silently like ghosts.
They move swiftly, like cheetahs in the night, and every movement reveals their extraordinary tacit understanding and well-trained skills.
Feng Feng, Yun Yang, Mai Xuan and six others are now like ghosts. Walls cannot stop them at all.
The six people gathered together to talk about what they had gained outside.
Feng Feng spoke first.
"I quietly approached the soldiers guarding the slaves and learned from their conversation that this place was indeed close to the Nile River."
"But unfortunately, this year the Nile River seems to have quietly dried up upstream, and the lake not far away is almost dry."
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