After eating, the group drove out of Qiemo County and drove a short distance along the old "Cheerchen River" road. From a distance, they saw dense lights on the river bank platform, and an unusual Judging from the number of tents, the small camp had a scale of more than 200 people. However, what surprised Ling Hao was that he did not see any of the large-scale machinery and equipment Yuan Bing mentioned. Even he The "Stone Crab" was also missing.
Yuan Bing parked the car outside the camp, and Shi Si, Tian Yong, and Xueting all came to greet them. They looked very affectionate when they saw Ling Hao. Behind them stood Li Liang. He couldn't compare with these young people. The wind and sand in the desert had already made him a little embarrassed. He had completely lost his usual elegant appearance and looked more like an old technician in the geological team.
"It's good that you came. Your team has been handed back to you. I will return to the port city tomorrow. I have been out for a while, and I am really worried about your father's situation." Li Liang waved his hand slightly tiredly, obviously interested in this place. Enough is enough.”
"Uncle Liang, that's interesting. It sounds like my father and I are an old couple, and we miss each other after being apart for a few days." Ling Hao joked with a smile.
"You brat, I don't have the energy to argue with you now. I'll settle the score with you later. I really can't stay here any longer. If I don't take a hot bath, I will go crazy. Yuan Bing, take me back to the county seat early tomorrow morning. ." Li Liang was no longer in the mood to joke with Ling Hao.
At this moment, a little old man wearing glasses trotted over. He was wearing dirt-covered work clothes and a pair of sleeves. He looked like a brick kiln accountant. Who else could he be if he wasn't Professor Yu?
"Xiao Ling is here. I haven't seen you for a long time. You have gone to Europe to make a fortune. I was worried that if you didn't come, your people wouldn't go into the water. It would be great if you came. It's really timely rain." Professor Yu smiled He stepped forward to shake hands with Ling Hao.
"Well, that...professor is still very charming and still insists on working on the front line." Ling Hao was short-circuited and couldn't remember the last name of this professor.
Professor Yu glanced at Ling Hao teasingly and said, "Are you a noble man who forgets things so much that you forgot about me so quickly?" He took out a business card from the notebook in his trouser pocket and handed it to Ling Hao. "We have to communicate frequently, and we will inevitably have to trouble you in the future. Of course, it won't be in vain." The professor deliberately pretended to talk about money, maybe because he felt that this would hurt the businessman. Hao is more attractive.
Ling Hao smiled awkwardly and looked down at the business card under the dim light in the camp. "'Qiangan'?" Ling Hao frowned. Who would choose such a name?
The professor almost fainted and joked: "Don't make trouble, that was my nickname when I was a child. My surname is Yu, Gan Gou Yu. The name has a thousand characters. It has the same pronunciation as the cross talk guy."
Ling Hao became even more embarrassed and said with a smile: "Fuck... ah no, Professor Yu, I was confused all the way. This is the first time I have heard of diving in the desert. Please introduce it to me." That’s the situation.”
Professor Yu grabbed Ling Hao's arm and walked into the camp. As he walked, he said, "That's natural, but before I introduce the situation, I would like to introduce two people to you. This joint archaeological activity is a joint effort between Russia and the United Kingdom. As an international exchange event for the cultural excavation of the ancient Silk Road, the two countries have also sent their top domestic archaeological expert teams, and everyone is waiting for you to come."
There was a relatively large tent in the middle of the camp, which looked like a headquarters. Professor Yu pulled Ling Hao and walked in. Poor Zhu Xin was treated as nothing, so she had to follow behind obediently, just like Ling Hao's secretary. Similar.
There were two foreigners discussing something in front of the long table in the tent. When they saw Professor Yu bringing Ling Hao in, they knew who was coming, and they both smiled politely.
Professor Yu smiled and said: "Our diving captain is finally here. Let me introduce it to you. This is our young diving captain, the top deep diving expert in our country. I have seen his skills with my own eyes and it is amazing." As he spoke, he led Ling Hao to a blonde girl wearing beige field work clothes and introduced him: "This is Miss Natasha, an expert on the Far East from the Department of Archeology of Moscow State University. She is as young and promising as you. , it’s enviable.”
Natasha is indeed very young and very beautiful. When it comes to exotic beauties, if Anne is an elegant and beautiful tulip, then Natasha is a ripe peach, exuding a sense of maturity all over her body. The sexiness and charm of a woman. The rough work clothes top was almost bursting because of her proud waves. The tight jeans highlighted the two shockingly long legs. The blue eyes were like a pool of blue lake water. Both profound and agile. She glanced at Zhu Xin behind Ling Hao intentionally or unintentionally. It was obvious that women's attention was more likely to be focused on beautiful women than men. Natasha spoke Mandarin with a Ural flavor, and said in a sweet tone: "I have been hearing your name these days, and your ability under water is so amazing that everyone can't wait to see it. Now that I have really seen you, regardless of your diving skills, you are a first-class handsome young man who is well-deserved." After saying that, he stretched out his jade hand and held it with Ling Hao's, without any intention of letting go. .
Ling Hao could already feel a murderous aura coming from behind him. He quickly smiled politely, pulled back his hand and said, "Thank you, Miss Natasha. I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation in the future."
Professor Yu continued to introduce another brown-haired man in his fifties wearing a sweater: "This is Professor Stevenson of Cambridge, one of the most famous archaeologists in the world and an authority on the thirty-six countries of the Western Regions. expert."
At first glance, Professor Stevenson looks like a serious academic expert and scholar. Although he is knowledgeable, he is extremely dull and boring. He did not reach out to shake hands with Ling Hao. He just adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose, looked at Ling Hao a few times and said, "When it comes to diving experts, I also asked my friends about it. My friend Levins The professor actually introduced me to one, but I didn’t expect the name to be you. You are very famous in this field, so this inspection basically depends on your major.” In this day and age, speaking Mandarin It has become a fashion in Europe and the United States, especially among the upper class, and it is also a sign of knowledge, so no one will be surprised to hear that foreign scholars can speak fluent Mandarin.
Seeing that Professor Stevenson thought highly of himself, Ling Hao naturally had no interest in trying to warm up his face and said directly: "There is no problem with the diving inspection, but we are in different professional fields after all. For the work you have arranged, I will conduct a safety assessment based on the actual situation underwater. If there is danger, I will not let my people risk their lives. Therefore, I must decide whether to advance or retreat underwater. This is our decision. The basis and premise for cooperation, do you have any objections?"
Unexpectedly, Professor Stevenson gave a rare smile: "I have no objection. Respecting the profession is the most basic scientific attitude."
"Who is this?" Whether to interrupt the awkward conversation or for some other reason, Natasha suddenly spoke, looking at Zhu Xin standing behind Ling Hao with a pair of blue eyes.
"Well, this is my girlfriend, who is also a diver." Ling Hao couldn't say that this was a "military family member", she was here for vacation.
"What a beautiful oriental beauty, Mr. Ling has such good eyesight." Natasha said sourly.
Ling Hao held Zhu Xin's hand and responded arrogantly without any guilt: "Really? I feel the same way."
Professor Yu felt that the atmosphere was a little strange, and quickly brought the topic to the right track: "Ling Hao, let me introduce the situation to you. What we are inspecting this time is the ruins of Qiemo Ancient City. The place we are now is where people usually go. Qiemo Ancient City, but in recent years we have identified some unearthed items in the ruins here and found that many of them are from the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and even items from the Yuan and Song Dynasties. According to the literature According to records, the ancient kingdom of Qiemo perished for some reason in the early Tang Dynasty. Xuanzang once mentioned in his "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" that when he passed by Qiemo, the place was already empty of people and turned into an empty city. , so we believe that the real ruins of the ancient Qiemo Kingdom among the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions are not here, but somewhere else. "Hanshu·Biography of the Western Regions" says that this country is located 720 miles west of Shanshan Kingdom and 2,000 miles east of Jingjue Kingdom . Song Yun, an eminent monk during the Northern Wei Dynasty, had a relatively detailed record of the ancient city of Qiemo in "Song Yun's Journey". When Song Yun passed by the ancient city of Qiemo, there were still residents here engaged in primitive agriculture. Li, to Zuomo City. There can be hundreds of residents in the city. There is no rain on the land, so the water is cut to grow wheat, and the fields are cultivated." When Xuanzang arrived 125 years later, there was no one left in Qiemo, and the ancient city was well preserved. In 1957, the Desert Research Institute of the Academy of Sciences discovered an ancient city. From the large number of wooden tablets scattered on the ground, it was known that they were legal documents of Qiemo Prefecture of Shanshan State. It is said that local people spread rumors that there is an ancient city in the desert, which is full of jewelry, and someone rides on it. They went to the depths of the desert with camels and dry food to hunt for treasures. 50 years ago, five treasure hunters had just found the ancient city. Before they had time to dig for treasures, a sandstorm blew up. They escaped death and returned home, but then This mysterious ancient city can no longer be found. For thousands of years, the ancient city of Qiemo has been like a ghost city, disappearing and disappearing in the long yellow sand. No one has been able to find it yet. Many mysterious ruins and unsolvable historical mysteries have attracted the attention of the world. .According to historical records, more than 30,000 Loulan people once fled to Qiemo to escape the war. Later, the ancient city of Qiemo disappeared, and there was no news from those Loulan people. So where is the ancient city of Qiemo? About 10 kilometers southwest of Qiemo County In the Zhagunluk Tombs, 14 mummies were unearthed, as well as grave goods such as stone, pottery, wood, copper, iron, cotton, woolen clothing and fabrics, and sacrifices. Are these remains of the ancient city of Qiemo? Obviously not, where There are only tombs and no traces of the ancient city ruins.”
Seeing that Professor Yu was frothing at the mouth, Natasha poured him a glass of water and took over the conversation: "The elusive city in the legend should be here, but we think this is not the ancient city of Qiemo, but the same city." It is a small country in the Western Regions, and the capital of "Xiaowan" is "Wei Ling City". Where the real ancient city of Qiemo is is still a mystery. So we used today's most advanced ground-penetrating sonar system to conduct research within a radius of 50 kilometers around Qiemo County. The purpose of the survey was to find the foundation of the city wall buried under the yellow sand. Unexpectedly, the foundation of the ancient city was not found, but a huge underground cavity was discovered, covering 60 square kilometers, just 50 meters deep underground. The radar detected It was pitch black when we went down, and we couldn't see anything. So we brought in drilling machinery, made a hole, and put the detection camera robot down. Unexpectedly, there was an underground freshwater lake made of underground water seeping down. We are archaeologists. , was not very interested in strange geological phenomena, so he planned to continue looking for ancient city ruins elsewhere. By pure chance, one of our technicians responsible for operating the detection robot equipment was a curious young man, and he wanted to know such a Is there any living thing in the isolated freshwater lake? So he put down a submersible photography robot he modified, and unexpectedly he discovered the ruins of an intact ancient city underwater." Natasha said excitedly. As he spoke, he turned his laptop screen to Ling Hao and played a video that was taken by an underwater camera. Through the lighting of a diving light, he could clearly see the dark shadow of an ancient city in the dark lake water. As the camera moved, As he continued to get closer, he could clearly see even the city walls and city gates, especially a string of strange characters above the city gates, which attracted Ling Hao's attention. He did not recognize this kind of characters and had never even seen them before.
Professor Stevenson said: "You don't recognize that character, do you? That's not surprising. There are no more than 10 people in the world who can recognize it, and I happen to be one of them. That is the 'Hu' character, which is in the Western Regions." Among the Thirty-six Kingdoms, it was widely used between 400 and 600 AD, which was a historical period between the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty. The time is completely consistent. The string of characters is pronounced as 'Che'er. Chen Kuo Na Xie Haier' means 'Qie Mo City'."
