The sun is setting in the west, and in the golden world, countless wrinkles of sand and stones are like solidified waves, extending to the golden horizon in the distance. A round sunset clung to the ridgeline of the desert, making the earth dark and revealing a golden edge. Suddenly a whirlwind blew by, bringing up pieces of sand waves, like smoke rising from the flat ground, spinning and flying across the desert. Before the sand waves arrived, the wind stopped and the waves solidified, like a sleeping sea.
Across the sand dunes, the ruins of an ancient castle stood impressively. The ruins eroded by wind and sand looked so desolate in the vast desert.
Next to a tall earthen house, half of the walls have collapsed, leaning against the last earthen wall. The bottom is covered with yellow sand, and only the bare roots of the sandwort trees are left, tightly clinging to the cracks in the sand. inside.
Suddenly, a hand came out of the dark doorway under the broken wall, and then a figure tumbled out of the sand pit.
"It's almost time to set off!" Chen Tao raised his hands high and stretched hard, his muscles and bones stretched, making a crackling sound.
"Ah..." Chen Tao frowned, his chest muscles pulled, and a sharp pain came from his abdomen. The pain made him suck in air. I'm afraid a few ribs were broken in the initial collision.
Chen Tao held his stomach and carefully walked down the sand pile to the broken wall where the camel was tied. His expression suddenly changed.
The several camels that were originally tied here were gone, along with the water and some of the equipment and food on them. There were only a few scattered hay sticks on the ground.
"Haozi! Ye Rong! The camel is missing!"
The two people who came after hearing the sound suddenly showed a solemn look on their faces.
"Damn it, where's the camel! You idiot, did you leave the camel loose without tying it?"
"Impossible!" Chen Tao grabbed a few hay scattered on the ground: "Ye Rong and I tied the camel together, and we fed it together. How could it run away on its own!"
"A camel will never run away while it is tied. Someone must have taken the camel away while we were sleeping!" Ye Rong looked a little anxious, but she still tried her best to calm down.
"Who would come to such a remote place without a shop?" Haozi cursed when he heard that someone had taken him away.
"Is it Taji's end? Is he not dead yet?" Chen Tao's expression changed.
"It's impossible. The main hall has been buried under sand. No matter how tough his life is, Takji will still be in trouble!"
"Who is he?"
Chirp….Chirp Chirp Chirp Chirp….
The three of them were guessing when a sharp chirping suddenly came from above their heads, shocking the sky and instantly piercing the sky.
Chen Tao hurriedly looked up and saw a black shadow hovering in the sky high in the sky under the setting sun.
"That's... an eagle?" Chen Tao looked shocked. This is the heart of the desert. There is nothing but sand. There are not even insects. How could there be an eagle!
Chirp….Chirp Chirp Chirp Chirp….
I saw the black eagle hovering high in the sky, overlooking the earth
, fluttering its wings in the sky, suddenly let out a scream, and instantly swooped down towards the three of them, from far to near, from high to low, with an astonishing speed.
Phew.......
In the blink of an eye, the black eagle had fluttered in front of everyone, but they saw that the black eagle had a beak like a scimitar, its eyes were fierce and sharp, its black and hard feathers reflected the dazzling golden light against the setting sun, and its powerful wings scratched the The sky has a wingspan of three meters. A pair of sharp claws glowed with golden light, and there were actually a pair of golden claws on them.
Golden spurs are thin metal sleeves worn on the talons of animals such as eagles or fighting cocks. Only falcons released by hunters will have golden spurs. Wearing golden spurs on the talons of falcons was a habit of ancient nobles when they were hunting falcons. Not something that ordinary hunters can afford. The fierce falcon wears a golden spur. When it encounters wild foxes, powerful wolves, and yellow sheep, it roars down from high altitudes and can easily tear apart their fur.
Raising falcons is a symbol of authority and wealth. The Eurasian steppe peoples directly connect the eagle with the image of the emperor and use it as a symbol of royal power. Therefore, the sanctity of the king's domesticated eagle is unquestionable and they are proud of it. From the Western Regions to West Asia, there was a trend of loving falconry everywhere. The caliphs of the white-clad Umayyad dynasty were keen on falconry, and the emperors of the Sassanid Dynasty in Persia also liked to hunt with falcons. When the Mongols conquered Central Asia, there was a saying that "a good horse cannot be replaced by a good eagle."
The falcon roared towards him, and everyone saw its ferocity and could only hide on the spot.
Phew.......
The falcon let out a piercing scream, waved its huge wings, and hovered from where Chen Tao and the others were standing just now, and landed on a high wall nearby. Its fierce eyes stared at the three people present. It seems to be able to pierce a person's soul.
Chen Tao got up from the ground in disgrace, and took a breath of air in his heart. Eagle hunting is extremely rare these days, let alone equipping the eagle's claws with golden spurs? How could there be such a ferocious falcon in this endless desert!
Snapped!
Before the man could stand still, suddenly there was another gunshot behind him, and the bullet hit the sandy ground close to Chen Tao's trousers, stirring up a cloud of sand and smoke. Looking back, the broken roofs and walls on all sides were already covered with people!
Bang... Another shot hit the middle of the three people.
Originally, Haozi wanted to dig out the steel nails hidden in his wrists, but he didn't dare to move at this time. There were so many opponents, and everyone had guns in their hands. No matter how fast he was, he couldn't move faster than bullets!
The three of them were back to back, nervously watching the crowd around them. These people in the middle were all dressed in black military uniforms, wearing long cloth robes with closed sleeves, long scarves on their heads, large hoods, and bent waistbands. He held a knife and a gun in his hand and aimed it at the three people on the ground, looking like a Saudi bandit.
Who are these people!
Chen Tao was horrified, but he didn't dare to act rashly. He had no doubt that as long as he made the slightest move, the bullets would turn the three of them into a pile of rotten flesh. But judging from the current situation, these people don't seem to want to kill them.
Suddenly there was a whistle from the high wall, and the falcon that had fallen aside fluttered up and landed on a man's arm. The man lifted his hood
, with dark skin and strange tattoos on his face, staring at Chen Tao and the other two people on the ground with a ferocious expression.
"Who are you and what do you want to do!"
The man didn't say anything, but fed a piece of minced meat into the eagle's mouth. Then he raised his hand and several people behind him jumped down from the roof and took Chen Tao and the others into custody.
"Let me go! Who are you!" Chen Tao struggled, but the men hit him on his hind legs with the butts of their rifles. The pain made him break into a cold sweat.
"Be honest, I'll kill you with one more shot!"
The man who collected the eagle earlier also walked down the broken wall. He and the eagle stared at Chen Tao and the others for a long time, and then said, "Hello, guests from afar."
"Guests? Bah!" Haozi spat, "Are you welcoming guests?"
The man glanced at Haozi, smiled, and walked up to Haozi. Haozi was not afraid at all and stared at him with his eyes without flinching.
"You have some backbone, but it's useless." The man stretched out his hand and pinched Haozi's face, gritted his teeth and said, "Here, I have the final say. You'd better be obedient, or I'll skin you and feed it to the hawks!"
After saying that, he twitched his hand fiercely, and suddenly there were five fingerprints on Haozi's face.
"Remember this!" Haozi gritted his teeth in anger at being treated like this.
The man glanced at Haozi with disdain, turned and walked to Ye Rong, stretched out his fingers and touched Ye Rong's face.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a beautiful face. It would be a pity if he died."
"Hmph!" Ye Rong turned away fiercely, "If you want to kill, just kill, don't talk nonsense!"
"Hey, little bitches, you have quite a temper. It's strong and tasty!"
The people around him suddenly became smaller and smaller. Ye Rong's face turned green and white. She struggled a few times, but she couldn't break away from the two big men behind her.
"Who are you and what do you want to do?" Chen Tao asked, staring at the man.
"What are you doing?" The man grinned and suddenly grabbed Chen Tao's neck with his hands.
"Tell me, who asked you to come!"
"No one, we did it ourselves!" Chen Tao's face turned red from holding back, and the blood vessels in his neck were pinched so much that they protruded.
"Hmph, your bones are pretty hard. If you don't tell me, I think you're looking for death!" The man gritted his teeth viciously and increased the strength on his hands.
"I...I said...I...came here on my own!"
(End of chapter)
