Later that night, in the early hours of the morning, after seeing that we were all asleep, Aza untied his camel, took water and food, and left on his own.
The journey went smoothly for the first two days, but something happened on the night of the third day.
He was sleeping late at night when he suddenly heard the cry of a camel. Camels generally do not bark unless they see wild animals that are dangerous to themselves. There are no lions in the Alxa Desert, but there are other wild animals that often appear at night, such as wild dogs (not hyenas), sand lizards, rattlesnakes, etc.
Aza woke up from his sleep and ran out in a panic to see if there was a wild dog or something nearby. As a result, he saw a bonfire in the distance. The bonfire was burning brightly, and it seemed like you could still hear the noise of people talking along with the sound of the wind.
Aza thought at first that they were catching up with him, but then he realized that it might not be the case. As he got closer, he found a group of people cooking meat around a campfire.
The people he met were the same people we met. Aza said that this group of people is another group of indigenous tribes living in the Alxa Desert, called the Kayak tribe. Those people are all Kayak people. It is said that the Keya people in the depths of Alxa migrated from Taklimakan hundreds of years ago.
Regarding the Kayak people, Aza, a native of Yinchuan who has lived at the foot of the Helan Mountains since childhood, knew that the Kayak people were much later than the Hute people. About twenty or thirty years ago, in the 1970s and 1980s, a foreigner A very famous explorer came to Alxa to explore. This man lost his way due to a sandstorm and ran out of water and food. The foreign explorer was rescued by the Kayak people when he was dying. At this point, the locals in Yinchuan knew that there was actually another place in Alxa. Such a tribe, a tribe they didn't know yet.
A few decades ago, the Kayak people were very scattered, and the distance between some households could be more than 20 kilometers. It sometimes took a week to ride a camel to visit one house. After the time entered the 1990s, this group of Kayaks realized that it was inconvenient to live like this, so they began to gather together to build villages in the desert. From this, the Kayaks slowly gathered from all directions and developed into a real Kayak tribe on the island.
The Kayak tribe has their own language, culture and god worship. Aza told me that the Kayak people worship the sacred tree the most. The sacred tree he mentioned was the bottle tree I smashed. According to legend, the ancestors of the Kayak people brought saplings from Taklimakan and planted them. It took hundreds of years for the bottle tree to grow to such a large size.
There are no doctors in the Kayak tribe. In their belief, the sap of the sacred tree can cure all diseases and pain. If someone is sick, the Kayak people will bring sacrifices to hold a ceremony. After the grand worship ceremony, the Kayak people will use Gently scratch the bottle tree with a knife, use a small cup to catch a little sap, and then smooth the small opening with Populus euphratica gum, praying that the bottle tree will heal the wound soon.
Zhao Xuanxuan and I smashed the pale white tree sap, which is considered sacred water in the Kayak culture, and drank it to our fill. We also took away five large homemade flat pots made of dried cactus. Bottle, so people are anxious with me.
Later, Aza, the bad boy, was captured because of a verbal conflict with the Kayak people. Until just now meeting us.
He continued: "You two destroyed the sacred tree of the Kayak people. Do you know the nature of this matter? It is like a devout Buddhist who one day has the Buddha statue he has worshiped for his whole life being smashed. If you put yourself in their shoes, what would you do if it were you?"
I said dissatisfied: "What else can I do? I smashed the bottle tree they planted, but I am also willing to apologize and compensate. How dare they kill people in broad daylight."
"You're so cool," Aza taunted me, "You'll find out later in the evening. I heard a little bit just now that they were discussing setting you two on fire under the sacred tree. I'm afraid they weren't going to use it as a sacrifice." Contribute your products to the sacred tree."
I immediately asked: "Do you understand the language of the Kayak people?" As for his statement that the Kayak people would burn me and Zhao Xuanxuan to death at night, I didn't believe it at all. I thought he wanted to see that I was afraid of making a fool of myself.
I didn’t believe it, and I didn’t chop down their sacred tree. I just smashed it a little bit, so it wouldn’t be like that.
Aza replied: "The pronunciation of Kaya language is somewhat similar to that of Qiang language. I can understand part of the meaning, but I can't speak it. I know you don't believe what I just said. By tonight you will know whether what I said is true or false." ”
After saying that, Aza leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, not talking.
It was getting dark until after eleven o'clock in the evening, when torches were lit outside the door and there was a lot of noise.
The door was pushed open, and the young girl with earrings walked in with four or five big men. They were holding two thick poplar tree sticks with hemp rope tied to one end.
Seeing the menacing attack, my heart skipped a beat and I thought, what are they doing here with sticks in the middle of the night? Still holding the rope?
suddenly.
"What are you doing! What are you going to do!"
Two big men suddenly lifted Zhao Xuanxuan up, one on the left and the other on the right, and tied her hands and feet to thick wooden sticks.
"Xiaoxuan!"
"If you want to be beaten or punished, come to me! I smashed the tree! It has nothing to do with her!" I yelled at them with a red face, not caring whether they could understand or not.
Five minutes later, my hands and feet were tied to a poplar tree stick. Although I struggled hard, I couldn't break free.
Aza smiled and said: "Come on, I won't send you two off. Don't worry, my sins are far less serious than yours. In a few days, the Kayak people will probably let me go. I'll give it to you when I get out." Burn some paper money so you can take flowers with you on the way."
Aza looked gloating.
The next moment, the expression on his face changed instantly and he couldn't laugh anymore. The Kayak girl with big earrings waved, and someone else brought in a stick and two ropes.
"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding," Aza struggled hard and said, "You made a mistake! He and I are not the same group! I did not destroy your Kayak Sacred Tree!"
It's a pity that the other party can't understand.
After the three of us were tied up, the girl with the earring waved her hand, and the three of us were lifted up like we were slaughtering pigs during the New Year.
"You're paralyzed!" Aza scolded me with his head down.
I was also in a panic. I suppressed my anger and fear and asked him what to do. Where would he carry us in the middle of the night?
"Where else can we go!"
"Go to the Keya Sacred Tree! We will be burned to death by the Keya people soon!"
"It's all your fucking fault. Who told you to smash the sacred tree?"
I got angry, turned around and said dirty words, "It's your mother's fault. If you didn't steal our camels and water, why would I smash that bottle tree to get water!"
"Stop arguing!" Zhao Xuanxuan shouted at Aza: "Hurry up and find a way. If you are arguing, we, Sanquan, will die!"
"What are you yelling at? You didn't see that I was thinking of a solution!"
