It's not just people that attract wild wolves, but also camels. Desert wolves often attack camels, and they have learned to smell the excrement left by the camels and follow them.
This kind of creature is cunning in nature, but not very courageous. As long as it is something they judge to be dangerous, they will usually choose to follow and grind it. Wait until the prey relaxes its vigilance before striking.
The confrontation lasted for nearly an hour, and the bedding burned quickly. Uncle Hu Lu took out the lit bedding and threw it to the wolves. Then we heard a series of low roars coming from Uncle Hu's throat, as if he was imitating some kind of beast. The cry.
Slowly, the leading desert wolf began to retreat, and then the wolves also began to retreat.
Seeing the wolves turning around and walking away slowly, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The confrontation with the wolves just now lasted just over an hour, and I was so scared that my back was soaked with sweat.
This was my first time seeing a wild wolf. Dou Sprout has been running into the sea all year round. He had seen a lot of whales and octopuses before, but he had never seen a wild wolf before, and he was very frightened. As for Xiaoxuan, let alone Xiaoxuan, she was so frightened that her face turned pale. The only one who looked calmer was Uncle Hu.
After the wolves left, Uncle Hu said that this was the first day, and we were being targeted by those beasts. If we didn’t take some measures, we would definitely be bitten to death and eaten. Uncle Hu said that everything was burned, so next time the wolves Once it comes, we have no power to resist.
If you encounter a pack of wolves in the wild, you must not fight to the death with the pack of wolves like on TV. That is the last step of being forced to the last resort. The result is that even the most powerful people cannot defeat the pack of wolves. The more powerful they are, the faster they will die. .
Uncle Hu told us his experience.
First of all, wolves are afraid of fire no matter what they are. Making fire can prevent wolves. The sound he made in his throat was imitating the roar of a lion, which can scare wild wolves.
If you don’t know how to imitate the roar of a lion, don’t run with your back to the pack of wolves, and don’t yell randomly. At this time, you can use the sound of knocking, such as knocking on bowls and pots. If you do this, the chance of survival will be greatly increased. .
At dawn, Aji ran over and sent a message: "Everyone can't be here anymore. Uncle said we have to get out of the desert wolf's territory before it gets dark tonight. The desert is no better than the grassland. There are fewer prey here, so the desert wolf's territory The area is very large, uncle said we have to go at least 200 miles away."
At Uncle Hulu's urging, everyone packed up their things and got on the camels and started on their way, hoping to get out of the desert wolf's territory before dark tonight, and we would be safe by then.
The camels that most people see are slow and leisurely. Maybe many people think that camels can't run, but this is not the case. Not only can camels run, they can also run very fast. They are no slower than horses. Camels can run the fastest. The speed is equivalent to a car running 70 miles per hour.
If you want to make the camels run, there is a trick. Uncle Hu found a piece of red cloth. He used a knife to cut the red cloth into small pieces, each piece of red cloth was about the size of a palm.
Uncle Hu tied a palm-sized red cloth on the camel's head, then positioned it so that the red cloth blocked one of the camel's eyes. Camels are very afraid of the color red, and will run away when they see bright red. Uncle Hu covered one of the camel's eyes with a red cloth, leaving the other eye open for the camel to see the road. Then the camel started running.
We also used this method, and it worked very well. If you feel that the speed is too fast, just pick up the red cloth, so that the camel will slowly slow down and calm down.
Relying on this little trick of camel riding, we saved a lot of time. We didn’t stop at noon and finally ran out of the desert wolf’s territory before dark.
The environment of this place is different from that of the previous place. There are many rocks and not much sand. Uncle Hulu said that this place is close to the center of the Alxa Desert. If you walk more than 100 kilometers, you can reach the vicinity of Harahhot.
We burned a lot of things last night, and now there are only two tents left in the team. After discussion in the evening, we decided to leave them to Xiaoxuan and Baotou. It is not convenient for Xiaoxuan to be a girl. As for Baotou, he is the oldest, so we should let him have a good rest.
There is a huge temperature difference between day and night in the desert. It was very cold sleeping on the cold ground. I was also afraid that wolves would follow me. I didn't sleep well all night.
On the third day, it was a long journey.
On the fourth day, we finally arrived at the place Uncle Hulu mentioned, near the ruins of Heishui City.
He didn't lie. The terrain here is half Gobi and half desert. The grass on the ground is all light black. There are not even any birds in the sky. If you stay here for a while, you will feel out of breath, very stuffy, depressed, and lifeless. .
Dou Sprout had a cold last night and had a runny nose. He sneezed and said, "It feels like another world here."
Aji looked up at the dark sky and said worriedly: "Legend has it that the Black General of Harahot lives on this land. The Black General's soul has cursed the Mongolian soldiers for generations. The grass here, the sky here, and here The land and water sources have been affected by the black general's resentment and turned black."
"Sneeze!" Dou Yazai sneezed and it almost flowed into his mouth. He wiped his nose and said, "I see, this is not the soul of a black general. This is just a piece of black land. It may have been there for hundreds of years." There was a large oasis in front of it, but a large number of trees died and rotted into the soil, turning it into black soil.”
Oh, Yazai, when did you realize your wisdom and learn how to analyze? I pointed to the surroundings and said, "Then you can analyze why the grass growing around here is also black."
"Well..."
Dou Sprout thought for a long time and said loudly: "The grass growing on the black soil must be black grass. Just like a black man giving birth to a child with a black man, he can't give birth to a white one, right?"
"Okay, okay, don't be poor," Tuo looked at me and said, "Yunfeng, try it first, try your luck with the shovel, and see the underground soil structure here."
I nodded and said yes, turned around and found the pole-type Luoyang shovel from my bag.
There are four kinds of shovels in the tomb robbing industry. The Luoyang shovel is used for taking soil samples to determine the location of ancient tombs. The cyclone shovel is used for digging soil and digging holes. The other two shovels are called short-handled shovels and pick-billed shovels.
The short-handled shovel has two ends. One end is an iron surface more than ten centimeters wide, and the other end has a three-pronged tip, which is a bit like a trident, but the three tips are flat. The short-handled shovel is easy to carry, and its main use is to pry coffins.
The pick shovel is used in the south, but rarely in the north. This kind of shovel has a long and very narrow tip, which is suitable for digging water holes underwater. When using a pick shovel for underwater operations, it will basically not bring up sediment, which makes people in the water You can see it clearly at the bottom, which is convenient for tomb robbers.
The most famous use of a pickaxe was the Jiangkou Chenyin tomb robbery more than ten years later. The group used a pickaxe to find a large number of treasures underwater, including the golden seal of General Yongchang.
There is a technique for shoveling in Luoyang. The northern school calls for one smash, three turns and two pokes.
First choose a rough location, pick up the Luoyang shovel and smash it on the ground. The smash marks a point to prevent subsequent misses. If you think it is okay, you will put the Luoyang shovel on the ground and turn it left and right three times with your hands. This can test the hardness of the soil. If the hardness is also suitable, go ahead. Lift the Luoyang shovel and poke it twice to withdraw it. Come up and half shovel the soil.
Repeat this, and soon an excellent exploration hole will be laid.
At the beginning when I shoveled the soil in Luoyang, the quality was okay, neither soft nor hard. When the shovel reached about 1.5 meters, I obviously felt that the resistance became smaller.
This is not a good sign, it means there is a layer of sand under the ground.
Seeing the loose sand brought up by Luoyang's shovel, he hesitated for a moment, frowned and said: "If there is a layer of quicksand, there is no need to dig it down, it is useless. The shovel will be covered by the quicksand as soon as it is brought up, so the depth will never be deep enough. Yunfeng, why don't you try making a four-legged formation?"
I nodded and said yes, took back the Luoyang shovel and looked for the copper bowl used to set up the four-legged formation.
The four-legged formation is a special method used by tomb robbers. If you are lucky, the accuracy can reach over 60%.
This method was first invented by a man named Ma Liu from the Nanpai Guangdong Gang.
In the early years, there were four people in the Ma Liu tomb robbery gang. These four people stood at the four corners, dug a hole in the ground, and then buried four copper bowls at the four corners. This kind of copper bowl was specially made and the bowl was divided into two layers. , the lower layer holds water, and the upper layer holds soil. The shape is similar to the Kongming bowl used for tribute in the past. It looks big, but in fact it is full with just a little something.
This kind of bowl has strong sound transmission after being buried in the ground. After the bowl is buried, if the descendant lies on the ground and whispers, it can be heard on the other side, which is very magical. If it sounds like the sound is going downwards or spreading elsewhere, it means there is a sound transmission space underground.
This method is more accurate and convenient than listening to thunder, because you don't have to wait for rainy days, you can use it at any time, and you don't need to learn Feng Shui to read the earth's veins. It is a tricky method, and you can get started with it after practice.
We were well prepared in advance when we came to Yinchuan this time. After finding the copper bowl, we started filling it with water from the lower water injection port. In order to improve accuracy, we made sure that the water in the four bowls was almost the same.
The cyclone shovel digs the hole quickly. After burying the bowl, it’s me, Dou Sprout, Xiaoxuan, and Aji. Stand apart.
Dou Sprouts lay down, with his face on the ground and his hands covering his mouth, and whispered: "Hey! Hey! Did you hear that?"
I gestured towards Dou Sprout and looked at the other corner.
After listening for a long time, I heard nothing. Then I saw that Xiaoxuan was blowing air there.
I said Xiaoxuan, please stop blowing and talk!
She said oh and called my name twice in a low voice.
This time it is basically confirmed.
I stood up and said, "No need to hit your head. There is nothing underground and the sound will not dissipate."
He felt a little disappointed after hearing what I said. He nodded and said that's fine. Let's eat something to replenish our strength and continue walking inside.
Dou Sprout was half-assed, and everyone sat around on the ground eating dry food and chatting. Dou Sprout asked some questions about finding a tomb, and Boss answered them all.
In the industry, when looking for tombs, they usually look at the mountains, rivers and earthen bags. The mountains and rivers are considered Feng Shui trends. No matter how well they are covered up, there are traces to follow. The earthen bags refer to the mounds of sealed earth. Thousands of years later, the appearance of these large tombs will be The sealing mounds have turned into mountains of earth. The larger the tomb, the larger the sealing mound. In theory, the larger the sealing mound, the better the anti-theft effect. However, this also has the disadvantage of being too conspicuous and attracting thieves.
Tou Tou said that he had done this before. For example, if he wanted to find a tomb, he would take a train to travel. There was no precise purpose. He just sat by the train window and observed the passing mountains and scenic spots. Sometimes he could When you see a pot-lid-shaped hill, sometimes you can see a funnel-shaped hill, so you have a high probability of finding the right location.
Dou Sprouts ate the dry food and said with a smile: "That's good. Traveling to rob tombs kills two birds with one stone. Maybe Master Yao often takes the train."
After hearing this, he shook his head and smiled: "Master Yao is a frequent traveler. He has never taken any train."
"By the way," I heard that Yao Wenzhong was mentioned, and I asked the boss: "We cooperated with him in Hong Kong Island last time. Why haven't we heard any news about him recently?"
"Yeah, hey," he said with a sigh, "both ends of the payment have been taken by Xiaohong. Master Yao's relationship is with the boss of Hongxing. Xiaohong is my person, and I don't have the nerve to go to him again. , he should be the same, if he doesn't take the initiative to contact us, he will set me back."
When I mentioned the head to Hongxing Company, I noticed Xiaoxuan lowered her head and said hurriedly: "If you don't want to look for it, don't look for it. Business cannot be done without righteousness. Boss, don't blame yourself for Sister Hong's matter. As long as she is still alive, we will We will meet again one day.”
"Have you seen Yao Wenzhong?" Qin Xingping suddenly asked with a surprised look on his face.
I nodded and said I only met him once in Shunde. What's wrong?
"It's okay, just ask," Qin Xingping said: "Everyone in our industry knows this guy. Last time I heard that he played cards with others and lost eleven early Shang bronzes in one night."
There were rumors among the people that he was a gambler. I didn’t say anything. I just lamented that it was a pity. The eleven pieces of early Shang bronzes, even the most common three-mold round tripod without inscriptions, would add up to a huge price. Hundreds of thousands.
"Stop playing with Aji! Why are you still playing? Do something serious!" Seeing that Aji was still concentrating on his cell phone, Dou Sprout couldn't help scolding him.
Aji was playing with his cell phone and made a sound. He raised his head and asked Uncle Hulu what was going on when he walked in, and whether he still remembered where he picked up the stone carving board.
Uncle Hu Lu stood up, pointed forward, and said something.
Aji immediately translated: "My uncle said that he could see an ancient well as he walked forward. The stone sculpture was originally used as a manhole cover. He thought it was interesting and took it back."
Ancient well?
Drilling a well in the desert?
Boutou and I looked at each other, and both saw the confusion in each other's eyes.
This doesn't make sense.
No modern person would go to a place like this to dig a well. It must be an ancient well. You know, it is useless to dig a submersible well more than ten meters in the desert because it cannot store water at all.
But it would be very difficult to dig a deep underground water well more than 100 meters deep, and ancient people did not have professional well-drilling equipment.
After everyone finished eating, we packed up and headed off. Uncle Hu had a very good memory. He used a few dead poplar trees on the road as a reference. We led the camels and walked for more than two hours until we arrived at the dry well that Uncle Hu had mentioned.
Qin Xingping sighed: "It's really a dry well. It's so strange to be in a place where birds don't poop."
The part exposed above the ground is indeed the wellhead, but it has been severely damaged by weathering. The wellhead is built with stones and is very crude. I roughly estimated the width of the wellhead, and the stone carving board should be large enough to cover it.
Uncle Hu said that the stone carving board was a manhole cover. If he said this, the problem would arise again.
The bluestone carving board dates from the Xixia period, and the theme of the carving is the three-faced Guanyin, which is a Buddhist theme. Xixia has been advocating Buddhism since the founding of the country by Li Yuanhao, and Buddhism is the state religion of Xixia.
If you look at it this way, it would be disrespectful to use a Guanyin statue as a manhole cover. Anyone who works in antiques knows this. For example, there are some individual copper Buddha heads and stone Buddha heads in the antique market. These Buddha heads have a flat section from the neck down and have closed eyes. You know it's fake without even looking.
Ancient folk worshiped Buddha. Throughout the dynasties, there was no single Buddha head. The real ancient Buddha heads must have uneven sections under the neck, and they were all removed separately due to violent destruction.
Then Dou Sprout found a flashlight and looked into the ancient well for a long time.
I said Yazai, what did you see?
"It seems like it's all sand and rocks. Hey, wait a minute."
Dou Sprout was lying at the mouth of the well and suddenly said: "I seem to see a pile of rotten iron pieces."
