The two drove on the highway, passed the Kunlun Pass, and continued westward to Hami.
This is the time when cantaloupe is in season, soft, sweet, fragrant and smooth.
Here they tasted XJ roasted whole lamb, mutton braised pancakes, and Barkol pancakes.
After a night's rest, we turned south and went to Lop Nur and Guloulan.
Loulan Ancient Kingdom is a small country on the ancient Silk Road. It is located in the west of Lop Nur and is at the hub of the Western Region. The scope of the kingdom starts from the vicinity of Guyangguan in the east, to the ancient city of Niya in the west, to the Altyn Mountains in the south, and to Hami in the north. It occupied an extremely important position on the ancient Silk Road. Today only ruins remain. The ancient Loulan Kingdom was founded before 176 BC, but suddenly and mysteriously disappeared in 630 AD, with a history of more than 800 years.
The purpose of Lu Cheng's coming here was, firstly, to travel and travel around the great rivers and mountains of the motherland with Jiang Qiuyun; secondly, to investigate whether the ancient country of Loulan had left any information similar to runes.
While he was driving the car at high speed in the desert, he used the Zhan Qi Technique to observe the nearby Qi machines.
While driving, the car got stuck in a sand trap.
He got out, a man towed the car out, and kept driving.
If he encountered quicksand, he would simply put the car into the jade ring, then walk forward, and then release it when he reached a safe place.
Here, he saw the energy of crystal jewels under the yellow sand, but he was too lazy to dig out. After all, he was a man with tens of billions of wealth, and there was no need to destroy ancient ruins for a few pieces of gold and silver.
Jiang Qiuyun accompanied him to appreciate the desert customs, thinking about the soldiers stationed at the border in ancient times, and suddenly thought of many ancient poems.
Thousands of miles away, the long smoke sets and the sun sets, solitary city closed.
Zoumachuan, on the snowy seaside, the flat sand reaches the vast yellow sky.
The sun sets on the flat sand in the wild west, and the stars on Longshan rise and fall again.
Once we go to Zitai and Shuo Desert, we will only leave the green tomb facing the dusk.
The desolation, loneliness, desert, solitary smoke, long river, and sunset made her feel indescribable. This was a rare experience. Literary writers need to experience life and enrich their own experiences.
Then, they drove south out of the desert to RQ County.
To the southwest of Ruoqiang, that is, to the southeast of Hotan, under the towering Kunlun Mountains, there is a small village of KStash. KStash means "the place where jade is produced" in the local dialect. This is also the source of Hotan jade. A transit point. It is deeply embedded in Kunlun Mountain like jade. There is only one small dirt street in KStash Village, which is located on the platform of the Keriya River. There are only 270 households here, and many villagers make a living by picking and carrying jade. In KSTashi Village, more than half of people's income comes from jade from Kunlun Mountain.
The jade mine is deep in the mountains and has to pass through two transfer stations. It is about 20 kilometers from KSTashi Village to Setikulam, with an altitude of 4,400 meters. The bedrock here is exposed, not a single blade of grass grows, and all you can see is patches of loess.
In the past, the jade road was a road of hardship and death. The terrain of the Sedikulamu mining area is highly incised, with crisscrossing ravines and numerous cliffs, making it very dangerous.
Climbing to the top of Sedikulam Mountain, you can see far into the distance. To the south is the Sedikulam Jade Mine, to the southeast is the Qiongmuztage Peak with an altitude of 6,920 meters. To the north is the Hanilek Jade Mine, and to the northwest is the Almas Jade Mine, the mining area is 4,500 meters above sea level and inaccessible. It is extremely cold and hypoxic, the air is thin, and the snow is difficult to melt all year round. Since the Qing Dynasty, the Alamas mining area has been the most important place for producing mutton-fat jade. The mutton-fat jade produced is large in size and large in quantity. It has been a treasure among Hotan jade since ancient times.
In the early years of the Republic of China, brothers Qi Chunfu and Qi Chuntao from Tianjin organized mining here and excavated more than ten tons of white jade and green white jade, of which high-quality white jade accounted for one-third. "Qijiakeng" has also become the source of high-quality Hetian jade. Synonymous with it, the Alamas jade mine became increasingly depressed. Later, local Uighur hunter Toda Kui discovered Hotan jade again in Alamas, which attracted the world's attention.
The tremolite content of Hotan jade produced in Alamas can reach more than 99%, and it is as warm and moist as white sheep's tail gel. This is also the origin of the name Hotan "mutton-fat jade". Because of this, Hetian jade is extremely scarce, so the ancients only called Hetian jade real jade.
"Invincibility starts with sacrificing the ancestor"
However, by 2029, all this will become history.
Lu Cheng and Jiang Qiuyun hiked into the mountains to appreciate the arduous path traveled by jade collectors back then.
The road to Hainilak is basically composed of knife-back road, rock climbing road and cliff road. There are two rock climbing areas on top of thick vertical ice falls, and there is a 16-kilometer high cliff slope. If you are an ordinary person, you will feel frightened and exhausted both physically and mentally. Hainilak is the mining area with the shortest jade mining time in the Kunlun Mountains. Some people say that there are only two seasons in winter and spring, and the mining time is only a hundred days a year.
The mining of jade mountain materials here has a long history, and there are no easy-to-find or mined veins. In the past few years, Hainilak has only produced 5-6 tons of jade every year. It is getting harder and harder to find a valuable vein.
When Lu Cheng and Jiang Qiuyun approached the jade mining area, they suddenly discovered that there were military police stationed in front of them. A horizontal pole blocked the way, and a sign was erected on the side: "The jade mining area ahead is important. No one is allowed to enter."
Lu Cheng sighed lightly: "It seems that after I presented the method of making amulets, the state strengthened the supervision of jade mines. This is the initial stage of monopolizing Hetian jade."
Jiang Qiuyun smiled and said: "Let's go, we are here to have fun. Not to find jade. You have already obtained Kunlun Jade, so you can't be too greedy."
Lu Cheng said: "Actually, Kunlun jade is Hetian jade. As long as the mineral composition is measured, the tremolite content exceeds 95%. This can be confirmed."
In January 2014, the China National Standards Management Committee issued the "Hetian Jade Physical Standard Samples", officially confirming that "Hetian jade physical samples will be defined according to their mineral composition regardless of their origin."
The main characteristics of Hetian jade in mineral composition are:
(1) The tremolite mineral is more than 95%.
Among them, white jade is 99%, green white jade is 98%, and sapphire is 97% (95-99%). Among similar tremolite jade, Hetian jade has a higher tremolite content.
(2) There are very few impurity minerals. (3) The mineral particle size is extremely fine. (4) The structure is typically felt-like, with uniform particle size and interwoven into a felt blanket.
As long as it meets these standards, it belongs to Hetian jade no matter where it is produced.
Jiang Qiuyun urged: "Let's go to HT City to eat roasted whole lamb!"
Lu Cheng smiled and said, "Didn't we just eat it?"
"Eat it again."
They turned around and walked back.
On the way back, Lu Cheng looked at Muzitage Peak and felt that the mountain had strange skeletons, somewhat similar to Yuxu Peak, with clear Qi rising straight into the sky.
So, Lu Cheng led the way, and the two of them walked straight towards Muztage Peak.
Muzitage Peak is 6973 meters above sea level, located at 87.3 degrees east longitude and 36.4 degrees north latitude. It is located in RQ County in southern XJ. It is the highest peak in the East Kunlun Mountains.
"Muztag" is Uyghur, meaning "iceberg". This peak became "Ulag Peak", which means "great". Within its radius of 200 kilometers square, there are 54 peaks with an altitude of more than 6,000 meters. The main peak, Muztage Peak, is adjacent to each other end to end. Just like the jade pillar holding up the sky.
This peak stands erect, with cross-cut rock walls and is covered with ice and snow all year round. The northwest slope has a gentle and long slope with many dark ice cracks; the south slope has a 45-degree slope. You can climb up the Linglong River and cross three glaciers and snow basins to reach the top.
Lu Cheng and Jiang Qiuyun walked on the southeast slope. The slope is about 60 degrees. The climate here is unpredictable, the wind is strong, the temperature is very low, and the bursting sounds of glaciers can be heard from time to time.
Although the environment is harsh, the scenery is also beautiful.
The ice peaks, snowfields, grasslands, and lakes here not only form unique natural scenery, but also form a complete and typical primitive ecosystem and biological community. Dozens of precious animals still live here. Because of this, my country's largest Altun Mountain Nature Reserve was established in this area in 1983, covering an area of 4,500 square kilometers.
Lu Cheng used Zhanzhan Qi Technique all the way to a cliff, cut through the three-foot-thick ice with a golden dagger, and found a man-made cave!
What surprised them was that, just like Yuxu Peak, there was also a jade vein inside the cave, including not only mutton-fat white jade, but also red jade and topaz! Especially inside the mountain, there is a similar stone chamber filled with jade dug by the ancients!
This cave is larger and filled with jade stones of various colors. At first glance, there are twice as many jade stones as in Yuxu Peak!
Seeing so many colorful jade stones piled in front of them, Lu Cheng and Jiang Qiuyun looked at each other! While they were happy, they also felt their hearts trembling!
Jiang Qiuyun grasped his arm tightly and murmured:
"Who did this?"
"Were there really immortals in ancient times?"
"If there is an immortal, he must know the art of qi-watching! Otherwise, he would not be able to come here!"
"Why is he digging so much jade? If you have the ability to dig it out, why not take it away?"
All this was so miraculous that it overturned her imagination. Even Lu Cheng found it unbelievable.
They swept away all the red jade and topaz, and took away half of the mutton-fat white jade. The remaining half was left in place for future generations.
There is also a large white jade bed in the stone room, two meters long and two and a half meters wide.
Jiang Qiuyun was delighted when she saw it and put it away without hesitation!
There are also a few white jade tables and chairs that cannot be missed!
Lu Cheng's favorite thing is a jasper teapot. It's big and heavy. It's perfect for making a teapot!
There were no magical instruments left in the stone chamber, but two poems were carved on the stone wall.
The first song "If everything is in hand, we can be friends for thousands of years. When he went to Kunlun, he remembered the name of this rock."
The second song: "A perfect person has no dreams, and his dreams are about traveling to immortality. A real person has no sleep, and when he sleeps, he is surrounded by clouds and smoke. There is happiness in the furnace, but there is a sky in the pot. If you want to know the most mysterious thing in the world in your sleep."
Other than that, there are no other messages! What cultivation technique? No! Jade slips and golden books? Not even that!
Jiang Qiuyun frowned and thought for a moment, then said: "This second poem seems to be written by Chen Tuan! Chen Tuan is a poet and a legendary immortal."
Lu Cheng smiled and said, "Chen Tuan? If he doesn't stay in Huashan, why is he here?"
"You can control people!"
Because there is no signal on the mobile phone, it is impossible to check Chen Tuan's qualifications.
They came down from the mountain, returned to the parking lot in the small village of KS, and drove to Hotan.
When I arrived in HT City, I found a hotel to stay in so that I could have time to look up information.
Chen Tuan grew up in troubled times and read hundreds of classics and histories. He became famous for his poems and recited them as soon as he saw them. In the middle of the Changxing year of Tang Dynasty (931) after the Five Dynasties, he failed in the Jinshi examination. From then on, he did not seek salary or official position, but took pleasure in the mountains and rivers.
Chen Tuan was erudite and talented, and wrote poetry collections such as "The Fables of Three Peaks", "Gao Yang Collection", "Diao Tan Collection", "Mu Yan Collection", and "Poem Commentary". Later generations honored him as "the ancestor of Confucianism and Taoism". He was a famous ascetic who lived for 118 years. He was an Earthly Immortal. He advocated sleeping to recuperate and recuperate. "Every time he sleeps, he will stay awake for more than a hundred days." He is known as the Sleeping Immortal. He created and painted a series of "Yi" pictures such as "Tai Chi Diagram" and "Xiantian Square Circle Diagram", becoming the founder of Chinese Tai Chi culture; he is the author of "Zhixuan Pian", "Guan Kong Pian", "Fetal Breathing Jue" and " "Yin Zhenjun Huan Dan Song Annotation" and so on.
He pinned his hopes on Zhao Kuangyin for the unification of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. It is said that when the Zhao family ascended to the throne, he laughed loudly and said, "This time the world will be settled!" After entering the Song Dynasty, Taizong Zhao Guangyi summoned him twice. He was given the title "Mr. Xiyi" and ordered to renovate the Yuntai Temple in Huashan Mountain. He was released back to the mountain after a few months. He died in the Zhangchao Valley under Lianhua Peak in the second year of Duangong (989).
Lu Cheng thought for a long time and thought: "If it was Chen Tuan who dug the cave, what would he do with so much jade? Does he want to be the richest man in the world? Or does he want to use jade as a resource to support Zhao Kuangyin as emperor? Yuxufeng Did he dig the stone chambers on Muztage Peak and Muzitage Peak? What kind of magic weapon did he use to dig it out? Doesn’t he have a storage bracelet and can’t take the jade away? "
These questions cannot be explained because there are no other messages in the stone chamber, so they become unanswered questions.
However, those two poems are indeed the works of Patriarch Chen Tuan.
It seems that old guy Chen Tuan has probably been here before.
Coming down from the mountain and walking in the deserted wilderness, Lu Cheng stopped.
Jiang Qiuyun asked: "Why don't you leave?"
Lu Cheng said: "A few days ago, I got a treasure, but I didn't dare to try it in a crowded place. This place is deserted, so I took it out and tried it."
"What baby?"
"An ancient incense burner."
He took out the incense burner, held it in his hand, and recited the incantation.
He first recited the runes on the outer wall of the incense burner, a total of 40 words: "The red pine swims above it, and the golden furnace draws the auspicious smoke. The dragon snakes coil below it, melting and dragging the nine states. On the southern solstice day, the star is the North Star. Thousands When the official hopes come, all nations will worship Han Yuan."
After he finished reciting, he saw the incense burner flying up from his palm, gradually enlarging in size, from less than one foot to several feet, and then continued to enlarge, about ten feet, hovering in the air, bringing up a tornado, and the sound of wind Whoosh!
Jiang Qiuyun felt terrified, and the strong wind made her unable to open her eyes!
Lu Cheng was also very surprised, seeing the incense burner enlarged to more than ten feet, flying hundreds of feet in the air, and taking in the clouds.
He became more and more shocked. For fear of being seen by others, he hurriedly waved: "Come back! Come back quickly! Take away your magical powers!"
The incense burner seemed to be psychic. When it heard his call, it began to shrink in size, fell down little by little, and returned to the palm of his hand again!
Lu Cheng didn't dare to read the runes on the inner wall. There were 20 words on the inner wall: "On the first day of Yanggu's movement, the golden furnace emits royal smoke. Baihe spits out the clear night, and fragrant orchids are everywhere."
He took Jiang Qiuyun's hand and fled the scene in a hurry.
If you escape too slowly, you may be caught by the police and questioned.
In any case, the incense burner is a very powerful magical instrument and is not suitable for exposure in modern society.
