Mongolia covers an area of nearly 1.6 million square kilometers, which is about the same size as the Chinese provinces.
The main ethnic group is the Khalkha Mongolian ethnic group. Because there have been many pigtail operas in China in recent years, many people still know about the Khalkha Mongols.
There are more than three million people in Mongolia, which is one-seventh or one-eighth of the people in China's Xinjiang Province, which has almost the same area.
The land is vast and the people are sparse, that’s what I’m talking about here. Most of the country is covered by grasslands and Gobi, and many places are uninhabited.
After Zhu Yu and others arrived in Ulaanbaatar, they received a relatively warm reception - of course, the other party mainly received Professor Grant, and Zhu Yu, Ranjie and others were also included.
But Zhu Yu is also happy to keep a low profile, it would be nice if others could regard him as an invisible talent.
After staying in Ulaanbaatar for a day, we found a car, loaded up the supplies, and headed south along the road, following the direction given by Zhu Yu.
Eight people, they rented two SUVs and a pickup truck. Zhu Yu and Qin Fei were in the first pickup truck, and Ran Jie and Cao Dalong were in the last pickup truck. Grant sat in the middle SUV among the four of them.
After leaving the city, when it was convenient on the way, Zhu Yu quietly distributed the weapons to Ran Jie and the other three.
When Ran Jie and the other two saw the weapon, they admired Zhu Yu very much - he really brought this thing over!
"Be prepared and don't take it out when nothing happens, otherwise it will easily cause trouble." Zhu Yu reminded them.
Three people said they were still very aware of this.
Originally, the relevant local authorities wanted to send two guides, but Grant, who was instructed by Zhu Yu, refused. However, Grant also told officials from the relevant departments that if he found dinosaur fossils in the area, he would hire local people to work, and the relevant departments issued a certificate.
The car didn't drive all the way, it stopped and stopped along the way.
Grant is still very dedicated. He questioned Zhu Yu’s plan to drive all the way there:
"Mr. Zhu, the main purpose of our trip is to look for dinosaurs. I am not very familiar with the geological conditions in Mongolia. I suggest that it is better for us to study while moving forward."
After all, Zhu Yu was the sponsor, so Grant spoke more politely and was discussing things.
Zhu Yu thought it was okay, just walk for a while and then stop.
After settling in a town, Grant would ask his students to go out to inquire with local people, while he would go to the suburbs to study the terrain.
Zhu Yu followed him out when he had nothing to do, and watched Grant find hills or rocky hills and knock on them.
There was no gain on the first and second days, but Zhu Yu was very excited to find Grant.
On the third day, while passing through a small town, Grant suddenly called the convoy to stop through the intercom.
Before the car stopped, Grant rushed down, holding tools in his hand, and ran to a pile of rocks and hills on the side of the road. He observed them for a while, and then started knocking.
Zhu Yu got out of the car and followed him, and Grant shouted happily:
"Mr. Zhu, we have made a major discovery! There are fossils of cycads and ferns in the stone layers here! Look..."
Zhu Yu saw the piece of stone that Grant immediately raised to his eyes, and sure enough he saw plant fossils on it.
He could also see ferns, and he really didn't understand cycads.
I don’t know whether the stones here are flaky due to weathering or geological reasons.
Several of Grant's students were looking at other flakes for fossils.
"What does this mean?" Zhu Yu asked.
"It shows that the geological environment here is the era when dinosaurs lived, which is also known as the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. There is a high possibility that dinosaur fossils will appear!"
Zhu Yu opened his eyes and scanned around, finding that there were really no dinosaur fossils down there.
"Then we stay here for a day. If we find anything, we will continue digging. If nothing is found, we will move forward according to the established route."
Zhu Yu's open-minded attitude made Grant very happy. He immediately called on his students to unload their equipment, set up camp, and prepare to start digging here.
Ran Jie quietly ran over and asked:
"Boss, shall we stop here?"
Zhu Yu replied quietly:
"Our line of work will definitely alarm some people. Excavation now can also confuse some people's attention. Once those people relax, we will carry out formal operations."
Their convoy was not far from the town, so after a while, residents of the town came to watch the fun.
After a while, officials from the town came over, and Zhu Yu asked Qimuge to bring documents from relevant departments to negotiate with them. The people in the town were very enthusiastic. They not only asked if they needed help, but also sent a sheep.
This was beyond the expectations of Zhu Yu and others. However, since they delivered it, Zhu Yu and others were not polite. They processed the sheep that night, cooked and roasted it, and even invited local people to come over for a picnic.
The next day, Grant left the hill with a regretful expression and followed the route designated by Zhu Yu.
After traveling south for dozens of kilometers, they turned around and headed west.
The ruins of Halakhorin are more than 300 kilometers west of Ulabaatar, and the destination Zhu Yu and the others want to go to is almost more than 100 kilometers south of Halakhorin.
There were stops and starts along the way, and with Zhu Yu's deliberate adjustments, three days later, they arrived at the edge of the mountain only a few kilometers away from their destination.
When we got here, there were no people around, but there were some undulating rocky mountains not far away.
The previous stops were always around towns or villages. Today was the first day of camping in the wild. Qimuge got out of the car and set up the tent, and ran over to Zhu Yu and said:
"Mr. Zhu, this place is far away from human habitation. There are Gobi bears and wolves in the wild. We will..."
"Don't worry, we are already carrying weapons, and the people I am bringing are professional, so there will be no danger."
In fact, along the way, Grant and others also doubted Ran Jie's identity.
After all, although Ran Jie and the other three have been away from the army for a year or two, their temperament is still very obvious.
Fortunately, on the way over, Zhu Yu did not stop Grant and others from requesting them to stop and inspect the excavation. He was very tolerant and easy to talk to.
This made the Grant people not particularly suspicious that Zhu Yu and others had ulterior motives.
Now at the edge of the mountain, this kind of place is more conducive to judging geological age, conducting scientific research and excavation, so after Zhu Yu announced that this was the destination, Grant and others did not doubt anything else and set up the tent skillfully. , division of labor and work.
Grant and Jenny went to the mountainside to begin research, while Muge and Webber prepared food.
Basically, they would not ask Zhu Yu and others to work, and they were very conscious about it.
Although the main food is provided by Ran Jie and others, Grant and others never take the initiative to ask Ran Jie and others to do anything.
Put yourself in the right position.
Zhu Yu took out his shotgun and looked around.
This is a semi-Gobi and semi-steppe state. The ground is very dry and the grass is not high. You can occasionally see jerboas and marmots.
Just as he was about to watch whether he was hunting or something, he heard Jenny's scream from Grant's side:
"Help!"
