On the deserted beach northeast of Haizhen, a convoy of more than a dozen vehicles was driving forward slowly.
Since there is no road in this deserted beach, the car moves very slowly. After all, if the car is not careful, it will get stuck in the soft sand, and it will take some effort to drive out.
In less than half an hour, four of their cars had problems.
So much so that it had been an hour and a half since we left Haizhen, and the team had only traveled less than 15 kilometers.
On the jeep, Zhou Yang looked helplessly at the desolate environment in front of him.
According to Ha Rigui, an old herdsman, this deserted beach was considered a good grassland in the past few years. Although it was not a wind-blown grassland with cattle and sheep missing, after summer, it would become shaded with green grass and fragrant.
However, due to the lack of rain in recent years, this year there was no rain for the entire summer. Not only did the small rivers dry up, but most of the grass died without even growing buds.
All that was left of the vast grassland in the past was the loess. There was no greenery anywhere, and the gentle breeze no longer carried the fragrance of grass. Instead, all that was blown up was yellow dust...
The car drove forward for more than ten kilometers, and finally arrived at a residential activity point under the guidance of old man Harigui.
However, when they got off the bus, they discovered that the settlement had been completely abandoned.
Nothing remains except a few dilapidated adobe buildings.
Fortunately, they had prepared drinking water, food and enough oil by themselves, so they didn't need any supplies. However, the endless desolation and silence made people feel a little depressed.
Looking at the scene in front of him, old man Harigui sighed and muttered a few words in Mongolian.
Professor Lao Tao immediately translated: "Originally, there were three or four families of herdsmen here, but it hasn't rained for too long, and people and livestock have no food. They have all moved away in the past two years. I don't know if they will." Move back again!”
Zhou Yang couldn't help but sigh after hearing this. He knew that this severe drought would last for a very long time and the situation would not change much in the next five or six years.
Thinking of their mission this time, Zhou Yang didn't think much about it, and then asked: "Professor Tao, ask Uncle Ha, how far is it from the place he mentioned?"
That's right, although Zhou Yang is in charge of today's prospecting operation, the specific direction of where to go depends on Old Man Harigui.
After they invited Old Harigui to the Haizhen Guest House last night, with the help of Professor Tao, Zhou Yang had a long and detailed conversation with the old man.
After some exchanges, the old man made it clear that there was no place called Changshanhao nearby, but there were several places with similar names in the northwest of the county.
But Zhou Yang knew that the place must be in the northeast of Haizhen, and there was no way it could go to the northwest.
Seeing that he was so sure, Old Man Harigui then asked him in detail about the geographical features of his neighborhood.
When he learned that there was a small stream surrounded by half a circle of hills, the old man immediately said that the terrain features of a place he had visited before were similar to what Zhou Yang described, and that the place happened to be northeast of Haizhen. .
After getting the news, Zhou Yang was overjoyed and immediately begged the old man to take him there.
Hari Guilai immediately said that there was no problem, so today’s itinerary was planned!
Professor Tao knew that Zhou Yang was anxious, so he nodded immediately, and then talked a few words with Old Harigui in Mongolian.
Then he said to Zhou Yang: "Old Ha said that we have only walked less than half of the way now, and the road ahead will be even harder."
"Don't be afraid if it's difficult to go. Prospecting is hard work, as long as you can find a place!" Zhou Yang said.
"Haha, with Lao Ha here, you don't need to worry about this!"
Then Professor Tao changed his voice and said again: "But you have to be mentally prepared. Prospecting for minerals is not as simple as you think. It is rare to succeed once or twice. Many times it takes three or five attempts." Sometimes, some even stay in the wild for several months."
"You think you can find a gold mine just by taking a trip like this. This is impossible!"
Zhou Yang smiled and said: "That's not necessarily true. Maybe I have better luck!"
"Haha, it is possible, but the chance is too small..."
Zhou Yang didn't say much. If an ordinary prospector searched aimlessly, it would take months or even years.
But he is different. Zhou Yang's purpose is very clear. He is here to find the gold mine, and that place is dozens of kilometers northwest of Haizhen.
Although it sounds very general, this range is already very small compared to the nearly 10 million square kilometers of land in our country.
Even if you turn it over inch by inch, it won't take long.
What's more, knowing that they are nearby, with the rich mining experience of Professor Tao and others, they can roughly judge whether there is a gold mine.
But he didn't say these things explicitly, he just knew it in his heart.
At this moment, Professor Lao Tao's voice sounded in my ears again: "Comrade Xiao Zhou, according to Lao Ha, when we get to that place, it will be around seven or eight o'clock in the afternoon. We will probably have to go to the barren mountains tonight." It’s time for the night!”
"Haven't we already walked half the way? The rest is only twenty or thirty kilometers away. How can we reach seven or eight o'clock?" Zhou Yang frowned.
"These are Lao Ha's exact words. It should be that the road ahead will be more uncomfortable, so..."
Zhou Yang thought for a while and said: "It shouldn't be that late, but even if we really need to spend the night in the wild, it doesn't matter. We have so many cars and a lot of tents, so it shouldn't be a problem to make do with it for one night!"
Professor Lao Tao originally wanted to say something, but after looking at the armed guards around him, he finally did not say anything.
Zhou Yang looked at his watch and found that it was almost half past eleven. He unscrewed the military kettle and drank a few gulps. Then he said to Chen Beixuan: "Let the comrades rest here for a while and eat some dry food before leaving!"
"yes!"
As orders were issued step by step, the soldiers soon got out of the car at this abandoned settlement, and then started eating their dry food and cold water.
After eating and resting for a while, Zhou Yang ordered the troops to move forward.
Sure enough, the next road was even more difficult to walk. In many places, there were no roads at all, and there were deep ditches several feet wide everywhere. Cars could not go through them at all, and had to slowly go around them.
In the end, the car couldn't move at all. There were rocks as big as washbasins and large pits half a person deep everywhere, making it impossible for the car to move forward smoothly.
Only then did Zhou Yang realize what Old Harigui meant when he said he would arrive at seven or eight o'clock. It turned out that cars were not needed for the rest of the journey.
In desperation, Zhou Yang could only leave some soldiers to stay in place to guard the supplies, while he led the large troops forward on foot.
Since they carried a large amount of supplies and equipment, and there were old people like Professor Tao and Harigui in the team, the speed was really slow.
They could arrive at the place at three or four o'clock, but they didn't arrive until after seven o'clock in the evening.
At this time, the sun was already in the west, and they could only vaguely see a series of hills.
At this time, old man Harigui pointed to the hill in the distance and mumbled a series of Mongolian words.
Professor Tao immediately translated: "Lao Ha said that the place we are going to is those hills. There used to be a water pool at the foot of the mountain. I don't know if it is there anymore. If it is there, we can replenish fresh water somewhere!"
Zhou Yang stood in front of a small slope and looked into the distance.
It was visually estimated that the place was less than five kilometers away from their location, and then he said to Professor Tao: "Professor Tao, can you still hold on?"
"It's okay, it shouldn't be a problem to get to that place!"
"Okay, let's move on!"
"good!"
However, after walking less than two kilometers, I heard a young man exploring the road in front of the team suddenly screamed, and the entire team was completely thrown into chaos because of his scream...
.........
PS: The first chapter has been delivered!
