to blame

In the following trip, the group was more cautious, for fear of disturbing a certain den in the cave as before.

Nan Jiang led Ming Xia and Qing Qiu to walk behind as usual.He valued the danger coming from behind more than the troubles such as the need to find the way ahead.Regardless of whether the mutant mice in the river will catch up or not, the Qingqiu brand lighter is the most suitable weapon to deal with this situation.

Nan Jiang was also pondering how much truth there was in Xie Rong's words, but he believed that Xie Rong got in because of something.Mr. Bi also had the same conjecture, but everyone didn't know much about Xie Rong's details. Apart from listening to what he said, we had to wait and see.

The underground rivers extend in all directions, and they need to constantly confirm the direction as they move forward.Once you go the wrong way, it is very complicated to go back and choose again.Because in the process of retreating, they also need to make choices.

The subterranean cavern, in some cases, is more like an underground labyrinth.And because most of the passages are excavated by relying on natural terrain, this increases the degree of uncertainty.

The river has been abandoned for a long time, and most of the land is dry. Such an area is relatively safe.Dry and clean, too.But occasionally I will encounter areas with water, and the situation will be a little more complicated. Insects, mice, snakes... will be encountered, but fortunately, I have not encountered such a large-scale rat group as before.

When passing through such areas, they will also use dispersants to open the way.Dispersants contain certain toxicity, and they are not willing to use them in such a relatively closed environment unless necessary.In addition to affecting their own people, in addition, this toxicity is likely to be deposited in soil and water sources and remain for a long time.

A group of people marched in a hurry in the spider-like underground river, and passed four shaft-type water intake rooms on the way.

Among the four water intake houses, one was completely destroyed in the earthquake, and the entire underground channel was almost blocked.The other two were buried by wind and sand, requiring archaeologists to carry out meticulous and lengthy excavations to have a chance to see the light of day again. The only intact water intake device is located inside a cave with a relatively high terrain and a windshield wall at the entrance.

They deliberately went up to check and found that this place seemed to be an abandoned ancient city.It's a pity that the surrounding area is a wasteland, and there are not many places where even traces of earth walls can be seen.

Ming Xia seized the time to draw sketches of these more distinctive places that he passed through, and made detailed notes to keep as a souvenir.

After passing through the most complete water intake room for more than two hours, they finally arrived at the location marked on the map of the ancient city of Liangtai.

The last section of the river was completely carved out of the mountain by the ancient residents. The cave is spacious, the highest point of the cave reaches more than ten meters, and there are rough excavation marks on the cave walls on both sides.

The dry wind from the wilderness blows in through the open hole, taking away the unique coldness of the underground cave.

Beyond the entrance of the cave is a gentle downward slope, and the traces of the old river course are clearly visible.

There are simple embankments built of stones on both sides of the river, and the former underground river left clear water level traces on the embankments.It is not difficult to imagine how the underground river gushed out of the mountain with astonishing momentum, rushed down the hillside, drew a surging arc at the foot of the mountain, and then ran mightily towards the distant city.

This is the largest ancient city they have seen along the way. The thick earth walls, houses, and streets still maintain a complete shape. Even standing on the hillside, you can vaguely see the domes on both sides of the street. houses and arched windows.

It seems that if you blink again, the window will be pushed open, and someone will lean over the window and look out.There will be people walking on the street, and there will be noisy sounds from the market floating in the wind.

Ming Xia was very excited and seized the time to find a suitable angle to draw a sketch.Tang Xun and the technicians of the sixth team held the equipment to conduct surveys, and several team leaders got together to study how to act next.

The biggest problem they are facing now is where to find Commander Du?At this agreed meeting place, no one is waiting for their reinforcements.

After the ground inspection was completed, Nanjiang left the club team to respond on the periphery, led the second team himself, and Liu Enzheng led the sixth team, and began to search the entire ancient city in pieces.

Observing the ancient city up close, Ming Xia once again marveled at its state of preservation.Most of the exterior of the house is complete, and the doors and windows are decayed, but the locks hanging on the doors are still in their original appearance.In such a place, with Mr. Hu's personality, he would not forcefully open the door and enter.If it is not necessary, Nanjiang and the others will not.

The ancient city is not big, but it took nearly an hour to search everything. They found traces of people staying near the water intake room on the east side of the ancient city: footprints, cigarette butts, and wheel marks.But that's all, this place is not like the end of the accident, but more like a camp they passed by.

The last report they received was from Commander Du. At that time, all eight members of the technical team led by Mr. Hu had disappeared.According to the report, Commander Du will conduct a search near the accident site while waiting for operational assistance.If they also disappeared together, what about the vehicles and supplies?These were taken too?

Nanjiang led people to check the water intake room again.Because it had been suspected that the disappearance might be related to the underground river, Nan Jiang paid special attention to this place.

The water intake room was built next to a temple-like building. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary earthen house with no characteristics.They will notice here because the gate here is not closed.The two doors were half open, but there wasn't much sand on the ground. It seemed that someone had just cleaned it up not long ago, but there were no footprints left.

The water intake room is relatively spacious, and in the center is a well platform built of stones. The well frame is still there, but the wheels on it have corroded.In the innermost corner is the staircase leading to the underground channel.

The width of the stairs is about one meter, and the stone blocks are piled up and flat.Below the stairs is a wide section of steps, and below the steps is a dry river bed, covered with large and small pebbles.The structure of the entire underground part is very similar to that of the ancient river city, except that the river bed is wider.

Qingqiu followed Ming Xia's legs back and forth.He put his sharp beak close to the rubble pile under the stairs and sniffed, then raised his claws and started digging.

"Qingqiu?"

Ming Xia walked over, and saw that Qingqiu had dug out a crumpled piece of paper from the sand.It was a small ball of mint wrappers crumpled together and discarded.

Strawberry mint flavor.

Among the people Ming Xia knew well, only his senior brother Lu Kai always carried this kind of candy in his pocket.His own blood sugar is low, and his girlfriend always stuffs candy in his pocket.Almost everyone in the lab has shared Big Brother's Strawberry Mints.Ming Xia was naturally impressed.

Ming Xia touched Qingqiu to express his encouragement.

Can this piece of candy paper prove that they have been here before, and that Lu Kai had to supplement his sugar because he fell ill?Or did you remember to eat candy because the environment at that time was relatively relaxed?

What about after eating sugar?What happened again?

When night came, Nanjiang led people to pry open the gate of the temple.

Spending the night in the wild is not a good idea in an unfamiliar place where the enemy doesn't know where to hide.

The temple is facing the street, and the horseshoe-shaped pointed arch looks simple and quiet, with an architectural style.Behind the door is a place similar to a chapel, slightly larger than the two classrooms, except for the front and back doors, there is nothing, it is empty.

In the early years, there should have been murals on the walls, but the years have eroded, and nothing can be seen except for the mottled color patches in the corners.

Fortunately, the ground is flat and dry.

Outside the back door is a small yard surrounded by high walls, and there are steps leading to the roof of the temple on one side of the yard.

The roof is a spacious platform, and above the platform there are traces of collapsed civil structures. I don’t know what it was and when it was dilapidated.Standing here, basically most of the ancient city is under your nose.

Nanjiang divided the people on night watch into two groups, one group guarded the front door and the other group guarded the roof.The rest took the time to rest.

Ming Xia curled up in the corner of the chapel with the big fox in his arms.

He was on duty two hours later. Although he said he had something on his mind, time was precious, so he closed his eyes and tried to rest his mind.Qingqiu leaned against him, also closed his eyes, flicking his tail once and for all.

Between sleeping and not sleeping, Ming Xia felt a flash of fire.He came to his senses in a flash. The chapel was almost packed with their group, so where would they have time to start a fire?

Ming Xia closed his eyes uncomfortably, and opened them slowly after a while, and found that he was lying on the dry bed of the underground river.Not far away was a dying fire, and the flickering flames illuminated the vaulted ceiling above and the rough walls on both sides.

This place is slightly narrower than the river below the ancient city of Liangtai, and there is a feeling of air currents in the dry air.Ming Xia knew that this was not any part of the river he had ever walked through.

On one side of the cave wall, he saw a two-inch-long wedge embedded in a stone crevice about a person's height. It was some kind of metal, and it had decayed until only a vague shape remained.Ming Xia touched it very carefully, seeing it shattered into powder on her fingertips, she couldn't help frowning.

Where is he?

Ming Xia took out a piece of firewood from the fire to act as a torch, tested the direction of the airflow, and decided to find the exit by himself.

He walked forward in the direction the wind was blowing, and after an unknown amount of time, a ray of sunlight shone in from ahead.Ming Xia couldn't help holding her breath, for fear that what she saw was her own hallucination.

The light gradually became brighter, and there was a section of stone steps on one side of the river. Behind the steps was a huge shaft built artificially. The stairs made of stones meandered upwards, leading directly to the water intake room above.

No one has used it here for a long time, the thick dust has almost sealed the well, and the derrick has long been rotten, just like the wedge he saw on the cave wall, as if it would turn into dust with a light touch.

There is a staircase next to the derrick, and at the end of the staircase is a narrow gap. The sound of the wind pours in from the hole, which is empty and distant.And that's where the warm light comes in.

Ming Xia threw away the short piece of firewood in his hand, and ran up the steps in two or three steps.

He was actually a little apprehensive. After seeing the water intake room, he guessed that this was neither the ancient city of Liangtai nor the ancient city of rivers, but perhaps just one of the countless ruins of ancient cities scattered in the desert.

Panting, Ming Xia slipped out of the narrow opening of the cave.

Outside the cave is a piece of ruins buried by yellow sand. In the distance, there are several tower-shaped buildings. Although they are dilapidated, they can still see the old style.

Ming Xia walked out of the cave in a daze, walked back and forth along the streets thousands of years ago, and then climbed to a high place to look around.

The ruins stretched from his feet to the back of the ruined tower, and beyond the ruins was an endless sea of ​​sand. The setting sun dyed the desert a dazzling red, like blood, almost burning his eyes .