Crossing the Western Tianshan Mountains

"I'll look for it again." Ye Minglang replied.

Wu Yongjie looked at Ye Minglang's running figure, and sighed at the young man's great physical strength. He also sighed that the mountain was so big, so big that if a group of people or a group of mountains disappeared in the mountain, it would not attract any attention. It was so big that it could bury everything.

He suddenly thought of Ling Fengxi again. Ling Fengxi's love was probably buried in a similar piece of sky grassland. Yes, grasslands or pastures like these, cultivated on the mountainside or mountaintop, have always been known as sky grasslands. Such grasslands are mysterious and proud, challenging the limits of human survival.

Ye Minglang and Hua Duoer's love is difficult.

Wu Yongjie waited patiently for Ye Minglang to finish his madness. It was already afternoon and the sun was about to set, but Ye Minglang was still looking for flowers on the nearby hilltops.

Wu Yongjie looked around and saw the gift Ye Minglang bought for Gulinar, a large bag of snacks and a cheap-looking lipstick.

It’s not that Ye Minglang is stingy, but the supplies at the post station at the foot of the mountain are really limited.

"Let's go. It's getting dark and there are wolves here. Do you want us to feed the wolves together?" Wu Yongjie shouted, picked up the gift and started walking down the mountain.

Ye Minglang finally jogged over and caught up. Under the setting sun, the shadows of the two were very long, and Ye Minglang almost cried.

He suddenly felt panicked. The flowers appeared in his life so suddenly, and now disappeared just as suddenly, as if it were a dream.

For some reason, he always felt that the flowers would disappear forever.

"Captain Wu, did Ayala, the girl Secretary Ling liked, disappear in the same way?"

"I don't know. However, these Kazakh herders do have the habit of moving their herds. They're just like the legendary Gipsy people; they definitely won't wait for anyone in one fixed place."

"Can I still find her?"

"Of course. Although the Western Tianshan Mountains are vast, the area of ​​human habitation is relatively small. We'll be there for a long time. You know, that tunnel is difficult to build. Preliminary estimates suggest it'll take two or three years. You'll have plenty of time to find her. Besides, Nurlan and the others are still delivering milk to us, as is that old man Jiayi Laobai. I saw him herding sheep near the camp a few days ago. We can just follow them home when the time comes."

"Following them?"

"Yes, what else can we do?"

Ye Minglang nodded, "I understand! Thank you, Captain Wu, for your guidance!"

When the two returned to the camp, it was completely dark and the workers had already rested. However, in such a cold place, there were still mosquitoes, and the workers couldn't even play cards.

I originally thought that with the warmer weather, life in Western Tianshan would be better, but who would have thought that it would become increasingly worse.

Ye Minglang ran up several hills and was already exhausted. His hands and feet felt like they were about to break, so he lay on the bed. Ling Fengxi brought him food, which was stir-fried cabbage with large slices of pork, topped with white rice. Ye Minglang was indeed hungry, and he got up stiffly to eat.

Ling Fengxi asked, "Have you seen Gulinar?"

"No, Secretary, can I take another day off tomorrow?"

Looking at Ye Minglang's red eyes, Ling Fengxi nodded and said, "The vacation will be deducted from the annual leave. You can ask for leave, but if you keep wasting your vacation, you may not have time to go home for the New Year."

"I know, but I have to find Hua Duoer. I'm afraid something happened to her."

Ling Fengxi nodded, "Okay."

The next day, Nurlan and Yerlan came to deliver milk. Two camels and two horses carried eight large buckets. They distributed the milk in the camp. Everyone was used to it and did not watch.

When Ye Minglang woke up from his sleep and rushed out, Ye Erlan and Nurlan had already put away the barrel and were ready to leave.

"Two brothers," Ye Minglang called out. The two men stopped and looked at him from their horses. He walked up to them and said, "I want to see Hua Duoer. Can you take me there?"

Nurlan shook her head, "She can't see you."

Ye Minglang asked, "Why?"

Nurlan looked a little stiff and embarrassed. "Anyway, I just can't."

As they spoke, the two of them mounted their horses and walked ahead.

Seeing this, Ye Minglang followed directly behind. Because it was a mountainous area, the horse did not walk very fast. Even so, Ye Minglang was already out of breath after following for a distance.

Yeerlan and Nurlan's horses paused for a moment, and Nurlan called out to him, "Don't follow us. It's too far, and you can't keep up with the horses. If we walk any further away from the camp, it will be difficult to get back. It will be troublesome if we get lost along the way."

Ye Minglang said nothing, but took advantage of their pause to quickly close the distance. Ye Erlan shook her head and said, "Maybe we should let him try. If you want to ride a horse, you have to jump on its back. If you want to eat tiger meat, you have to have the courage of a tiger. If a Han man has the courage to complete this journey, maybe he is sincere to Gulinar."

Nurlan still shook his head. "It won't work even if I'm sincere! It just won't work! Why bother with all this effort?"

But no matter what they said, they couldn't stop Ye Minglang. He still followed their horses. Ye Erlan said, "Actually, we can lend him a camel."

"No, he can't go. Just let him run behind. He'll stop naturally when he can't hold on any longer!"

After a while of tug-of-war with Ye Minglang, Nurlan and Ye Erlan suddenly sped up their horses. Ye Minglang was already so tired that his chest was about to explode. Seeing them suddenly speed up, he chased them for a few steps, but suddenly he slipped and fell to the ground. It turned out that he encountered a slippery "creek".

Nurlan turned around and saw Ye Minglang fall. He let out a "whoa" and reined in his horse.

Ye Minglang stood up again, staggering, and chased after them step by step...

Ye Erlan said: "What should we do?"

Nurlan said, "Get rid of him."

This time, the two of them did not show any mercy, because they were already far away from the camp. If Ye Minglang did not look back, it would be dangerous to walk back alone.

Of course, this danger only applies to Han people from other places who have no mountain survival skills.

The horses sped up even faster, and soon, Ye Minglang could only see their small silhouettes. They had already reached the next hilltop and were about to reach the top of the slope. If Ye Minglang couldn't catch up with them within a few minutes, it would be very difficult to find them once they disappeared from the top of the slope.

Ye Minglang looked back at the camp, but it was completely out of sight.

He gritted his teeth and continued to move forward. After finally climbing up the slope, he found that there was no sign of Yerlan and Nurlan around, but there was a flock of sheep not far away.

But there was no shepherd in sight.

Ye Minglang has become accustomed to this scene. There would often be a group of sheep grazing on the ground, but no shepherd. It was not that there was no shepherd, but that the shepherd would be leaning behind a comfortable rock, or perhaps riding on a horse, observing the flock from a higher place.