East of Eden

I don't know whether to say luck or misfortune, they managed to get rid of the Akondo mercenaries, but the radio station was smashed to pieces on the way to escape - which meant that they could no longer receive messages from the headquarters.

Dr. Sugi is wearing a rusty drop-shaped badge that he used when he was in the army. It is also engraved with the words "WR/FF-BD373". It is a small signal transmitter that is now out of print and can be used to send positioning , the doctor called it a "last resort", and prayed that someone at headquarters could catch its signal.

"'Last resort'? In fact, you often use this trick?" Long questioned.

"It's ashamed to say, it seems to be true. When I was evading capture in Summerli, Mohe and Jinsha City, I relied on it to survive." Shan Mu said, pinning the brooch on the collar of his shirt: "It's like Like an amulet."

"Who is that receiving your signal?"

"An old comrade-in-arms, he is smarter than a hound, and he can find me at the gate of hell every time." Shan Mu smiled.

"It seems that you trust him very much." Long said, "The lives of the five of us are entrusted to your comrade-in-arms."

"Don't say that, relying on others is worse than relying on yourself. After all, this is only a 'last resort'." He emphasized again, projecting a map in the air, and marking his movement trajectory with a red line: "It is expected to arrive at Kaer at three o'clock this afternoon. We rest there for a while."

The vehicle was bumping, and the front was not flat fine sand, but potholed gravel. They were going deep into the desert hinterland. This was an extremely dangerous move.Xing Nest was in the corner of the carriage. Because of the bumps, he had to close the notes left by Terok. He just stared at the sketch of the relic fragments for a long time.

Soon, they will enter the land of Longyou. "Land of Longyou" can refer to the entire desert in a broad sense, or it can specifically refer to the area of ​​150 square kilometers that they are about to cross.Its name was dug out of the sand and engraved on an ancient stone slab. Later generations erected a black obelisk at the place where the stone slab was unearthed as a commemoration.

From a distance, they have already seen the obelisk standing between the sky and the earth.Its effect is somewhat similar to the stele that appeared in "2001: A Space Odyssey", with an absolutely perfect three-dimensional shape and pure black, like a pointer from the depths of time, and the four sides of the stele are engraved with hymns written in different languages.

"This is the last modern work we can see." Siswell said: "In front of us are endless deserts and the ruins of Yinqi civilization."

"You are wrong, there are obviously other modern works." Yun An stood up, pointing to the rut marks scattered in different directions in front of the monument: "The deepest road on the east side was left by the Wild Camel Expedition 33 years ago. The one in the middle is left by the EID nuclear test team, and the westernmost one is left by the troubadour Symer. Besides that, there are many more, each of which belongs to explorers who want to conquer the desert."

Dr. Shan Mu picked up the camera and took a picture of the ruts in front of him. The white shirt was blown by the heat wave: "You know better than me. They are very beautiful, just like the tracks of particles shuttling in the cloud chamber, and also like the tracks of stars."

"So, little explorer, tell me which one we should choose?" Long raised his sunglasses.

"Since we are looking for the keel and Sakuwa, we will naturally take a new road that no one has traveled before." He checked the map and pointed in a direction: "Just head there, there is a sand mountain in the distance."

Then, Long stepped on the accelerator, and the jeep rolled the gray smoke and drove towards the lamb-like sand hill in the curtain of the sky.Star looked back, noticing a new, squishy track they were pressing into the ground, the obelisk receding further and further away.

"Give me a name." Siswell said suddenly, "Give us a name for our route?"

"Wildfire." The leader didn't reply.

He's right, Wildfire is a good name.

Wherever he walked, wildfires spread and lived endlessly.

There are only 91 hours left until the diurnal day.

Cal.

The long wind whipped up the dust, and the peeling stones rolled around the feet, and the sound was like a clay wind chime.The wind erosion traces of Yardang's landforms spread before the eyes, and the dog-tooth-shaped or whale-back-shaped hills lie quietly on the field. Among them, there is a silhouette that looks like a sphinx, carrying the fragments of the former palace on its back. Wall ruins.

Ka'er is the first city in the land of Longyou, and it is about a day's drive away from their destination "Dragon Bone Ruins".Siswell was wearing a dark red curly grass scarf with flying tassels, which was quite exotic.Her focus fell on the architectural ruins. She never thought that one day she would see the famous "Shuo Que" in the archaeological circle, the former northern capital of the Yin Dynasty.

She ran towards the long-standing ancient building three steps at a time, climbed up the stone hill with her bare hands, and stood on the high place to see the beautiful scenery, long smoke-like clouds, alternating red and white stone textures, and a statue of a god in front of the temple. The sword points to the east and remains unchanged from ancient times.She was so engrossed in watching that she didn't notice the unevenness of her feet, she accidentally stepped on the wrong foot, and her whole body was thrown forward.

No, this time I will definitely fall hard. She struggled in vain and watched herself fall to the ground. At this time, someone held her arm, calmly, and thumped to support her, and then quickly Get out quickly.In front of Siswell was the ancient man with messy black hair, his eyes nodded at her: "Be careful."

She blushed unapologetically: "...Thank you."

Long and Yun'an were checking the equipment on the car, and Dr. Shanmu was taking pictures around. Only Xing climbed up to the high platform to investigate like her, and shuttled between the cracked stone pillars with a black gun on his back.

"Do you know what this place is in ancient times?" He touched the wall, looked at it silently for a while, and suddenly asked a question.

Siswell was flattered: "Ah, the academic circles believe that this is Shuoque, the northern capital of the Yin Kingdom 3000 years ago."

He tilted his head slightly, showing a look of incomprehension.

She then explained: "Yin State was the most powerful unified country in the Eastern Continent at that time. It has four capitals in the southeast, the southeast, the north, and the north. Here is the northern capital, named 'Shuo Que'."

Xing was thoughtful, walked around for a while, and found a place to sit down: "What else?"

"You still want to hear?" Siswell was afraid that he would be annoying if he talked too much.

"I want to get back a little memory." He lit a cigarette.

The woman sat down, too, next to him, high wind-eroded sand dunes with a clouded sky in the background.She noticed that Xing's eyes were always melancholy, as if looking far, far away.

She cleared her throat: "Beidu is located on the commercial road connecting the east and west continents. The business is prosperous and the accumulation of gold is like a mountain. Because of the crisp sound of gold coins, it is also called Linlang City. It is guarded by the god of war merchant Capricorn. At that time, the land of Longyou was not It is full of yellow sand like now, but a plain with fertile soil, and people cultivate wheat and corn in the fields."

Xing listened carefully, and even spread out his notebook to make some notes.Siswell was very surprised, it was the first time she had received such professor-like respect, and she was a little at a loss and combed her hair.

At this time, a gust of wind blew, and the dragon's loud voice came: "Hey——sorry for disturbing—but can the two of you over there stop getting tired—it's time for us to go—!"

Siswell jumped up in embarrassment, but Xing didn't care. He put away the notebook and patted the dirt on his pants.

"Aren't you going?" When he saw the woman, he still stayed where he was.

"Hmm? Well, let's go now." She lowered her head and followed the pace of Xing.

Siswell looked at the man as he walked: he was tall with a sharp back.This sharpness made her feel out of reach.

The white bird flies across the sky with its wings, the red desert fox runs in the direction of the falling meteor, the wild wolf hunts the sheep, the ancient sun god walks through the sixth door of Duat, and the tears dissipate in the rain.We flee from fate, hold the illusions of the past in our hands, and dream at dusk that belongs to dawn.

......

His name was Hong He, he didn't remember how many years he had lived in the desert, and he carried a radio with him.

The age-old hoarse singing voice resounded:

Can't see the side at a glance

The wind cut my face like a knife

Can't wait for the blue sky of the West Sea

Wordless this vast plateau

Remember you promised me you wouldn't let me lose you

But you flew so far with the migratory birds returning to the south

Love is like a kite with a broken string

I can't hold back the promise you made——

In fact, this is a rough song, but he likes it very much. When he ran away from the city, he had given up on refinement forever, although he still loves to read - he always carried a copy of "War" in his backpack. Peace and Peace, some people say it is a martial arts novel, and that is right.

Honghe is a scavenger, if there is an attributive word to add, he is the only scavenger in the land of Longyou.A shabby military overcoat covered his body, with cotton wool leaking from the cuffs. His skin was dark with steel-like red, and his eyes were sunken into wrinkles, which were carved by wind and sand with a knife.

"Huanhuan, Huanhuan!" He stood on the sand dune and howled, and a snow-white lamb ran from the north.The lamb's sharp horns just came out, and a red and black rope was tied around its neck, floating on the ground like a cloud.

"Where did you go? It's going to be dark soon." Hong He rubbed its ears: "It's too dangerous not to go home when it's dark."

The lamb rubbed against his hand, and the man saw that the fur around its mouth was stained with dirt, so he touched it and put it under his nose to smell it, and it turned out to be blood.This ominous breath made his body tremble violently. Without saying a word, he turned on the kerosene lamp in his hand, and led the lamb to the north.

"Huanhuan, lead the way and tell me where you are from."

The lamb ran and shook his head and jumped up happily.It is a sheep that left its mother prematurely, so young that no one taught it what is dangerous.There are jackals in the desert. Maybe this lamb has not seen it yet, but Hong He has seen it many times. He is sure that the blood is the blood of jackals.Once in a certain winter, in order to keep warm, he cut open a jackal and soaked his hands in its blood. The strong smell was deeply imprinted in his mind.

It was completely dark, and the sand dunes showed a simple arc. A person and a sheep walked in the darkness, and the kerosene lamp lit up a dim yellow halo.

It didn't take long for Honghe to see a scene he had never seen before.

A wide-wheeled, thick-backed off-road vehicle was parked in a valley not far away. The headlights of the vehicle were bright and pierced the darkness. A few dark shadows stood, swayed, and sometimes ran, and the flashlight beam swept back and forth in a hurry.The light outlines the shadows of jackals, there are no fewer than twenty of them, they are hungry, and they have surrounded the humans beside the car.There were constant gunshots, and each sound echoed in the vast world. The gunfire was orange like fireworks, and it was fleeting. Some wolves fell down, and some wolves pounced on them. Their struggle continued.

The wind blew up Honghe's military coat, and the man stopped to look at it for a while, and understood the origin of the jackal's blood.Maybe because he stayed in the wilderness for too long, he couldn't make a decision at the moment—whether to help people or wolves, or to be a bystander?Just then, someone waved at him.

The man climbed onto the roof of the car, stretched his arms high and shook vigorously, and the flashlight shone on Hong He's face flickeringly.

"Help—! Help—! Help us—!"

Still a woman's voice.

Hong He untied his shotgun (he made it himself the second year he came here), aimed at a wolf shadow in front of him, fired a shot, and stopped.One shot is enough, those jackals are familiar with his smell of gunpowder, just like rabbits are familiar with the footsteps of hunters, and they will soon disperse.Sure enough, a commotion broke out in the camp of the wolves. They opened up and circled quickly around the periphery, leaving behind a few howls and then scattered away.

The people he had just rescued walked towards him, stepping on the sand with one foot deep and the other shallow, and the lamb pulled him back uneasily.

"Wait a minute." Hong He stopped the lamb.He wanted to see what kind of people they were.This is the depths of Longyou Land, and no humans have entered it for a long time.

First came the sound of tinkling guns | weapons colliding, followed by heavy breathing, and creaking footsteps.A smell of sweat and heat from living organisms rushed towards the Red River.

"Is anyone hurt?" he asked first.

The person walking in the front had a pair of unruly black eyes, and half of his jacket was stained with blood: "Yes." He took a step back, revealing a middle-aged man with a pale face behind him.He was supported by the teenager, limped and gritted his teeth.

Red River Road: "Come with me, I have some alcohol and straps."

"Thank you, thanks to you." The injured man shook his hand.He was much more polite than the black-eyed one before, and he also appeared to be more understanding of the world, Hong He was a little at a loss instead.

"Anyway, go to my place to treat the wound first." He repeated bluntly.

"Maybe you can't handle it either..."

The man showed a regretful smile, and opened his torn pants—it was a mechanical leg pierced by sharp teeth. Various parts were scattered, connected only by nerve wires, and it was precarious.A big hole was dug in the center of the mechanical leg, and the jumping current flashed a light blue light.

--

The author has something to say:

1. Duat (Tuat): The place equivalent to hell in ancient Egyptian mythology, behind the sixth door of time is eternal darkness.

2. The song Honghe listens to is "The Love Song of the West Sea" - Dao Lang