CH 50.2

Without further ado, the six of them covered their nostrils and ears with hats and scarves to protect from the yellow sand blowing all over the sky, then they started stepping on the sand with one foot deep and the other placed shallowly.

Not long after walking out, Jiang Zheng noticed for the first time that the branch secretary and the native man who were talking with them just now had disappeared, and it was as if they had disappeared out of thin air.

#Mom, what’s going on? I kept staring at the screen but didn’t realize how they disappeared.

#terrible terrible. “Wuyou City” was a zombie-type bloody horror story, and “Paradise Island” was a cult-controlled psychological horror story. This looks like a supernatural and metaphysical event.

Jiang Zheng had filmed in the desert before, so she probably understood the characteristics of the desert. They could walk here for half an hour at most, and those who were weak would have to stop to rest. What the director wanted was their sense of participation and problem-solving methods, not to torture them. So the so-called dirt city should be nearby.

As a result, after walking for half an hour, there was no trace of any dirt city, but there were more and more continuous sand dunes.

Even the people in the live barrage couldn’t bear it, not to mention the six guests walking in the real desert.

Just when everyone was about to lose their hold, a sandstorm suddenly blew.

This kind of wind was not the soft spring breeze on the flat ground, it hurt especially when it hit the body.

Ji Muye reached out and hugged Jiang Zheng in his arms, covering her whole body, while the sand hit his body with a crackling sound.

On the other side, without He Xiao’s initiative, Liang Xiaoduan, who was still screaming thirsty and unable to walk, threw herself into He Xiao’s arms very quickly, consciously looking for a shelter.

Ke Cancan was a head taller than Xiao Cheng, the two smiled awkwardly at each other, hugged themselves and finished the calculation.

The sand wind blew past them, then Ji Muye opened his eyes and looked into the distance, suddenly there was a dirt city in the empty world just now, with walls and pagodas.

Jiang Zheng turned around and looked over, frowning, feeling that the sand wind was blowing too evilly.

Now that the goal had been set, the several people walked in the direction of Dirt city.

Just now, from a distance, they only felt that the Dirt city was too small, but when they walked in, they realized that they had really underestimated it. The city wall was incomplete, but it was also about ten meters high, which showed the majesty it must have had when it was built.

Like the ancient Loulan Kingdom[1] or the Heishui City in Inner Mongolia[2], this dirt city was once bustling with commerce and trade. Later, due to drastic changes in the ecological environment, the river dried up or changed its course. So, it gradually became a deserted city and was finally buried under the yellow sand.

Jiang Zheng looked up at the direction of the sun, and probably guessed that the Dirt city was facing the east-west direction, and now everyone was standing at the west gate of the Dirt city.

Half of the city gate had collapsed, and looking in through the opening, there were layers of high earthen platforms. Where was there any branch secretary who could say something.

They were afraid they would not be dazzled.

Liang Xiaoduan was most afraid of this kind of quiet and deserted place. Like the previous Wuyou City, however there were at least the howls of zombies which could be heard there. Here there was only the sound of wind and sand, as if it was a place abandoned by the world. There was an indescribable loneliness and discomfort here.

Ji Muye looked around, found a good place to step down, and climbed up the remaining city wall.

The area of Dirt city was small, and they could see the east gate from there, which was symmetrical to the axis of the west gate, and the iconic pagoda in the northeast corner.

The pagoda was different from the dense eaves or pavilion-style pagodas of Han Buddhism[3]. It was in the shape of a covered bowl, which was similar in shape to the White Pagoda of Miaoying Temple in Beijing[4]. It was just that the pagoda here had collapsed, leaving only the tower body, supporting the last dignity.

The rest of the place was full of dilapidated mud houses.

Jiang Zheng waved to Ji Muye to get her down, and at the same time let everyone disperse.

As early as when Gedaliang’s branch secretary said that she was a professor of archeology, she had already thought that the theme this time might be related to grave robbing.

Archeology was the investigation of exposed historical relics and cultural relics under the permission of the law. Its purpose was for protection and research, while grave robbing was like a fly that smelt, and the purpose was only to plunder and make money. In their eyes, the location, shape, architecture, and historical status of the Dirt city were useless. What they wanted were the so-called valuable things in the Dirt city.

Sure enough, after careful observation, she found several fresh footprints under the city gate.

Probably before they came, someone had already entered Dirt city in advance.

#The Grave Robber is here.

#Such a big earthen city, they should be able to dig up a lot of good things, how can the grave robbers not come to share a piece of the action.

#So this episode follows the route of ghost blowing lights? Will there be big zongzi jumping out later?

#There are no donkey hooves and dog blood glutinous rice in the schoolbag.

Ji Muye knelt down and looked at it for a long time, guessing that about seven or eight adult men had already entered the city ahead of time.

He asked everyone to pay attention to their feet, keep silent and follow, and not startle the snake. Who knew if they had weapons in their hands.

Walking through the city gate, all you could see were the remnants of earthen houses, which were tall and short, layered on top of each other, which was a bit like the old city of Kashgar, Xinjiang[5].

Probably, the people who built this city used the loess that could be seen everywhere to build strong houses according to local conditions. Unexpectedly, thousands of years later, the remains of these houses were still there, and the wooden roof structures had all disappeared in the long river of history.

Suddenly, a stele on the side of the road caught everyone’s attention.

Jiang Zheng, as a “big archaeologist”, naturally had to observe first.

The inscription on the stele was incomplete, and only a small part of the top was left. The word “post station” was written in traditional Chinese. First of all, it could be determined that this should be an earthen city from the Han Dynasty, not the Huns, Tubo or Xixia Dynasties.

Probably, there was such a city with high military and commercial significance at the border between nomadic and farming regions back then. In peacetime, people here came and went frequently for trade, and they lived together regardless of whether they were enemies or friends. During the war, it was full of scorched earth and broken cities, and people were displaced and miserable.

Jiang Zheng squatted down and turned the inscription upside down with all his strength, and there were three large characters engraved on the other side: Chiyou City.

#Congratulations to the official launch of the third episode “Chiyou City”.

#The program team is amazing. The scene production this time is too realistic.

#Barrage body protection! High energy warning!

Hearing a sudden creak, Liang Xiaoduan turned pale and looked down.

“Ah…” Before she uttered the third cry, He Xiao covered her mouth all of a sudden, and blocked the rest of her cry.

Jiang Zheng hurried over to take a look, Liang Xiaoduan, the unlucky little bastard, stepped on a white bone and broke a skull.

#Oh oh oh The program group is poisonous, making a skull to scare the baby to death.

#Could it be that there was a murder case here, and the dead were too late to bury?

#If it weren’t for Chiyou City’s invincible heat and low water content, I’m afraid even the bone dregs wouldn’t be able to survive.

Liang Xiaoduan’s eyes were full of tears, He Xiao didn’t dare to let go, for fear that she would scream again.

He lowered his head and said in a low voice: “You dare to step on the bones of a dead person, you are much better than me.”

Liang Xiaoduan: “…” It didn’t comfort me, thank you.

#Chick Liang: Don’t fool me, let go of my mouth quickly.

#Ah ah ah I didn’t expect that the first candy I would eat in the third episode would come from the two of them.

#He Xiao walks in front of Liang Xiaoduan with a Tsundere and Domineering personality.

While Jiang Zheng was checking the situation of the bones, suddenly a flock of big black birds pierced the silence of the sky, fluttering their wings, as they flew over the head of the station.

Jiang Zheng yelled badly, and hurriedly called everyone to hide behind the earthen wall.

Ji Muye stared at everyone and hid, then quickly smoothed the footprints on the ground with his hands.

Sure enough, three people dressed in black strode over. The sound of their footsteps rang in their ears.

The three of them stood in front of the inscription and looked around for a while.

“The boss said that there are treasures in this city and that we will dig them up and sell them for money. But we have been here for a day and a night, and we haven’t seen anything.”

“There is nothing good in this place where ghosts don’t come. I’m quite thirsty, kill me. Do you still have water?” The person who said this snatched the kettle from his companion and drank it in a gulp.

Liang Xiaoduan looked through the hole and couldn’t help licking her chapped lips.

“The well water here is really sweet.”

“It’s really strange. There is still well water in this dry place where I’m smoking. It’s weird.”

“Let’s go, let’s go. Where is anyone? I think there are only ghosts here.”

The three whispered, but they provided a lot of information.

The place where the six people were hiding was probably the kitchen of the post station. Two of the middle pillars had collapsed, and the other two were supporting the bare structure.

Ji Muye tapped Jiang Zheng’s shoulder lightly.

Jiang Zheng didn’t know why, but she followed him to a pillar.

Ji Muye avoided the camera, and said in a low voice, “About your brother…you don’t be angry.”

The author has something to say: Jiang Ran: I can’t hear you clearly because of the wind, call it again.

[1]

Loulan, also called Krorän or Kroraina was an ancient kingdom based around an important oasis city along the Silk Road already known in the 2nd century BCE on the northeastern edge of the Lop Desert.

[2]

Heishui City, the city on the Heishui River, is called Harahot in local Mongolian. The city is located in the lower reaches of the Heishui River, on the southern edge of the desert. 

[3]

[4]

[5]