Ghost Blowing Lantern II

The prairie with long yellow grass is like a undulating yellow-green sea. The grass is all about the same height, but the sand dunes under the grass are uneven and the terrain is uneven. In most areas of the grassland, there is not much difference in the ups and downs. , it is difficult to distinguish from a distance or a high place. There are also rocky mountains or sandy soil mountains on the grassland. Because the sky and the earth are so vast, from a distance it just feels like the sky and the earth are connected, with continuous ups and downs. Only when you get closer can you really feel the huge difference in slope. .

The traces of the cattle running away happened to disappear on an uphill slope. We hurriedly took the horses and searched carefully. We saw that the hoof prints on the turf were messy and there were gnawing marks on the surrounding grass, indicating that the cattle had escaped here. After that, he had recovered from the panic and stayed here to eat grass.

But the strange thing is that a large herd of cattle disappeared out of thin air here. Even if the cattle are attacked by wolves here, they will leave traces such as hoof prints. After all, we chased us with our front and rear feet, so short What force can cause the herd to disappear within a short period of time? I asked Ding Sitian on the horse: "Is there a tornado on your grassland? The strong wind swept away all the cattle?"

Ding Sitian said: "I heard that there are occasional tornadoes in Outer Mongolia in Mobei. It is very rare in our grassland, and how big would a tornado that can sweep up hundreds of cattle be? If there is a tornado, the sky will be clear today, and we are far away You should be able to see it from a distance, and besides, there are no traces of wind damage on the nearby grassland." After that, she turned to ask Lao Yangpi. After all, Lao Yangpi has lived on the grassland for decades and has far more experience than us educated youths.

Lao Yangpi didn't say anything. He got off the horse and looked at the cow hoof prints on the ground for a long time. Finally, he sat slumped on the ground with tears streaming down his face. It seemed that the more than two hundred cattle on the grassland must have " After swallowing the "demon dragon", Lao Yangpi cried and beat his chest and stamped his feet: "Why does Changshengtian punish the poor shepherds like this?" His brother disappeared after arriving near here decades ago, and now the herdsmen have disappeared even here. Yes, these cattle are the collective property of the brigade. If I hadn't been drunk yesterday and didn't reinforce the cattle fence, this kind of thing wouldn't have happened. This responsibility is really too great, and once the superiors inquire, they can't explain it at all. Qing, who would believe that all the cattle were devoured by the dragon and not even a hair was left?

Ding Sitian was also so anxious that she shed tears. She looked strong on the outside, but she was actually sensitive on the inside. She was as fragile as an ordinary girl. She couldn't withstand such a big blow. When Fatty and I saw this, we were very worried for them. I got off my horse and persuaded the old man. Sheeppi said: "I see that now, if we don't find the whereabouts of these cattle, we won't be able to do our job. It's useless to worry now. Let's search around quickly. Even if we turn the grassland upside down, we still have to find them." In addition, I don’t believe in the legend about demonic dragons devouring humans and animals. To say the least, even if there is a beast that looks like a dragon hidden deep in the grassland, it cannot swallow so many cattle in one go. It is so big. Appetite? To put it another step back, if you swallow it, you have to spit out the bones, right? I can also give an explanation after finding the cow bones. There are so many hats these days and I can't find the whereabouts of the cow. If I just put a hat on the old man and Ding Sitian, I can't bear the sin of walking around. Some things Even if you are scared, you can't hide away. At the critical moment, you can only grit your teeth and hold on. If you have time to cry, you might as well continue to look for the cow.

The fat man also advised: "Sitian, don't cry. In my impression, you are not the kind of big girl who only cries and complains and is of no use. I think back then we were all shaking the world. The Red Guards who are turbulent and angry, sweeping away all demons and demons. You have also said that in the future you want to be a soldier of the People's Liberation Army Art Troupe full of outstanding wisdom and foresight, with profound theoretical thinking and unyielding fighting spirit. You must not follow Hu Bayi He seems to be shouting that vulgar taste is not guilty all day long. Don’t forget, death does not belong to the working class.”

Ding Sitian was made to laugh by the fat man's words. She wiped her tears and nodded: "Yes, death does not belong to the working class." She and Lao Yangpi, old and young, finally recognized the situation clearly with our persuasion. The only person in this world who can save your own destiny is yourself. There is no point in blaming others. Now there is no other way. If you lose the cow, you can only rely on yourself to find it. You can't cry back the cow even if you cry to the sky and howl. .

In fact, I still have an idea that I haven’t made clear to everyone. Yesterday, Lao Yangpi talked about how his brother was forced to lead the way to the "Baiyan Cave" decades ago. He once mentioned the group of bandits from the mountains, carrying After picking up a large box, I felt that this incident was extremely strange. The time when this incident happened was very consistent with the time mentioned by the fourth aunt. Maybe it was the bandits from the "Ni'er Hui" who dug it out of the mountains. They brought the things to the grassland. I can't guess their motive for choosing the grassland, but there is probably valuable gold in the Wong Tai Sin box. If the herd of cattle really cannot be found, if gold can be found, Ding may be able to find it. Si Tian and Lao Yangpi make mistakes.

Because I have heard too many legends about gold mines in Xing'an Mountains, the idea of ​​​​imagining the "Baiyan Cave" as a gold treasure house for barbarians has already been preconceived in my mind and formed a subjective impression, so all subsequent imaginations The speculations are all based on this. I think that those who disappeared were probably killed by the gangsters guarding the treasure. In the end, there was an internal struggle in the "Ni'erhui". In order to compete for gold and The four old men in the ancient tomb beat you and me to death together. This is probably the case. At that time, I was still very ignorant and did not think deeply about everything. I was very satisfied with my inference. I felt that this was the case in nine cases out of ten. Something happened.

There is a mountain col on the side of this grassy slope, and along the road is a ghostly place with undulating hills and ridges - the "Hundred Eyes Cave". We didn't give up for the time being, so we mounted our horses again and wandered around to continue searching for clues.

It was already past noon, but not long after we got on the horses, the horses suddenly seemed extremely restless, neighing "咴儿, 咴儿", and there seemed to be something abnormal in the air around them that made them anxious and panicked. I I was worried that I would be thrown off if I dismounted from the horse, so I quickly grabbed the reins with one hand and the saddle ring with the other hand. However, the horse did not have a buckle and was just circling in place. I saw that the other three horses were also doing the same. In this situation, Manman shouted to Lao Yangpi: "Old man, what's wrong with these horses?"

Lao Yangpi tightened the reins and forcibly held the panicked horses, telling us that the horses on the grassland are spiritual and much more sensitive than human intuition. They must feel that there are terrible things nearby, and these things are People can't feel it. Lao Yangpi's mount is a retired military horse, one head taller than an ordinary Mongolian horse. Although this horse has long teeth, its psychological quality is much calmer than that of ordinary horses. With it, the other three horses It won't be a mess for a while.

The horses' mood calmed down slightly. We took the opportunity to look around to see what was going on in the surrounding grasslands. Maybe it was related to the disappearance of more than a hundred cattle. For a while, everyone's nerves seemed to be full of tension. The spring of the string was tightened. In order to guard against prairie wolves, Lao Yangpi also brought an old-fashioned shotgun. Lao Yangpi had the Kangxi sword for self-defense, so he asked the fat man: "The fat boy, can you fire a gun?"