Merchant of the Underworld

After getting off the bus, Alimu and his son took Li Mazi and me to their very dilapidated home.

Alimu's family, like many tribal people, lives in the yellow sand. To the northwest of his house are some ruins, which Alimu said are the ruins of the ancient Loulan Kingdom.

Loulan was also very prosperous in history. Looking from a distance through the ruins, it seems that Loulan's former prosperity can still be seen. But why did the ancient country of Loulan mysteriously disappear overnight? This is an eternal mystery, and I don’t have the energy to investigate it.

In the long river of history, there are too many glorious and declining dynasties. They are like dusty scrolls. I believe they will be revealed again one day.

The Alimu family is very hospitable. Li Mazi and I tasted the most authentic Xinjiang cuisine at their home.

"I only know about mutton skewers, but I didn't expect there are so many delicious ones in Xinjiang."

Li Mazi looked at the dazzling array of food on the table and drooled.

I stopped being polite and started eating with big mouthfuls. After all, the Alimu family prepared local specialties from Xinjiang, such as large plates of chicken, sliced ​​cakes, hand-picked rice...

The food on the table was so full of oil and water that Li Mazi and I were so full that we were reluctant to put down our chopsticks. The little granddaughter of the Alimu family laughed as she watched us devouring the food.

Forget it, just laugh. I am too lazy to maintain my image in front of delicious food. After we were full, Alimu served us the most famous local wine. It is said that the grapes in Xinjiang are the most delicious. When Li Mazi and I first entered the yard, we saw bunches of large, crystal-clear grapes on the grape trellis. Li Mazi was so greedy that he swallowed his saliva.

If I hadn't stopped him, he would have picked it right then, and the wine was indeed delicious, with a light grape aroma.

"You two digest it, there will be a bonfire party in the evening, and there will be more delicious food by then!"

Alimu said with a smile.

When Li Mazi heard this, his eyes immediately straightened, and he asked obscenely: "Old man, do you have any mutton skewers? My favorite thing to eat is your Xinjiang mutton skewers."

Alimu laughed heartily: "Yes, yes, yes, there must be enough for you to eat."

Li Mazi put down his bowls and chopsticks with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Brother, there will be mutton skewers tonight, let's get some skewers together!"

I rolled my eyes at him, thinking that it was a lie that he ate meat skewers, but it was true that he wanted to see a girl.

The nights in Xinjiang are very cold. It really answers the saying of wearing a cotton-padded jacket in the morning and wearing a gauze in the afternoon, and eating watermelon around the stove. The temperature difference between day and night here is really big. Fortunately, Li Mazi and I prepared thick cotton coats before coming.

When we came to the bonfire, we saw a group of men and women wearing Uighur costumes sitting together. A big fat sheep was roasting on the bonfire. The smell made Li Mazi and I salivate.

"Go quickly, grandpa is waiting for you there."

When Mr. Alimu's granddaughter saw us coming, she pointed at her grandfather and then went off to play with her friends. Li Mazi and I walked to Alimu and sat down, watching the beautiful Uyghur girl dance, not to mention enjoying it.

"Brother, let's have a bonfire party when we get back." Li Mazi said while looking at the roasted whole lamb.

I don't know about his flirtatious nature, but he must want to eat and drink with me. However, it would be nice to have a barbecue with Yin Xinyue and Fanfan in the backyard of the antique store in the evening.

But the time of happiness is always too short, a scream pulled us out of the beautiful dance.

The scream was louder than the previous one, alarming everyone. Everyone stood up and ran quickly towards the source of the sound.

As guests, Li Mazi and I couldn't sit still, so we ran over with everyone else, and finally everyone stopped in front of a lake.

From a distance, the lake looks like an ear, and the water on the lake ripples as the breeze blows. The lake water is clear and transparent, and the stars in the sky are reflected on the water surface. It looks like a fairyland on earth, but there is a girl lying half in front of such a beautiful lake. She kept screaming and waving her limbs vigorously, as if she had seen something terrifying. generally.

My eyesight is relatively good, so I discovered from afar that this girl turned out to be Mr. Alimu’s granddaughter, Yueyue!

Sure enough, the old man ran over quickly, pulled Yueyue and said something quickly. He used Uyghur, and neither Li Mazi nor I understood.

During this process, Yueyue kept pointing at the lake, her eyes filled with fear.

Could there be something in the lake?

"Don't move." I was about to go and find out, but I was pulled back by a strong man. His tone was very unkind, as if I had done something unforgivable.

Damn it, I always walk sideways, who are you?

I was just about to get angry when Li Mazi couldn't help but speak first: "Why are you pulling us?"

"Er Yang, let them go."

As soon as Alimu spoke, the man named Eryang reluctantly let go. He opened his mouth to say something to the old man, but finally returned to the crowd.

"Old man, why is this man so cruel?"

Li Mazi looked at Alimu dissatisfied and asked. The old man didn't say anything and took us and Yueyue home.

But my heart couldn't calm down for a long time. What happened in the lake? What did Alimu hide from us?

I turned back and looked into the lake, and suddenly I found a huge thing in the water. It was staring at me with eyes as big as red lanterns.

I was shocked. When I came back to my senses, the water surface returned to normal. Was the scene just now my hallucination?

Alimu took us home without saying a word, and Li Mazi asked with a sullen face: "Old man, what are you doing?"

Alimu lit a dry cigarette, and after a long while he said quietly: "Lop Nur is our holy land and cannot be offended. If you offend the holy land every month, you will be punished by Allah. You are outsiders, and you are not allowed to offend." You can't offend the Holy Land."

I was speechless for a while. Returning to the Holy Land must be some kind of monster's lair!

"Old man, what did Yueyue see?" I asked out of occupational illness.

But Alimu ignored me and continued smoking.

Yueyue was taken away by Damo. I found that Damo's eyes were red, as if he had cried.

"Old man, what happened to Yueyue?"

I felt more and more that something was wrong, so I had to continue asking.

"Brother Zhang, don't worry about these things."

In the end, Alimu only said this to me, but I was favored by others, so of course I had to find a way to figure it out and help them as much as possible.

I didn't ask further and took Li Mazi back to the guest room.

Just as Li Mazi was about to say something, I raised my finger at him. He was stunned for a moment and stopped yelling.

Alimu's house was not soundproofed, and Damo's room was next to ours. Li Mazi and I lay on the wall and listened carefully.

"How could you touch the water of the Holy Land?"

This was Damo's voice, which sounded particularly depressing.

"Dad, dead people... dead people!"

Yueyue seemed to be going crazy, roaring with all her strength, and Mazi Li and I could hear it clearly in the next room.

Her tone was full of panic, which just confirmed my guess that the old man had hidden a lot from us.

We wanted to continue listening, but found that Damo and Yueyue stopped talking.

Yueyue said there were dead people. Could it be that there were dead people in Lop Nur? But why didn't I see it?

But no matter what, I witnessed the water in Lop Nur with my own eyes and saw the red eyes in the water.