White Bone Monkey King

In addition to small countries, there are also villages in the desert.

Mostly because the underground water source is too small, or the underground water veins are exhausted and it is not enough to support too many people, so only a few people gather sporadically, and finally a village is formed.

In fact, there are not many villages like this.

They are like rare birds scattered throughout the desert, finding tranquility isolated from the world.

Small groundwater veins mean that there is a possibility of drying up at any time. Things like this are not uncommon in history. Old Sadiq said that their village encountered this problem, resulting in less water in the village every year.

It was a village called Teshsata.

The total number of men, women, old and young in the village is less than a hundred.

Old Sadiq and young Sahab chose to trust Jin'an and finally agreed to take everyone to Teshsata Village.

They have gone too far now. If they want to go to the desert village, they must first walk back for two days, then find two dead poplar trees growing together, and then walk for five days in one direction to reach the village.

But the delay was too long, and if they couldn't find water, they wouldn't have enough water left to return to Xi Tuo Kingdom, so Jin An decided to take a risk and take a shortcut with Old Sadiq.

You don’t need to go back by taking a shortcut. You can reach the village in about three days. The only thing you have to be careful about is that neither Old Sadiq nor Little Sahaf have taken this shortcut. It was the Vulture and Ayesha who told them two years ago. of them.

Two years ago, the vulture and Aisha got lost in the desert and accidentally found an isolated village deep in the desert.

But now two years have passed, and no one knows whether the original terrain has changed drastically or become unfamiliar.

There are too few road signs for reference in the desert. Often the terrain changes drastically after a sandstorm, making it difficult to find the direction.

Next, Jin An called everyone and said that he had decided to change his direction and wanted to find water in a small isolated village deep in the desert, and explained the stakes involved.

Yali, Sureti and the others didn't have any objections. Jin An, who was not afraid of the devil and could easily kill the devil, had a very high status in their minds and almost blindly worshiped him.

Since no one had any objections, the team deviated from the route and continued to move forward. In the vast sea of ​​​​yellow sand, accompanied by the crisp sound of camel bells, they gradually moved away. The camel team left a long trail behind them. In the heat-expanding and distorted air, The camel caravan slowly disappeared at the end of the desert where the air twisted.

…

…

Four days later.

In the hot desert without even a breeze, a camel team came from far away from the end of the sky, accompanied by the ringing of camel bells.

Ari and the others were even more depressed than they were four days ago.

Along the way, in order to save water as much as possible in case they could not find water in the village and return to Xituo Country, the water allocated to each person was reduced to the minimum, province after province, to ensure only the most basic survival needs.

Not just people, but also camels and sheep.

so.

Everyone was extremely weak.

Some people's bodies were shaky, and they were so weak from being jolted by the camel that they were on the verge of dehydration. They were just walking with numb eyes like walking zombies.

If we say that the only one in the best condition in the team is Jin An.

Old Sadiq and young Sahaf, who were firmly tied to the backs of the camels to prevent them from falling, were also in extreme weakness after lack of water, but there was a bit of anxiety in their eyes that no one else had.

Two years away from home.

There are so many changes deep in the desert.

The weather is so abnormal. I wonder how my relatives in the village are doing and whether they are okay?

In the past, when they followed the vulture, they did not dare to sneak back to the village to visit their relatives, for fear that the vulture's group would find the village again to retaliate against the entire village.

In the desert with a dull and monotonous scenery, the air was so hot that it distorted and there was no breeze. Suddenly, a few dead poplar trees appeared in the endless sea of ​​yellow sand. This gave the dull and monotonous desert a refreshing sense of upliftment, which was originally numb. The atmosphere of the silent team suddenly became lively.

Along the way, we saw more and more Populus euphratica trees. Later on, we actually saw a large forest of Populus euphratica trees.

Jin'an took a quick look and found that there were more than a hundred poplar trees here!

This is a large forest of Populus euphratica!

Seeing such a large area of ​​Populus euphratica forest in the depths of the desert, even desert people like Yali and Sureti showed incredibly shocked expressions on their faces.

Even though the Populus euphratica forests here are all dead, they still can't suppress their inner shock. In the desert where no grass grows, each Poplar euphratica tree with a thick trunk has survived thousands of years of wind blowing. Vigorous and ancient, they are like majestic and grand palaces that took thousands of years to carve out. They have protected the civilization behind the Populus euphratica forest from the burning fires in summer, the erosion of sandstorms in windy seasons, and the cold winds in winter.

The closer you get to the Populus euphratica forest, the more you can appreciate the ancient and immortal will left by the torrent of time here.

Jin An once read an article describing Populus euphratica. Populus euphratica is the most tragic tree. It will not die for a thousand years, will not fall down for a thousand years after death, and will remain immortal for a thousand years after falling.

"There must have been an ancient river flowing here in the past! If it could have given birth to a desert forest and a civilization, the ancient river here must have been rich in water!" Perhaps it was because seeing such a large poplar forest in the depths of the desert was too shocking, Yari said excitedly.

As the camel team walked into the Populus euphratica forest carved by the vast years, the team began to see a large number of salt crusts, which are traces left after the lakes and rivers dried up.

The salt crust here has dried to be as hard as rock, indicating that the water has dried up for a long time. If it had only dried up within the past few hundred years, there should still be sporadic ruins of the ancient city. If even the ruins of the ancient city had been wiped away by the desert wind, It is flat, indicating that the water here has dried up for at least a thousand years.

millennium.

Enough to make the sea change and the East China Sea raise dust.

Great changes occurred.

"Sadiq, how did your ancestors find such a large forest of Populus euphratica in the depths of the desert? The desert is vast, and finding such a large forest of Populus euphratica deep in the desert is no less difficult than finding a needle in a haystack." Jin An, who was riding on the back of a camel, said toward him. Old Sadiq, who was also lying on the camel's back, asked in surprise.

This trip to the desert in the Western Region was indeed an eye-opener for him.

What I saw and heard along the way was bizarre and bizarre, even more exaggerated than what the storyteller said.

At this time, entering the Populus euphratica forest, with the bare branches providing some shade and coolness, the originally numb and silent team gradually regained its vitality. The atmosphere became more and more lively along the way, and everyone was marveling at the magic here.

Old Sadiq from Camelback Mountain replied: "Our people have lived here for hundreds of years from generation to generation. In fact, many things about our ancestors have been gradually lost. Maybe the village genealogy will have some records about our ancestors."

Jin An didn't dwell too much on these side details.

He looked curiously at the ancient poplar trees as he kept moving forward. Suddenly, a sharp-eyed person in the team pointed forward and shouted excitedly: "Is there a village there?"

Everyone looked in the direction of his finger, and saw a small gap between the long yellow sand and poplar trees. There were some dead grass growing there, and there were a few fences. Behind the fence were simple sheds built from dead branches.

There is little rain in the desert.

These tree branch huts are not used to keep out rain, but are used to shelter from wind and sun.

It can be seen that the folk customs here are simple and the life is simple.

I even saw several living Populus euphratica trees with green and yellow leaves here.

After getting closer, I discovered that the air here is slightly humid. It seems that the Populus euphratica forest that resists the wind and the scorching sun makes this place a closed-loop climate. In addition, there is an underground river flowing through it, so it forms a suitable living area in the Populus euphratica forest.

"Taoist Master Jin'an, is this the Teshsata Village you mentioned?"

Ari and the others were in high spirits, as if even their weak bodies had recovered a lot, and everyone was in a good mood.

Even Jin An was in a good mood.

This time, even the desert gods were on his side. He didn't expect that finding the village of Teshsata would be so smooth. Except for being delayed for a day by going in the wrong direction, he found the village so smoothly.

The village was very quiet. When the camel team entered the village, there was a lot of movement in the quiet village. There was not a single person walking around in the empty village.

"anyone there?"

Ari shouted several times into the village using the language of desert people. The shouts spread far in the empty and quiet village, but the village remained quiet and no one responded to him.

"Is anyone here?"

Ari shouted again.

The village is still quiet.

Old Sadiq and young Sahaf on the camel's back began to struggle hard, trying to break free from the rope, making urgent and uneasy screams from their mouths.

They suddenly had a very bad feeling in their hearts, and they were begging Jin to let them down.

Before Jin An could let anyone let them down, the two of them had already struggled violently to break free from the rope, fell off the camel's back on all fours, and ran into the village desperately.

Jin An frowned and asked the others to follow closely to see if there was anyone in the village.

The village was not big, so more than a dozen people spread out to search. They quickly searched the whole village, but not a single villager was found.

At this time, old Sadiq and little Sahaf were wandering around the village like crazy, crying and screaming, and they were so sad that even Yari and the others were affected by their emotions.

"Taoist Master Jin An, what happened to these two sheep?" Yali asked Jin An in surprise.

Among the eleven people present, only Jin An could understand what Eryang was crying about. He went to old Sadiq and young Sahaf and said, "Calm down. If you can't find any villagers in the village, it doesn't necessarily mean that something unexpected has happened." , you guys should calm down and observe more details in the village."

"The village is very clean. There is no dust or yellow sand in the yards, thresholds and windows of every house, which shows that people live and clean here often."

"Although there is no one in the village, every household is in good order. I have checked that the bedding, clothes, and belongings are still there. It doesn't look like they have fled in a hurry after encountering a temporary disaster."

Finally, they comforted each other: "Let's just wait and see. Maybe they will come back by night."

"But, but, if we only leave the village temporarily, why can't we see a camel and sheep in the village, and all the food has been taken away... Fourth uncle, will there be any accident to Apa Ata?" As he spoke, Sahav began to shed big tears again.

Jin An pondered, and then said: "The desert is too big. Even if we want to, we can't find it. Didn't you say that the water source in the village has dried up and it is difficult to draw water? Maybe they just go out to look for water and will come back at night. The only water source in the village Wherever I am, you take me to the water source and help the village solve the water problem first. If the villagers really go out to look for water, they will have water to drink immediately when they return to the village at night."

In order to prevent the two of them from continuing to think wildly, Jin An decided to find something for the two of them to do, so that they would not be too immersed in grief and do something unimaginable.

The village's water source is actually in a wooden shed.

The location is not hard to find.

It was a well about half a person's width wide. I don't know where the villagers here found large stone millstones from the sandy desert, and blocked the well mouth tightly.

"We didn't see this millstone before we left the village. We probably found it after we left the village..." Old Sadiq said in a low tone.

Jin An comforted him: "This is a good thing."

Facing the looks of the two people, he patiently explained: "Think about it, since the water in this well has been damaged before, why did the villagers cover it with a heavy millstone? This just shows that the water in the well has been restored. , this well water is the hope of the whole village’s survival, that’s why we protect it so preciously.”

"And with water, people can survive."

"And if you look at the bucket used to draw water, the mud at the bottom is not completely dry. There is still a little moisture when you pinch it with your fingers, which means that someone has used this bucket to draw well water today."

Jin An rubbed a piece of yellow mud from the shaking barrel hanging above the well water, put it in front of his nose and smelled it, with the wet smell of mud that had not yet dried out.

The heavy stone millstone covering the wellhead was very heavy for ordinary people and required several people to lift it. For Jin An, who had developed supernatural power, it was easy to lift it down.

The well was very deep. When Jin An looked down, he could only see darkness. Jin An personally shook the bucket to draw water, and the rope was lowered for about six or seven feet before it hit the bottom.

"Is it such a deep well?" Jin An was surprised.

When he shook the barrel, he found that the water that came up was all yellow wet mud. Even if it took a lot of manpower to filter the water, the water still contained impurities and was not pure water.

Seeing that their relatives had been drinking such impurity well water and struggling to survive, old Sadiq and young Sahav once again shed tears with their eyes red.

They originally thought that by following the vultures, they could find new water sources for the village, but it turned out that they had been away for two years.

They left the village two years ago with great ambition, saying they would help the villagers find a way out.

As a result, I came back two years later, but none of the promises were fulfilled.

"Taoist Master Jin'an, we know that you are a man of great ability. Please save our village. I, Sadiq, am willing to work as a cow or a sheep for you for the rest of my life to repay you!"

Old Sadiq suddenly knelt down towards Jin An.

Little Sahav also knelt down and shed tears.

Jin An was also startled by the kindness of kneeling on the breast, then he helped Eryang kneeling on the ground and said: "I said, I am here today to help the village solve the drinking water problem. I, Jin An, will not make promises easily. Since I will definitely keep my promise to you, and you don’t need to do this.”

Looking at the sheep kneeling down to express his gratitude to Taoist priest Jin'an, Ari was once again shocked!

The sheep kneel down to breastfeed, either looking for the ewe or to repay the favor!

This is to repay the favor!

This is amazing!

Ari looked at Jin An with even more admiration and respect!