Chapter 16 Journey (Part 2)(1/2)
In his backpack, there were four books given to him by Malan, each of which was written by Malan himself, and the manual for guiding him to survive in four special terrains, namely deserts, jungles, mountains and snow fields.
Malan used detailed words to tell Lei Zhen how to survive in these terrains and how to find the food and fresh water necessary to maintain life.
But when he walked into this place, Lei Zhen realized that he had underestimated the desert and underestimated the Takramagan Desert, known as the cliff of life!
It's too hot here, the surface is too soft, and the sunlight is too vicious.
On the first day of entering this desert, when Lei Zhen chose to camp under a poplar forest, the old camel who might have lived in the desert for more than ten or twenty years, and I don’t know how many pedestrians and merchants have helped conquer this desert, but suddenly stretched out his mouth and bit Lei Zhen’s neck of clothes.
No matter how Lei Zhen reached out to touch its cheeks, how Lei Zhen's son grinned at its teeth, it refused to let go. It did not calm down until Lei Zhen chose another camping position.
"You told me that I must not spend the night in the poplar forest at night, and will you encounter danger when spending overnight there?"
Facing Lei Zhen's inquiry, God knew whether this old camel could understand, but it nodded repeatedly.
The instruction manual written by Malan is still not complete, but it cannot be blamed for Malan. She really didn't expect that Lei Zhen, a lazy boy, would dare to rush into such a life-like Jedi without the guidance and the help of locals without the help of the locals.
Lei Zhen thought about the poplar forest for a long time. Climbing there could avoid the invasion of wind and sand. He really didn't understand why his new partner would try his best to stay there without letting him stay there overnight.
Finally, Lei Zhen figured it out. The poplar forest means that there is a water source under the surface of this desert.
Such large areas become desert oasis that allows humans to live in. This small poplar forest is not enough to support human survival areas, but it is enough to breed poisonous snakes, scorpions, and parasites with viruses, which are harmful and useless to humans!
Thinking of this, Lei Zhen's heart suddenly moved slightly. He found the "Desert Survival" instruction manual written by Malan from his backpack, and used the bright moon above his head to search quickly.
Sure enough, Lei Zhen found a short paragraph in this thick instruction manual written by Malan, who may ignore the past content in his usual way... Camping in the desert, you must never be stationed under the poplar trees or the red willow forest.
Because under these plants, some toxic organisms often parasitize. Especially in the Taklamakan Desert, under the red willows and poplar trees, "Tarimu ticks" are parasitized.
This "Tarim tick" contains a virus that medical experts cannot find targeted therapeutic agents. Once a human or animal is bitten, unless there is a congenital antibody, it will cause "Tarim hemorrhagic fever" and will die within ten hours!
Cold sweat slowly flowed down Lei Zhen's forehead.
He is not afraid of death, but he never hopes that he will die in the desert in obscurity and under the mouth of a parasite called the "Tarimu tick"! That way.
It was a big irony for Lei Zhen or Xie Jinyuan!
With a gentle breath, Lei Zhen lies on the sand with a peaceful face, as if he is as relaxed as if he is back at home, and bows down to salute seriously. He really wants to thank him, "Thank you!"
The old camel stretched out its tongue and gently licked Lei Zhen's cheek. Forget it and responded to this partner.
Lei Zhen knew that there was an old saying in China that "Old Horse Knows the Way", but now he knows that old camels know better how to survive in the desert.
In Malan's instruction book, Lei Zhen knew that when encountering large patches of reeds in the desert, he could just dig down the reeds and dig more than one meter deep. He could find the water; if he encountered sedge grass.
Then dig two meters deep down and you can find the water; if you encounter red willows and camel thorns.
You need to dig six to eight meters down to find water; if you encounter poplar forest, then I'm sorry, if you want to survive, you must grit your teeth and dig eight to ten meters down with a shovel. You are a little tired, but it is much better than thirsty in the desert!
According to the teaching manual written by Malan, the reason why fresh water can be found in the desert in this way is because below the surface of the desert, there are often basins that can store expensive water sources.
The thick layer of sand separates the hot sunlight and temperature from the outside, protecting this part of the precious water so that they will not evaporate due to the high temperature.
Without preparing enough fresh water in advance, using these underground basins to absorb water sources is the key to survival here!
However, no matter how detailed the instruction manual written by Malan is, how can it be as practical as possible, Lei Zhen is a layman living in the desert after all, and there are only a handful of places where reeds, red willows and poplars grow.
In this case, looking for water sources in the bare desert is a compulsory course.
And the old camel's nose... As long as it suddenly stood still and kept arching Lei Zhen with its nose, Lei Zhen knew that there must be a source of water at their feet!
These water sources dug out by old camels are not necessarily fresh water that can be consumed directly. Sometimes they are just water veins that don’t know where they originate and disappear from! No matter how hard Lei Zhen tried, how he waved his shovel and dug hard, he found a handful of slightly damp sand.
At this time, the old camel would bite a handful of sand with damp water with calm face, suck it in his mouth, until the moisture in the sand was sucked into his body, and then slowly spit out the sand.
Faced with this scene, Lei Zhen and his son really looked at each other. Seeing this partner who knew about survival in the desert and cast a blame look, Lei Zhen woke up like a dream. If he waited, the little moisture in the sand would be dried by the sun!
"Son, at this time, life is important, so don't think the sand is too bad."
Saying comforting words.
Lei Zhen dug out a handful of wet sand from the sand pit and stuffed it into his mouth. The feeling of tooth made Lei Zhen roll his eyes directly. Lei Zhen's bold son, who was really the king of wolf, dared to let out a fucking low whimper when he looked at Lei Zhen's miserable appearance.
In the end, Lei Zhen held its mouth and stuffed a handful of sand into its mouth. Then this man, one wolf, two father and son...
"Well...persist!"
"Why... Um!"
They squatted on the ground together, their mouths filled with sand. While trying to absorb the not much water inside, they sighed and rolled their eyes. At this time, the old camel would look at these two people who sucked sand with such a cool pity.
It was also with the company of this new partner. Lei Zhen, who has always been struck by mountains and built bridges when encountering water, and likes to charge head-on by facing problems, only realized that people in the desert must learn to detour.
In the Taklamakan Desert, it looks flat.
In fact, there are pyramid-shaped sand dunes formed by the strong winds of millions of years. The vertical distance between these sand dunes is more than 200 meters from the ground, and the slope is steep and straight. If you have to go straight through.
The time and physical strength you put in will be far more than the detour.
But sometimes, this old camel would take Lei Zhen to climb the hillsides of the dunes. After several attempts, Lei Zhen found that the old camel took him to climb directly against the wind-blown hillsides or the ridges of the dunes, and the reason was very simple.
But it is enough to make people think deeply. These locations are directly exposed to the wind direction. After years of wind blowing, the sand surface has been squeezed quite strongly. It is almost no different from ordinary land when you walk up, which saves energy.
On the back of the ridges that cannot be blown by the wind, the accumulated sand particles are still flowing. When the thunder rushes, it will sink a few inches, and the physical energy consumption will of course double in geometrically.
It was under the leadership of this old camel. Lei Zhen and his son, two outsiders who survived the desert. They grew up day by day. Lei Zhen held the desert survival guide handed over to him by Ma Lan in his hand, and was in practice again and again.
Lei Zhen learned how to find food in the desert, how to find water sources, and how to use the sun to judge directions.
Lei Zhen would have long used his watch and the shadows left by the sun on objects to judge the direction, but only in the desert can he have the opportunity to learn to use the direction of the sand dunes to determine the direction, and only in the desert can he learn to use the growth forms of plants such as red willows, camel thorns to judge the direction.
On a hot noon, Lei Zhen even met Malan mentioned in the instruction manual, but he had never had the chance to see the mirage.
Lei Zhen also learned to use dead trees everywhere in the desert to create the most convenient and practical kang when traveling in winter deserts.
Just cut down these dead trees, dig a hole to set fire to burn dead branches, and spread the sand on the unburned fire, so that the sand under you will maintain temperature for several hours, helping the thunder shake to survive the cold winter night.
A month later, nearly ten to fifteen kilometers a day, he kept learning about mine shock with astonishing perseverance, almost crossed the Taklamakan Desert with more than 400 kilometers in width. He could already see poplar forests. When he just smiled, he suddenly heard a dull sound of heavy objects falling to the ground from behind him. When Lei Zhen turned his head suddenly, he was really shocked.
The good teacher and friend who accompanied him day and night, helped him and taught him again and again, the old camel finally fell to the ground, facing Lei Zhen's sad gaze. No matter how desperate it struggled, it could no longer move its body, let alone stand up again.
Feeling the rapid passing of vitality from his body, the old camel looked at Lei Zhen in a daze, and a big tea slowly flowed out of its big eyes, falling onto the hot sand under it, making a small splash of water, and in a blink of an eye, disappeared between this too hot weather and passing, leaving only a small white spot.
"Don't move." Lei Zhen walked over, he gently picked up the old camel's head and put its big head in his arms.
"I have eyes, and I can see clearly. With your physical condition, being able to fall down before you can walk here is a miracle created after you exceed your limits."
Lei Zhen's son also walked to them. It stuck out its tongue and gently licked the old camel's cheek, as if comforting it, and even more as if saying goodbye to this companion who suddenly broke into its life.
The two types of wolf and camel are completely different in nature. Even the creatures of mortal enemies are nestled beside Thunder and Zhendi at this time, and they actually have an indescribable harmony.
"I don't want you to repay any kindness. What really touched me was the big, big tears you shed when you faced the butcher knife. You have been struggling in the desert all your life, and you have used your own body to help many people.
I don’t know how much goods have been shipped to them, but you have been serving your master all your life. When your power is exhausted, when your fur is no longer smooth, when you can no longer cross the desert in the posture of a desert boat, your master betrays you, even if he knows that you will be slaughtered.
It will become food on someone else's table and still sell you."
Speaking of this, Lei Zhen hugged the old camel in his arms tightly and hissed: "What I, Lei Zhen, hates the most in my life, are those bastards who make heroes bleed and cry again! Why do you have made no regrets?
When you lose your value, you will be betrayed and you will use your life to exchange for the last trace of residual value?! My master has contributed everything to this country, and he has been regarded as a great hero.
But he was still regarded as a abandoned soldier, struggling desperately in the vortex of death every day! I was alone and weak, and I had no way to save my master. I could only escape from that place of trouble like a betrayal dog. But at least, I could still use the money in my pocket to rescue you! I could at least make you die openly like a warrior returning to the battlefield.
I am worthy of this life!"
Lei Zhen could clearly feel that the old camel in his arms suddenly relaxed, and it actually understood what Lei Zhen said.
In other words, in Lei Zhen's powerful arms, it listened to Lei Zhen's powerful heartbeat, felt Lei Zhen's sincerity, and understood the person's understanding and pity for it from the bottom of his heart!
"You are a warrior, the greatest warrior who can conquer the desert again and again. The cliff of life!" Lei Zhen attached to the old camel's ear and whispered: "A warrior like you, the final destination.
It's definitely not someone else's dining table. They don't understand you. They will only complain loudly there that your meat is too old and too hard.
A soldier who dies on the battlefield where he once struggles is definitely not a tragedy, but the greatest glory! And I bring you back into this desert, just to witness with my own eyes that a soldier has embarked on his most glorious path!”
"But you have been holding on for so long, until we have almost traveled through the entire desert, until you think we can complete this trip without you, you have fallen down.
Here, I really admire and pity you. Although you are just a camel, you have feelings, righteousness, kindness and kindness. This kind of heart and this kind of love are hundreds or thousands of times stronger than those who wear human skin but do not do human affairs and only know how to "glory the family and glorify the ancestors" by betraying their ancestors!"
The old camel finally closed his eyes foolishly. It walked without regrets. Although this kind of understanding, such respect and understanding came too late, how happy it was to meet someone like Lei Zhen? How happy it was to get such respect and understanding?!
Lei Zhen just held the old camel's head until its body slowly became cold in his arms, until darkness once again enveloped the entire sky and the earth, and Lei Zhen's son lying quietly and obediently beside Lei Zhen's side.
I don’t know how long it took, Lei Zhen finally let out a long sigh of relief and stood up again.
It took Lei Zhen a whole night before finally digging a large enough grave for his companion on this sand slope facing the wind and burying it little by little.
"It was you who taught me how to survive in the desert; it was you who made me truly fall in love with this vast and rough world. If you wanted to repay the kindness I had saved you from the butcher knife, you had done enough and done well enough.
”
Facing the grave that was piled up with your own hands, Lei Zhen whispered: "Thank you, please go all the way!"
Three days later, Lei Zhen finally took his son, and in a seemingly impossible situation, he successfully traveled through the Taklamakan Desert, known as the cliff of life. With wind and sand all over his body, he appeared in another small village town that relied on the desert to make a living.
Three days later, after a brief rest, supplementing food, fresh water and salt, and buying himself a pair of shoes that are more suitable for walking in the desert, in the eyes of everyone as if they were looking at an idiot, Lei Zhen and his son turned back and walked into the Takramakan Desert again.
The first time I conquered the Taklamakan Desert. It was the old camel who helped and taught them. This time, Lei Zhen wanted to conquer this life-life Jedi again with his own strength.
The most important thing is that in a corner of this desert, there is also a supply base left by the secret service camp directly under the Central Military Academy Teaching Corps. Adapting to the desert environment is only the first step in training.
In the desert guidance manual given to Lei Zhen by Malan, he was taught more about how to use various terrain and climate in the desert to carry out special operations!
Nine days after leaving, Lei Zhen and his son returned to the old camel's grave again.
To be continued...