A comprehensive overview of tombs: starting with the Yellow Weasel's Tomb

Then, following the order in which everyone went up, everyone started to go up.

To prevent the Dap Ghost Worms from harming people in the future, Bai Jing had some explosives hung down from above. He planned to seal the entrance to the hole so that the Dap Ghost Worms would not be able to escape in the future.

After everyone had gone up, Bai Jing placed the explosive pack at the entrance of the cave. Then he glanced into the cave and vaguely saw several Dapu Ghost Insects rushing over. Bai Jing didn't dare to delay any longer and lit the fuse.

Then Bai Jing grabbed the rope and quickly climbed upwards.

Before Bai Jing had climbed halfway up the hill, he heard a muffled, loud noise coming from below.

Bai Jing looked down and, after a long while, didn't see the Dapu Ghost Insect fly out, so he couldn't help but laugh.

Chapter 148 Finding a Guide

After leaving Kunlun, everyone rested for a night in Jinchuan City before embarking on their journey to the Western Regions.

As we continued westward, the greenery along the road disappeared.

Finally, in late March, the archaeological team arrived at Niya Town, MF County, Hotan Prefecture.

Speaking of which, Niya Town and Jingjue Ancient City have quite a history.

In January of the 1th year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign (1901), Mr. Walter, a British Hungarian explorer (actually Stein), found the ancient city of Jingjue and named the site "NIYASITE".

The name comes from the town of Niya.

However, although this town is called a town, it is located on the edge of the desert and has a sparse population. In fact, the permanent population is only a little over a thousand people, which is not even comparable to some of the larger villages in the inland areas.

According to estimates, this is the closest settlement to the ancient city of Jingjue.

The archaeological team planned to rest in Niya Town for two days, then find a guide and follow the information in Mr. Walter's notebook to find the location of the ancient city of Jingjue.

Mr. Walter visited the site again after finding and naming the ancient city of Jingjue in January of the 1th year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign (1901).

In 1906, the thirty-second year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign, Mr. Walter conducted another investigation and excavation of the site.

The two excavations uncovered a total of 53 ruins, yielding 721 wooden slips inscribed with the Jingjue script. In addition, there were several Han-language wooden slips and tablets, as well as weapons, musical instruments, woolen fabrics, silk fabrics, furniture, building components, handicrafts, and grain crops such as millet and foxtail millet.

He also surveyed these sites.

The results of their investigation caused a sensation around the world.

Most importantly, he made a detailed record of this expedition, even detailing how he got there.

So, although decades have passed, this notebook can indeed provide better assistance to everyone.

During their two days of rest, Bai Jing and his group discovered that although Niya Town was not large, there were quite a few foreign friends visiting.

In recent years, thanks to the continuous advancement of reform and opening up, the tourism industry in the entire Western Regions has flourished. Many wealthy Chinese people who like to seek thrills, or foreigners who enjoy adventure and desert scenery, like to come here to rest and relax before heading to their destinations.

Because this place is adjacent to Bosten Lake, many tourists from other places come here every summer.

Bosten Lake is the largest inland freshwater lake and also the source of the Peacock River, which is crucial to Bai Jing and his group's mission. Naturally, everyone attaches great importance to it.

Bai Jing learned that, over time, the water level of Bosten Lake has dropped by several meters, and at the beginning of this century, the water level may have dropped by more than ten meters.

Therefore, it is highly likely that the ancient course of the Peacock River has dried up.

In that case, this operation will be fraught with difficulties.

After all, in the sand

In the desert, besides being wary of sandstorms, the biggest threat is water scarcity.

Therefore, they had no way to proceed directly along the route in Mr. Walter's notebook.

After all, Mr. Walter's route used to have water, but it doesn't anymore.

Finally, after discussion, everyone decided to find a local guide.

After making inquiries, I learned that many locals here have been living better and better lives by acting as guides for outsiders in recent years.

Therefore, there were indeed several guides in the town at that time.

However, after Bai Jing and his team found several guides, they realized that none of them met the archaeological team's requirements.

Because the annual windy season is approaching, none of the guides we found dared to enter the desert at this time.

Guides are in it for the money, not to risk their lives.

Ultimately, having exhausted all other options, Professor Chen went to the town government with his letter of introduction and work certificate to look for a job, hoping they could help him find out who the best guide in town was.

The town's leaders were somewhat conflicted about the archaeological team's request.

At that moment, the staff member next to the leader suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "Section Chief Zhao, have you forgotten? An Liman."

Upon hearing this, the leader's eyes lit up.

The members of the archaeological team were also very puzzled: who was this Anliman?

The leader explained, "This Anliman is known as the living map of the desert. Everyone in town knows that this old man is incredibly skilled and also raises camels exceptionally well. Even the children in town know that if you want to enter the desert, you need to bring three things: water, a camel, and Anliman."

Upon hearing this, the fat man immediately realized that this was exactly the kind of person they needed.

The fat man immediately asked, "Where is Anliman now? Where are we supposed to go to find him?"

Hearing the fat man's question, Section Chief Zhao seemed to be in a dilemma. The staff member next to him explained, "This person is hard to find. Even we haven't seen him for almost half a month."

After hearing the staff's explanation, everyone understood. Even the locals couldn't find this person, so where were the archaeological team members, who were unfamiliar with the area, supposed to look for him?

However, no one was disappointed. At least they had a direction now, right? And no one wanted to give up. So Hu Bayi asked again, "I'd like to ask, what's this person's real name?"

Section Chief Zhao thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I'm not sure about that. Anyway, everyone calls him Anliman, which means 'living map of the desert' in Uyghur."

Not only Section Chief Zhao, but none of the many people present knew An Liman's name.

Shirley Yang had finally found a reliable guide, so she was naturally unwilling to give up easily and immediately asked, "Where can we find this Anliman?"

Section Chief Zhao hesitated for a moment, but after thinking for a moment, he said, "Why don't you go to the police station and ask? Under normal circumstances, guides in the town have to register with the police station before going out. If Anliman comes back after you go there, the police station will definitely know."

Everyone agreed that it made sense, so they took the certificate issued by the town and went to the police station.

The police station chief, named Wang Bawan, looked at the certificate handed to him and said with some difficulty, "At this time, it's no use who you go to."

Hearing this, everyone present was puzzled. What did he mean by that?

Chapter 149 Anliman

Chief Wang of the police station noticed everyone's confusion and immediately said, "It's the windy season now, and it's very dangerous to go into the desert now. You are all experts and professors from Beijing, so we have to be responsible for your safety as well."

I heard this is the reason.

The members of the archaeological team present breathed a sigh of relief. Professor Chen then stepped forward and advised, "Director Wang, you've seen the letter of introduction. This is a key national scientific research project, and it's quite special. Special circumstances should be treated specially."

Director Wang was also in a dilemma, so he said, "I understand this, but I need to explain the pros and cons to you first. As for what to do, that's up to you to decide."

Upon hearing this, Shirley Yang immediately said, "But we really need one right now."

However, Shirley Yang was interrupted by Hu Bayi's gesture before she could finish speaking.

Immediately afterwards, Hu Bayi asked, "Director Wang, are you familiar with this?"

Upon hearing this, Director Wang sighed and said, "Of course I know him. He's a famous person here. He came here to support the border region when he was young. Once, he encountered a sandstorm in the desert, and camels saved him. From then on, camels became his life, and he has been raising camels ever since."

Hearing this, Bai Jing and the others roughly understood. However, Director Wang sighed again and looked at the slight wind blowing outside the window, saying, "But it's the windy season now. Even if you look for him, it won't do any good."

But Shirley Yang clearly wasn't ready to give up, and immediately continued, "Where is he now? Where can we find him?"

Seemingly noticing the attitude of the archaeological team, Director Wang stood up, put on his hat, and said, "You don't need to look anymore, the person is right here with us."

After saying this, Director Wang walked outside and said to the crowd, "Alright, come with me."

Afterwards, Director Wang left the office, and Bai Jing and the others quickly followed.

As they walked, Director Wang explained, “Now that we’ve started reform and opening up, a lot of people come here to travel. And this guy is quite quick-witted; he often takes groups of foreigners and acts as their tour guide.”

Just a while ago, he led a group of foreigners into the desert. He made a lot of money on that trip, but after a few days, he came back alone. Well, in this situation, our police station has to take care of it, right? But the old man knew nothing about it, so we had no choice but to detain him and his camel.”

After hearing what Director Wang said, Fatty Wang also felt that this might be unreliable, and immediately asked, "Hey, Director Wang, this old man sounds a bit mysterious to me. Is he reliable or not?"

When Director Wang heard the fat man's question, he thought for a moment and said, "If you ask me, it's probably because the old man couldn't agree on a price and just dumped the man in the desert. But if even this old man doesn't dare to go into the desert this season, then there really isn't anyone left."

However, this person raised camels.

It's certainly impressive, but as for his character, I can't say I'll praise him. But since he's contributing to the country anyway, if you think it's acceptable, let's have him cooperate actively. If you don't think it's acceptable, then we'll think of another way later.

Upon hearing this, everyone understood that whether the old man was reliable or not was another matter, but he was definitely the person in the vicinity who knew this desert best. So if even the old man was unwilling to be their guide, then things would really be difficult.

After listening to Director Wang's words, Bai Jing and the others discussed it and decided to meet the person first.

After hearing everyone's decision, Director Wang led them to the place where the people were being held.

Upon entering, everyone saw a man who looked to be about fifty or sixty years old sitting in the room, wearing a large felt hat and coarse cloth clothes with local characteristics.

After entering the room, Director Wang said to the man, "Someone's here."

As soon as Bai Jing and Hu Bayi entered the room, they noticed a pendant hanging around their necks. Coincidentally, they had seen the same pendant when they first visited Da Jin Ya.

Calling it a pendant isn't entirely accurate; it's more like a silver clasp.

However, the fat man didn't notice this and instead looked at his attire with a puzzled expression, asking, "From an ethnic minority?"

Upon hearing this, Director Wang waved his hand and replied, "No, he is a Han Chinese."

Then Director Wang looked at you and said, "Ah, now the organization has given you a task, which is to do something for the country. If you make a contribution this time, people will see you in a completely different light."