Chapter 78 Desert Night Travel

  At sunset, the convoy turned off the national highway and drove along a sandy road towards the front.

  The sandy road is surrounded by poplar forests on all sides.

  Poplar Forest is a scenic line in Taklamakan Desert, many writers wrote articles praising them.

  About twenty minutes later, the convoy slowed down. Looking around, this place was surrounded by trees, with over a hundred simple houses scattered among them. A small river wound its way through, and next to the river, there were even several sheep grazing.

  Xiao Han led the way in front, and soon the car drove into a courtyard. The yard was extremely large, surrounded by simple fences. Four off-road vehicles were parked inside, surprisingly without being crowded.

  As soon as he got off the car, someone had already come out of the house to wait in the courtyard. A woman wearing a Mongolian woolen robe opened her arms and walked towards Xiao Han.

  "Xiao Han!"

  "Hello!"

  Two women with vastly different attire warmly hugged each other together.

  "Are these all your friends? Come on, everyone come in," said the woman named Momo, who was wearing a fur-lined hat and dressed in Mongolian herdsman attire, complete with riding boots, looking like Princess Xiangxiang from "My Fair Princess".

  The house is very big, but it's very simple, just made of wood and stones.

  In the house, apart from Momo, there were two elderly people who should be Momo's parents. However, it was only later that Song Jian found out that these two elderly people were actually Momo's godfather and godmother.

  Mo Mo and Xiao Han were close friends since they were young, the two people's relationship has always been good. After both of them got married, they both suffered emotional pain at the same time, so the two women who had a hard life became even more empathetic towards each other. However, after getting hurt, Xiao Han chose to stay in the city and work hard, while Mo Mo chose to wander around everywhere, anyway Mo Mo was a rich girl, she didn't need to worry about money.

  The two old men warmly entertained Song Jian and others, of course, fortunately, Song Jian and others also brought food in the car, otherwise, more than a dozen people eating one meal can eat up the old man's family savings for a month.

  After dinner, Xiao Han told Mo Mo about his plan to go hiking in the desert.

  "Mo Mo looked at the old man, 'Dad, can it be done?'"

  The old man patted his tobacco pouch, shook his head and said: "Recently it's probably not going to work out. A dragon whirlwind has started in the distance, the wind and sand are too great, there is danger. The temperature will drop recently, there should be a snowstorm, so we can't go out for now. Everyone stay here first, wait for the wind and snow to pass before going to play in the desert."

  Everyone who heard it sighed, but even if they couldn't go out, spending a few days in this place was still a very refreshing thing. These people, except for Xiao Han, were all living in the Jiangnan water town for many years and had never been to the desert before. This time, seeing it, their souls were greatly shocked.

  Song Jian was different, he heard the old man say this, and hurriedly asked: "Old man, when the ice and snow come, will the Huagucao also disappear?"

  "Huà gǔ cǎo?" The old man looked at Song Jian.

  "It's camel's poison, sir. I need that plant urgently." Song Jian said seriously.

  "Ah, it's the camel poison," said the old man, blowing his nose. "If you had come a few days earlier, you would have been able to dig up that grass, but now that you've arrived, I'm afraid it's too late. The nearest place where I know there is camel poison is at least a day and night's journey from here. I'm afraid we won't make it in time."

  Song Jian heard this and hastily said: "Master, help us out. Maybe we can take a ride or ride a camel."

  The old man sighed and said, "Yesterday, the camel group was driven to the other side of the mountain for grazing. For a while, we can't find camels either. Cars are definitely not possible, the sand is too thick, they can't move."

  Xiao Han saw Song Jian's urgency and asked, "Sir, if we set off now, can we make it in time?"

  "Are you leaving now? Are you crazy?" Mo Mo patted Xiao Han's shoulder, "Not to mention your journey is exhausting, tonight you can't go far before collapsing from fatigue. Just the Dragon Whirlwind outside alone won't let you leave. Moreover, the temperature has dropped drastically, aren't you afraid of being frozen into a popsicle?"

  Mo Mo's tongue was quick and agile, and in one breath, she spat out three reasons.

  Song Jian glanced at Mo Mo, then turned to the old man and said, "Don't worry, sir. I'm physically fit, so you can tell me how to find the Huagucao, and I'll go get it myself."

  "Hey, why don't you listen to advice? Is the Huagucao more important or is your life more important?" Mo Mo scolded Song Jian.

  Xiao Han looked at Song Jian and said, "You don't have desert travel experience, I'll go with you."

  After finishing, Xiao Han turned his head to look at the old man, "Grandfather, Huagucao is really important, we need it to save people. If the wind and snow pass, Huagucao withers away, then everything will be too late."

  She looked at Xiao Han with a puzzled expression, her body leaning forward, and whispered in Xiao Han's ear: "What's going on, Xiao Han? What's the relationship between that young man and you? Why are you protecting him like this? Ah, you're not going to be an old cow eating tender grass, are you? He's just a kid after all... Hehe..."

  Xiao Han reached out and pinched Mo Mo's waist.

  The old man saw two people insisting so much, knocked on the tobacco pouch, extinguished the fire, and said: "Is it necessary to use Huagucao?"

  Xiao Han and Song Jian nodded at the same time.

  "Alright, since it's a matter of life and death, I'll help you out. Let's see if we can find them before the snowstorm arrives." The old man stood up and said to the old woman, "Old lady, pack some food for me, I'll take these kids out for a few days."

  That old woman wasn't too worried, although the TV portrayed the desert as terrifying, but for people who have lived in the desert for years, short-distance trekking is indeed not very dangerous, even if they encounter sandstorms, as long as it's not a once-in-a-century dust storm, there won't be any danger. Moreover, with improved communication conditions and nearby desert rescue teams patrolling, as long as you bring enough water, there shouldn't be any major problems.

  The old lady began to gather some equipment for trekking through the desert, such as a water bottle, sheepskin scarf, cowhide blanket, tent and so on.

  "Which of you is going? Let me tell you one thing first, if you want to find the Bone Grass, you have to keep rushing and it's very hard." The old man said.

  "I'm going."

  "I'll go too."

  Xiao Han also stood up, "I'll go."

  Momo hugged Xiao Han's arm, "Okay, I'll go too, Dad. Otherwise, you don't have to go, I can take them and hurry along."

  On the other side, Di Hao and Qin Hua Yu also decided to join this hiking trip. Ding Jie was a bit depressed, wanting to go but it's too tiring, if he doesn't go, Xiao Han and Mo Mo are both beauties, and the opportunity to suffer together with beauties is something Ding Jie really didn't want to give up.

  Gritting his teeth, Ding Jie and the other two also agreed to go together.

  In the end, except for Xiao Han's two female companions, everyone else started packing up their luggage.

  The old man tapped his pipe on the table, and the wrinkles on his face gathered together in a smile. "Momo, you're taking them with you? I'm really worried, Dad."

  Soon, all fifteen people were ready. The old man pointed ahead and said, "Let's go, we'll follow this river for thirty kilometers first."

  When he heard the number "thirty kilometers", Ding Jie almost fell to the ground, now they all carry more than ten kilograms of luggage on their backs.

  "Hey young man, what's the use of looking for that camel poison? I've lived a whole life and never heard that it can cure illnesses." The old man asked Song Jian, his name was Ba Te, an elderly Mongolian.

  "Using poison to fight poison, although the toxicity of Gu Bone Grass is very strong, it still has an effect on treating some congenital bone deformities," Song Jian casually made up a reason.

  Old Bao nodded, "You put it this way, and indeed it makes sense."

  Momo and Xiao Han walked up together and asked: "Dad, what is that camel poison after all?"

  "Camel poison? Hehe, it's a carnivorous grass." The old man chuckled for two sentences, then shook his head and said: "When I was young, I drove a camel team to deliver goods. One of the camels ate camel poison and fell to the ground dead in just one minute. Then its whole body rotted and turned into a pile of flesh and blood that seeped into the sand. Ah, what poison, that grass."

  He sighed and continued: "This kind of grass can't be exposed to water. Even on cloudy days, it may wither away."

  "Can't see water? Then how does it live?" Mu Mu became even more curious.

  "It sucks blood. After an animal dies, during the process of its corpse rotting, it's possible for this grass to grow. Its food all comes from the rotten flesh and blood in the sand." The old man said.

  Everyone who heard it felt a chill run down their spine.

  Then everyone stopped talking about the topic and started talking about happy things. A man next to Ding Jie was in a poetic mood and even recited an ode to the desert.

  Zhou Tong walked beside Song Jian, the bright moon in the sky was not covered by any clouds, surrounded by endless desert plains, and nearby, there was a winding river, with trees scattered around, making this moonlit desert scene, as beautiful as a fairyland.

  "How beautiful!" Zhou Tong whispered in praise, she suddenly remembered today on the bus, when she saw the person opposite her holding a gun, when she thought she was going to die, the thoughts that flashed through her mind.

  Yes, if I were to die tomorrow, what would I do now?

  Zhou Tong unconsciously turned her head to glance at Song Jian, and her face suddenly felt hot.

  Song Jian carried a large bag for himself and Zhou Tong, but he couldn't feel much weight.

  The old man in front is still muttering about the scenery of the Gobi Desert. Now it's winter, although the temperature is low, but the danger level has decreased a lot, because those highly toxic rattlesnakes, desert scorpions and so on are all hiding in caves for hibernation, so when walking and camping, you don't have to worry about being disturbed by these poisonous creatures.

  Several men picked up their cameras and turned on the night mode, taking pictures from time to time.

  Ding Jie and the other two people also took the opportunity to surround Xiao Han and Mo Mo, chatting and laughing non-stop. Although Xiao Han was very cold, Mo Mo had a lot to say.

  The journey is also enjoyable.

  After walking for about four hours and resting three times, Old Bater raised his hand and said: "Alright, let's rest here today. We'll set off at 7 o'clock tomorrow sharp. Everyone pitch the tents."

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  Yesterday's chapter had some issues, but they've all been resolved now. If you didn't see the complete chapter earlier, you can go back and take another look.

  Regarding updates, True Love can only say that she will try her best to maintain a minimum of two updates per day with at least 6,000 words each. As for additional updates, well, it depends on luck. Hehe.