Free Web NovelChapter 2121: Chapter 1985: Desert Marching Ants (Part 2)
Li Mingyu fell silently, submerged in the swarm of ants.
A group of warriors returned to the camp without a word.
Like the previous nights, a warrior had fallen, but not even a corpse could be found.
Zhao Ruonan said nothing, only speaking to Song Xiaodong: "You’ve worked hard, go rest."
Early the next morning, Zhao Ruonan woke up, but didn’t call Song Xiaodong. However, with people constantly moving around the camp, Song Xiaodong woke up shortly and came out to see the camp tidying up equipment.
"Let’s go for another investigation." Zhao Ruonan responded to Song Xiaodong proactively.
"Okay."
When they reached the Ancient City of Loulan, it was not yet ten o’clock, but as soon as the sun rose in the desert, the temperature was indistinguishable from noon.
Zhao Ruonan, Song Xiaodong, Sun Yiyi, Chu Xianling, and Master Benwu stood side by side at the entrance of the Ancient City of Loulan, followed by twenty warriors.
Everyone looked somber.
In the ancient city, there was only yellow sand, no remains.
The skeletal remains that filled the ground yesterday afternoon and evening, and the mountain of bones piled up in the center of the ancient city, were all gone.
"Watch your step," Song Xiaodong reminded.
The group swaggered into the Ancient City of Loulan, and indeed, there was nothing but yellow sand and mottled old city walls.
"Where are the remains?"
Chapter 1986: Sandstorm
"Taken away by ants?" Song Xiaodong retorted.
The group searched inside and outside the ancient city again but found nothing.
Stepping out of the city, the sun climbed higher, and as far as the eye could see, there were sand dunes everywhere.
"Something’s not right," Zhao Ruonan frowned.
"What’s not right?" Song Xiaodong asked.
"Isn’t that direction Lop Nur?" Zhao Ruonan pointed towards the distant desert.
"Loulan is northwest of Lop Nur, it’s this direction," Song Xiaodong nodded.
"Then look!" Zhao Ruonan pointed towards the desert again.
"Hm?" Song Xiaodong didn’t understand.
"Where’s Lop Nur?" Zhao Ruonan asked.
"Huh?" Sun Yiyi and Chu Xianling were puzzled.
Song Xiaodong understood instantly, his expression turning severe, recalling the materials he had read yesterday.
The ground at Lop Nur rose in a stepped pattern, with the dry lakebed covered in a 20-30 centimeter saline crust, the lake bed shaped like a large ear.
But in front of them, there was only an endless desert, no lake basin, no large ear.
"Let’s go check it out."
Zhao Ruonan and the group headed to Lop Nur.
In the car, Zhao Ruonan used satellite navigation, precisely locating the center of Lop Nur’s lake basin.
Theoretically, they should be standing above the thick saline crust, but after getting out, Zhao Ruonan’s boot sank directly into the yellow sand.
Song Xiaodong and Zhao Ruonan exchanged a look.
"What do you think?" Zhao Ruonan asked Song Xiaodong. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
"It might be related to last night’s Marching Ants," Song Xiaodong said.
Zhao Ruonan nodded without speaking, took out a dedicated communication device, and made a call: "Please bring Expert Zhang."
Master Benwu was silent in the military jeep, while Zhao Ruonan approached him respectfully and asked: "Master, what do you think?"
"Amitabha Buddha, this place is arid and low on rain, scorched by the sun, yet I feel a hint of yin energy. Feng Shui Geomancy, Yin and Yang, and the Five Elements are Taoist expertise. I’m just a monk, unfamiliar with these matters, but at the General’s request, I say this place is not suitable for a long stay."
Zhao Ruonan nodded, replied to Master Benwu: "Alright, I’ll invite Expert Zhang to take a look and then we’ll leave."
Master Benwu nodded and continued to rest his eyes.
Before long, a military jeep carrying a few people arrived, with an elderly man wearing glasses, the very Expert Zhang that Zhao Ruonan mentioned.
"Hello, I’ll introduce everyone. This is Academician Zhang Guofu from our country’s Hydrogeology Research Institute, who has been studying Lop Nur for years."
Expert Zhang was not in the mood for pleasantries, got off the car and silently looked around.
"How can this be?" Zhang Guofu asked Zhao Ruonan, puzzled.
Zhao Ruonan did not respond.
Seeing Zhao Ruonan not answering, Zhang Guofu continued to ask: "When did it turn like this?"
"From 2 AM last night until 10 AM today," Zhao Ruonan replied.
"How is that possible?" Zhang Guofu scratched his head full of silver hair, squatted down, grabbed a handful of sand, and examined it closely.
"This is wrong!" Zhang Guofu muttered to himself.
"This sand shouldn’t be here!" Zhang Guofu looked puzzled, rubbing his other hand on the hand holding the sand, licking his finger, then spitting out saliva.
"Not salty nor alkaline."
Zhang Guofu stood up, walked around Zhao Ruonan’s convoy, and saw that it was the same desert everywhere.
It shouldn’t be a desert, Lop Nur is a saline-alkali land, not a desert.
But now it was all desert.
"Where’s the large ear?" Zhang Guofu asked.
Zhao Ruonan couldn’t answer.
"This is Lop Nur?"
Zhang Guofu’s professional career spent half the time at Lop Nur, and the terrain here overturned Zhang Guofu’s understanding.
Zhao Ruonan did not speak, handed her navigation device to Zhang Guofu.
Zhang Guofu took the device, looked at it for a while, shook it gently, checked the readings again, finally knocked it lightly with his hand, and checked the readings again.
Zhang Guofu had memorized these geographical coordinates. He thought the device was broken, but after checking multiple times, it still showed the same reading.
Zhang Guofu squatted down, staring blankly at the ground.
Afraid Zhang Guofu had gone mad, Zhao Ruonan asked: "Expert Zhang, what do you make of this?"
"This place changed overnight, and you didn’t notice anything? Hear anything?" Zhang Guofu asked Zhao Ruonan.
"Last night, desert Marching Ants appeared here," Zhao Ruonan told Zhang Guofu.
