Chapter 232: Heading to the Oasis (Part 1)

The spectacle before us was so magnificent that words simply couldn't express it. We were all stunned. Although Wenjin's notes had mentioned an oasis like this, in my memory, it wasn't supposed to look like this.

The basin was enormous and looked very regular. Fatty remarked that it actually resembled a meteorite crater. Looking down from the cliff, we could only see swirling mist below, almost entirely dense treetops, and no clear view of the specifics.

This must be Tamutuo. I never thought we would discover it in such a way. It seemed almost too easy.

Panzi backed the car up, and as we used binoculars to look at the basin, we pondered what was going on.

Panzi said, "It seems the rock mountain where Dingzhu Zhuoma and Wenjin separated has indeed disappeared. This is a salt-crust area. It might have been a rocky hill that, after decades and several rains, has become just a mound of dirt. But if we follow the direction of the river, we can still find this place."

Wenjin's notes didn't mention these things, so it was impossible for me to know. But now that we had discovered the oasis so easily, we were also at a loss. I asked Panzi what he planned to do.

Panzi said we definitely had to go down and have a look first. After hearing about the notes and Dingzhu Zhuoma's message, he knew Wenjin was definitely down there. He said we couldn't wait for Third Master to rendezvous with us; we had to go in directly to check out the situation. Wenjin was the mistress, and if waiting for Third Master meant we missed her, then he wouldn't be fit to be a servant. Time was running out.

I thought to myself that you're really a devoted subordinate, but I felt the same way. Time was running out. Counting, ten days was almost upon us. I asked a few people, and no one had any objections. They asked me to figure out how to enter the basin.

Wenjin's notes had a detailed route description. They had entered the basin through a canyon back in the day. But the topography here had completely changed; from her route description, it seemed impossible to find that canyon. We had to drive around the basin searching. After several twists and turns, we finally discovered a wide canyon.

Panzi took a large detour and found the entrance to the canyon about four kilometers from the basin. The first part was drivable, so we drove in until boulders blocked the way.

Then we got out of the car, shouldered our gear, and proceeded on foot. We kept walking until we saw trees, then stopped to rest. I picked up Wenjin's notes and carefully read the records inside.

After reading the notes, I felt a bit uneasy. Judging from what was recorded in Wenjin's notes, this canyon was extremely dangerous. Further ahead, due to the drop in altitude, tropical vegetation grew thickly, and miasma filled the air. Our gas masks might not be able to handle such a humid environment. Moreover, this was the only entrance to the Queen Mother of the West palace. The events we had encountered along the way made me feel that the palace was very eerie, and I figured the road wouldn't be easy.

But comparatively, what worried me most was what happened after we passed the canyon. The end of the canyon was the core area of the oasis, where rivers converged. Beneath the dense canopy of trees in the valley were humid swamps. This peculiar terrain had created something like a tropical rainforest in the Gobi. Although we knew the ancient city of the Queen Mother of the West was somewhere within the swamp, searching there was basically risking our lives.

We sat in the shade of the trees in the canyon and carefully studied the approximate route drawn in Wenjin's notes. Since we hadn't entered the swamp itself, many places were confusing. Moreover, Wenjin had drawn question marks in many spots. We didn't know what those question marks represented, which made things very difficult for us. In the end, we could only decide to take it one step at a time.

Afterwards, we each made our preparations. While searching, we knew the road ahead was long, and we had to control our supply consumption. Now that we were about to enter the backyard of the Queen Mother of the West, we naturally couldn't care about that anymore. Flares, cold light sticks, matches, medicine—we packed everything we could bring.

Panzi had fought in Vietnam and now became our advisor. He said from what we saw on the cliff, the situation down there should be similar to the tropical rainforest in Vietnam. This kind of humid swamp was the most dangerous. Above, the broad leaves of the primitive rainforest covered almost the entire valley floor. With such dense vegetation, sunlight couldn't penetrate below. Under the canopy, it was pitch black, filled with miasma, and a world of mosquitoes, leeches, and poisonous insects. Even though the temperature was over thirty degrees, we had to wear long-sleeved shirts and pants. Otherwise, within an hour, you wouldn't have a single patch of good skin on your body.

A Ning said, "I have mosquito repellent. Will that work?"

Panzi replied, "You repel the mosquitoes, but that stuff attracts other things. Don't use strong odors in the rainforest. Even if you don't encounter wild beasts right away, they'll follow you all the way. This time, I'm the only one with a gun. Even a wild boar would be tough to handle."

He finally said, once we entered the swamp, we must avoid wading in the water or touching the sludge unless absolutely necessary. He had a comrade who, while laying an ambush, got his foot stuck in a swamp. In less than a minute, when he pulled it out, his entire leg was full of holes, hollowed out. They didn't know what bit him. In an environment like this, if that happened, it would be a death sentence—maybe even worse than death. I could tell from Panzi's eyes that he wasn't exaggerating, and I felt a bit uneasy. I tightened my pant legs even more.

It took two hours to pack everything. At Panzi's shout, we set off. Poker-face took the lead, Panzi brought up the rear, and we cut through branches and broad leaves, heading deeper into the canyon. No sooner had we started than the sky clouded over again, as if it were about to rain. I sighed inwardly at the wonders of nature, so inexhaustible. In the depths of the dry Qaidam Gobi, there was actually such a humid, rainy oasis. Truly, heaven's creations are boundless, not confined to one pattern.

This canyon was different from the Yardang canyons we saw in Devil's City. It didn't seem shaped by wind but rather formed by a rift from geological movements. The valley floor was uneven, rugged rocks piled layer upon layer, and the rock walls looked as if carved by a sharp knife. However, if you asked me, I agreed with Fatty's opinion. The terrain really did look like a meteorite crater. The rift was like the fissures in the earth's crust caused by the impact of a meteorite. At the time of its formation, it might have been much deeper, but gradual weathering filled it in. Such canyons around this basin were probably not unique.

The canyon was wide. Once we entered the dense forest, everything around became stiflingly hot, and we were drenched in sweat. Moss covered the rocks and trees, making footholds impossible. Underfoot, there was everywhere wet mud and tangled roots. Walking through the net of roots like monster tentacles, we stepped into traps with every step. The canopy above was so thick we couldn't see the sun. I instantly had a very strong illusion: Was I really on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau right now, or in the Amazon jungle?

I had thought such conditions would only be encountered at the end of the canyon, but it was already like this inside. The situation in the valley pit was probably even worse.

Fatty trudged along, panting. Looking ahead, he said, "I wonder if there are any animals in this oasis. Damn, I'd like to shoot a few and eat them. That would be a perk. Otherwise, this trek would be a waste."

Panzi said that this closed environment of rainforest was neither small nor large. There probably wouldn't be large beasts. Most likely there would be insects and snakes. In many such swamps, snakes were the most common.

Fatty said snakes weren't bad either. He'd even eaten grilled scorpions in Guangdong. Anyway, as long as it was fresh, there was nothing he couldn't handle.

I recalled Wenjin writing in her notes: "Swamps full of snakes; encounter people without fear." It seemed Panzi was right. I wondered how big these snakes were. In many Hollywood movies, some pythons could grow as thick as old trees, and even a steamroller couldn't crush them. But I figured conditions here couldn't support that.

Moreover, the ecological environment here was very special—a closed inland island. I thought that apart from birds and humans, nothing else could possibly get in. The creatures here had been multiplying since the formation of this oasis. Back then, the Qaidam was a fertile area with dense rivers and abundant species. Perhaps we could discover many extinct animals and plants in this oasis, which might be even more valuable than what was in the Queen Mother of the West palace.

On second thought, I said to myself: forget it. In the legend of the Queen Mother of the West in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, her palace was guarded by human-faced blue birds. That must be some kind of huge raptor we don't understand—maybe the same kind of strange bird that attacked us on Changbai Mountain. It's better for such creatures to be extinct.

Because the trees were too dense, and we were in a canyon with no room for detours, we could only advance by cutting through old vines and broad leaves. That consumed a lot of energy. Fatty and Poker-face taking turns clearing the way didn't help much. Fortunately, the rugged cliffs beside the canyon framed a strip of blue sky, like a blue brocade ribbon. The scenery was quite beautiful, and not infrequently, waterfalls formed by rain from a few days ago cascaded down. As we went along, it wasn't boring.

Before long, we noticed many grottoes on the cliff ahead—dense, probably over a hundred of them—covered with thick moss. We couldn't tell what was carved inside.

We tensed up immediately and lost our appreciation for the scenery. All along, we hadn't seen any relics of the Queen Mother's kingdom, which had given us an unreal feeling. Now that we suddenly saw some, we really were beginning to approach the core of this mysterious ancient country. That should have been exciting, but actually seeing it felt kind of creepy.

Putting aside our lighthearted mood, we went up to examine them. These grottoes varied in size. The large ones could allow two Liberation trucks to drive in side by side; the small ones were only half a man's height. Very different from Dunhuang, the grottoes were shallow, and you could see the statues inside from the outside, but they were entirely covered by thick moss.

I climbed up, took out my dagger, and began scraping the covering off one of them. From under the moss, a strange stone carving gradually emerged.