"Have you ever been to Crescent Spring?" Zhou Li turned his head to ask.
"Crescent Spring…" Huai Xu repeated unconsciously.
"Crescent Circle!" Tuanzi also chid in noisily.
"It's a crescent-shaped body of water in the desert. It's said that many caravans crossed the desert in the past and would stop there to resupply. It's claid to have been a scenic spot since the Han Dynasty, with many people from the Western Regions stopping by to check in," Zhou Li explained while driving. "But I've heard that this body of water should have dried up long ago and is maintained by artificial irrigation now. I don't know if that's true or false."
"Desert…" Huai Xu was still murmuring to himself.
"The sand mountain behind Crescent Spring is called Mingsha Mountain. It's said that due to climatic and geographical factors, when the wind blows, the fine sand whirls in the air currents, creating a humming sound—a phenonon sotis called the 'diabolo effect' after the spinning toy. It's a common natural phenonon, hence it's also called Singing Sand," Zhou Li explained as carefully as he could.
"Mingsha Mountain…"
"Does it ring a bell?"
"Does it ring a bell…"
"You've turned into Tuanzi," Zhou Li said.
"Huai Xu, you've beco Lord Dumpling!" Tuanzi exclaid.
"…"
Huai Xu pondered, scratching his head, then turned to look out of the window.
Zhou Li didn't press further, just waited for Huai Xu to think. Occasionally, he glanced at Huai Xu's expression from the corner of his eye. Guessing that Huai Xu had probably mulled it over enough, regardless of whether he'd reached a conclusion, Zhou Li spoke again, "I think the roads here are really nice to drive on, much better than those in Yi Province, much better than where Caiyun is."
"Very flat," Huai Xu said.
Zhou Li didn't know why. Even though he wasn't short on fuel money, seeing such low fuel consumption gave him a sense of achievent and satisfaction. "And very straight, saving a lot on gas."
"Plus, you can drive really fast. You can reach over a hundred kiloters per hour on these rural roads."
"That's still not okay; it's very dangerous."
The rural roads here were generally two-way with two lanes. A single lane wasn't very wide, much narrower than the national highways. However, you could hardly see any other cars. Moreover, the roads were often incredibly straight and long—so straight you couldn't see the end. This ant you could easily drive across both lanes, and there were no caras to catch you.
As Huai Xu said, you could go over a hundred kiloters per hour.
These rural roads were even better for driving than the national highways. National highways at least had large trucks, oncoming traffic, and many average speed cara zones.
But Zhou Li still drove slowly.
Knowing that Huai Xu had stopped pondering Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring, he pursed his lips and continued, "Then you must know about Yun Pass and Yang Pass, right? Both were established during the Han Dynasty and are very famous. When I was studying, I morized many poems about them: 'The spring breeze doesn't pass Yun Pass,' 'No old friends are left when departing west through Yang Pass.' But these poems were all written by people from later tis."
"Yun Pass, Yang Pass…"
"Yun Pass, it's said, was nad when Emperor Wu of Han opened routes to the Western Regions, as jade from those regions was transported through this pass. It was an important gateway to various places in the Western Regions," Zhou Li explained. "There's also Yang Pass. It was nad for being south of Yun Pass and served as its counterpart, also an important gateway to the Western Regions."
"I know all this… but how do you know so much?"
"I searched on Baidu last night."
"That must have taken so effort..."
Huai Xu nodded and continued to look out of the window, his eyes unfocused. He asked softly, "Are we going to visit all these places?"
"That's right. I also want to see them for myself."
"They might not look very impressive."
"I still have to see them. After reading so many poems about them, I have to go check them out too." Zhou Li honked twice and turned to overtake a tractor ahead. "I also want to go to Mingsha Mountain to see the desert, climb the dunes, take a look at Crescent Spring, and the Mogao Caves. Oh right, do you know about the Mogao Caves?"
"The Mogao Caves?"
"Very famous, though you might not have visited. They were first constructed during the Forr Qin period of the Eastern Jin Sixteen Kingdoms era. Construction continued throughout subsequent dynasties, leading to their current state. Even if you later returned to the Western Regions and ca to this place, it might not have been called by that na at the ti."
"Are there many murals and sculptures?"
"You've really been there?"
"I've seen them on Douyin."
"I see…"
Dunhuang City was already in sight.
However, they didn't enter the city proper, instead driving straight past. Since it was still early, they planned to use the remainder of the afternoon to visit Yang Pass and Yun Pass—at least one of them.
Yang Pass was about sixty kiloters from Dunhuang.
The road was easy to travel on: flat, with few forks, and almost entirely built across the Gobi Desert. Visibility was excellent, allowing one to drive at high speeds without worrying about accidents.
However, there were average speed check zones.
That's when the advantages of an SUV and four-wheel drive beca apparent. Because the road was built on the Gobi and the roadbed wasn't much higher than the adjacent desert, drivers unwilling to abide by the speed limit had already carved out tracks through the desert near the start and end points of each speed-monitored section to bypass the caras. These detours weren't always easy to navigate and were sotis full of potholes, making an SUV or four-wheel drive more capable.
Zhou Li didn't want to do such things, but they were pressed for ti.
The difference between going over a hundred kiloters per hour and seventy was just too significant.
He felt a twinge of unease.
But he soon realized that hardly any driver actually adhered to the speed limit through the entire zone. He imdiately felt better.
「Yang Pass.」
Outside the scenic area, the two stood side by side, one holding the cat, heads tilted slightly upward as they gazed at the pass standing on the Gobi Desert.
Strictly speaking, it was the remains of a fort.
Or a scenic spot.
Zhou Li glanced at Huai Xu from the corner of his eye.
He noticed that Huai Xu wasn't looking at the entrance to the scenic area but had turned his head to survey the seemingly boundless Gobi Desert, which he had already been watching throughout the drive.
Zhou Li waited a mont before saying, "Shall we go in?"
"Okay."
With that, he stepped toward the entrance of the scenic area.
The entrance fee was 50 yuan, and the shuttle bus was 10 yuan.
One person paid, three got to see the sights.
It was a good deal.
At the entrance to the scenic area stood a gate styled like an ancient watchtower. It wasn't particularly imposing or grand, but it looked the part. However, it was obvious at first glance that it was a later construction.
Once inside the scenic area, a desolate scene unfolded before them.
It was desolate beyond words.
In the distance stood a barren mountain, the highest point nearby. It was devoid of trees, with only extrely short vegetation almost the sa color as the Gobi. On the mountain was a dilapidated earthen fortress, its forr shape still faintly discernible. It was encircled by a fence, barring entry.
A stone was inscribed with the words "Yang Pass Ruins."
This was the forr Yang Pass.
The scenic area administration had also built pavilions in other places and set out items like wooden handcarts, purely to satisfy tourists' desire for photos—things aningless to them.
In a mont of inattention, Huai Xu had appeared inside the fenced area.
Zhou Li watched from outside, not stopping him.
It was only natural for a person from that era to walk towards a building left behind by that sa era.
Huai Xu looked up and began to walk up the mountain. His voice, faintly carried by the wind, was tinged with an indiscernible emotion, perhaps mockery, perhaps a wistful sigh, "Hey! You're reduced to so little now..."
Zhou Li felt an inexplicable sadness.
Huai Xu stayed inside for a long ti before coming out.
When he erged, he seed completely normal. He shared his thoughts with Zhou Li as before, as if showing off his extensive knowledge, "It wasn't like this in the past, nor did it look like that stone gate at the entrance. Let tell you, if it appeared before you in its original form, you wouldn't even want to go in. It would be full of horse manure, haha! Especially after it rained—you can imagine—wet mud and horse manure mixed together, indistinguishable. And then you step right into it..."
Zhou Li tried to imagine it and felt a bit disgusted. But judging by Huai Xu's expression, he clearly still harbored so nostalgia for it.
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