Ye Yixin was half-submerged in the sand, struggling frantically while Shirley Yang clung to her arm, desperately trying to drag her out.

In the chaos, someone shouted, "Quicksand!"

We rushed forward, following the tracks in the sand, desperately pulling at Ye Yixin to save her. Some people, too rushed to find rope, quickly unbuckled their belts, intending to loop them around her arm.

Unexpectedly, with only moderate effort, we managed to pull Ye Yixin clear of the sand. It didn't look like quicksand after all. Terrified, Ye Yixin collapsed, weeping in Shirley Yang's embrace.

Everyone asked them what happened; was it quicksand?

Shirley Yang comforted Ye Yixin while explaining to the group, "Just as we walked behind the dune, Ye Yixin’s foot slipped, and her entire body sank halfway. I immediately grabbed her and blew the whistle for help. But it doesn't seem to be quicksand. Quicksand sucks you down fast and strong; if it were, I wouldn't have been able to drag her out with my strength. Furthermore, after she sank halfway, she stopped, as if the bottom was solid. Otherwise, by the time you all arrived, with that ten-second delay, it would have been too late to rescue anyone from quicksand."

Ye Yixin regained her composure, wiping her tears as she said, "I think I stepped on a stone slab beneath the sand. There was a hollow space under the slab, and it collapsed when I stepped on it."

Shirley Yang wondered aloud, "Could it be those stone tombs? Let's go take a look."

We used shovels to dig a few times at the spot where Ye Yixin had been trapped. Beneath a relatively thin layer of yellow sand, running parallel to the slope of the dune, a slanting stone wall was clearly exposed. A large hole had been blown into the stone wall using explosives.

It looked like it had been blasted open recently, perhaps within the last few days. The wind and sand had thinly covered the opening of the breach. Ye Yixin had likely stepped on loose stones near this broken opening and fallen in.

Everyone stared at the stone opening, exchanging glances. This was clearly a stone tomb. Had it already been looted?

I carefully examined the loose stones around the entrance and the direction of the blast impact. It was a precise, small-scale directional blast. Having served as a combat engineer for so many years, I consider my familiarity with explosives second only to my knowledge of Mao Zedong's Selected Works. If I were to blast open this ancient stone tomb, this level would be the absolute maximum.

This demonstrated a thorough understanding of the rock mass's resistance. The explosion had merely collapsed the stone face, scattering debris outward without damaging the interior of the tomb at all.

Judging by the power of the explosives, this was definitely not civilian-grade material. Several years after leaving the military, could active-duty PLA soldiers now be tomb robbing? Highly unlikely. Perhaps the explosives were stolen. Moreover, how could tomb robbers find these ancient tombs in the middle of this boundless desert? The surrounding topography was identical everywhere. Could it be that besides my own mediocre skills, there were truly other master tomb robbers capable of reading celestial navigation and geomancy?

The area of the dune being cleared grew larger. It was a hammer-shaped stone wall; except for the side that was breached, the rest was buried deep beneath the yellow sand.

This was a typical stone tomb from the Wei and Jin dynasties, constructed of massive, thick mountain stones forming an arch, with the gaps sealed by mayu jiao (fish glue). Such stone tombs were extremely common near the ruins of Xiye. In the early 19th century, a European explorer had described them thus: "Stone tombs, large and small, countless in number, are visible everywhere in the desert, more than half of them buried beneath the yellow sand, their exposed black, pointed tops resembling miniature Egyptian pyramids. Traversing the desert bristling with stone tombs, the sight is breathtaking."

Now, these stone tombs have been completely covered by the desert, making them hard to find. Professor Chen estimated it might be related to the major sandstorm a few days ago; the high winds had exposed part of this stone tomb. He hadn't expected the grave robbers to arrive so quickly; the archaeological team was a step too late.

The greatest historical looting of ancient tombs and relics in Xinjiang occurred before World War II. In the early 19th century, Loulan in the eastern part of the Taklamakan and Niya on its southern edge—those sites had nearly all their artifacts plundered. Now, the grave robbers had extended their reach toward the Black Desert in the southwest. The harsh natural conditions and isolation there had turned it into a paradise for tomb raiders.

Along this journey, we had already seen numerous ancient tombs that had been looted and damaged. It was no wonder Professor Chen was so anxious, risking his life to enter the desert. If tomb raiding activities in this area were not stopped soon, there would likely be nothing left in the near future.

The breach in the tomb was pitch black. Professor Chen, Hao Aiguo, and I entered, shining our flashlights inside. The tomb chamber was about the size of a small single-story house. Scattered inside were four or five wooden coffins; their planks had been pried open and discarded. Everything was ransacked.

Looking at the coffins, varying in size, it seemed to be a communal burial site. Only the desiccated body of a young woman remained in one of the coffins, with long, braided hair. Only her head was relatively well preserved; the rest of her body was shattered. The rest had likely been taken by the robbers.

In the ancient tombs of the Xinjiang desert, dried corpses are as valuable as treasures. Professor Chen had told me that ancient corpses are categorized into wet mummies, like the Lady of Mawangdui, and waxy corpses, a type of body treated with special methods. Frozen corpses are found in areas with perennial snow and ice, while tanned corpses resemble zombies. There are also preserved corpses like specimens, immersed corpses (zashi), and so on.

Dried corpses (ganshi) are also divided into several types: those formed using desiccants like lime or charcoal inside the coffin, or artificial mummies created using special embalming techniques, similar to those of ancient Egypt.

Xinjiang's dried corpses, however, are formed naturally within a high-temperature, dry, and sterile environment. The older these naturally formed dried corpses are, the more valuable they become, as overseas museums, exhibition halls, and collectors eagerly purchase them at high prices.

Seeing that the other dried corpses in this stone tomb had been stolen and the site utterly devastated, Professor Chen couldn't help but sigh repeatedly. He finally instructed a few students to organize the broken remnants in the tomb, to see if anything could still be salvaged.

Worried that the professor’s agitation might overwhelm him physically, I urged him to rest early. Professor Chen gave Hao Aiguo a few more instructions, telling him to take men and meticulously record the details of the stone tomb, before sending him back to camp to rest with Fatty.

The wind hadn't stopped the next day; it blew steadily without ceasing. As the archaeological team prepared to depart, Professor Chen approached me. He said that the stone tomb he saw the previous night had likely been looted no more than three to five days ago. A team of tomb robbers might have entered the deeper parts of the Black Desert ahead of us, and we shouldn't delay; we should try to catch up with them.

I offered a noncommittal reply, thinking inwardly, Damn it, I hope we don't run into them. Competitors are rivals, and given that the group who robbed this stone tomb had military explosives, perhaps they also possessed sophisticated equipment. If we encountered them, a fight would be inevitable. I didn't care about myself, but the responsibility would be immense if any of these intellectual members of the archaeological team suffered casualties.

But then again, in such a vast desert, how easy would it be for two teams to cross paths? If we hadn't camped near what was the highest dune in the area yesterday, we wouldn't have stumbled upon that looted tomb. There couldn't possibly be such a coincidence twice. Perhaps those guys went back immediately after stealing the dried corpses.

In the following ten-plus days, the archaeological team ventured deeper and deeper into the Black Desert, eventually losing track of the Zidu Subterranean River. For several days, they circled in the same spot. Zidu means "shadow" in the ancient Uighur language, and this underground river was just like a shadow, impossible to capture. Old Man Anliman's eyes were bloodshot; finally, with a shake of his hand, he admitted defeat. It seemed that Hu Da only allowed us to proceed this far.

Everyone was exhausted, too tired to move. There hadn't been a breath of wind in the desert for days, and the sun seemed to linger in the sky for an unusually long time. To conserve drinking water, the team members dug pits in the sand during the day, set up tarps above them, and absorbed the coolness rising from the ground to maintain body moisture. They only traveled at night and in the early morning, splitting the journey between riding camels and driving Vehicle 11.

If they went any further, they wouldn't have enough food or water. If they didn't turn back within a day or two, they would have to slaughter the camels to eat on the return journey.

I looked at these utterly depleted people with cracked lips, knowing they were near their limit. As the sun began to rise and the temperature climbed, I told everyone to dig pits and rest.

After they were settled, Shirley Yang found me and Anliman to discuss the route.

Shirley Yang said, "Captain Hu, Old Mr. Anliman, in my copy of that British explorer's notes, there is a record. That British explorer also lost track of the Zidu Subterranean River deep in the Black Desert. In this patch of barren, dead sea, two massive black magnetic mountains stood facing each other in the afterglow of the setting sun, like two ancient warriors clad in black armor, silently guarding an ancient secret. Passing through a valley resembling a massive gate, a legendary city appeared before him."