Who knew that Old Man Anliman would suddenly change his mind, shaking his head like a rattle drum, absolutely refusing to enter the ruins of the ancient city of Jingjue. He said that losing companions in the desert was an inauspicious sign, and what was more, Hao Aiguo had been bitten to death by a viper sent by demons. The appearance of a viper with a black tumor on its head indicated that the legend that the Great God Hu had abandoned this desert to the devil was true.

Anliman was deeply religious. In a place without the protection of Hu Da, he wouldn't go even if they were to kill him. We were helpless and had no choice but to rearrange things, letting him set up camp at the mountain pass to look after the camels and supplies.

I had intended to have Fatty stay behind to watch him, in case the old man bolted at the crucial moment and left us stranded... If he ran off, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but without the camels, we would have to drive the Number 11 back ourselves, and how far the Number 11 could go in the desert was really hard to say.

Then I reconsidered. Anliman probably wouldn't run off alone; after all, he had come this far, and he still hadn't received the wages for his guiding work—which wasn't a small sum, enough to provide for him comfortably for the rest of his life.

However, I had suffered losses before due to carelessness, so now I had to be extra vigilant. With that in mind, I grabbed Old Man Anliman’s hand and asked, "Old sir, how does Hu Da punish those who lie and break their promises?"

Anliman replied, "That, well, his family's money, it will turn to sand, even his salt will turn to sand, and in the end, he’ll starve to death, just like dying in the Black Desert, and after death, he’ll be sent to the Hot Sand Hell to suffer one thousand and eight hundred kinds of torment, yes."

Seeing how solemnly he spoke, I felt relieved. A strong religious faith has one advantage: people who fear post-death suffering dare not commit acts that deeply betray their conscience.

Now, only seven of us were entering the ancient city, one of whom was the unconscious Ye Yixin, carried by Chu Jian. The remaining five people had to carry equipment and weapons, plus food and water canteens; the load on each person was not light.

There was a famous saying in the army: "Soldier or not, you carry forty jin." This meant that officers and soldiers in the army carried a minimum of forty jin of gear when marching. Some had to carry heavy infantry weapons like machine guns, flamethrowers, or anti-tank equipment, which were even heavier.

Having served in the field army for ten years, I didn't mind carrying heavy gear, but Professor Chen and the others couldn't handle it. In the end, we had to lighten our loads as much as possible before entering our final destination, the "Ancient City of Jingjue."

The distance from the pass to the ancient city was very short; we reached the city gate in about the time it took to eat a meal. The city gate had long since collapsed beyond recognition, and the trench in front of the gate was filled with yellow sand. We entered the city through a breach in the ruined city wall. The surrounding ruins were dead silent.

This was vastly different from what I had imagined, and I couldn't help but feel deeply disappointed. The streets and houses in the city were either collapsed or dilapidated. From a distance, it looked impressive and grand, but upon closer inspection, there was nothing—only sand, rotten wood, and (broken stones). Where were the gold and silver treasures?

Only several heavily damaged massive wooden pillars and beams, whose vermilion lacquer had long peeled away, offered a glimpse of the city's former luxury.

We tried to peer into the dilapidated houses near the entrance, only to find that although most of the structures were exposed to the desert, the yellow sand inside was piled up to the roof.

Legend had it that the city was destroyed by fire after the allied forces broke into the royal palace. Just as the fighting was nearing its end, a black sandstorm buried the Jingjue Kingdom, along with its residents and army, indiscriminately deep beneath the sands. It wasn't until the nineteenth century that the shifting sands revealed it again.

On-site, it basically matched the legend, but we saw no mummies; they must all be buried under the sand.

I quickly grew bored, but Professor Chen and the others seemed fascinated by everything in the ancient city, staring at a broken wall for half a day.

I had no choice but to remind them that the young girl Ye Yixin was still ill, and saving her was the most urgent matter. It seemed the residential area of the city was completely filled with sand, and we couldn't even find a well. Perhaps we should check the Royal Palace; there might be a water source there.

Professor Chen slapped his forehead, "Ah, I'm getting old and muddled! Saving Little Ye is what matters. Let's hurry to the Royal Palace. These desert kingdoms are always built near underground rivers that surface, and some subterranean palaces even have rivers running through them. The Royal Palace is usually in the very center of the city."

The group searched for direction among the ruins, heading toward the city center. Fatty said to me, "Lao Hu, do you know what I want to eat most right now? I want Hami melon and Mare’s Milk grapes the most. Even a slice of watermelon would do! Sigh... I won't say any more. The more I talk, the thirstier I get; my throat feels like it's on fire! Once we find the underground river, I’m jumping in first for a bath."

I said to Fatty, "That Queen of Jingjue lived a very luxurious life when she was alive; she must have often enjoyed chilled watermelon soaked in the cool underground river water. But even if that watermelon were preserved until now, it's probably turned into watermelon stone, and the grapes might have become raisins."

Fatty complained, "This godforsaken place... I truly can't imagine people living here before. Next time, forget giving me twenty thousand US dollars; even if gold mountains and silver mountains were piled before my eyes, I wouldn't enter the desert again. Of all the ways to die in this world, being utterly parched must be the worst."

Mentioning death reminded me of Hao Aiguo, bitten by that strange snake. Although his death was quick, I couldn't know how painful it was at the moment of passing. The snake's appearance was also bizarre: a black tumor on its head filled with black fluid, and even when cut in half, it could still strike! Shirley Yang had never seen a snake like that, and I wondered if there were any in this city.

The seven of us navigated through the ruins, taking detours around collapsed or sunken areas. After a long walk, we reached the center of the ancient city. The streets here were quite wide. Although covered in yellow sand, the layout and structure of the streets were still discernible.

However, apart from the leaning Black Pagoda, there were no other large structures nearby. Forget the Royal Palace; there wasn't even a decent-looking civilian house—just layers of wind-eroded earthen walls.

Professor Chen suggested that the Royal Palace might be built underground since there was too much sand in the city. He proposed we climb the Black Pagoda to get a better view from above and see if we could spot the entrance to the subterranean palace.

The pagoda’s base and more than half of its arched stone gate were buried in the sand. This Black Pagoda was entirely carved from large stones from Mount Zagrama and was six stories high. Though slightly tilted, it remained very solid. Besides the rare building material, there was a black, olive-shaped stone ball at the very top of the spire.

Professor Chen put on his reading glasses, craned his neck to look for a long time, and then used his binoculars, muttering to himself, "That’s right, why didn't I think of that before?"

I wanted to ask him what he hadn't thought of, but Professor Chen suddenly ducked down and slipped into the pagoda door. He seemed anxious to confirm something, and we quickly followed behind him.

The pagoda walls were densely covered with peculiar Ghost Cave script carvings. Each floor held a black statue. The first floor had a stone sheep, which wasn't particularly noteworthy.

The second floor housed a stone human figure, about the size of an ordinary person, with a high nose and deep-set eyes, kneeling in the tower. The third floor shockingly held the "Giant-Eyed Stone Statue" we had seen when sheltering from the sandstorm in the nameless small town.

Professor Chen stopped on the third floor of the Black Pagoda and told us, "It seems my deduction is correct: the source of those Giant-Eyed Stone Statues unearthed in various places is the Jingjue Kingdom, and the material is that black stone from Mount Zagrama."

Sa Dipeng asked, "Professor, what was this tower used for? Why is there a statue on every floor?"

Professor Chen replied, "I surmise this Black Pagoda was used to display the status of the Ghost Cave people. The statue on each floor represents a different rank. The first floor is for livestock. If I’m not mistaken, there should be another floor underground housing the hungry ghosts from hell. The second floor is for ordinary people, including all the Hu people of the Western Regions; their status is just above cattle and sheep, equivalent to slaves. The third floor is this Giant-Eyed Statue. I just looked; the stone ball on the spire is an eye motif. The Giant-Eyed Stone Man and the eye-shaped totem represent this people's worship of the eye. Let’s hurry up and see what holds a higher status in the Jingjue Kingdom."

Fatty chimed in, "Even someone at my level can guess this. I bet the next one up is a statue of the Queen." With that, he rushed up to the fourth floor.

I followed closely, and what I saw was completely unexpected. The statue on this floor was a snake body with a human head, possessing thick limbs. The hind legs were beast-like, while the forelimbs were human-shaped, holding a sharp sword and shield. The head was a male face, fierce-looking, with wide-open eyes, resembling the wrathful Vajra statues in inland temples. Behind the statue's head was another black sphere, just like the strange snake in the Zagrama Mountains.

By this time, Professor Chen and the others had also arrived. Seeing the bizarrely shaped statue, they marveled, "This seems to be the kingdom's guardian deity. It also has an eye-shaped black sphere on its head. It appears the Ghost Cave people truly believe the eye is the source of all power. The guardian deity's status is below the Queen, suggesting the Queen of Jingjue was indeed deified. Come on, let’s go check the fifth floor to see if that’s the Queen’s statue."