In the seconds following the signal flare, we were all stunned. Everyone stared at that enormous object, our minds blank. It wasn’t until the flare extinguished that we reacted, and all the flashlights were immediately directed toward that direction.

The scattered beams of light couldn’t reveal the full shape of the object; under the flashlight’s glow, we could only tell there was something there, but it looked indistinct. If it hadn’t been for the impression left by the signal flare, we surely wouldn’t have noticed anything unusual as the flashlight swept over. From our vantage point below, it was impossible to see clearly.

“What is that thing?” Zaxi muttered to himself.

No one could say what it was. I could only confirm that it was the remains of an ancient wooden object, but I had no idea what it was the remains of. At first glance, it looked like a gigantic coffin, but upon closer inspection, the shape seemed wrong; it appeared to be the remains of a structure. However, I had never seen such a strange-shaped building before.

“Let’s climb up and take a look!” someone suggested, and only then did we react. A few of them wanted to climb up the slope, but I hurriedly stopped them, saying, “Don’t act recklessly; calm down. It’s very high, and this is a dirt mound—not something you can just climb without caution. It would be terrible if something unexpected happened.”

Aning nodded and added, “Right, those three people are still missing. We’ve searched down here and found no clues, so it’s very likely they’re up there. There’s been no movement at all, which definitely indicates something is wrong. There might be dangers up there; we need to be careful. Let me go up first to check. If it’s relatively safe to climb, then you can follow.”

Saying this, she tucked her flashlight into her belt and asked us to shine light for her as she prepared to climb.

At that moment, Zaxi stopped her, saying, “Wait, I’ll go. There’s no reason to make a woman do this kind of thing. I’ve climbed dirt mounds like this many times before; I have far more experience than you.” Without waiting for Aning to respond, he bit down on his dagger, jumped onto the dirt mound, and began to climb up using the dagger as a makeshift ice axe.

He moved quickly, agile as a monkey. We shone our flashlights on him, and he hardly seemed to exert any effort. We watched as he swiftly reached the base of the enormous object. Finding a stable spot, he gestured to us, indicating that it wasn’t difficult to climb, then he shone his flashlight on the object.

From below, we could only see his movements and not what he was illuminating, our hearts racing. The medic asked, “What is that thing?”

“I don’t know,” Zaxi’s voice came down from above. I saw him scratching his head, muttering something in Tibetan, then he said, “Oh my… it seems to be a ship.”

“A ship?” We exchanged glances. Zaxi called out again, “It really is a ship! You all should climb up and see for yourselves.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Aning climbed up. I clumsily followed her, while the medic, being too heavy, slid down after a few attempts. We told him to stay put below and not to act recklessly; it would be disastrous if he fell and got hurt, then we moved closer to Zaxi.

The dirt slope was indeed not difficult to climb; it had a slight incline, and although the soil was quite loose, the surface was very uneven, providing plenty of footholds. We followed Zaxi’s example, using our daggers as climbing axes, and in no time, we reached the top.

I crawled over to Tashi’s side using both my hands and feet; it was very cold up there. I stepped on a few protruding mounds of earth, slipped a bit but regained my footing, and then looked towards that object. However, I was too far away, and Tashi blocked my view, so I couldn’t clearly see if that ship was real or not.

I shifted a bit to make some room for myself, and only then could I see it clearly. Under Tashi’s flashlight, an ancient wreck was embedded in the earth mound, with only half of it exposed while the other half was deeply buried. From its shape, it was indeed an ancient sunken ship.

Aning lit a cold flame and threw it onto the sunken ship. At that moment, the surroundings lit up, and I realized that the ship’s disintegration was quite severe; it had almost merged with the mud, and the wooden hull was completely shattered and had turned to charcoal. On one side of the wooden ship, there was a huge crack that seemed to be empty inside; I could see the mud within, but the deepest part was pitch black and unclear.

I turned to look at the surrounding terrain, thinking this was a major discovery. This area must have once been an ancient riverbed, and this sunken ship sank in the ancient river, wrapped in silt. I never expected that after so many changes, the ancient riverbed had turned into a desert, and the mound surrounding the sunken ship was so much higher than the ground.

Aning climbed to the edge of the ancient ship and shone his flashlight into the crack, revealing a lot of mud and objects wrapped in it. In the mud, I could still see many items resembling pottery.

Aning said, “This seems to be a cargo ship heading to the Western Regions for trade. These are their goods; this is truly a stunning discovery. There are still many people who believe that there was no waterway transportation to the Western Regions.”

In ancient times, this was one of the more treacherous routes among the seventeen Silk Roads, with various countries of the Western Regions scattered across this desolate land. This area was a middle ground for trade between Arab and Chinese civilizations. Countless rivers used to bustle with activity here; I can’t imagine how many pieces of cloth and silk made their way through these waterways to the West. It is said that the royal families of the Western Regions could even eat watermelons from the Central Plains. Back then, the river channels changed constantly, and many merchants and travelers became stranded and sank due to the shifting ancient rivers. There are at least a thousand sunken ships buried deep in this desert, but because of the frequent changes in the desert, they are almost impossible to find. I never expected to discover one here.

The team doctor couldn’t see anything below and was anxious, shouting, “What do you see? Are those three people up there?”

Tashi called down a few times to answer him, but what the doctor said next was unclear.

At that moment, I suddenly thought of the Caucasians; perhaps they climbed up to check because they saw this sunken ship. The area below had been thoroughly searched, and no one was found; they should be up there. However, I had just looked around the cliffs, and there was no sign of any people. Where could those three have gone?

Aside from this sunken ship, there was nowhere else for people to hide in these rock walls. Could it be that the three of them were inside the sunken ship?

Just then, the moon was covered by dark clouds, and the surroundings became even darker. We all found a spot to steady ourselves. I asked Aning to turn on the walkie-talkie and look for a signal.

Aning took out the walkie-talkie, and as soon as she turned it on, a very clear sound came through. She waved it around, and the signal was pretty much the same everywhere. Then Zaxi pointed to the boat and suggested that she aim it at the ancient ship to give it a try. As Aning leaned closer, we really heard an incredibly clear sound coming from the walkie-talkie when she got near the crack in the ancient ship.

We looked at each other, feeling it was quite unbelievable; it seemed that the signal was indeed coming from inside the ancient sunken ship. Zaxi looked at the crack and said, “This is really bizarre. Did those three idiots crawl inside?”

The crack was wide enough for a person to crawl through, but we weren’t sure if there was enough space inside for them. We shone our flashlights in and found that the inside of the ship was very deep and dark. I called out several times, but no one responded.

“What should we do?” I asked.
“They might have gone in but then come out again and dropped the walkie-talkie inside,” Aning said. “Or they could have had an accident inside.”
“But how is that sound being made?” I asked.
“That’s something no one can answer, but we’ll find out by going in,” Aning said, giving me a look. She then put down her backpack, indicating that she wanted me to crawl in with her.

Zaxi, as the guide, needed to conserve his strength. Since Aning and I were the only ones with a normal build, I couldn’t really refuse. She took off her outer jacket, bit down on her dagger, and crouched down to crawl into the crack.

Once inside, mud from the ship’s hull kept falling down, but fortunately, the hull was quite sturdy. After she crawled in and steadied herself for a few seconds, Zaxi handed her the flashlight. I then took off my jacket and crawled in as well.

The crack was just wide enough for me to squeeze through, but the inside was larger than I had expected. Clumsily, I crawled in and found myself in a world of mud; the ceiling was covered in dry mud, making it impossible to sit up. We could only crawl forward. The space inside the ship should have been quite large, but it was now almost completely filled with mud; we were essentially in a mud pit.

Aning was using the walkie-talkie, which was emitting that cold, mocking sound clearly. The sound was exceptionally loud in here. Looking at the pitch-black interior of the ship, my heart raced. What could be making that sound?

Aning adopted a side-crawling position, similar to how soldiers drag their rifles while crawling. She moved forward with one hand while using the other to shine the flashlight around. I gasped for breath, mimicking her, and began to shine my flashlight around the muddy space. It was all mud, with only a few scattered wooden pieces embedded in it; I felt like I was in a tunnel warfare scene.

This mud must have poured in after the ship sank. The ship at that time probably hadn’t completely submerged, so the mud didn’t fill the entire cabin. Beneath this mud should be the cargo that was being transported; I wondered what it contained.

After crawling about seven or eight meters in, we could directly hear that strange sound. Without the walkie-talkie’s filtering, the sound was slightly different; it was coming from the very back of the cabin, faintly. Aning paused, turned off the walkie-talkie, and began to crawl toward the direction of the sound.

I kept a slight distance from her, giving her some space to retreat. Before I could climb a few steps, An Ning let out a scream and stopped. I quickly crawled over, peering around her side, and saw a hole the size of a round table at the end of the cabin, covered by dirt, as if it had collapsed. There was actually space below; I shone my flashlight down and saw a chaotic scene filled with chunks of earth that had fallen from above, with a person buried inside, only their upper body exposed.

When I shone my flashlight, I realized it was one of the missing people, their face covered in mud and their complexion ashen, I couldn’t tell if they were alive or dead. That cold, mocking voice had come from the pile of dirt below.

“They’re really down there!” I shouted, thinking these people were playing a dangerous game. As I yelled, I pushed forward, wanting to hurry down and dig them out.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I yelled, that cold, mocking voice suddenly disappeared, and the entire cabin fell silent.

The sudden silence startled me, causing my hands and feet to freeze momentarily.

Then I recalled that we had just discussed how this voice was a distress signal. Now that I had shouted, the sound stopped, which clearly indicated that someone had heard my call and ceased signaling. There were two possibilities: either the person believed rescue was near and felt it unnecessary to continue signaling, or they heard us arriving, lost their will to survive, and fainted.

Regardless of which scenario it was, we had to get them out immediately, especially in the latter case. I knew many people in distress lose their will to survive right before being rescued, resulting in failure.

An Ning shared the same thought; she asked me to shine the light for her as she crawled over and carefully slid into the hole. I followed her, but she told me to stay above and assist from there.

Tashi, outside, heard my shout and yelled at us, asking about the situation inside. I told him to wait until I got a clearer picture.

From this position, I could see better. Below the hole should be the second level of the ancient ship’s cargo hold, or the lower hold. It was generally used to store fragile items since the bottom would not sway violently. The space in the lower hold was small and filled with dirt, but the level of erosion was far less than where I was. I could still imagine this being the interior of a ship, seeing many clay pots mixed in with the dirt, presumably cargo, though I had no idea what they contained.

Once An Ning went down, she immediately started clearing the dirt off the person and placed her hand on their neck to feel for a pulse.

I asked anxiously, “How is it?”

An Ning visibly trembled for a moment, turned back to me, and shook her head, indicating it was no use.

I sighed. An Ning began digging away the dirt, quickly unearthing the person and dragging them to the side. At that moment, I noticed that among the dug-up dirt, another person was revealed. I saw hair and a hand, and An Ning continued to dig, but this person was buried more deeply. After a while, there was no progress.

I couldn’t bear to watch any longer and jumped down to help. As soon as I touched the person’s hand, I felt a sinking sensation in my heart, knowing there was no hope; their hand was icy cold—they were already dead.

We exerted tremendous effort to dig him out and dragged him to the side. Beneath this person, I saw the pale face of a Caucasian man, curled up with wide-open eyes, his hand reaching forward, gripping a walkie-talkie, maintaining a stiff posture as if he wanted to crawl out from inside.

It seems he was the one sending the signal, I thought, noticing the walkie-talkie in his hand. I pulled him out, and Aning felt his neck, her expression changing, “He’s still alive!” She immediately unbuttoned the Caucasian man’s clothing and began performing CPR while shouting at me, “Tell Zashi to get the medic ready for rescue; someone is buried and suffocating.” With that, she started giving the Caucasian man artificial respiration.

I scrambled up and shouted outside. Upon hearing me, Zashi immediately called to the medic below the earth mound. I turned around and saw the Caucasian man convulsing slightly, his body curling up, and he began to vomit, but it was evident that he had regained his breathing.

“You go up and take over!” Aning said to me in an authoritative tone, her voice calm yet filled with command.

I was momentarily stunned, suddenly jolted by her demeanor, and reflexively did as she instructed. Aning quickly stripped off her own clothing, tying it around the Caucasian man to make a makeshift stretcher, tossing the sleeves to me and instructing me to pull hard.

I gritted my teeth and pulled up with all my strength while she lifted from below, bringing the Caucasian man up. Then, I dragged him out of the crack in the sunken ship with great effort. Outside, Zashi was already preparing. As soon as the Caucasian man was pulled out, Zashi hoisted the tall man onto his back, securing him with a belt, and began to climb down. I was exhausted, helping Aning out while gasping for breath, following closely behind to protect Zashi, and then slowly climbing down.

After immense effort, several times I saw Zashi nearly fall, but thankfully he was quick enough to stabilize himself with his dagger each time. We finally reached the bottom of the earth mound, where the medic was ready. We laid the Caucasian man down on the ground, and the medic immediately prepared to provide assistance.

However, just as he tore open the Caucasian man’s clothing, he suddenly convulsed, grabbing the medic’s shirt. We hurried over to hold him down. The medic uncovered his outer clothing, and I felt a wave of nausea wash over me; beneath his thermal jacket, it was all blood, and there appeared to be external injuries.

The medic used scissors to cut open his inner clothing, and as he lifted the bloodied fabric, he exclaimed, “Oh my God.” At that moment, I almost vomited. I saw that the Caucasian man’s abdomen was riddled with tiny blood holes. There wasn’t much blood flowing, and the holes were very small, but there were densely packed, at least twenty or thirty of them.

“What kind of wounds are these?” Zashi asked.

The medic shook his head, “I don’t know. It looks like… he was stabbed by something, something with a diameter similar to a screwdriver. But how come the clothing isn’t torn? Did you all not notice anything at the scene?”

We all shook our heads. In fact, it was so chaotic at the time that we really didn’t pay attention to his abdomen, but we could confirm that his clothing had no holes. It shouldn’t be external injuries caused by the collapse.

Now we can’t worry about so much anymore. The team doctor asked us to help hold him down, first to give him a shot, then he did a quick examination and injected him with something, and finally brought out a small oxygen bag for him to breathe. Perhaps it was the effect of that injection; the Caucasian gradually quieted down.

After all this, we were drenched in sweat. The team doctor wiped his sweat and told us to find a way. The man was very weak now, and we couldn’t take him outside, but the larger equipment was in the vehicle outside, which needed to be brought in. Additionally, we needed a tent and sleeping bags to keep him warm; we could only move him out once he stabilized.

Only Zaxi knew how to look at his pile of stones; he said he would go get them and also call some people in to help. It took us a long time to come in, but it would be much quicker to go out. I said I would go with him, but he said it wasn’t necessary; he could do it faster alone, and I should stay here to keep an eye on things.

After saying that, he ran off. The team doctor unbuttoned the Caucasian’s clothes, returned them to Anning, then took out a thermal blanket from his backpack to keep several important parts of the Caucasian warm.

I lit a smokeless stove, increased the flame, and set it aside to warm a few people, while also taking out some liquor; all these things were meant to ward off the cold. We had just sweated a lot, and the nights in the Gobi are quite cold, making it easy to get sick.

The fire roared to life, illuminating the surroundings and warming us up immediately. The team doctor continued to treat the Caucasian’s wounds while Anning and I stepped aside, the fatigue of several hours suddenly washed over us. I sat down on a large stone to drink water, while Anning put on her clothes; both of us were covered in dirt and looked quite disheveled. I gave her a wry smile, but saw her leaning against a dirt mound, fiddling with the walkie-talkie, looking rather frustrated.

I thought of her earlier demeanor and said to myself that it wasn’t easy. For a woman to be so capable in such a situation, it must have been forced out of her. Thinking about how tough a woman must be to reach that level is truly a bit heart-wrenching.

However, it was strange; she didn’t seem like someone who was lacking money, and she didn’t look happy doing this kind of work. What exactly was she doing that made her work so hard for Jude? And to the extent of risking her life, it was really puzzling. I thought I would ask her about it when I had the chance.

After taking a few sips of water, I felt the need to relieve myself, so I took a detour to the bottom of the dirt mound to urinate. In the desert, this was how everyone was; I had gotten used to it.

While I was urinating, suddenly I heard a strange cold laugh from behind a nearby rock. That voice was exactly the same as what I had heard on the walkie-talkie earlier, and it sent a chill down my spine. I turned to look at that rock, thinking to myself, could it be that I had been hearing this voice all along and was imagining things?

I hope this helps! If you have any more requests, feel free to ask.