My adventure with the jack-o'-lantern
Now it is said that this situation is a "phosphorus fire", which generally occurs in rural areas, more than the wheat fields in the cemetery in summer dry days, and it is said that it is a phenomenon of phosphorus spontaneous combustion.
I don't know if this statement is correct, but I did meet a "jack-o'-lantern", and it was in the middle of winter, in the snow and ice.
It was the nineties, but I can't remember the exact year. I only remember that it was the carnival period of gold rush in Lop Nur. Many people dream of getting rich overnight, and take cash to Lop Nur to invest and develop their dream gold mine.
I was lucky enough to be a Shawa. Gold is not so easy to dig. Old people say that only virtuous people deserve gold. The gold in Lop Nur is not placer gold, but mine gold. In other words, the gold is in the ore. If you want to get gold, you must first find the ore containing gold.
More than half a year has passed, and we prospectors have never found a serious mine again, and the fanatical pursuit of gold has also dropped to the extreme. On a snowy day, I decided to go down the mountain.
Lop Nur is a desert area, known as the Dead Sea no man's land. It is extremely inconvenient to get in and out, unless you have a car or a ride (that is, a car that goes out and comes in).
I finally got in touch with a hitchhiker. I prepared water or steamed bread, took my coat and got on the bus and set off. There are many people going down the mountain. Besides the driver and driver, there are four people plus me. We are not from the same mine, but from different mines. Today, we happened to ride out of the mountain in the same car. The four of us sat in the carriage, and there was no room for us in the cab. This is a Jiefang car, which is used to pull ore or run logistics.
Silent all the way, the weather in late winter is particularly cold, gloomy and snowy. Several of us huddled together to keep warm and wrapped our coats tightly. Occasionally, someone says something, and a few words are not lit. I just hope to go out to Dunhuang as soon as possible. The logistics department of our shelter is in Dunhuang.
It was so stuffy in the car that I don't know how long it took. Suddenly the car stopped and the fire stopped, and the driver didn't understand for a long time. After a while, the driver let us off and said that the car was temporarily out of order, so we tried to find a way.
When I got off the bus, I found that the snow here was bigger than that in the mountains, and it was all on our feet. Several of us are together. In this case, we can only walk. If we repair the car sooner or later, our eyes are all white and there is nothing to light to keep warm. If we stay here, we will freeze to death.
In the end, everyone unanimously decided to go first. If the car is repaired, it will catch up with us. If you are lucky, you may meet the car that came out. We left some water and steamed bread for the two drivers, so the four of us started hiking. I remember it was around three o'clock in the afternoon.
At first, we could easily walk together, encourage each other and help each other. Later, we became more and more unable to walk. Two old brothers named Xiao shouted that they couldn't walk any further. Let me go with another person first. I said no. Let's leave now. Let's go together.
In order to keep up with them, we stopped and walked in the vast snow. In order to be faster, I asked everyone to throw away their bags and luggage, leaving only food and water and go into battle lightly. However, the old brothers are still willing to throw other things on their backs, saying that they don't throw anything. To be honest, they can't walk any further, so they should keep warm.
It's getting dark, it's already night, so we'll just walk for a while and move slowly in the snowy night. After a while, Xiao Lao and his brother said they wouldn't leave anything behind. They opened the bedclothes on their backs, wrapped the quilt around them and rested in place, no matter how we dissuaded them. Just when we were worried, I suddenly found a light ahead, from far to near, like a car light.
I shouted, "car, there is a light in front." Everyone looked in the direction I pointed, and sure enough, they saw a beam of light flashing in front. Now Xiao Lao and his brother are very happy. Let's go. There must be a road ahead. Stop the car on the road to pull them.
Seeing them like this, there is no way to go on like this, so we have to leave them and go to the illuminated road. We walked for a long time, but we couldn't reach the road. The man who is traveling with me now is surnamed Liang, a Feng Shui master. His good job is to help the boss look after the place, let people camp there, build houses, open accounts for investors and dig Jin Meng.
Probably because of the "headlights", Lao Liang seems to be relaxed and less nervous and anxious. He told me that I couldn't walk any further, and told me to go quickly. I found a way to call a car to pull them. Once people have hope in their hearts, they will become lazy.
Seeing Lao Liang like this, I can only go into battle lightly. Because I had hope in my heart, I quickened my pace and ran to the bright road ahead. But no matter how hard I try, I can't go that way. If I walk fast, the light in front will be fast, and if I am slow, the light will be slow. Then after a while, the light passed quickly from east to west until I couldn't see it.
After a while, the light appeared in front and went west. I can never go that way. I wonder in my heart that there are really many cars after cars on this expressway. Why can't I get on this highway? Why is it so far?
In the middle of the night, now I am alone in the wilderness, one foot deep and one foot shallow, just to walk to the front of the bright "headlights". The only thing I can feel at this time is that my feet are a little numb and my body is still warm. Except for the wind and my footsteps in the snow, it is cold, empty and silent all around, only a white space.
Usually, I dare not walk at night alone at home. Now I am in this desolate world, and I am not afraid. This may be the instinct of human survival. At this time, there is only one thought in my mind, that is, I feel that I can find a way to stop the traffic quickly, and I have forgotten any other thoughts such as fear, hunger and thirst.
I don't know how long I walked and how many miles I walked. When you feel your throat is dry and sticky, grab a handful of snow to moisten your throat and continue to catch up. The lights are always flickering, far and near. For an instant, it seemed to be in front of my eyes, but it disappeared again. In an instant, it flashed in front of me, as if waving to me.
No matter how hard I try, I can't get to the expressway. It seems that the light is playing hide-and-seek with me. My enthusiasm slowly lost, not so strong, and the pace became slow and sloppy. There is only one persistent idea in my heart. Follow this light.
May be walking in the snow for a long time, the footsteps are getting heavier and heavier, and even the waves are rough, and the physical exertion is a bit unbearable. I want to have a rest. But I still told myself that I couldn't stop. Once you stop, you don't want to go.
Just when my hope of finding the highway with light became dim and helpless, something unexpected happened. "Woof, woof, woof", there is a dog barking in front. My heart lit up and I was refreshed. Someone is in front of me. I feel relaxed from head to toe.
Strange to say, since I heard the dog barking, the "light" that guided me to find my way has disappeared and never appeared again. Now hope becomes a dog barking to find someone else. The darkness of the sky slowly fades away, and things around it are blurred and looming. There are ditches, ridges and trees, which used to be sporadic, but later the rows are different in size.
It seems that people are getting closer and closer, and those scattered dog barks are becoming clearer and clearer. After a walk, a graveyard appeared in front of me. I only remember a few mounds (bags made of mud). I suddenly had an epiphany when I passed this cemetery. Isn't that the "car light" I've been trying my best to chase? It's what the old people call lantern ghost-"jack-o'-lantern"!
I met a "ghost fire" on this snowy night. It can be seen that heaven and earth are sometimes so big that I can never see what I want to see, and sometimes so small that I can never see it.
I finally knocked on the door of a local family when it was completely dawn, and only after asking the owner did I know that this was Mengjiaqiao in Dunhuang. I am so hungry that I can't even take off my shoes. I looked at the master's stove for a while before separating them from my feet. Needless to say, you know, my feet are swollen with cold.
You can't enjoy much warmth here. I put up with my foot pain (it hurts after baking) and called the logistics department of our local store (there was no mobile phone at that time) and asked them to inform Xiao Lao and his brother's bosses to drive to carry out rescue work quickly. ...
After many years, I can't remember many things about my work and life, only the story of my adventure with "Jack-o 'lantern" is fresh in my memory. I always believe that the "ghost fire" that led me to Mengjiaqiao is spiritual. Otherwise, why didn't it lead me somewhere else in the middle of the night? ...