... blue dot, there were three of them. He chose the nearest. Surprisingly, she was not on a rock, but went out, through an abandoned well, near the camp. The stone slab stepped aside and then fell back into place. No one would have guessed that behind this wall there is a passage underground.
Apparently, earlier, magicians from this fortress, the last bastion of the Small-An aristocracy, fled along these underground passages. Interestingly, if Shir Ali could read in Aramaic, then in the city of Nara, in Japan, near the temple, there was an inconspicuous rock. It was written on it that in 753 AD, 861 aristocrats and 1200 soldiers accompanying them arrived from the far western lands of Tsao's kingdom, fleeing the Arabs. They were the last aristocrats and magicians wielding magic, but it was powerless against the Arabs. It did not work, as did their cultivation levels. With the Arabs, there was the light that scattered all sorts of magic.
In 751, a Korean general serving the imperial forces of Tang, Gao Xianzhi, was defeated but managed to gain a foothold in another area. So the power parity was achieved for a while.
But the rule of Tsar Tsao and the kings of Small-An, Big-An, Hoshi came to an end, the aristocrats fled to the extreme east.
Among them, there were magicians from this rock. Running away, the magicians took away everything that they could carry away, which could bring them the opportunity to buy protection in distant lands, and build their cities. What happened to them, the story is silent. But apparently, they disappeared among millions of islanders.
Shir Ali returned to the village when the sun had already set over the horizon, and his mother was waiting with tensed eyes at the camp gate, holding Samir-Ali, who had fallen asleep, in her arms.
The camp was lively. Military trucks, jeeps, soldiers were loaded in them. Nomads rode horses on horseback across the desert, temporarily allowed to visit the enclosed area. They searched for Shir Ali for the second day and could not find his tracks.
In the desert was his father, who did not sleep and did not eat, he had black circles under his eyes. The head of the camp, tearing his hair out, a delegation from the Ministry of Justice of the federal state of Small-An was to arrive soon, moreover, the minister was a relative of Mir-Ali.
The empire was slowly breaking at the seams, and the camp leader wanted to leave without scandal. Clan Hontur gained power in Small-Ahn, and now in every possible way sought to review the case. Saying that Mir Ali is a hero, not an enemy of the people! The head of the camp did not want to be affected by all these "debriefing" of the elite of the empire and the vassal state. He was no longer so impudent, for he already knew, for sure, that the empire had remained only a few months before its final collapse!
Of all those who were in a panic, only one warehouse manager was calm, he was sure of his colleague, he knew that Shir Ali, cunning and able to make money out of everything, did not disappear, but simply found something interesting! But he was respectfully silent, so as not to attract attention to himself! Money, love silence!
On the horizon, a small figure appeared, with a large backpack ...
... he was first hugged, then kissed, then hit on the ass with a belt, and then his mother cried. The camp leader sighed in relief, the soldiers smiled. A couple of jeeps left for the desert, recalling those who were looking for a little fidget.
In the evening, those who were looking for him and who were worried, wanting to listen to his story, where he was so late, gathered in a large and beautiful yurt.
Shir Ali had to invent, he could not tell the truth, since the empire still existed. She could take out national treasures, plunder the cultural heritage. But most importantly, the soldiers would have killed his friends who lived there for thousands of years. That would be a betrayal on his part.
Therefore, Shir Ali, told almost the truth, because during his wanderings he saw a lot of things, the ruins of old castles, treasures lost in the sand, the skeletons of old cars with some boxes. Probably rock samples.
As a result, he could easily come up with a true version of his absence.
"What happened"? "Why have you been gone 2 days"? "Where have you been"? the head of the camp began to inquire.
Everyone in the yurt looked at Shir Ali in all eyes, their pupils narrowed, many pursed their lips, so that they turned into thin holes, and put their hands on their heads.
"Well, what do you say?" encouraged son, Mir Ali.
"I, I, decided to cut the path ... I lingered because I found a whole field of licorice root ... I dug up for a long time ... the sun began to decline ... I ran" here Shir Ali began to whimper very naturally!
And his teacher, a colleague in the workshop, the warehouse manager, so to speak, was touched by a young talent who, quite plausibly, knocked out, with his knee, an avaricious tear from all those gathered! Talent will go far if someone doesn't stop it in time!
Father, patted his hair, his mother sobbed, the audience gathered tears.
"I decided to cut the path ... went along the sands, along the dunes, rolled down the slope ... and then fell into the oasis under the sand. I thought I could not breathe. It was dark, not enough air, it was scary! "
"And then I, I, was inside something. The floor was wooden, benches, wooden crates, iron barrels, two iron crates ... then fell into a faint, I lay there a day. And when I woke up, looked around, was in the back of the truck ... looked in the drawers, there were only some stones ... and iron boxes ... there was just that ... "Shir Ali took out from his pocket, two oil in revolvers, Nagant M1895 *.
Officers immediately took the weapon from the boy's hands! They began to inspect it with curiosity, it was in engine lubrication, opening, they saw completely empty drums.
"Where are the ammo?" immediately asked the regime officer.
"I didn't see them, there were only these cardboard boxes", the boy again pulled out of his pocket a couple of small boxes, darkened with time. They were weighty.
The chief of the regime, opened one, from it, the yurts, greenish cartridges fell on the floor of the yurt, such Shir Ali saw for the first time.
"And that there are many of them?" someone asked.
"Yes, one box only these things, he pointed to the revolver in the hands of the elders", "and in the other box these boxes lay." The boy answered.
"And what kind of stones were there, you took them too?" asked the regime officer.
"Yeah, I took it, but they are heavy, so while walking from that place, I slowly threw them away. He brought only three with him, here they are! " Shir Ali unwound his waist scarf and dumped three pieces.
Before their eyes lay a gray stone, streaked with quartz, and small grains of golden color. The second piece was rounded, irregularly golden in color, and the third was just a leather pouch.
Mir-Ali gasped, he immediately realized that his son had found. The regime chief was looking at the finds with surprise, apparently, he didn't come across this before. But the eyes of the camp leader flashed. Prior to the Graduate School of Public Security Management, he was a student of the Faculty of Geology. But he was recalled to strengthen state security agencies. Like a young communist. It was the will of the party, so he replied only "eat, proceed to execution!"
He looked at a piece of rock, at a rounded stone, his confidence grew stronger. With a high degree of probability in the bag, there should have been sand or pieces of gold color.
Most likely it is ...
... it was gold sand. Most likely, Shir Ali, without realizing it, found a lost expedition that died in the sand 50 years ago. They were looking for gold deposits in the middle of the desert.
They tested the idea of a mad scientist who claimed that a huge river flowed in the desert, and in the center of the desert was one of its meanders, and it should have rich deposits of gold.
A crazy professor, shouting about this during interrogation, he did not ask for anything but to send an expedition there. He gave directions on where to find topographic maps, where the place was marked. He was shot as a foreign spy. And then they sent an expedition of five vehicles. She left the capital of Small Ahn, the city of Si-mi-se-kan at the end of the winter of 1934. Since then, no one has seen her. There were 15 scientific workers and three employees of the People's Commissariat of State Security.
They disappeared, but they found a gold deposit, the head of the camp, did not doubt it. And why they did not reach, why they disappeared, you can only find out about this by inspecting the place where Shir Ali found the car. But apparently, they fell into a dust storm or were robbed. In those days, in Small Ahn, there was a civil war. Anything can be?
"Wow"?! "For such a thing, it's time to reward you, namely, it's easy to knock off a term and transfer it to a comfort zone!" immediately blurted out the head of the camp.
"Show me what else I found"? he went to the backpack, opened it, and there was snake meat on which he did not even flatter. "Ugh, what a nasty thing!" "And are you going to eat this?" He thought that all the same, these local natives, strange people, but it were not his business to condemn their food tradition.
In the backpack, in addition to snake meat, there were licorice roots, in the bags lay flowers and stalks of thyme. Frozen dew with camel spines. A few matches, a handful of two fried locusts.
Knife, iron mug, bowl, bowler, tripod. Some other roots unknown to him, a pair of silver, old coins, about a dozen copper ones. Water flask.
Nothing special.
"And that there were no papers, topographic maps?" holding silver coins in his palms and tossing them up, he asked casually.
"Where did you get these coins, by the way?"
"And I found coins in the sand, a week ago, there were still some fragments of dishes, but I did not dig, I took what was in the sand," Shir Ali said yawning. He really, really tired and wanted to eat meat as quickly as possible.
"Gr-gr-gr-gr." Growled his stomach. The officers grinned.
"So, you did not answer me?" again asked with a smile the senior officer, the head of the camp.
"I didn't see the cards there, but there were some papers, when I touched them, they turned to dust, so I didn't touch them anymore," Shir Ali honestly admitted.
"Ahahahahaha, well you did well that you did not touch them anymore! And what can you show right now this place, how far it is from here "the officer asked with a wide smile and stern eyes.
"I want to eat"! answered Shir Ali. "I'm tired, I want to eat and sleep!"
"Yes, I understand, but it is very important for our country," the officer objected.
"Well, how do you help?"
"Yes"! said Shir Ali right away. He was unhappy, but did not want to anger the officer.
"That's good, Shir Ali, how far is the place, how can we find it?"
"On the stones that I left! And the place is three hours away! " Shir Ali blurted out right away.
"Well, fine, then for now, stay at home, tomorrow we'll go with you again, and for now, rest," the officer said.
"By the way, I'll take these" Toys ", and these stones with bags in boxes, you don't mind hopping?"
"Of course, why do I need this? It's not interesting, there's no sense in him, if he wants to, he'll take it! " with a wide children's smile and sparkling eyes, the boy answered.
"Well, okay, it's too late, it's all up to me, and you and you, stay with Shir Ali, he needs a good rest and let no one bother him! Okay, see you tomorrow, good night, Hero! " smiling with a happy smile, he went out, followed by the guests. They were glad that the boy was found.
"The first, second, third, fourth platoon, by vehicles ..." the command rang out in the distance, "fifth, sixth, seventh to twelfth, reinforce guards, rest rest."
Cars drove out at night, outside the camp, they drove into the desert. After a couple of hundred meters, they really saw the stones, they were picked up, veins or golden crystals were visible in them.
An hour later, the cars stood near a small oasis, it was night. Only the stars and the moon shone. Soldiers jumped out of the car onto the sand. It was cold. Their assault rifles butt, beat against pots, a clanging sound was heard.
They turned on spotlights, which flashed nearby, a pit, and were visible in the sand, small, human tracks.
Perimeter security was deployed. But this is another story about how a rich gold deposit was found in the desert. The total value, which was estimated at 1 trillion. US dollars. This deposit was developed by the second empire, but the results were already enjoyed by the elite of the new country, Small-An, selling gold and surprisingly uranium. But this has nothing to do with our story about Shir Ali. Since the glory for the find, attributed to a completely different person. But Shir Ali was not against it at all!
The guests have left.
And Shir Ali's mother, she couldn't look enough at her son, his father gave him a head slap and then hugged him tightly. Samir Ali was peacefully snoring on his mother's lap.
After a while, in the center of the yurt, a small wooden table was laid, on it stood a sumptuous dinner, snake soup with thyme and other spices. The camp leader sent them a large pot of boiled rice with stewed vegetables, the warehouse manager left a small gift for his student in the corner of the yurt. With a dozen jars of condensed and baked milk. It was a generous gift for the desert! The senior regime officer ordered to temporarily bring a large 10 bucket samovar, which was melted by the two remaining officers to guard.
Hontur, that aristocrat who loved ballet and went to museums, recognized by ear the works of Brahms and List, tears suddenly appeared in her eyes. From a seemingly simple and unpretentious find.
She herself still poorly understood that her ancestors were ordinary people who lived on earth, lived such an ordinary life for centuries for only about 90 years, their family began to live in the city. She just went back to her roots. Nothing more.
Her oldest son is only 8 years old, and he already looked like a small adult, as the breadwinner of the family!
Shir Ali instructed his mother to leave two meters of the snake, in the morning he will make an ointment and medicine for relatives, nomads. Then they can exchange these drugs for additional food, dried meat, a couple of lambs, butter, milk. Which were necessary for the whole family. Mom was just shocked by this, she was also glad. And then there was practically no food left, but only the beginning of the month. The young body of SamirAli could not be content with such poor minerals and vitamin food. Now they will have food until the end of the month and most importantly meat.
To which ShirAli also showed the found licorice roots.
Hontur was in shock! She had never seen licorice roots before, for some reason she thought that the roots immediately took the form of syrup jars.
Shir Ali immediately warned that tomorrow he will go back to the desert, he needs to collect food for exchange with nomads. Soon a regional bazaar was to take place, literally 10 days later, nomads and drivers, oil workers, geologists from all directions were to arrive. The gathering place was not far from the village where ShirAli's parents lived.
While the mother was talking with her son, the father had already prepared snake broth.
What his eldest son spoke in a quiet voice, he heard everything perfectly. Although the son spoke in a yurt, he heard everything. He was taught this.
MirAli never needed this knowledge, he did not boast of it in order to defeat the ladies or to show off to friends or relatives. No one knew that he was a colonel in the security management department. Everyone thought he was a scientist, an astrophysicist, obsessed with finding Maxwell's formula, and he always looked for the Schrödinger cat.
He said something about the conflict between Einstein and Poincare. But this was a closed topic, both in the scientific world and in the world of intelligence. Therefore, in his opinion, he was called only an eccentric and a great restless person from the world of science. That was his cover. Only his wife, Hontur, knew that he was a scout.
The children did not know about this. Shir Ali learned that his grandfather was a secret police lieutenant general just in 29 years old, from his cousin Dara. But it will be so, and the fact that his father, Colonel ShirAli, found out only a year later. But more on that later.
Father, without interrupting the conversation between mother and son, deftly cut off 2 meters from the body of the king of the desert and put it in a stone box, covering it so that dogs and cats did not get into this treat.
And he cleverly cleared the remaining three meters from the insides but left the skin. Since if you cook a snake without skin, it will smell bad and lose its taste and elasticity.
Looking around the yurt, MirAli raised several plants, unpretentious in appearance and roots, all of them were edible. MirAli knew that the Chinese use up to 20 kinds of spices when cooking snakes.
Snake meat improves blood flow, is good for the kidneys, and improves eyesight. But he did not know that the meat of the king of the desert was saturated with magical water that he drank, magical spiritual plants and spiritual animals.
The place where the king lived, now no one knew. Even the king of heaven. This place has long been sought after by all spiritual animals. A place of power and wisdom.
500 years ago, a burning star fell from the sky, on a dark night it formed a crater, breaking through the dragon's vein, which led to the fall of the lowland. Life appeared in her. unprecedented plants that helped all animals, reptiles, reptiles, everyone, learn to improve, gain mental consciousness, comprehend the path of enlightenment.
No one knew what kind of star this was, the dragon lived. Perhaps only the farmer Dara? But he was not in this story, this is the beginning.
The meat of the king of the desert could cure any earthly disease that developed in the creature increased immunity, resistance to poisons, and pollution. The creature that ate the desert king's meat and fat received a lot of spiritual energy, and the creature became cultivated. He could absorb from the air and water, fruits and meat of others, ordinary and spiritual, the necessary trace elements for the construction of a new body, meridians, skeletal system. Such creatures began to possess hidden abilities, their intuition became phenomenal.
Without realizing this, they could live up to 200 years. And their children under 150 years old and at the same time will never be sick.
But this scout did not know, he could only feel that there was a lot of energy in this meat, which was a great success for him. On a low-calorie diet, the colonel began to think badly. And he needed brains to escape from this situation, he was the head of the family, he had to take care of two children and a wife. He was still young, ambition did not leave him. 38 years! This is only the beginning of the path, not the end!
Thinking about this, MirAli put the body of the snake in the cauldron in the ring, added the bones of the ram, which were given to them once a month. A few mint leaves, a grass deer, a subspecies of thyme, chicory roots to add flavor to the soup, and 1 tablespoon of melted lamb from a small leather bag. This is his son, who sells sugar from camel thorns from nomads.
The soup itself was supposed to cook for 6 hours. But adding a few glutamate crystals, which once a month was released as a solder link. Mir Ali wanted to cook soup for 2 hours. He already wanted to eat. To satisfy his hunger, he tore off a piece of meat with his teeth; if the king was alive, he would be shocked by this!
But history has no subjunctive mood.
MirAli brought water from a wooden barrel and poured a pot, preparing a spoon - a hollowed spoon from the branches - he waited for the appearance of foam and began to remove it. Make the broth transparent, not bitter, and tasty. It's a pity that he didn't have vegetables, where did you get them in the desert? Although recently, the clever ShirAli exchanged the blood of a toad and, where he found it, with the old doctor, for two cans of dried Sichuan pepper, dried tomatoes, which for some reason the old man was safe.
MirAli was surprised how an 8-year-old child found a common language with the old man ?! He knew that the blood of a toad was necessary to make a cure for wound healing. But why is it in the 20th century! There is iodine, alcohol. hydrogen peroxide.
But for some reason, he could not understand that in the desert, these medical supplies could not always be at hand.
MirAli already ate snake meat, it resembled chicken meat to taste, only it was a little tougher.
Snake soup, as the old Chinese said, can help defeat the flu, boost immunity, keep warm in the winter, because your blood will become hot!
His acquaintance, the watchman Peter Lee, a Korean northerner whose ancestors moved to Small An at the end of 1898, made snake soup according to a different recipe.
He peeled off the skin of the snake, peeled the film off it, and added the chopped chicken, chicken bones and snakes. A bunch of celery, a bunch of dill, grated ginger root, a mixture of spices - coriander, red pepper, black pepper, little dried Korean herbs, as well as lemongrass, white onion - two small onions, two carrots. Put the soup for 4 hours. The broth was very transparent and fragrant, with a good finish!
MirAli tried to repeat this experience, his family was waiting for food, despite the late night!
It was not a healthy diet in the city, but hungry people, for them, any food is a healthy diet.
The worst disaster is an earthquake, the worst feeling is hunger! Especially hunger, wives, children, and this feeling destroyed him! Thanks to the luck of his son, now they could eat a lot of meat!
Smelling the aroma, the ever-hungry Samir Ali woke up.
Shir Ali was glad to see how the eyes of his loved ones burn with happiness. He understood that you need to say thank you, be thankful for what he has, and for what he does not have, to be restrained, to be able to endure and wait. Only in this way, he will be able to achieve good luck! Pride will be deceived!
And tomorrow he has a new trip to the desert.
In the meantime, he could enjoy a delicious dinner.
But the desert was waiting for him, there were many secrets.
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* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagant_M1895
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meander