The next day, early morning.

Qi Yun looked at the endless dunes ahead, with a slight frown.

The depths of the desert all looked the same, seemingly without anything special...

Although they had arrived, the intel only provided a coordinate, and he couldn't even be sure what he was looking for or if there was anything here at all.

If it weren't for the overlap with the location on the shipwreck map, he probably wouldn't have made this trip.

Zhan Hongbo squatted down, running his fingers through the sand: "This sand is prismatic, with erosive pits on the surface, a typical feature of ancient riverbed deposits."

"But the key is its distribution range." He raised his arm and pointed northwest, "From here to the Yadan Group we passed, within a straight line distance of fifteen kilometers, it's all this fine sand. Natural deposition couldn't form such a regular rectangular distribution."

Zhan Hongbo took out a small notebook he carried, flipping to a page with some written notes.

"Last year, during the Taklamakan exploration, I found a similar sand layer structure on the outskirts of the Niya Ruins. During the Han Dynasty, some city-states in the Western Regions mixed sand, clay, and water to build walls. We must be close to an ancient riverbed here."

Qi Yun also squatted, grabbing a handful of sand: "So you're speculating... there might be ancient city ruins below?"

"Sounds unbelievable, right?" Zhan Hongbo chuckled, "Initially, I also found it unlikely."

"After dinner yesterday, I reviewed some earlier notes, and only then confirmed that the situation here is very similar to the outskirts of the Niya Ruins."

"So I speculate that beneath this sand layer, there are at least artificially modified building foundations."

Qi Yun nodded slowly, thinking that it was fortunate Wei Xueming sent someone like him along, otherwise with only amateurs like himself, they'd be groping in the dark even if they got here.

Zhan Hongbo flipped through his small notebook, continuing to explain: "This place is precisely located at the intersection of the ancient Peacock River's old route and the northern route of the Silk Road."

"The 'Commentary on the Water Classic' from the Northern Wei dynasty mentioned that Loulan City was built by the water, with superb craftsmanship. The 'Satellite City' recorded in historical documents is likely in this area."

"Satellite City?" Qi Yun appeared puzzled.

"Yes." Zhan Hongbo sighed, "It used to be a very prosperous city on the Ancient Silk Road, but later it suddenly disappeared in the long river of history..."

"Boss Qi!"

Amid their conversation, they heard Mamati's voice from behind.

Qi Yun turned to him: "What's up?"

"Nothing much." Mamati smiled, handing over two bottles of water, "I just wanted to let you know that this area is basically the hottest part of Lop Nur. By noon, the surface temperature can exceed seventy degrees."

"So if you have any plans, try to carry them out in the early morning or late afternoon, otherwise, it's very easy to get heatstroke."

Qi Yun nodded, reaching out to take the water: "Alright, thank you."

"I won't disturb you then; call me if you need anything." Mamati turned and walked towards the camp.

Qi Yun unscrewed the cap and took a few sips, gazing at the endless dunes: "Even if there are ruins below, how do we determine the specific location?"

Zhan Hongbo also tilted his head back and gulped down half a bottle of water, wiped his mouth, and replied: "Some written records were unearthed in the Loulan Ancient City ruins, including a passage that says, 'The city's foundation is indicated by the red sand, aligned with the solar track.'

"What does that mean?" Qi Yun asked.

"According to most scholars' guesses and interpretations, it roughly implies that the ancient Loulan people used the sun to orient their city, basing the construction on the sun's position at noon on the summer solstice."

"The sun?" Qi Yun was momentarily stunned, feeling it was becoming more and more elusive.

Zhan Hongbo nodded: "Yes, the ancient Loulan people worshiped the Sun God, believing that the sun's trajectory contained divine messages."

Saying this, he took a folding protractor and tape measure from his backpack, squatting on the sand to measure the sun's altitude angle.

"It's nine in the morning now, the solar azimuth angle is about 68 degrees, and the altitude angle is about 52 degrees..."

"I need a stick!"

Qi Yun turned towards the camp and shouted, "Zhong Rui, bring a stick over."

"Okay!" Zhong Rui responded, soon jogging over with a tent pole, "Will this do?"

"It's fine." Zhan Hongbo took the pole, inserted it vertically into the sand, and then used a tape measure to measure the length of the shadow.

"The ancient Loulan people might have used a similar method to determine the central axis, and on the summer solstice at noon, when the shadow of the pole shortens to 0.5 meters, the direction of the shadow is likely the city's direction."

Qi Yun took out his phone to check the calendar, reminding, "But today is not the summer solstice."

Zhan Hongbo sat down on the sand, took a ballpoint pen from his pocket, and started scribbling in his notebook.

"No problem, we can calculate it; based on precession calculations, in 400 AD, Loulan's summer solstice was on June 22nd, with a solar altitude angle of about 82 degrees. We can extrapolate from the current shadow length..."

Zhan Hongbo rambled on, but Qi Yun didn't understand a word. However, he didn't interrupt, instead taking out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lighting one up.

After more than ten minutes, Zhan Hongbo closed the notebook, turned to Qi Yun, his tone excited: "I have a way!"

"What way?" Qi Yun turned his head and asked.

"I need to stay here today to observe the shadow of this stick." Zhan Hongbo got up from the sand, dusting the sand off his rear, "When the sun sets, I'll likely be able to estimate the approximate location of the structure!"

Qi Yun looked up at the sky; it was just past nine, and it was already starting to heat up. Staying under the sun all day would definitely turn them into mummies.

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