This story was heard at the wine table. The storyteller was an old driver named Zhao. He drove a lifetime for an exploration team in a certain area of ​​southern Xinjiang, and retired in his 50s.

That happened in 1992. The exploration team decided to conduct a thorough geological survey of the Lop Nur area. At that time, Lop Nur had completely dried up and became a barren land with no grass. The exploration team sent 7 members, two old Beijing jeeps. Old Zhao is the driver of one of the cars.

The exploration process went smoothly. The team spent three days deep in the hinterland of Lop Nur and obtained first-hand geological data. But on the way back, an accident happened. Another driver’s car accidentally overturned during high-speed driving in order to avoid rocks on the Gobi Desert. Fortunately, the team members inside were only slightly injured. But the old jeep was scrapped. Since Zhao’s car was already full of equipment and people, the three members of the scrapped car couldn’t get in anyway. The captain made a decisive decision and stayed here with the three team members. Zhao and the other two team members drove to the county to find a car to pick them up as soon as possible. In order to reduce the weight of the car, Lao Zhao removed some equipment. After leaving enough water and food for the left-behind team members, Lao Zhao and the other two team members hurried toward the county seat.

Since the scrapping site is still in the hinterland of Lop Nur, it takes about a day to drive to the county seat. Lao Zhao rushed towards the goal at the fastest speed. After walking for two hours, Lao Zhao suddenly saw a figure in the distance ahead. Old Zhao was taken aback, how could there be anyone in this barren land? The place where the man was is also the place where the car must pass, and his strong curiosity drove him to increase his horsepower and drive towards the figure. Getting closer, Old Zhao saw clearly that it turned out to be an old man! Although it’s important to hurry now, I can’t ignore meeting people in such a place. Old Zhao got out of the car and yelled to the old man. The old man didn’t seem to be tired and walked over briskly. Old Zhao said: Comrade, why are you here alone? The old man said: I’m on the expedition team. I went out to find water and got lost. Old Zhao felt sorry for him and decided to take the old man for a ride. Old Zhao said: We are going to the county seat, so please take our car. The old man seemed neither excited nor excited. Calmly said: good.
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The man in the car made room for the old man, and the old man got in the car. The old man looked bookish and wore glasses. While driving, Old Zhao asked where the old man came from. The old man said: Shanghai. Old Zhao asked him the reason for coming here again, and the old man seemed to have not talked much, so he briefly investigated. Old Zhao thought that the old man might be exhausted, so he didn’t ask any more. The team members in the car handed the old man water, and the old man did not appear hungry, so he took a few symbolic sips. The people in the car felt a little strange. The old man didn’t seem to be rescued from being trapped here, but as if he was traveling and hitchhiking.

The old man said nothing on the road. The car drove for a long time. Old Zhao and the other two playersWant to relieve, so stopped the car. The three got out of the car and left the old man in the car. The three of them poured urine into their portable plastic bottles for later use. In this barren land, urine can save people. The three of them finished their urine and prepared to get on the car. One of the team members suddenly called out, the old man, is gone! Old Zhao was shocked and hurried over to take a look. Sure enough, the old man who was in the car just now disappeared! Old Zhao hurriedly ordered the team members to look around. The strange thing was that the surrounding area was open, but the old man seemed to have evaporated, just gone! Old Zhao felt very incredible. It was almost the afternoon, and Lao Zhao felt that it was most important to go back to the county to find a car and rescue the four teammates, so he decided: Don’t look for it, let’s go!
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In the early hours of that day, Zhao successfully rushed back to the county seat, found a jeep, and rushed back to Lop Nur overnight. Near noon the next day, the rescue vehicle found the remaining team members. So the two vehicles left Lop Nur smoothly and completed the survey mission.

In the car, Zhao told the captain about seeing the old man disappear again. The captain was also surprised, saying that he would report to his superiors when he returned.

After returning, Lao Zhao kept thinking about this strange event. He asked his superiors to report the situation many times, but he did not get a reply frequently. Anyone who has spare time to care about things like true or false like you will slowly suppress it.

Two years later, Lao Zhao read in a book about the disappearance of a scientist in Lop Nur in the 1980s. He suddenly felt that the face of the old man was indeed somewhat similar to the missing scientist, but he also thought that the scientist disappeared in the 1980s, but he saw that the old man was in 1992, which was many years behind. But the more Zhao thought about it, the more he felt that the old man looked like the scientist. If it were him, the scientist had been wandering in Lop Nor for nearly 10 years!

Who is the old man? Why did he suddenly appear and disappear again? Old Zhao never found the answer. He thought, in this life, maybe I can’t find it…