On the first day of winter, except for being slightly colder, everything is not much different from the end of September.
The early morning sun was not dazzling. It looked like a big red persimmon in the morning mist.
There was a chill in the morning breeze. Wearing linen underwear and leather armor, I didn't feel very cold. Even a group of hunters who rowed every day walked around barefoot in the cold river water.
The hunters who chose to join the expedition were excited and carried and bundled the prepared gifts onto the new raft.
These rafts are not only larger and stronger, but also have sails set up and a low railing around them. In addition, many ropes are prepared for rescue and pulling.
Those who participated in this trip included Xu Chen and Gu, and in addition to the two of them, there were forty outstanding hunters, including twenty from the Ba tribe and twenty from the captive army. Feng Hemo accompanied him, and Ju Hegao stayed at home.
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Now there are only forty people left in the captive army. Originally, at the Witch Lord Conference, the Gonghuo Clan expressed their desire to redeem some people again, but Xu Chen refused because autumn and winter were the time for construction, and he needed
There were enough people left to help, but he promised to release half of them after the spring without requiring them to pay a ransom. Although the Gonghuo tribe was a little regretful, they happily agreed.
After all, it is not easy to get twenty high-quality sheepskins and wolf skins. The cheating situation of hunting wild wolves like this in hunting competitions is almost impossible to replicate in other tribes. It is difficult to hunt a wolf on ordinary days.
Muba and Amu stood on the pier with all the tribesmen, watching Xu Chen instructing the hunters to get ready. Everyone's eyes were red, and many people even sobbed softly.
After more than an hour of busy work, the morning fog has dissipated.
All the luggage was tied up, the eight rafts with masts were ready, and the accompanying hunters were also ready to go.
Xu Chen turned around and gave some instructions to Muba and a group of tribesmen again. He just asked them to complete the task according to his plan, and at the same time make large quantities of wooden plows and rakes, prepare for larger-scale land reclamation and planting, etc.
After the explanation, he reached out and touched the slightly messy hair of Ye who was standing in front of the crowd with tears on his face, and then explained a few more words, then walked up to the little witch and said: "I'm leaving, tribal matters
It’s all up to you!”
"Your Majesty the Witch King, the witches will definitely obey your will and take good care of everyone!"
The little witch slowly squatted in front of Xu Chen, with red eyes, and nodded vigorously.
It was obvious that she wanted to cry, but she held it back strongly.
"Don't worry, we will all come back safely, so the Mother Goddess will bless us!"
"Yes, the Mother Goddess will definitely bless His Majesty the Witch King and everyone!"
The little witch nodded seriously, with a hint of crying in her voice.
"We're leaving, everyone, take care!"
Xu Chen swung his cloak and strode towards his flagship...the largest raft among them.
Gu Heju and six other boatmen are already in place.
Xu Chen boarded the raft, stood firm, raised his eyes to look at the red sun, and roared to set off.
"Woo~~~~"
The golden horn blew, and the melodious and clear sound echoed across both sides of the river.
"Uga~~"
On and off the shore, all the hunters simultaneously raised their paddles, wooden poles or weapons in their hands and shouted to the sky.
One raft after another slowly left the dock and river bend, drifting downstream along the flowing Wulong River.
"Oolong water, vast waters, keep me and nourish me. My hometown is far to the southeast, the road is long and blocked, and the surrounding fields are vast. Where I want to go..."
The little witch sang and danced on the pier, her singing became more and more ethereal, the early winter wind fluttered her dress, her hair flew with the wind, she held the golden scepter high, and tears flowed down her cheeks unknowingly.
This is a new blessing song that Xu Chen filled in for her with invented words. It is easy to understand and has a long artistic conception. It is said that it is suitable to be sung when saying goodbye and can bring blessings from the gods to people traveling far away.
A girl in a white skirt was running along the river bank chasing the raft, waving and crying and shouting.
"Chen Ga, I'll wait for you. Return to Ga early..."
"Stop chasing, go back, I will come back as soon as possible. On Mother's Day in the spring, I will put feathers on you..."
Xu Chen waved and shouted, but his voice was quickly blown away by the howling river wind.
Amidst the vague singing, eight rafts lined up in a straight line, drifting faster and faster down the river. In the blink of an eye, they were already hundreds of meters away.
The Taotao Wulong River is both clear and cold, and the vast river beaches and rolling green mountains on both sides of the river are whizzing by in front of everyone's eyes.
The raft gradually went further and further away, and finally faced the morning glow and sunshine, disappearing between the golden sky and the earth.
The sky is high and the water is long.
It is unknown whether the road ahead is a large river or a rapid rapids, because human footsteps have never set foot on this huge river. In more places, wild beasts are still rampant and forests are thick.
On the tall mast, two flags fluttered, and the green dragon shadow stirred in the roaring river wind. It seemed to be about to burst out of the sky and soar among the mountains and rivers with its teeth and claws.
There was no need to row the oars at all, the raft just whizzed down the river.
Xu Chen stood in the center of the raft, holding a dragon-tooth scimitar in his hand, with his cloak rolled up behind him, like a warrior leading a huge fleet to conquer the stars and the sea, full of high spirits.
Less than an hour later, the vast and huge river beach at Wuzu Mountain Pass could be seen ahead.
At this time, the sun was shining brightly, and groups of wild animals, large and small, were drinking and playing on the river beach, and an overwhelming number of birds were flying up and down on the golden river surface.
There are hunters of the Uzbek tribe hunting on the river beach, and a group of people are practicing horseback riding on the flat Asakusa River bank.
"Wild ho ho ho ho..."
The hunters on the raft shouted loudly to the river beach.
The hunters who were hunting and riding horses on the river beach soon discovered the array of rafts flowing down the river. They immediately became excited and rushed to the river bank with cheers. They jumped and jumped at the rafts and howled like ghosts and wolves.
"Sound the horn, dock in shallow water!"
Xu Chen issued the order.
"Woo~~~"
The horn sounded, and all the people on the raft quickly paddled to change the direction of the raft, slowly leaving the rapids in the middle of the river, and slowly moving closer to where the Uzbek hunters gathered.
It was Long who was leading the hunters to hunt and ride horses on the river beach. Seeing Xu Chen's long journey, they all jumped into the river to help get the raft to the shore, and then excitedly surrounded Xu Chen, expressing their desire to follow him and go surfing outside.
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Xu Chen shook his head and refused the request. It wasn't that he didn't want to bring more people, but that he didn't plan to go too far during this trip. He mainly wanted to inquire about the distribution of human tribes and resources on both sides of the river within a few hundred miles downstream.
There are dangers, of course, but generally they will not aim at war or conquest. If they encounter a tribe that is too powerful and has great malice, they will naturally leave quickly.
Therefore, while appeasing Long and other Uzbek hunters, he asked them to build some rafts as soon as possible and practice in a safe area near the river mouth. Next year, they would unite with other tribes and go down the river to conquer more tribes.
The structure of the raft is simple, and it is not difficult to drive. All the tribes have already understood it clearly from the last hunting competition across the river. Xu Chen is not worried that they will not be able to do it, but after all, water and fire are ruthless, and humans can compete with the most ferocious beasts on land.
It's a wild beast, but in the water, it's not as good as a loach.
What's more, there is no telling what kind of terrifying species may be hidden in this huge river that has been flowing for hundreds of millions of years.
Just now in the section of the river from the Ba tribe to the Wu tribe, I saw countless huge black shadows floating and floating in the water.
In summer and autumn, large fish several meters long often appear in the river, swimming on the water like giant crocodiles.
There are large beavers more than two meters long in the Jicang River near the Gonghuo Tribe. According to the current climate characteristics, it is not surprising that there are large crocodiles or larger anacondas in the Wulong River. There may even be even more terrifying ancient creatures hidden there.
biology.
Therefore, Xu Chen himself was actually worried about this trip.
But for him, the waterway is indeed the most convenient and fastest mode of transportation at the moment. He must open up this waterway to obtain more information for survival and development.
The Uzbek people will definitely be the main force in future expeditions, but they still need more preparation and training. After all, rowing and riding horses are completely different. Without long-term training, they may be wiped out collectively when encountering danger.
After staying near the mouth of the Uzu River for half an hour and briefly communicating with Long and other Uzu hunters, the raft team set off again and headed down the river.
Watching the raft ride away in the wind and waves, a group of hunters felt that riding horses was no longer interesting. Many people shouted to quickly cut down wood and build a raft to start training.
Long Ye felt that building a raft was more urgent than riding a horse at the moment, so he got on his horse and headed straight for the valley with a few hunters.
Under the leadership of Xu Chen, the Ba tribe always developed a step ahead of others. Other tribes were desperately trying to catch up, and the peripheral Gonghuo tribe was left behind three circles to eat ashes.
Although Xu Chen values the Wu tribe very much, and he also thinks highly of the group of hunters trained by Dragon, they are foreigners after all. If they cannot keep up with the pace of the Ba tribe, they will be slowly abandoned by Xu Chen in the future.
Moreover, winter is the time when rivers are slow and river animals are dormant. It is also the safest time.
When spring begins, a large number of fish and river beasts of terrifying size will come up the river downstream. When the floods come in summer, the terrifying roars of river beasts can be heard day and night in the river, and even stretches of water can be seen.
There are huge beasts floating and swimming in it for miles, which makes people feel frightened to the point of chilling all over their bodies.
No one knows what the giant beasts in the flood are, but countless terrifying legends have been left since ancient times. Deep in the rivers, especially in the abyss and giant pools, there are ancient ferocious beasts that can devour everything.
Then the flood will surge into the sky, if it is hidden, the wind will be calm, if it roars, the wind will cause the water to rise, and if it moves, it will cause a violent storm.
They dominate the waters of the world.
Any human being who offends these water gods will sink into them, and their flesh and blood will be devoured.