Deep in the North Kargard Mountains of the Principality of Götland, the night sky is covered with clouds, and snowflakes blown up by the strong wind are flying all over the sky. At the foot of the huge mountain peak that penetrates the clouds, the entrance of the cave is almost blocked by snow and ice, and a path in the cave.
It stretches downwards to unknown depths.
Under the entire mountain is a huge space, bottomless, and in the darkness a rock bridge connects the path extending from the cave to the rocky peak on the opposite side of the abyss.
On the mountain peak stands a mostly collapsed castle. The castle is desolate and dilapidated. I don’t know how many years have passed, and time has corroded everything inside into dust and been buried by darkness.
At this time, there was a figure on the land bridge running quickly from the collapsed castle to the other side. The bronze buckler in his hand gave off a faint light, illuminating dozens of meters in front of him. The other hand held a long sword tightly and carried a sword on his back.
It is a long leather bag with leather ropes connected at both ends slung across the chest.
The sound of climbing and the squeaking of teeth came from under the abyss, rising towards the land bridge in the darkness, they were getting closer and closer!
The knight deflected his buckler and slanted the light below the land bridge. The cliff was covered with densely packed six-clawed monsters. A strange head resembling a human face was embedded in the spider-like body, with sharp fangs. The front one had already climbed up.
The cliffs rushed in front of the shield knight, blocking his path!
"Holy light! Protection!" the knight shouted!
The bronze buckler instantly burst into dazzling white light! It illuminated the surrounding area of the land bridge above the abyss!
The monsters surrounding were shocked!
They stepped back like a tide, and the knight raised his sword and charged...
...
Snowflakes were still flying outside the mountain peaks, and the sound of wind and snow never stopped for a moment.
Bang!
The frozen entrance to the cave was suddenly opened by a force! The knight rolled out of the cave covered in blood, and rolled down the valley from the hillside covered with thick snow...
A black figure twisted out of the shadows and quickly approached the shield-wielding knight who didn't know whether he was alive or dead...
...
...
...
Steven stood on a grassy slope a few meters away from the river bank, squinting at the setting sun on the tree canopy in the distance, stretched out his palm and pressed his fingers together to measure the distance between the sun and the tree canopy.
The river more than a hundred meters wide in front of him turned from the northwest and flowed calmly and slowly eastward in front of him.
A group of colorful macaws flew over the jungle behind him from the other side of the river, making noisy and piercing calls.
He turned back, tightened the straps of his backpack and walked forward. A few dozen meters away, two brothers, Kugelmu and Kutumu, were cutting a path through the bushes with machetes. Kate followed behind them. He was also carrying a huge backpack.
With a rucksack and a machete in his hand, he was ready to replace the two brothers in front of him at any time.
Steven shouted towards the front: "Kugemu, it's getting dark, I'm afraid we have to find a suitable camp!"
At the same time, he speeded up to catch up with Kate. Kutumu turned around and said, "Yes! Sir, we can set up a camp not far ahead. I am going to hunt nearby with Mr. Kate. You and Kutumu are going to set up camp."
After walking a few hundred meters forward, they found a relatively flat place. Steven and Kutumu began to clean up the campsite, cutting down thorny shrubs and stacking them around, creating an open space of dozens of square meters.
He took out two folded canvas tents from the backpack on the ground and bent down to set them up. The Kutu wood on the side was beaten with flints in a simple bonfire surrounded by stones. After the tents were erected, the bonfire also burned.
As the sky darkened, the two people who had just gone hunting walked in from the side of the thorn fence. Kate held a crested pheasant in her hand and said to Steven: "Steven, look what we hunted!"
Steven raised his head and smiled: "Good luck! I can't even remember how many days I haven't eaten meat. This pheasant is enough for us to have a big meal today!"
Several people were busy, and then hung up half of the cleaned pheasant chicken and roasted it over the fire. The other half was chopped into pieces and put in an iron pot to make soup.
Steven sat by the fire and watched Kugemu put a few handfuls of wild alfalfa and purple berries picked on the road into the hanging iron pot. He took out a cloth bag, took out a handful of rock salt powder, sprinkled it, and stirred it.
of broth.
Next to her, Kate used a handful of flattened wood chips to rub rock salt and spices on the surface of the barbecue. The oil mixed with the seasonings on the chicken dripped into the fire and sizzled. A strong aroma filled the surroundings, and Steven couldn't help it.
He swallowed his saliva.
He turned around and asked Kugemu: "Kugemu, we should be almost at the Bidras River, right? Is it the Gonoro River that you Saiman people call it?"
"Yes, sir, at the current rate we should arrive on the morning of the third day."
Kugelmu was stirring the cassava and purple banana powder. He raised his head and answered.
Steven glanced at Kate and asked: "I want to know, you know? Are there any strange changes in the jungle in the past ten years? I mean animals, especially the beasts?"
At this time, Kutumu on the side said: "I heard from Uncle Manku that there have been some strange changes in the jungle in the past ten years. The animals have become more manic, especially the ferocious beasts. Each person in the hunting team must now have more
You must bring three curare wood arrows with you before setting off. Uncle Cuman said there was no such rule a few years ago."
"When did you two join the hunting party?"
"Three years ago, sir, men from our Saiman tribe had to pass the coming-of-age ceremony before they could join the hunting team." Kugelmu replied.
"So have you ever seen or heard about some ferocious beasts, such as jungle leopards or Cuman crocodiles? Have individual individuals become very different? For example, they have become very large or have an extra eye.
What?"
"No, sir, it's hard to tell in the depths of the jungle that you mentioned, but neither we nor the surrounding tribes have heard of it." Kugelmu replied honestly.
He continued: "But the dark rain forest you are going to may be different. It is a forbidden area for the Saiman tribe. The ancestors have set the rules. The Saiman tribe is not allowed to cross the Gonoluo River and enter the dark rain forest."
Steven and Kate looked at each other and said with a smile: "Thank you for the reminder! My friend! We will be very careful! Besides, Kate and I have learned a lot of amazing skills from you along the way! Now I
I feel like I can survive happily in the rainforest!"
Kate on the side said: "The meat is roasted, let's eat!"
So the conversation ended for the time being, and the four of them concentrated on the barbecue and broth.
After the picnic, Kugelmu dug a hole in the ground and buried the food residue. Steven got into his tent, wrapped himself in a sleeping bag and started to sleep. Kate sat by the bonfire, adding a few logs to make the flames
The fever is getting worse, and today it is his turn to stay on duty in the middle of the night.
The two brothers in Kugemu laid out their sleeping mats of amaranth on the ground. Hunters from the Saiman tribe usually do not use tents in the wild. They sleep on the sleeping mats of amaranth at night. Even in the rainy season, they only pick it in the wild.
With a few banana leaves and a simple rainproof shelter, you can spend the night in heavy rain.
Early the next morning, a few people ate some dry food and then packed up and set off. Along the way, they still took turns holding machetes to open a path in the jungle. The canopy in the rainforest was up to sixty or seventy meters high. When walking on the ground, everything looked up.
Thick tree trunks covered with vines and moss. The canopy blocks most of the sunlight, making it dark and humid below. However, there are shrubs and ferns growing lushly on the ground. In slightly sparse places, you can see broad banana leaves stretching out.
Standing, trying to catch the leaking sunlight.
The jungle monkeys, known as howler monkeys by the Saiman people, emit roars that resound through the jungle in the canopy, mixed with the calls of various birds, making the rainforest noisy and lively during the day.
Three days later in the early morning, a wide river lay across the front of the four people. This river was marked as the Bidras River on the map of the New World, and the river called Gonoro by the Saiman people looked calm and wild in front of them.
The newly born sun in the east hangs on the river, and the water mist is transpiration, distorting the sunlight. The river water is filled with golden ripples. Looking to the west, the water is dark green, clear and bottomless.
Steven looked at the dense jungle on the other side of the river. The canopy of the rainforest there was obviously one level higher than the jungle behind them. From visual inspection, the highest one was about a hundred meters. He took a deep breath of moist air: "That's darkness.
Rainforest! After a long and difficult trek, we finally arrived..."
Kate looked at the river channel: "Let's start making rafts, and hope we can cross the river smoothly!"
The four people began to cut down suitable trees by the river and used the collected rattans as binding ropes. After working for most of the day, they made a raft.
It took a lot of time to make this raft. For safety reasons, the four of them decided to rest by the river for one night. Steven and Kate would start crossing the river again the next morning.