Mercenaries and Adventurers

The sky was overcast, and the northwest wind was howling.

The biting cold wind blew on the lake, blowing up the remaining snow and ice particles on the lake and carrying them up to the sky.

Following the instructions of 'Lake Diver' Bowes, Kiel walked back and forth between the stern and sides of the wooden boat, tapping the wooden stick in his hand lightly on the ice, or providing sliding force when the wooden boat slowed down, or When the wind direction is wrong, the sail is used to change the direction of the fishing boat.

Although Baos is old, nearly sixty years old, at this moment, the old man's movements are sharp and capable, his face like a knife and an ax is swinging from side to side, and he is carefully experiencing the subtle changes in the wind blowing from the lake.

Whenever the wind direction and strength fluctuated slightly, he used his body weight to pull the rope tied to the sail to turn.

When the entire fishing boat set off from the Wumihu Village Pier, it first slid eastward, then accumulated sliding speed, then changed to an arc and turned northward.

After Boss judged that the distance was appropriate, he asked Keel to hold on to the fishing boat, and then turned the sail in the direction.

The generally cold wind from the northwest blew up the small sails on the fishing boat, causing the entire fishing boat to slide due south.

The speed of the fishing boat gradually increased, and then Boss changed the direction of the sail little by little.

But changing the sail against the direction of the wind would make it difficult for him to press it down even if he used all his weight.

"Kiel, good boy, come here and help me!"

He yelled, and Kil immediately put the wooden stick in his hand under his arm, carefully holding the edge of the fishing boat and approaching it: "How can I help?"

"Grab the rope and push it down! Hurry! Otherwise the opportunity will be missed!"

After hearing this, Kil immediately grasped the top of the rope. After tightening his grip, his whole body sank. Even with the weight of his armor and weapons, he suddenly displayed a strength far beyond that of the old man.

The rope pulled down, causing the connected sail to change direction.

With this sail that defied the direction of the wind, the entire fishing boat no longer slid straight south, but rubbed against the ice and slid toward the southwest.

Seeing that Kiel was very effective as soon as he got started, Boss immediately praised him: "Kil, you are much better than those stupid guys in my family! Okay, keep this direction, I will count down to five, and then you will Slowly let go and I'll take over."

Kil nodded, holding on tightly with one hand, and freed the other hand to hold the wooden stick under his arm tightly, for fear of falling on the ice outside.

"five!"

The wind howled.

"Four!"

Because the fishing boat rides on the wind, the sharp bottom of the fishing boat will occasionally slightly break away from the ice, making a rapid friction sound.

"three!"

Kil took a deep breath of the cold air, his whole body heating up with the excitement of gliding on the ice in a fishing boat.

"two!"

‘Lake Diver’ Bos moved his head from side to side, looking at the size of the lake shore in the distance to determine where they were on Lake Umi, as well as their speed and direction.

"one!"

Kil relaxed his knees and slowly raised his entire body.

As he moved, the rope was no longer pulled taut, and the sail changed its direction, no longer fighting against the cold wind.

Without the leverage, the entire fishing boat lost power, but it was still gliding across the ice at its original speed.

Boss nodded to Keir, took the rope, and then arranged for Keel to tap the ice on the left side of the fishing boat, using this to gradually change the orientation and sliding direction of the fishing boat.

Kil immediately followed the instructions and took the wooden stick under his arm in his hand according to his previous experience. After he stood firm, he extended the metal-headed end out of the fishing boat, and then Gill gently pointed the wooden stick down.

A resistance immediately came from the wooden stick. Kil kept his movements firm and used his body to transmit this reaction force to the fishing boat at his feet.

Keir gradually increased his strength, and ice chips and sharp ice particles more than one meter high flew from the tip of the stick.

These things rushed towards him, hitting his body with a subtle crackling sound.

"Haha, it's so interesting!" He shouted excitedly, not caring about the ice and snow splashing on him. The cloak was pulled into a straight line behind him by the wind, swaying and jumping.

Bos heard Kiel's cheers and laughter, shook his head, and refuted Kiel's opinion: "You may find it interesting if you play like this a few times, but if you treat this as work, will you still find it interesting?"

He added: "Every fishermen I know, compared to the current risky practices, they still hope to return to the ancient winter fishing methods. Although my old bones can still hold on, I still hope to return to the old winter fishing methods." It’s so exciting.”

Keir laughed and didn't care about Bowes's opinion.

After all, he really felt that gliding on the ice like this was fun and exciting.

-

At this time, they were already gliding and gradually approaching the western part of Umi Lake diagonally.

Just as Bos was about to say something to remind him, not far away from the place where they had just skated, the ice surface was suddenly pushed up.

The thick ice surface bulged incredibly, and a black monster figure could be vaguely seen underneath the bulge.

"It's a sunfish! Pay attention to Keir, we must not slow down!"

When Bowes saw the sunfish infested, he immediately alerted Keel loudly.

Kil nodded and responded: "Okay! But don't forget what we came here for. I'll keep the speed. Please throw the boar legs off the boat!"

After saying that, Keir came to the stern of the boat and kept standing here poking the ice at the stern with wooden sticks to push the entire fishing boat to maintain a speed that was not too slow.

Boss had told him before that although their current speed was not very fast, they were still faster than the sunken fish under the ice.

As long as it doesn't stop, the sailing fish cannot catch up, and the fishing boat is safe.

Moreover, the shape of the trimaran can not only prevent the fishing boat from tipping over, but can also barely resist capsizing fish from flipping the boat over. One or two hits can still barely guarantee the safety.

Baos let go of the rope he was holding and let the sail rotate with the wind. Then he hugged the trotters of the huge pig's legs and tried to lift the thing in the cabin of the fishing boat.

The embarrassing thing is that he is not strong enough and can barely lift one end of the boar's leg, but that's it. He can't do more. He can't throw the other end out of the cabin.

When Keir, who was in the same boat, saw it, he immediately threw the wooden stick into the cabin, then squeezed Bose away slightly: "I'll do it!"

He grabbed the pig's trotters with one hand and held it down with the other hand, grabbing the long hair in the middle of the wild boar's leg.

"Get up!" he yelled, then he lifted up the dozens of kilograms of pig legs, stood there, and threw them towards the stern of the ship: "Get out! Ha!"

Exhaling loudly, the huge boar leg, which was heavier than a young man, was thrown horizontally by Kil. After flying for a certain distance in the air, it fell heavily to the ice that he had just slipped on.

Gere immediately grabbed the wooden stick in the cabin, went to the stern of the boat and pressed it hard on the ice to speed up the fishing boat away from here.

Boss grabbed the rope that controlled the sail and pulled it slightly, allowing the fishing boat to take advantage of the wind to change its direction. Then he turned to look at the giant boar leg that was gradually moving away and fell on the ice.

Kil also stared at the thing with wide eyes. In order to see it more clearly, he lifted up his visor with one hand and stared straight at the boar leg, ignoring the cold wind blowing on his face.

-

Under the dark, translucent thick ice, a huge, olive-shaped shadow chased towards the fishing boat gliding on the ice.

With a dull thud, something suddenly hit the ice.

That thing is warm in its perception.

That thing was quite heavy in its perception.

And, after rolling twice on the ice, it came to a standstill.

The seemingly clumsy and heavy shadow immediately swung its tail in the lake under the ice and changed its direction. It no longer chased the fast ice fishing boat with other companions, but instead leaned forward and dived.

Then he immediately turned around and hit the thing left on the ice with the huge bone on his head.

Dark fluctuations flashed faintly on the osteoma, and then.

boom!

The ice beneath the boar's leg shattered and exploded. The huge boar's leg flew straight upwards, but before it fell back onto the ice, it was directly bitten by a huge mouth that had been waiting on the spot.

The shadow then dragged the boar leg into its mouth and dived into the lake. It loosened its mouth slightly, swung its tail faster, and swallowed the whole boar leg in an instant.

"It's done!" Baos shouted excitedly, and Keir also cheered.

But before they could be happy for any longer, the ice broke one after another near the fishing boat. It was the sunken fish under the ice that was chasing Kiel and the others on the ice.

"Oh no! Kil, speed up!" Boss shouted.

When Keir saw the three large holes in the ice very close to the fishing boat, he immediately realized that he had to speed up, otherwise it would be terrible and he would be fed to the fish.

And they took the initiative to come over and feed the fish.

So he worked hard and pushed the wooden stick against the ice at the stern of the boat again and again to prevent the fishing boat from going slower than the capsized fish.

After barely closing the distance with the sunken fish under the ice, Boss shouted: "Kiel, hold on to the boat! I'm going to turn!"

After saying that, he used all his strength to change the direction of the sail. With the help of the strong wind, the entire fishing boat suddenly jumped up on the ice. It jumped and changed the direction of gliding, and then gradually accelerated.

As soon as the speed increased, the capsized fish was left far behind.

Then Kil came to the side of the boat and used the wooden stick in his hand to slightly change the direction of the fishing boat.

"What happened to the guy after he swallowed the pig leg?" asked Bowes.

Keir shook his head: "Not so fast, let's wait."

After saying that, Kiel asked Bowes to let go of the sail and rely solely on the wooden stick to push the ice surface to maintain speed and heading.

The sky is getting darker and it will soon be dark.

Keir could barely keep his composure, but Bos leaned anxiously under the sail and prayed to the gods.

Rolling his eyes, Kilta silently complained: "Is this prayer useful? Praying for God to curse or punish His own creation? In this matter, we have to rely on ourselves."

The fishing boat has been circling back and forth from the west to the southern boundary of Wumi Lake, just to see if the capsized fish will change after swallowing the trapped pig legs.

Does it have no reaction at all, does it cause a small amount of damage, or is it very fatal?

Keir thinks it should be effective. After all, no matter how hard the shell of the sunken fish is, the inside of its belly cannot be equally hard, right? In order to digest, other capsized fish must have a large but soft intestine.

Otherwise, it will not be able to accommodate the northern wolves that attack the village from the lake at once, and the same is true for digestion. Only an efficient digestive system can keep the sunken fish hungry and hungry.

It is impossible for snakes to eat once and stop eating for a long time. In that case, as long as the northern wolves are smarter and drive away some animals in the forest, they can feed the belly of the sunken fish, and they will not be able to cause harm to the northern wolves.

Still couldn't stop the northern wolf from attacking the village.

Therefore, the sunken fish must have a huge belly, and the digestive system in the belly must be highly efficient and developed. Therefore, this highly efficient and well-developed digestive system must be flexible and densely packed with blood vessels.

If the sharp metal cone is swallowed, it is impossible not to hurt its belly.

Now, it's just a matter of waiting a little longer.

Keir told himself this.

-

The surroundings suddenly darkened as the sun behind the clouds sank below the horizon.

One by one, Keir stood at the stern of the boat and pushed the sticks on the ice, with the sound of wind whistling around them.

'Lake Diver' Boss sat in the cabin chattering, looking nervous and worried. But Kiel just maintained the speed of the fishing boat and made no other moves.

After staying away from the west shore of Lake Wumi, where sunken fish often hang out, those underwater monsters no longer like to get close to fishing boats. I don’t know whether they know that it will be difficult to catch up with fishing boats, or they know that the area where fishing boats are currently operating is the area where fishermen they should protect are likely to move.

Keir thought it was the former. Those strange fish that fishermen call stupid and gluttonous would never let go of anything big that could enter the lake.

Feeling something vaguely in his heart, Kil suddenly turned his head and looked northwest.

He listened intently, but Bos's soliloquy hindered his perception.

"Quiet, I seem to hear something." Keir shouted towards Bowes.

Boss immediately got up, grabbed the rope of the sail with his hands, and turned his head left and right to look around.

Kil concentrated his attention and carefully distinguished the strange sounds coming from the howling wind around him.

Roar.

pain.

Blurred.

Keir's eyes lit up: "It's a sunken fish. I really want to hear the sound of a sunken fish. Maybe the trap is effective!"

Boss looked at the gradually darkening sky around him and said with some embarrassment: "It's already dark." He looked at Kiel: "It will be very dangerous to go there now."

After thinking for a while, Kil waved his arm fiercely: "No matter what, I still have to go and see the situation. This is too important."

Baos pursed his lips and gritted his teeth: "Okay, let's fight. Let's go!"

Keir touched the side of the boat and slowly changed the direction of the fishing boat: "Let's go!"

The two fell silent afterwards, but the rising and falling of their chests meant that they were not in a calm mood.

Bose took out a grease-stained torch from the small amount of supplies he carried, lit it and inserted it into the groove in the bow of the fishing boat.

"If you light another one, the ice must be illuminated as well!" Kiel said.

Without saying anything, Baos took out another torch, lit it with the torch on the bow, and then took it in his hand.

As Kiel accelerated the boat, the fishing boat quickly approached the place where it had slipped before. After getting closer, the dull roar coming from under the ice was very obvious, and this time, Bowes heard it too.

The old man's face was full of excitement, and he was mumbling something about revenge finally succeeding.

Kil pointed to a slightly unusual piece of ice not far away and asked the old man to throw the torch in his hand over to have a look.

Phew, the bright torch soaked in grease drew a parabola and landed far away near the unusual ice surface that Keir pointed out.

The two men cooperated and steered the fishing boat in a large circle around that place. Under the ice behind the fishing boat, the sounds of other capsized fish rubbing their backs against the ice and vigorously swinging their tails under the water were also very clear.

"There's another sunfish following behind! Kil?"

"Ignore them! Narrow the circle and let's get closer there!" Keir shouted loudly. He stood at the stern of the boat. Then he no longer provided thrust straight to the fishing boat, but deflected it slightly to make the fishing boat make a larger bend.

And Boss also tried his best to constantly judge the wind direction and position, and manipulated the sail left and right with all his strength, so that the fishing boat kept using the wind to shrink the circle.

"Light another torch, you can't see clearly!" Kil yelled.

Baos barely freed one hand, took advantage of the swing of the sail, quickly lit the torch, and then threw it towards the ice not far away.

The swirling torch slammed into the middle, bounced, and then fell to the side.

This time, both Keir and Boss could see clearly.

It was a sunken fish that had knocked over a large area of ​​ice, but the strange thing was that the sunken fish was sticking its ugly head out on the ice, shaking it, and after a while it dived underwater again, twisting even more in the water. Turn over and make a cry.

The cry travels through the water and over the ice, sounding similar to a cow's cry, but duller.

Seeing the strange behavior of this sunken fish, Kil was quite excited, but he still asked Bose cautiously: "Do you know that the sunken fish behaves like this?"

"No! No! Aha! It worked!"

Bos even shouted excitedly: "It's in pain! I heard it! That sound is that it's in pain!"

Then he angrily pointed at the sunken fish and yelled: "You monster!!! Do you also feel pain? Die! Die quickly! You are obviously sent by God to save us, why are you so stupid!! Ah! I can’t tell the difference between a human and a wolf! Give me my son back! Give me my son back!!”

By the light of the fire, Kil saw some strange marks on the broken ice. He lifted up his visor and took a deep breath through his nose.

It smells of blood! Very strong smell of blood!

efficient! The trap works!

"I smell blood! Old Man Boss, we succeeded! The metal spike in the meat bait hurt it from its belly!"

"That's right! That's right! It's a pity that I have a bad nose, otherwise I would have to smell its blood." Boss yelled fiercely.

In excitement, Kil patted his cheek to calm down a little. He turned around and shouted to Boss: "Okay, we have confirmed it, it's time to go back!"

But there was no response. When Kil looked over, he realized that old Boss was staring blankly in the direction of the sunken fish.

"Old Man Boss?"

"Boss the Lake Diver?"

Kiel called twice, and then the 'Lake Diver' Old Boss came to his senses. He took one last look at the sunken fish writhing in pain on the ice with hatred in his eyes, and then pulled the rope vigorously to let the sunken fish writhe in pain on the ice. The fishing boat took advantage of the cold wind and slid toward the southeast.

In that direction, only a faint glow of fire could be seen in Wumihu Village.