The thin mist was filled with the smell of grass, trees and rivers, but this natural fragrance could not calm Liard's heart, and the atmosphere around him made him feel like a lone explorer who had entered the Indian tribe hundreds of years ago, revealing uneasiness from the inside out.

Jim didn't have the slightest idea, and he stood excitedly at the bow of the boat.

About two cigarettes passed, but the sound of paddling could be heard from the way forward, and soon two rafts were driven out of the mist and water.

There were three people on the two rafts, all dressed differently from Indians, but it was impossible to guess where they were, and Jim waved excitedly when he saw the visitor, and then spoke a series of words that Lird could not understand.

The three people who came to greet him also smiled happily after listening to Jim's description, and they all cast friendly glances at Lird, which made Lird, who was always in a nervous state, feel a lot more relieved.

Soon, the raft was on the side of the fishing boat, and Jim beckoned Lird to follow him to wait for a raft, but Raqqa showed no signs of moving.

Jim explained, "He's got other things to do, at least get rid of the fishing boat, and you'll see him again soon." Leard nodded, and after bidding farewell to Raqqa, he finally boarded the raft with Jim.

The raft soon set off like a bow and arrow, and after some distance Lird finally understood why he needed to use a raft for the rest of the journey, the waterway in front of him became narrower and narrower, and there were many rocks exposed so that even the small fishing boats piloted by Raqqa could not move forward here, only short rafts could travel through them.

Along the way, Jim kept talking to the greeter, looking quite happy and excited, and soon Jim relayed to Lird: "It's been a bit of peace here lately, and it seems that the escalation of the war hasn't been touched here for the time being, and we can have a relatively peaceful time, during which we can continue to think of ways to escape in the long run." ”

Jim's reaction was quite optimistic, as if all difficulties would be solved eventually, but Lird could not be happy, he knew that he would see his father soon, and his father was already dying and would die soon, and Lird had been feeling entangled in the previous journey, because he did not know how to face his father, and even now he still did not think of any results.

Jim seemed to understand Lird's thoughts, and said, "Mr. Pym has been in good shape for the past two days, and he will be very happy with your arrival, and the journey has been quite smooth, a few days earlier than originally planned." ”

Lird couldn't be happy, he just thought about his own thoughts in silence, and Jim was silent when he saw this, not bothering Liard's thoughts.

The raft had been traveling through the complicated river for about twenty minutes, and suddenly there was a small pier made of improvised timber in front of it, which was of course an exaggeration, and there was nothing more than a pair of improvised gangplanks and five or six stakes to tie the raft to.

After approaching the shore, several people jumped ashore one after another, and after tying up the raft, several people began to move forward on foot, and after about half an hour of marching, the five men finally walked out of the dense forest where they were sitting, and when they stepped out of the woods, Lird was completely shocked by the sight before them.

What appears in front of you is a plain area surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the terrain surrounded by mountains makes this place feel like a paradise.

Tents were set up in an orderly manner in the mountains, and scattered cattle and sheep roamed among them, leisurely grazing on blades of grass, and from time to time the sound of dogs barking came.

Men and women were busy with each other, each with a kind and generous smile on their faces, and the children were running in groups, and there was not a trace of the difficulties of overcoming baptism.

Lird stood there stunned, and didn't react until Jim tapped him on the shoulder.

"Why are you frozen?" Jim looked at Lird with a smile, and Lird coughed lightly and said sincerely, "Here... Very good. ”

Jim laughed when he heard this: "What's good and bad here, it's just a barren mountain and wilderness, the important thing is our existence, we make this a paradise on earth." ”

Lird said: "You can see that your people are very hardworking and love life. ”

Jim had a smug look on his face when he heard this, and immediately straightened his back and said to Lird, "Of course. But soon the pride dissipated, and Jim sighed, "I just don't know how long this life can last." ”

When Lird heard this, he felt a pain in his heart, and he couldn't help but think of his hometown. That remote town in Poland has become a living hell, where the peace and well-being of the past are gone, and there is only blood and death.

At this moment, a sense of unjustified responsibility arose in Lird's heart, and if he could, he was eager to do everything in his power to help Jim's people maintain this peaceful life.

Jim didn't understand Lird's thoughts, and then said to Lird, "Don't worry about those troubles for now, I'll settle you into my house first, and then take a short rest before visiting Mr. Pym." ”

Although he had not yet decided how to face his father, Lird was eager to meet him, but he could not refuse Jim's warm invitation, and Lird had formed a deep friendship with Jim during the long journey, a friendship that Lird had never had.

Led by Jim, he soon came to a tent, and along the way to the tent, Jim greeted many people, all of whom seemed to know Jim's mission, and naturally understood who Lird was behind Jim, and everyone's eyes revealed pious gratitude.

When Jim walked to the tent, a young woman in an khaki dress came out of the tent, she seemed to hear the voices outside, and wanted to come out and take a look, but when she saw Jim, her face was shocked, and soon this consternation turned into ecstasy, and then she threw herself into Jim's arms and cried bitterly.

Jim gently patted the young woman on the back, looked at her and comforted her with great tenderness, and then smiled wryly at Lird beside him.

Seeing this, Lird naturally understood what was going on, and he smiled and turned his head to the side, not to disturb the gathering of the lovers.

After a long time, the young woman lifted her head from Jim's arms, said a few words to Jim in a complaining tone, and then suddenly realized that there was a Lird presence beside her, and her face flushed at the moment, and she hurriedly stood aside shyly.

Jim introduced to Lird, "This is my wife, Trista, and we were married two months before I left here for the United States. ”

Lird said: "So I really interfere with the happy life between you husband and wife. ”

Jim also laughed at Lird's joke and nodded noncommittally.

Lird and Trista did not understand the language, and they simply saluted each other at the moment.

Lird noticed a slight bulge in the lower abdomen under Trista's skirt, and after thinking for a moment, he whispered to Jim, "Hey, you're not going to be a father, are you..."

Jim grinned, "Yes, I'm going to be a father in a few months, I don't know if God will give me a boy or a girl, but I'm very happy with either one." With that, the three of them smiled at each other and walked into the tent.

Perhaps having never been in contact with strangers, Trista was very reserved when he faced Lird, and when he served some cakes and fruits for entertainment, he retreated to the corner and looked at Lird silently with a pair of big watery eyes, as if he were looking at something new, which made Lird feel very uncomfortable.

However, Jim, who returned home, was extremely excited, and he couldn't help but talk when he was relatively taciturn, chatting with Trista for a while, and greeting Lird for a while, and he was very busy.

Although Jim in front of him became noisy, the atmosphere also infected Liard, making him less nervous.

After resting for a while and eating something, Lird said to Jim, "I'm almost done, and I don't want to bother anymore, that... If I can, I hope to see my father soon. ”

Jim looked down at the watch on his wrist, and then said to Lird, "Take a break, you won't be able to see Mr. Pym at this time." ”

Lird was stunned when he heard this, and asked, "Why?"

Jim said: "I said that Mr. Pym is seriously injured, and this kind of injury can only be controlled by our people, and it takes a certain amount of time to treat it every day, and this is the time for this kind of treatment. ”

Only then did Lird come to his senses, and nodded thoughtfully. Jim was relieved, "Don't worry, in less than an hour, the treatment will be over, and we can visit Mr. Pym after giving him some rest." ”

"That's it," said Lird. ”

In the years that followed, Lird entered a relatively difficult time, on the one hand, he had to wait patiently for his father's treatment to end, and on the other hand, he had to deal with the people who came to Jim's door one after another.

After the news of Lird's arrival spread through the tribe like a gust of wind, men, women, and children all came to Jim's house to visit Lird, and Lird did not know how to deal with these simple and enthusiastic people, only smirked silly and kept signaling to everyone.

Lird's reaction aroused everyone's favor, they kept saying something to Lird, because of the language barrier, Jim could only be used as an interpreter, but the questions asked about Lird were also common among ordinary people, such as where are you from, how many people are in the family, and what do you eat on weekdays, giving Lird the feeling that he is more like a strange "beast" that is being watched by people.

This state of affairs continued for a long time, and at last Jim felt a little impatient, and he found several excuses to start sending the people who kept coming, claiming that Lird still had important things to do in a while, and he took great pains to send them away.

The moment the door closed, Jim sat down on the floor and smiled wryly at Lird, "I feel like I've been on a journey from San Francisco to Mumbai." ”

Lird also smiled bitterly: "In this way, your people are even more terrible than the Atlantic." ”

After the two of them had done a little better, it was getting late, and Jim arranged a few words for Trista, kissed him goodbye, and left his home with Lird to visit Pym.

On the way, Jim said to Lird, "Mr. Pym is the benefactor of our tribe, so he did not live with us after he was wounded, but lived near the sacrificial lord." ”

Lird said, "Is this sacrificial master the leader of the clan you mentioned earlier?"

Jim nodded, and Lird said, "You know, I've always been interested in him. Jim understood that Lird was referring to a "god", and immediately smiled: "I promise you will definitely meet her, and will definitely change all your thoughts." ”

Lird also smiled, "Really? Then let me wait and see." ”

After that, Jim said: "Now that it has come to this point, I feel that there is no need to hide some things from you anymore, because of skipping vigilance before, my attitude may be a little bad, I hope you don't care, first of all I want to tell you my name..."

Lird waved his hand to stop Jim and said: "I don't have any curiosity about your name for a long time, in my eyes it doesn't matter if Jim is your real name or not, all I believe is you as a person, not your name, maybe the bond between us at the beginning of our acquaintance is just a word from my father, but we have formed enough trust in such a long time together, in my eyes you will always be Jim, the always reliable Jim." ”

Jim looked at Lird in a daze, nodded vigorously for a while, and said to Lird, "Thank you, thank you..."

Lird smiled most sincerely.

Soon, the two of them came to a gentle slope, which was significantly higher than the rest of the area, and looked more majestic.

Jim said, "This is the area where our sacrifice is located, and Mr. Pym is here to recuperate." ”

Hearing this, Lird's heart thumped again, and he said to himself in a low Polish voice: "Are you waiting here to die?" Jim didn't understand what Lird said, and looked at him blankly, Lird shook his head, and then looked at Jim with a blank gaze and said, "Go on, I want to see my father as soon as possible and talk to him." ”