On the surging Ganges, on a dirty and dilapidated fishing boat, Jim tells Lird about the totems of his people.

Jim said: "We did not create a fixed image and symbol for the soul, because in our eyes the soul is an infinite existence comparable to the vast universe, and there is no symbol that can contain the universe, and there will be no symbol to express the depth and greatness of the soul." ”

Lird said: "In this way, the beliefs of your people are really abstract enough. ”

Hearing this, Jim shook his head and said, "Not really, although the soul is endless, the container containing the soul has its fixed form, and that is what we respect and worship the most." ”

Lird was stunned for a moment, and then said, "You worship someone?"

Jim said noncommittally, "There are so many people who believe in God and Buddha, why don't we have a god of our own?"

Hearing this, Lird smiled and said, "In this way, how many gods and goddesses are large and small in this world is really innumerable for a moment and a half. ”

Jim smiled and said, "But those gods only exist in legends or papyrus, don't they?"

Lird asked rhetorically, "Could it be that your gods can be seen and touched?"

Jim was a little dissatisfied with Lird's statement, but he said to Lird, "Indeed, our gods are alive." ”

As soon as these words came out, Lird was stunned again, and after a while, Lird suddenly burst out laughing, which was a bit abrupt, as if Lird couldn't control his emotions because of this sudden remark.

Jim complained, "Why are you laughing?" ”

"Ahem, sorry, I didn't mean to. Lird hurriedly suppressed his laughter, but he still couldn't erase the smile from his lips for a short time.

Jim said, "You don't believe me?"

Lird sighed and shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's not a question of whether I believe it or not, but..." Lird paused and said, "I hope you don't mind being angry, let's be blunt, if your god really exists, then why doesn't he use his divine power to help you through the current difficulties at this time?"

Jim said, "It's two different things. ”

Lird said, "How can they be two different things, if God cannot help people, then what is the point of existence of his followers?"

Jim shook his head and said: "This is the difference between us and you, the reason why people in the world worship God is just to leave things that are difficult or impossible for them to do to God, most of your beliefs are out of human stupidity and laziness, and fear arises in a long period of 'laziness', and then derives the so-called religious culture." ”

Lird said: "Oh, your thoughts are simply more terrible than Gerald's, it seems that you will be burned at the stake in order before him and Bruno." ”

Jim frowned and said, "Gerald... Who's that?"

Lird smiled lightly: "He's a friend of mine, uh-huh, don't care about what you said just now." ”

Jim said, "I understand your thoughts, or 'normal people' like you, but what I'm saying is true." ”

Lird said, "Your gods have been alive since ancient times?" Jim shook his head and said, "There is no immortal mortal body in this world, and our gods are the same, but our gods can be passed down from generation to generation." ”

After pondering for a moment, Lird said, "Excuse me, isn't the god you are talking about the leader of your people?" Jim was stunned and nodded subconsciously, and Lird immediately showed an expression that I had guessed.

"With all due respect, all this you are saying sounds to me more like a rhetoric made up by a ruler to restrain the minds of his people, rather than mocking you and your people, but you seem to have been deceived all along. ”

Jim shook his head even more firmly and said: "No, our leader, and the god we worship, does not possess the infinite skills of the world as in the legend, in reality she looks more like an extremely ordinary person, but what she has in her body is endless potential, and one day in the future she will break through the shackles of her body and turn the power of her soul into eternity." ”

Lird said, "Break through the shackles of the body? You don't mean when he dies and ascends to heaven, do you?" ”

Unsurprisingly, this time Jim nodded again, which made Lird feel a little helpless, in his eyes Jim was a quick and quick thinker, whose intelligence did not match his appearance at all, but in this matter, Jim was like a tendon to identify his own ideas.

Lird and Jim are both very stubborn people, neither side can convince the other, and Jim can't come up with convincing evidence for a while, so he is more "passive".

After a moment of silence, Jim said, "There is no point in arguing with you about this now, and you will understand it when you see it in the near future." ”

Lird smiled, "Maybe at that time I can come up with a set of earth-shaking theories for you." ”

...

The rest of the voyage fell into a more boring state, and Lird was tired of the usual scenery of the rushing river, and the cramped fishing boats had no room to stretch their bodies.

On the vast and boundless Ganges, Lird felt as if he was trapped in a transparent glass cage, and the invisible force completely restrained his hands and feet, and Lird felt that if time went on, he would suffer from "claustrophobia".

Of course, it wasn't all smooth sailing during the whole trip, and there were many things along the way.

The chaotic situation in India has spread to the river veins, and the Ganges, which is known for its sacredness, has been densely populated with various forces, such as government troops, transport caravans, bandits, fishermen, stowaways, pilgrims, etc., all of which have been intertwined during this voyage.

Completely unaware of these things, Lird looked at everything with a strange and slightly frightened gaze, and it can be said that the few days on the Ganges had been more than the previous years.

Fortunately, Rakqa has a wealth of experience, and in Lird's seriousness, perhaps Rakqa is more worthy of the title of "god", whenever something will happen, he can always anticipate it, and come up with a solution in the first time, whether to avoid or escape, Lird even feels that these things are not as serious as imagined, because nothing can slow down the speed of the boat.

One morning, when Lird woke up to find that there was no one in the damp cabin, Lird did not care, got up and walked to the deck with his sleepy eyes, and said a brief hello to Raqa and Jim on the deck, and then unbuckled his belt and "released water" into the river.

Jim put a piece of jerky in his mouth and chewed it, looked at Lird's back and said, "As a holy river in the eyes of Indians, you are really blasphemous to discharge sewage into it like this." ”

When Lird was done, he walked up to Jim and sat down, shook his head and said, "What so much nonsense, you have 'blasphemed' the gods more times these days than anyone else, and if it is blasphemous to pee in the river, then the Hindu gods have long abandoned this land." ”

Jim sighed when he heard this, and said, "Why didn't the Hindu gods abandon his followers and people, otherwise how could he bear to let this beautiful and fertile land be ruined?"

Lird sighed and said, "So I, an atheist, don't believe in the existence of God. ”

Jim naturally understood the meaning of Lird's words, and after a faint smile, he said: "Hurry up and clean up, wash up with the water of the river you urinated on, eat something, and we will reach our destination in the afternoon." ”

Jim's words startled Lird, and he noticed that time had passed since his arrival in India, and that it had indeed reached the day that Jim had expected to come, but the dull life of the past few days had made Liard's sense of time unconsciously diminished.

At this time, Lird also began to pay attention to his surroundings, and at this moment the small fishing boat had long since left the main channel of the Ganges River and entered a narrow branch basin, surrounded by hills that were neither high nor low, and on which countless vines and tropical plants grew, and if it were not for the constant reminders of his sanity, Lird would even suspect that he had reached the Amazon River.

It was only five or six hours before noon, and Lird knew that he was very close to his destination, and today he could finally meet his father, whom he had not seen for many years.

Jim patted Lird on the shoulder and said, "Fortunately, there were no accidents along the way, and I have explained something to you and Mr. Pym, and now you should rest assured that I am not some ill-intentioned person." ”

Lird shrugged his shoulders and said, "If I doubt you, I won't leave the United States with you at all, let alone get rid of Mr. Wyatt's protector with you, I have always had a high trust in you or your people, and you have been hiding something from me since you are here, can you tell me in advance that you have information about your people?"

Jim didn't show any embarrassment this time, just laughed and said, "I don't have anything to say now, I'm just a guide, I'm not qualified to say anything to you, anyway, it's already at this point, you don't have to rush at this time, all the things you are confused about will soon come to the surface." ”

Lird cut off and made a gesture of disdain to Jim, who was not angry, but continued to laugh, and then said, "The hardest thing these days is Raqqa, without him we wouldn't have made it so quickly and so smoothly." ”

Lird nodded with deep feeling, and turned his head to look at Laqqa standing at the bow of the ship, his body showed his clumsiness when he had been working for several days, and his eyes were even more tired, if he didn't have a work task in his body, he would have to lie down and rest for a while.

"Yes," said Lird, "thanks to Raqqa, I really can't imagine what this trip would be like without him, so please thank him for me." ”

Jim smiled and turned to Raqka, who smiled and smiled at Lakkah's tired face, and then nodded to Lird, his eyes full of respect and gratitude.

Raqqa said a series of words to Jim, who turned to Lird and repeated: "Raqqa's family has been plagued by the plague before, and if it weren't for Mr. Pym's rescue, I am afraid that the consequences would only be dead, he sincerely thanks Mr. Pym, and at the same time expresses his most sincere blessings to you." ”

Lird finally understood why Rakqa looked at him like that, it turned out that it was all because of his father, which made Liard's heart feel a little more complicated, he already felt that he didn't know his father well.

But everything his father did surrounded him, and it was like a bright and soft light, constantly illuminating the way ahead for Lird.

The atmosphere on the fishing boat is subtle and harmonious, blending in with the tranquil scenery around it.

It was a loud eagle chirping high in the air, and the sound echoed around it for a long time, breaking through the sky.

Rakka looked up, his brow furrowed slightly, but then he relaxed and didn't doubt it much.

In the midst of the nervous waiting, Lird washed and ate, but it was all done quickly, and there was really nothing else to do on the fishing boat to distract him, so he leaned over the cabin and chatted with Jim.

Unconsciously, the boat sailed into another branch of the river, this river is very narrow, only about ten meters between the left and right banks, the bank is also luxuriant, and at the same time, it is almost noon, the air here is still floating with mist of water, giving people a dreamlike scene.

Lird looked at the scene in amazement and exclaimed, "This is really like a fairyland." ”

Jim lamented, "It's a pity that it won't be long before this place will be touched, and the executioners won't find it poetic, all they value is the terrain and the battle." ”

Lird understood that Jim's concerns were not false, and that there were many examples of this in the long history of mankind, where the formation of a fairyland took a long time to temper and create, and yet its destruction was only a snap of a finger.

The boat had slowed down considerably as the boat continued to move towards the mist, and after about a lap of incense, suddenly a long howl sounded from afar, more like the cry of some ape beast.

But Raqqa, who was standing at the bow of the boat, suddenly opened his mouth and let out a loud sound, echoing far and wide across the water.

Lird immediately understood that this was a secret code between the clansmen, and turned his gaze to Jim, who chuckled, "The person who picked us up is coming soon." ”