The clear sunlight shone on them through the shade of the tree, selflessly shedding its warmth. Ben and Jackson, two old friends, were also completely immersed in the fun of fishing at this time, and they no longer thought about firewood, rice, oil, salt, or sadness. They have completely forgotten those troubles, and all they think about is fishing.

But suddenly, there was a dull sound from afar, which made the ground tremble. Ben flicked his fishing rod a little angrily, and he had just watched a fish that was about to arrive at the scene of the movement and quickly moved away from them, which made him feel very angry.

Mr. Jackson turned his head and looked from the riverbank into the distance behind him, in the direction of the church outside the village. The tall and splendid building of the past was now draped in a thick linen-like thing in its silhouette. The carpenter squinted his eyes and looked closely, only to realize that it was billowing smoke.

Then, several bright orange-red lights came out of the smoke, and even from this distance, Jackson could feel the scorching heat emanating from there. The gray-black smoke spewed out of the church, cutting through the quiet sky like a knife, leaving a deep trail that piled up on the top of the hill into a haze.

Ben, who was sitting on the side, also noticed what was happening in that direction at this time, and said in a panic: "God, what happened in the church, why didn't anyone put out the fire when there were so many people?" ”

The earth slowly fell silent, and Mr. Jackson withdrew his rod with some trepidation, not paying any attention to the float on his fishing line, which had been shaking incessantly because a fish was about to be hooked. He stood up straight, looked into the distance, swallowed a little dryly, and his previous uneasiness became more and more intense: "Oh my God, the church is on fire, this is really bad, and I don't know how Father Johnson takes care of it!" Come on, since this happened, let's go fishing, let's go over and have a look, maybe there's a place we can help. ”

Ben rubbed his hair with some uneasiness, and replied in a dry voice, "Okay, let's go and have a look." ”

"Hurry up, maybe we'll have time to lift the icon out!" Mr. Jackson jumped up from the ground and shouted.

Ben also threw down the fishing rod in his hand and shouted loudly, "God forbid, I hope we can catch up!" “

Just as the two enthusiastic old friends were about to go over to help, they suddenly noticed the sound of someone moving behind them, and they thought that this was just an enthusiastic villager like them, but the sound of the heavy iron boots on the ground did not reassure them. Thinking of this, they quickly turned their eyes and saw a dozen heavily armed men standing in the forest not far behind them.

The bearded, iron-clad Salanders were also taken aback when they saw them, but they reacted quickly, raising their bows and arrows and aiming them straight at their faces. Two panicked fishing rods slipped out of the old friend's hands and smashed into the river, causing ripples in circles.

Within seconds, they were captured by the well-armed Salanders, who were dragged like rags to a tall vulture man.

This guy who was obviously an aristocrat looked cold, and said with a mocking face: "Heh, what a pair of babies, do you like fishing very much?" Well? Very well, then you will not have this opportunity in the future, because this river belongs to us Salanders! ”

As he spoke, one by one, wrapped in a yellow turban, the Salander light infantry stood respectfully in front of him, carefully lowering the net-like bag full of live fresh fish. The arrogant Salander nobleman glanced down at their victory, and suddenly burst out laughing: "Oh my God, you guys are such a good place! The fact that so many fish can be caught in a single river is unimaginable in our desert! “

He paused, changed his amiable color, and said, "Well, my friends, I understand that what happened today is still a little confusing for you. But I hope you listen to me well and don't panic. Looking at you, I think you two are the villagers around here. Now that I have captured you, and you are my captives, I can do whatever I want, whether it is cutting off your heads and kicking them as balls, or hanging you in a tree, I can do as I please, and no one can say anything. ”

"But ah, after all, I am merciful, as long as you show me the way and show us the location of the nearby watchtower, I can completely swear to Allah to forgive you."

Two pale friends stood next to each other, their hands trembling with fear, but in the end, they still didn't say a word.

The man of Nasaland patiently continued, "Listen, friends, if you tell us what we want to know, we will definitely give you a great reward." Come to think of it, no one will know about it, and you can walk back in peace, with a full pocket of dinars. But if you are still so stubborn, then you will have to die, and you will die immediately. You choose. ”

The Salanders saw that they were still silent, jumped up in annoyance, pointed murderously at the creek, and shouted, "What the hell, are you dumb! Look at this river, how beautiful it is! But if you don't open your mouth, then you will be sunk to the bottom. You should all have parents and wives and children, even if you don't think about yourself, you have to think about them! ”

However, the pair still did not open their mouths.

He finally lost his patience, reached out and summoned a few soldiers, and ordered them to pull their swords out of their scabbards and place them on the necks of the poor friends, which visibly aroused a thick layer of goosebumps on them: "Last chance! If you still won't cooperate, I'll cut off your heads! ”

Then he stood up suddenly, stretched out his arm and took Ben, led him a little farther away, and whispered to him, "Listen, friend, if you are willing to cooperate with us, you will be completely spared, and your fellow will not know anything." Believe me, for the sake of our friendship, I can pretend that I can't bear to release you at the end, okay? ”

Ben Qiang held back the tears in his eyes and didn't answer a word, as if there was no such person in front of him.

The Salander had no choice but to let him go, and dragged Jackson into the distance, and made the same request of him. Ben stood aside, looking at them with some concern. He knew that his friend was most afraid of the Salanders.

At this time, Jackson was looking at the bearded Salander nobleman with a horrified face, and said the most fearless words in the world in the most cowardly tone: "Damn Salander dog, may you go to hell with your damned evil god!" Do you think you can really defeat the Rhodoks, you just wash your necks and wait to die, bastard! “

The nobleman was thoroughly enraged by his audacity, and he commanded the soldiers to bring the two men to the river, and commanded them to raise their swords.

At this moment, Jackson's gaze happened to fall on the net bag full of fresh fish, which was still in the weeds, and was only a few steps away from him. The delicate sunlight that reflected a little light from the beating fish made him feel very sad, and although he had tried to restrain himself, his eyes were still full of tears.

He intermittently said to his friends, "Goodbye, Ben." ”

Ben choked up and replied, "Goodbye, Jackson." ”

But Salander didn't care what they were saying, and soon they threw two bloodied heads into the river, causing a ripple, and then everything calmed down. Only the blood red floating on the surface of the water illustrates the atrocities that have just occurred. A few slave light foot soldiers grinned rudely as if it had given them some pleasure. After all, they weren't Nords, and they weren't in the habit of using other people's skulls as wine glasses.

The Salander nobleman glared at them fiercely, and frightened them to linger here any longer. Then he stood alone on the bank of the river, staring at the river for a moment. Suddenly, he saw the net bag full of perch in the weed, and he walked up to it and looked at it carefully for a moment, and then he smiled.

He pointed to the net bag and said loudly to his slave attendants, "This fish looks so fresh, and it must taste great when handcuffed!" “