Estheu lay on the riverbank, half soaked in the rushing current, but he didn't have the strength to pull himself ashore. If it weren't for Eshu's prescient slashing of the wolf axe into the riverbank, he would probably have been floating on the surface of the river and could be swallowed up by the undercurrent at any time. However, the overly sharp wolf axe did not help at this time, and the blade of the axe was slowly cutting through the soft earth of the riverbank under the pull of the current. Eshua let go of the handle of the axe cleanly, and slashed into the ground with one hand, holding his body in place. Eshy then bit the fingers of his other hand, and half of his arm sank into the water. He waited patiently for a while, and finally felt a large fish whirling around his arm. Eshy's fingers flexed slightly, and he slammed into the fish's gills, lifting it out of the water with a "bang", and then biting down on the struggling fish. Eshu first slowly scraped off the scales with his teeth, and then tore off the fishy flesh one by one from the soft belly, and swallowed it without chewing. Whenever Eshu felt sick to his stomach, he lowered his head and poured a few mouthfuls of river water, so that he finally ate the whole fish to the internal organs and bones.

Eshua did the same and caught two fish, both of which were not as big as the one at the beginning, but they were more or less enough to fill his stomach - it was not the fish that made him feel full, but the fishy smell that had accumulated in his stomach. After eating three fish raw, no matter how much he drank water, Ai Xiu couldn't suppress the violent feeling of nausea, but he didn't dare to vomit, for fear that the physical strength he had finally recovered would be wasted with this vomiting—in every sense. He lay uncomfortably on the bank of the river for nearly half an hour, and when the current was no longer so strong, he finally climbed to the shore, by which time the lower half of his body had been soaked in the river and turned white and soft.

Eshu rolled over on the shore, trying to stretch his limbs, which were still a little sore. It was the first time he felt so tired, and if the position of the Long River on the mainland had been moved another one or two hundred meters to the south, then Eshu would have been miserable in this race between his body and the horse's hooves. Not even the previous pursuit of the nuns of Hell in the Vaal Snow Plains had caused Esshu to be so draining. The Cato warlord really looked up to Estheu, and from the troops, tactics, to on-the-spot execution, it almost perfectly limited Estheu's performance in every way - of course, there was also Estheu's own lack of preparation, and he would not be so embarrassed if he always had a set of bows and arrows at hand. When he intercepted the Gatuma team before, Eshu had many opportunities to scavenge some bows and arrows, but Eshy felt that the efficiency of bows and arrows was far less efficient than cutting them himself, and he also had the killing move of folding arrows and throwing arrows, so he didn't need to rely on bows and arrows. As a result, this little contempt caused Eshua to suffer greatly, and now Eshua not only lost his mount, but also the dry food hanging from the saddle and the long reins used to pull the horses, and even his armor was badly damaged. 、

Finally freed from his pursuers, however, Eshu reassured himself that he certainly did not know how much the Gatu feared the lords of this place, but he at least had some time to recuperate.

When Eishu got up, it was already evening, and in the twilight, the long river flowed leisurely out of the great eastern forest, meandering on the flat land towards the inland sea. The sunset is like a surge, falling on the cascading forest sea. In the distance, a fortress stood on a hill, and a group of unbannered cavalry was approaching Estheus.

Eshy quickly wiped a handful of mud on his face and hid in the grass by the river, Duke Brennus had issued a warrant for him in the royal city, and he was not sure if the cavalrymen would recognize him. Although Essho could be wiped out in an instant, he was now the lord of Ravenston after all, so if he didn't have to, he might as well not start an incident with Sarion - but it didn't seem to matter? Eshua remembered that he was traveling alone, and he didn't even have a flag, and if he didn't say it, who knew that he was a vassal of Gregory IV?

When he got closer, Eshu noticed that the cavalry seemed to be completely unaware of him. They were in a circle and were laughing loudly. In the middle of the circle was a disheveled woman, her hands bound by heavy shackles to a string of thick chains, the other end of which was held in the hands of a man who appeared to be the captain of the team. The woman had been trying to resist the drag of the chains, but it only made her tumble on the ground from time to time in a dusty fight. On one occasion she managed to find her balance and nearly pulled the captain off his horse, but was stabbed in the knee with a spear by another cavalryman and fell to the ground. In the midst of the struggle, Esher saw a pair of burning turquoise pupils of the woman—it was a female Noldor elf.

"Brothers, I'm in charge today, take this Noldor to the river and cool everyone up, and when we're done, we'll wash her before handing her over to Master Kedren." When the team came to the river, the cavalry turned over and dismounted. The captain tugged at the elf's hair, scooped up a scoop of river water with his helmet and splashed it on her, "Come on, come on, wet her body first!" ”

In the midst of whistles and applause, the cavalrymen did the same, and did not forget to knead the plump body of the female elf while splashing water. No one noticed Eshy, who was lying on his stomach in the grass, their faces flushed and panting, and some of them were already impatiently removing their leather armor, and the impending sexual violence was a reckless excitement for the troops. "Captain, what if this female elf goes back to complain?" Someone asked aloud.

"The Baron won't mind, his own Noldor slave girls were thrown to him by Master Baker after he got tired of playing with them." Then there was another round of vulgar laughter. "But...... "Well," the captain suddenly showed a fierce look, and punched the female elf in the stomach, forcing her to fall to her knees in pain, "Just in case, it's better to cut off her tongue, which of you has herbs to stop bleeding?" ”

"I have a few more here." Someone raised their hand.

"Then there's nothing to worry about. I'm humble today, brothers, first come, first served! ”

"I'm coming!" Someone couldn't wait to raise his hand, but the next second his palm was pierced by a feather arrow, and before he could scream, another feathered arrow pierced his throat. "Enemy attack!" The flaming cavalry suddenly became distracted, completely ignoring the elf and only looking for weapons and shields, but the ambushers changed their aim and shot an arrow into the hips of their mounts, sending the horses away, so that the remaining cavalry could only watch as their only chance to protect themselves faded away in the neighing of the long river. But they didn't intend to sit still, the captain was quite shrewd, drew a short knife from his shoe, and threw himself at the elf and held it against her throat: "You all come around! Listen, despicable sneak attacker, whoever you are and where you are hiding, if I see another arrow flying towards me, this Noldor will die instantly! ”

As soon as the captain finished speaking, the Noldor elf suddenly raised her head and roared hoarsely: "Morituri te salutant!" Then with all his strength, he pressed his neck against the blade of the short knife. Warm blood trickled down the hilt, and the captain was so frightened that he didn't react at all. But now the arrows began to fly again, and this round of shooting had a sense of revenge, and the horsemen were pierced through the joints of their limbs, and an arrow was nailed to their crotches, and they could only lie helplessly on the ground crying and begging for forgiveness, but then several arrows pierced their cheeks, cutting their tongues in two.

The captain opened his eyes and felt the life slowly pass by, and he heard the sound of light footsteps, which should have belonged to the unknown ambusher. He walked past the captain's body, slowly picked up the elf, closed her eyes gently, and whispered, "Requiescat in peace."

Then he turned to the grass where Eschu was hiding, and asked indifferently in the standard Pande lingua franca, "Have you seen enough?" ”