At the foot of a mountain covered by sparse jungle, there is a large moist swampy area, which is not only rich in mineral resources, but also has a large number of birds, fish and insects and other small animals that have settled here. Not far from here, there is a small human village, about 100 households, which lives a life of farming and tillage every day, although it is not rich, but it is quiet and comfortable, and there is no dispute with the world.

At noon that day, a middle-aged woman in simple costume, with a well-proportioned figure, and an appearance of about thirty years old, was walking out of the village with a small bag in her hand, and walked in the direction of the swamp. After a while, the woman came to the pond near the swamp and shouted to a figure in the distance, "Xiaoxue, it's time to come back for lunch!" ”

"Here we go!" After hearing the woman's shout, a petite girl in the distance immediately stood up and ran towards the woman while responding.

"Slow down, don't run, be careful of falling." The woman shouted with concern.

"Mom, look." The little girl came to the woman, raised a big silver-gray fish tied to a branch in her hand, and said happily.

"Huh? Where did it come from? The woman asked, confused.

"Midori gave it to me." The little girl said and pointed to the place where she had just run, and waved her hand at the figure in the distance.

At this moment, in the distance, a small and thin swamp long-snouted noir covered in grass-green scales was also waving its upper limbs in this direction.

"Then you should thank them." As she spoke, the woman opened the package and said softly to the little girl, "This is the snack that Grandma Wang gave you on the way here, you can share some for Xiaolu, okay?" ”

"Hmmm! Good. The little girl replied cheerfully. Then she immediately took out some snacks and ran back again.

"Mom, little green, they're good swimmers." On the way back to the village, the little girl shook the woman's arm and said, "I want to swim too." ”

"Okay." The woman still responded gently, "When Dad has time, let him teach you, okay?" ”

"Yes—" replied the little girl happily.

Back at home, the little girl's family of three was sitting around the square table enjoying lunch, when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"I'll take a look." The man put down the dishes and chopsticks, got up and walked out, and said, "Eighty percent is about transporting goods at night." ”

After a while, the man closed the door and returned to the table.

"Who?" The woman asked with concern.

"Li Si at the entrance of the village." As the man ate, he said, "Inform me that the delivery of goods in the evening has been postponed. ”

"What's the matter?" The woman asked curiously.

"It's fine. He didn't go into too much detail about the specific reasons. Probably some of the things at home are not ready yet, and I want to ship them over together when they are ready. ”

"That's right." The woman suddenly remembered something and said, "That's right. Today, the night spirit on the other side of the swamp sent fish to Xiaoxue again. ”

"Huh? That's so embarrassing, you can't take their stuff privately, how bad is that. The man continued, "But then again, it's a good thing that our village has been able to live so amicably with the night spirits over there. We provide them with cloth, food and some manufactured goods. They exchange fish for us that are not catchable by ordinary people and are very nutritious, which I think is a good thing for both sides. ”

"The last few times, the village chief has taken the fish they gave us to the big city to buy, and the very strong ones have sold out every time. So this time, the village chief also prepared a large number of thank-you gifts, and planned to transport them with the goods in the evening. ”

"That's pretty good." The woman nodded and continued, "No wonder the village has recently had money to repair the old facilities. However, I privately heard from Aunt Wang of the blacksmith's family that some people are very dissatisfied with this matter and have gone to the big city. ”

"Why?" The man asked, puzzled, "Is this in anyone's way or something?" ”

"It seems that it's because the fish that the Eidolin gives us is more popular and cheaper, stealing other people's business or something."

"And this? Haven't heard of it. The man replied incredulously.

"I don't know much about it." The woman replied vaguely, "By the way, Xiaoxue wants you to teach him how to swim." ”

"Huh? Why do you suddenly want to swim? The man asked.

"I guess I wanted to learn it when I was playing with the night spirits over there and seeing that everyone could swim." The woman guessed.

"Haha, that's right. But even if she learned how to swim, she couldn't swim to the lake in the cave to catch fish. The man smiled and said to the little girl, "However, this is not a bad thing, next time I wait for my father to come back from transporting the goods, I will teach you, okay?" ”

"Hmmm! Okay—" The little girl replied contentedly.

That night, the night sky was exceptionally clear, there was not a single cloud blocking the bright moonlight, and there were occasional gusts of night wind blowing at the foot of the mountain.

Several swamp long-snouting nyls were walking in the woods at the foot of the mountain. Suddenly, there was a cacophony of footsteps in the distance. A team of about a few dozen people was walking towards them in full gear. Just as the night spirit turned to confirm the footsteps, a shrill voice streaked across the night sky, "Shoot!" At the same time, dozens of flaming arrows rained down on the Night Spirit. Before they could react, several of the Night Spirits had already been hit by several arrows and fell to the ground. The surrounding vegetation has also begun to burn. Seeing this, the night spirits behind panicked and turned and fled desperately.

"Chase!" As the shrill shouts rang out again, the team sprang into action, and the soldiers drew their weapons and chased in the direction of the eidolescence's escape.

"You! Lead the way to the front! A shrill voice commanded.

"Yes!" A deep voice immediately responded.

The hurried and noisy footsteps of the soldiers resounded in the woods. Everywhere they passed, there were shouts, weapons, and the sound of burning, and the fire gradually spread at the foot of the mountain, and at the same time, more and more night spirits fell in pools of blood.

"This should be it!" The deep voice said again.

"There it is!" One of the soldiers in the group shouted as he pointed to the hillside in the distance.

Following the direction indicated by the soldier, a large group of Eidolon figures appeared among the trees on the hillside in the distance. They lined up and screamed in anger. Standing in the center of the line, slightly in the front of the line, is a Chinese New Year's Eve spirit wearing a taupe coat, a string of striking bone pendants, and a wooden staff.

"That's it!" A deep voice shouted, "It's the patriarch here!" ”

"I see." A tall, thin man dressed in an off-white robe and a white veil said to himself. Then he looked at the two teammates next to him who were of the same size and attire as him, and shouted again in a shrill voice, "Attack! Then, countless flaming arrows flew across the night sky towards the hillside.

At this time, most of the night spirits on the hillside raised their shields, and some hid behind the trees to avoid the attack of arrows. Although a small number of Eidolon were still injured by arrows in this attack, the Eidolin's team did not suffer much damage as a result.

Seeing that the attack of the arrows did not achieve the desired effect, the man in the white veil immediately shouted: "Advance guard, rush forward!" ”

As the shrill voice fell, more than a dozen soldiers in the front row, equipped with heavy armor and holding shields, immediately rushed towards the hillside.

They hadn't gone far when they saw a large number of rolling logs and stones smashing on the hillside. In the distance, the Eidolon Patriarch seemed to be methodically directing the other Eidolas to push more and larger stones down the hillside.

While the falling rocks did cause some damage to the troops in front of them, slowing down the speed of the warriors' onslaught, such an attack alone was not enough to inflict fatal damage on the heavily armoured warriors with strong shields. It didn't take long for the soldiers who rushed to the front to reach the top of the hill.

At this moment, the Eidolon Patriarch suddenly raised his staff and let out a strange scream. Then, the flood poured down the hillside like a hungry tiger pounced, and rushed out the soldiers who rushed to the front, along with the troops who were observing the battle behind. The surrounding wildfires were also extinguished by the surging floodwaters. In the face of this sudden flood, some soldiers hugged the trunk tightly, some were hit on the head by the mixed weight and fainted, and some had to struggle senselessly, and then were rushed into the distance with the current.

Over time, the flood waters receded. The soldiers who had not been crushed slowly gathered again, and they were soaked in muddy water from top to bottom, like chickens in soup, and they were in a mess.

"Don't panic! Cheer up! The man in the white veil scolded, "Only one of them can use magic, and it won't last long." Scatter and surround them! One squad goes up from the left, the second squad goes to the right, and the rest is for me to rush up from the front! ”

"Yes!" When the soldier heard the order, he responded loudly.

Then, at once, according to the man's order, they were divided into three teams, and at the same time they attacked the hillside again.

"Knock knock!" There was a sharp knock at the door.

"Village chief, it's not good, something is wrong!" Outside the door, a grown man's shouts were heard.

"Here we go!" The village chief hurriedly put on his cloak and ran towards the gate. "What's wrong? Late in the middle of the night. The village chief pushed open the door and saw four or five villagers gathered outside the door, all of whom looked very anxious.

"Over there." In front of him, a man of medium stature with a panicked expression pointed to a bright light on the hillside in the distance and said, "The side where the night spirit lives is on fire. There's a fire on the mountain over there! ”

"What?" The village chief's eyes widened, and he immediately looked at the mountains and forests in the distance. I saw that in the distance, a dark mountain shadow was emitting the light of a thick flame, and the turbid smoke was soaring into the sky. "What's going on? Hurry up and organize everyone to put out the fire! John doe! You go and wake everyone up. The others followed me up the hill first. ”

After speaking, Li Si hurriedly ran towards the center of the village. The village chief led the rest of the people to rush towards the mountain forest where the Night Spirit lived.

Along the way, they beat the flames on the side of the road while observing the situation around them. The deeper you go into the woods, the more intense the fire becomes, and the denser the corpses of the night spirits become, almost covering the path ahead.

"What's going on?" The village chief asked to himself.

"I guess I was attacked." A man who looked fairly strong held an arrow and said, "Look at this. ”

"What is this?" The village chief asked with a frown.

"This rocket is very finely made, and it should have been made by craftsmen in big cities." The man handed the arrow to the village chief as he said, "I think there must have been an organized force from somewhere that attacked here." ”

The village chief thought for a moment and hurriedly said, "Everyone observe the surroundings, pay attention to safety, and see if there are any suspicious people around." ”

"Yes." So everyone immediately became alert, and while carefully observing the movements around them, they continued to walk towards the mountain.

"I don't think there's anyone anymore." The man from before said cautiously.

"Hmm......" the village chief nodded, "be careful." ”

After a long while, the man pointed to the distance behind him and said to the village chief, "Village chief, look, Li Si has brought people here!" ”。

Looking in the direction of the man's finger, there was a team of dozens or even hundreds of people at the bottom of the mountain, holding fire-extinguishing tools, hurriedly rushing to this side.

"Good! We'll put out the fire with them first, and then we'll investigate the situation here. The village chief said.