When she woke up, she found herself in a bamboo basket. The shackles on his feet had been unshackled, and he had a knife in his hand at some point.

From the small gap between the bamboo strips of the woven bamboo basket, Ge Lan saw the light and shadow outside the basket changing, which were bare legs that were blue and gray and slender, not like living people.

The head could feel the fixed basket cover, and Ge Lan remembered what Qi Zhilai said before he knocked him out-

"You don't have to worry about that, just get some sleep. ”

I see.

If at first Ge Lan was frustrated by Qi Zhilai's distrust and angry at her violence, now he is only ashamed of the Iron Lady's thoughtfulness.

For her, Ge Lan is a complex object that needs to be guarded against and protected, so how to deal with him when she is attacked by an enemy who does not know what purpose or faction it is?

In order to prevent him, it is necessary to incapacitate him, to neither cooperate with the enemy nor to escape, and to protect him, he must be hidden, and whether he wins or the enemy, he has a way to survive.

If Qi Zhilai and the others win, they can release Ge Lan after everything is in order, and if the enemy wins, the disguised goods will not be discovered too quickly, and they can still take the pirate ship and not be buried at the bottom of the sea with the merchant ship.

And this knife is so that I can save myself.

Ge Lan felt an indescribable tenderness, especially when he thought of Qi Zhilai's face when he said "I don't believe it" coldly, he felt even more choked in his heart.

He sensed that Qi Zhilai seemed to have a superfluous step in the well-considered disposition plan - if she was defeated, then whether she was a witness or a suspect, whether Ge Lan was dead or alive, it would be of no interest to her, and even out of prudence, it would be better for Ge Lan to die at that time.

But she still put the knife in the hands of the unconscious Ge Lan. Qi Zhilai, who was desperate and helpless in a pirate cage, would never have thought that this gentleness would save her life.

......

The pirate's main ship landed on a small island as the sun rose. There was a fog that had persisted for many years, and the merchant ships that sailed to and from the former Aral Sea never dared to deviate a little further to the east, and occasionally, when the weather suddenly changed like last night, the fog began to fade to the west, and the ships that honestly walked the course had to suffer, for such fog not only meant that the view was blocked, but also heralded the arrival of pirates.

But the pirates of Fandong seem to have a natural ability to navigate the mist, and their kingdom is hidden in the mists of the years east of Baiban. Since no ship from the city or Xuan Chen had ever sailed into the fog and returned safely, speculation about the pirate's homeland was bizarre.

Of all these rumors, the most widely circulated is the "Foggy Turtle Island". Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a kind of giant turtle with an open back into an island living in the sea area of Fandong, the largest one in the turtle group was called "Hongtong", in order to protect the turtle group, Hongtun swallowed off his ten teeth on the gravel headland, and turned into ten long people to guard the sea boundary, the bottomless sea water of the former Aral Sea can only reach their knees; it sucks the sea water of the dry abyss, spits out thousands of acres of mist to hide the turtles, and does not let others find it. Over the past few thousand years, the descendants of the Ten Elders have degenerated to no more than seven or eight feet tall, but the thick fog that shrouded the east of Mokuban has never shown any signs of dissipating......

In addition, there are also unimaginative rumors that there is no land island in Fandong, and that the people there live on ships forever. But whether it's a turtle or a ship, people beyond the fog believe that there is no more land or islands in the east of Hyakban, and that the nest of the Bandong pirates is as uncertain as their whereabouts.

Regarding all this, Ge Lan, who was in it, had no way to verify. An invisible mist hung over the island—perhaps it was the back of a giant tortoise, but who knows. Ge Lan didn't have time to circle the island to find the turtle's head and tail, and the dense fog around it had obliterated all references, so it was impossible to know if the island was moving.

Maybe it's true, maybe it's fake. Ge Lan has listened to these legends since she was a child, and never imagined that one day she would actually be in them. And he is such a romantic, adventurous poet that it is impossible to say that he is not interested in this misty country.

But time was running out, and after the pirate ship docked, the blue-skinned and towering pirates entered the cargo hold one after another, carrying baskets of looted goods ashore.

Glenn had used the knife in his hand to cut the clasp at the top of the basket, and now that he thought about it, it might be more convenient to get out of the basket after the pirates had brought him ashore with the cargo—but that might also expose him when he was lifted. Ge Lan shook her head, convinced that she had made the right decision.

He deftly climbed up the porthole and glanced back—the board where the pirates had landed was on the other side, and the light was dim enough to be seen in the darkness.

In the hold, the pirates carrying the stolen goods spoke a language that Gran did not understand, but human emotions were always similar, and Gran could hear a lot of grumbling in their tones.

If you don't get any valuable information, you won't be able to listen to it. Ge Lan's hand hanging on the window edge loosened and fell into the water with a thud. The pirate carrying the bamboo basket in the cargo hold looked left and right, but did not find anything unusual, so he thought that another fish in the sea was frightened and swung its tail and dived to the bottom.

At night, the temperature on the island is much cooler than in the sea. Ge Lan dragged her wet body ashore, craned her neck, and rubbed her arms together with her hands, trying in vain to regain a little body temperature.

He hid behind a foggy jujube tree, took off his shirt and wrung it out, wiped his body and wrung it out again, and then put it back on—maybe he didn't wear wet clothes and was less susceptible to the cold, but how much he wore to prevent snakes, insects, rats and ants that were lying dormant.

Through the branches of the misty dates, Ge Lan saw that where the fire was bright, the pirates had finished carrying their goods and had pulled out a string of captives from the ship. There were men and women, old and young, and suddenly, two familiar faces emerged from the end of the line—

Qi Zhilai and Cai Zhao!

Glenn was glad they were alive, at least. From waking up in the pirate's cabin, Ge Lan knew that the Anglican people had lost the battle against the pirates, but he always had a glimmer of hope, and his instinct told him that people like Qi Zhilai would not die so silently - although Ge Lan's intuition was not often fulfilled, just as he also thought that the Great Master and the man in black would not die in Longqiao like that - but this time he felt right, Qi Zhilai did not die.

But judging from the posture, although Qi Zhilai is not dead, he is not lightly injured. She put one arm on Cai Zhao's shoulder and the other leg behind her, and the two of them were staggered again and again by the chains connected to the team in front of them because they walked too slowly.

The procession of captives ended when Cai Zhao and Qi Zhilai hung on his shoulders, followed by two escorted pirates. Cai Huan and Dongzi died or fled, but Ge Lan's instinct still made him inclined to believe the latter—perhaps only because he was too kind.

When the last pirate disembarked and took the torches from the trestle, Gran slipped out from behind the tree and cautiously followed the group. The pirates seemed excited, and they spoke aloud about words that Gran did not understand, often accompanied by a rough laugh that echoed through the trees, and the cold night and fog seemed less terrible.

They eventually stopped in front of a tall bonfire. There was a clearing eight feet long, covered with dry sand and gravel, and the blazing fire drove away the cold, the water, and the snakes, insects, and beasts.

By the campfire, five or six people had already prepared a dinner, and they greeted the returning pirates cordially, the largest of them was different from the others, a crotch cloth, and the bare skin was tattooed with blue totems, which looked like he was wearing a dress from a distance.

The pirates stacked their goods on the spot, and the captives were led by one person and the other into a black iron cage on the side. The rest of the men did not wait for their companions, and swarmed like wolves to the charcoal pile at the bottom of the campfire, pulling out skewers of charred fish and potatoes.

Glenn saw some primitive pleasure in such rudeness, and for a moment, he also wanted to take off his clothes and join the barbarians in the revelry.

He was so easy to empathize with others that he couldn't help but think that perhaps for the inhabitants of the fog of Fandong, the aliens on the Aral Sea were like beasts in the forest, and they were all prey to kill. So what is the difference between them who are celebrating at this moment and the hunters who are fully loaded?

Then I will not be a righteous man against pirates, then I will be a beast against the hunters. Ge Lan told herself in her heart. Life and death have nothing to do with right or wrong, life and death are just life and death.

Ge Lan tightened the knife in his hand, thinking about how to use it to wipe off the necks of one pirate after another, like an elephant seeking revenge stepping on a hunter's village...... It dawned on him that this goal was not realistic.

He patted his face and pulled himself back to reality from his delusions. Why did you think of killing all the pirates? Isn't the most feasible and efficient way to turn around now, spread the sails of the pirate ship, and sail out of the fog and back to the city in the night?

No, no, I have something else to do. Glenn searched for her memories, the cold and nervousness making her head a little unclear. But the feeling of my heart being held by something always continued.

Yes, yes! He remembered that he had woken up in the bamboo basket, that he remembered the knife in his hand, and that face that said "I don't believe it" coldly......

Through the cold mist, the scene in front of Ge Lan's eyes became clear—behind the reveling pirates, behind the high bonfire, and behind the iron grating that was still dark in the firelight, there were a pair of eyes that could only be half-opened because of weakness, and still half-open because of perseverance.

Legend has it that the fog of Fandong also has the function of inspiring people. In Ge Lan's gradually clear mind, the memories of the past are gradually developing - there are a lot of things attached to the gimmick of "Fandong" in Shizhou, true and false, Fandong love cigarette is one of them;

And the pirate in front of him is just a cloak, how can there be any hairstyle......