Lin Yuqing didn't know why his father gave him an oriental name with the word "fish" back then, but one thing was clear - it was certainly not because he was good at swimming.

Originally, he thought that the few dog planers he practiced in the mountain stream should come in handy, but he did not expect that the undercurrent under the surface of the endless river would be so rapid and urgent, and as soon as his feet left the bottom of the river, he was enveloped by a wave and instantly rushed into the center of the river.

Lin Yuqing ate several mouthfuls of water in a row, and the despair and fear when he was swept into the flash flood immediately covered his internal organs with a layer of frost. He panicked, but he sank straight down, so startled that he desperately flipped his hands and feet in the water, and struggled to get his body to float, and at the same time he tried to move closer to the distant shadow of the boat—

"Dragon, Nagarjuna......!"

After another stream of cold river water poured into his nose, Lin Yuqing finally couldn't help but scream, and as soon as he shouted, he was immersed in the waves again. However, Nagarjuna's strength now is not the same as when it just came—although it had already seen that something was wrong, it could only shrink to the size of a cat, and its four paws clung tightly at the scalp of the forest fish, and while measuring the distance between him and the raft, it urgently admonished, "You hold on a little longer, let me think of a way!"

The shadow of the raft in the distance flickered, and I saw the man from the fang country stepping on the edge of the raft, raising his arm, and throwing out a rope: "Quick, catch this!"

Lin Yuqing, who was floating and struggling in panic, stretched out his hand but didn't grasp it; or Nagarjuna reacted faster, and bit the rope in mid-air with a tilt of his head—a miserable cry suddenly sounded: "It hurts the old man to death!"

Lin Yuqing grasped the little old man who had turned into a blue rope again, and was dragged by the fang man to break through the waves, and finally reluctantly climbed onto the raft.

He fell to the board with a thud, his chest slumping violently, and in the water for a short time, Lin Yuqing lost his vision.

"You don't know how to water, what are you doing here?" the man approached, casting a shadow on him.

The boy remembered that he had something to ask, and got up while panting. The old man returned to his original form, leaping over like a big flea, clinging to his knees—and Nagarjuna immediately lowered his head and roared at it.

"I—I want to ask you, the one you said...... What's the matter with those who snatched the fallen souls?"

The man's back was to the moonlight, and his figure was outlined with a light white bright edge, which was reflected in the dark night behind him: "Why do you ask this?"

"I ......" Lin Yuqing hesitated for a moment, and finally told the pan: "My family is missing, I heard that someone is specifically arresting people who have fallen spirits...... I was afraid that they would be in danger. ”

When the man heard this, he bent down and sat down, and a few braids braided into hemp rope at the back of his head suddenly hung down from his shoulders, but the hair on both ears was cut short—looking at Lin Yuqing's eyes, it felt very fresh.

"There's not much I can tell you," he said, stretching out his long legs, "and all I hear about these people is rumors. Even if they really exist, they can't be presumptuous in this land! The Fang Kingdom will always be bathed in the favor and glory of the god of war, and there is no room for sneaky flies. ”

"What kind of rumors?" Lin Yuqing had heard that the worship of the gods by the people of the Fang Kingdom was far more than ten times that of the Holy Alliance - the Fang Country was located on the side of the continent, facing the sea of quicksand infested by alien races, and was the only line of defense for the entire continent against alien races except for the barrier mountain range. Perhaps for this reason, the longer they fight on the front line against the aliens, the more incredibly religious they become.

"It's everything, it's ridiculous. The man turned his gaze and let out a slight snort in his nose. Lin Yuqing jumped into the water to catch up, naturally he would not be satisfied with these few words, and after soaking for a while, he finally squeezed out a few more words from the other party's mouth.

"Before hitting the road, I heard from the people that it seemed that the group was coming from the direction of the Holy Alliance, and from the rumors, it seems that they are still hovering on the border between the Fang Kingdom and the Alliance. But it's hard to say whether they really exist, or if the little cubs of the Holy Alliance were frightened and made up the story. The man looked at the waves crashing on the raft and said in a deep voice, "If you want to go to your family, you'd better go ashore in the morning, and I'll send you my falling spirit for you." Otherwise, we will go further along the Endless River, and even we will not know where it leads. ”

Lin Yuqing was startled and glanced ahead. The endless river glistened with a little silver in the moonlight, and the waves rolled to the horizon until they melted into a deep darkness in the distance, as if one was about to step into the abyss—he scrambled to his feet, but he staggered because of the rickety raft, and almost did not stand still.

"Don't go, don't go!" The little old man who had been circling at Lin Yuqing's feet suddenly hugged his ankle and let out a loud cry: "He's looking for death, he's going to kill me, help!"

Lin Yuqing suddenly remembered and looked at the man: "You...... You're not really going to die, are you?"

"It's not death," he immediately frowned and corrected, "It's a sacrifice, and it's waiting for the verdict of the god of war." ”

"Dedication...... What to give, and what to adjudicate?" Lin Yuqing was confused.

"Dedication to this. The tall man grabbed the old man Lan, and the Sichuan character pattern between his eyebrows was deeply engraved: "I have never seen such a shameful falling spirit, I hope the god of war can give it a little backbone." ”

"Is it true that the old man has lived to die until now? Do you know how many materials you have to consume to live to be so old?"

The man didn't want to respond to it for a word, so he retracted the old man from his body. He lay down again, exhaled, and said to the young man, "In our Fang Kingdom, there is no Fallen Spirit Envoy. ”

"There is no Soul Falling?" Lin Yuqing was stunned, "Then how do you resist the invasion of foreign races?"

He did not expect this sentence to greatly offend the warrior of the Fang Kingdom, and he sat up and shook the raft: "With a knife, with an axe, with a fist - the soil worms that I tear with my bare hands, if you dig out the internal organs, you can drown!"

After a pause, he lowered his throat again: "Besides, I'm talking about the absence of Fallen Spirits, not the absence of Fallen Spirits!" It's just that the Fallen Spirits usually live in Valhalla, and when they fight, they will be summoned by the eternal god of war and descend on the warriors. They represent the glory and blessing of the god of war, giving us victory after victory. Dedicate this old man to Valhalla, I am afraid that it will dishonor the reputation of the war spirits. ”

"That's it...... Just like that?"

"You know, this isn't any ordinary raft. ”

"What?" the boy was a little confused.

"It was only two days ago that it was pierced by a few old people in the tribe. It can only be made of the lowest wood, the inside is sparse and thin, and if it is lucky, it may be able to walk on the river for three to five days without sinking. So it also has a name...... Called the raft of the dead. ”

Lin Yuqing wanted to go ashore.

"Those who embark on the raft of the dead are either those who are dying or those who are waiting for the verdict. The man seemed to think of Old Man Lan, and frowned deeply: "Although this Falling Spirit is very bad, all Falling Spirits should belong to Valhalla, and this must not change." Originally, I was supposed to take it to Fort Perassos to complete the sacrifice ceremony. Although I am waiting for the divine judgment and cannot perform the ceremony, fortunately, after the divine judgment, it will still be offered to the god of war. I told it it wouldn't die, but it wouldn't believe me. ”

"Are you really going to die like this?" Lin Yuqing didn't understand that he would voluntarily give up his life because of this matter, and he didn't know what to say for a while, so he could only repeat this sentence again with a little disbelief.

"If I die, it will be the will and judgment of the god of war. What's more, I'm—" He said this, not knowing what he remembered, his expression suddenly froze, and he swallowed the second half of his sentence. The moonlight illuminated his hair and his brow bones, but it hid his eyes deep in shadow.

The verdict of the god of war?

Lin Yuqing didn't know why, and suddenly there was a burst of injustice - he endured and endured, and finally didn't blurt out the sentence "I think it's like a raft's ruling". After brewing in his stomach for a while, the young man softened his tone and said, "However, even if there is no will of the god of war, the raft will still sink." ”

"You Gentiles do not understand," explained the man softly, "that when a man's life should come to an end, he will drift down the endless river and never be seen again." If the god of war rules that I live, he will send a divine revelation to guide me out of the Endless River. ”

When he said this, he glanced up at the dark blue starry sky and said something in a low voice, but Lin Yuqing didn't hear it clearly.

The raft swayed up and down, as if it had been much more bumpy than before, and I wondered if the waves ahead were more urgent, or if the raft of the dead was about to reach its limit. Lin Yuqing glanced at the increasingly blurred riverbank in the distance, and couldn't help but feel anxious - just thinking that he had left behind a man who was about to die, it was difficult for him to make up his mind to leave the raft.

He bit his nails and hesitated for a few seconds, then suddenly a flash of inspiration occurred to him, and after thinking about it carefully, Lin Yuqing felt that this method was feasible, and smiled at the man: "By the way, uncle, what's your name?"

The man glanced at him, "Stuka, I'm nineteen." ”

"Ten, nineteen?" Lin Yuqing was shocked, even more than he knew he was going to die, and after carefully looking at his stubble and his face, the young man smiled a little embarrassedly: "Eh, look, can't you see it...... That, my name is Lin Yuqing. ”

Stuka looked at him with a heavy face.

"That...... Don't you think it's a coincidence that we were able to meet on such a long endless river?"

Stuka didn't speak.

"I don't think anyone who used to drift down on the raft of the dead won't meet anyone in the river. We have become acquainted with the same group of snatchers of fallen souls, and you have interrupted your sacrifice several times by helping me to return to shore...... Maybe this is the revelation that the god of war has sent down to you, telling you that you should go back with me. ”

Lin Yuqing thought about it and finished speaking, feeling that this idea was quite convincing, but unexpectedly it was greeted with a soft laugh from Stuka.

"The revelations of the god of war are never expressed through people. When a word comes out of the mouth, no one knows whether it is God's will or man's selfishness. ”

Lin Yuqing was stunned, and was about to say something, but Stuka said word by word: "I know you don't want me to die, but it was out of your kindness, and I didn't hear the will from the god of war." The best destination for our Fangguo soldiers is to die on the battlefield. Now that I don't have that glory, let me follow the endless river and return to the arms of the god of war. ”

The boy opened his mouth, but after all, he didn't say a word.

After a while, he let out a long breath, nodded to Stuka, and stood up again.

"I hope you can get the revelation of the god of war soon. As Stuka stabilized the raft of the dead, Lin Yuqing said softly to him. But he himself knew that the words were so empty that they had no weight—in front of him, the surging rivers rushed under the stars, and behind him, the grasslands and mountains stretched out endlessly into the distance.

The heavens and the earth are so big, but he doesn't know where God is.

But of course this is not something to say to Stuka.

In the sound of the old blue man crying and crying, Stuka still used it to pull the raft towards the shore. When Lin Yuqing waded across the river, even Nagarjuna couldn't bear it anymore, stepped forward and touched the old man Xiaolan with his nose, and then jumped back on Lin Yuqing's shoulder.

"You won't die," Lin Yuqing reassured it, and then said to Stuka, "Then...... Take care. ”

Stuka smiled and retracted the Fallen Spirit—the waters of the Endless River swept up the raft of the dead, swaying and striking it, pushing it back towards the heart of the river. The tall figure on the raft sat down again, drooping his feet in the violent jolt and making a high wave.

With a sigh, Lin Yuqing turned around and walked towards the grassland.

The moonlight darkened this strange place, and the distance was still immersed in darkness. The waist-high grass rustled in the wind, perhaps it was because he had been soaking in the river for a long time just now, and whenever the wind sounded, Lin Yuqing could always smell a faint fishy smell.

He was half wet and half dry, and was beaten by the night wind, and after a little time he could not bear it any longer, and decided to sit down and rest for a while—the boy brushed aside the grass and sat down on the spot, and suddenly felt that the wind was being kept out, and exhaled.

"Don't move. Nagarjuna said suddenly, with a low drop over his shoulder.

Lin Yuqing was stunned.

"Someone is coming. Nagarjuna jumped down his shoulders, and his body was suddenly large, still lying low among the grass without showing his head, "and more than one...... There are quite a few of them. ”

The boy held his breath and listened to the sound of the wind. His ears were not as strong as Nagarjuna's, but after a few seconds of listening, he finally made out the faint murmur of a distant rustling - the murmur soon became clear, turning into footsteps and the sound of the grass being removed: Nagarjuna was right, there was indeed a group of people approaching in this direction.

Could it be the ones who snatched the fallen souls?

As soon as this thought came to him, Lin Yuqing immediately squatted up, hid his body in the grass, and slowly poked out a pair of eyes.

The moonlight was not clear tonight, and only a group of black shadows could be faintly seen, as if they were bending over the clumps of wild grass. Lin Yuqing narrowed his eyes, trying to see more clearly, but fortunately, the group of people walked quickly, and after a few breaths, they approached, revealing their general appearance in the moonlight.

Lin Yuqing's blood was cold.

He had never seen them before, but that didn't stop him from recognizing them at a glance. The small scale-like hard stuff on their backs lined up from the top of their heads, glowing in the moonlight, and if that was their chest, they were covered with a few brown shells like some kind of beetle—and the group did not bend down, but arched high in every place that should have been their backs, with long, pointy, malevolent heads.

The hissing sound, accompanied by a heavier and heavier fishy smell, drew closer and closer, and the simple and sharp spears in the hands of the alien race flashed with a cold light, and joined together like a small stream, flowing not far from the forest fish green.

How can it be?

Lin Yuqing looked at the shadows of the towering mountain ranges in the distance, and felt that he must be crazy—how could this group of alien races, which numbered nearly a hundred, suddenly cross the barrier mountain range and appear in the hinterland of the Fang Country without realizing it?

He stiffened his body, not daring to move, and watched as the alien race not far away gradually disappeared into the grassland.

Yes, the people of Fangguo must be notified immediately—

However, Lin Yuqing's eyes swept away, and he bit his lip tightly. He didn't know where he was, he didn't know which direction the tribes and towns of the Fang Country were, and he half-bent over to get up and look around, but there was still nothing but empty grasslands as far as his eyes could see.

What to do?

There was a sound of grass behind him, which suddenly stopped Lin Yuqing's thoughts. He stiffened his neck and turned his head, just in time to see a few aliens who had turned back, their lizard-like and beetle-like faces, baring a dense mouthful of fangs like small white spots at him on a clump of grass.

"Ah...... There's a little guy here. An alien said. The sentence was uttered as if it always had a packet of saliva in its mouth, and it also used a non-standard mainland lingua franca, as if it was specifically designed to mock Lin Yuqing.

"Don't go, Nagarjuna!"

Lin Yuqing pressed the falling spirit beside him, and when the alien race behind him screamed and rushed at him, he dragged the dragon tree and ran away-"Go to the Endless River!"

As soon as his heel left the ground, the place where he had landed was pierced by a spear, and the fishy breath and hissing snarled tightly behind Lin Yuqing and Nagarjuna, along with countless surging alien races.

The Endless River is not far from here, but there is no trace of the raft of the dead on the turbulent river.

Lin Yuqing immediately made a decision, and immediately ran down the riverbank, and soon felt that his lungs were burning. The speed of the alien race is far faster than him, and even though he has used all his strength, he has been bullied by the alien race several times. If it weren't for Nagarjuna's desperate efforts to protect him, I'm afraid that there would be more than a few deep scratches on his body.

"Stuka! Stuka!"

The young man's roar echoed across the river, but was drowned out by the sound of water: "Stuka!

But there was no response from the dark surface of the river—the raft of the dead must have drifted far away, or perhaps even sunk.

"Nagarjuna, you catch up, you're faster than me! At least Stuka's fallen spirit can sense you!"

Lin Yuqing turned his head and shouted out of breath - at this time, Nagarjuna was knocking down a approaching alien race, but one fell, and more scales, spears, and carapaces flashed in the moonlight, like a scalp-tinging insect tide, and ran over with a scream.

"And what are you going to do?" Nagarjuna shouted urgently, "Besides, I can't get too far from you—"

The young man looked left and right, gritted his teeth: "I'll go down to the river!"

As soon as the words fell, he jumped into the river, and was once again engulfed by the undercurrent of the endless river, and rushed into the distance.