Sailing on the river was very boring, but they had to be vigilant at all times to prevent anything from jumping out of the water. They also had to pay attention to the direction of the wind, so they didn't have to go back after traveling for half a day.
From the end of the rainy season, the day they set off, until the two moons coincided, Shao Xuan calculated that there was less than thirty days of safe time.
Shao Xuan didn't know how wide the river was, so he could only try his best to go forward. If he still couldn't see the situation on the other side of the river after fifteen days, then he could only turn back. Otherwise, the river level would drop rapidly and eventually fall into a bottomless abyss. At that time, even if he wanted to fly, he wouldn't be able to.
The piranhas in the river were very active. Without the suppression of other giant beasts, from time to time, some energetic fish would jump out of the water and bite each other. At first, there were only some small piranhas near the tribal river, but as they sailed, Shao Xuan saw many larger piranhas jump out of the water.
Hua –
A piranha nearly four meters long suddenly jumped out of the water, jumping high from one side of the canoe to the other. As it jumped, it opened its mouth wide.
Before, when there were piranhas that jumped out, Shao Xuan only avoided them and didn't attack. But now, the target of this one was obviously Shao Xuan.
He controlled the sail with one hand, making it avoid the big fish's path. At the same time, the tip of his foot picked up a wooden stick next to him. After catching it with his free hand, he directly hit the fish's body. The friction between the stick and the air made a whooshing sound.
He didn't use a spear, but a hard wooden stick. He hit the fish hard, but he couldn't immediately make it bleed. If blood splashed, the surrounding piranhas would be attracted. At that time, Shao Xuan's hands wouldn't be able to handle it.
Pa!
A few fish scales were whipped out, and the piranha that was hit by the stick fell back into the water. Before it could find a target for revenge, it was surrounded by other piranhas. On its body, where it was whipped by the wooden stick, where the scales fell off, there were traces of blood slowly oozing out. These blood vessels were like stimulants, stimulating the energetic piranhas around them.
After whipping away the piranha, Shao Xuan put away the sail. At the same time, Chacha, who was in the air, flew down, grabbed a rope, and flew up again. The other end of the rope was tied to the canoe, and Chacha pulled the canoe, quickly moving it away from the bloody river.
The current wind direction was not suitable for using sails, so Shao Xuan kept the sails and let Chacha continue pulling. When it was tired, it would return to the canoe to rest and use the wind and the sails to continue forward.
Sometimes, in addition to these piranhas of different sizes, there were other fish, but those fish were only active in the water and would not jump up to cause trouble. However, if someone went into the water, it would be hard to say.
As Shao Xuan was controlling the sail, he saw a fish that was much longer than the canoe slowly swimming past them. Because it was close to the surface of the river, the patterns on the fish's body could be clearly seen. Part of its spiked fins could also be seen.
There were many such fish, but as long as these fish did not attack the canoe, it did not matter. Earlier, there was a big fish, probably curious about the canoe, that used its head to hit the canoe, nearly capsizing the canoe. Shao Xuan had Chacha quickly pull the canoe away, but the fish did not give up, continuing to hit the canoe until Shao Xuan had Chacha stop and let the fish hit the canoe a few times. Finally, the fish felt bored and left.
Fish had all kinds of habits.
They had to travel during the day, so they could not sleep at night. Chacha stood inside the canoe to rest, while Shao Xuan had to adjust the sail after a short nap. He also had to maintain vigilance.
Although it was difficult, and there would be problems every day, they were all small problems that could be solved.
… …
Shao Xuan counted the number of days and roughly estimated the distance they had traveled.
It had been eight days, but they still did not see the riverbank, nor did they see any small islands or other places that protruded from the surface of the river. All they could see was the river water.
He took out the roasted meat jerky from the animal skin bag and ate some. He also drank the water on the boat sparingly. Before he finished drinking the water, Shao Xuan would not drink water from the river.
Chacha ate in the air. Sometimes, when it caught a fish, it would directly fly in the air, a little further away from the canoe. This way, the dripping blood would not cause any trouble for the canoe.
While eating, Shao Xuan suddenly found a small island that protruded from the surface of the river diagonally ahead. He quickly adjusted the sail and headed there.
However, as he got closer, Shao Xuan discovered that it was not a small island, but a huge fish. It was just that this fish was already dead and was floating on the surface of the water.
Moreover, Shao Xuan also discovered that there were many holes in the fish's body, which were bitten through.
The fish, which was more than 20 meters long, was eaten until only its skeleton and a layer of incomplete skin was left. Shao Xuan could also see from the bitten holes that there were still things inside the fish's body that were still gnawing.
There were some small fish inside, with slender bodies. Looking at them alone, they were not conspicuous. But it was these small fish, which were not even as big as a palm, that gnawed this huge fish with sharp teeth and thick armor on its body until only its skeleton was left. Perhaps, after a while, even the bones and the skin full of holes would be gone.
Shao Xuan quickly adjusted the sail and left this place. He also gestured to Chacha, who had just finished eating in the air, to come down and see the fate of this huge beast.
"Be careful when you catch fish in the future. If you find these small fish, quickly throw them away." Shao Xuan said.
"Ao —"
When Chacha saw the fate of the big fish, it shook its wings. It probably did not expect such a situation.
After the canoe sailed a distance away, Shao Xuan looked back and saw that the big fish that was originally floating on the surface of the water was sinking. It was almost completely eaten.
Perhaps, sometimes, those ferocious and huge fish were not the biggest threat to people sailing on the water. Those inconspicuous fish were more likely to cause danger.
Shao Xuan thought that Chacha would rest for a while before continuing to fly into the air to pull the canoe. Unexpectedly, Chacha stood on the canoe like a quail, crouching there with its neck shrunk. Its head was looking up at the sky, as if there was something in the sky that it was afraid of.
"What's wrong?" Shao Xuan asked as he tapped Chacha's bird head. He did not see anything in the sky, but he felt a great pressure in his heart.
Chacha called out softly, but its neck shrunk even tighter. Its eyes were still staring at the sky, but it did not fly up.
The canoe gradually came to a stop. The wind that was blowing the sails had also stopped.
Shao Xuan looked at the sky. He soon realized that the clouds in the sky had dispersed, revealing a large empty area. It was really developing towards a cloudless sky.
If it was any other day, this would indeed be considered a sunny day. But here, it gave people a feeling of great pressure and fear.
Not only Chacha, but Shao Xuan also felt a sense of trembling, not daring to move.
However, the current situation had to be resolved.
The number of piranhas in the surroundings seemed to have decreased by a lot. Even the large fish that swam by from time to time could not be seen. It was really calm. But this calm phenomenon was too strange.
A scene suddenly appeared in front of Shao Xuan's eyes – a large amount of fog was rising from the river.
The fog looked very ordinary, with a sense of boundless fog. However, to be able to use this method to warn Shao Xuan, it was definitely not something ordinary!
Shao Xuan took out the long-handled paddles from the canoe and began to row vigorously.
"What are you still doing there? Hurry up and help! Otherwise, we will all die! "Shao Xuan said to Chacha.
Chacha looked at the sky, grabbed the two long-handled paddles beside him, turned over, and began to row using the method that he had practiced many times in the tribe.
With Shao Xuan and Chacha's vigorous paddling, the canoe began to move quickly.
Shao Xuan did not care about anything else. He only held back his strength and rowed with all his might. He did not even worry that the splashes would attract the attention of the other big fish.
With the sound of the paddling, the canoe moved forward quickly. Shao Xuan's two arms became blurry. When both of his arms began to feel sore and tired, Shao Xuan picked up a stone needle and shot it into the air.
When the needle was about a hundred meters above the water, it let out a "bang" sound and instantly turned into fine powder.
Seeing this, Chacha was so frightened that he almost threw away the paddle.
Shao Xuan also felt his scalp go numb.
Under the clear, cloudless sky, something that made one's hair stand on end was happening in such a calm and eerie manner.
"It's coming down! Hurry! Row! "Shao Xuan continued to row.
This time, Chacha was also anxious. In his panic, he broke the handle of the paddle, and the two paddles fell into the water.
Chacha did not bother to go back to pick them up. He grabbed the other two paddles in the canoe, wishing that he could grow two more nimble hands to row the paddles.
The canoe moved quickly, like a speedboat with a high horsepower engine, rushing forward.
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
The pressure above their heads was getting stronger and stronger. Chacha's feathers were all standing up.
During the vigorous paddling, a feather fell from Chacha's body, but was lifted up by Chacha's vigorous paddling. Because there was no wind, the feather did not float high, about twenty meters. However, at this height of twenty meters above the water, the feather, like the stone needle, instantly turned into powder.
Shao Xuan and Chacha did not raise their heads to look. They did not have time to care about anything else.
The pressure above them was still there, and it was still descending. If Shao Xuan could not escape, he would end up like the stone needle and the fallen feather.
Shao Xuan was sweating all over. The sweat on his forehead slid into his eyes, and he felt a stinging pain. He did not bother to wipe it off, but quickly blinked twice. He was still staring forward, and his hands did not slow down at all.
He did not calculate the time, and he could not calculate it. Shao Xuan did not know what was descending, and what its speed was. He could only focus all his attention on paddling, and controlling the direction to escape in a straight line.
After rowing for an unknown amount of time, Shao Xuan heard a bang from behind. He woke up from his trance.
The pressure above their heads was no longer there. Turning his head, he saw water vapor rising from the river behind him. Moreover, the water vapor was still increasing, like a thick fog.
The canoe was still moving. Shao Xuan looked at the bird lying on its back and using all its strength to paddle. He lifted his leg and kicked it. "Okay, we're over."
Chacha was still immersed in paddling. When it was kicked by Shao Xuan, it was so frightened that it almost spread its wings and flew up. If Shao Xuan's hands were not fast enough, the two wooden paddles would have been lost again.
The calm water surface rippled again, and the wind blew.
Shao Xuan adjusted the sails, and with the help of the wind, they continued to move forward. As for Chacha, he would let it rest for a while. It probably could not fly now.
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