The village roads along the river are in a mess, and there are many weeds growing near the simple wooden houses.
Jevro swallowed his saliva and approached the first wooden house with gentle steps.
"Brothers, be careful." He ordered in a low voice.
Behind them were a group of Russian troops who were ready for battle. Arik did not want everyone to take risks until the scouts determined that it was safe.
The ajar wooden door was opened, revealing that this was actually a wooden house that was half underground.
The light inside the house was dim, and as the wooden door opened, Yevro could clearly see the structure inside.
"It's weird, like someone just left?" The space inside is so big, is there any danger?
He walked in and used his steel sword to stir up the dark place that was obviously a bonfire, even though it was covered with soil.
There was a hint of anxiety in the room. He peeled away the soil and saw some charcoal blocks burning slowly at the bottom. The dark red charcoal proved everything.
Suddenly, his hair stood up, and he ran out of the house with a steel sword in hand, shouting to the guys who were still searching: "Brothers, they just left. Be careful, this village is not abandoned."
Without him speaking at all, all the mercenaries discovered traces of human activities.
We found no clear footprints yet, but we found a large number of roughly hidden fires and even a few broken black pottery urns.
Some even found scattered grains of wheat.
People became bold and kicked open house after house, hoping to find something good. Sure enough, someone actually found the sack with the mouth locked. He stabbed it hard with his sword and saw that what flowed out from the bleeding groove of the steel sword was actually brown oatmeal.
Is there anything more joyful than discovering fresh wheat in the wild?
Seeing that there was no one around, the mercenaries took care of their small linen bags and filled them with some wheat as their trophies. Mercenaries are different from Ross warriors, but if Rurik doesn't blame them for taking private trophies, that's fine.
The village is not big. Jevlo and his guys checked almost every wooden house and came to a very clear conclusion.
He took his people back to report and faced Arik who was on guard.
Arik was already impatient: "Have you noticed anything unusual?"
"There are some."
"Ah? What is it?"
"There were people living here, and they escaped. I think it was probably the fishing boat that escaped. The fisherman told his tribe that we were coming."
"Are they Gotlanders?"
Jevro directly denied: "If they were those people, we should be fighting now. Maybe they are Polo people."
"Damn it! A bunch of stupid Boro people?" Arik stomped his feet angrily: "If I had known this, I should have rowed hard, but now we are late. By the way, have you found any treasures?"
"Baby?" Jevro thought about it and decided to tell the truth: "There is some wheat, not much. I guess they couldn't run far when they escaped. There are still some footprints on the soil, some of people and some of sheep. As for silver coins Or copper coins, none found.”
Arik was convinced of Jevlo's words: "So, the villagers ran away with a lot of things? They must not have run far, they are in this forest."
"Ah? Do you want to pursue me?"
Arik flatly denied: "No! We came to this ghost place on a temporary basis. Since we can find some wheat and inexhaustible fresh water, it would be best for us to replenish our supplies here."
After that, he turned around, pointed his sword at the village, and shouted at the eager brothers: "Brothers, a group of cowards abandoned their wealth and ran away. Now, you are the masters of this village! Rush in. , take everything you find according to your ability. Remember, don’t fight among brothers, we all have a share. Only I don’t want a single copper coin!”
After talking, the crowd was enthusiastic!
Arik is such a person. He feels that he already has a lot of personal wealth, and he and his family already have enough food and clothing. Both his biological parents are dead. Arik has no more worries. He has a strong revenge and anger in his heart. In the battle of revenge, his continued growing popularity allows him to find the meaning of life and personal value.
He is a "war chief" fought in iron and blood. In order to maintain his power, he must serve his supporters well. Arik has realized many things, such as the importance of not being greedy for merit.
Whoever plunders according to his ability will own whatever he robs.
The Ross warriors, who were already full, burst out with wildness like tigers and wolves. Holding swords and axes high, they rushed to wooden houses one after another, looking for anything useful.
Throughout the robbery, only the mercenaries were ordered to restrain themselves by their master.
Yevluo was a little reluctant: "Sir, are you just going to watch your cousin's people plunder?"
"Yes, just watching."
"Don't you want to get something?"
"What else can you do? You just secretly harvested a little wheat, and I know it. There is only a little wheat in this place, and I don't pay much attention to it. Listen, let's rest here and let them wreak havoc."
What followed was a complete feast for the Russians, not to mention, they actually discovered the entrance to some cellars.
The so-called cellar is just a dark hole. A cold cellar can freeze if you put water in it. Some soldiers bravely got in and, not to mention, actually brought out some cold sacks. When he untied the hemp rope, he saw that it was full of wheat.
Many people were eager to get some leather and linen, and they did find some useless rags. The villagers raised sheep and chickens because there was livestock excrement on the ground, but they were all gone.
A batch of wheat was moved to the ground. Compared to a hundred Rus warriors, their size was actually not much.
While Arik was excited, he held his chin and muttered: "It's strange, they only expect this little wheat to survive the whole year? It's obvious that they have just finished the autumn harvest."
Rurik stepped forward: "Maybe they have other granaries. It must not be here. Oh, maybe they were carrying wheat when they escaped."
"Forget it, they may have a second granary. Or a bigger village. There are too few of us. Next time I bring four hundred or five hundred people to kill, and bring a large number of empty ships, I must Return with a full load." Arik didn't just say it, he really had plans in this regard.
An empty village serves as a resting point for everyone tonight.
A large amount of wheat was seized, and everyone could eat as much as they wanted and drink the sweet river water. After all, the wheat was thrown on the ship and the long ship was seriously overloaded after taking it away.
The load limit of a larger long ship can reach four tons, which is even comparable to some cargo ships. With such a heavy load, it basically can't withstand any wind and waves. As long as the waves are slightly bigger, the ship will be seriously flooded. The wave height reached two meters, and the overloaded long ship capsized directly.
Since you can’t take them all away, you can eat them to your heart’s content! At least everyone has to eat with a strong stomach.
Rus warriors used stone grinding rods they found to process fresh oats into coarse flour on grinding discs. They must spend some experience to deeply process the wheat grains, so that everyone can store some dry food for a long time during the next journey.
Could it be that the invention of cookies was really made by survivors of a shipwreck using flour soaked in seawater and stones heated by campfires?
Rurik thought these were all nonsense. In his opinion, the inventors of biscuits were the Vikings, and the so-called whole-wheat biscuits were one of their staple foods.
It takes some time to cook the oats thoroughly. While the wheat grains in the pottery urn were rolling up and down on the boiling water, some river pebbles were pulled out and they became a platform for baking oatmeal cakes.
Rurik was a little strange. He saw that this world was obviously lush and green, and the surrounding terrain was very flat. The ground where his feet stepped was obviously black soil (which proved to be fertile). The soothing river should be full of silt, so how could it be there? Some large pebbles? All he could guess was that the river also had summer floods. Whenever there is a flood, some rocks from the upper reaches are pushed here.
But the problem comes again. Rurik never remembered that there were any mountains in Estonia. The country was obviously very low and flat.
"Did I make a mistake? This place is not Estonia? Did we veer off course?"
Rurik slapped his face hard, feeling that the situation was actually very good. Look at your own people, they are already celebrating their harvest in other people's villages.
There were still some strange things that made Rurik feel at ease. He held a piece of crispy wheat cake and chewed it beautifully. Although there is no sugar, it really tastes better the more you chew it.
Taking advantage of the joyful atmosphere, Arik stretched out his face, which was flushed and warm by the bonfire, and muttered to his brother: "We will stay here for the night. We will leave tomorrow morning."
"Very good, the village is not ours after all. We still don't even know who those people are."
Rurik's words seemed to reveal caution, and Arik was certainly fearless: "I don't care who they are, they are seeking death when they show up. Get out of here, we will leave with the remaining food tomorrow. Oh, by the way, in This village must be burned before we leave.”
Rurik's heart was only a little touched by what happened now. His temperament did not become violent, but he really became rational.
Yes, no matter what the unknown villagers were, they just set the fire deliberately to make Rurik feel that this move was unnecessary.
"It's better to save some effort and continue sailing with the food. Burning the house is a waste of time."
"That won't work." Arik insisted, "The house must be burned! They are not even willing to take up arms to protect their home, why should I respect them. Remember, if the enemy is a coward or despises you, you have to give back double your anger."
"Okay, you have a point, I won't say it anymore."
Rurik continued to eat, and even nibbled on a bass fished from the river. He skillfully spit out the bones of the grilled fish and ate two pieces of wheat cakes in a row. Rurik was completely full.
A child's body is easy to fill up, but this is not the case for other strong men.
Rus warriors, or professional fishermen of Rus. Whether it was fighting, fishing, or long-term oar voyages, they were forced to develop a big appetite. Now they got a lot of wheat without paying any price, and they began to eat like crazy. A strong man Eating two pounds of oats tonight is perfectly normal.
That night, they had been tortured by the journey and had to eat too many carbohydrates, which inevitably made them feel a little out of sorts after the meal. To put it bluntly, they are caused by a sudden increase in insulin secretion in response to the body's stress, causing large-scale postprandial hypoglycemia and resulting in depression.
Rurik could tentatively guess this. He saw that his tribesmen gradually lost their former vigor and showed signs of wilting by the campfire. Many people simply curled up and snored indifferently.
Of course, they can live directly in the wooden houses in the village because of the protection from the wind. They really can't get used to living in a house that is half underground, because it makes people feel like they are rats burrowing into the ground. It is a symbol of cowardice and reminds people of tombs.
They curled up and slept wrapped in leather and linen beside the campfire. Only those who went to the toilet ran to the village houses.
Since the semi-crypt house is regarded as a symbol of a tomb, the Russians with abdominal pain naturally regard it as a place to hide filth and evil. After all, whether in Rossburg or in Mälaren, the toilets of all tribes are like this, and there will be one The big pit carries all kinds of filth.
Although the clansmen were sleeping, their swords and shields were still in their hands.
Does this count as being on guard? Rurik really couldn't stand that his cousin didn't even set up sentries, but actually camped in the enemy's house.
He tried to tell his cousin, who was so tired that he could barely raise his eyelids: "Brother! I'm just afraid that the villagers will take back their village at night. It's really too dangerous for us to spend the night in the village."
"Forget it." As he said that, Arik yawned deeply: "They are cowards during the day, and they dare not come at night."
Hearing this, Rurik secretly scolded his brother for being a reckless man. He did have some wisdom. Is it because after eating and drinking tonight, his intelligence dropped to the level of an ape?
Rurik stamped his feet: "Just sleep, and remember to sleep with your sword in your arms. Don't worry, I will send mercenaries as sentries. If the enemy attacks, you can get up and fight immediately."
Arik waved his hand, this perfunctory look clearly showing disdain for Rurik's advice.
So what? Rurik had to arrange for his men to do things.
The mercenaries were divided into two groups. They were ordered to use Russian bows and arrows. They spread out and hid behind some big trees on the outskirts of the village, alert to any disturbance.
One group is on alert while the other rests. They judged the time of the handover based on the position of the stars, especially the Big Dipper, the "Seven Valkyries" according to the Russians.
Rurik, under the personal protection of Jevro, was wrapped in thick leather and slept leaning against a bonfire.
It seems that the Russians have completely fallen into silence?
Actually, that's not the case. The figures sitting under the dark trees are always on guard.
The quiet time passed by minute by minute, as if nothing dangerous would happen this night.
So, is this really the case?
Is it really safe that in the morning, the Russians would burn the village to the ground after breakfast and then drive away?
Rurik had long expected that the situation should not and could not be so simple. He did not believe that there were really villagers who had opened up fields, who would be so scared that they would run away and never show up again just because they saw a few boats and uninvited guests.
At dawn that day, something finally happened.
A sentry noticed the strange footsteps. This sentry was already on his third round of duty. He was in good spirits. When he heard the strange noise, he raised his bow and suddenly shot it. The scene in front of him shocked him greatly.
In the dim forest, those tree trunks blocked people's vision, and some black shadows were moving cautiously.
Is it a monster? Or something terrible?
wrong! It's the enemy!
The sentry drew his bow and fired an arrow, and soon there was heard the painful wail of a man.
"Oops, they are really enemies."
The sentry suddenly drew his bow and shot another arrow, then ran away.
He was running wildly, and the shadows were also pursuing him. Fortunately, all the mercenaries had undergone rigorous physical training at Rurik's request. Their endurance and explosive power were excellent, and their running speed was astonishing.
One sentry sounded the alarm, and gradually the others responded. It's not that the sentries communicate with each other, it's just that all the sentries are aware of the danger!
Now, before running back to the camp, the sentry had begun to use various means to try to wake up his sleeping companions.
