Harrison Harbor should have been quiet late at night, but suddenly a raging fire broke out. The silence and darkness covering the port suddenly lit up, and then a surging flame wind engulfed the building.
The firelight illuminated a small half of the eastern half of the harbor and was reflected on the surrounding sea surface. The fish at high tide were fully illuminated, and their shadows fled in panic on the bottom of the sea.
Many people were awakened by the sudden light and burnt smell. The father woke up his children, and the wife pushed her husband to wake up. In confusion and natural fear of fire, everyone quickly ran out of the house with the most precious belongings in the house, without realizing it. He was not wearing any pants, or his clothes were upside down.
"Is it the lame Osenner's house?" On one side, sharp-eyed people quickly discovered that the scope of the fire was not large. To be precise, only one house was damaged.
The fire looked powerful, but because it rained yesterday afternoon, only the wooden structure inside the house was actually ignited. The main beam and roof had not collapsed, not to mention that the wind direction did not support the spread of the fire.
This made the surrounding neighbors breathe a sigh of relief. After all, Harrison Port is a city surrounded by rivers and seas. Putting out a flame of this level is nothing at all. Someone was immediately ready to fetch water to put out the fire.
"Oops."
After confirming that his side was safe, people who were familiar with Osenna remembered the key point. The strong fisherman slapped his thigh in annoyance: "It's okay if the lame one is gone. The two children, Ian and Elan, are safe." It’s over there too!”
Oceana's relationship with his neighbors was not very good. He rarely interacted with others and was not very tactful in his dealings with others. Even among his own clan, few people cared about his safety.
But brothers Ian and Elan are different.
The two brothers have the same mother and father. Not counting the foreign Canaanite Moorish mercenary, their parents are both good local people.
Ian's father was a member of the Port Guard and was responsible for investigating monster lairs all over the coast. Because he often killed monsters and harvested them, he would share some of the meat in the water with his neighbors and relatives.
Their mothers are rare literates and can read letters and notices to their neighbors. They are also good at pickling fish and making fish and meat floss during festivals.
But due to a violent storm in the South China Sea eight years ago that had not been seen in 300 years, the convoy that happened to be out to sea was completely wiped out - Ian's father was among them.
Almost everyone still remembers it.
That day, dense thunder roared across the sky, like tree branches, and purple lightning cut through the dark sky, illuminating the endlessly churning sea.
Ian was born in this storm and lost his father at the same time. More people also lost their husbands and sons.
Many houses were blown down, fishing boats capsized and sank, and the city walls on the east and west sides collapsed with many holes... Because of that abnormal storm, the entire city of Harrison Port was in a state of silence. Until now, the port has not fully recovered. .
Oceana was unlikeable, but the same could not be said for the clever little Ian.
Thinking of this, an enthusiastic neighbor who was also a member of the White people poured a bucket of water on himself and covered his head with a wet cloth.
He wanted to get closer to the fire and see what was going on inside the house.
This person is the fisherman who spoke before, his name is Sai Nan. His skin is dark due to working at sea for many years. Apart from his white hair, there is no connection with the white people. However, his dark skin is thick and tough, like a layer of fish scales under the skin. .
Sai Nan was once rescued by Ian's father from a group of reef-eating sea otters. When Ian's father passed away and his mother was still alive, this warm-hearted fisherman often found some excuses to send one or two fish to help.
He is indeed not afraid of fire, nor is he stupid, he has his own selfish motives.
Sai Nan thought about it and went to the fire to see if he could save him. If he couldn't, he had to show an attitude. If he was so loyal, could everyone choose him as the fisherman leader?
But just as the bold fisherman approached the burning house, he was shocked to see a familiar young figure swinging in front of the fire.
Ian held the white-haired child in one hand and dragged the white-haired man with blood on his face with the other hand. The boy stepped on the shadows illuminated by the fire and staggered away from the house that was groaning and about to collapse.
"Ian?!"
For a moment, the fisherman froze on the spot, unable to imagine why such a scene would happen.
But soon, he reacted. The man gritted his teeth and walked quickly to Ian. He picked up Ian and Elan in his arms with one hand, and grabbed the obviously unconscious O'Lan with the other hand. Senna', then strode back toward safety.
Sai Nan certainly has such strength. The catch he usually moves is heavier than the three of them combined. When retreating, he asked in confusion: "What happened? How did the fire start? Oceana ...Why did your uncle become like this?"
Although it was only a short glance, Sai Nan could see that there were deep wounds on 'Osenna's face that were visible to the bones, and there were extremely serious stab wounds on his arms and body.
Fortunately, Oceana was tall and burly, so although these injuries were serious, they did not appear to be fatal for the time being.
But why was he injured?
Sai Nan's first thought was that when Ian was beating up the scum, Oceana, Ian resisted and stabbed him several times - and he felt that Oceana was not so strong before and was a bit heavy!
But this idea just flashed through my mind. After all, it was too ridiculous. How could an eight-year-old child have the strength to fight with an adult and tear out so many bone-deep scars on the opponent's body?
As for Oceana's weight...Hey, maybe he is the type who dresses to look slim?
But then, Ian's somewhat tearful answer made him feel unreasonable, but also felt great uneasiness and consternation.
"Yes, it's a Sequoia native!"
Ian, who was being held in Sai Nan's arms, was sobbing quietly. He stuttered a little: "A native sneaked over and wanted to take away my brother and me... He had cigarettes, but I had a headache and couldn't sleep, so Found……"
"My uncle had a fight with the natives and accidentally knocked over the brazier..."
Soon, Sainan, who had brought the two brothers and the seriously injured 'Osenna' to a safe place, roughly knew the whole story.
Ian's words were a bit confusing and mixed with the sobbing of the child. While making everyone around him feel distressed, he unexpectedly explained the key information quite clearly.
After Ian repeated his narration again, everyone roughly understood the summary.
——The natives from the redwood forest sneaked into the harbor and wanted to use sleeping smoke to secretly abduct the two brothers Ian and Elan.
Ellan was naturally knocked unconscious, but Ian couldn't sleep because of the injury he suffered on his head a few days ago, and discovered the strangeness of the sleeping smoke.
After Ian shouted to wake up Oceana and alerted the natives, the lame guy unexpectedly burst out with blood and started fighting with the natives who wanted to take the two brothers away.
Although Oceana had difficulty moving, the room was small and he was born with a strong physique. He endured the knife wounds and used a pitchfork connected with his bare hands to strangle the natives alive and stab him to death.
While tearing and rolling with the last native, Oceana knocked over the brazier used to dehumidify the house. This brazier is usually placed in the kitchen to store fire, but because recently there was mold in the clothes in the house, it was left outside to get rid of moisture.
The sparks ignited the clothes, ignited the overturned and leaking algae oil lamp, and then ignited the table, chairs and floor next to it. The fire quickly spread.
Next, was the scene that everyone saw - Ian couldn't put out the fire, so he tried his best to bring his brother and unconscious uncle out.
"What a boy, with strength and courage!"
Everything went smoothly, naturally, and logically. Sai Nan had no doubts about him. He rubbed Ian's face vigorously and praised the child's decisiveness.
As long as Ian hesitates for a while, the three of them will never get out of the fire.
However, the sharp-eyed fisherman also noticed that while Ian was talking, he was holding a small bag tightly in his hand.
The style of the cyst is rough and primitive, obviously indigenous.
"……That is?"
Among the onlookers, an equally sharp-eyed herb collector also noticed this.
He usually walked in the mountains and forests, and his eyesight was the most important thing. He didn't pay much attention to Ian at first, so he didn't notice it.
But just now, he smelled a faint scent of flowers, which reminded him of the 'sleeping smoke' that Ian had mentioned before. The herb collector, who was worried about the fire and wore his clothes inside out, suddenly felt something in his heart: "Ian, Show me that package."
"Huh?" Hearing this, Ian shrank in fear and took half a step back. He stuttered and replied: "But my uncle told me to keep this away..."
This answer obviously made the herb collector impatient, so he stretched out his hand.
"show me!"
