Rurik personally led the cavalry to continue upstream along the Haven River, accompanied by a large fleet of ships.

The young warriors continued to sing the songs of the north, and the huge oars waved the water rhythmically. Although it was going backwards, the speed was faster than two human legs.

Old Man Haven was sitting in the boat at the moment, and he and the young man were rowing together.

And he is the most important guide for this operation.

On the one hand, his aging eyes stared at the distance of the river, on the other hand, he stared at the change of the river beside the boat, and also took a look at the king advancing on the bank.

He must be careful, because the river that bears his name has a second rapids.

The river was completely immersed in the dark green forest ocean, so that the meadows on both sides became narrower and narrower, and the cavalry had to line up in a long snake formation to advance with difficulty.

Rurik tightened his grip on the reins, and the towering reeds had touched the belly of the horse, as well as his feet in the stirrups.

He felt bad about marching in such an environment, watching the horses stagger, as if the horse's hooves easily stepped into the mud pit under the reeds and the rider was thrown off.

All were struggling to keep their steeds under control, and it looked as if the brothers who were paddling were safer.

"Your Majesty!" An old voice came from the boat.

Rurik turned his head decisively.

"What's up?"

I saw that Halfen had already stood up, holding a wooden stick and waving it in front of the ship, muttering something.

Although Rurik didn't listen very lightly, he also knew the important information recorded by this person and the accompanying scribe Gorm.

"Are we finally going to Lake Villiers?" he asked loudly.

"Yes! Your Majesty! Be vigilant!"

"Okay! You also have to be careful, make sure to rush out with all your strength!"

Therefore, compared with the damen area downstream, the newly facing estuary area has a lot of stones on the riverbed, but they are not like stone knives lying on the bottom of the water, but the important exit of Lake Villiers in the southern area, and the terrain is quite high. A large amount of lake water leaves from here, first the lake bay, then the converging trumpet mouth until it converges into a narrow channel. The water flow increases in a short distance. It really takes the brothers of the whole boat to pass through this channel. Paddle as fast as you can.

The leisurely drifting has come to an end, and the young fighters are facing challenges.

They were mentally prepared in advance, and now they are prepared to face the challenge.

All the sails were tied to the mast, and the soldiers took off their obstructive jackets one after another. Clenching the wooden handle of the oar with both hands shows the strong muscle texture of the warrior's arms. In order to ensure that they will not let go, some people tie their hands and the wooden handle together with wooden sticks and ropes, showing the momentum of living and dying with the boat.

The ships began to charge with chant, but the situation was not as thrilling as they expected after facing the reality.

At this moment, Rurik and his cavalry had quickly passed through the last reeds, still facing the huge and trivial Lake Villiers standing by the lake.

The calm water of the lake does pass through the bell mouth area full of rocks in large quantities, and the turbulent part is like a long boat with a carp leaping over a dragon's gate.

The first ship, the second ship... Nothing can hinder the advancement of these long ships. They seem to be galloping on the water, and the drift monster floating on the bow seems to really give the ship a strong vitality.

The long boats entered the calm waters of the bay one after another, and the panting warriors finally let out a sigh of relief. They faced the dangerous estuary they had just passed, and their faces were filled with the joy of being conquerors.

Rurik saw all this, and he also paid attention to the scenery of this bay area.

He sent semaphore signals to the ships floating in the lake bay, and the expedition team finally arrived at the Great Lake after a lot of hardships. Now everyone is camping in a relatively spacious lakeside meadow area selected by him.

A bonfire was quickly lit by the lake, and the people who built a temporary camp in surprise finally enjoyed the rare comfort.

They experienced almost a whole day of tortuous sailing, bid farewell to the camp at Princess Mountain in the early morning, and finally faced the Great Lake in the evening.

However, according to what Old Man Hafen and "Drifter" Gorm said, the bay the brothers faced was indeed a part of the huge Lake Villiers, and it always gave people a sense of waters that were free from the main body of the Great Lake.

The burning pine wood crackled, and the reeds were used as a cushion. Rurik sat down comfortably to warm himself by the fire. At this moment, the aroma of grilled fish and boiled wheat continued to permeate.

While waiting for the meal, he ordered Gorm to record everything he saw and heard during today's voyage.

"Is this really necessary?" The bold Gorm had some doubts for a while, "What happened, nothing can escape the eyes of the king."

"This is kept as a document forever and given to future generations to read, not just to meet the current needs of the king..."

Not all scribes have a strong understanding of the significance of recording history. Gorm always thought that the documents he recorded were just for the king to read. Could it be that his own record can be handed down forever? So I had no choice but to record every detail of King Rurik himself participating in the expedition throughout the whole process, and especially record the grassland princess Beyahir who married from afar to take care of the king's daily life like a maid throughout.

Soon, hot grilled fish and boiled wheat were brought to Rurik.

Need a special request for a picnic? Some sea bass caught in the early morning have already cut off the inside and the fish head. Even so, it is still slightly rotten. After being roasted at high temperature and sprinkled with heavy salt, the rotten feeling can no longer be eaten, but the deliciousness of the sea bass is delicious. not come out.

The supplementary food for ordinary soldiers can only be salted fish and dried meat. Fortunately, there are plenty of salted fish and wheat as the staple food. Hungry people can't wait for the porridge mixed with wheat and oats to be boiled into a thick sauce. Just after cooking, it is mixed with dried salted fish meat and stirred into a bowl of hot rice in a wooden bowl. They sat cross-legged one after another, leaning against the fire, looking at the lake, and eating with spoons in their hands.

And all the war horses were also removed from their bridles and saddles. After regaining their freedom, they wandered around the camp, hooking their heads and gnawing on the inexhaustible weeds...

After eating half full, facing the big lake, I stroked my exquisitely trimmed beard, looked at the sunset, and admired the forest as beautiful as an oil painting under the soft light and the orange lake.

The forest obviously has an end. If you look carefully, there are slightly raised hills not far away. Some very special scenery emerges in the sunset.

"What did you name this small body of water?" Rurik asked casually.

The old man Haffin, who was full, responded casually: "The lake bay has only a very narrow twisted waterway connecting with the main lake. As you can see, this water area is very smooth. I would like to call it Ball Lake."

"Ball Lake?"

"Yes."

"It's a very casual name, but it's very appropriate." Rurik took another look at Gorm, who was always carrying a pen and paper: "Boy, record it as it is called Ball Lake."

Therefore, it is almost inevitable to name it "Ball Lake". The lake area here looks like a circular place despite the tortuous inlet and outlet waterways. So pronounced in Slavic with a characteristic suffix, it is Gribotsko.

There is nothing special about the waters of this small lake. Rurik noticed that there seemed to be rocks. The area on the hill that was not covered by trees was tanned orange in the setting sun, and it felt like it had the texture of sandstone.

Anyway, we have arrived at Lake Villiers, so we must explore this secluded place.

Besides, the expedition soldiers who have been sailing have exhausted too much physical strength in Demyansk, and now they really need a longer period of rest.

Rurik had already set the basic outline for the entire expedition plan. The ultimate goal of the expedition was not only to find Lake Villiers, but also to go directly north to Lake Valdai. He wanted to check those claims himself, the so-called two lakes could be directly connected by sailing on dry land, even though the Hafen expedition team who witnessed it had sufficient evidence to prove that they really came from the north by pushing a boat.

The large army was resting, and the lost Ross cavalry led by Rurik rushed directly into the forest full of pine and birch trees.

He was very pleasantly surprised to find birch forests in this environment, and these white birch trees were scattered, and they were not as easy to hinder the cavalry as the pine forest.

Marching under the birch forest, the soldiers suddenly had the feeling of walking in the birch forest of Baishu Manor.

Everyone is in a good mood and leisurely, and the more comprehensive woodland allows the soldiers to clearly see possible threats from farther away. They carried crossbows and recurve bows, and they were not afraid of possible brown bear attacks.

However, during the journey towards the hills, everyone saw some scurrying squirrels and inexplicable birds cooing on the branches, but there were no traces of larger beasts.

Soon, the top of the hill that the cavalry arrived at turned out not to be as beautiful as Rurik had expected.

What appeared in front of my eyes was not sandstone, but a large area of soil that didn't even grow weeds. Such soil does have the performance of desertification, holding a handful of sandy soil does not have much use value.

The cavalry stood at the geographical high point of the entire Valdai Heights. There are indeed higher altitudes in the nearby area than this position, but no matter how high it is, it is not much higher. The dense forest completely obscured Rurik's sight. He could only overlook the entire Ball Lake. If he wanted to see the larger main waters of Lake Villiers, he could only climb over the low dirt hill and take a shortcut to enter the lakeside area and continue to North forward.

How big is Lake Villiers? Intelligence only shows that its structure is trivial, and the main water area is very slender.

With nothing special to do, Rurik with the cavalry simply acted as an adventurer.

He suddenly behaved like a khan of the steppe, with Rus and Pecheneg cavalry at his side, and even Princess Beyahir was holding a bow handle as an armed guard.

They were still on guard against bears. After climbing over the mound, they didn't find any trace of bears, but they saw a sneaky place that looked like a human figure.

"Looks like a bear?!" Brody excitedly pointed at the shaking shadow.

"I don't see it. It doesn't matter, we will find out soon after we charge up." Rurik looked left and right again: "Listen, don't shoot arrows wantonly, follow me to charge quickly. Let's go!"

The cavalry ran wildly in the sparse woodland, and soon chased those swaying shadows.

All the truth came out, and the truth was also surprising.

The figure being chased was a real Ross hunter. Because the vast forest was full of risks and opportunities, the Ross people who entered the southern lake area maintained a high degree of vigilance. After realizing the danger, no one felt that fleeing was a cowardly act.

Five hunters, male and female, carried crossbows and spears, and one carried a great deal of rope. Since the weapons are quite sophisticated, the group of five has sufficient information on bear hunting.

Standing in their perspective, a large number of swaying shadows quickly revealed their real bodies. The white-toned uniforms of the Ross cavalry were sewn with eye-catching blue patterns. With dyed blue feathers.

Such a color is particularly conspicuous in the gray-green forest as a whole, and it is Ross's beauty that is obvious. Although it feels unbelievable, these hunters from the old Ross tribe recognized that it was actually one of their own, so they naturally stayed where they were and did not resist.

The cavalry who caught up were quite surprised, but once the eyes of the two sides met, everything became clear.

In the final analysis, the expedition that Rurik was staying in was actually the armed training of the soldiers of the Second Cavalry. Most of them came from the city of Mstiysk, and they came from the same city as the hunters. Both of them are old Ross people, and the truth has already been revealed after a few simple conversations.

It was unbelievable to see the King himself in some unknown forest, but it was so.

The hunters were shocked by this, so why wasn't Rurik shocked?

After a brief chat, he realized that a brand new settlement had sprung up in the spontaneous actions of hunters going souththe Bear Hunting Home.

As its name suggests, various bear hunting groups have been in the vicinity for some time.

Brown bears have a sense of territory, and bears will defend their territory. How do these beasts understand that the hunters who broke into this place not only want to bring this mountain forest into Ross's territory, but also all animals, big and small, that live on the land will be hunted, especially the forest Overlord bears, they must understand who is the real master.

The Ross people, who have sufficient experience in bear hunting, are now completely chasing the bears and killing them, so that the bears in the nearby area are strangled to death in a short time.

The main job of the temporary settlement of Bear Hunting House is to process these leathers, and by the way, it is also used as a place for fishing and drying fish. In this secluded place in the far east, the Ross people live the most familiar life of fishing and hunting.

But Rurik was most shocked by one point, which inspired him to dismount in a hurry and talk to the hunters who provided important information with an attitude of eye level.

"What you said is true? Arik actually came to your bear hunting home?"

"It's absolutely true, and they claim to come from a lake in the east called the Grilled Fish Lake." An elderly hunter explained in this way.

The old man's daughter-in-law, an out-and-out middle-aged Rose woman, immediately added: "It's not a grilled fish lake. It was Arik who discovered the source of the Musta River! Oh, Gods bless, I'm afraid our Villiers The lake is the source of truth. It is not why those Slavs gave this big lake such a name, which is exactly the same as the name of our late high priest."

"That's just a coincidence. Didn't you expect Arik to be cultivating in your bear hunting home?" Rurik asked again anxiously.

"Exactly. Or..." The woman smiled and glanced at Rurik: "Or, we will take you to the camp. Now that you are the king, everyone thinks that you want to stay in New Roseburg, but unexpectedly Missing our old family. Come on! Look at the bears we Ross catch, you'll be amazed."

The old Roth woman was like any other old Roth, and they saw Rurik as the new warchief. What's more, everyone knows the situation of Rurik himself very well. Many people can claim to have watched him grow from a baby to the current king.

No one thinks that Rurik is a lonely king who is so precious that he should not show up easily. But in the past few years, he has been busy with activities in the two big cities of Novorosberg and Novgorod, objectively, he has indeed alienated the city of Mstisk, which is dominated by Old Rus.

The appearance of Rurik himself in the wilderness is a positive sign. The hunters who lead the way heard that their cubs are going through a wilderness march in the name of adventure. The action proved the importance he attached to the new settlements in the East.

Surrounded by forests and lakes, the Bear Hunting House, a settlement with a simple small dock and a large number of simple wooden sheds, exists on the west bank of Lake Villiers.

Rurik stands here with his cavalry.

"Wow! As the name suggests, bearskins are everywhere!"

The first impression is often as indelible as the branding on the skin. Rurik saw a large number of wooden supports next to a large number of wooden sheds. No less than 30 brown bear skins were tied with hemp rope. They were stretched as much as possible. , a leather craftsman is working on it.

A large number of bear heads were inserted on wooden stakes as if entering a sacrificial ceremony. Obviously, everyone did not think that the ferocious fangs of bear heads were terrifying.

Some children are still running and playing among the bear skins and bear heads, but the adults have noticed the sudden appearance of the Ross cavalry.

At this moment, Alik, who was lying on the grass by the river with his legs crossed and basking in the sun, was suddenly awakened by his buddies.

Nervous and joyful, the brother slapped Arik's shaggy face roughly: "Brother, the king is here."

"King? Is... Rurik?" He was visibly sleepy.

"It's him! It's really him."

"Really?" Arik jumped up suddenly, turned around and looked towards the settlement, and saw the shaking Ross cavalry figure.

However, Jill, who was playing with the local hunter children, rushed forward happily with his little boy when he heard that his uncle king was coming.

Being able to meet his little nephew in this wild place, Rurik was so happy that he held him up high, and then simply let this kid ride on his neck~www.mtlnovel.com~ and kept twisting his neck The body made some dangerous movements, and Jill enjoyed the crazy hilarity with her uncle. Because it was too exciting, she hugged her uncle's arm tightly and laughed excitedly.

That laughter easily caught the attention of Arik who came in a hurry, and then he saw Jill actually riding on his younger brother's shoulders.

"Rurik! Why are you here? It's incredible."

Following the sound, Rurik saw his cousin's face that had obviously experienced a lot of vicissitudes, so he suddenly carried his nephew down, and twirled the brat in his arms before placing him on the ground safely. Jill obviously didn't want to say enough, just as he landed on the ground, he hugged his uncle's waist again and kept smiling.

"Brother! I heard that you went to explore the far east. It's amazing! I heard that you discovered some incredible things. And your face... feels quite old..."

Pushing his nephew slightly away, Rurik stepped forward.

The two brothers greeted each other like this, and they opened their arms and hugged each other tightly with smiles.