Heart of the Castle

Chapter 375 Walking together, the trail of the magic mountain (please subscribe, please recommend)
The caravan set off on the second afternoon, and drove out of the gate of the Castle Black Inn amidst the yelling of horses and the creaking and moaning of carriage axles, and set foot on the road of glory to the Duskwood.The weather was not very good, and soon after the road started, it began to snow. The caravan's carriage was quickly covered with a white coat, and it looked like a group of beetles trekking hard from a distance.

One of the agreements between Babrupa and the merchants was that the personnel of the caravan must obey the orders of the black actor.Of course, the adventurers and mercenaries who served as caravan guards were not convinced about this, but when they saw the appearance of the few people who walked out of the Gospel Circus casually, they couldn't help but let out a low voice of surprise and panic. call.

The reason for these experienced adventurers to exclaim is very simple. The people who came out of the Gospel Circus were all tall and burly, wearing thick leather armor coated with black oil. At first, everyone thought they were all wearing wolf heads. However, under the faint morning light, it can be clearly seen that these big men are not wearing helmets, but have completely wolf heads!
Seasoned adventurers quickly recognize this fearsome foe, the werewolf of the Rotten Swamp!
However, apart from being amazed, neither the merchant nor the adventurer thought about anything else. After all, the werewolf is also an intelligent race. The natives who had to flee the swamp joined the Adventurer's Guild.These simple-minded guys often died under the conspiracy after they made a certain reputation, whether it was from the enemy or... teammates.

In addition to being simple-minded, another impression of a werewolf is that it is powerful and agile. Unless it is a knight who has comprehended the power of fighting spirit, few people can win an overwhelming victory in a one-on-one battle with a werewolf.The caravan guards sent by Mr. Hu Lun only made this statement more authentic and credible.

After this contest of "friendship first, victory second" for the caravan, no matter how rebellious the mercenaries and adventurers were, they became honest.Li Wei paid special attention to the middle-aged adventurer who made him faintly afraid, but this person did not show any abnormalities again. He packed his luggage with the others, and then got into the car to guard according to Babrupa's command.

Although Li Wei still had doubts about the identity of the middle-aged adventurer, he quickly forgot about the matter before the caravan set off.

The ten caravans of the Gospel Circus were divided into two groups, guarding the front and rear of the caravan respectively.The first two wagons were filled with the cheapest goods and nothing else, and the two people who drove them were the two tribes of Worf and Bau, known as the "Dark Twin Wolves" - a title that made them both very satisfied. The leader is in charge.These two werewolf leaders are quite powerful. Although they can't comprehend fighting spirit like humans, they can compete with any opponent below the big knight with their physical strength alone.

The next two caravans each carried 20 lizardmen archers. The special short bows used by the lizardmen allowed them to shoot freely in narrow places. Wins a lot.Li Wei, who was riding the Dark Nightmare of the Northern Territory, moved forward together with the caravan. Due to the special size of the Black Nightmare, it appeared to be a little taller than Donna, who was riding a tall horse on the other side.Next is the convoy of merchants. These carriages come in a variety of shapes and shapes, but they all have a common feature, that is, the body is extremely strong, and the fragile doors and windows are inlaid with iron bars for protection.This is because anyone who has traveled to the northern border for a long time knows that the north of the Dusk Forest is not a peaceful paradise, but a wild land where wild beasts and wolves are infested, and aliens and barbarians and robbers abound.

The Castle Black Hotel is not far from the Dusk Forest. After an hour or so of driving through the thin snow, the convoy can see tall oak trees towering like sentinels, as well as old men bent over like old men with vines and black thorns all over their bodies. oak.Although it was far from being tired, Babrupa still decided to stop the convoy for a while to rest. At the same time, he sent mercenaries on horseback as scouts to scout the road ahead. He didn't announce to continue on the road until the scouts returned safely.

After arriving at the mark left by the scouts, Babrupa declared a rest again, and then continued to dispatch the scouts.This kind of repeated and cautious advance, the convoy advances at an extremely slow speed, and the mercenaries in charge of the sentinel still feel miserable even though they set out in turn. They dare not complain to the evil spirits of the Gospel Circus—or, in other words, the black mummers. , they unanimously aimed their spearhead at the caravan leader.

When Babrupa asked to stop to rest again, Mr. Hullen, who was frowning, brought two other caravan leaders to find him.

"Mr. Babrupa, aren't you being too careful?" Mr. Hullen carefully searched for less offensive words to express his dissatisfaction. "Even if the army is marching, it is rare to use scouts so frequently. What's more, we have a total of 400 people and more than 30 carriages. Even if those thieves haven't left, they may not dare to do it, right?"

"It will be too late to send scouts until the sharp arrow pierces your throat." Babrupa's eyes narrowed into a slit, and Mr. Hullen and the other two caravan leaders were secretly flickering. Shocked chill. "But I understand your difficulties, are those mercenaries looking for trouble for you?"

"No, no, they're just complaining. The weather is too cold, and it's really a hard job to watch out." Mr. Hullen explained hastily.

"Hard work, yes, it is indeed hard work." Babrupa sighed in agreement, "But since you are out on an adventure, you have to learn to swallow the bitter and sour, no matter who you are. Mr. Hulun Compared with sitting in front of a warm fireplace and sipping summer red wine, isn't it hard work to go out to do business in the wind and snow?"

His words made Mr. Hu Lun and others speechless. After looking at each other, they could only show a helpless wry smile. "You are right, Mr. Babrupa. After all, safety is the most important thing. Let's persuade them again."

"It's really cold, Mr. Hullen. It seems that there are a lot of spirits in the goods you brought this time?" Babrupa asked suddenly. Seeing Mr. Hullen nodded in confusion, he stretched out a fat short The finger said, "Give each mercenary who takes on the mission of scouting a bag of spirits as a reward, but they can only enjoy it after completing the mission of scouting."

If it was in a place like Dirk City, you might be able to buy a bag of spirits for one or two silver coins, but it would be different if you crossed the Dusk Forest.The land in the north of the Dusk Forest is barren and the food production is very low, so there is not much that can be used to make wine. However, in order to resist the severe cold in the northern border, most of the residents here like spirits. At the same time, spirits are also an important material for cleaning wounds and treating diseases. , so the value should increase several times.The thought of rewarding these adventurers with spirits that could be exchanged for gold coins immediately made the faces of the three caravan leaders change color slightly.

Babrupa straightened up and clicked his tongue twice. "Father God, the merchant's stinginess should indeed be brought up as the original sin." He said with sarcasm in his tone, "Well, it was said in the commandment that drink to the thirsty and feed to the hungry. Since you are reluctant Take out this money, and let it come out of the black actor's commission."

The two caravan leaders showed joy when they heard the words, but Mr. Hu Lun was a little embarrassed, "How can that be done?" He murmured, "Otherwise, we can each contribute half of the money."

Babrupa glanced at him in surprise, and when he was about to say yes, Li Wei's voice came from behind, "Don't bother, black actors don't need this little money." The young lord stepped on the floor Thin snow and broken branches and leaves came, followed by the tall and handsome black horse. "The weather is so cold, you should warm up your body, otherwise when you encounter danger, your combat effectiveness will be reduced."

"Master Twilight Knight said that we were negligent on this point." Mr. Hu Lun nodded, "Let's take out the spirits and give each of the masters of the black actor a bag... for free. "He saw Li Wei waving his hand, and hurriedly added.

"It has nothing to do with money." Li Wei told him resolutely, "Spirit is not good, it will start to warm up after drinking it, but it will become colder after drinking it, and it will definitely cause trouble if you drink too much. Every time you take a break, cook it in a large pot for a while." A pot of chili water, everyone should share a bowl."

"Chili water, does that work?" A caravan leader asked suspiciously, but before Li Wei could answer, he was dragged down by Mr. Hu Lun.It wasn't until outside that he shook Hu Lun's arm a little annoyed, "Are you crazy?"

"You're crazy. Most people don't know how to warm your body with pepper water, but I know." Mr. Hullen's voice seemed a little nervous.

"so what?"

"Only the army in Northern Border County would do that." Mr. Hu Lun replied coldly.

"You mean, these people are..." another caravan leader said in surprise.

"I didn't say anything, and I don't know anything." Mr. Hullen interrupted him, "Just treat them as mercenaries. After passing through the Dusk Forest, we'd better settle the balance immediately and then part ways with them. "

The other two caravan leaders glanced at each other, and nodded in admiration.

When Mr. Hu Lun expressed his judgment, Li Wei also showed a somewhat embarrassed expression to Babrupa, "Maybe he showed some flaws." He explained, "The method of chili water is only available in Northern County. That's what the military does, ordinary people don't know about it, and they don't want to use it."

"Of course, bitter and spicy chili water is not as good as strong and sweet shochu?" Babrupa licked his lips and said, "The best shochu soothes the throat, those mercenaries are blessed."

There was no smile on Li Wei's face, "When they meet the enemy, they know what is more important."

"Will you really encounter enemies? Master Li Wei, not only sent out horse-riding scouts on the ground, but also sentries with wings in the sky." Babrupa said a little strangely, "You told me to guard like this, according to me It seems that they are overly cautious, maybe those robbers have robbed two caravans and are already satisfied."

"I always feel that things are not that simple." Li Wei frowned and replied, "Do you still remember the powerful knight I found when we came here?"

"I remember. At that time you said that you and Donner could not win in front of that person." Babrupa said.

"In retrospect, I should have made some mistakes in my judgment at the time." Levi admitted.

"Of course there were mistakes." Babrupa took the opportunity to flatter him, "There are only a handful of knights in the entire kingdom who can defeat you and Lord Donner together, and there may not be any in Northern County."

"No, the mistake I said was that I underestimated the other party." Li Wei replied coldly, without being moved by Babrupa's flattery, "I'm afraid that person's strength is not in the sword dancer Ansai's Under the earl, if he had done something at that time, I am afraid that none of the three of us would have survived."

Babrupa shivered in fright at Li Wei's words, "Oh, what a terrible guess." He murmured, "Master Li Wei, it seems that the high-ranking knight of the Balance Chamber of Commerce died in the This person's hand?"

"Maybe, maybe not. The killing of a high-ranking knight doesn't prove anything." Li Wei looked at the dense forest ahead with piercing eyes, where the Avenue of Glory gradually shrank, turning into a road that was almost the same as a forest trail. "But in any case, an armed convoy that shows a strong vigilance may be able to avoid unnecessary battles."

Li Wei's eyes can't penetrate the barriers of thin snow and tree shadows, otherwise, if he extends forward a few kilometers, he might be able to see the campsite in the middle of the dense forest and what happened in the middle of the largest tent in the campsite. dispute.

There was only one person on both sides of the dispute, one of them was wearing a black and red aristocratic dress, with an inexplicable sense of majesty in his golden eyes, and his right hand was stroking the hilt of the long sword at his waist; the other was It was a burly and strong middle-aged knight, wearing heavy knight armor without any family badges or decorations, and his blade-like eyebrows trembled when he spoke, as if he might leave his face at any time to kill the enemy.

"Lord Gale Eyes, I have assured you several times that the high-level knight was severely injured by me, and it is impossible for him to return to Castle Black alive. As for the body being found, it is even more ridiculous. This is the Dusk Forest. It's too normal to treat people, maybe the wolves wandering around here can solve this problem for us."

The man known as the Lord of the Eyes had no expression on his face, and only those who knew him the most could see the sarcasm hidden in his eyes, "James, your guarantee is worthless to me. No matter the high-ranking knight Dead or alive, we may all have been exposed."

"It's exposed, so what?" The tone of the middle-aged knight James became even worse, "Cutting the fighting qi is a fighting energy that I comprehend on my own, and it is different from the fighting qi Tianhua that has been recorded. From a corpse, I can guess that it was my hand."

"It's really not easy to guess that it was you who did it." The Lord of the Eyes tapped the hilt of the sword with his fingers in turn. This was a small subconscious movement when he was thinking. "But there are some things that don't need to be guessed. You let others know that there is a bandit group that can kill even high-level knights. But is this normal?"

"So what if it's not normal?" James patted the pair of long swords crossed on his waist, "The wings of death have never been afraid of any challenge, no matter whether they are prepared or not, in these two long swords Under the sword, they have no chance."

A voice suddenly came from outside the tent, "My lords, an image came from the crystal ball arranged by Grand Magister Karman, and another convoy was discovered."

"I didn't expect it to be quite lively these days." James muttered, and then walked out of the tent.Lord Gaiyan pondered for a moment, then stepped out of the tent.

The bonfire was still raging in the campsite, surrounded by tough warriors dressed in sheepskin and bearskin, with spears and shields beside them.Compared with two weeks ago, their number has decreased by nearly one-third, and most of the remaining people have scars on their bodies, and some of them are still bleeding slowly from the bandages that bind the wounds.

Compared with the elite soldiers of the Death Knights, the guards of the Tianping Chamber of Commerce and the Holy Light Chamber of Commerce are actually not weak, but they are much inferior in high-end combat effectiveness.Four Glorious Templars died in battle one after another. After the high-ranking knight Kakatris escaped with serious injuries, the situation of the battle turned irreversibly towards the special operations team.However, the elimination of these Chamber of Commerce guard cavalry also caused the special operations team to suffer a lot of trauma.

After the Lord of the Eyes walked out of the tent, he saw the crystal ball placed on the high platform made of rammed soil at first sight. A moving picture was reflected on the surface of this crystal clear magic item, which showed that it was Li Wei and others The scene where the convoy is winding forward.The magic on the crystal ball cannot transmit sound, but watching the scene of dozens of carts and hundreds of people advancing together, the noise of people shouting and neighing faintly rang in my ears.

"Another batch of fat sheep." James muttered in satisfaction, his eyebrows trembling, as if he wanted to fly out and kill these people.

"There are too many people to eat." Lord Gaiyan commented: "I think it should be safer, at least until all the forces of the special operations team are gathered."

"That's what you think, Lord Thomas." There was three points of sarcasm in James' tone, and the remaining seven points were - even he didn't know it - deep jealousy. "There are quite a few of these people, but when it comes to combat effectiveness, I'm afraid it's not as good as the two chambers of commerce yesterday. I can eat it."

"Attacking this caravan is prohibited. Captain of the Special Operations Team of the Death Knights, Lord James." The golden eyes of the Lord of the Eyes flashed an unstoppable light, and his tone was as strict as a thunderbolt hidden in it. "This is an order from me, the deputy head of the Death Knights, the Lord of Swords Tomad Jansen."

Hearing these words, James suddenly turned his head, his face did not hide his resentment, "You are the deputy head of the Knights, I should obey the order." His chin raised provocatively, "But that is In the past, in terms of mobilizing the special operations team. I also have the exact same authority as you."

After saying these words coldly, James turned around and gave an order without looking at the expression of the Lord of the Eyes, "Special Operations Team, all set out!"

"Your Excellency, Lord James has always been at odds with you. Talking to him like this will not have any effect, but will be counterproductive." Seeing the soldiers in the camp following James' footsteps, the only one who stayed beside Lord Mothy Eyes The young servant said softly.There was a somewhat confused light in his eyes, and he could even think of this reason, but it's no reason that the lord with eyes couldn't think of it.

The expression of the lord with eyes did not change much, but the young attendant who was familiar with him could read the slightest joy in his eyes. "Yeah, James has always disobeyed my orders, but this is probably... the last time, right?" His eyes rested on the back of an unusually tall and handsome black horse in the crystal ball, and he murmured With an imperceptible sense of satisfaction, "I hope you won't disappoint me, Levi Stone!"

(End of this chapter)