I had taken the opportunity to go shopping and briefly searched the town of Steinblade, but could not find any clues about Merry Winterwind. Sarlayan originally planned to wait until the restoration of Alterac was completed before returning. Busy work.
Unexpectedly, I got important information from the Barov family.
Alex said calmly: "Of course I know that the Barov family has had a cooperative relationship with Meri Xiefeng since more than two thousand years ago."
"Oh, right."
Alex suddenly patted his head with a look of astonishment on his face: "At that time, he still called himself Meri Dongfeng. The name Xiefeng was changed later."
Through Alex's narration, Sarlayan and Valeela finally knew the whole story of the cooperation between Barov and Merry.
The Barov family has a long history and existed before the Arathor Empire unified all human tribes.
Barov's ancestors witnessed the rise and decline of the Arathor Empire with their own eyes, which corresponded to Terenas' famous saying - kingship has no eternity.
There is also a popular saying in the different world where the barrage is located.
There is no thousand-year-old dynasty, only thousand-year-old families.
The Barovs have never been leaders of a nation, but they have existed far longer than any royal family in a human kingdom.
Meri Winterwind is a lich. As long as the most important phylactery is not destroyed, he can even survive until the day the world is destroyed.
More than 2,000 years have passed, and Meri still maintains contact with Barov as before.
When he needs to purchase various materials required for experiments and research, he will purchase them through the Barov family's trade channels throughout the Eastern Continent.
[No wonder the Barov family would surrender to the Scourge so easily in the original history. Maybe they thought that all lichs were as harmless as Merry? 】
[In fact, it’s not bad. The Barov family wanted to take revenge on Terenas, and Kel’Thuzad kept his promise and fulfilled their wishes. It can be regarded as a kind act. 】
According to Alex, Merry did not live in Steinblade, where people came and went, but lived in seclusion in the ruins of the original Alterac Royal City.
"The ruins of the Alterac Royal City?"
Sarlayan asked with some confusion: "Isn't it occupied by Frostmaul Ogres? Merry is willing to be neighbors with a group of stinking Ogres?"
Valeela wordlessly poked Sarlayan's waist with her elbow: "Merry is a lich and has no sense of smell. It doesn't make any difference to him whether he smells or not."
"Ah this..."
Alex shrugged: "Just like Miss Sangunar said, that Mr. Lich has always been happy with the situation. As long as he can complete the research project, he can accept no matter how difficult the environment is."
"When I was a kid, I heard that in order to find out how the Dark Iron Dwarves could summon the Fire Lord, he personally went deep into the Blackstone Abyss to investigate. He even soaked in hot lava to avoid being chased by the Dark Iron Dwarves."
"He moved his laboratory to the vicinity of Alterac only 10 years ago. It is said that he was in retreat to study the life forms of snow monsters."
"A snow monster..."
Sarlayan nodded thoughtfully.
Wendigos are humanoid creatures that only live in cold areas. There are groups of wendigos in the Alterac Snow Mountains.
Not long ago, Sarlayan had heard that while stationed in Tarren Mill waiting for orders, the bored Dathrohan had led his army into the snowy mountains to eliminate the snow monsters.
"Well, I'll act according to the original plan and get in touch with Duke Ravenholdt first."
Sarlayan lifted Tina off his shoulders and put it into Valeera's arms: "Tina, you may need arcane assistance to find Merry. You can act with Valeera for the time being."
Although Tina usually makes a fuss, she is also very sensible at critical moments and nods obediently in agreement.
"Okay, but I don't think an old lich who has lived for nearly 3,000 years will be so easily persuaded by us."
Sarlayan shrugged and said, "Don't worry, let's find the specific location of his laboratory first."
"Merry is one of the elders who founded the Council of Tirisfal. He probably doesn't want to see this ancient mage organization die."
"As long as we can dispel his worries, we should be able to convince him to come out and rebuild the Tirisfal Council."
Valeera touched her chin thoughtfully: "Are you worried about the future?"
"You plan to..."
"Um."
Sarlayan exchanged words with Valeela meaningfully: "But we have to wait until the matter here is over. The guy sealed by Meri is not easy to deal with. We still need to make some preparations in advance."
…
After basically agreeing on the outline of the follow-up plan, Haas repeated his old trick of picking up the bottle and going to the door to pretend to be crazy. Sharlayan and Valeera took the opportunity to sneak out and sneak all the way back to the hotel where the Quel'Thalas delegation was staying.
Early the next morning, Sharlayan, Valeera, and Tinagosa split up according to plan.
After escaping from the surveillance of the Syndicate, Tinagosa took the lead in transforming back into dragon form, turning on invisibility and flying Valeera in the direction of the ruins of the original Alterac Royal City.
Sarlayan also braved the heavy wind and snow, transformed into a sharp-tailed swift, and rushed to Ravenholdt Manor, located in the mountains to the east of Hillsbrad, as quickly as possible.
At the same time, in the basement of Steinbred Church, a strong and majestic man sat at the top of the table.
Duke Faculest and others whom Sarlayan and others had met before kneeled respectfully on one knee in front of this man and were reporting the latest information to him.
"Haas is drunk and crazy?"
The man pondered thoughtfully for a moment: "Forget it, it's not important."
"What's going on over there in Quel'Thalas? Has Lord Deep Shadow made any new moves?"
"No."
Duke Faculest, who had previously displayed an arrogant attitude, was now very calm, with a solemn look on his fat face that originally looked a little funny.
"They walked around town a bit yesterday afternoon and haven't left the hotel since."
"Um……"
The man's brows frowned slightly: "Something's wrong. According to Earl Shenying's past behavior, he shouldn't be able to wait quietly for the situation to continue to develop, unless..."
The fat man kneeling below raised his head in astonishment: "Your Excellency, unless what?"
A cold light flashed in the eyes of the man known as the Duke: "Unless he has already thought of the follow-up countermeasures, and every move you make is in his plan."
"this……"
The fat man scratched his head in confusion: "Isn't it possible? Quel'Thalas has never had contact with us before, how could they know the Syndicate's behavior?"
"Don't underestimate Quel'Thalas."
The real Duke Falkrest warned calmly: "Even that old fox in Terenas was so angry that he vomited blood and fell ill due to Quel'Thalas' endless new methods. You don't think we are more powerful than Lordaeron, do you? ?”
"Ambi, send someone to test it out."
Duke Faculest ordered with some uneasiness: "I have a bad feeling. I'm afraid Earl of Deep Shadow is no longer in the hotel."
"Find out his whereabouts as soon as possible."
"yes!"
…
On the other side, Alex and Haas, who had just woken up, were also dining and discussing what happened yesterday.
"Haas, do you think Earl Deep Shadow can convince that old stubborn Jorach?"
Haas pondered for a moment: "Using righteousness as bait, it is not difficult to convince Duke Ravenholdt himself."
"But now he has a large number of subordinates under his command. He always has to consider the future of those thieves. I can't guarantee whether he will fully assist in the restoration of the country."
"and……"
Before Haas finished speaking, Alex nodded knowingly: "That rumor? Indeed, Terenas' little trick has had a big impact on Jorazi's reputation. I wonder if he will Just make mistakes."
"Another point."
Haas hesitated, but finally decided to voice his suspicions.
"Alex, I don't know if you have noticed, but that guy Faculest is a little weird."
"Huh?" Alex put down the bread in his hand and asked in surprise, "What's weird?"
Haas frowned and shook his head: "Faculest is not the kind of pampered nobleman. When he was young, he and the contemporary Duke of Ravenholdt were known as the twins of Alterac."
"It's only been 6 years now. Will Faculest really degenerate so quickly that he can't even catch a casual punch from me?"
Alex's eyes flashed and he asked Haas cautiously: "What do you mean?"
Haas was silent for a moment before speaking again: "I boldly propose a hypothesis. Perhaps the Faculest we saw yesterday was not himself, but the Faculest family prepared for him a long time ago. substitute."
"A stand-in that can look fake and real."
