When repairing in the evening, Cesare confirmed the number of people in the convoy. The people who survived the interception by the bandits were "Fool" Rosen, the "little" dwarf who drove the car, and the leader Claudius. Together with Anya and the four miserable child laborers, these skinny children were still in shock just now, their body bones were shaking, but the next second they were working quickly with their hands and feet, like several machines that were forced to run. .
After stopping the carriage and feeding the horses, he pulled out a few rag tents from the cargo pile and set them up near the two carriages. They were fixed to the ground with rough ropes and leather, and the thin fabrics drifted with the wind. Swinging, more of a psychological effect only.
Except for Claudius, who could sleep in his own compartment, everyone else had to spend the night in tents. Due to the experience of being blocked by bandits during the day, everyone unanimously decided not to start a fire tonight to avoid attracting attention, and set off as soon as daybreak. But there was no bonfire to keep warm, and the forest was frighteningly cold at night. Almost everyone was covered in blankets to avoid being frozen into popsicles by the cold.
The sky was filled with stars, and the faint light illuminated everything in the forest. Cesare and Anya were assigned to a separate tent, so they did not have to be crowded with other people in the convoy. After a tiring journey, the lively girl still had endless energy. Anya looked around in the temporary camp and greeted everyone in the convoy, and when she walked towards Cesare When he was next to me, he talked nonsense again.
"I think this circus is not as simple as it seems."
"What do you mean?" Cesare asked, but Anya did not continue to explain, just smiled as always and walked away.
Several cardinals flew in front of Cesare, and the birds circled around Anya, falling down one after another and then chirping around the girl. Anya was as happy as if she had made new friends when she saw these birds. She squatted down and spread her hands towards the birds. The cardinals, who were usually timid and fearful of others, now took the initiative to jump onto Anya's palms, excitedly It shouted, and then rubbed its bright feathers against the girl's cheek affectionately.
Putting the bird down gently, Anya took out the bread from her backpack and carefully kneaded it into pieces and spread it on the ground, letting them peck at it. Anya's smile was bright and cute, as if she was using a kind of bread that only they could eat. Communicating in understandable language. Cesare stood not far away, leaning against a big tree. Whenever he wanted to walk over, the cardinals would fly away in fright. When Cesare left, the cardinals would return to Anya. around. Since he didn't seem to be very popular, Cesare stopped disturbing this wonderful banquet.
A very short child laborer walked up to Cesare. The little boy had a large mud-like birthmark on the left side of his face. His hair was yellow, his limbs were withered, and his mouth was missing several teeth. "Ah...ah." He mumbled something indistinctly and handed Cesare a hand-drawn parchment map with clear words marking Hunyadi's collar.
When the convoy just stopped, Cesare found him and asked about his current location. The little boy did not give an answer at that time, but went back to the truck to look through something, and it was only now that he took the map. He tapped his bony fingers on the spot where the woods were drawn to indicate where they were now.
Cesare looked at it carefully. If there are no mistakes in the drawing of this map, then if you are lucky, you will be able to arrive at a small town called Fog Village tomorrow. After arriving in the town, you will walk through a vast field and you will almost reach the location of the Earl's Castle. . From this point of view, the old woman in the previous abandoned town had indeed lied. The journey was not as far as she said, but considering that the person was already dead, there was no point in worrying about it.
"Thank you." Cesare looked at the map and was curious about the child laborer in front of him. "Um...can't you speak?"
The child worker squinted his eyes and smiled. He opened his mouth wide to show his empty mouth. The tongue that should have been inside was missing. He was really pitiful at such a young age. No wonder he couldn't hear these child workers talking along the way. , probably the tongues of several others were also cut, it is not clear whether this was done by Claudius.
Cesare frowned and said nothing, and the child worker just took back the map and turned around and left.
After confirming the distance, Cesare felt somewhat confident. If nothing unexpected happened, he would be able to see the count within three days at the latest. This was one of the few good news in recent days.
The moonlight stayed on the treetops, the shadows of the plants swayed in the darkness, and the evening wind rustled the leaves and brought an unusual smell of blood. Cesare heard the sound of the whip tearing open the air and vaguely heard the choked and low-pitched scream coming from the forest. The source of the sound was not too far away from where they were resting, but the loudness of the sound could only be determined carefully. You can tell by listening.
Cesare looked around. Rosen and the child laborers had gone into their tents. Anya was busy playing with her bird friends, and Claudius was nowhere to be seen. Cesare didn't want to interfere with the internal affairs of the convoy, but the painful screams were indeed difficult for people to ignore. And what if Mr. Claudius encountered any danger? After thinking about it, Cesare felt that it would be safer to confirm it in person, so he walked in the direction of the sound.
Not long after bypassing several bushes, in a relatively open area, the exaggerated coat on Claudius, the circus leader, was easily visible in the dark night reflecting the moonlight. At this time, he was standing sideways to the crowd. Sarai stayed with the "little" dwarf who drove the truck during the day. He held his whip high, while the dwarf knelt on the ground and made begging gestures.
Seeing that something was wrong, Cesare stopped in time and quickly hid behind a tree before they were discovered.
"Please, sir..." The dwarf was shirtless, and his clothes were thrown carelessly on the lawn. His exposed skin was covered with alternating old and new whip marks, and the moonlight revealed black and red streaks on it. Yinzi, he lowered his voice and his words were as hoarse as a knife cutting through his throat. "I didn't let the lion go last night... I never thought of betraying you..." The dwarf tried his best to lower his voice and cried. His expression was distorted by pain, and he had an adult face in a child. His body was like a child, unable to hold back his tears.
Before he finished speaking, the leather whip twisted its body in the air like a snake and hit the dwarf on the shoulder with full force. He wanted to scream loudly but covered it with his hands because of some kind of fear. There was only a low whine and tears splashing from his mouth. In order to divert the pain from his body, he could only bite his fingers to draw blood.
Seeing his miserable condition, his leader Claudius didn't look the least bit distressed. The man was leaning sideways, with the red scarf still wrapped around his face, making it impossible to tell his expression at this time. His exposed eyes were as cold as those of a bystander, completely ignoring the dwarf's begging for mercy. "Let's think about this..." Claudius, the group leader, put his hands behind his back and slowly and gracefully circled the dwarf.
"Those child laborers don't have the courage. If they leave me, they will die in this forest. And Rosen is an idiot. He can't even learn how to open the cage. Oh, by the way, there's that guy Polonius, he I don’t even have any hands. Do you think he did it? Then the only ones left are you and me... Do you think it was possible that I did it myself, or do you think that Rosen and I are the big fools? Same! He is a complete retarded person with cerebral palsy!"
"No...I didn't...the cage was broken by itself. The lock on it was rusted a long time ago, and the lion could easily break it open..." the dwarf choked, followed closely by Claudius Si's boot kicked him hard in the stomach, and the sudden pain made his stomach churn, causing him to hold his stomach and roll on the ground in pain.
"Speaking of it...it has been more than ten years. Haven't I talked to you sincerely in this long time? Dear Mr. Guildenstern...you should know me very well. I have known you all my life." I live in lies and lie to people all the time, so the thing I hate the most is someone trying to lie to me." As he spoke, the leader Claudius suddenly turned his head and looked in the direction of Cesare. , and Cesare also immediately squeezed behind the tree to avoid the opponent's sight.
The leader of the group, Claudius, squinted his eyes and looked around, acting like he had caught an empty bird of prey while hunting. His eyes were dull and slightly disappointed, and he turned back, and once again fell on the man named Guildenstern. On the dwarf.
"You let the lion go, thinking that I would rush you into the woods to retrieve the lion, so that you could escape from me and abandon our deep friendship for many years. This really chills me. ..." Claudius paused for a moment, and a contemptuous chuckle came from under the red scarf. "But you didn't expect that I have never really trusted you fools. I would rather let Rosen, the cerebral palsy, go find the lion than let you leave my sight. Sigh... It's such a pity, let's go together After experiencing so many life and death separations, you still want to play your tricks on me." The leader's voice was hoarse and low, with a chilling threat. Listening to his voice, even hiding in the distance Cesare, who was here, couldn't help but feel a strong danger signal.
The little dwarf pulled the grass with both hands. Fear and the cold temperature of the night forest tortured his body and spirit. He was shaking violently and almost died in the next second. "I didn't... If I wanted to run away, I would have escaped before we were wanted... How could I wait until now..."
