The bright colors of the flowers have disappeared from the streets of Venevoise, replaced by red maples and green pines. The strong colors add splendor to this rock-like city.
Quillen liked to stand under the pine tree and watch his men hang the groaning beggar. This gave him the illusion of being at the gallows where the fate was being pronounced, and the people standing on the high platform all the time were noble lords; those who were dragged up the tree Everyone wailed at the top of their lungs, because everyone knew that if Quillen could enjoy the sinner's confession, his death would be quick and his pain short-lived.
However, there are too few trees in the city, and the Frost Moon is even more bare. This is against the rules - against the rules of the Wheel Gang. The Wheel Gang is a gang that specializes in robbing businesses, but gangs also have rules. Those who don't have rules are not called gangs. They are a group of beggars that no one looks down on. Those people can do anything. They are as ferocious as wild dogs when facing single travelers, and as weak as rabbits preyed on by wild dogs in front of gangs.
When he was hiding in the sewers and old streets of the East City of Wynnworth, Quillen believed that the difference between the two was the rules; but when he ruled these places where he once struggled to hide, Quillen understood that the real reason was magic - -Beggars and homeless people are mostly ordinary people, while gangsters always have mysterious creatures.
In the face of magical power, ordinary people are like rabbits.
Just like the caravan in front of Quillen, the judgment was being played out in the alley, with horses and carriages passing by. The crackling of rattles and whips, the putrid stench of salt and spices, sweat and powder, and the most tempting fragrance of wine and fruits, captured Quillen's attention almost instantly.
His heart pulsed, needles of pleasure poking at his nerves. He stood up, taking everyone's eyes with him. The five fingers wrapped in leather and dirty cloth clenched the dagger, and he heard everyone swallowing.
Standing next to the poor victim was the man with a braided braid. He was the most convenient thug of Quillen in the Wheel Gang, "Iron Pedal". He stared at the caravan's fat, long-maned horses, turned back and cut the tramp's throat.
"It's a caravan, sir." Tie Dian called out the title that Quillen was happy to accept without any hesitation, as if this would bring the latter one step closer to the high platform next to the execution place. "The mark I've never seen before is a new caravan."
There are by no means a handful of new caravans that want to transport northern products to the Ice Territory. If there is any business in the Eastman Kingdom that is more risky than smuggling, it must be doing business in the Ice Territory. The only way to reach Wenivaz alive is by the four-leaf forest. It is called the "Eternal Green Vein", which is the bloodline that maintains the lives of the people in the Ice Territory during the extremely dark night.
There is no doubt that even if the Silver Eagle Knights set up checkpoints here and impose heavy taxes, there will still be an endless stream of merchants who are willing to pay for gold coins - Venevoise lacks everything that is abundant in warm areas, and the priceless fur beasts in the north The horns are overrun and worthless. But these are the mysterious legacy of monsters, and the profits brought by exchanging what they need are extremely astonishing.
"The Harvest Moon is coming." Quillen didn't even look at the dead man. He now had a new source of enjoyment, and blood flowed from the slit. The men slaughtered the living people in their hands one after another, with greed and cruelty in their eyes, causing the last horse that passed by to let out a short neigh, flick its tail and quicken its pace.
Quillen took a deep breath, the sweet and mellow blood stirring his organs. He saw the moon in the sky, its pure white surface covered with cracks.
And rabbits should be eaten by wild dogs, this is the rule.
"Business is here too." A string of silver nails was punched into his arm, which was now rippled by the pull of the muscles, with strength and brutality clashing inside. "The wheel passed by in front of us, and it was innocently oppressed by cargo and horses. Gaia will not allow this. We must tell those fat rabbits who are trekking here that the wheel gang will never sit back and watch their crimes. "
Tie Pei saw the logo on the flag. "Sir, that is the mission of the mercenaries." He believed that Quillen must have noticed it.
"Adventurers also have rules." The leader of the Wheel Gang didn't care. He ruled the gang with mysterious power, but he did not rely on strength to get rid of his identity as a beggar and thief. "They won't go against the nobles. It just so happens that a group of Templars came from Bonfire. These shiny iron-clad trash will not stay in the city much longer, and I need their flag."
…
Joey landed on a cliff, opened his mouth and said something, but was unable to break the silence like a deaf-mute. Uriel tried hard to identify and finally recognized the sentence:
"What do you see?"
I saw a normal valley, but my ears thought otherwise. Uriel was about to shake his head, saying that he hadn't started yet, when he suddenly realized that Joey was actually reminding him that he should start, because foreknowledge takes almost no real time.
And Joey asked this question more than once. He heard it for the first time in Frostleaf Castle, and now it is the second time. Maybe there will be more in the future... Maybe he can think of a way to let this sentence tie him to reality.
"You can't control magic, you can only control yourself"
So he mobilized the fire, and the flames burned, pulling the magic power. He tried his best to keep the only thought of exploring the future in his mind, and decided to start from half a minute ago——
It was difficult to see the moon in the dense forest, but her light was reflected by the flowing water, and the ground was covered with broken spots. Uriel just blinked and saw the water ripples, reflecting the tree branches on the cliff.
He was lying in the crevice of the stone, holding a handful of fern leaves in his hand. The apprentice quickly threw them away, but his hands were still stained with sticky green juice. The slight movement was still silent. He raised his face, and sure enough he saw the messenger lowering his head as if feeling something, and their eyes met in mid-air.
Joey hasn’t come down yet and hasn’t asked those words yet, I succeeded!
The joy of rejoicing made Uriel exhale a long breath. Different from the battle at Frostleaf Castle, what supported him at that time was actually emotion rather than reason. The former was always more popular with fire types than the latter; when reason prevailed, magic was more difficult to control.
He has never seen the so-called knowledge of magic, but he is becoming more and more able to control himself. From this perspective, Joey really deserves to be called a mentor, at least the methods given to him are useful enough.
"Bai." Uriel knew that Joey would be able to hear him, "I want to go in first."
I'm about to enter the valley, now you have to tell me what's in it, right?
The messenger descended and pushed the dwarf aside. His blue eyes stared coldly at the light element, and the latter had no choice but to withdraw and look away.
"They can't hear you," the apprentice reminded.
"I'm not hiding," Joey said, "but getting out of the way."
But the way you behave will only give people an idea... He decided to get straight to the point: "It's very quiet here. Is there something in the valley that must hear our voices?"
"I don't know. Croy has records that he just can't make sounds with magic here."
With magic? Uriel paid attention, and Joey continued: "The anomaly here originates from an ancient curse: During the era of fighting the evil dragon, there was an army in the Knox camp that belonged to the cavemen - it was rumored that they were lizard people. A subspecies that likes to use bagpipes and cowhide drums to manipulate the elements in combat.”
Uriel turned his head when he heard this, just in time to see York's body trembling, and his orange face faded a little.
He held back his laughter and asked, "It shouldn't be about controlling elemental life, right?"
"The elemental beings have their own fire, and they won't listen to them." Joey was not interested in threatening York. "The cave people live in the mountains and are not very friendly to humans."
"Where's the curse?" If the apprentice doesn't remind him, Joey might forget what he just said. "What happened to the cavemen's army and this valley?"
"The army." Joey repeated, "They encountered a powerful demon king and the whole army was wiped out here. The cave people also disappeared."
The small sounds disappeared and peace returned to the valley. Uriel felt a little heavy. He suddenly realized that war was easy to say, but in fact it was just as cruel as the disaster that happened in Yotsuye City.
He made up his mind to embark on the path of the mystic, but his will cannot be tempered in a day. Without Joey's guidance in Yotsuye City, he would never have reached this point.
"It's such an old story. I always thought the evil dragon was a legend." Painter muttered.
York disagreed with him: "Wintherspoon does exist, and my father participated in the War of the Dawn."
Uriel was not surprised that light elemental creatures had a lifespan of more than two thousand years. He was curious about things related to that war: "Then you know a lot about the St. Mirend Alliance and the Evil Dragon?"
"That's not true. Because he died in that war."
What? Uriel almost asked out loud. He always felt that there was something wrong here——
His father died in a war a thousand years ago, so his biological son is probably only over 300 years old, right?
"The reproduction method of elemental life is rather strange." York explained, "You humans can't accept it, and I can understand it."
"Sorry." Uriel felt very embarrassed and couldn't wait to skip this question. So the apprentice apologized as quickly as possible, and then tiredly returned to the curse that Joey had said three times but had not yet finished.
This time the messenger finally found the point: "After the demon monarch massacred the cave people, the valley turned into a dead place. The undissipated fire gathered into a mystery and blocked the ancient battlefield."
"The curse, or the mysterious rule, has only one:"
"Leave the heroic spirit alone."
"No loud noise—"
"Those who violate this will be buried here."
