January 21, 795 in the New Calendar, south of the Principality of Ernifea, in the Emerald Forest.
"President, the news should be accurate." In the jungle composed of huge green stones, a player with brown leather armor and two swords hanging from his waist was reporting to another person: "It seems that the principality's troops have withdrawn."
"Can we..."
"They withdrew..." The person talking to the man with two swords was a burly player wearing a fiery red robe. Because the robe was too wide, it looked a bit out of place on the man, but perhaps because he was used to it, he waved his robe sleeves like a cattail leaf fan carelessly, and his voice suddenly became louder: "Removed!"
"Withdrawn means they are no longer searching! They are done! They..."
The man who looked like a mage punched the huge emerald behind him: "They've all finished, what's the use of us going in again..."
"Uh, but President, maybe there is something missing..."
"It's not like I don't know what those people in the principality are like!" The man in red robe lifted up his robe and walked forward angrily: "We have made moves in many places here, and those people and I have We have dealt with it. If... it was Horsman who personally presided over these things, those patrols would not have appeared at all! But let those local people come... Huh!"
"As long as they are mixed in, any good thing will turn into a bad thing, and no good thing... will be left behind for you!"
The man in red robe kicked a piece of gravel away without any mage-like manner: "A swarm of locusts!"
"Okay, okay, don't be angry. Although I have said it before..." In the giant stone forest on the other side, a man wearing black cloth came over with several players. The player looked quite handsome, with long black hair on his handsome face, tied up with a knot and tied behind his back. Although the cloth robe is black, it looks very clean and bright. There was a long tube-shaped object tied around his waist tied with a gray cloth strip, which looked like a flute. He didn't know where he got it.
The man who looked quite clean was holding an unknown fruit in his hand, chewing on it while talking.
"You asked me to send someone here a long time ago, I know!" The man in red robe waved his hand to stop the commoner from boasting: "There are not so many ifs, and there are few people in our guild. This is a fact! Even if someone comes, I guess I will be like those clowns and let Broken Mountain Mountain and Snow Spirit Magic Ice be cleared away..."
"Jianghu and Wings of Freedom can join forces, why can't we find someone to cooperate... And their two guilds will actually join forces, huh... I absolutely don't believe it." Black Bu Yi threw the fruit with only the core in his hand away, then reached into his arms and took out another fruit. He rubbed it with his hand twice casually, and just about to put it in his mouth, he suddenly thought of something, and then stretched forward symbolically: "Greenstone Village's specialty, Kalilai fruit, do you want it?"
"If you want...will you give it to me?"
"Of course... no." Hei Yi took his hand back, and then bit it down again: "Now that place has been plowed by the two major guilds, and again by the NPC, huh. .....Maybe twice or even more, because according to those miscellaneous fish, there are people from other unknown forces involved behind the whole thing..."
"So why did we come here? It's all in vain!" The man in red robe didn't care about the other party's teasing behavior and continued the previous topic: "This place is so remote. We went through all the trouble to come here just to visit the remaining remains. Big rocks? Although this place is very spectacular, after looking at it for a long time, it just looks like that..."
He waved his sleeves vigorously, and the sound of hunting came from the air: "Waste of time! Waste of experience! What about the UEFA Cup? There is only one month left, the qualifiers are about to start!"
"Well, it's a competition. Friendship comes first, competition comes second... Uh, okay, don't glare at me. We've been preparing for so long, what are you still worried about, Sir?" The man in black His voice was mellow, but because he had been chewing something in his mouth, his words were a little unclear: "As for coming here, in addition to settling our affairs, naturally we also want to find some gains that are beneficial to us."
"Oh? What did you find? Is it those fruits? You've been eating them for several days..."
"Looking for someone." Another fruit core flew out, and the man in black clapped his hands: "Those three people on the same team as Duan Shanyue and Xue Ling Huan Bing - since those two are silent, then they are the ones who The first person involved in the incident. According to my analysis of the existing intelligence, they should be newcomers born in this novice village and got involved by chance. And..."
"Intelligence shows that the pair of ice and fire sisters in the seven-person parliament should also be one of the parties involved."
"Magic Council? Our... top?" For the first time since talking about it, the man in red robe had a look of surprise on his face.
"Yes. So, it is very important for us to find out the whole story. At least... it will be beneficial to our relationship with the Mage Council." The man in black shook his finger and said slowly: "This … That’s our most important gain.”
"Have those people been found?"
"No, but we have obtained some clues. Many people in this village, including some NPCs, know them. I heard... they should have left the Novice Village and gone to Fenghua Town." Hei The man in clothes sighed: "The road is indeed the biggest enemy. It seems that we have missed the time..."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Maybe we could stop them on the road..."
"If you don't come here to investigate, how can you know that they are gone? You should use your brain to think about it occasionally, Master Luo Riguyan."
"Hey, isn't it because of you? How can the name of "Ghost Calculator" be called for nothing?" The man in red robe waved his hand casually, and then walked towards the direction he came from: "In that case, let's go back. Mansion. After staying in this place without a hair for a long time, I feel a little depressed..."
The man in black shrugged and followed with the remaining people: "Okay, okay...it's all up to you."
"Speaking of which...can't you think more about it yourself? There is so much information out there. If you just take a look, everything will be clear at a glance..."
"This is called making the best use of everything, Rensi...what's the matter? Anyway, if you do these things, you must be better than me, right? Hahahaha..."
The angry mood not long ago had been completely abandoned by the man in red robe. He patted the black clothed man on the shoulder and smiled heartily, not caring at all about the pain on his expression.
Gradually, the group of people disappeared into the huge stone forest. The mellow voice belonging to the man in black was like a low whisper, floating in the quiet air.
"Alas...meeting someone like you..."
************************
Time goes back a few days to the village chief's home in the middle of Greenstone Village.
"So, Benny's affairs are up to you, old lady."
"Everyone has always taken good care of the poor little boy, so there is nothing to ask for..."
In the herbal shop next to the village chief's house, Duan Qing and Mengzhu were communicating with the old woman. On the one hand, Mengzhu wanted to say goodbye to this kind and amiable old man. On the other hand, Duan Qing remembered that the old woman had mentioned something about Benny when they came here before.
Although little Benny is very strong, he has become an orphan after all. Being able to find other NPCs who can take care of him should be a good ending for the little boy. Remembering that when they were talking to the old lady in the herbal shop, she had mentioned Benny in gossip, so the two decided to leave this little man's future to her before leaving.
Of course, this is still something that ordinary players would not do.
As soon as the chat started, the old woman with the attribute of chattering started nagging the two of them as usual. The situation of each family, the family differences, recent events, the number of adventurers has begun to increase, and so on. As usual, the little girl became the main target of these words. She sat there, holding her knees with her hands and moving around, but she kept laughing on her face, and then glanced at Duan Qing aside with sad eyes—— He was pretending to be standing aside, visiting the herbal shop.
This was the case last time... First, deduct a hundred yuan from the budget for buying equipment, hum!
Because there is still a lot of preparation to be done, Duan Qing and Mengzhu don't want to stay here for too long. In a few days, they finally sold off all the items they had accumulated and exchanged them for coins. Because they had sold their property rights, the money was held in the hands of Mengzhu, who was gleaming with golden eyes. Although the little girl is greedy for money, she also vows to use the money wisely. So in the past few days, apart from visiting the villagers and saying goodbye before leaving, the only thing left was to prepare for a new journey.
However, there are some things that Duan Qing is still very interested in.
"You go first...wait a moment, or you can do something else." After the two of them went out, Duan Qing waved his hand and told her: "I have some other things that I want to talk to the old lady about. Let’s talk.”
In Mengzhu's confused eyes, Duan Qing smiled casually: "Don't look at me with such doubtful eyes, it's not an important matter... In other words, you want to hear more nagging?"
So the little girl shook her head like a rattle: "No!"
The two agreed on a time and place, and then parted ways. Duan Qing casually opened the door of the herbal medicine shop, and then met the peaceful old woman sitting behind the counter.
"Oh? Is there anything else..." The kind old man shook his body like a roly-poly: "Still want to buy some medicine? I heard that you are going to travel far, so you must be careful and make more preparations. Good thing, but..."
"Old man..." Duan Qing waved his hands repeatedly to stop the endless thoughts that were about to begin, and then said: "Excuse me... what is your relationship with the village chief's family next to you?"
"Ah..." The old woman smiled with a warm feeling: "That's... my husband. Is there any problem? Did you encounter any difficulties in Greenstone Village? .....”
She said with a serious face: "We will definitely make the decision for you..."
"No, no, no, I haven't encountered any difficulties..." Duan Qing hurriedly waved his hand again: "Well, what I want to ask is the name of the head of our village..."
"Name... I haven't mentioned this name for a long time..." The old woman put away her kind face, seeming to be lost in long memories: "I always call him Fabre, he His last name...let me think about it..."
The old man frowned and looked at the ceiling: "It seems to be called... Cesc Fabregas..."
"What a familiar name." Duan Qing smiled, and at the same time quietly glanced at the small emblem on the antique wooden stand next to him: "I think you and your husband are very familiar with the Emerald Forest. It’s familiar…”
"That..." The old woman stopped swaying and said with a smile: "That happened a long time ago, alas..."
"The current Emerald Forest is the real Emerald Forest... Most people in the village also know it." The old man's eyes gradually became as deep as ten thousand years of ice: "Now you all see Arrived, so...everything has..."
"It's over."
The white-haired old woman slowly shook her body again: "Greenstone Village has been here for hundreds of years. I hope that... it can continue to exist like this in the future."
"This is also the wish of both of us." The old woman looked at Duan Qing and just smiled peacefully.
The Fina family weaving clothes, the Ambru family hunting, and the store owner selling groceries... came out of the herbal medicine shop earlier than expected. Duan Qing took advantage of still some time to visit alone. I visited some private households with whom I had a good relationship and said goodbye to them one by one, which was also an explanation for those NPCs with a high degree of favorability. Regarding Duan Qing's trip, everyone also expressed their regrets at the time of parting, and at the same time wished Duan Qing the best for his future travels.
When they arrived at the blacksmith's house, the bald man seemed to know something and sat down at the small round table in the middle early.
There is a clay pot and two small cups on the table.
"Kalilai juice, a specialty of Green Stone Village."
"It's... such a warm reception, uncle. But he is so nice to me all of a sudden, I really can't get used to it..."
"I heard about the Emerald Forest." After a long time, Val, who was sitting next to the small round table, finally woke up from the silence. He looked at the man in front of him, whom he didn't like much at first. His strong body with his bare upper body motionless, like a solid rock.
"I... turned out to be a soldier," Val said, "and then... escaped from the army."
With a pop, Duan Qing squirted out the juice he just drank.
Damn it, although you finally told the truth, the deserter is a bit full of information...
"I like this village and hope... to live here. So... for the things you do..." the blacksmith's voice became a little stiff: "I mean Thank you so much."
"This is what I've heard the most these days." Duan Qing wiped his mouth and responded calmly.
"Huh..." Val snorted coldly, then picked up his cup, but did not drink it. He just looked at the light green liquid for a moment, and after a while he suddenly said: "Fenghua Town, Visse you."
"What?"
"People like you should go to him." The blacksmith did not explain more: "The convoy is here just now, you can go with them."
Every once in a while, the caravan from Fenghua Town will come to this small village, and while doing some fixed transactions, they also deliver some necessary living supplies. The maintenance of this trade route can be said to be an important factor in the survival of such a remote Greenstone Village to the present day. These days are the trading days for this convoy. Now they are staying at the intersection north of the village and will go back in two days.
The blacksmith stood up and seemed to be planning to return to his small room: "Kid is very familiar with me and should be able to take care of you. When you meet Visser, remember... to tell me my name."
With a bang, the small door closed again.
"Alas..." Duan Qing shook his head, tilted his head and drank the remaining juice unceremoniously: "Practice your emotional expression."
"Shy uncle..."
The figure disappeared into the small room, leaving only the half-covered door that was still swaying.
Two days later, on January 14, 795, Duan Qing and Mengzhu boarded a convoy heading to Fenghua Town. Although the convoy is a routine return trip, for Duan Qing and Mengzhu, this is their trip and the beginning of a new journey.
Sitting in front of the carriage, Duan Qing looked back at this unusually quiet village again, and unexpectedly saw the old man in shabby white clothes and gray hair.
The old village chief of Green Stone Village stood at the entrance of the village and watched the convoy related to their village slowly set off, just like he had done countless times before, but this time, there seemed to be something else in his old eyes. mean.
He paused for a long time, then shook his head and walked back slowly. In the village behind, a howl with a broken gong suddenly sounded, echoing in the distant sky.
"Conquer - fight - thousands, don't - return - return -"
