"That's it, you get off the boat and walk along the official road, and you can reach the imperial capital in less than half a month. ”

On a merchant ship, the shipowner pointed out the way to the imperial capital for Shi Yuanji, and Shi Yuanji thanked him and got off the boat and walked.

Three days ago, Shi Yuanji said goodbye to his fellow villagers in Xiaoyu Village, took a merchant ship, and headed for the imperial capital.

There are still two months left before the enrollment of Chengyun Hall, the snow in early spring has not yet melted, and the people on the dock are even wearing thick winter clothes.

Shi Yuanji was dressed in a gray arrow robe, with bast shoes on his feet and a hat on his head, and walked towards the imperial capital step by step.

Since the weather was still very cold, there were not many people on the wide official road. Shi Yuanji took out the Tiankui jade, activated the map, and carefully looked at his surroundings.

"Half a month? It's still a little slower, let's see if we can take a shortcut." Shi Yuanji looked at the terrain on the map and planned his own itinerary. "Yes, although this road is not an official road, there are villages nearby, and there should be no bad people. ”

There were a few dragon patterns faintly flashing in the map, and according to the description in Mi Sida's notes, these dragon patterns were the remnants of the miracles sensed by Tian Kuiyu. Shi Yuanji didn't care much about them before, but now that the imperial capital is located, there is a fiery red dragon pattern, but he has to care.

Shi Yuanji looked carefully and found that this dragon pattern was a variant of the two seal characters "Shouxin", which surprised him.

"How can there be traces of fireflies in the imperial capital? Firefly is the god in charge of disaster and punishment, could it be that someone in the imperial capital has angered the gods?"

It seems that God's influence on the world is so pervasive that there is no escape. He depressedly retracted Tiankuiyu and walked along the planned shortcut.

has just gotten rid of the influence of Xuan Ming, the creator god, and now there is a firefly in the imperial capital. But now he has no choice, and he has lost the land of Jinwuguan, and he has lost his income. Entering the Chengyun Pavilion is the only thing he can do now, he can't throw himself into a village to be the king of the mountain, right?

While he was thinking, the sound of horses' hooves came from behind him in the distance. Shi Yuanji couldn't help but be wary, and looked back, but curiosity prevailed.

This turned out to be a caravan of goblins!

The members of this caravan were all cat-eared, leopard-legged, leopard-tailed, and tiger-toothed, and the rest of their bodies were exactly the same as mortals. The leader rode a tall horse, holding a simple knife, and looked majestic and extraordinary. The rest of the goblins are all strong and fierce, and at first glance they are ordinary people.

This caravan escorted several wagons, spices, ornaments, and so on, and at first glance it was a rare product brought from Xiniu Hezhou.

In the center of the convoy, several goblins scattered around a carriage. The location of these goblins seemed messy, but in Shi Yuanji's eyes, it was not.

The location of those goblins was either able to detect the danger in time, or they used their bodies to block the weak points of the carriage, and the end was tight.

"Who is in the carriage, and who is so closely protected?" the question only flashed through his mind, and he continued on his way. "Since there is such a tight defense, it will not be a villain who robs the road and cuts the path, so I don't care about idle things. ”

Mortals and goblins stopped the war thirty years ago, and the two sides signed a peace treaty on the Branded Plains at the junction of Dongsheng Shenzhou and West Niuhe Prefecture, known as the Branding Plains Alliance. Over the years, it is no longer news that the two sides have communicated with each other, opened trade, and even Chengyun Pavilion has goblins to study. Although Shi Yuanji saw a living goblin for the first time, he didn't make a fuss.

"Brother Ren, let me inquire about something. A fairy guard drove his horse to Shi Yuanji and bowed his hand.

Seeing that the other party was so polite, Shi Yuanji's vigilance was not so strong, and he said apologetically and kindly: "If you ask for directions, forget it, I'm not a local." ”

"Oh?" the elf guard hesitated, but said to interrupt and return to the group. The goblins casually discussed a few words, and then sped up and walked along the official road.

Along the way, new trees sprout, young grass sprouts, and the snow has not yet dissipated, which is very poetic. Time passed imperceptibly, and by the time of Shen Shi, Shi Yuanji had already walked more than eighty miles.

He took out the flatbread from the seed bag and found a clean place to sit down and enjoy it. He wanted to eat while enjoying the beautiful scenery of the mountains, but he accidentally smelled a smell of blood in the air.

He ate the bread in his hand three times and divided it by two, carefully examined it with the smell of blood, and finally found a terrifying scene.

Several goblins died on the spot, with only one or two wounds on their bodies, but they were fatal everywhere. The few arrows were all stuck in the dead goblins, and judging by the direction of the arrows' tails, they were shot from the woods on both sides of the official road.

It can be seen that this is a well-planned ambush.

"In early spring, the trees are sparse and not conducive to hiding, but these goblins are ambushed, and it seems that the other party has a very good set. ”

When he came to the woods where the tail of the arrow was pointing, he saw a camouflage made of dead branches and leaves, and he couldn't see it until he got closer. He had a chill down his spine and was afraid in his heart, if he came here first, even if he was vigilant, he wouldn't be able to react, and he was afraid that he would be shot through before he could cast the spell.

"Save Me ......"

In the pile of corpses, a goblin shouted weakly, but was too badly injured. Shi Yuanji hurriedly came to him to check on his injuries.

It's a pity that he was pierced through his heart and lungs by a knife, and Shi Yuanji didn't have the magic of Xuan Ming to bring the dead back to life, so he could only watch.

"I'm sorry, I can't do anything, do you have any last words to say to others, I'll try to help you bring them. ”

The goblin's mouth was foaming with blood, and it seemed that he would not survive. He looked at Shi Yuanji and pleaded, "Go and save ...... Go and save ...... Princess Nayu ...... "Before she finished speaking, she died with a whimper."

"What?" The goblin's voice was so small that Shi Yuanji couldn't hear it clearly, only knowing that the goblin wanted him to save people.

"Who are you going to save, where are you going to save it?" Shi Yuanji looked dazed, and he taught him how to do it without a beginning or an end.

Why don't you pretend not to see it and run away? He thought so, and did the same, and strode along the official road towards the capital.

"It has nothing to do with me anyway. Shi Yuanji muttered as he walked.

However, the torment in his heart could not be avoided, and after a quarter of an hour he returned to the elf's corpse and decided to fulfill the last words that the nameless elf had given him.

He looked at the eight corpses lying on the ground, trying to reconstruct the scene when they were attacked. The three goblins were shot dead on the spot, and the tail of the arrow pointed to the southeast woods, which were disguised by dead branches. ”

"Although the goblin was shot to death, it was far away from the caravan, and the arrow was pierced in the back, so it must have been shot and killed while fleeing. ”

"The fatal wound of these four goblins was a knife wound, which was sacrificed while fighting. Shi Yuanji looked at the various vehicles and looked through the baggage that the goblin was carrying. "Strange! These goods are very valuable, why haven't they been taken away? Not even the silver taels in the baggage have been robbed, what are these robbers robbing?"

He remembered the appearance of the fairy guards guarding the carriage, and suddenly woke up, and hurried to the carriage to check.

Sure enough, the carriage was intact, but the curtain in front of the door was torn off, and it seemed that they had really come to rob people.

He took out the Tiankui jade and used his mana to activate the map and check the surrounding terrain. "The robbery in such a hurry, not even the carriage, it seems that he must have burrowed into the woods. ”

"The nameless goblin was pierced in the chest, but he still managed to confess his last words to me, and it seems that the robber ran for half an hour at most. Running away in the woods, with people with you, won't be too fast. ”

He looked at the map shown by Tian Kuiyu and muttered, "Whether you are robbing people to go to the stockade or to deliver goods, you must always be closer to the water source. I searched along the water, and it was always right. ”

Thinking of this, he took out one of the horns of the Gu carving from the human seed bag, condensed the mana on his fingers, and carved dragon patterns on the horns.

Before this, he had no time to refine the sharp horns and claws of the Gu Eagle, but now that the matter was urgent, he had to roughly engrave a few dragon patterns that expanded ***, which was better than nothing. Later, if you have time, you will slowly polish it.

After the dragon pattern was engraved, he held the sharp horn in his hand and burrowed into the mountain, searching along the Yushui.