“…… So, what I encountered this time was really an intentional ambush? ”

Salin, with a pale face, sat on the soft velvet cushion of the carriage so soft that he could lie down on it, he did not appear to have any injuries on the outside, but his spirit had dropped more than a notch, and his golden brown eyes were less sharp than before, and he looked a little sluggish.

This was the fifth day of the move, and halfway through the third day, the Andre siblings came from Salt Lake City with Salin to join the group.

"If nothing else, the person who ambushed you should be Rice."

Opposite Salin, Lin An spread out a book on his lap, and lazily propped his head and said,

"As soon as I heard the message that day, saying that your spiritual sea was severely damaged, I felt that it was likely that the attacker was a **division-level powerhouse.

And Yokjardan obviously knew your identity earlier, and although I informed you to be on guard, if Rice was following and ambushing you, you shouldn't be left to chance. ”

Salin is skilled in escaping skills, that is when he has the intention to arrange, and an ambush that a ** division is deliberately hiding in the shadows, even if it is a strong person of the same level, it is very likely to fall, not to mention that Rice is the chief ** division of the palace and has reached the peak of the ** division.

Salin pressed his head and nodded, seeming a little dizzy.

"No wonder I didn't feel right when I ran away that day, every time I was cornered and didn't die, I could only keep consuming the statue, now that I think about it, I'm afraid Rice is deliberately forcing me to take out my hole cards, and I want to know what I gained in the ruins."

But he did go between life and death at the time, and the kind of attack that took him breathless makes him still feel uneasy when he thinks about it now.

"How the hell did Yokjartan find you? You have nothing to do with each other during this time, and he is still normal when he leaves the palace, and Galileo was specially sent to thank you at the Autumn Festival Ball. ”

Lin An was puzzled by this.

The entanglement between Saleen and Yokjaran, she didn't even talk about Andre, and Yokjardan and Doran's Tower will not publicize their own history, the only thing Lin An can doubt at present. It's that the emperor doesn't like the relationship between her and Yorkiadan, and he gets in the way, but after all, he can't explain the reason why Saleen's identity is exposed.

"There's no point in pursuing this now."

A cold glint flashed in Salin's gloomy eyes, obviously he didn't care so much about his near death, "It's the change in Yokjadan that surprised me, I made him lose Joshua and the ruins, and also ruined his ice field layout, I thought he would never die." ”

"Politics is the art of compromise, since he has chosen that position. There must be a change, and at present, his wrist is only barely qualified. Lin Andao.

"That's right. Even if he kills me now, there is no way that the ruins will fall into his hands again. ”

Salin glanced at Lin An meaningfully, "And his choice is not bad, in exchange for your favor and a more determined ally, for him now." Perhaps no less valuable than a relic. ”

Indirectly in exchange for the support of the legendary powerhouse, this is a heavyweight weight that no other brother of York-Artan can have.

Lin An smiled, didn't explain anything, and changed the topic and said, "When will your spiritual sea injury recover?" ”

"At least we have to get to the Sumisipi River, although Rice has mercy. But it doesn't mean that he doesn't want to teach me a memorable lesson," Salin said with a wry smile, "to put it bluntly." If it weren't for your affection this time, I'm afraid I wouldn't even have a chance to escape. ”

When Lin An heard this, he seemed to think of something and frowned.

"You're so concerned about this expedition?"

Lin An had already explained the strength of the slender waist to conduct a ruin exploration, and Salin naturally knew that she was frowning at her own time. Seeing this, he wondered, "What the hell is there?" It can be so valued by you and a noble prince. ”

"It's not certain yet. But as far as the information is available, there is a seventy percent chance that there are relics of an ancient goddess there. You've also seen my set of silver coins and the 'Heart of the Spirit Wood', which is what the goddess believers have survived to this day. Lin An explained simply.

"That set of silver coins and 'Spirit Wood Heart' with different functions? If the average level of the hidden objects in that ruin is not inferior to these two things, it is worth your attention, and it is no wonder that you have to gather all the people on purpose. ”

Salin closed his eyes and thought for a moment, and his sharp eyebrows wrinkled slightly, "Then you still promised Byron to explore together?" Do you believe he will keep his promise? ”

In Salin's view, since it is a good thing, of course, it must be obtained alone, and it is not worth it to add additional competitors to share the benefits, and also increase variables and risks.

"At that time, each depends on his ability, as long as Byron doesn't come with a ** master or a golden sword saint, there are less than ten people, will we still have no confidence?" Lin An smiled.

What she didn't say was that she suspected that the ruins that might exist in Zài might need to have the power of nature to open it.

Because not only did Amani, who had obtained the "Heart of the Spirit Wood", say that there was nothing unusual there, and Byron's people had searched there once, and if he had found something, Byron would not have come to her.

According to Byron, the place that Amani was referring to, in the vicinity of his Morgocan turquoise associated mine, apparently his territory, had not been discovered for so long, suggesting that even if there were zài ruins there, they were hidden to a certain extent.

Religion is xenophobic and does not lightly allow outsiders to enter the places where they worship and worship.

Lin An has the power of nature, and he knows the origin of the goddess of nature, and he has seven or eight points of confidence in the foundation of the ruins, which is already a huge advantage, even if he is replaced, there are few people in the world who can meet such conditions.

What's more, the people of Byron don't know anything about the goddess of nature, they just go to find treasures that can prolong life and nourish, even if the real treasure is right in front of them, they probably won't be able to find it.

For an expedition, prior preparation and foreknowledge are more important than force, Lin An has an absolute advantage, of course, he doesn't mind making an agreement based on his ability, which is much better than determining the division in advance.

Otherwise, even if it was a nineteen split, Lin An would feel depressed, and it would be impossible for Byron to agree to such a disparity in sharing, and there might be some arguments between them to make things complicated.

Salin didn't know the real reason for Lin An's confidence, and when he heard the words, he looked at her, and his eyes swept over Lin An's sideburns, neck, and waist. Laughed and said:

"Looks like you've prepared a lot of things during this time."

The ornaments on Lin An's body have changed a lot, and Salin actually noticed it when he first saw her:

Her long jet-black hair was pinned behind her ears, and a magnified hexagonal snowflake-shaped hairpin was pinned to the side;

The white and delicate ears wore a pair of rounded black pearl studs;

The original forbidden pendant on the slender neck was replaced by a black ghost with a thin silver chain pendant;

A three-finger-wide belt looped around the slender waist, and the clasp was a pair of strangely chic white wings, which seemed to hide the hidden pockets on the inside for the flask and spellcasting materials;

Under the hem of the robe was soft and breathable lambskin boots, wrapped around delicate feet;

When the gestures are made, a bracelet of tiger stone and mirage looms between the snowy wrists;

A slightly thicker black tweed cloak was placed on the seat next to it, and the dark silver texture embroidered on it was low-key and luxurious.

These new things that appeared on Lin An's body, from scratch

There were vague magic fluctuations to the feet, and the only low-key thing was the black tweed cloak that Lin An was originally wearing.

But the moment she got into the car and took off her cloak. Powerful magic fluctuations suddenly filled the entire carriage space, and then Lin An used her powerful spiritual power to hide the fluctuations, but it was enough to let Salin know that her new outfit was not simple.

If it weren't for Lin An's strong mental strength. It is impossible for an ordinary white-robed mage to balance the repulsive conflict of so many magic items and magic fields.

"These things are not prepared temporarily, many of them originally had ideas in the ice field, and even made rough embryos, but this time they just accumulated enough and had inspiration to remake them."

It's the truth. Lin An spent most of the year in the ice field in addition to cultivating to do practical yàn, and later when he was in retreat on the road to comprehend the law, when his inspiration dried up and he wanted to change his brain, he also used alchemy medicine to change his brain.

She refined and purified the mineral materials obtained from the ice field, realized the design of various magical items, and threw semi-finished products and rough embryos into the space when she encountered a bottleneck or walked into a dead end. This time, because of the inspiration of the magic circle group, many of the previous problems were solved, and all the magic items made by Lin An in those days were improved on the basis of these semi-finished products and rough embryos.

This greatly saves the most time-consuming material purification and refining time. Because the "Hand of Ibn Cales" in Lin An's hand is very convenient, many times Lin An can refine it in two ways while reading a book while holding a piece of ore in his hand.

Otherwise, even if Lin An's spiritual power is strong, there are two magic pools plus the storage of black ghosts to continuously provide magic power. It is impossible to engrave so many magic circles and refine more than a dozen finished pieces of alchemy equipment in just a few days.

You have to know except what she wears. There are also several kinds of magic equipment for different purposes in the space, and Angelia and John's equipment and weapons have also been updated, only Sidney is not in trouble, after leaving the large pile of materials in her warehouse, Lin An does not need to provide any equipment.

It's just that the magic circle inscription takes a lot longer than ordinary refining, and Lin An originally expected that if he had spare time, he would be able to refine two kinds of equipment for Andre and Shiryl, but then he ran out of time.

Fortunately, the most relied on spiritual power for the inscription of the magic circle, which was what Lin An was best at.

Therefore, although the inscription is time-consuming, the failure rate is low, after all, Lin An's current spiritual power has reached the extreme below the legend, and even if there is a failure product at the beginning, it is only because of unskillfulness, as he gradually adapts later, the success rate of refining equipment begins to approach 100%.

Lin An and Salin talked for a while, and Lin An saw that Salin couldn't hide his tiredness, so he asked him to rest.

Salin was not willing to waste such a good time to be alone, but he was not in good spirits now, and he really couldn't do anything to Lin An, so he closed his eyes as he said, and silently used the meditation method of communicating spiritual power to sort out the spiritual sea, Lin An also took out a book and read it quietly, and the carriage gradually fell silent.

……

Time passed, and after a lunch in the car, the procession continued without stopping, arriving at the predetermined town just before sunset.

There was a royal castle near this town, and the lord of this wealthy town had already mobilized the whole town and was ready to welcome the palace relocation team led by the emperor.

Although the destination of the palace for this year's winter is ingenious, the emperor did not choose it randomly.

The Sumisippi Palace was built in the upper reaches of the Sumisippi River, near the northern foot of the Rocky Mountains, and was about a twenty-seven or eight-day trip from the imperial capital.

And in the seven or eight days ahead. Along the way, there are built palaces, royal castles or large noble domains to provide overnight accommodation, for the slightly tighter escort army, sufficient logistics can make up for their fatigue after a day of marching, while for the nobles who move to the palace, the consideration is the comfort and accommodation conditions of the journey.

The Sumisipi River is a river that only appears on the surface after the active volcano has been extinguished, and there is ample geothermal and hot springs near the Sumisibi Palace.

It is said that the plain of the Sumisibi Basin, where the river is located, does not snow and is rich in vegetation throughout the year, with snow flowing from the ice peaks of extinct volcanoes in summer and geothermal hot springs in winter. Infested with wild animals, the cold winds of the Arctic Ice Sheet are blocked by the mountains, making it a great place to recuperate.

"Miss. When we arrived at the Royal Castle of Camsey, the front ordered the army to camp outside, and the nobles to stay overnight in the castle, and the room where we stayed had been arranged. ”

There was a knock on the car door, after opening the door. Angelia, with a dark blue whip tied around her waist, appeared in front of the car door. The tight-fitting samurai robe made her look heroic, and a pair of blue-black high-heeled boots were also on her feet, exuding subtle magical fluctuations.

"Why is it so late today?"

Lin An was obsessed with books before, but now when he looks at the sky, the east is a faint blue-purple, and the sun is missing on the western horizon. At this time, they were usually already in the castle.

You know, the emperor travels differently than others. The travel time is strictly controlled, and even the weather will be predicted in advance by a stargazer, so there will be no accidents, and there will be no time difference, otherwise even if the emperor is not accountable. The hungry nobles are held accountable, and it is enough for the person in charge to eat a pot.

"yes. I also heard those ladies complain just now, they are really pampered and do not know the suffering! ”

Angelia said with some disgust.

She has also traveled on mercenary missions, often missing the campsite and camping in the wild, in her opinion, tens of thousands of people travel, can arrange the itinerary so accurately, it is a miracle, this way the itinerary is unimaginably comfortable, those ladies do not know how to find fault with practice at all.

Of course, Angelia's preference is also related to the fact that the main person in charge of this trip is Prince Cyril, who is friendly and friendly to Lin An:

When the prince learned that there was a sick person in Lin An's car, he also sent Rodier to visit him, and the prince's wife sent some medicinal herbs - the latter was a very precious and scarce thing when he was traveling, and he could even save people's lives if necessary, and he would not share them lightly if he was not very close, so although those medicinal materials were not used, Lin An still sent Hannibal and Angelia to thank the prince's wife for her kindness.

Angelia didn't get to the point for a long time, when she heard Johann's voice behind her:

"Didn't we stop a few times when we were on the road today? It is said that the scouts in front of them noticed the sight of wild beasts in the woods, and some of the soldiers said that they seemed to see dark shadows flashing through the woods during the march. ”

"There is really a dark shadow, I heard those ladies and ladies secretly say that this is fabricated by the soldiers who want to rest."

Angelia and John's sources are obviously different, Angelia is probably mixed in the group of servant women today, and has heard the gossip from Miss Lady.

"Before the main team starts, the advance team should have inspected and expelled all the wild beasts in the mountains and forests along the way, and the wild animals should have fled into the depths of the mountains and forests, and even if there were, they should not have been seen by the soldiers when so many people were passing by."

Salin's voice came out, revealing a pale face in front of the car door, thin lips still slightly pale in the twilight.

John said: "Even because of such an abnormality, His Royal Highness the Second Prince slowed down for the sake of prudence. ”

Byron is the secondary person in charge of this palace move, mainly responsible for guarding the movement of the army, this trip is heavily protected, and several court ** divisions are accompanying the emperor, but at this tense moment of the war, it cannot be ruled out that the demon clan and the other two imperial powerhouses will take risks and assassinate them.

"Judging from the tasks assigned by Byron, he is trusted by the emperor in the eyes of Cheng Dù, but he is second to none among the princes, and this may also be the biggest variable in the exploration of ruins." Lin An thought silently.

Mastering the army meant that Byron was able to mobilize more men;

And with the emperor's trust, maybe Byron will tell the emperor about the ruins.

&nb

sp; Of course, it's unlikely that either of these two will actually happen:

After all, there is still a distance between the ruins and the palace, and it is impossible for Byron to really mobilize a large number of troops directly in the fiefdom;

And even if the emperor trusts Byron, in the case that even Odin can't have a heart-to-heart relationship with the emperor, Lin An can hardly believe that Byron will have no reservations about the emperor-

But since it's possible. That means variables.

Lin An calculated the speed of the trip, thinking that he was gradually approaching the location on the map, and did not care about the topic of John's discussion for a while.

……

The first quarter moon hides its face shyly among the clouds, and the cool dew of late autumn gradually condenses into a faint hoarfrost on the surface of the branches and leaves.

The castle with its towering spire quickly fell silent again after the hustle and bustle of the occupants.

The lights went out one after another behind the curtains, and the night patrol soldiers walked in regular and orderly steps, and neat torches haunted the castle like short dragons, and the heavy clouds obscured the moonlight. The spire of the castle occasionally casts dark shadows of night birds flying by.

Master Ulysses, who was on duty that night, lived on one of the highest towers on the east side of the castle.

He looked down at the sleeping castle by the open window of the western wall. The thin but not old finger drew a few strokes on the window, arranged the detection and warning spell, and returned to the table with the light spell, and placed a crystal ball with a black base on the table, which seemed to be covered with mist. There are images in it that are constantly circulating.

Those who know the castle will see that it is the scene in all corners of the castle, in the stairwell, in the kitchen, at the end of the cloister...... In the cycle of the picture, you can also see the figures of patrol soldiers patrolling around the place.

Master Ulysses pushed the monocle in his left eye, picked up an essentially old book, and looked at it quietly under the lamp.

"Ahh Someone! ”

A shrill female voice broke the silence of the night, and the guard's hurried footsteps quickly moved closer to the source of the sound. The lights in some of the castle's rooms gradually turned on, but the heavily guarded main building remained unmoving.

Master Ulysses looked away from his gaze immersed in the book. Frowning and raising his head, the scene inside the crystal ball flowed quietly and circulatingly without any abnormality, and Master Ulysses wiped the crystal ball in displeasure, did not get up, and lowered his head again.

……

"Oh-"

On a slightly swaying carriage. Angelia covered her lips with her right hand and yawned as carefully as she could. When he looked up, he glanced to the side, and he was facing the dark eyes that Lin An raised from the book.

"Didn't sleep well last night?"

"In fact, when I went out to be a mercenary before, it was normal to stay up all night without sleeping, but now it has become worse."

Angelia's face flushed slightly, a little wary of her reduced adaptability to luxury, and the cute freckles on the bridge of her nose were a little conspicuous.

"Those two screams in the middle of the night and in the early hours of the morning, right? Later that time I had finished meditating, and I happened to hear it. Andre, who was opposite, had just finished reading a book, put down his pen and interjected on the side.

"When I went to the kitchen in the morning to get breakfast, I heard from the servants that it seemed as if a lady had seen a shadow when she had risen at night, and a young lady had seen a shadow in a nightmare." Angelia recounted the news she had gotten.

"Probably the dark shadows that the soldiers said during the day, and the tired and delicate ladies from the journey." Salin said lightly.

"That's right, I didn't see any movement over there? And we are guarded by ** teachers at night! ”

Angelia also disagreed with the ladies and ladies, "I didn't see the shadow, but when I went to the stove today, the servants said that there seemed to be less ingredients in the kitchen, and I was afraid that they were stolen by the crows.

When I was in the countryside, the jackdaws liked to pounce on the house to steal food before winter, and they didn't let go of millet pickles or anything, and they dared to fight with people when they were discovered. ”

Lin An listened to the discussion of several people, and had no feeling about it, last night she set up a lot of protection in the room, and then meditated as usual, and didn't sleep until the early hours of the morning, screaming black shadows or anything at all.

However, when Angelia mentioned that the food was stolen, Lin An was a little puzzled, could it be that the beasts were not even afraid of people in order to survive the winter, and ran into the castle to eat?

Somehow, Lin An's heart moved slightly, but the inspiration was fleeting, she didn't think of anything for the time being, so she continued to focus on the book again.

(To be continued)

ps：

Someone came out after a long wait......