On the seventh day of exploring the valley along the river, the group finally reached the southernmost point that Ron had walked to when he explored the valley last year, a full day later than expected.

Because just as they were about to reach the basin, when everyone led their horses across the shallows of the river, a female brown bear with two cubs suddenly appeared behind the boulder opposite the shallow and met everyone unexpectedly.

The lone bear foraging for food is dangerous, and the female bear with the cubs foraging is even more dangerous, just now the mother bear was eating fish behind the boulder, so everyone did not find the danger, and it was too late when Matthew at the front found the abnormality.

One large, two small, three bears and five men and six horses confronted each other nervously at a distance of less than twenty paces.

Even Yat, who was born as a hunter, was instantly shocked into a cold sweat, this was not the dense forest outside the valley wooden fort, it was not his hunting ground, and he didn't know how to run around if he wasn't familiar with the terrain and landforms.

The mother bear probably had never seen a bipedal monster, and she was so frightened that she didn't dare to make the slightest movement, but just stood on her front legs and made a culling motion, and kept roaring in her mouth to warn.

In a hurry, Yate quietly signaled Ron and the others to prepare to fight the bear, and slowly took out the bacon ham from the saddle bag and threw it on the bare river rocks on the shallows, trying to exchange food for the female bear's attention, and then slowly retreated himself.

Originally, there was no danger, and if you could retreat, you would retreat, but it was not impossible to retreat from five well-armed men who had been in battle for a long time and were fully armed to surround and kill a female bear.

However, just as the two sides confronted each other and Art was about to give the order to retreat slowly, the pack horse in the team was overly frightened by the she-bear's roar, broke free from the reins and ran back......

The brown bear did not continue to hunt down the dangerous two-legged monster, but the Artsers spent the whole day wandering the valley in search of the pack horse carrying the baggage.

For the rest of the journey, everyone no longer dared to be careless, and according to the wartime marching regulations, four guards were on duty at a distance of two hundred paces in front of the team......

It was already early afternoon, and everyone had a simple beer and bread in the jungle of the canyon for lunch.

During the break, Yate stopped to look at the basin in front of him under the cover of the dense forest at the exit of the slightly higher canyon.

The Lamel Mountains on the right side of the basin are still towering, and judging by the common sense of mountain movements and undulations, this place is still in the hinterland of the Lamel Mountains, because it is common sense that when you are about to finish the mountains, the peaks of the remaining veins slowly become low, and gradually become a group of peaks and hills until you come to the Gentle Hill Plain.

The basin outside the dense forest of the canyon is not too large, and between the hills is the flat and fertile soil formed by the north-south river, and there is a small lake in the middle of the basin, and on the other side of the small lake is a river that winds its way to the south.

The lake is surrounded by dense aquatic grasses, and beyond is the barren land overgrown with weeds, and several small streams that run from the low peaks of the surrounding hills join the lake, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds, green trees and green grass......

"Great place!" Art's heart rippled, and he couldn't help but praise him. He thought that if he could own this land, it would definitely become an idyllic paradise of farmland, fishing, mulberry and transportation.

In fact, as far as pure jurisprudence is concerned, it should belong to the borders of the three states of Lombardy, Provence, and Burgundy, and as long as Arte can prove that it has not been canonized by any of the national documents, it should belong to the territory of Arte, for the simple reason that he has in his possession a document of canonization by the court of the Count of Burgundy, and the southern end of the valley jurisdiction referred to in the document is defined as "up to the southern borders". However, the gap between the land of law and the land of reality is very large.

Ron put down his right hand on his brow and pointed to the lake, "Master, we rested at the lake last year, and we also found some broken fishing nets in the grass by the lake, and we originally planned to follow the traces to find the nearby village, but at that time, one of the accompanying soldiers was sick, and we didn't know whether the other party was friend or foe, so we didn't dare to be careless." ”

Art stared at the small lake, "Do you see clearly, how many people are fishing in those traces?" ”

Ron recalled, "The footprints were already lightened by the rain, but I don't think there were more than ten. ”

"In which direction did the footprints go?"

Ron pointed to a few peaks and hills that stretched out on the side of the Lamel Mountains, "I think it's going there." ”

Art followed the direction of Ron's finger, "It used to be a mountainous area, who would leave a good fertile flat land and live in the mountains?" ”

Ron shook his head, also incomprehensible.

"Everybody put on their armor and check the weapons and horses, let's go in and have a look." As he spoke, Art turned and began to draw the knight's sword at his waist, checking his armor.

"Master, why don't I take someone in to explore first?" Ron didn't want Art to be in danger.

Art had already grabbed the saddle and jumped on horseback, "Okay, there are only a few of us in total, and it will be more dangerous to disperse." But now that we are in someone else's territory, we should be cautious and not draw our swords until we have to. ”

After that, he kicked the horse's belly and walked slowly, and Ron Matthew and the four of them hurriedly regrouped and straddled their horses to follow.

It was spring, and the weeds were just popping up, and a few men kicked their horses and ran through the basin straight from hill to hill on the side of the Lamel Mountains.

When we got to the mountain pass, I found a human track—a road that was clearly trampled out of the mountains winding into the mountains, and there were branches and leaves left by the shrubs and trees cut down by knives and axes, and the other end of the road ran south along the river at the southern end of the lake, which should be a road leading south out of the valley.

Art ordered the guards to keep an eye on their surroundings, and he himself unfastened the bow and quiver in the front saddle for easy access, and then looked around as he lifted the reins and steadfastly moved forward.

After a mile or so of walking through the sparse wooded path, the mountain road became steeper and more difficult, and the bushes and strange rocks on both sides of the road made it difficult for horses to pass, and the mountain became steeper and steeper, and the horses had begun to slip with iron hooves, and the air was rough and heavy.

A few people had to come down to lead the horses on foot and continue to walk in the mountains......

After walking less than half a mile, the group stopped and rested in a slightly flat area.

"I thought I had climbed so high, it turned out that I had only walked such a little distance~" The guard Matthew stood on a high rock and glanced at the mountain road when he came, and the entrance to the mountain was still clearly visible.

"Looking at the mountains and running dead horses, do you think walking on the mountain road is the same as walking on the plains?" Art took a big sip of the water bladder and glanced up the hill subconsciously.

Art coughed violently, and half a mouthful of water squirted out.

"There's someone on the hill!" Art exclaimed softly.

"Don't move! Pretend not to know. ”

Art patted his chest hard, then slowly stuffed the cork back into the water bladder, walked slowly towards the trunk of the tethered horse, pretended to put the water bladder back into the saddle bag, and took the bow and arrow.

Ron and Matthew all pretended to move their hands and feet carelessly, but they all moved closer to the place where the horses were stationed, hiding their bodies as much as possible behind the trees where the horses were tethered, and their hands were pinched on the hilt of the sword......

The five battle-hardened men were already ready for a counter-ambush in an instant.

Ron, who was covering half of his body behind a dwarf pine, had already lifted his riding bow in his hand, and he turned his head to look at Art, who nodded his head.

"Brother on the mountain, we are travelers from the Northlands, we are only friendly visits, and there is no malice in the slightest." Ron tore out his throat and shouted a few words up the hill to show his intentions.

Ron was answered with the thud of a bowstring and an arrow nailed into the clearing in front of him.

Matthew had already drawn his bow and was about to shoot back in the direction where the arrow was flying, but Art raised his hand to stop it.

"Dear sir, we have no ill intentions, please don't hurt people easily, otherwise the bows and arrows in our hands are not decorations!" There was already a hint of warning in Ron's words.

Sincere~~~

A trembling-tailed arrow drove straight into the trunk of the dwarf pine tree where Ron was hiding, coming from the other direction.

But the bow was just as warning, and it didn't fly towards Ron.

"Get out! Get out of our territory! ”

Finally, a man's voice came from the mountain, but it was a warning in Lombard for eviction.

"Lombards? This is already the border of Lombardy? Art wondered in his mind, Lombardy is in the south of Provence, and even the mountains in the north of the western border of Lombardy should be a long way away.

Born in southern Provence, Ron knew that Lombard was spoken, but he did not speak Lombard.

"Sir, this is Lombard territory?" Ron also questioned.

Art didn't answer, he began to remove the belt from his waist, dropped his sword and riding bow, and then spread his hands and slowly stepped out of the cover of the trunk.

"Master!!" Ron and Matthew exclaimed at the same time.

Art raised his hand to signal that the few people did not need to be frightened.

Walking to the arrow that had been driven into the clearing, Art raised his hands and turned around to show that he had no weapons, "Warriors of the mountains, I am the Viscount of the Southern Frontier of the Count of Burgundy, Atwood Wells, I just took the guards south to explore, passing through here to rest in your territory." ”

"In the name of God, I and my guards have no ill will." Art spread his hands again.

There was a moment of silence on the mountain, not frightened by the title of a foreign viscount, but surprised by the pure Lombard spoken by Arte.

After a long time, there was still no movement on the mountain, and Yate spoke again, "We just want to go to your village to drink and rest, and we have brought some goods that can be given to you as gifts, how about it?" ”

After a few moments, Art heard someone on the hill clearly arguing in a low voice, and Art turned his head and motioned for Ron and the others to continue tightening.

After a whispered argument, a black figure wearing animal skins and holding a hunting bow in his hand stood up behind the dense forest bushes on the mountain, "Distinguished guests from the North, we have steep mountains and slippery roads here, and we are really not a place to rest and drink horses, please return by yourself, lest our arrows will hurt your noble body, and it will become regret and tragedy." Also, let your guards put down their bows, and if you miss an arrow, we will treat you as an enemy. ”

Art glanced back, and one of the guards had already aimed his bow and arrow at the black shadow shouting on the mountain.

"Put it down, they are strong in numbers, and we can only suffer losses when we shoot at each other." Art whispered, and the guard slowly put away his bow.

At the moment of such a confrontation, Yate already felt that there were more and more people on the mountain, and the disparity in strength between the two sides was becoming more and more huge.

"Sir? What to do? Ron walked out as well.

"Forget it, these mountain people have a fierce temperament, let's not provoke them, cover the retreat." Art gave up his efforts, and the other party was obviously taboo about strangers visiting.

"Warriors, we will follow your advice and withdraw ourselves, but please do not bully our bows, swords, and axes." Art took two steps back, picked up the belt of the weapon hanging on the ground, tied it around his waist, and then held his bow and arrows and watched the movement on the mountain.

There was no movement on the mountain, which was a tacit acquiescence that Art and the others left on their own.

"Ron Matthew cover, withdraw!"

Art turned around and untied the reins of his and Ron's horses, and retreated towards the mountain path from which they had come, while the other two guards retreated.

Ron and Matthew drew their arrows and hung their arrows, their bows and arrows lowered, their eyes fixed on the mountain, and they walked backwards down the mountain......

Just as the Yat and the others were about to disappear at the junction of the exit of the hill and the basin, an old man with gray hair rushed to the flat land on the mountainside with three or five young men, and the old man was helped up to the high stone.

"Those people left?" The old man squinted and tried his best to look at the mountain pass.

"Back to Master Christopher, those people have already left, and I sent someone to follow them to make sure they don't move." The man in the form of a hider replied.

The old man named Christopher glanced in the direction of the mountain pass again, and asked in a heavy tone, "He said his name is Wells?"

"Huh? It seemed to be Wells, who was too nervous to hear clearly, but he claimed to be a viscount in the Northland, and the guards spoke Northland, and the viscount spoke Lombard. ”

"Viscount of the Northland? Welsh surname? Lombardy? How is this possible~"

The old man stepped on his feet and glanced at the outside of the mountain again, "From tomorrow onwards, you will take people to dispose of all the traces of entering here from the south~ In the future, no one can go out without my permission." ”

"I can't hide from what I should dodge~God forgive me for my sins~" The old man drew a holy cross on his chest with a solemn expression.

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Chapter 386: Migu Traces