Section 165: The return trip
When Stukov lifted the contents of the leather bag, little Byron and Sir Wallace saw that the head with burnt hair, but could still see the face, was the Lord of Angus.
"Lord Angus?" Sir Wallace sat on his horse, leaned forward and craned his neck to look at him.
"That's right, I met him last year, it's really Lord Angus." Little Byron looked at the human head mentioned by Stukov in surprise, how could Lord Angus be killed, didn't Bruce go to give him a gift to woo him?
Little Byron and Sir Wallace were full of suspicion, and they were extremely shocked when they looked at Bruce at the same time, although Lord Angus was only a small vassal, but the warriors in the mountains were reckless and strong, not to mention that Bruce only sent a few messengers to deliver gifts, why did Lord Angus die?
"And this, the head of Lord Angus's younger brother." Edward also took out a head from the skin of his mount, which was the head of the brother of the Lord of Angus who was blown away, seeing that little Byron and Sir Wallace no longer doubted, the brother of Lord Angus was his most powerful assistant, and even he was dead It seems that the Angus family is finished.
"Lord Byron, Sir Wallace." Bruce nodded, and he turned to the two vassals.
"Lord Baron." Little Byron and Sir Wallace looked at each other, and quickly jumped off their mounts, and said respectfully to Bruce.
"I remember that on your way back you will pass through the territory of the Angus family, so please go and recover it, and then I will send someone to take it over, can you help me with this?" Bruce smiled at the two of them.
"Well, of course, Lord Baron." In fact, Bruce didn't say it, the two of them also planned to find out, although the Angus family was not strong among the vassals, but once they hid in their mountain fortress, it would not be broken in a while, not to mention that Lord Angus was a timid and cautious guy, and rarely left his fortress, how did he get his head cut off, and what happened to that burning head?
After Bruce gave instructions to the two men, he turned his horse's head and walked towards the village of Grington, and the two teams parted ways, except that when little Byron looked at Bruce's back again, his eyes were full of doubt and fear.
The traces of the great battle in the village of Greenton have been cleared, and under the protection of the tower, serfs are plowing the fields, and a group of children are curiously watching the water-powered mill next to the river.
"Your Excellency is back." Suddenly, a serf who was plowing straightened up, and he saw Bruce's dry banner appear on the path, but the Grintons did not know the meaning of the Chinese characters, and they called Bruce's banner the Sacred Scepter Banner, because the pattern of Bruce's banner happened to resemble the legendary Emperor's Scepter.
Bruce rode his own territory, and although he was Locke's baron, with a manor and several lands, he always felt that only the village of Glynton was his home, with the smell of grass in his nose, the slowly turning water-powered mill on the river in the distance, and the pond being built, all of which he had built step by step when he came into the world.
"I'm home." A smile tugged at the corner of Bruce's mouth as he said to Stukov and the other retainers beside him.
"Your Lord." A village maiden waited by the roadside with a handful of golden flowers, her red face full of happy smiles.
"Thank you." Bruce kicked the horse, slowly walked to her side, bent down to take the flower in his arms, and the girl ran away with a shy smile.
"You are a hero to them." Stukov rode up to Bruce's side, and he smiled at Bruce and said that he had not seen such an idyllic and calm scene in many years.
"It's going to be a paradise." Edward said in a fancy and exaggerated tone that the so-called paradise refers to the story depicted in the sacred canons of the church, referring to the paradise where mankind lived without suffering but joy before he angered the gods.
"Well, maybe! However, with the current strength alone, it is far from it. Bruce hugged the cluster of flowers, and he clearly realized that his power was still too small in this world, and a single Duke of Bemessi could easily crush him.
"I am confident that under your wise leadership, we will be able to defeat any enemy who tries to destroy this place." Stukov looked at Bruce confidently and said that the terrorist explosion that eliminated the Angus family had made him feel that there was no opponent in this world that Bruce could not defeat.
"It's so beautiful, I'm going to pick up a paintbrush and paint everything here." At this moment, Marcus shouted loudly from the donkey, and because he was not used to riding a horse, the servants found him a donkey.
"Hahaha." Seeing the funny way Marcus rode on the donkey, several people burst out laughing.
Byron Jr. and Sir Wallace led their army through the Angus territory, and the two came to the Angus fortress, where their soldiers carefully unfurled their flags to identify themselves, but the fortress was as silent as death.
"It's like a grave." Little Byron frowned, he stepped on a stone, his cloak resting on his shoulder, and his right hand pressed the hilt of his sword.
"Even if it's attacked, at least there will be a woman who collects the body." Sir Wallace looked around, the wooden walls of the fortress were intact, but there was no one in them.
"Let's go, let's get closer." Little Byron became more and more curious, and he wondered how Bruce had defeated Lord Angus.
The two approached the fortress with several soldiers, originally thinking that the door of the wooden fortress was closed, but they found that it opened with a slight push, and when the two walked in, they saw a mess.
"Do you smell anything?" Little Byron asked Sir Wallace with a frown, kicking off a tong.
"It smelled, like roasted meat, and something pungent." Sir Wallace couldn't help but grasp the hilt of his sword, and he sniffed and said to little Byron.
"I bet it's the smell of burnt human flesh." Little Byron had experienced a fire and remembered the horrible smell.
"Look there, Lord's House." Sir Wallace suddenly grabbed little Byron by the sleeve, and he pointed to the hill and said to little Byron.
"Lord God, what's going on here?" When little Byron saw the lord's house on the hill, he cried out in astonishment.
On the hill it was once the house of Lord Angus, but now only a few pillars remained, and the pillars were not only scorched but half of them, as if swept by fire and storms.