Sid was dressed in civilian clothes, but Ian heard a slight cord on his body and wondered if the lining of his clothes was soft armor. The military sword with the emblem of Rift Rock at the end of the hilt hung diagonally from his left waist, his left hand in leather gloves pressed against the hilt, and his right hand flung a heavy rucksack behind his back, his wrist resting on his shoulder and clasping the knotted rope of the bag.

Although Sid is dressed in casual clothes, his demeanor is as relaxed and ordinary as ever, but I don't know if it's because he talks less today, but for the first time, Ian feels that he also has a certain unique temperament of sergeants.

As he walked along the road, Ian noticed that as Sid walked, there was a regular sound of light and trivial metal colliding in his rucksack, as if he had really raised money. He was both pleased and suspicious, and wanted to ask more, but Sid's face was calm, and he said surprisingly little today. When they're together, it's usually Sid who talks non-stop. He didn't speak today, but Ian didn't know how to talk.

Vilas's camp wasn't far from Breeze Village, and it didn't take long for them to reach the agreed place.

Not seeing the cat man, Sid whispered to Ian, "I'll be in charge of trading with him in a moment, don't get too close to him." ”

Ian nodded, not too nervous, but thinking that Sid was too careful, or that he might as well be a child. In fact, Ian has long been accustomed to these extortion, blackmail, and even child trafficking. Black Hawk City may be the capital of the Empire, but the sprawling slum area is still full of darkness and chaos. It's just that he never thought that he would one day become the target of blackmail.

"Ah, it turned out that the guests had arrived. The cat-man named Velas, who came out of behind a rock or a tree, quietly appeared in front of Ian and Sid, and stood a few steps away.

"That's right, yes, I have to let you test the 'goods' first, I'm a child. Two secrets are yours," he pointed to Sid, "one is the origin of your ancestors, and if the Lord of Rock Splitting Castle knew about it, you would at least lose your job—how could he possibly let an exiled descendant of a clan into his army? Five hundred gold coins per secret is really not expensive......"

"Sure enough, he listened to it at that time...... Ian thought to himself.

"There's still half a secret, what's it?" asked Sid, tilting his head, wary.

Vilas's eyes narrowed in a line, but both Ian and Sid could feel his gaze on Ian.

"This little guy also has secrets, almost as much weight as yours, otherwise how would you trade your secrets for yourself?" the cat man said, "Although I haven't figured out what it is, so I'll count it half." However, as long as someone reports the news, it shouldn't take much time for him to find out after he is targeted. ”

Sid's eyes darkened, as if he had really died after hearing this. He threw the rucksack in front of the cat man, and with a clatter, the mouth of the bag was loosened, and a few silver coins fell out. At the same time, Ian saw Vilas's pupils dilate suddenly, and then the huge cat's eyes smiled into a crescent.

When the cat man rubbed his two paws on his chest and was about to go up to get the money, Sid said:

"We can't scrape together that much gold, that's all we can get...... That's about 760 gold coins. Do you count?"

"Very good, very good, the most important thing in business is honesty, my friend. Velas walked over to the bag and reached for a handful of silver coins and looked at them carefully, "Of course there is no problem with discounts...... But it's all silver, so it's going to take a long time...... Huh, what is this?" Velas found between his fingers some pieces of iron that resembled silver coins.

At this moment, Ian only heard a clanging sound in his ears, and in front of him, Sid had already carried the unsheathed sword and shot out, and the long sword turned into a silver light in the sunlight, and rushed straight towards Vilas. Ian never dreamed that this big man Sid could have such an explosive speed, and he didn't expect that Sid was actually planning to kill the cat man.

When did he make up his mind to kill him? Was it the moment he said he had everything on him yesterday? Or was it when he promised to pay at the tavern? Ian was starting to get nervous, he had never been involved in murder, even if it was a vicious outlaw.

Between the lightning and stone light, the cat man Velas turned sideways, and unexpectedly flashed the thunderous sword that Sid sneaked away.

"Shhh...... Hah......" The catman opened his mouth and bared his fangs, and made a threatening voice, "You dare to calculate Vilas? You want to kill Vilas?"

The sharp claws on Vilas's hands were all extended, as if he were wearing two claw gloves. As he moved, he began to bounce slightly, as if his feet were always on their tipes.

After Sid's first sword sneak attack failed, he did not hesitate, and the subsequent second and third swords flowed smoothly, pressing step by step, and at a glance he knew that he had received solid swordsmanship training. But not only did he never be able to touch the slightest bit of Vilas's fur, but Vilas took advantage of the situation to find a flaw and scratched several places. After a while, the bright red blood on Sid's right arm, the outside of his left leg, and the back of his waist gradually fainted through his clothes.

Ian's heart was beating fast, and his hands were clenched into fists. He was worried about Sid's attack, and even more so at the speed of Vilas. None of the injuries Villas inflicted on Sid were fatal, but as the battle dragged on, Sid's stamina would inevitably drain quickly due to blood loss, and the situation would only get more and more unfavorable.

Eventually, Ian could already think that the end result would be that Sid would be killed due to excessive blood loss. Even if he doesn't die, Villas will go to the lord with a secret, Sid will be publicly executed, and Ian will be sentenced as an accomplice, or as the cat-people say, he may be killed by finding out about Black Hawk City. Even if the lord is able to use psychic forging to open his net, I am afraid that in the future, he will only be able to spend his life in the shadows of Rifting Rock Castle as a prisoner. Elise, Granny Sumu, and Breeze Village, he didn't want to see any of them again.

Sure enough, Sid's breathing gradually became disordered. Under his panting attack, the cat man Velas still avoided Sid's attack while speaking calmly: "Since you don't want to buy it, I won't force it, I'll sell it to someone who is willing to buy it!"

"Damn Sid," Ian thought hatefully, "don't consult me in advance, if you do, maybe I can help......"

With a "bell", Velas clawed away a sword from Sid's slash and continued, "Maybe it can be sold for a higher price!I think who would want to buy it?Ah, yes, Baltod, Lord of Rock Splitting! You're his subordinate, and he'd love to know who's the spy!And you, little one......" Villas twisted his body sharply and lunged towards Ian.

Sid was so shocked that he couldn't catch up, so he shook the sword in his hand in a hurry and threw it at the back of Velas's heart. Vilas's cat ears folded back, and he heard the sound of the air breaking behind him. He sneered, and in a moment he was already in front of Ian, his dark and round pupils staring at Ian's bloodless face because of nervousness.

But in the next moment, it was his turn to change his expression suddenly because of the shock. Velas was bound by the spirits of several teenagers, just as what happened to Sid that night, except that the expressions of the spirits were less cowardly and fearful, and were replaced by anger. Velas's reaction was so quick that he immediately turned around in shock to break free. But when he found that he couldn't move at all, he was helpless.

"Poof!" Sid's longsword sank into Vilas's back, and the tip of the sword pierced through his chest, showing how hard Sid's throw had taken in his desperation.

"Hah...... Haha......" Blood seeped through the corners of the catman's mouth, but he still smiled at Ian, "So this is your secret...... It turned out to be ......", his pupils contracted and then slowly dilated, "...... You're the one you're looking for, hahahaha!"

"What are you talking about, who's looking for me?!" Ian's embodied teenagers dissipated, and Ian grabbed the fallen Velas and leaned over to his cat's face to listen.

"Hah...... Ha...... You...... Sooner or later...... Knowing ......" After saying that, the cat man swallowed his last breath.

Ian looked at the cat-man's corpse in a daze, and for a while, the phrase "So you are the one the adult is looking for" echoed in his ears for a while. Someone is really chasing him! It turns out that the worry that has always been not my own neurotic...... After thinking about it, if he continued to stay in Qingfeng Village, the other party would come to the door...... The images of Granny Sumu, Elise, and the villagers suffering and implicating themselves ran around Ian's head, and his heart was suddenly confused.

"Ian. Sid patted Ian on the shoulder, interrupting his thoughts, "What did he say at the end?"

"He said I should leave Light Breeze Village. Ian stared at the cat-man's corpse in a daze.

"What?" Sid frowned, "does he really say that?"

Ian didn't answer, but smiled wryly, "I'm an accomplice now...... I paused, and muttered again, "But I should let him live, and after asking him what he knows, I can finish him off myself." ”

Sid looked at Ian suspiciously, "What does he know?" he asked, pulling his sword from the cat-man's corpse.

"He knows who's looking for me. Ian's eyes turned cold, reminding Sid of the first time he had met Ian with a command from the peak. Vigilance, hostility, coldness, as if a person who would jump up and attack or flee at any moment.

"Listen, Ian," Sid said briskly, wiping the blood from his sword, "it's good to be an accomplice, and I bless you for the rest of your life without having to do it yourself." ”

"Sid," Ian stood up, "I'm serious, I mean, I need to get out of Breeze." ”

Then, I don't have anything to do with anyone in this life, I run away for a lifetime, and finally, if I'm lucky, I'll die alone. Sid packs his backpack and paints an understatement about Ian's future.

“...... Granny Sumu and Elise, Breeze Village saved me, and I can't put them in danger. ”

"Then get ready," Sid gathered up the silver coins scattered from his money bag and walked over to Ian, staring at his face, "Get ready to deal with it, not run away." ”

"It's easy to say, but I can't fight! I don't even dare to fight the mushroom thief! Except for being able to forge with spiritual power, at most I can block the enemy like I did just now. ”

"It works, doesn't it?" Sid turned and dragged the cat-man's body to the grass on the side, and after two steps he stopped and looked at Ian, "Do me a favor?"

Ian walked over helplessly: "That's because with you, I don't know swordsmanship, and it is impossible to defeat them." ”

The two hid the cat-man's body in the knee-high weeds, and Sid didn't forget to search the cat-man's body and camp.

"You can also learn swordsmanship, do you want me to teach you?" Sid pressed Ian's shoulder to stop him from continuing to talk back, "The important thing is that you can be more active yourself?"

Ian was silent.

Sid and Ian return to Breeze Village. Almost all of the soldiers at Crack Rock knew him, and the blood and wounds on his body could not be explained, so he hid in Ian's workshop to bandage him, and then stayed until the night, when he returned to his home in Split Rock Castle in the dark.

Ian was lying on the grass bunk, tossing and turning and unable to sleep, and there were a few little people arguing in his heart.

One is himself, who advocates that he should leave the village immediately before dawn, because staying here will bring trouble and even disaster to the villagers, the second villain is Sid, who reprimands Ian in a rough voice for his lack of action, not acting actively enough, and only knows how to run away blindly and make high-sounding excuses for himself, and the other is the short and fat witch in the glazed woods, who asks Ian why he didn't do justice for his friends if he survived.

Half-asleep, these voices were constantly and violently noisy.

Ian sat up abruptly, didn't light the lamp, and raised his hand to reveal Zach, Andrew, and Flynn. Three spirits manifested at the same time, slowing Ian's own movements. He sat slowly upright, looking at the three glowing blue spirits, standing side by side in front of him, expressionless.

"What do you think? You want me to find out the truth about your murder, right?"

For a long time, there was still silence all around, and the spirits did not react. Immediately, they dissipated with one of Ian's thoughts, turning into countless points of psionic light, and slowly disappeared into the room. And the shack returned to darkness. In the darkness, Ian sighed, "What am I crazy about?"