The catman's face changed, and he suddenly laughed: "Why can't you make a joke? Of course, the spoils are yours! You have just experienced a fierce battle, and there are wounded, I will just hold it for you." ”

"No need. Ian stared at him quietly, his hand still not letting go. The cat man was about to speak again, when he suddenly felt as if Ian was shaking, and someone was walking over at the same time. When he looked up, he saw an expressionless spirit - a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy, and it was Zach standing beside him. Zach reached for the severed tail under the catman's armpit and took it delicately with a slight jerk. Almost at the same time, the cat man had not come to his senses, his left hand was empty again, and he looked down to see that the bag in his hand was already in Ian's hand.

"Good," cried the cat man hatefully, "be kind as a donkey's liver and lungs!

Ian took a breath, looked at the cat man and said, "Send us back, I'll pay you." ”

"How much?" the other party no longer hides his face of taking advantage of the fire.

"How much do you want?" asked Ian, gritting his teeth. He forced himself to embody Zach again, feeling like he was almost unconscious. The more times like this, the more clearly he could feel the recovery brought to him by the cloak clasp, and he couldn't help but secretly rejoice that he had such a piece of equipment on his body.

The cat man stretched out his palm, and his four fingers spread: "Forty gold coins." ”

"It's bigger than a manticore's mouth. Ian was shocked.

But he was worried about Sid's injury, so he had to force his composure: "It's less than three hundred stars from here to Oasis Town, and your Xunlong is not as comfortable as a horse to sit on, thirty." ”

"Forty gold coins, not one less. Do you have ...... One, two, three......" he counted the number of people, "five! five, I have to take one with me on almost every mount...... When you get to the oasis, you have to feed it, and the dragons eat meat! Look at it, isn't it reasonable for me to ask for forty gold coins......

The cat man calculated that Ian couldn't afford to waste time now, and bargained at length, completely ignoring the lives of the wounded. The more Ian listened, the more annoyed he became, and his heart became more and more anxious, and if it dragged on like this, Sid would not be able to save him if he sent it to Oasis Town.

"Alright!" Ian interrupted the cat-man rudely, "Forty is forty, but I can't give it to you until I get to Oasis." ”

"That's fine. Seeing that the young man was relieved, the cat man rolled his eyes and said: "Forty gold coins is a hard fee, but we didn't go to the oasis, and this back and forth delayed our day's trip, you see how to compensate for this......"

"What did you say?!" a cold light flashed in Ian's eyes, his patience was almost worn out. Now that Sid's life is on the line, and although he is physically and mentally exhausted, he should still be able to raid a man and grab a mount at Zack's speed. It seems that these guys are not a good thing in the first place. Most of them listened to Lyra's request for help, and wanted to come over to pick up a bargain, but they didn't expect that the manticore had fled, so they couldn't do it. If the manticore is injured and does not retreat, they join the battle in the name of saving people, and it is difficult to say how the spoils will be divided in the end.

Among the mercenaries, these dirty things in the wilderness are not less heard of Sid.

Ian sighed inwardly: Leila escaped the lions, but attracted a pack of jackals. These people may not be much better than Warcraft.

At the thought of Lyra, Ian immediately resisted the urge to draw his sword - Lyra was still in their hands. Here, it's okay to grab a mount with a small attack, but if you take Sid with you and leave, wouldn't Leila and the others be in trouble. Ian shook his head, suppressed the anger in his heart, gritted his teeth and asked, "Just order, how much do you want?"

The mercenary captain smiled: "Not much, this time you can share half of your commission honorarium." ”

"Okay!" As soon as the other party finished speaking, Ian answered without even thinking about it. Then he dispersed Zack, on tiptoe, and in a few steps he reached a swift dragon. He leaped to his feet, landed behind the Swift Dragon Rider, and shouted, "Go now!"

The group ran onto the main road, joined up with Lyra and the other investigators, and headed straight for Oasis Town.

When he was about to reach Oasis Town, the mercenary captain approached Ian on a swift dragon and asked, "Where are we going to get the money in a moment?"

"You'll know when you get there. Ian replied in disgust.

He grew up in the slums, and he saw a greedy face, but he never felt so disgusted as he is today.

When we entered Oasis Town, the man came again and asked, "How shall we go?"

"Go to the Golden Tail Chamber of Commerce. ”

"Goldtail Chamber of Commerce?" the cat man hesitated slightly. Of course, he knew how much weight the Goldtail Chamber of Commerce had in the Oasis and even on the eastern border of the Federation. But he felt strange how these ordinary people could have anything to do with the Golden Tail Chamber of Commerce. The two male humans are only black iron level mercenaries, and it is not uncommon for them to have some spiritual power at most, but they can never be from the Warscar Mercenary Group. Well, most of them just know someone in the Chamber of Commerce and rushed to join the ......

Thinking of this, he felt a little relieved and commanded the team to go to the Golden Tail Chamber of Commerce.

The group walked through the open gate of the Chamber of Commerce, stopped in the front courtyard, and jumped off their mounts. Ian and Zach carried Sid into the hall.

Maggie was still busy behind her bar, and in the row of counter seats in front of her, only Giggs sat closest to her. On the sofa chair with his back to the entrance of the hall, it seemed that Babich was drinking, his left arm stretched out flat, holding the shoulder of a strange woman, not looking like a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Achilles' ornate olecranon helmet rested on a table by the door, and he himself sat with his head bowed, reading a document attentively.

Hearing a noise in the courtyard, Achilles looked up.

"Sid is hurt!" Ian shouted.

"Put it here. Babich had already stood up, pointing to the empty couch beside him.

Achilles helped Ian carry Sid, who was still unconscious, to the couch and lay him down.

Giggs poked his head out from behind him and looked at it, frowning, "The Twelve Gods are above, what are you doing?"

Achilles leaned over to look at it, his voice cold and direct, "What hurts?"

"Manticore. Ian replied.

Giggs whistled in a low voice: "I'll call the doctor." As he spoke, the figure flashed and ran out of the hall.

Achilles got up and turned to look at the bar, where Maggie was walking over with a tray of large and small bottles.

"I'll come," said Maggie, "and see if I can pour something." ”

Achilles nodded, leaning sideways to let Maggie pass.

Ian knew that Maggie's wine and drink had a variety of benefits, and that it was no ordinary drink.

"Don't look at me like that," Maggie whispered, noticing Ian's gaze, "just try to buy some time." ”

"Who are they?" Achilles squinted at the group of mercenaries standing in the vestibule, and the strong cat-men who had been wandering the door of the hall.

"Loot while it's hot. Ian whispered, then briefly explained what had happened.

Achilles glanced at Ian's bag in the corner, revealing a small piece of broken tail that couldn't fit in. Then, he took a deep look at Ian. Ian happened to look up and met his gaze, feeling as if there was fire in the other person's eyes, and he couldn't tell whether it was anger, excitement, blame, or approval. Immediately after, he looked at the person at the door again, and his eyes returned to his usual coldness.

Achilles was about to walk towards the door when a broad palm pressed his shoulder. Babich laughed, "Don't be impulsive, Giggs and the doctor are coming soon." Achilles understood what he meant, snorted coldly, and turned back to sit back in his chair.

"I'm going to talk to them. Babich patted Ian on the shoulder with ease, then walked briskly towards the door, waving to the cat-man captain as he went. Then he closed the door to the hall.

Maggie picked up a small bottle, opened the lid, and shook it a few times in front of Sid's nose. Sid reacted, but his eyes didn't open, he just frowned and shook his head, muttering something in his mouth.

Maggie then picked up another small orange-red bottle and tried to fill his mouth with some of the liquid in the bottle.

"What's that?" Ian asked softly.

"Something that would have allowed him to live a little longer. Maggie replied.

It didn't take long for the door of the hall to be pushed open. Babich and Ryan Giggs walked in together, followed by an elderly raccoon man, panting.

Dr. Raccoon examines Sid's wounds, prescribes a lot of external and oral medications, and explains what to look at.

"Tonight is crucial," said the old doctor slowly, "and if you survive tonight, you may be fine." ”

Before leaving, he didn't forget to take care of Ian and them in the end, and he had to be mentally prepared.

"What kind of mental preparation?" he looked at the other party in a daze after listening to the doctor's words, "What kind of mental preparation do you say?"

The old raccoon man looked at the boy and shook his head, sighed, and turned to walk out of the door of the chamber of commerce.

At night, Ian stayed by Sid's bedside. In the middle of the night, Maggie came in to ask him to change shifts and rest, and he was silent, just stubbornly sitting on the edge of the bed. Maggie had no choice but to get some refreshing drinks for him to drink.

Ian was already exhausted, he just didn't dare to sleep. He was afraid that when he woke up, the people around him would shake their heads and sigh at him, or be woken up in their sleep by someone who would shake him up and tell him the sudden bad news. There was a subtle hint of fear in his hollow and godless eyes. The old doctor's words, and the silent atmosphere of everyone, made him smell a familiar smell.

Death.

He remembered this feeling, this oppressive atmosphere, which could be found in the deepest part of his memory.

I just didn't understand what death was at the time. In his vague memory, he followed a large group of unknown people to the wilderness, and in a garden full of stone monuments, he was asked to wave to his parents. But he didn't see his parents, just a huge rectangular wooden box, buried in the earth.

In the slums of Black Eagle City, no one can afford long-term medical bills, let alone a doctor for the slightest ailment. When the doctor shakes his head at you and sighs, while family and friends are silent, he has a bad premonition at a young age, and it always comes true.

This night, Sid was always in a daze. Just like the doctor said, he had a high fever and would talk nonsense from time to time. Ian put his ear up, unable to make out what he was saying. But he was visibly in pain, and always frowned in his sleep. Only once, Ian vaguely heard him muttering someone's name, Tina, or Deya, who seemed to be a woman.

It's not going to be a dream this time. Ian smiled wryly and looked at Sid's furrowed brow, reapplying the cold towel soaked in water to his forehead.

As dawn approached, Babich walked into Sid and Ian's room.