More than 300 years, which may seem short to Poppy, can be summed up in a few simple words: friendship and searching. She's with me now also because I'm neither afraid of her nor hateful of her.

"I think the will of the yodel that gave birth to you is your desire for friendship, and now, we have met."

"Would you like to be my friend?"

"It's an honor."

"No, I said that my friend is only Oren, and maybe it won't be long before you hate me."

I didn't go into too much explanation, I didn't belong to this world in the first place, and I certainly wouldn't contradict the yodelers, and since she didn't believe it, let time tell.

Ionia, along with Valoran and Shurima, made up the Runeterra's continental system, but it was much smaller than the other two continents, and was once considered an island because it was surrounded by the Sea of Watch and the Sea of Conquest.

It was not until later that the exchanges between several places deepened and people came and went more frequently, that it became known that Ionia was not an island, but an area large enough to be called a continent.

The biggest difference between Ionia and the other two continents is that there are no countries here, and no states have ever been born, so they have no resistance when Noxus invades them.

Later, it was thanks to various martial arts, religious groups, and strange people that he won the victory, but of course the greater reason was Svein's lack of preparation, otherwise it would have been a catastrophe.

The people here pay attention to the unity of nature and man, the original ecology is very well maintained, all kinds of flowers and trees grow freely on the roadside, the scenery is beautiful and pleasant, of course, there is a price to pay for enjoying this beautiful scenery - the road is narrow and difficult to walk.

We walked slowly, not to mention, and often got lost, and when we met people, we had to ask for directions, and we had been sleeping in the open for more than ten days.

Luckily, the climate here is mild, and there are no problems other than the various animals that are often worried about sudden appearances, but it rained today.

It was August and September, and the vegetation was luxuriant, especially in a pristine place like Ionia, where the shade of the trees blocked the sunlight, which was very pleasant, but the rain could not be stopped, and it was raining very hard at this time, and we did not find any shelter from the rain, and soon it was soaked.

At first, it was sticky and uncomfortable, but after getting soaked, I didn't feel anything, it just became harder to walk, and I couldn't hear anything but the sound of the rain, but Bobby's five senses were more sensitive.

"I seem to hear someone crying nearby."

"Could it be that you are trapped somewhere in the heavy rain, or that you are in some danger?"

I followed Bobby to the neighborhood, and soon found a cave, from which the sound came, and we looked at each other and walked over, first, to see what was happening, and secondly, to shelter from the rain, which made my scalp tingle.

The scene in the cave surprised me, because this is not an ordinary cave, there are candles lit in it, and the rock paintings on both sides are full of murals, the content of which I cannot read, but it is not difficult to understand, it is nothing more than some sacrifices and prayers.

Not far from the cave there is a statue of a god consisting of two parts, in the center of which is a standing lamb surrounded by a wolf, both of whom wear masks and have strange symbols painted on their foreheads, like shepherds and butchers, poets and beasts.

This is the image of Qianjue.

Qianjue is a legendary god in the Land of Runeterra, symbolizing death, those who face death calmly will be given benevolent arrows by the sheep spirit, and those who try to avoid death will be hunted down and killed by the wolf spirit.

At this time, there was a village woman kneeling in front of the statue, holding a dying child in her arms, and it was this village woman who made the cry just now.

She kept begging Qianjue to let the child go, because she was so sad that she didn't even know that we came in.

"What happened?"

I don't mean to be nosy, but I can't stand this kind of rainy day, where someone next to me keeps crying, and even if I don't ask, Bobbi won't look at it, she's already walked up.

The village woman looked back and saw us, one tall and one short, holding weapons, startled, and hugged the child tightly: "Who are you?" ”

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you, we just heard your crying, what's wrong with this kid?"

"I don't know, he disappeared suddenly four days ago, our whole village didn't find him, this morning when I came to worship Lord Qianjue, I found him here, but his breathing was very weak, his chest was very hot, this is not the first missing child, recently ......"

Before the village woman could finish speaking, Poppy suddenly snatched the child from her hand and threw it out of the cave, and the village woman ran out like crazy.

We hurried after him, only to see that the child's chest had been cracked, and the dark blue flame was burning, not at all weakened by the pouring rain outside.

The village woman tried to pounce, but was stopped by Bobbi again, who struggled and cursed, "I knew you weren't a good thing, you little dwarfs were bastards!" ”

After a while, the dark blue flame slowly extinguished, and the child was swollen and blackened, and then he actually stood up!

He was more than twice as tall, black and disgusting, and attacked us, and I raised my spear and stabbed him a few times, and he fell to the ground and turned into a puddle of mud.

The village woman stopped struggling, looked at what was happening in front of her in despair, and after a long while, she said, "I'm sorry, I blame you, it turns out that those monsters are turned into missing children." ”

Poppy was not angry, she seemed to be used to the way people treated her, but continued to ask what was going on, and the village woman explained in sadness.

About half a year ago, the first child was lost here, and everyone began to think that they were in danger and searched everywhere, but they never found it.

Later, several disappeared in a row, and the black monster like just now began to appear, at this time, people began to pay attention to it, thinking that it was the condemnation of the god of death, that is, Qianjue, so they made a series of offerings.

The cave where Qianjue was enshrined was renovated, the murals and statues were restored, and every few days different people came to offer live chickens and ducks and other offerings, and this initiative really worked, and nothing like this happened for a month.

But in the middle of the second month, another child disappeared in the village, and black monsters still appeared, and at this time, a passing caravan said that this happened in other villages, especially a small village in the south, and almost the entire village was destroyed by black monsters.

After learning of this situation, in addition to worshiping Qianjue, the villagers arranged additional manpower to guard in case this matter was artificial.

But all measures didn't work, and by this month, fifteen children had been lost in the village, but fortunately, the monsters had all been eliminated by everyone, although at a great cost.

Today, it was the turn of the village woman to make offerings to Qianjue, and she accidentally found her child here, but she didn't expect this to happen: the black monster was changed by a missing child, and she had to tell everyone about the situation.

Poppy frowned and looked preoccupied, and I asked her what came to mind, and she replied, "This black monster is the same monster I told you about the monster that was fed roast meat in Demacia!" ”

"Same? Is it ......?"

I thought of what Bobbi said earlier, that Oron killed three mages when he saved her, but the one in the mask ran away, could it be that he did the thing here? Poppy had already thought of it:

"The same attack on the child, the same monster! It's been more than three hundred years, and it stands to reason that he doesn't have such a long lifespan, and there are exceptions, of course, but even if it's not him, it's bound to be related, and I have to investigate to the end! ”

Ever since she met Poppy, she had always had a nonchalant expression on her face, but when she mentioned it, she immediately became solemn, and it was clear that the experience in Demacia had stimulated her a lot.

The heavy rain stopped for a while, and although the road was not easy to walk, there was no standing water, and it seemed that the terrain was higher than the surrounding area.

We followed the village woman to her village, which was called Yanglin, and except for a few people who were in charge of guarding nearby, it was very empty and strange, and it was obvious that people were very afraid to go out.

The village woman took Bobby to explain to each family, but many people did not believe that it was the mage who did evil, and we had no clues, so we could only wait for the person who mutilated the child to show up.

But for more than ten days and nights, and no suspicious person appeared, and then the village woman said:

"It must be because the protection is relatively tight now, and everyone won't even go out easily, so the person you are talking about can't do it, we have to lure him out!" She hated the man who hurt her child, and when she heard us say that it was the work of the evil mage, she wanted to catch him immediately.

"How should that lead him out?" I wondered what she could come up with.

"Let my other kid lure him out! I'm sure you'll catch him! ”

"No, that's too risky."

Poppy and I refused at the same time, but Poppy thought of another idea: "But from your method, I thought of another way, it is a good thing to use a child to attract him to appear, but this child can't be chosen randomly, so it is easy to have accidents, so, I'll come!" ”

"It's a good idea, you won't be in danger, and it's easier to do it at critical moments, but you need to dress up."

"You really want to be friends with me?" Poppy teased at the right time, and I smiled awkwardly.

Poppy wore the clothes of the children here and wore a hat, and she was originally similar in height, but now it seems to be even more seamless!

Then she carried a basket out of the village, and I changed into the clothes of a villager here, and pretended to be a vigilante patrolling around, but it was not far from Poppy.

At first I could see Poppy intermittently through the lush flowers, but after a while I suddenly couldn't see her, as if she had disappeared suddenly.

Still, I'm not worried, the yodelers aren't something anyone can hurt, but she's not armed and I'm afraid she'll suffer, so I hastened to find her.

When I found the vicinity of the cave where Qianjue was enshrined, I suddenly heard a gunshot, and hurried in the direction of the gunshot, and then saw a man with a mask and a dry body, who was holding a gun in his hand and confronting Bobby, obviously recognizing each other.

And after seeing him, I also recognized him - the dramatist, Ember.