Standing at the entrance to the town, several people looked around.

Most of the mountains and forests around the town had died due to the plague, and the bare branches stretched out to the sky mournfully, like dry claws broken out of a grave.

After that battle, most of the town's large buildings such as mills, barns, and blacksmith shops were burned down. Steam-rich winds from Lake Daronmere blow here, making it wet all year round. The rest of the houses were also rotten due to this climate, some even half of the foundations had sunk, and some were covered with rotting moss and mold, giving off a strong fishy smell.

"It's all ruined!" Looking at the dilapidated and desolate town in front of him, Karin Respard said sadly. After the war, no more than a hundred of the inhabitants survived, and even if they could rebuild, they would not want to return to this sad place.

Diego didn't speak, he nodded, and walked back into town.

It was very cold in the town, and although the morning sun was rising and the sun was shining on the earth, the ubiquitous light seemed to be blocked by an invisible film, and when it fell into the town, it had already lost its temperature and became cold. A few people walk down the street, but it always feels as if there are countless pairs of eyes watching in the dark, which makes people shudder.

"You know what?" As if he had nothing to say, Karin Respard suddenly spoke, "The villains who attacked this place didn't end well either!" ”

"Oh?" Diego asked, pretending to be puzzled, although he already knew what happened to those villains, it didn't stop him from wanting to listen to it again, and make his dull mood happy. And he believed that the ghosts that still roamed the ruins would be happy to hear that.

"After the death of Hogget the Marauder, his bones were abandoned in the area of Lake Blackwood by the Undead in a rout, and now they are all rotting to slag, and the black-clad Marduk later suffered a disgraceful defeat in the Great Battle at the Cowling Crossing, and his wicked runic sword was lost in the Marks of the Blade," said Karin Respard, as if to his comrades who died here, as a consolation to the souls of the restless dead, "As for my brother, the fallen Joseph Respard, He was slain at Garon Farm in the Western Plaguelands, may the Light forgive him for the wrongs he has committed! ”

I don't know if it's a psychological effect, but when he said these words, the ubiquitous and thick hostility that had been surrounding them suddenly became much lighter, and the weather seemed to be warmer.

Truth be told, Carlin had some selfish intentions when he said this, and he sincerely hoped that his brother would be redeemed by the Light, because his mistakes were not of his own will, but under the control of the dark magic of the Death Knight Marduk, and he deserved to be forgiven.

He looked at Diego with some fear, at the young man who had served under Respad, a human being who was the earthly walker of the Light, carrying out His glory in his place, and if he thought Joseph could be redeemed, he should.

"Perhaps." Diego was uncertain that he had an idea before he came here, but he didn't know if it would work.

Carlin fell silent, even a little desperate. If a single saint can't handle this, then who else can help his brother?

His mood was so low that he didn't notice that a few people were walking in that direction, or that Diego was picking up a few pieces of tattered cloth along the way and piecing them together.

He only noticed the dilapidated houses on the side of the road, and for a moment, it seemed that for a moment, the cold aura of death suddenly rose, which made him as a paladin suddenly vigilant, but in the end, nothing appeared in front of them.

They eventually stopped in front of a lonely old house at the back of town. The roof of the house had collapsed, and the crumbling beams barely held up half of the space. Carlin was shocked to find that he was no stranger to this place, and that he had been here countless times. This is the home of his older brother Joseph!

He looked at Diego in surprise, not understanding why he had brought him here.

"Wait outside!" Diego said with a blank face, and walked into the dilapidated room.

The house was a little dim, and he turned around the living room from his memory, stopped in front of the utility room door behind the stairs, and knocked lightly twice.

There was no movement inside, but Diego was not in a hurry, but waited patiently. Sure enough, after more than a minute, the door of the utility room gently opened a small gap. A translucent dwarf figure peered out through the crack in the door, a ghost, the ghost of a little girl.

"Who are you?" The little girl asked suspiciously, "My dad won't let me open the door to strangers!" ”

"My name is Diego, and I'm an adventurer passing through here, let's see if I can help you!" Diego crouched down slightly, and lied as softly as he could, "What's your name?" ”

But the little girl believed the lie, which was full of loopholes, and she pushed open the door and walked out of the utility room.

It was a ghostly little girl of about six or seven years old, wearing a simple white shirt and brown-yellow dress, with two golden braids tied with beautiful bows with ribbons. She had no shoes on, just barefoot on the icy ground - she didn't even have time to put on her own shoes when she was killed.

She looked at the stranger with some trepidation, but she mustered up the courage to walk over to him. Many years had passed since the Battle of Talonshire, and she had been trapped in this lonely old house, lonely and lonely that made her yearn for someone to talk to her.

"My name is Pamela," she replied quietly, then looked at Diego timidly, "Are you from outside?" Is there still a war going on out there? ”

"Yes, I'm from outside, but now there is no war outside, and those terrible undead disasters have been defeated!" Diego said with a friendly smile.

"Do you know where my sister Jessica is?" Pamela asked softly, looking like a timid fawn with big eyes full of anticipation, "She was out of here when I was a very little girl. She cried very sadly when she left, I don't know why she was crying, maybe she fell and broke her toe. When Jessica was still here, we used to play games together, dance together, and pick flowers around the house together. Sometimes when we see my dad coming back, we hide and then jump out and scare him......"

Diego looked at the poor little girl with pity, she was dead, but she didn't realize it, she still wandered alone in this cold world, missing her loved ones was her last obsession, and it was also the reason why she continued to exist.

"Come back, Jessica! If you come back, Daddy will come back, and we'll be able to play together as before......" Pamela said and suddenly cried aggrieved, for a little girl of six or seven years old, her relatives were gone, leaving her alone in this dark world, if it weren't for the thoughts of her loved ones that warmed her like candles in the dark, she would have broken down long ago, "Aunt Maraine asked me to stay at home because Dad went out to fight. Dad is the bravest man in the world! But I waited here for a long time and he never came back. Sometimes bad people come and talk to me, and I want Daddy to get rid of them, but he's not here! Sometimes, after dark, I would play with my dolls, but I would leave it in town. Can you help me find the doll? ”

She looked up and looked at Diego with tears in her eyes, her eyes full of pleading.

Diego endured the sourness in his heart and took his right hand out of his back. In his hand he was holding the rag doll he had picked up from the road, and there was still a layer of dust left on it.

"Is that it?" He said with a hard smile.

"You've found it! You've found my doll! Oh, thank you! Banzai! Pamela couldn't help but cheer loudly, she took the puppet from Diego's hand, and hugged it tightly in her arms, as if holding a treasure, "My doll! You're going to get rid of the bad guys, will you? ”

Watching her happily talk to herself, Diego's tears couldn't help but flow. Are you asking your doll to chase away the bad guys? Poor child, I hope this doll can really protect you!

Pamela, who has a doll, is obviously a lot happier, and her words are also more. Clearly, the stranger had earned her trust.

"I don't know where my family is, Aunt Maraine told me to wait here, but she's gone forever! And my father, have you seen him? Maybe Aunt Maraine knows where he is. She lives near Andorhar, in a house to the south. I think the house was ...... on a hill, and she said the house was on a hill. Please help, you're my new friend! Can you help me find my aunt? ”

She paused for a moment, and jumped for joy after receiving an affirmative reply from Diego. But in reality, Diego did not plan to go to her aunt, because he already knew that Maraine had not escaped the fate of being devoured by the Scourge and had become a ghost, wandering the cemetery of Regret Ridge all night. However, he did not want to say it, so as not to add to Pamela's sadness.

At this moment, Pamela suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, sometimes, at night, I can hear my uncle Carlin crying, but it sounds as if it came from far to the east. I hope he's not crying for me, Diego, can you find my uncle and tell him I'm doing well? I don't want him to worry about me," said the kind little girl, worriedly, and it was evident that she didn't want her uncle to be unhappy at all, "and if you find him, tell him I'm waiting for him, and besides, I want to hear the story he used to tell, the story about rabbits and jam!" That's a funny story! ”

Diego didn't speak, he coughed under the sad eyes of the little girl, and turned to look out the door.

"Carlin, come in, what are you waiting for?"

As soon as the words ended, a tearful Karin Respard appeared in the doorway, then crouched down and opened his arms to Pamela.

"Pamela, poor child!"

"Uncle!" The little girl looked at Carlin excitedly, opened her mouth wide, and after a few seconds, a big smile bloomed from her face, and even the shallow freckles seemed to fly.

"Uncle!" With another shout, Pamela lunged over and threw herself into Karin's arms. If it weren't for Masrae's timely casting of the Spirit of the Moon, which gave Pamela a temporary materialized body, the little girl's spirit would have passed through Karin's body!

Looking at the two uncles and nephews who were hugging their heads and crying, Masrae and Brian couldn't help but burst into tears, almost crying. Just then, Diego walked towards the two men.

"Let them stay here and go, we have something else to do!" He took the lead in the direction of the town.

They stopped in the square in the middle of the town, and Diego pulled a shield from the devil's cloth bag and placed it next to the stone sculpture of the fountain that had long since dried up.

It was a military shield of the former kingdom of Lordaeron, and the kingdom emblem was painted in the center. Before the battle to regain Andorhar, Diego accidentally picked it up in the corner of Gallon's farm. The shield was stained with mottled blood, and even Masrae and Brian could feel the thick aura of darkness condensing on the shield.

Almost as soon as the shield was lowered, countless transparent figures emerged from the surrounding ruins, which were the residents and militia of the former Dalong County. They looked at the shield with hatred, and it was clear that they recognized who it belonged to.

"It's Joseph Respard's shield!"

"It's that traitor, that murderer!"

The ghosts shouted indignantly, looking at the shield with hatred and remembering the pain they had suffered when they had been killed by its owner!

"Outsider, where did you find this shield? Do you know the whereabouts of that fallen Respard? They surrounded them from all sides and asked menacingly. Tormented by anger and hatred, they did not even recognize that Diego had been a resident of the area.

"Give me a few minutes and I'll give you an answer!" Diego said calmly, looking at the shield, and then raised his right hand, the surging power of holy light shining with a dazzling light in that hand. The surrounding spirits scattered in fear.

"Come out, Joseph Respard!" He commanded aloud, and the power of the Light poured out of his hand, pouring on the shield like a flame.

As if knowing that it was no longer possible to hide, with a terrible roar, a misty black shadow broke free from the shield. It was a distorted shadow that exuded an evil aura of death, and as soon as it appeared, the shadow roared in pain, writhing wildly, waving its vicious claws in an attempt to escape the light.

But it was all in vain, like nails, and the light nailed the soul to the shield, burning like a flame, and washing away like a torrent. Visible to the naked eye, a trace of darkness was torn from the shadow's body, then burned into ashes, and finally reduced to nothingness.

Gradually, the color of the shadows changed from dark to light, from black to dark gray, and then from dark gray to light gray, and the original violent struggle became sluggish. When the shadow finally changed to the color of the translucent soul itself, it finally stopped struggling.

The once heroic militia captain Joseph Redpass was seen reappearing before them. He looked around a little confused, his face full of exhaustion.

After a few seconds, he recognized the man who had purified him.

"My eyes were once blinded by darkness, but you saved me from horrible evil visions, and you purified my soul, Diego. Now I sincerely ask you to forgive me for the sins I have committed. He fell to his knees and looked at the people around him guiltily.

"It was not your fault, Joseph, you did your best, I forgive you, and I am sure that all of us, all the warriors and inhabitants of Dalonshire will forgive you." Diego whispered that he was a valiant warrior who did his duty, and that he should not be blamed for the mistakes he made while being controlled by evil magic.

As he had said, the spirits around him, who had been full of anger and hatred, gradually quieted down. They also remembered how brave Joseph Respad was before he was taken over. Their former superiors and protectors fought to the death for them until they were killed.

As if suddenly spreading out of the water, a bright and soft circle of redemption light centered on Diego and spread out in all directions. Everywhere the light passed, all the souls, whether warriors or inhabitants, felt a warm feeling they had never felt since they had been transformed into the flames of the dead.

Washed by this pure light like water, the ghosts finally let go of all the obsessions in their hearts. All the reluctance and nostalgia were relieved at this moment, and with a sigh, these translucent souls bowed to Diego one by one, and then drifted away, returning to the embrace of the Holy Light.

"Go, go see Pamela, she's been missing you!" Looking at Joseph Respad, who was still not dissipating, Diego said softly.

"I, I don't know what to do with her." Joseph said with a puzzled face, and he felt a little frightened at the thought of seeing his daughter he hadn't seen for many years.

Diego smiled dumbly, he looked at the two men beside him, and took the lead in turning and walking in the direction of Respad's house.

However, to their surprise, they were halfway through when they saw little Pamela and Carlin also rushing towards them.

Seeing them, Pamela ran over happily.

"I just heard my dad talking to me from afar, saying that he had finished the war and was on his way home! I'm so happy! He also said, let me give you this key, which you can use to open a chest in the back of the house. He also wants me to thank you, did you help him? Did you tell him that you helped me find my doll? Well, here is the key, thank you, Diego, thank you, you are a kind gentleman! ”

The little girl was so merrily that Diego couldn't interject at all, but Diego took the key anyway, though he only wanted to keep it as a souvenir and not to open a box.

Just as the little girl was cheering, a figure came in the distance.

"Daddy?"

Pamela was stunned for a moment, then rushed out happily!

"Pamela? Where are you, dear?" The figure said with a shudder.

"Daddy!"

"Daddy, you're back!" The little girl shouted one after another, she hugged her father's waist tightly, and refused to let go for a second, lest as soon as she let go, her father would disappear from her eyes.

"Let's go play! No, tell me a story, Dad! No, ......, let's go pick the flowers! Then go for tea, I found my doll, did I tell you? ”

"Huh?" Joseph burst into tears, choked up and could barely speak.

"I miss you so much, Daddy!"

"I miss you too, dear, I'm finally home......"