Snorlan sat in the carriage stunned, Arturius only thought he was undecided, and didn't say anything, silently checking the sword he had snatched from the cultist in his hand, even though it was not a simple matter in the bumpy carriage, but for Arturius, who had been dealing with swords for many years, it was just an easy task.

Time passed minute by minute, it was getting late, the sunset was as hot as the raging fire of Rapids last night, and occasionally a line of unnamed birds passed by, although I don't know what season it was, but the weather was still very hot, the militiamen tied their horses, set up a camp on the spot, and simply cooked something, and Snorlan also ate some, although it could only be barely said to be edible, but it was better than starving in the wilderness.

Just as the militia gathered around the fire and prepared to rest, Malan Clinton also came to Wood Village. There is nothing wrong with the sound of his horse's hooves, he is not a returnee, but a troublemaker, a propagandist of war. He was a Segou soldier, a word that to the villagers of the border meant the same thing as the demons of hell.

The old chief of Wood Village received Malan. The old village chief also understood their purpose in his heart, but he had already given a gag order to the villagers who knew that Snorlan and they had come, as if nothing had happened, and as if he didn't know about Riptide Town.

The old village chief welcomed Ma Lan into the house, poured a cup of tea, bowed his waist and said to Ma Lan with a smile: "Poor and remote land, there is nothing left, only some coarse tea, and I hope that the chief Haihan." ”

Ma Lan sat down, put the tea aside, glanced at the old village chief out of the corner of his eye, and asked directly, "...... Torrent Town"

Ma Lan paused for a while, saw that the old village chief's face did not change, and continued: "Do you know about the matter of Torrent Town? ”

The old village chief shook his head: "Torrent Town...... What happened to Riptide Town? ”

Malan continued: "Riptide was attacked last night, and there was no one alive in the town. ”

The old village chief was so shocked that he trembled and even fell to the ground with his crutches. Ma Lan bent down sideways, picked up the crutches, and handed it to the old village chief, his eyes did not leave the old village chief's face for half an inch. The old village chief hurriedly took the crutches, bowed his waist, and said to Ma Lan: "Sir, this is ...... Who did such a madness? ”

Malan shook his head and said, "I don't know either. I'm here to investigate this. You haven't had any strangers in your village lately? Or did it go through some massive procession? ”

The old village chief thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "I haven't seen any suspicious strangers, and there are also travelers passing through the village, but there are only two, one is a bard, and the other is a young adventurer. ”

Malan nodded, got up and walked out the door. The old village chief hurriedly sent him: "Chief, go slowly." ”

Walking to the door, Ma Lan paused, turned back and asked the old village chief, "Have you been in a hurry to go out recently?" ”

The old village chief was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said: "No, the young men in our village are all honest and dutiful, they are all farming in the village, and they have not gone out." ”

Ma Lan nodded, and said, "Recently, the vigilance has been strengthened, and it has not been peaceful recently. ”

The old village chief nodded hurriedly and said, "Thank you for the reminder, I will tell them to strengthen their vigilance." ”

Ma Lan walked away without looking back, got on his horse, and asked his subordinates next to him, "Captain, how is it?" ”

Ma Lan said flatly: "This old man lied, he may know those fugitives." The ruts on the ground were very deep, and they were still new, but he said that no stranger had come, and no one from the village had gone out, so could the three carriages loaded with things run away on their own? Did the horses also riot? Most likely he gave the carriage to the fugitives. Let's go, we follow this road to chase. ”

"But captain, do they have to be fugitives, not civilians?"

"If it's a civilian, what are you hiding from us? What's more, who doesn't have a woman or child except for a dozen or so young men? Besides, when so many of us entered the village, none of the villagers stretched out their heads to see the excitement, don't you think it's abnormal? ”

"How did you know there were no women or children?"

"Whether it's a civilian or a fugitive, you have to eat a meal after a night of hard work, right? There is no magic net here, if you want to cook, you can only make your own fire, and you have to clean up after eating, it is now seven o'clock, and from the perspective of hardness and dryness, the ruts on the ground are at least four hours, so they will leave at three o'clock in the afternoon at the latest, and it will take two hours for these people to cook and eat, then they will arrive at Wood Village from twelve o'clock in the afternoon to one o'clock in the afternoon at the latest. I believe that they do not dare to walk at night, after all, the nearest wilderness is not very peaceful, there is no need to just flee from the tiger's mouth and send yourself into the wolf's mouth, then it is almost autumn, about six o'clock in the morning, then they will arrive at Wood Village in the morning, you know, we have ridden all afternoon, and I have not seen any new horseshoe prints or ruts other than us along the way, so most of them have come on foot, so most of them are young men. ”

The team member nodded thoughtfully, all of which he hadn't noticed.

Ma Lan tugged at the horse's head and urged the team members: "What are you waiting for? Let's go! ”

The hand who spoke just now showed embarrassment and said, "Captain, it's not that we don't want to chase, but it's going to get dark soon, and you know that the border is a place where all kinds of monsters are rampant, and the wilderness at night doesn't belong to us humans!" Captain, you are already a bronze high-level person who is about to be promoted to silver, but we brothers who are still in the black iron can't bear those monsters! ”

Ma Lan pondered for a moment and nodded: "Okay, then let's rest in Wood Village tonight and chase after it tomorrow." ”

Ma Lan's team members were relieved to hear this, if their commander really wanted to take a risk, his brothers could only sacrifice their lives to accompany the gentleman, fortunately, they didn't need to sacrifice their lives tonight, which was naturally better.

At the same time, Snorlan and his party also began to rest, considering that Snorlan had just joined, Arturius did not let Snorlan keep vigil, and Snorlan also slept peacefully. When I woke up, it was just dawning.

"Did you sleep well?" Seeing that Snorlan was awake, Arturius walked over to him and asked him with a smile.

"Not bad." Snorlan replied with a smile.

"That's good, in half a day, about noon, we will be home, and we will be entertained to you at that time!" Arturius said with a laugh.

Snorlan also laughed and said, "Okay, I've been working hard for the past two days, and when I get to Crane Village, I want to have a good meal." ”

"That's nature, wine and meat are indispensable! Let's go, leave early, arrive early. ”

Snorlan nodded, straightened his bags a little, and set out on the road to Crane Village with the militiamen.

And Malan Clinton is ready to go.

Malan woke up his soldiers, packed their bags, and chased after them. After the night, the rut gradually hardened, and it was no longer as visible as last night, but to Ma Lan, who had a good eye, the faint rut was as conspicuous as the light in the night. He looked closely at the ruts, and there were three carriages in all, all of which were so deep that there should have been four or five people on them. Then the number of fugitives in this group should be between twelve and fifteen people, and there is only a standard eight-person squad under his hands, counting himself as nine people, if he catches up on the way, it is fine, once this group of fugitives returns to their stronghold and is replenished with weapons, equipment and personnel, it will be difficult for his team to eat. Ma Lan thought for a while, then turned back to his soldiers and said: "Stay vigilant, our mission is mainly reconnaissance, and it is not too late to transfer large troops to clear the enemy's stronghold after clarifying it." ”

Naturally, the team members nodded yes, they didn't want to have a head-on confrontation with this group of mobs, they would rather die at the hands of the Roe people than at the hands of a group of mobs.

Facing the brilliant morning sun, Snorlan, Arturius and Ma Lan set off at the same time. Malan is eager to catch up with the group of fugitives and learn the truth about Riptide Town, while keeping the secret that Riptide Town's murderers are not Roe; Arturius and the militiamen hurried home, returned to their warm beds, had a full meal, and had a comforting night's sleep; Snorlan was anxious to settle down and get to know the world well.

Arturius waved the whip, the horse pulling the cart was painful, and ran faster, the horses given to them by the old village chief were all good horses, not horses for farm work in the countryside, and the war horses ridden by Ma Lan and others were naturally not slow, but after all, it was half a day's trip, and after about half a day, when the sun was directly above, Snorlan and others returned to Crane Village.

The villagers of Crane heard the sound outside and ran out, it turned out that Arturius had returned with the militiamen, and they warmly welcomed their militia captain, and the remaining twenty or so militiamen who remained in the village of Crane came to Arturius, except for those who stood guard, to greet their captain. Snorlan could see that Arturius was beloved in the village.

At this time, out of a longhouse came a spirited old man, he was somewhat similar to the old village chief of Wood Village, but he had neat legs and feet, unlike the old village chief of Wood Village who was a little lame. He walked up to Arturius, and the villagers and militiamen along the way made way for the old man. Snorlan thought that this was most likely the head of the village, and even if he was not the head of the village, he was a respected old man.

The old man stood in front of Arturius, looked around Arturius, looked at the team behind him, and asked, "It's good to come back." Only you guys are back? ”

Arturius put away his smile and nodded solemnly: "I met the patrol of the Saigu people on the way, and more than a dozen brothers died at that time, and we were also arrested, if it weren't for the ...... of Riptide Town" Arturius told the old man what happened in Riptide Town, and the more the old man listened, the more solemn he became, and when Arturius finished speaking, he looked around and said loudly: "If anyone else asks about this matter, they will say that they don't know, and no one is allowed to say it!" Arturius, come with me. The old man led Arturius and Snorlan into the longhouse where he had come out, and closed the door.

"Did the Roe really do it?" The old man closed the doors and windows, gathered the people together, walked to Arturius's side, and asked in a low voice.

"No, I'm more inclined to be a fanatic of some evil god who did it." Arturius shook his head.

"But the Céngu needed it, and that was done by the Roe. Now that there are revolts in Ségou and the people complaining about their repressive rule, a war with an old enemy with a bloody feud can be a good way to deflect the conflict. ”

Arturius also nodded, and said, "Then let's keep this secret, it won't do us any good to talk about this matter." ”

The old man also nodded: "I don't have a few years to live, but you still have a long way to go, Arturius, gather a good militia and prepare for war with all your might, whether it is a cultist, a Roe, or a Saigu person, no one will show mercy to our men." I just hope we can live. ”

Arturius nodded solemnly and said, "I see, father." The old man was Arturius's father, Pachel, and the head of the village of Crane.

Pachel looked at the only fresh face in the group, Snorlan, and asked, "Arturius, who is this ......?" ”