24 It is a question of whether to withdraw or to stay

On the morning of February 15, 1806 in the imperial calendar, Milo and the others were only half a day's journey away from Fengxing Town. They could have walked faster, but considering that more than half of the distance was still in the territory of the Sprelet Empire, it was still necessary to be careful of the possible appearance of Imperial patrols or spies, after all, Erin and Milo were still wanted, and they had to be cautious without the guards. The Night Sparrow transforms into a hare and runs at the front, and the Snow Dog transforms into a wolf and gives the team a rear. The group marched like this for three days, leaving the empire not long ago, and now entering the sphere of influence of Windrun Town.

There wasn't much communication between the group on the road, and the few conversations they had had nothing to do with the Shaling crisis were too heavy. Night Sparrow, Snow Dog, and Erin all had a sad face like Milo, and although they didn't know exactly what happened to Milo that night, they could all guess some clues: they were all teleported out of the dust, and the only person they knew who could use teleportation magic was Wind Chimes. A contradictory and abnormal mood made the four of them extremely entangled, unable to sleep and eat, and unwilling to say anything along the way.

Also full of gloom is Kelan, who has no direct stake in Fengxing Town, but actively contributes to this Shaling crisis, on the one hand, because she wants to prove to the Green Dragon mercenaries that she is not the culprit of this crisis; On the other hand, she wants to solve the mystery of Sha Ling and find answers to her research; Of course, there may have been other reasons that she didn't reveal to the others. The two Green Dragon Mercenaries who stayed out of the situation were also in a heavy mood, they often talked about the unexplained phenomena in the sand and dust, and were puzzled by them, even if the skilled Green Dragon Mercenaries encountered a headache for them this time.

Annoyance, confusion, entanglement, confusion, fear...... All sorts of negative emotions lingered in the minds of the group, and now they will also bring back the still-unresolved crisis and a series of not-so-optimistic news to Fengxing.

"Proceed cautiously, Windrun doesn't look right." Night Sparrow reminds everyone to be vigilant. The group walked along the few small hills, hiding themselves with the slopes and huge stones, and looked out towards the town of Windwind: the town, as usual, had no disturbing changes, and it was vague to see what people were doing in front of their houses; A patrol marched outside the town, their armor reflecting a dazzling glow in the midday sun.

"The Windrun Town Guard is not equipped with this kind of armor." Erin, who had dealt with the Guards a lot, noticed that something was wrong.

"From the outline, it looks like a Splitter Empire-standard half-body plate armor, and the Guards really don't have this kind of equipment." Milo added, "It seems that it is the Spreet Imperial Army, could it be that Windwalk has been taken over by them?" ”

"It's not an option to wait and see, I'll take a look." Kelan took over, "When you see green fireworks, it means safety, if it's red, run quickly." ”

"I'll go with you." After Kolan set off, the night sparrow followed. The others continued to hide and waited anxiously.

After a while, a beam of green fireworks shot out of the wind town and soared into the sky. "Safety." Melo was at the front, Erin followed him, and the group quickly returned to Windrun and met the patrol. The patrol didn't pay attention to Milo and the others, but continued to patrol the surrounding area, as if they didn't exist.

"They are indeed Imperial soldiers," said Erin, "but ...... The goal is not us. ”

"Find Kelan first, since she can confirm that these people are not a threat to us, there must be a corresponding explanation." Melo said as he looked around for Kolan, but he saw another familiar figure—

"Pete Akay?!" "Brother?!"

Pete Akayi, a sturdy man about Milo's age, is the eldest son of the Akayi family, Erin's older brother, and Milo's playmate in his childhood and adolescence. At this time, he was wearing delicate full-body chain mail, smiling and walking towards everyone, his left ear was completely cut off during the battle with the djinn, and it looked very discordant, but it still couldn't hide his handsome appearance.

Seeing her brother suddenly appear, Erin threw herself into his arms excitedly, and the latter also gently hugged her sister and greeted Milo with her eyes.

"I know you have a lot of doubts," Pete said to Milo and the others, "why don't we go back to the fortress and eat first, you must be tired from all the time...... Oh, those are my people, and they can be trusted. As he spoke, he gestured to the Imperial troops who were patrolling. Indeed, the reaction to Pete Akayi's presence here was more strange than excited, but soon everyone will know the cause and effect.

In the dining room of the fortress, Viscount Li, Kelan and Night Sparrow were already waiting for everyone, and after a simple greeting, the group began to talk while eating.

"As for what is happening to Windwalk, of course, the Sand Spirit Crisis," Pete said to the group, glancing at his sister with concern from time to time, "The Sprelet Empire knows that it can't stay out of the situation, so it hopes to send some soldiers to help defend Windwalk, and at worst, help Windrun complete its evacuation. As you all know, the main forces of the Empire are now busy confronting the United Kingdom in the south, and the Imperial Army here is also responsible for assisting in the defense of villages and cities near the desperate desert, so there are very few Imperial troops who can assist in Fengxing Town, so I offered to bring the guards of my own territory to assist in the defense, and it was approved, which was almost a month ago. ”

"It seems that the Sprelet Empire has not given up on this." The Viscount smiled and said that it was good news for him.

"The wealth you send back to the capital every quarter is also a factor for them to consider, and of course more about the prestige of the empire." Milo added that this view was also affirmed by Pete, who nodded approvingly.

Pete continued: "It took us more than half a month to pack up our armaments, and when we were ready, I wanted to hire a galleon to bring us from Wall Harbor, but then Sevia gave us a steamship...... "Hearing Sevia's name, Erin didn't overdo it, now she just wants to completely curse this name into the abyss.

"I can't imagine that Sevia would be so kind?" Nightfinch said angrily that she didn't know Sevia, but she hated him for framing Erin.

"My parents wrote to me about Sevia's framing of my sister, and at first I thought he was heinous," Pitt continued, "but objectively speaking, he helped Spellet win the battles in the South and the United Kingdom, and was a hero of the Empire." At first, I thought there was a conspiracy on the steamship, so I had the boy examine the ship carefully, and there were no problems, and I replaced all the crew members with my men just to be safe. Thanks to the steamboats, we were able to get here so quickly. Although her brother expressed an objective opinion, Erin still did not have a good face, and the scene became embarrassing.

"Milo," Kran said to divert the subject, "please also tell us what you experienced in the dust, so that you can decide what to do next." All eyes were on Milo, and Irene, who had just turned her face away, turned her head to stare at him.

Milo pinched the hair on his forehead, was silent for a long time, and finally spoke:

"Our opponent is the wind chime."

Instead of being surprised and flustered, everyone had a sense of right, and even Kolan, the Green Dragon Mercenary, and Pete, who didn't know the wind chimes, read the uneasiness and worry on the faces of Milo and the others, and in the face of such a powerful opponent, they already knew that they had almost no chance of winning.

"Shaling...... They actually wanted my life. Milo said coldly.

This time, like a thunderbolt striking the center of the chamber, everyone stared at Milo with wide eyes in an instant, their eyes full of shock and disbelief, as if Milo was speaking a fantasy. But Milo's serious expression and grim eyes tell everyone that it's all true.

"Wind chimes...... Going to kill you?! Erin asked, horrified.

Milo shook her head and said, "It's not the wind chime, it's the person behind her, the one who is manipulating the sand." ”

"I've been listening to Wind Chimes say that I'm looking for someone, but it can't be this person." Nightsparrow asked, and Melo nodded in response.

"Name—do you know the man's name?" Kelan also hurriedly asked, and Milo shook his head, he really didn't know.

"Then why kill you?" Erin asked.

"I ...... too I don't know ......."

Silence and silence once again permeated the chamber.

"Milo," Pete broke the silence, mostly unaware of what was going on here, "I'll take you on a boat." ”

"No," said Milo, still coldly, "I'll stay here forever, but for safety, use your ship to help evacuate the people here." ”

"No!" Erin exclaimed, "No, you can't sit still, Milo! She tried to take Milo's hand, but it would be rude for everyone in the chamber to look at her, and with her brother still there.

Milo didn't respond to Erin's plea, saying, "That dust...... Not only can people get lost, but it will also take advantage of everyone's fears, making people mentally unbearable, and even dying of fear. ”

"Sure enough," one of the Green Dragon mercenaries responded, "we have also noticed that sand and dust can not only interfere with people's vision, but also affect people's minds. ”

"So everyone evacuate as soon as possible?" Pete looked at the viscount, and he understood that it would be useless to persuade Milo at this point.

The Viscount closed his eyes and thought about it, although he had a variety of plans for the coming sand, he still couldn't accept the fact that Milo was the target of the sand spirit, he could order everyone to evacuate, but he couldn't bear to let Milo stay alone. "Give me a few days, I'm going to think about it." The Viscount replied to Pete.

"Without further ado," Pete saw Viscount Lee's vacillation, "it's better to make a decision as soon as possible." ”

"Actually......" the two Green Dragon mercenaries who had not spoken, "we can probably guess why Sha Ling killed Milo. ”

"Why?" Everyone asked, and the Green Dragon mercenary gave a reason for killing that had existed since ancient times:

"Revenge."