"Anthony..."

"Who!" Anthony Wolfe, on his horse, suddenly asked sharply.

"Anthony..."

The voice sounded again, and Anthony looked left and right, trying to find the person who called him.

"What's going on, General!" A cavalryman stepped forward and asked eagerly.

"Did anyone call me just now? Soldier? Anthony asked the cavalryman. The cavalryman shook his head, indicating that no one had called him. Anthony had no choice but to hide his doubts, shook his head, and continued on his way.

A few days ago, Anthony was ordered by Spador Doris to escort a group of homeless people to the Clover Ranch south of Flower Town. Now that the escort was complete, Anthony was busy going to join Lady Doris. Now they've passed through Winterless Town, where temperatures have fallen below freezing, and the temperature anomaly has been going on for more than a month.

It must be said that the situation in the Zamir territory is not good, although it is maintained by Anthony and Lady Spado and the village and city executives, and there are logging forts with construction wood and firewood, there are no large-scale displacements and unrest. However, a small number of people either fell ill and died on the way to the migration, or froze to death at home.

The most serious thing is that a group of robbers took advantage of the disaster in Zanmir to loot and kill people on the border. This batch of robbers robbed people's homes, burned down some small villages, and spread some apocalyptic rumors, demagoguery, and strengthened the ranks. When Ms. Spado heard about it, she was surrounded several times, but only a few minions were captured, and the leaders of the bandit group never showed up.

"General!" In front of the team, a cavalryman approached at a rapid pace, shouting hurriedly as he pumped his horse vigorously.

"General! It's Wilson the Pathfinder who is back! ”

Anthony nodded, grabbed the reins of his mount and shouted, "What's going on?" ”

Wilson stopped his horse, turned over and dismounted, saluted Anthony, and then reported: "General, a group of refugees have been found in the woods ahead, and several of them are wounded, and they are dying!" ”

When Anthony heard this, he immediately ordered: "Everyone get on the horse!" Jack! Bring your herbs and come with me right away! After that, ignoring everyone, he ordered Wilson to lead the way and galloped all the way.

The crowd was led into the woods by Wilson, and finally found the refugees.

It's not so much a group of refugees as a group of poor people who are barely surviving.

There were about a dozen of them, gathered under the roots of a huge tree. There was a pile of firewood under the roots of the tree, the flame was not large, and the flames swayed with the cold wind, and would be extinguished at any time. However, it was this faint flame that was carefully guarded by everyone, like the hope of a little star in despair. Perhaps, what still maintains the lives of these poor people is not the temperature of this flame, but a struggle to live.

Seeing the troops brought by Anthony, there was a commotion in the crowd. A few people stood up before the group could get closer, waving desperately and calling for help. Seeing the waving refugees, Anthony ordered the soldiers to put away their weapons and signaled that he was here to help them. However, before the line could get closer, two people who stood up suddenly collapsed. Anthony hurriedly ordered everyone to hurry up, and when he got closer, he realized that it were two women who had fallen.

A middle-aged man in ragged clothes stepped forward, knelt down in front of Anthony, and said, "Master! Help us! ”

Anthony didn't speak, and although he didn't want to see his lords die in front of him, he had a kind of aristocratic superiority in his bones, so he didn't bother to talk to these commoners.

He took a slight step back, ordered the middle-aged man to get up in an arrogant tone, and then scanned the situation of the group of refugees.

Under the huge roots of the tree were frail bodies—a few middle-aged men, three young men, a little girl, an old woman, and four women. On the windward side of the roots of the tree were seven or eight corpses, both old and child. The corpses were weakened by the cold wind, which seemed to be what helped them survive. Anthony thought.

"Yes." A voice rang in my ears.

Anthony was startled and turned his head sharply, but there was no one around him, only the middle-aged man from before who was respectfully bent over and following him—the man was not tall in the first place, and his slumped body was not enough to reach Anthony's shoulders.

Anthony jerked his head back, not noticing anything, his gaze falling on the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man was stared at by Anthony and shivered in fear. "You were talking?" Anthony asked sternly.

The man didn't dare to reply loudly, but replied cautiously, 'No, no one spoke just now.' ’

Anthony had no choice but to use a "Humph! "to hide his uneasiness and doubts." I saw two people fall just now, what's going on? ”

The man said with a little regret: "Master, those two are dead." ”

"Dead?" Anthony's voice was slightly puzzled and angry, he felt deceived, but seeing the man's expression, it didn't look like he was telling a lie.

When the middle-aged man saw Anthony's expression, he immediately knelt down in fright and explained: "Master, they are the end of the crossbow, and some people who are rescued when they are in distress can't hold on and die immediately due to the sudden dissipation of their will to survive. At the end he added, "This is a common thing, sir, I swear." ”

Anthony suddenly realized when he heard this, but he still had to maintain the erudition of a nobleman, so he nodded expressionlessly, which was considered a brushstroke. However, he was a little disgusted. 'Ignorance and vulnerability. He thought. He then ordered Jack, who knew a little about herbs, to heal the wounded, and ordered some of the other soldiers to bring out some coarse bread and a cloak to protect them from the cold.

Jack examined everyone's injuries, took out several herbs from the package, pounded them, put them on bandages, and bandaged them. Then he reported to Anthony: "General, the bandaging is complete, but there is an unconscious wound that is so badly wounded that the intestines are bleeding out - it cannot be saved, I gave him a good time, and he walked without pain." Jack's face was a little unsightly, and Anthony had to order the soldiers to bury the body on the spot.

"General, I've noticed something unusual." Jack reports.

"Oh? Speak. ”

"General, most of these people's wounds, except for the bite scars and frostbite of wild beasts, are caused by sharp weapons, I suspect that they may have encountered the attack of that bandit group, they should be survivors."

Anthony agreed, then grabbed the man, threw him at his feet, and asked sternly: "You, come here, let me ask you, have you been attacked by the bandits?" ”

The middle-aged man trembled and crawled on the ground, didn't dare to raise his head, and said, "Master, you are wise and powerful." We were indeed attacked by robbers. We escaped from Cotton Village, a few days before the attack. Many of them came, and when they entered the village, they killed people without saying a word, and robbed them of food, finances, and cotton and cloth. We took advantage of the chaos to escape with dozens of people, and they killed the rest. We hid in the woods, and we were attacked by wild beasts, and here we were, and these people were left. ”

After hearing this, Anthony asked sharply, "How many of them came?" What are the characteristics of the leader? From what direction to leave! ”

The middle-aged man couldn't speak, and Anthony grabbed him from the ground, "Honestly! Are you in collusion with a gang of robbers? Then he raised his fist and made a gesture to fight.

The man hurriedly begged: "Master spare your life!" I really don't know exactly how many people there were, we won't count them, I can only tell you that there are many people, a large area of black press, about the same number of soldiers you lead. The leader was a bald, one-eyed, bearded man, and as we escaped, we saw them burn the village and go west into the woods. ”

Anthony let go of him, pushed him to the ground, and motioned for him to get out.

The man didn't care about the pain of being thrown to the ground, and rolled and crawled into the refugee line.

Anthony stepped on his horse and ordered, "Jack! Wellington! You two take ten people and send these refugees back, and the rest will follow me to exterminate the bandit group!" ”

"Young Master! Both the lord and the lady Doris have told me not to act hastily. Besides, listening to the leader, there are many murderers in that group, and we don't have enough troops, so I think it's better to meet with Lady Doris before making a decision. A close cavalryman hurriedly dissuaded.

Anthony hesitated, and he stroked his chin in thought, as his father did—though he didn't have a beard yet.

"Merit, right..." The voice rang out again.

This time, though, Anthony didn't hesitate. He ordered: "Soldiers! Obey orders! Get on your horse and go with me! He straightened up with a majestic look, and there was a determined glint in his eyes.