On an old tree whose branches had just pulled out of its new green, a young man with a withered face lay weakly on the canopy, and two black raccoons frolicked beside him. One of them jumped on his head, and the boy raised his hand to throw the naughty creature down: "Go away, go away, I don't have the strength to deal with you." I don't know how Daddy's business is doing, everyone is having a hard time this winter, and finally a fat sheep came, don't mess it up. Bah, how can Abel's target be messed up, unless Daddy himself is bad. ”

"I hope not." The boy casually plucked a small green shoot growing from a branch next to him, bit it between his lips, and immediately a faint bitter taste melted in his mouth, just like the taste of life in this dark place.

As the light began to sway to the west, the temperature was gradually decreasing, and the boy tightened his patched cloak and was about to slip down the tree. A black shadow suddenly flashed in his sight, and the young man looked at it, revealing a row of yellow teeth: "Daddy is back." ”

He turned, tore open his throat at the treehouse behind him, and shouted, "Daddy, they're back." ”

After shouting two or three times, the seven or eight wooden houses gradually revealed their old faces, their wrinkled faces cracked into a smile, revealing a mouth with missing front teeth and even missing teeth and only gums.

The withered yellow boy slid neatly down the old tree, and two black raccoons followed him, and the boy wore a pair of shoes that did not fit well, and there was even a hole in his left foot to see the toes inside. The shoes left footprints on the soft mud floor, and the boy flew along a path to meet the returning team.

At a glance, he saw Daddy Birek walking in front, and next to him was Abel, who he had admired since he was a child. Behind them were two tall horses, a man and a woman. The man had very rare silver hair, and the woman was neutral in all her temperament and clothing, but when she saw that beautiful face, the boy almost forgot to breathe.

The young man shouted in his heart: The quality of the fat sheep this time is very high!

"It's not far ahead, Lord Allen." Birek rubbed his hands together, trying to squeeze out a genuine smile. It's a pity that he looks too fierce and evil, so it's only funny.

"Just call me by my name, old man." Alan smiled.

Birek grinned, "How can that be, I've never seen a big man like you, I think those noble lords should be like you." ”

"I see, but old man, no matter how much you pat my ass, I won't pat my ass and turn around and leave, so you should lead the way with peace of mind. Also, we have a team behind us, about 100 people. It's probably going to be tomorrow, so how about you ask someone to pick it up at that time? ”

The expression on Birek's face froze, and he said with a sad face: "Lord Allen, our dark spear is not a fart here. The space is limited, and there is really no room for so many of you. The old man thought that the rest of the food was just that, these old men should not want to stay for a day or two, that little thing is not enough for people to eat.

Alan seemed to know what he was thinking, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, old man, we have our own food." It's just that you need a place to rest before you go deep into the dark places, and I won't let you work in vain afterwards. ”

Only then did Billik relent.

A young man had already come running over there, calling out unabashedly, "Daddy, Abel." Our fat sheep looks pretty good. ”

Birek kicked Abel, who scolded and rubbed his ass as he went up and pulled the boy and said, "Don't talk nonsense, we've kicked the iron plate this time." ”

"Iron plate?" The boy glanced at Allen, who smiled gently at him, and he grinned, "Why don't I look like it?" ”

Abel sighed and said, "I didn't look like it before, or I wouldn't have kicked it up." ”

Alan rode past a tree gate, two old trees that grew beside the road, their crowns naturally intertwined to form a natural arch. Behind the tree gate was an open space, with several large wooden troughs for storing water, and next to it sat seven or eight middle-aged women washing their clothes. Behind it was a stone stove with a cauldron on it, and something seemed to be boiling in it. There was a simple wooden platform next to it, and a fat woman was stirring the iron pot with a large spoon.

Seeing Billik returning, the fat woman crossed her waist and shouted, "Billik, go get some meat out, or everyone will only have soup to shout tonight." Seeing Allen and the others again, he sighed: "It turns out that you also brought back the fat sheep, what, do you want to slaughter them?" First of all, I can't do this kind of rough work. But this kid and chick look like they have fine skin and tender meat, and they must taste much better than your stinky meat that you hide as if you were a baby. ”

Billik was terrified when he heard this, and hurriedly shouted, "Shut up, these are our honored guests." ”

The fat woman snorted, apparently not convinced. Biric said to Alan: "Master Alan, there is something wrong with her here, don't take it to heart." The old man gestured to his head.

Alan shook his head and rolled over and dismounted. Looking around, he saw that the den of thieves of the dark spear was far more chilling than he had imagined. The treehouses on the old trees don't look very solid, and the thieves are old and small, so it is more appropriate to say that this is a den of thieves than a small village. Alan said softly, "Old man, it looks like you don't mix well in the dark place." ”

Pyric smiled bitterly, but didn't answer.

Then Abel and the young companion took the horses from Alan and placed them in a corner of the square with two carriages. Alan asks Faress to bring out the food and give it to Pyric to make the ingredients for dinner. When Billic saw the smoked meat, the dried and preserved fruits and vegetables, and the bread that Faress had brought him, the old man's eyes moistened, and he remembered how long it had been since he had eaten anything like this. Immediately sent it all to the woman who was in charge of cooking, and then secretly kept some. The fat woman also smiled when she saw so much food, and immediately called the women who were washing clothes to help cook the dishes together.

Before it was time for dinner, Alan found a clean place in the square and sat down. The camp of the Dark Spear was on a high slope, and from here you could see a black, oppressive forest stretching ahead. The sky in the distance was already filled with fiery red clouds, like still flames, dyeing the heavens and the earth the same color. Allen's body was also dyed with a red light, and he pulled out a freshly grown grass core from the field next to him, and rubbed it in his hand.

"Lord Allen...... You're not a caravan, are you? Birek walked over and glanced at Alan, wanting to sit down but not daring.

Glancing at the old man, Alan patted him to the side to signal that Billic could sit down, and he tilted his head and asked, "Why do you say that?" ”

Birek sat down cross-legged, squinted his eyes, and said, "It doesn't look like it, I've been here for a while." Any caravan that passes through the dark places is not to be desired, and there is no time like you to visit our kennels. ”

Alan smiled lightly, and said without answering: "You dark spears don't look like bandits, old and young. If you want combat power but no combat power, if you want equipment without equipment, you guys are too miserable. ”

Birek muttered, "No way, we don't want to kill, we don't dare to kill." You can only rely on the number of people to scare and scare some small caravans, and it is enough to extort some money. Not a lot of young boys couldn't get by, so they all ran away to the big bosses who were in the top ranks, and we were left with some old men and stinky little ghosts. ”

"In that case, why don't you leave here?"

Birek smiled wryly, "Where can we go?" Lord Allen, the reason why the big guy came to the dark place is that he can't live in his hometown. Whether we left voluntarily or forcedly, we can't go back. Here, everyone can work together and get by. Once you leave, there is a good chance that people here will not be able to get by. ”

"At the end of the day, we're just a bunch of ghosts alive."

Someone called Billic's name, and the old man patted his ass and stood up, and he turned to leave. Allen, who was sitting on the ground, suddenly said: "I heard that the deepest part of the sea is where even the sun can't shine. The depths of the sea are eternally dark, but even in the darkest places there are some beings that shine on their own. Shine on yourself and also on the darkness, they are the light in the darkness. ”

Without expressing anything specific, Alan simply recounted a fact. Strange was faintly touched when he heard this, and the old man scratched his head, shook his head, and walked away. Alan didn't look back, he didn't stay, everyone has their own way to go, and he can't expect everyone to go the same way as him. He still looked at the distant sky, and after a moment he said to himself, "Will you be the flash of light in the darkness?" ”

Then he turned his head to look at a large rock, and a head moved behind the stone, and Abel crawled out from behind the stone. The young man said with a smile on his face: "The adults have already found me when they were on the road?" ”

Alan nodded.

Abel sighed and said, "I thought I hid well enough. ”

"You're good at hiding, in fact, you're very talented at stealing. Well, do you want to come with me, I have a friend who is a master of assassination and concealment, and if you let him train you, you will be a good assassin. ”

"Really?" Abel's eyes lit up, this was undoubtedly a life-changing opportunity for the teenager in the dark place. But the light in the young man's eyes quickly dimmed, and he smiled bitterly: "I am very willing to follow Lord Allen, but I have something very important to go......

"It's okay." Alan said softly: "That promise is valid for a long time, and when you change your mind one day, you can come to me at any time." As long as I'm not dead. ”

Abel looked at him in a daze, and the boy couldn't imagine that the person in front of him could kill him except time.

[Thank you Brother Xiang, Hong Tao, manianLB, l Sisi l, Fat Demon God @ Baidu, Su in the war and other brothers for their monthly rewards!] ]