The black pine forests adjacent to Oak Town, the main source of firewood for the townspeople's daily life, have been cut down uncontrollably, and the fringes are extremely sparsely wooded, full of ankle-high wooden stakes, and the vegetation on the ground has been trampled on by countless pairs of large feet, and has long been mixed with black-brown humus into sunken mud.

The long-term mayor Orlof saw that if he continued like this, he would lose the black pine forest sooner or later, so he planted a large number of saplings near the stump. But these immature little ones must endure the test of wind and frost and the accumulation of years before they can really have a foothold, so Aldrich sees a jungle of alternating death and life, and the whole shows a certain weakness, the old ones are constantly lying down, and the new ones have not yet fully grown.

He put away his emotion, his eyes kept wandering the ground nearby, Tris's luck was good, perhaps it should be said that it was his strength, at the foot of a cloud pine with his hands folded, he found a few strands of hair suspected to be evil foxes, in line with the brown fur described by the townspeople when they complained about their grievances, mixed with the withered needle-like pine leaves, if it were not for his far more than ordinary inspiration, the past would have been ignored.

'Luckily, I found the clue so quickly, and it seems that the cunning fox is nearby. ’

Fingers twisting fox fur, Aldrich followed his instincts as he made his way to the heart of the black pine forest, his movements as light as he could, but there were still tiny branches and leaves that he trampled on, making a creaking sound.

"Quack...... Quack!"

An ominous crow suddenly flew above Tris's head and landed on the main branch of a masson pine not far from him.

'Bad luck!' Despite knowing that crows have absolutely nothing to do with bad luck, such small creatures are not welcome in any world. What's more, making a piercing cry now is equivalent to reminding the evil fox that there are people entering the black pine forest, which is equivalent to a mouse hanging a bell on a cat, which will make Aldrich passive everywhere.

As he bent down to inspect a crumbling stone, he picked it up with his right hand and pressed his thumb against his index finger, ready to injure or kill the unsightly crow by surprise.

Suddenly, Tris remembered what he had said to the townsfolk not long ago, "If it weren't for survival, I wouldn't slaughter innocent lives."

After thinking about it carefully, even though there was no one around, and no one in the town would see it, as a knight of virtue, he couldn't do anything to deceive him in the dark.

Sighing, Aldrich threw the pebble in his hand to the ground. Unexpectedly, this casual choice fell into the crow's eyes, and it tilted its head sideways, staring at Triss with scarlet bloody eyes, and opened its mouth.

This time, though, instead of a cacophony noise, it was hoarse, eerie vocals, like a myna bird that mimics human speech.

"Yes, lad, you didn't try to drive me away, you didn't try to kill me. You're such a kind person. To thank you for your kindness, I decided to do you a favor. ”

The crow can talk, the crow thinks, the crow is grateful, and the crow helps.

Aldrich wanted to laugh and was a little overwhelmed, but his heart was extremely strong, and such a strange scene happened as if it were normal to eat and drink.

"I am a stranger, and when I first came to Oak Town, I heard from the townspeople that there was a cunning fox who stole chickens and destroyed vegetable gardens, causing continuous damage to property and committing many evil deeds. I am a knight, and I cannot sit idly by and watch this evil fox continue to wreak havoc, so I have come to the black pine forest, and I am ready to teach it a hard lesson, at least so that it will not do evil again. ”

The crow walked back and forth on the horsetail pine branches, like a wise man pacing back and forth, thinking about it, and after a moment it stopped, looked at Tris, who was patiently waiting, and nodded slightly.

"I know where Temothys is now, that cunning fox, who has lied to me out of a piece of meat. At this, the crow was still angry.

"Temothy!" Aldrich thought for a moment, and knew that it was the name of the fox, 'I didn't think of this fox having a name.' ’

"That's right, the clever fox used several lies in a row, and I saw through them, but the last one worked, and I lost a piece of meat that I had so hard to find. I have always remembered this hatred, and if you catch it, you must punish it vigorously. ”

Tris was not interested in knowing about the lie, but he was still a little concerned about the crow's cautious eye, "That evil fox has its own name, do you have a name too?" ”

The crow didn't pace back and forth, but thought about it sideways, and saw that there was nothing wrong with it, and that the other party's reason was very good, so he flapped his wings a few times in agreement, and he stretched his neck and raised his head: "My name is Cronis, mortal with mud feet, your name?"

'Cronis, full of femininity, is it a female crow. ’

"Aldrich Tris, an ordinary knight. His right hand clenched into a fist and tapped his chest, his upper body leaning forward slightly, and he maintained etiquette even if it was a strange crow with a mouth that spoke.

"You're really different from the people of Oaktown, and I kind of like you. The raven flew tentatively to the vicinity of Tris, and found the knight with his hands outstretched, and without making any move, he landed comfortably on his shoulder.

Aldrich glanced sideways at it, but was lightly pecked on the cheek by the crow: "Don't be so stingy, it hurts." ”

"It's no problem to be close to you, you're such a kind person. As a token of appreciation, I will present you with a friendship. ”

Tris was a little stunned, because the system suddenly appeared, and on his skill bar, a red-eyed crow pattern appeared, and the sonorous feathers glowed with a purple-blue metallic luster.

"Raven's Insight, slightly increases the sight distance, adds an additional 1 point of perception, and gains the friendship of natural creatures, with no cooldown. ”

"Clear sight distance 20 meters, maximum sight distance 25 meters. ”

"Perception of 14 (+1) points, any wind and grass can not escape the ears and eyes, and also has a strong sense of danger. ”

A virtuous knight with a good character also has a great affinity for animals. Aldrich found himself at the bottom of the secret realm, easily adapting to the rules of the game and sticking to his path in unexpected and logical rewards.

With the eyes of the raven Cronis as a detective, and with the caution and caution of Tris, it took an hour to finally approach the hollow in the tree where the evil fox Temothys lived.

The red-eyed crow knew the cunning fox well, and under the guidance of Kronis, taking advantage of the opportunity for Temosis to rest and sleep in the nest, Aldrich sealed the two hidden entrances and exits without alarming the prey, and then collected dead leaves and branches in front of the tree hole, raised a bonfire, covered the wet moss, and deliberately made a lot of smoke in an attempt to smoke the fox out.

After waiting for a while, there was still no movement, and the crow flew down from the torch with some anxiety, and landed on Tris's shoulder, clamoring: "The fire burns a little more, and there is a lot of smoke, and it will definitely not be able to stand it." ”

On the contrary, Aldrich, who was extremely calm, patiently continued to add firewood, and the geographical advantage of the downwind outlet was brought into full play by him.

In fact, the fox woke up as early as the campfire was burning, smelled the flames, and thought that the hunters of Oak Town had come to catch it again.

Listening to the movement outside, and not hearing the barking of the hounds, Temothys was convinced that there was indeed a hunter outside. Despite the slight crackling of the pine branches as they burned, he immediately dived towards the hidden exit.

When it turned out that the entrance to the cave was blocked by rocks, the evil fox hurried to another exit, because the nest began to pour into the smell of choking pine resin and the wet smoke of tears, and it was a little uneasy in its heart, and when Temothys hit the wall again, it immediately died of the thought of fleeing.

The cunning fox, holding his breath, snuck to the mouth of the tree, and occasionally a few wisps of fresh breeze came out of the woods, and he breathed greedily, so as to relieve the pain of the fire of his keen nose.

Temothys stared at the hunter outside with slightly narrowed eyes, wondering why only one person could grasp the right time to take a nap and know so much about its lair.

Soon, the fox learned that the identity of the enemy who betrayed him was the stupid crow Cronis.

The flames of hatred burned Temothys' sanity, grinding his teeth and thinking about revenge, the smoke in the hollow of the tree grew more and more dense, and it was about to be unable to hold on.

'Why is this hunter still able to hold his breath and not move for so long, he should suspect that I have escaped.' ’

As early as the fox stared at Aldrich, the knight with the Raven's Insight Heightened Perception knew that the prey was not leaving, and that it was close, almost within reach, just waiting for an opportunity.

When Crow Cronis landed on his shoulder, clamoring for an idea, Tris knew that the cunning fox would strike at any moment, so he increased his firepower by adding dead leaf branches, ready to strike at any time to capture his prey.

"Whoosh!"

A light brown shadow of the sword burst out from the hole in the tree that began to tumble out of the thick smoke, and with a "bang" sound, it did not dodge the campfire of the heat wave, and directly collided with it, and the crow with its teeth and claws took the opportunity to pounce on the hunter's shoulder, the evil bird of the informant.

I didn't expect to be despised by it. ’

At the moment of lightning, Aldrich's left hand was crossed in front of his forehead, wrapped around a thick layer of thin vine as a protective forearm, and was bitten by the evil fox's mouth, and his sharp teeth pierced into the skin, which was cold to the bone, and then a sharp pain struck, the wound site was sore, and the blood overflowed uncontrollably.

'What a tooth! ’

The fox's chest was punched with his right hand, causing him to respiratory arrest and his heart almost burst, forcing him to withdraw his mouth.

It was only then that Crow Kronis reacted, and knowing that she had saved her life, she flapped her wings in panic and flew up to the pluonish torch pine, vowing never to risk her life again until the knight had dealt with the cunning fox once and for all.

Temothys, who was briefly stunned by a punch from the knight, had not yet recovered when his limbs were dislocated by Tris's pull. Aldrich extinguished the bonfire, then tied the fox's limbs with slender rattan sticks, and carried them directly in his hands, ready to return to Oak Town.

The wound on his left forearm was getting more and more painful, and he remembered the townspeople's reminder that there was no medicine to treat the fox's bite except holy water.

Of course, I wouldn't have been able to do it so easily without the help of a neutral NPC, Crow Kronis. It can turn into a long chase, or a positional battle of traps and traps, until one side can't bear to give up. ’

"In the end, I won. ”

"Despicable victory. The evil fox, who knew that he could not be spared, even spoke out, but after the negotiation with the crow Cronis, Aldrich was not too surprised, he just smiled lightly and did not take it to heart.

Temothys, the evil fox, rolled his eyes, and soon noticed that something was wrong with the hunter: "You are not from Oak Town, and you have no vendetta against me. Why did you arrest me? Break off the limbs on which I depend, did I ever offend you? ”

"The fox is cunning, don't listen to its quibbles that confuse the will. Crow Kronis, not to mention how happy she was to see her old rival fall into the hands of a human, flew to Tris's shoulder and kindly reminded her.

"Help outsiders pit the protector of the black pine forest, fight against the wild wanderer of the pumpking, you bad bird with no interest. ”

Aldrich stopped suddenly, he was very interested in the "Pumpking" that the evil fox had inadvertently blurted out, because the system's task prompt appeared again, especially marked with red words, which was obviously an important person.

"Pumpking!"

"Yes, the dead men in the dead woods are all the men of the Pumpking, who is the master of All Souls' Day, Jack, who has eroded the territory of the Reindeer King through Holiday Island. ”