The camp was quiet, to be precise, except for the snoring of the men. The Judson knights arranged for several experienced veterans to keep vigil, and the warriors who cooperated with the tacit understanding did not need more orders from the knights, and they could do these jobs independently, arrange the rotating shifts, and arrange the dark sentry at the same time, these experienced warriors could completely ensure that they could find the approaching beasts or enemies at the first time.

Arnold lay by the campfire, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. He was already a person who was prone to insomnia, let alone spending the night in such a dangerous forest, how could he sleep peacefully.

Of course, another more important reason for his insomnia is his complicated mind, Arnold has always been a very preoccupied person, so that the people around him think he is too gloomy. Arnold remembered what others thought of him, but he never said it, and the only person who could really know what Arnold was thinking in his heart was probably his sister Serena.

Neither can Isabella, she's too young to understand what her brother and sister are thinking.

Although it is only early autumn, the dew in the forest is heavy, and the night is even colder in the cold mountain collar surrounded by mountains. Since there were no sleeping blankets, the warriors took the leather from under the saddle and wrapped it around their bodies as blankets. However, the texture of these temporary "quilts" was very poor, hard and saddled, and very rough, covering the skin under Arnold's clothes and squeezing. But he can't help it, his body is not very good, if he catches a cold here, then the next journey will be even more difficult, and all the previous struggles are meaningless.

Touching the dagger beneath the leather, it was the only thing that could reassure Arnold at the moment. This short sword was given to Arnold by Judson just now, so that he could defend himself, although Arnold took advantage of Payne's inattention before and cut off one of his arms, but in fact, if Payne was not too careless at that time, with Arnold's two blows, there would be no chance of hurting Payne at all. So Judson didn't expect Arnold to do much in the way he might fight later, as long as he could protect himself.

The firewood burning in the bonfire did not make a crackling sound, although it was not loud, but it became the only music that could make people feel at ease.

Arnold turned over again, turned his face to the campfire, and stared at the flames that reflected the heat of the face, and he couldn't help but be a little distracted. The boy's mind began to drift away, leaving the forest and flying farther away, and he began to miss his sisters, even if he had only been separated from them for a few days, but he knew that he might not see them for a long time.

In a trance, he felt a push on his shoulder, and just as he wanted to turn around, he heard Judson's extremely soft voice.

"Please don't look out of place, Lord Count. Judson's voice was low, and Arnold estimated that only he could hear it, "The sentinels have spotted the enemy's tracks, so please don't get up and don't let the enemy know that we've discovered them." Rest assured, we'll keep you safe. ”

Arnold let out a soft "um" as he gripped his dagger tightly.

The soldiers on the night vigil were still the same, staring boredly at the campfire while occasionally glancing at the forest outside. No one spoke, and the only sound was the crackling sound of burning firewood.

Arnold squinted, pretending to be asleep, but in reality, he gave himself a slit in his vision to see what was directly ahead.

Through the flames, he could see the forest outside the camp, where it was only pitch black, and even if Arnold opened his eyes wide, he couldn't see anything, let alone squint carefully.

However, in the eyes of Judson Knight and others, the outside is a different scene.

Payne led his troops cautiously forward, at least for now, it seems that the other party did not notice their arrival, but the hunters who can survive the mountains and forests, the last thing they lack is caution and lessons, Payne has already paid the price for his carelessness once, and he will not make a second mistake.

There were only a dozen people on the other side, which made Payne a little more reassured, but he still didn't dare to let his guard down, and kept an eye out for possible ambushes at any time.

Who knows if Arnold and his party were supported by others after entering the forest, after all, it all seemed to be planned, maybe someone was behind them to help them.

All of them moved cautiously through the forest, without making a sound, and when they were sure that their troops had surrounded the small camp, Payne gave the order to attack.

"Kill them!"

All of a sudden, the enemy poured out from all sides of the camp and rushed into the camp with their weapons held high, and as soon as they stepped into the light, they immediately slashed at the people sleeping peacefully around the campfire.

But this side has also been prepared.

The moment the enemy rushed in, the sentry in the tree sounded the alarm, and at the same time raised his bow and arrows to shoot the two men who rushed to the front.

Approaching, the soldiers in the camp also immediately lifted the leather covering their bodies, under the leather, their weapons had already been unsheathed, which was not expected by the attackers, and because the blades were hidden under the leather, they had no way to deal with and defend, and just as they were about to swing their blades, they were stabbed in the chest and abdomen by Judson and others.

Payne was a little surprised by the opponent's ferocious counterattack, but he was not flustered, although Judson deceived Payne, but Payne also saw the location of the dark whistle a long time ago. When the dark sentry in the tree thought that the other party could not see the direction of the arrows because of the darkness of the night, two arrows broke through the air and hit him in the neck.

The archer, who was hiding in the tree, clutched his neck and struggled twice, then closed his eyes and accepted his death peacefully. The mountain people of Lengshan Territory are never afraid of death, because they have already walked on the edge of life and death.

Seeing the sentry in the tree fall, Judson roared in anger as he swung his axe and slashed sideways, cutting off the head of a guy who wanted to sneak up on him.

The number of enemies far outnumbered them, after all, Judson only brought a dozen people, and Payne clearly saw the number of people on Arnold's side before he fled, just in case, Payne also brought many more people, and now Judson's side is facing at least three times as many enemies.

The fighting in the camp was very fierce, and although the soldiers took the enemy by surprise at the beginning, they gradually fell to the upper hand when faced with a numerical disadvantage.

"Payne!" Judson slashed another enemy, hot blood splashing his face, but he didn't care, and shouted loudly into the woods, "I know you're here, and you and your family are simply a disgrace to the Cold Mountain Lord! Five years ago, when you were praised by the Duke for your exploit in killing thirty-one enemies in the Holy Helm Domain, I thought you were a true warrior and a role model for the knights of the Cold Mountain Lord, but I don't think so now!"

An enemy quietly walked around Judson's back, trying to sneak attack him while he pulled the axe out of the corpse, but Judson pulled the axe suddenly, and did not restrain the force at all, and directly used inertia to cut the axe behind him, the guy who wanted to sneak up on Judson's back did not expect it at all, nor did he see the movement of Judson's hands, and before he could draw the knife, he was hacked to death by the axe that suddenly appeared on the door of his head.

"Get out of here, Payne, let's duel one-on-one! If you think it's unfair, then I'll only use one hand. Do you dare to fight? a cripple with only one hand!"

Payne walked out of the woods with a gloomy face, knowing that Judson was provoking him and wanted to redeem his disadvantage through a so-called duel. But Payne still came out, he could not care about Judson, but he had more important tasks, so Payne had to come out and confirm one thing.

"Judson, you're not a mountain dweller, and neither am I. The Serodib people have no tradition of dueling. He held a knight's sword in his remaining right hand, and said calmly, "Hand over Count Arnold, and go back to the service of the Duke, your actions can be called loyalty, the Duke appreciates the faithful, and he will forgive your sins." ”

"Ha, don't say it's nice. Judson swung his tomahawk to frighten the enemy who wanted to come forward, "I don't know what kind of rhetoric your father and son used to deceive the Duke, but if you want to hurt the Earl, I have to say: No!"

As his voice fell, Judson's men fought back, and one soldier used his knife to break the fire bladder that had been placed near the campfire, and then kicked all the bladders into the fire, and soon the flames were extinguished by the water, and the only light source in the camp was gone, except for the remnants of the sparks that provided an indistinct light.

"Don't panic, the archers have torches!" Payne immediately shouted, the soldiers he led were also experienced, no worse than the veterans under Judson, and as soon as they lost their light source, they immediately stopped and retreated, so as not to accidentally injure their own people in the dark.

Because they had been prepared for a long time, the archers quickly lit their torches, and when the two sides were fighting together in a fierce battle just now, they did not shoot in order to avoid accidentally injuring their own people, and stayed in the rear, and the only result was to shoot the dark sentinel. And now, their men have retreated, and their bows and arrows are finally useful.

As soon as the torches were lit, they weren't as bright as the light of the campfire, but they were enough for Payne to see his surroundings clearly. Judson and the others almost scattered and fled, except for the direction where Payne was, there were fleeing figures in several other directions. The archers immediately fired a round, but because the trees were so dense that most of the arrows hit the trunks.

"Separate and chase!" Payne immediately ordered, "Be careful not to fall into the trap, stay in formation." ”

After saying that, he led a group of people to chase straight ahead, just now he vaguely saw that Judson seemed to be fleeing in that direction, according to his judgment, the possibility of Arnold and Judson running together will be very high.

The soldiers of the Davide family immediately divided into three teams and chased them out in three directions, the chase on both sides, and the light of the torches, stirred up the originally peaceful forest, the birds in the trees were startled, and the cries of various beasts in the forest came and went, and now both sides no longer need to hide their tracks, they only need to run with all their might, so their movements are not small at all, and the whole forest is in a commotion.

Payne ran briskly, and with each step, he could feel a dull ache in his broken arm. He knew that his wound had started to bleed again, after all, such a serious injury could not heal in just half a day. But Payne just doesn't want to give this task to others, he has always had a worry, this worry was there five years ago when Duke Tagman rewarded him for his military exploits, the first time he saw Duke Tagman, he had that feeling, the duke's eyes, when looking at people, it seems that they are not looking at people's faces, nor is it anything else, Duke Tagman looks at people, they are all staring at each other's internal organs, he is looking for valuable people, and those values are in their internal organs. Duke Tagman is like a tiger, a valuable person can provide him with a good meal, but if the tiger eats the other person's internal organs, then the person has no value, and the Duke will abandon him at will.

It's like Arnold, his value is his identity, and now his identity is useless, so the Duke has to squeeze the last bit of oil and water out of it, and then prepare the next good meal.

So, in order to prevent the Davide family from becoming another dish on the Duke's table, Payne had to show the Duke something else, like the Duke's henchmen, Lord John Fonner and Lord Titus Leslie.