Although Altoona is also one of the border countries, the weather in the territory is much better than Doyle and Sarah, much to the surprise of Fern, who had been to Altoona before, but had only stayed in Alfarita for a few days before leaving, and had never penetrated the country northwest of Wallis.

"Why is the weather here so much better than Doyle, we've only had two light snows in the past few days, and it's not very windy. Fern asked loudly behind Enoch.

The warrior was chatting with Miruria, his attitude towards the scout had completely changed since Enoch's wounds had healed, and the two had been walking in front of Fern and the bard, saying that they were leading the way, when in fact the mercenary knew that they didn't want to let themselves hear their fleshy conversation.

"This ...... I think there are more mountains north of Altuna, which block the cold wind blowing from the north. Enoch looked back, thinking.

"The mountains to the north are only a secondary reason, and the water is the main reason. The bard swayed beside Fern as if he would be shaken off by his mount at any moment.

"Water, what water?" Fern had been trying to get something out of his mouth for the past few days, and the bard seemed very casual, but his thoughts were so clear that he didn't give the mercenary a chance at all, much to his annoyance.

"The Endless Sea, Altoona is adjacent to the Endless Sea, the temperature of the sea is always warmer than on land, plus there are always some warm currents that bring warm air here at this time, so it is sometimes even warmer than in the north of Tempe. The bard's explanation made everyone's mouths open wide, completely unclear.

"No wonder I felt much colder when I was in Doyle. Enoch nodded in realization, and immediately a puzzled look crept up his face. "But why is Magnus Fortress still cold, no less than Doyle. ”

"If you had listened carefully to what I had just said, you wouldn't have asked this stupid question. The bard criticized Enoch mercilessly, and the warrior touched his nose in embarrassment. "Magnus is far from the sea, which is the same as Doyle, how can it not be cold, plus it is in the northernmost part of Altoona, with high cliffs on both sides, and the cold wind blows there all year round, and it makes me feel cold just thinking about it. The bard tightened his cloak and put on his hood, his pointed hat already hanging from the side of his mount.

"Do you know so much about the masters?" said the question seemingly inadvertently.

The bard sneered softly. "How do I know, I'm not a ** teacher. ”

Fern reluctantly shut his mouth and hid his face in his hood, although it was slightly better than Doyle, the weather was still cold.

It had been seven days since Enoch had left Alpharetta, and since the Bard had healed their wounds, Enoch decided not to take a detour to Alturas, but to travel directly northeast to reach Valdosta faster. For seven days, they were in no danger, and it was as if the trackers of the Mage Tower had disappeared overnight. Fern had expected them to be entangled for several more days, which made him even more suspicious of the Bard's true identity.

On this day, the weather was still fine, the four of them were slowly marching on the vast white plains, and they were already very close to Valdosta, Enoch was getting more and more excited, he was finally about to complete the mission, this escort mission was the most challenging since he followed Maurice, and the warrior had never felt so satisfied.

"If the weather had been so good, we would have been to Valdosta in two days, and we would have crossed the Zane River, which was not far from the other side, and at this time of year the river was already frozen, and we could easily walk there. Enoch swayed knots on horseback, and Miruria watched him smile happily.

"Is the Zane frozen?" Fern remembered Doyle and Sarah's Jodon, which flowed even in the cold of winter, and then he shuddered as he remembered the moment he jumped into the icy water.

"Of course, how can it not freeze on such a cold day? Enoch was in a good mood and even joked with the mercenary.

The chanter was still swaying on horseback, and the old voice was slow and weak, as if he were about to fall asleep. "The influence of the Dark Lord is limited, he has not yet arrived here, and even in Doyle now, the Jordan River is probably frozen, and it is now unimaginably cold, even the influence of the Dark Lord cannot keep the river flowing. ”

"So, is the Lord of the Dark in the northeast of Wallis?" Fern heard from the bard. "And how did you know that the Jordan didn't freeze because of the Dark Lord's influence?

Enoch pulled his mount in front of him and stopped in place, and the bard took the opportunity to divert the conversation. "The Zane River has arrived, let's cross it first. ”

Fern looked forward, and saw that the Zane River was very wide, almost twice the size of the Jordan River, and the entire river was covered with thick ice, not to mention that they had walked over it, even if dozens of carriages passed over it at the same time, there would be no problem. "Luckily, it's frozen, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to swim through it so wide. ”

"You have to freeze to death if you swim past this weather. The bard looked at the mercenary mockingly. "You can't really swim through, do you, how does that feel?"

"It's good, people who haven't tried it won't understand. Fern glanced at the bard and caught up with Enoch.

The warrior was checking the thickness of the ice, and although a cursory glance showed that there was absolutely no problem, Enoch still chose to be cautious, he didn't want to lose his time.

"Don't look at it, even if a whole army comes, you can walk through it. Fern also dismounted and walked over to the warrior, and suddenly he noticed that the warrior's expression was serious, as if he had discovered something. "What's wrong?

"Look at these footprints. Enoch wiped some of the snowflakes with his hands, revealing footprints on the ice, which were so hard that they were too shallow to notice without looking closely. "Something is not normal. ”

Fern crouched down and carefully examined the messy footprints, which were very numerous, and most of them were incomplete, as if the hard soles of his shoes had been damaged, and the footprints stretched messily towards the center of the river. "It looks like there's a squad, and on such a cold day, and wearing shoes with holes, aren't the people of Altuna afraid of the cold?"

"We're used to the cold, but if we don't cover our feet completely, we'll get frostbite. Enoch shook his head, unable to comprehend the footprints.

"Quite simply, because it wasn't Atulna who stepped on these footprints, maybe not at all. The bard stood on their side, stroked his gray beard, and looked at them with confidence.

"Not people, you mean Dark Tide?" Enoch immediately stood up, looking around warily.

"Ghouls don't wear shoes, they only wear demons. The singer did not panic or fear at all when he said the word demon.

Fern groaned and stood up with a heavy face. "If the demons have been here, then it is not safe now, we could be attacked at any time, and they have a team ......" Fern did not dare to say more.

"Then let's hurry over and get to Valdosta as soon as possible. Miruria watched from the sidelines, not understanding why they hadn't made it to the river.

"I'm afraid that if we are halfway there, the demon will suddenly appear and it will be troublesome, on the ice, we will not be able to stand firm, and if we move a little bigger, we will slip. Fern looked worriedly at the river.

"But there are no woods nearby, and there are no signs of demons as far as we can see, so if we cross the river fast enough, they don't want to threaten us at such a distance. The scout glanced around them, and as far as the eye could see, there was not a single forest except an endless field of white snow.

"Miruria is right, as long as we are fast enough, act now, I will take the lead, Miruria, you will break off. Enoch said, turning on his horse.

Fern glanced at the footprints again, and felt that something was wrong, but he could not say at once, and he felt that what Miruria said was indeed right, so he also got on his horse, and prepared to go.

The bard sighed and climbed on his horse as well. "Don't use common sense to infer demons, they can always surprise you in places you don't expect. ”

Fern glanced worriedly at the bard, who seemed to have seen something, but was reluctant to say it, and the mercenary shrugged helplessly. "If you already know something, why don't you tell it?"

"I'm just warning you not to let your guard down, I don't know anything. The chanter innocently spread his hands in defense.

"Let's go, don't waste time. Enoch interrupted the conversation and rode toward the center of the river, his horse's hooves sliding slowly on the ice.

The other three followed the warrior in a column, Fern keeping an eye on the footprints on either side, thinking of various possibilities that could explain them.

The group walked slowly for more than ten minutes before they gradually approached the center of the river, and at this moment, Fern suddenly noticed a situation that made his hairs stand on end, and cold sweat continued to break out on his forehead and back. The footprints are gone!