The sound was only once, and then there was silence again, and Fern turned his back to Jasmine, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword, slowly stepping back, his eyes looking warily ahead.

Seeing Fern's posture, Morena knew that something must be wrong, the forest was almost pitch black, and the moonlight was only an extremely faint glimmer of light into the forest after being blocked by the branches and leaves, the cold wind blew, and the shadows of the trees swaying in the darkness made Morena almost collapse with fear, but fortunately at this time Fern had moved slowly, and she quickly grabbed the mercenary's arm. "What's going on......" Jasmine's voice trembled.

Fern put his left hand to his lips and motioned for Morena not to speak, and another rapid sound swept in front of the two of them on the left, and this time Fern heard it more clearly, like some small animal quickly streaking across the ground, and like a bird shuttling between the branches. Fern steadied his breathing, listening carefully to the movements around him, lest he miss any signal of danger, and he remembered Jarena's shield technique, only to notice that the mage was trembling beside him. "Don't be afraid, cast your shield spell quickly, and you'll be enough for yourself. ”

"But...... But...... What about you?" Jasmine could barely speak, but she pressed onto Fern's question.

"Leave me alone, quick!" Fern commanded hurriedly, his instinct telling him that danger was near.

Jasmine's trembling incantation sounded, and Fern felt as if a wall had been erected between the mage holding his arm and himself, and he was relieved to know that the shield had been formed.

Suddenly, there were several sounds of objects grazing the ground on the left side of the two of them, and Fern immediately turned to the left, the sword already unsheathed, glowing coldly in the faint moonlight. "Who is it?"

The two mounts hissed in fright, and the sound pierced the silent night sky and spread through the forest.

The sound paused for a moment, then approached quickly, and Fern could clearly hear not just one object moving, but several, or more, in the sound, and he also felt inexplicable fear, and a cold sweat broke out in the palm of his hand holding the sword.

At this moment, a man's shout came from another direction, and then several people shouted at the same time, Fern did not dare to be careless, his attention was still on the left, only to hear the sound of rubbing the ground just now seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then gradually retreated into the distance, the voice became softer and softer, and finally disappeared.

Fern exhaled and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "What the hell is that!?"

Jasmine's legs went limp, and she sat directly on the ground, her shoulders heaving violently, sweat dripping from her forehead. "I felt a deep fear in my heart, Fern, that wasn't something that belonged to this world. ”

"Something that doesn't belong in this world?" Fern looked at Morena suspiciously, the movement on the right was getting closer and closer, and the mercenary saw several torches approaching. "It looks like there's a new problem, at least, this time it's human. ”

Jarena stood up with her cane, she didn't want to be seen as weak, but to her great regret, Fern had seen it without reservation, and even more annoyed, after seeing her extremely vulnerable because of fear, Fern was not surprised, as if she had expected that she was not as strong as she seemed on the surface.

Fern didn't notice Morena's mental activity at this time, he stared vigilantly at the approaching firelight on his right, and put away his sword, but his right hand was still on the hilt.

A small group of soldiers-like men came out of the woods, each with a torch in his hand, and behind them was a cavalryman, who had no torch in his hand, but played with his brown-yellow curls, and looked at the two in front of him triumphantly. "Look, I said there would be prey. ”

"That's your luck, Nokos, why didn't you do it the other day, I heard Skyler say that you were still scared by that weird sound, I think you must have been scared by yourself. The soldier at the front turned his face sideways and shouted at the cavalry, he had a thick dark yellow beard, his body was very strong, and his arms were almost as thick as a normal person's legs.

"Hell, I told you, Lamar, I heard you right, it's in this ......" The soldier on his horse glanced tabooly at the night's gloomy cemetery. "Right here, I've heard it twice, and I bet there's something in the dark. ”

"Come on, why not now. The soldier named Lamar looked at Fern and Molina. "Did you make it?"

Fern clasped his hands to his chest and looked at the soldier. "We've just arrived today, and besides, we've just heard strange noises, something that seems dangerous. ”

Nokos hurried his horse a few steps forward. "Who are you, why do you dare to come into the forest late at night, and you are still in the cemetery?"

Fern's gaze swept over all the soldiers, there were six of them, except for the two who had just spoken, the other four soldiers all had brown or dark yellow hair. "We're from Macon, commissioned by the Mercenary Guild, to investigate the incident of a mercenary group that disappeared here a few years ago. ”

"Macon, investigation?" Lamar touched his beard, his face disbelieving. "Is there no one to send to Macon, and only the two of you?"

"That's enough, Lamar, it's me here!" Nokos interrupted Lamar harshly, who spat on the ground, still muttering expletives, but Nokos ignored him and looked at Fern instead. "Don't think you can hide it from us, where the hell are you from?"

Fern was still thinking about how to fool the other party, but Morena couldn't help but rush in front of him. "To tell you the truth, I'm Morena, the counselor of King Lucius of Dayton, and the Knight Captain of the Royal Guard of Dayton, Ferne, but we are here to investigate the cause of the fall of this mercenary group. ”

Fern pulled Morena behind her back and glared at her in exasperation. "What nonsense, stay in the back!"

"I ......" Morena looked at Fern aggrievedly, completely losing her usual dignified and elegant expression.

Nokos nodded thoughtfully. "Dayton? ”

Fern looked back at Nokos on his horse. "If I'm not mistaken, you're Tempe's soldiers, why did you come here? This is Roanoke, and it's not a big problem to act alone like ours, but it's not good for you to step into the territory of a neighboring country as a soldier. ”

Lamar raised the axe in his hand and charged towards Fern. "Kill you, and no one will know. ”

"Stop, Lamar, let me say it a few times, I'm the head here!" Nokos roared, and Lamar had to step aside and sulk.

Nokos pondered for a moment, then subconsciously glanced towards the cemetery, unconsciously shuddering. "You'll need to come with me once, our camp is on the north side of the forest, and once there, if you can prove that you're not in the way of our plans, I'll let you go, after all, we don't want to be an enemy of Dayton. ”

"Why are we going to go with you, and besides, what are you going to do with us if our actions get in the way of you?" Fern clasped his hands and looked at Nokos.

Nokos was also frank. "I'll send someone to take you to a nearby village and lock you up to make sure it doesn't interfere with our operations here. ”

"Then I'm afraid we can't just take it away. Fern's right hand rested on the hilt of his sword, ready for battle.

Jasmine tugged at the mercenary's clothes behind her. "Fern, we can't fight them. ”

"Why? They're going to lock us up, so how are we going to find it...... How else can you save Ness?" Fern asked, puzzled, his face still looking ahead.

Jarena's voice was so soft that only she could hear it. "They already know that we are Daytonians, and we are not ordinary Daytons, you are the captain of the knights, and I am the king's counselor, and if we fight with the Tempe soldiers and cause casualties, then the relationship between the two countries will be strained. ”

"Hell, why do you say I'm the captain of the knights and reveal your own identity!" Fern muttered angrily, and Morena realized the trouble her recklessness had caused them, and didn't dare to say anything more, hiding behind Ferne.

Nokos seemed to sense the change in their mood, and sat up straight on his horse. "Well, let's talk about it, can we go? I don't want to stay in this place any longer. ”

Fern's right hand slowly moved away from the hilt of his sword. "Okay, but you have to promise that you can't hurt this lady. ”

"Don't worry, Captain Fern, as long as you cooperate, I will guarantee your safety, and I can't afford to spoil the relationship between the two countries. Nokos nodded at Fern, turned his horse's head, and rode slowly forward. "Skyler, Taber, you two take care of them, Lamar, you follow me, stay away from them. ”

Lamar glared at Fern fiercely, slung the axe over his shoulder, and followed Nokos. Fern and Morena took their mounts and slowly followed behind the two, two soldiers on their left and right, and the remaining two soldiers at the end, and the group walked slowly towards the north.

It was past midnight, Lamar yawned, and vented his dissatisfaction, "If you want to act in the middle of the night in the future, don't pull me here again, I can't sleep." ”

Nokos swayed on his horse, apparently tired as well. "I always feel uneasy without you, especially the strange voice the first few times you were away. As he spoke, Nokos looked around again alertly.

Being flattered by Nokos made Lamar feel better, but on the surface he pretended to be angry. "I told you, Nokos, that must be your hallucination, and you must have been overscared when you ran to the cemetery in the middle of the night. ”

"I didn't, Lamar, I swear, I really heard, and if you don't believe you asked Tabor, he heard too. Nokos looked at the soldier walking to the left of Jarena.

Tabor nodded with trepidation. "It's true, Lamar, it was a strange sound, like something had rubbed against the ground, and just as we were ready to fight, the sound was gone. ”

"I think you're too bold, you see I'm here today, why didn't you hear that voice?" Lamar held the axe in his hand, and Fern realized that it was a very large axe, and if Lamar wasn't very strong, he would not have been able to lift it.

"We heard that voice before you appeared. Fern looked at Tarbor. "Exactly as you described, the voice seemed to retreat after you appeared. ”

"Come on, how did you have the audacity to become the captain of the Knights? Lamar glanced at Fern disdainfully, and then took the axe again.

At that moment, a grinding sound came from the left side of the group, and Tabor jumped up as if he had been pricked by a needle. "Here we go again!"

The grinding sound sounded frequently, getting closer and closer, and Nokos grabbed the reins with one hand and tightened his sword with the other. "That's the voice, I can't be mistaken. ”

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Lamar picked himself up and thrust his torch into the dirt and raised his axe head with both hands.

Fern gripped the hilt of his sword in his right hand, ready to draw it, and Jarena took her wand from her waist and whispered a spell in her mouth.

The sound of brushing the ground moved rapidly to the left of the group, and everyone stared at the pitch-black forest in front of them, as if something was about to burst out of the darkness.