The sky slowly darkened, and the earth fell silent, and nothing could be heard except the sound of the wind and the sound of horses' hooves. The occasional drifting clouds drifted swiftly with the wind, and the moonlight shone down through the gaps, staining the eye silver as far as the eye could see.

Fern looked ahead, and there was no one in sight of the avenue that used to be full of people. The wide road from the west to Saint-Sean is always congested and does not quiet even at night on weekdays. Countless caravans and travelers from western Wallis arrived here via Canrito, where trailers laden with goods and people who wanted to make a fortune gathered. And all this has disappeared with the approach of the dark tide.

At a junction, Fern turned north, and Quiai figured out the direction and chased after Fern in confusion. "Aren't we going to go west? There's Canrito, it would be safer for us to go there, right?"

"I'm afraid it's not what you think, Quiai. Fern looked behind him and made sure no one was following before continuing, "We don't know the state of the battle in Cumberland, and if the Dark Tide reaches Shawna, it means that they have at least reached Tarun, and it is likely that even Fadar has been captured, or even ...... Canrito has fallen, and we can't afford to take that risk. ”

Quiai lowered his head in concern. "If even Canrito had fallen, wouldn't all of Cumberland cease to exist?"

"Yes, Quiai. Fern's tone was full of helplessness. "The knights of Cumberland are the most prestigious in the entire continent, and their army is undeniably strong, but they have no experience in fighting the Dark Tide, which is completely incomparable to Doyle's soldiers, and it is a miracle that they can exert half the combat power of normal times in the face of the surprise attack of the Dark Tide. ”

"And where are we going?" said Queay, shifting his seat on horseback. "The whole of Wallis South is no longer safe. ”

"We're holding the Staff of the Guardian now, and we're going to get it to safety as soon as possible. Fern looked around. "The only thing I can think of is Durham, Ilsutia has said she'll be there, and though I don't like her, it's safest to give her the staff right now. ”

"Hmm. Quiai nodded approvingly. "But we also don't know what's going on in Dayton, whether the Dark Tide has gone there. ”

Fern thought for a moment. "Maybe, but with the assistance of the Great Sage and Jarena, and the combat effectiveness of the Dayton army is not weak, it should be able to resist for a while. ”

Hearing Jasmine's name come out of Ferne's mouth, Quiai suddenly felt a sour heart. "Molina...... Fern, did you travel with her for a while and survive?"

"Oh......" Fern's eyes locked on the front, not daring to turn his head. "We just went together to find the Hallows, and were chased by demons on the way, then fled and got the Hallows. ”

Quiai pursed his lips. "I guess there must be a feeling between you, it's all my fault, I ...... when you need me the most"

"It's not your fault, Quiai. Fern finally dared to turn his head to look at the girl. "A lot of times we can't control the development of things, all we can do is try to do what we can and make ourselves have a clear conscience. ”

Quiai looked up, his eyes full of light again. "You're right, Fern, I won't lose to Molina!"

"Of course you won't lose to her, Quiai, and you won't lose anyone. Fern laughed, then immediately stopped, looking back alertly. "We had to find a place to rest, we couldn't go two nights without sleeping and still be able to deal with Karina. ”

Quiai looked ahead and pointed to a small patch of wood in the distance. "How's it going to be there? From the outside, Karina shouldn't notice us. ”

"Go over and see. Fern surveyed the woods for a moment, and led his mount forward.

The woods weren't too big, and the trees weren't densely grown, so the two of them didn't even dismount before they went straight through the woods. Such a forest did not meet Fern's requirements for a hiding place, but to his surprise, there was a small farm behind the woods.

The entire farm consists of a two-storey house with a backdrop to the woods and an endless field of farmland in front of it. There were still many haystacks piled up in the fields, and the farmer did not have time to harvest them, and even two cows were left in the corral, apparently the owner of the farm had fled in a hurry.

Fern walked around the room, taking one last look at where he had come. "That's it, sleeping in a house is a better way to recover than sleeping in the woods, and you can't see it from the road. ”

Queai couldn't wait to sleep, and quickly jumped off the horse. "I was finally able to get a good night's sleep, and I felt like I could sleep for a day and a night. ”

Fern smiled, took their mounts and tied them to the post in front of the door, and after thinking about it, he led the horses to the fence about ten yards from the house. "Quiai, there's one more thing you need to do before you go to sleep. ”

"Set up the barrier? No problem, leave it to me. The girl lifted her chin triumphantly.

"You're going to need some special handling when you cast an enchantment...... Fern bolted his horse and said to Quiai as he walked towards the house.

After setting up the barrier in the shortest amount of time, the two found the most spacious room in the room. "Looks like this is the farmer's bedroom, so let's rest here tonight." With that, Fern walked over to the window and looked out.

Queai tidied up the large wooden bed and glanced shyly at Fern, who was still by the window. "There's only one bed here, but luckily it's big enough for us to squeeze in. ”

Fern's attention was drawn back from the window, and he looked at the hard wooden floor. "If you don't mind, I can sleep outside. ”

"I ...... Of course not. Quiai felt his face burn so badly that his chin was about to touch his chest.

The moonlight shines through the half-open windows, and the night chirping of insects in the fields reaches the ears, which makes people relax.

Fern lay down with his back to Quiai, his eyes fixed on the door, and a faint fragrance wafted behind him, and the girl's hand wrapped around his waist, and the whole person was pressed against his back. Fern could clearly feel the girl's scented breath on his neck, and the girl's rapid heartbeat.

Ferne's heart was hot, and he took Quiai's hand and slowly turned away, the girl's forehead facing his mouth. Fern hugged Queai as well, slowly putting his lips to the girl's forehead, and the two fiery hearts hugged each other tightly.

The temperature gradually decreases at night, the wind gets stronger, blowing up dust on the avenue, and the visibility becomes less and less.

Three shadows on horseback appeared from a distance, led by a man who looked like a swordsman, jumped off his horse, crouched down to examine the ground trampled by the horse's hooves.

"How about Karel, is that them?" a woman's voice asked.

The man stood up and patted the dirt off his hands. "I can't be wrong, I've checked the hooves of their mounts in Lot. ”

"Good. The corners of the woman's mouth arced. "Don't try to escape from my palm again this time. ”