A group of travelers marched south along the Pilatus Mountains, where endless peaks stretched into the distance, with only sparse rubland at the foot of the mountains except for rocks. It's only a few miles away from the desert of Roanoke, and it's not much more arid than the desert, and everywhere you can see sand blowing from the desert covering the road, obscuring the tracks of the travelers ahead.

The group consisted of five men and two horses, three of whom were children, and the eldest boy, about thirty yards in front of the group, was very young, looking less than twenty years old. The other two children were much younger, no more than ten years old, and both followed their parents behind, still muttering as they went.

"How long will it take to reach the gap in the mountain? We seem to have crossed the whole Wallis. The little boy complained.

Father patted him on the head. "If you talk nonsense, I'll leave you here, and a wolf will come and take you away at night!"

The little boy was immediately frightened and stopped talking, but the little girl next to him spoke again. "Dad, do you think we will get lost, we can't see the footprints of the people in front of us. ”

"That's impossible, we just walk along the base of the hill and we won't get lost, I guess we'll be there in a few days. My father didn't seem to be sure.

"How many more days? Rick, that's what you said three days ago! How many days now, how many days will it take?" the man's wife finally went berserk, she still looked like she was still in the prime of life, and her sturdy body showed that she usually did farm work.

My father was impatient. "I'll ...... a few days if I say it"

"Come and see, there's a man!" he was suddenly interrupted by the shouts of the eldest son in front of him, and the boy was nervously in a fighting posture with a stick in his hand.

The whole family ran over, the mother stood with the two younger children on her side, and the father leaned forward to observe, only to see a mercenary-like man lying on the leeward side of a rock, his eyes closed, his lips dry and pale, and his body covered with some sand.

Rick touched the man with the iron fork in his hand. "Looks like a mercenary, could it be that someone has attacked you?"

"Looks like he's still alive, but he's been lying down for a long time. The eldest son came closer.

"You come back to me, Joshu!" Rick pulled his eldest son back. "What if he's playing dead!" he said, leaning over to himself, crouching down and observing it carefully for a while. The mercenary's breathing was steady, and his dry hair and sand on his body relieved him. "You're finally right this time, he's still alive, but it looks like he's getting sooner, and if you look at his lips, maybe he's lying here due to lack of water. ”

The eldest son stood aside and thought for a moment. "Shall we save him, then?"

Rick stood up. "I don't know my son, now that the army is in chaos, we don't know why he fell here, saving him may set him on fire, and even if it is this mercenary, we are not sure if he is a wicked person. ”

"Are we going to let him wait here to die?" Qiao Shu pondered.

Rick glanced back at his wife and two children, then at the mercenary lying on the ground, then sighed, untied the water bladder from his belt, crouched down to help the mercenary, and slowly fed the water into his mouth. The clean water flowed into the mercenary's mouth, choking him and coughing violently, and Rick quickly flashed to the side and tightened his grip on the weapon.

The mercenary coughed for a while before he recovered, and he wiped the edge of his mouth with his cuff and blinked vigorously, but still looked around blankly. Rick and Joshu didn't dare to be careless, watching him vigilantly from a safe distance, and it took several minutes for the mercenaries to seem to spot them, and his hoarse voice indicated that he was indeed extremely thirsty. "Where is this, did you save me?"

Rick didn't lay down his arms. "This is the Pilatus Mountains, we saw that you were dying to save you, we are just travelers, nothing of value. ”

The mercenary swallowed. "I have no ill will. His eyes were fixed on the water bladder in Rick's hand. "Can you give me some more water?"

Rick looked at the water bladder in his hand and threw it over. "We don't have much water, but I can't bear to die. ”

The mercenary took the water bladder and poured it up until he had drunk all the water in the bladder. "I'm sorry I'm too thirsty, but now that I'm in the Pilatus Mountains, I'll find some water for you on the way. ”

"We didn't say we were going to walk with you. Qiao Shu hurriedly said, he didn't want to travel with a stranger who had fallen in the wilderness.

"You're going to the Eastern Continent, I know where to cross this mountain range. The mercenary threw the water bladder back.

Qiao Shu ignored Rick's constant glances and asked in surprise, "How did you know we were going to the Eastern Continent?"

The mercenary leaned against the rock and smiled. "Is there any other place for you to go here at this time? I don't think you have a guide, and you don't look like a frequent traveler, you can't find that gap. ”

Rick's posture softened slightly. "Then how did you end up here? Are you also going to the Eastern Continent?"

The mercenary looked down at himself. "To be honest I don't know how I ended up here, I escaped from Dune Village, where I was attacked by demons, and I ran out of water along the way and passed out. ”

"Demon Dune Village is in the desert, it shouldn't be far from here, how can there be a demon there?" Rick didn't seem to be able to hold his breath. "We must find the gap as soon as possible and cross the Pilatus Mountains, or the demon will come. ”

"They shouldn't be that fast, but it's always good to leave early. The mercenary stood up and patted the sand off his body as he spoke.

"My name is Rick, and this is my son, Joshu, and that's my wife, Marda, and two other children. "Rick remains vigilant.

The mercenary bowed politely. "My name is Fern, as you can see I am a mercenary, thank you very much for saving me, I will take you where you want to go. ”

"Will you go to the Eastern Continent with us?" the youngest daughter suddenly asked loudly.

Fern looked at her and smiled slightly, "No, I'll pass by there and continue south, the Seven Gods Falls is my destination." ”

"Shichigami Falls? Do you still have a commission to do at this time? Qiao Shu shook his head.

"It's not a commission, it's to find a friend. Fern replied, licking his lips, apparently still thirsty, but at least recovering somewhat, and then he could slowly search for water.

Rick looked at Fern. "Looks like you're not from Roanoke, where are you from?"

Fern nodded. "I'm from Macon, you're from Tempe, aren't you?"

"Macon? Rick walked back to the horse, put the empty water bladder back in his pannier, and took out a full water bladder and hung it around his waist. "You can tell that we are Tempes, and it seems that we are indeed mercenaries. ”

Fern turned his head to look south. "My companion is also a Tempe, we ran away from Dune Village, I don't know if you have seen her, she is very beautiful, if you have seen her, you will not forget. ”

"I see, it's a shame we haven't seen it. Rick shrugged. "I can tell you're worried about her. ”

Fern didn't look back, still looking ahead. "Let's go, it's still far from your destination. ”

Rick didn't speak, instead raised his hand to signal Fern to lead the way, then stood there and waited.

Fern looked around, paused for a few seconds, and then took a step towards the south, the youngest daughter behind him speaking again. "Fern, you'll find her. ”

Fern stopped and turned to look at the little girl. "Thank you. ”