The group made their way through the edge of the jungle and soon came to an open field, which to Fern's surprise was a paradise. There were some simple wooden huts scattered around the two, eight, Chinese, and nets, the women cooking lunches, the children chasing and playing, the men mostly jousting on the sidelines, and a few taking care of their wooden weapons, all of which had a common characteristic, ragged clothes, and children who did not even cover their bodies. When they saw an outsider being pressed into the village, they all stared at Fern in surprise, and some of the women even shouted at Fern in horror.

The leading man turned to give a few words, and one warrior left the group and ran to a large wooden house in the village, while the others pressed the mercenary to a burned-out campfire. Fern surveyed his surroundings and thought about how he could escape, but first he had to pray that the men wouldn't kill him.

After a while, an old man came out of the hut, unexpectedly much neater than the others, though his clothes were very old. He even wore a priest's top hat, a few strands of silver hair poked out from the brim of the hat, and his expression was calm and peaceful, giving people a sense of sacredness.

"Is this an outsider, Aaron?" the elder turned his head slightly to the man in the lead, his gaze still falling on Fern.

"Yes, Elder. The man, Aaron, replied respectfully.

The elder motioned for two chairs to be brought, one of which sat down for Fern to sit down, and then sat down on the other himself, looking at the outsider. "Now I'm going to ask you a few questions, don't try to lie, that would hurt you, understand?"

Fern nodded, and the elder continued, "What's your name and where are you from?"

"My name is Fern, and I'm a mercenary, from Deville. Fern replied slowly, and he could hear that the old man's accent didn't seem to be the same as Aaron's.

"Deville, that's a good place, tell me, why did you leave that good place and come here?" the elder's expression remained the same, and his tone did not change in the slightest.

"I didn't want to come here, my destination is Wet Harbor, I have two companions, and our family is together. Fern licked his lips, trying to figure out how to convince what was going to happen next. "But we had some trouble along the way. ”

"Trouble?" the elder's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "What kind of trouble would make you venture deep into the swamp?"

"I'm not sure what it is, though they look like huge wolves chasing us and driving us into a corner. Shaking his head, Fern continued, "I lured the monsters away for my companions so that they could reach the wet harbor safely, and in order to get as far as I could, I rode as hard as I could, and before I knew it, I was running to the swamp. ”

With that, Aaron leaned over and whispered a few words to the elder, and then he ordered his men to bring out a horse. Fern fixed his eyes on it, isn't this a dark cloud, and just wanted to stand up and go over to appease, he was pressed back into the chair by the two guards behind him. The clouds recognized Fern as well, and snorted at him to get to his master's side.

The elder looked at Fern thoughtfully, "Is this your horse?"

"Yes, it saved me. Fern glanced at the dark clouds and continued to look at the elder. "Just as I was in a dilemma at the edge of the swamp, the pursuer appeared behind me, and I fought off the three wolves with all my might, but more were still coming. Fern glanced down at the wound on his shoulder. "In desperation, I was amazed to find that my mount had gone into the swamp and had not sunk. ”

"And you're going to follow him all the way here?" the elder stroked his white beard, noticing the wound on the mercenary's shoulder.

"I don't have any other choice. Fern shook his head, talking about the injury to his shoulder, and the pain that he had ignored because of his uneasiness returned. The severe pain caused Fern to hiss unconsciously, and his right hand grabbed the upper arm of his left hand vigorously, trying to relieve the pain in his left shoulder.

The elder pondered, and everyone waited quietly around without making a sound, and finally, he looked at Fern again. "I believe you, mercenary, you can choose to heal your injuries here before leaving, or leave now. At the same time, he gestured for the guards to untie Fern.

The two of them quickly untied the ropes, and Fern's hanging heart finally let go, he rubbed his sore shoulders and wrists, and nodded his head to thank the elder. "My companions are still waiting in Wet Harbor, and I must get there as soon as possible, or they will think I'm dead. ”

"Of course, the decision is yours. "But, young people, sometimes it's better to retreat as advance, and you should pay attention to your injuries." ”

Fern's wounds were indeed getting worse and worse, some of the pus-filled wounds were now beginning to fester, and the pain continued to come in waves, and he could hardly bear it anymore. "But...... They probably won't be able to wait that long. ”

"It won't be long before we have been in the company of all kinds of beasts all year round, and naturally we can't avoid being scratched by them, and we have our own special ointment. The elder motioned for the people around him to disperse, intending to end the interrogation. "You can take a little bit and change your dressing yourself on the way, and until then, you'd better stay here for two days and wait until the injury is stable before leaving. With that, he stood up and prepared to leave.

"Thank you, but... Who are you, and why are you here?" Fern stood up.

The elder paused, turning his head slightly to the side and back, "Aaron will arrange your accommodation and answer your questions. Then he slowly paced back to the cabin.

"Come with me and praise the god of healing, for if your wounds are not effectively healed, your hand will be cut off at least and you will be killed. Aaron's attitude softened slightly, and he was no longer as stern as before.

"Yes, yes. Fern muttered, wondering if it was because the experience of the past few days had been so bizarre, or if the continuous severe pain had worn down his will, and his mind was chaotic at this time, and he just wanted to rest and let his spirit return to the clear and calm way before.

It was dawn, and Fern had woken up from his slumber, he hadn't slept so peacefully in a long time. Looking around, it was no different from yesterday before bedtime, except for a girl arranging his clothes on the side.

"Excuse me, are you?" Fern struggled to get up, but the pain in his shoulder caused him to lie down again.

"Lie down, your wound was cleaned up yesterday and was medicated, and now you need to rest well, and you will need to change the dressing later." The girl helped him cover the blanket, and his clear eyes were clear without a trace of impurities.

Listening to the accent was Southerner, Fern thought to himself, he knew something about Wallis's accent everywhere. Southerners speak longer and sound more subdued, like reading poetry. The northerners are much more gentle, and every word is correct and round. Deville, located in the southwest, has a different accent from the pure south, not so emotional, but still full of charm.

"Are you from the South?" Fern looked at the girl in front of him, she had long, curly brownish-red hair, she was not tall, but she was very strong, and her white-washed clothes were shabby, but they were clean and fitting.

"Yes, my home is in Greville...... Once home. The girl said, turning around and continuing to straighten her clothes.

"I'm sorry. Fern adjusted his sleeping position so that he was facing the sky again. "My name is Fern, what about you?"

"Betsy. The girl finished tidying up her clothes and picked up the jar of ointment next to the bed, "It's time to change the dressing, it may hurt a little, but it's much better than yesterday, I really don't know how you endured it yesterday." ”

The girl was unexpectedly talkative, probably because she had been here for a long time, and she had too few people to contact, and she had nowhere to say a lot, Fern thought. "May I ask you some questions?"

"Of course, come, sit up. Betsy helped Fern slowly prop herself up from the bed, then put a quilt behind him. "Well, that's it, sit down. As he spoke, he reached out and took off Fern's shirt.

Fern was frightened by her sudden move, and hurriedly blocked it with his hand, and at the same time, because of the rapid lifting of his hand, the wound hurt again, so he had to grin and cover his shoulder.

Betsy pursed her lips and laughed, "What are you afraid of, haven't you noticed that your clothes have changed?"

Fern realized that he was wearing a change of clothes in his bag, and Bessie had just sorted out the dirty clothes he had changed. "This ...... Didn't Aaron change it for me?"

"How could he do this?" Bessie couldn't help but smile again when she saw the mercenary in front of her, her eyes widened. "Don't worry, I'm just changing your clothes for you, and I'm also wiping your body for you. ”

Fern's face flushed, not obviously, but he tried his best to hide his embarrassment. "Anyway, thank you. ”

"It's nothing, but you have other old wounds on your body, and it looks like you're still dying. The girl quickly untied the bandage on the mercenary's shoulder, and wiped the old medicine from the wound with a damp wool cloth dipped in water. "Well, it's better than yesterday. ”

Fern clenched his fists and endured the pain of the wound being wiped with a damp cloth, and was speechless for a moment.

"Didn't you just say you had some questions to ask me? Now is the right time to divert your attention and relieve some of the pain. Betsy washed the dirty cloth in a basin of water and continued to try to wipe the ointment off the wound.

"Yes, I have some questions. Fern's mind was full of questions about this closed village, and he wanted to ask Aaron yesterday, but he didn't expect the wound to be so painful to clean up, he almost fainted, and for the rest of yesterday he only wanted to go to sleep quickly, and he didn't care about anything else. Now, it's a great opportunity to find answers to those questions. "Listen to the accent, you must be from all over Wallis, what brings you together and lives here?"

"We all follow the elder, who is wise, kind, and can even foresee the future. The girl finished wiping the wound and began to stir the ointment, her eyes fixed on the jar.

"What kind of future would allow you to leave your normal life behind and venture into the swamp to come here?" Fern asked, bewildered and bewildered.

At that time, the Elder foresaw that in about two years, Wallis would be engulfed by a catastrophe, and only here could he escape. Betsy began to apply the ointment to the cleaned wound. "Count it out, it's almost time for this disaster to come, did anything big happen when you were outside?"

"Yes, your elder may be right, but how did he foresee that?" Fern marveled at the elder's ability to foresee the future.

The girl stopped what she was doing, as if trying to remember what happened two years ago. The elder was in a village near Canrito, and tried to preach to the villagers and passing travelers, but not many believed until something strange happened in that village. ”

"Strange thing, what kind of strange thing?" Fern suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.

"Not far from that village is a cemetery where people from neighboring villages bury their dead relatives, and even people in the city of Canrito use it as a cemetery. Betsy swallowed, as if remembering something terrible, she looked up into the mercenary's eyes, and said solemnly, "Someone has found that some tombs have passed by." ”

"That could also be done by tomb robbers, there are many valuable things in the graves of the rich, and there are always those who dare to steal the things of the dead. Fern wasn't impressed.

"But there were no traces of excavations around the graves, and there were no mounds of earth that had been dug up, and the whole tomb was opened like a ......," the girl's body trembled slightly, and her hands clenched with fear. "It's like opening out of a tomb. ”

Fern felt his scalp tingle and his mind was a little confused. "What about the dead bodies inside, are they still in the tomb?"

"Yes, but without exception there are traces of passivity, or rather...... They moved on their own. Betsy took a few deep breaths to stabilize herself. "They were re-buried, but after a few days the grave was opened again, and the dead bodies inside were even more moved, and so on and so on several times, and no one dared to go to the cemetery again. ”

"What do your elders say?" said Fern was almost certain of the village's name.

Betsy began to change the mercenary's dressing again, carefully applying the ointment evenly to the wound so that it was completely covered by the ointment. Then she took out the bandage from Fern's bag, wrapped it around her hand first, and then bypassed the mercenary's body little by little, and the faint fragrance of the girl's body poured into Fern's nose. He said that this was a harbinger of disaster, and that without further ado, he must follow him and begin to find shelter. After the girl had wrapped the bandage three times, she cut off the rest and finally held it in place with a thin thread. Because of this incident, many people who didn't believe in him also began to follow him, and more and more people joined, and soon reached hundreds of people. ”

"Did you follow him because you believed in him?" Fern always felt that the girl in front of him was different from the others here.

"No, I don't believe in any disaster, if there is, I've already experienced it. Tears flashed in the girl's eyes, "I'm just a homeless orphan who has no attachment to this world, so it's better to live a new life with them, I don't have any worries." ”

"I can understand it...... This feeling. Fern wanted to comfort Bessie, but he didn't know where to start, and struggled for a while before squeezing out such a sentence.

Betsy wiped away her tears and smiled at Ferne, "Thank you for saying that, and it's a pleasure to talk to you, even though it's just answering your questions." A flush appeared on the girl's face, and she quickly lowered her head in embarrassment.

The girl's gesture reminded Fern of Kaya, who was always blushing when she was talking to her, and an inexplicable sadness welled up in his heart, and he lay back on the bed, catching a glimpse of Bessie's right hand close at hand, and suddenly felt the urge to hold it tightly. No, Fern, no, you can't give her anything she deserves, you can't give her the promise she wants, you don't qualify for that, you're just going to hurt her.

"I should be the one who should say thank you. Fern said with a wry smile, the impulse just now was fleeting.

The girl smiled at Fern again. "I've got my medicine changed, I've got to prepare lunch, you can rest, I'll bring you something to eat later." With that, Bessie stood up and turned to leave the cabin, when the girl's scent wafted again.

"By the way, what's the name of the village near Canrito?" Fern was confident that his guess was right, but he wanted to make sure.

Betsy looked back for a few seconds. "Sheepfold Village. ”