When Hodge woke up, he felt his head drowsy, his slightly open eyes could not feel any light, it was so dim that he could barely see what he saw in front of him, he felt that he was now lying on something soft, and even then he could still feel the jolt.

"Hmm......" As soon as he tried to speak, he felt his throat and eyes burst into flames, and he was uncomfortably dry.

"Water – water. He whispered.

"You're awake. Fink's voice was full of surprise, and he helped Hodge to sit up, removed the water bladder from his waist and carefully let Hodge drink it.

Qing Shui relieved him, and during this time he finally saw the scene in front of him, and now they were in the carriage of a carriage, surrounded by a frame of iron railings, and a layer of heavy and somewhat yellowed cotton cloth was placed along the entire support, covering the entire carriage, which was the carriage commonly used by small merchants in the north, and could not be compared with the one Carol had originally ridden.

He found himself lying in the middle of the carriage, with a quilt under him and a quilt of the same thickness, Fink squatted beside him, while Carroll sat on the right hand side of the carriage, looking at him with surprise in his eyes, but he didn't make any movement, just watched quietly.

Hodge shook his head vigorously to make himself more conscious, and remembering the fragments of his memory, he suddenly asked, "What about the earthworm?

"Relax, my friend. Fink sensed his agitation and said soothingly, "The monster is dead, and it doesn't look like it's going to be able to come back to life, we're safe." ”

Hodge was dazed, confused, and thankful that the last fragment of his memory was not his own speculation, and that the monster was really dead, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's strange to say. "One moment ago I saw you attacked by a monster and fall, and then it lunged at me, and I subconsciously crouched down and closed my eyes, and when I opened it again, I found that it was no longer moving, and you appeared next to me, purple and red, steaming hot." ”

"Heat?"

"Yes, you were hot all over, just touching you and my skin blistered, the snow around your body melted quickly, I almost thought you were going to spontaneously combust, after all, that temperature was enough to burn all the internal organs and blood vessels of the human body, and we had no other way at that time, Miss Carol and I held a lot of snow to cover you, fortunately, it didn't take long for the burning of your body to dissipate, and your vital signs stabilized. ”

"That's it. Hodge looked at Fink and Carroll and whispered, "Thank you." ”

"No, we should be thankful, although I don't know what happened, but obviously that monster was killed by you, and if you don't kill him, Master Fink and I won't be able to get out of that snow forest alive. Carol's eyes were clear, and she asked bluntly, "Can you tell us what was going on?"

Hodge pondered for a moment and shook his head: "I'm sorry, to be honest, I don't have any memory of that time, only that I remember being attacked by earthworms, and then I don't remember anything. ”

Carol looked thoughtful, and Fink smiled and said, "Obviously this is the favor of the gods to you, giving you potential abilities in times of crisis, Hodge, you should be our companion." ”

Hodge smiled faintly, and gradually stood up with Fink's support, and sat down on the left-hand side, his body was really weak now, and such a movement had made him tired to the point of wheezing.

"And what happened next?"

"After your temperature dropped, we were going to go back on horseback, but when we got to the place where the horses were tethered, we found that the black horses had already broken free from the ropes and escaped, and the two of us could not carry you back, but fortunately we found a passing merchant group outside the snow forest, and after talking to them, they agreed to give us a ride, and gave us some daily necessities and medicine in exchange. ”

Hodge opened the quilt from the carriage window, looked at the unfamiliar scene outside the window, and asked suspiciously, "This is not the way back to the village." ”

"Not really. You should know that the route of the caravan will not be changed easily, and it will not be easy to get them to agree to pick us up, so we will follow the caravan to the nearest trade area, which is the town of Libby, and then we will find a carriage and horse to return there. ”

Hodge nodded, and he looked around the carriage to find three black wooden boxes stacked on top of each other at the front of the carriage: "What's that?"

"It's the corpse of that monster, divided into three boxes, this kind of monster has never appeared on the mainland, and you know, such a species is extremely valuable for research. Fink explained.

"To whom do these things go?"

"Strictly speaking, Miss Carroll is supposed to have all the loot of this operation, but she has promised to give me one of the boxes, and if you need it, she will probably not refuse, and the three boxes are a good explanation, am I right, Miss Carroll?"

Carol nodded slightly, but Hodge shook his head, "Forget it, I don't want to see that disgusting thing a second time." ”

He turned his head to look at Carroll, "That's what you want?"

Carroll calmly responded, "Yes. ”

"What do you want to get even if you put the rest of the team in danger?"

“...... Be. ”

"That's nice. Hodge tilted his head back and exhaled slightly, with a slight mockery, "Presumably the five people who died will also be honored to help you fulfill your wish and dance in hell, right?"

The atmosphere cooled down suddenly, even though there was a quilt to isolate the cold outside the cabin, but it was obvious that the temperature inside the compartment had dropped sharply, and it was Fink who felt it most obviously, but there was nothing he could do to alleviate the current situation.

Carol's eyes turned cold: "Are you questioning me?"

"Question, I don't dare to question the daughter of a viscount. After Hodge said this, his speech slowed down, and he said in a very clear voice: "I'm just not worth it for the others, this operation could have been terminated early, and the five of them didn't have to die, especially Hughes, he insisted on acting for you, but it seems that you just used him as a winning pawn, and in order to satisfy the desires of one person, buried the lives of five people, is it worth it?"

Carol was silent for a moment: "I'm sorry. ”

"I don't need your apology, you should say this to the people who really need to apologize - oh yes, they can't hear me anymore, so what's the use of your apology at this time?"

After saying that, Hodge didn't wait for Carroll to respond, but leaned back on the plank of the carriage, closed his eyes and was silent.

Carroll lowered her head slightly, and didn't speak, and Fink looked at the two of them, wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say.

The atmosphere of the carriage became rather subtle.