After spending countless energy on the royal guards, the terrorist prisoner who had been absconding for two months was finally captured and will be burned to death in the square in the center of the royal capital this morning. There are many people in the streets and alleys who celebrate with their hands, and now the king is finally safe.

Asa mingled with the crowd of onlookers as the prisoner was lifted from the cart by several soldiers and tied to a pillar piled with timber around him.

It was a man who couldn't tell if he was alive or dead. The thin body and loose hair made it difficult to see the face that was already full of scars and blood. With the roar of the mountains and the tsunami-like roar, the timber piles burst into flames. In the blink of an eye, the entire figure was drowned in flames, and the man didn't seem to have time to scream.

Such an efficient speed made Asa feel a little better. In a sense, this person also died for the country, in order to cover up a secret that might endanger the state. Dedicating oneself to one's country can be regarded as a consoling death. But the man himself did not want to die, Asa was sure.

National events, that's it. Asa remembered the words of Duke Mlak last night. While no one may hate this man and want him dead, after a series of intricate but true values, this person must be burned into a handful of black carbon here.

'Bang', the prisoner's abdomen burst open with hot air, and the crowd let out a roar of exuberance, full of cruel pleasure.

In fact, it's almost like playing the protagonist in the fire. The scorching heat rushed in his face, and Asa suddenly shivered, squeezed out of the crowd and left.

He doesn't know much about national affairs, and he doesn't want to care about them. He is now busy with a little personal matter that is more important to him.

Last night he had stayed up late and looked through all the books in Sandru's bookcase, and he didn't see anything about the 'Leaves of the World Tree'. There was only one page in the second half of the book in which he practiced meditation, but the rest of the page was still indecipherable, except for a few words in the title, 'Leaves of the World Tree'. When I went to ask Sandru in the morning, I saw Sandru panicked, saying that he was going out of the city. asked him what he was doing in such a panic, but he actually pouted: "Go see your girlfriend." Then he took a bag of things and ran away.

In fact, Asa himself has always found it a bit strange. From an early age, he heard in detail about the most dangerous places and the most mysterious things on the continent from old adventurers. Even the lizard swamp was familiar with everything inside before he had even entered it. Even so, he had never heard of the 'World Tree', let alone the name of the Whispering Forest.

But since there is only such a clue now, it is only necessary to start from above. Asa suddenly remembered that there was a library in the Academy of Magic, and there might be some clues in it.

Walk into the library when you come to the Academy of Magic. It was probably still morning, and there was no one in the library. The large building is divided into more than a dozen large rooms, and the doors of each room are labeled with the words "geography", "history", and "military" to indicate the type of books inside. And in each room, there are dozens of long bookshelves, which are densely packed with books.

Asa first went to the room where the 'Plants' category was sorted and checked the catalog, but he couldn't find a tree that introduced the 'World Tree'. After a few turns, I had to go into the room marked 'Language', hoping to see a dictionary where I could find the kind of text on the translation book. But in the face of those tens of thousands of books, he immediately knew that it was impossible, and he didn't know what words were on them.

So Asa wandered around the bookshelves, trying to find someone to ask for advice, but after walking around most of the room, he didn't see a ghost. It wasn't until he reached the last two bookshelves that Asa finally saw a man.

The man was dressed in the white robes worn by the students of the magic academy, and his very thin figure crouched on the ground with his back to Asa, and he was concentrating on stacking the books on top of each other. This is a game that Asa often does until the age of five, where he competes with several children to see who can stack the book the highest.

"Hey. Asa beckoned to him.

But the man, as if he had been greatly frightened, jumped up from the ground, and the tower of books, which he had worked so hard to fold, collapsed. When the man turned around, Asa realized that it was a woman, with a bruise on her left eye that had been beaten, and it was very familiar. If you look closely, it turns out to be the girl he saved the night before, Xiaoyi's sister.

She stared at Asa and said with some panic, "I'm not playing, I saw that the book was messed up, so tidy it up." ”

"It's you. Asa was a bit surprised, but it was just right, she seemed to be a student here, and she could help.

"You're not an administrator, are you?" she let out a sigh of relief, a look of confusion again. "Who are you? Know me?"

"Well..... I'm your sister's friend. Asa replied, pulling out the book. "You can help me and see ....."

"Nonsense. My sister doesn't have a friend like you. "She seems to be very wary. "If you want to talk to someone, don't find a better reason, at least dress well. ”

Asa shook her head helplessly, took out her mask and put it on her face and said, "It's me, remember?" Asa took the mask off and put it away.

"Is that you? that face is just a mask......" Chrissy looked at him in a daze, then shook her head. "Still no, no long hair, and sloppy. ”

Asa didn't understand what she was saying, so he took out his book, flipped to the page, handed it to her, and said, "Do me a favor and see what is written on it, you can find it here....."

She didn't even read a book, stared at Asa and shook her head with disdain: "Do you know basic politeness? ”

"Miss Mrak, please help me see what this word is, and where I can find the tools for translation. ”

"Forget it. Don't be so outward, I want to thank you for saving me once, just call me Chrissy. What's your name?" Chrissy took the book.

"Call me Asa. Asa replied.

"Strange name, like a fool. Chrissy looked at the book and said triumphantly, "Count yourself lucky, this is the ancient script of the pre-dynasty period." I happen to be an expert in this area. ”

Asa was pleasantly surprised, and said, "That's right, just ask the expert to help me see what is written on it." ”

Chrissy took a closer look, but her heart was beating. A lot of the words on it are difficult, the grammar is weird, and she doesn't usually learn it at all, only about a quarter of it. But Haikou has already boasted, and they have all been called 'experts', and it is always bad to say that they can't finish recognizing. I have to reluctantly string together the things I know, but it probably has a meaning. In a sophisticated tone, she said, "It says that the leaf is... In a forest that is hard to speak, a forest that is hard to speak? What a strange name, stranger than your name. ”

"Isn't it the Forest of Whispers?" Asa asked.

"That translation is inaccurate, it's 'the hard forest,' which says it's south of the city of Airy in the southeast of the Empire," Chrissy said in the tone of an expert..... Kindness.... The tree was planted by a man named Fama. It's a leaf with a lot of power. Finished. ”

"And what? it's all over the page, isn't it?" asked Asa.

Chriss's eyes widened and she said, "It's because there is too much nonsense and it's inconvenient to use it, so I want to abolish it." ”

"Really?" Asa doubted.

"You have the ability to recognize it yourself. I told you that you don't believe it, don't pretend to understand. Chrissy said in a tone of lesson.

But finally knowing where and in whose hands, Asa breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at Chris, who pretended to be an old man, she didn't pull her hair so exaggerated today, but she was just tucked away in her robe, and her face was free of those colorful powders, which showed the mellow beauty of the girl, and the bruises on her eyes made her look a little funny. Asa reached out and touched her head, pinched her face and said, "Thank you, expert, please eat candy in the future." ”

"Ahh Chrissy screamed and reached out to slap his hand. Asa smiled, turned and walked out of the room. Suddenly, Chrissy came up from behind, stopped him and said, "I helped you, why did you leave like this?" Asa replied, "Didn't I say that I would invite you to eat candy later?"

"You****. "Chriss's language is like a mercenary in a tavern, probably learned from a friend like pigtails. "I'm bored right now, talk to me. ”

"But I don't know how to pretend to be a family and play with books. Asa was also amusing to see the girl, and now that he had known the clues, he was much more relaxed, and felt that it would be okay to talk to her.

Asa chatted with her in the library, or rather just listened to her whin. Duke Mrak said that he wanted her to travel around the continent with a caravan starting next month to increase her knowledge. But she was obviously already addicted to the prosperous life of the royal capital, and she didn't want to see the outside world at all, but she had no way and courage to resist her father.

"Lend me the book you just had, and if it's interesting, I'll take it and read it on the road. The books in here are too ugly. Chrissy took the book and flipped through it, suddenly looked at the first page with a frown and said, "The signature here is.... Akibald Grihaven, isn't that a royal surname? There's also a royal seal... It's a royal book, where did you steal it? It's also full of strange skins, as if they were made of some kind of skin. ”

"It's human skin. This is someone else's book, and I'm going to return it. Asa scared her.

"****, you, scare me? Big deal, I'll give you some money. Chrissy was very disdainful, people dressed in such tatters must be poor ghosts, and poor ghosts can naturally throw some money to deal with it.

Asa was reminded that he had no money or horses, and that it would take at least several months to walk to such a long distance. He hurriedly said, "Then you lend me some money." Although the book is Sandru's, it is not a very important thing to throw it in tatters and pile up dust behind the cabinet, probably Sandru himself has forgotten it. What's more, it's just borrowing it in exchange for some necessary travel expenses, and you can get it back later.

It's a pity that he doesn't know the true value of this book. If he knew, even if he really asked him to go to ****, he wouldn't dare to change it.

Chrissy disdainfully took out a dozen silver coins and threw them to Asa, and sure enough, he was a poor ghost, and sure enough, a few small coins were immediately distributed.

It's a pity that she doesn't know what this book is, and if she does, even if it is a mountain of gold for her, she will never dare to ask for it.

Asa looked at the little shiny things in his hand with some bewilderment. He didn't expect Chrissy to give him so much money casually, and it was the first time in his life that he got a silver coin. In his hometown, one silver coin is enough for a family of three to live comfortably for a month.

It is really unexpected that such a broken book can be mortgaged for such a huge amount of money. He suddenly had the idea that Chrissy would regret it, and after a few perfunctory words to her, he ran away as if he were walking away. It wasn't until he walked out of the Academy of Magic that he remembered that he had forgotten to check the details of the Whispering Forest. But fortunately, the general location is already known, and it is okay to go to Airy City and ask people.

Back in the big house, Sandru hasn't come back yet. Asa was afraid that he would be talking about the work he owed him again, and that the fact that he had taken the book and pledged the silver coins made him feel a little weak. He left a note for Sandru, saying that he went to the Whispering Forest to get the leaves of the World Tree, and then went to the Adventurer's Guild to buy a horse and some adventure items and set off.

After he had been gone for a while, Sandru also staggered back. When he saw what was written on the note that Asa had left behind, he let out a strange scream.

"It should be fine...," he thought for a moment, shook his head to himself, picked up the note and waved it.

With a whew, the note turned into a wisp of smoke in his hand.