"Old Jock, do you know how big this forest is?" asked the old hunter beside him, stroking his hunting bow.

Old Jock looked at the singing birds on the branches, "Soon, if I'm not mistaken, we'll go on like this in this forest, and we'll get home, but well, we should be ready to pack up and run away when we get home." ”

"Is it really because of the habit of Gao Jimo? Liechtendon frowned.

"That's right, this guy isn't a man of a good character, maybe he'll use the heads of our two deserters to scare the others. Old Jock shook the wine bag in his hand.

The two deserters were already cautiously moving through the woods, where only the sound of the rubbing between the leaves and their soft footsteps could be heard.

Suddenly, behind them came the sound of horses trampling the ground, and the sound made the cold hairs on Lechden's body explode.

"Who!" Leechtendon reacted quickly, placing his arrow on his bow and aiming in the direction from which the voice came.

This qiē shows that Leechdeng's excellent experience as a hunter is able to pinpoint the place where the crisis arises in the first place and judge the best behavior.

Old Jock, the experienced old hunter, tilted his head slightly, listened attentively, and then continued to shake his wine bag, although there was not much wine in it.

Looking at the nervous Liechden, Old Jock slowly put down his wine bag and patted him lightly on the shoulder, "Don't be so nervous children, they are not enemies." ”

"How do you know?" Leechden squinted at Old Jock, but the strength of his hunting bow did not relax in the slightest.

"I'd like to know, Hunter. How do you judge. A deep voice rang out, "We are not here to kill the deserters. “

"Oh. Honorable Knights. Old Jock looked at the two men who appeared on horseback in the woods, and bent down slightly. He gestured slightly to Shabak and placed his right hand on his chest in respect.

The atmosphere in the forest was still eerie, two men of some age greeting each other, while two young men were looking at each other hostilely, one holding a hunting bow and the other clenching a handguard sword.

"No, now we are all deserters, all of God's people. Shabak looked condescendingly at the poor hunter in front of him.

Old Jock still maintained a humble appearance, expressing his respect for the knight.

"Hunter. Sue me why we are not the ones who hunt down deserters. Shabak stroked Pisavres' mane.

"Because of the sound of your horses' hooves, my lord. An incomprehensible sentence spat out old Jock's shriveled mouth.

"Oh, can you tell me what's going on?" Schabac was interested, he was now very interested in this keen hunter, not only Schaback, but also Vicos and Liechndengdon, who had been with old Jock for many years, were full of interest in this answer.

"It's simple, sir. Old Jock paused, and seemed pleased that his words had so successfully attracted everyone's attention, "I judge that you are not the one who pursues the deserters. The first point. Mieuzier's forces should have been routed by now, and he didn't have time to hunt me down. The second point is that Gao Jimo should also be preparing men to occupy Mieuzier's territory now. And. Your lord, the sound of your horse's hooves is not very hurried, which means that you will not be the one who chases deserters. Because of the people who hunted down deserters. But time is more important than anything else. ”

"And, my lord. After watching you appear. I want to leave here with you. Old Jock smiled, as if he was genuinely ready to leave the place where he had lived for decades.

"Why do you say that?" said this particular hunter, who gave Shabak a sense of incomprehension. "I'm not going to leave here. ”

"Your Excellency. Your actions have betrayed you. Old Jock was still open-mouthed.

"Hmm...... Can you tell me what it is?"

"It's still the sound of your horses' hooves. Your horse's hooves don't rush or panic, and you don't have any signs of panic. Then you must have prepared a way out for yourself, and this escape will not make you like those fugitive knights, because the reason for running away is not accepted by the world, and you can only become a knight robber. Old Jock pinned the sac back to his waist again, "It follows that, my lord, you definitely have a plan in place, and I, an experienced hunter, would like to be able to join you." ”

"Oh!" Shabak looked at the old hunter in front of him with a look of amazement, glancing at him as if he had found some secret, "You are a clever hunter, but you must also know that people tend to dislike smart people, because smart people are the most difficult to control. ”

"No, my lord, in your presence, the trick of my little deserter is only to increase the laughter. Old Jock slapped him skilfully on the back.

"You're a very interesting hunter, hunter, tell me your name. Vicos stared at the hunter for a long time.

"Bifkis?Jock, you can also call me Old Jock. ”

"If you're only coming with us for the sake of a good meal, I advise you to extinguish this thought, for we're going to Colesman, to the Holy City. Shabak took the reins of Pisavles' horse so that he could sit more comfortably in the saddle.

"Oh, my honorable knight, I had the idea of going on a pilgrimage a long time ago, but I never had the chance, but now, if there is an upright knight willing to go with old Jock and me, then it is a different matter. Old Jock replied to Shabak in a flowery language that did not belong to an honest hunter.

The cicadas in the summer forest are still chirping, adding a little lively business to this somewhat silent forest.

In a clearing between the trees in the forest, four men and two horses were standing staring at each other, without a word but the chirping of cicadas and birds.

Shabak stared into old Jock's eyes, trying to see what was really going on in the cunning hunter's eyes, but all he answered was Old Jock's somewhat cloudy eyes.

"Okay. Hunter, then follow me next. To the city of heaven, to the pilgrimage. Shabak drew his sword and pointed to the west, where the Holy City was located.

Vicos on the side looked at Shabak with strange eyes. He was a little stunned that Shabak had agreed to allow two people who didn't know the details to go with them, and he decided to find an opportunity to ask Shabak what kind of calculations he had in mind. The night enveloped the entire Ussos mountain range, and the stars in the sky were looking at the world with merciless eyes, watching the time flowing, the world was happening.

"Chirp!" from time to time several flying beasts or demonic beasts slipped over the mountains, and their cries of joy or grief were heard.

"Crackle! crack!" came the crackling sound of the rabbit meat on the campfire, and the golden oil was dripping down little by little, falling into the flames of the campfire. There was another crackling of oil scorched by flames.

Liechtendon skillfully pinched the wooden branches holding the rabbit meat with his right hand, slowly flipping it up and down, so that every part of the rabbit meat could be perfectly cooked, and it could exude the delicious taste of the rabbit meat just right.

"Well, alright, four skewers of meat. Liechtendon picked up the roasted rabbit and handed it to Vicos, who was beside him, while he himself picked up the cooled rabbit meat that had been inserted into the ground. Because since he was a child, he didn't like to eat anything hot, even in winter. He will also wait for the hot porridge to cool down to room temperature before drinking, as for whether the temperature will lose the original deliciousness after cooling, it is not his consideration, he only focuses on whether he can quickly fill his stomach.

Under the stars. Vicos, Liechden, Shabak, and Old Jock sat around the campfire, biting the rabbit meat they had hunted.

"Liechden, you shouldn't be a hunter. You should become a chef, and I'm sure a lot of nobles will invite you. Shabak tore off a piece of golden rabbit meat with his teeth.

"Hmm......" Leechdeng, who was not very good at dealing with the living, only slightly agreed. It's kind of an answer to his words.

"Lord Shabak, please don't mind. Old Jock glanced reproachfully at Liechden. blamed him for not knowing etiquette, "This guy has lived in the mountains since he was a child, and he only knows how to deal with wild beasts, so he doesn't know how to do it in front of people." ”

"Hehe, it's okay, in this way, it proves even more that he is a good hunter. Shabak grabbed the wine he had prepared from the manor before setting out and took a sip.

It is necessary to say a little here, since Shabak and their party met old Jock, they went to Shabak's manor, and before the army of Gaojimo could occupy this place, they took money or something, and Shabak also took a few bags of wine by the way to meet the needs of the road. It is worth mentioning that in addition to carrying a bow and arrows and a short knife, the other equipment only carries wine, wine, wine!

"Woo~woo!" A few long cries came from the depths of the forest, although it was far away, but combined with the terrible darkness of the night, Vicos felt that he was being eroded by the cold.

"Vicos, don't be nervous. Shabak on the side looked at Vikos, who had been staring at the depths of the forest, knowing that this was the aftermath of his first time on the battlefield, "This kind of cry indicates that they have finished eating and will not be aggressive, at least for the last few days. ”

No matter how tenacious his nerves are and how strong his will is, after killing someone on the battlefield for the first time, he will always be afraid, and he will not show it on the battlefield because he will not give them time to shed fear. Therefore, when a person who has just finished the battlefield is in a relatively quiet and dark space, he will always involuntarily recall the experience of killing. In this way, it will cause a kind of mental overtension, and he will be suspicious of the slightest trouble, and Vikos also fell into this state of tension after settling down.

"That's right, they're not going to attack tonight. Old Jock looked at Shabak in surprise, and was surprised that he had such a wealth of experience in the field, "Judging from the cry just now, it should be a wolf pack that has finished eating, and a wolf that has finished eating will not have the desire to eat within two days after eating, and even a wolf can insist on not eating for a week." Old Jock untied his pouch and took a sip with his neck tilted back like Shabak, "So, gluck...... You don't have to...... Worried. "Old Jock was obviously choked by the wine. Been hiccuping.

"Hey......" Leechten, who was silently watching from the sidelines, witnessed the expressions of Shabak and Old Jock, two alcoholics. He sighed softly.

"You just don't know how to enjoy it, boy. Old Jock looked at Liechden, who sighed beside him. Reaching out and grabbing his shoulder, he tried to pour wine into his mouth.

"If it's all right, I'll get ready for the vigil. Liechtendon pushed old Jock's drunken hand away, got up, and walked to a piece of high ground not far away.

Sleeping late in the wilderness far from the town is a time to test one's luck and ability, because there will always be some hungry beasts or monsters in the wilderness that will take a person's life in their sleep, which is the greatest misfortune for travelers, after all, no one would want to go to heaven to see God in the morning.

So when sleeping in the wild. There must be a need for night watchmen, a temporary profession that can report danger to sleeping people in advance, rather than suing them when they die.

But it is impossible for a person to be on duty all the time without sleeping at night, so a shift schedule that changes in turn becomes a necessary thing. And on this evening, there were a total of three names on the temporary duty list, Liechten, Old Jock, and Shabak.

In the first half of the night, Liechden was on duty, midnight. Old Jock was in charge of the guard, and the dawn was in charge of Shabak. As for Vicos, everyone agreed that it was risky to put a person who had never been in the field in charge of such a skilled job, and that risk could even threaten his own life. As a result, Vicos was removed from the Night's Watch list.

The night breeze is a little noisy, even in the middle of summer nights, but the cool breeze can still take away a lot of heat from the body. But Leechtendon did not stiffen his movements in the slightest because of the cold, and he still looked around vigilantly. But at the same time, there was another question in his mind, old Jock. What is this man who has raised himself from a young age going to do? Is it just to follow this knight?

Inside the camp, Vikos, lying on the ground, was also thinking about what was in the Holy City, what was the thing that Shabak described as a god, and why did Shabak accept these two hunters to join?

In this way, several people fell asleep with the things in their hearts.

Some of the bleak midnight colors slowly erode the sleepy people, and those who had been tired from a long day fell asleep one after another, except of course those who only sneaked in the endless darkness, such as thieves and killers. But for most creatures in the forest, in the wilderness, night is only the beginning of their hunt.

"Woo woo woo ~ ~ woo woo !!" In the forest of Mount Ussos came the howl of the beasts, this howl was more of fear than anger, the cry of fear echoed over the entire camp, Shabak and the others got up the moment they heard such a loud sound, and grabbed the weapon at hand.

"What's going on?" asked Shabak, who reached out and lifted the curtain of the tent, to old Jock standing on the high slope on guard.

Old Jock's face was unusual, his rosacea face hung with a thick sternness, and his brows were furrowed so that he could clip an iron sword.

"Looks like we're in danger, my lord. Old Jock took a deep look at the place where the roar was coming from.

"Is it a beast tide?" Leechndengdon and Vikos also walked out of the tent one after another.

Beast tide is a term for the regular group activities of wild beasts or monsters in the forest. Generally, every place where there are many fierce beasts, there will be a group of fierce beasts in a fixed month, and sudden madness, no matter how tame the creatures will be extremely aggressive to the things around them when the beast tide comes.

Every creature will run tirelessly and directionally in a certain direction, causing great damage to the surroundings along the way. There is a fixed month of the outbreak of the beast tide in each place, but there is no good way to determine the exact day and time of the outbreak, so every time the month of the outbreak of the beast tide occurs, the local nobles or lords will send patrols to guard the surrounding places with many beasts.

"No, it's not a beast tide. Liechden, who had never liked to speak, said no, "It's not yet time for the beast tide to break out in the Usos Mountains. ”

As hunters, Liechden and Old Jock had long been familiar with the time of the outbreak of the Ursos beast tide, so their hearts had already chuckled at the howl of such a large herd. Vaguely aware of what was going on.

"That's?" Vikos had no knowledge of the wilderness and was limited to books, so he had no idea about such an emergency. Moreover, there are few books in this era, and the cost is extremely high. For field knowledge, which is basically something that no one looks at, it is basically not printed.

"If I'm not mistaken, that direction. Leechtendon pointed to the place where he continued to roar, "It must be some powerful creature that has caused the beasts to go into a state of frenzy." ”

Vikos muttered to himself, Dragons, powerful creatures that are said to exist only in a few places. However, he quickly rejected this idea, not to mention whether the dragon creature would appear in the outer layer of the Usos Mountains, if the dragons really lived in the Usos Mountains, then I am afraid that this mountain range would have been leveled by the dragon slayer warriors who came to admire it.

"Whatever it is. I think we might be in danger now. Old Jock stared at the forest three kilometers away.

"Quick! get ready!" old Jock suddenly turned back and shouted at the crowd.

Just as Shabak was about to ask something, he suddenly heard a loud roar that shook the heavens and the earth, and the trees on the outskirts of the forest were shaken by this roaring sound wave, and the leaves fell to the ground.

This time, without the need for old Jock to stress again, everyone understood what was happening, turned to the tent and prepared to pack their bags quickly.

"Click!"

"Click!!"

A constant clicking sound came from the forest, and the sound was still getting closer and closer to the camp, and the whole land seemed to be on the ground as if an earthquake had come. It shook incessantly.

"Herod!" said Pisavres and Asr seemed to smell the uneasiness in the air, and they couldn't help but stir.

"Let's go!" Shabak, who had packed his bags, turned over and rode into Pisafras, shouting to Vicos, who was still packing his gear. As for Old Jock and Leechnden, they did not carry any bags except a few coins and bows and arrows. Therefore, he ran early towards the cliff five kilometers away that could not be reached by the beast tide.

"Where?" Vicos frantically squeezed through his messy luggage, searching for something that was so important to him, "Damn it, where?" though he heard Shabak's anxious voice outside the camp. But Vicos remained unmoved.

"You go first, I'll be there!!" Vicos said to Shabak hovering in the camp.

"Bang!!" the trees on the outskirts of the forest came down one after another. All sorts of beasts of all kinds rushed out of the forest.

At the forefront was a three-meter-tall giant wolf with red eyes, and behind him were hundreds of equally ferocious wolves. It's just a little short, only a meter and a half tall, but even then it's a huge and ferocious creature.

Behind the wolves are a chaotic herd of beasts, bears, tigers............

"Found it!" Vicos grabbed a futon that looked like it was for a child in the mess of luggage, a futon with beautiful handwriting on it.

This futon is the one that Vicos was wrapped tightly outside the church when he was a child, according to the conversation he had with Shabak in the woods, he had not met old Jock and others, this futon was sewn by his mother, whom he had never met, before he was murdered, and this handwriting was written by Shabak with a knowledgeable female scholar, as for why Vikos's surname is his mother's Metolio, not his father's Amtos, the reason is that Shabak, a stubborn fellow, does not agree that the bastard Narod is his father.

He was then left outside the church door by Shabak at night. This qiē is just to allow Shabak to have a legitimate little puzzle that can raise himself without being doubted by outsiders. It is clear that he succeeded, and for more than a decade people have been thinking that Vikos is an orphan with no background.

Vicos, who knew the truth, cherished this quilt that carried the family affection he had never had before, so he took this quilt with him when he was packing his bags in the manor. Now he would rather risk being swallowed up by the beasts than find the futon, which is just for a belief in being a man.

By the time he found the futon, the herd was less than two kilometers away from the camp.

Shabak was now riding on his horse anxiously watching the rapidly approaching herd, while the two hunters who had just joined the team also raised their hunting bows and aimed at the approaching herd.

"Asr! go!" Vicos tucked his mattress into his bag as he ran, rolled over and pulled Asr's reins.

"Herod!!" Asr raised his body, hissed, and at the same time turned and ran towards the high slope not far away, as he accompanied Pisafras, who was carrying Shabak. (To be continued......)