Rumble!

The waves crashed against the bow of the boat, splashing countless droplets that flew away with the wind.

Standing on the deck looking at the vast river, the town docks looming on the banks of the long embankment in the distance, Leon will soon set foot on the land on the north bank of the Nucang River, one step closer to the kingdom of Bimeng.

In the morning, Leon's team boarded the boat to cross the river, and since the pier on the opposite bank was dozens of miles downstream, the ferry had to travel down for some time to reach it.

The Kingdom of Otto is bordered by the Kingdom of Beamon to the north and the mighty Farea Empire to the east, and the Nucang River, which crosses half a continent from west to east, has naturally become a major transportation route.

Although it is winter now, there are many merchant ships, ferries and even pleasure boats going up or down the river.

Although the relationship between the Orcs and Terrans is cold and hostile, and the Orcs are not allowed to set foot in the territory of the Terrans, the trade between the two sides is still very frequent.

Minerals, timber, magic crystals, spices and other resources from the northern Bimon were constantly imported into the Terran countries in exchange for sophisticated weapons, silk, porcelain, magical supplies and other materials, and this trade has never been cut off for thousands of years.

Therefore, there are many small caravans like Leon who go to the kingdom of Beamon, and every year there are a large number of gray camel merchants who take the risk to cross the river to the north, and the orcs are relatively friendly to ordinary caravans, and the only trouble is the endless bandits on the distant road.

"To get to Tomond City, we first have to cross the Hulun Grassland, and we have to cross the Twilight Mountains, which is not a small risk...", the guide who joined the new team gestured on the rudimentary map: "Those big horse thieves will not take a fancy to a small caravan like us, but some small bandit groups will not let go of anything." ”

The 40-year-old guide, Wally, is a veteran mercenary who is said to have spent ten years in a prestigious mercenary group, and has been working alone for more than a decade.

Among the mercenary guilds, he is extremely credible, and even Akran has heard of his name.

"They are like hungry wolves on the grassland, as long as they are targeted, they will follow all the way, and after they are sure that they can eat it, they will not hesitate to pounce, kill everyone and steal everything!"

The mercenary guide's voice was low and cold, and when he spoke, there was no expression on his face carved with traces of wind and frost, giving people the feeling of stone clay sculpture.

Wally's words are few, but not a word of nonsense.

"If they dare to come, we will kill them all!" said Leon disdainfully.

There are a total of five warriors in their team and Leon, plus the third-level mage Akran and the fire hammer that can act as an archer, if even a small bandit can't deal with it, it is better to pack up and go home early.

"First of all, I would like to state that according to the rules and conditions of employment, I am only responsible for leading the way, and I can not participate in the battle..."The guide said lightly: "If my life is in danger, I will choose to run away first." ”

"Of course, I will also do my duty, try to choose a safe route, avoid the existence of danger, so that the team can reach Tormond City safely!"

"Well, that's enough. Leon smiled.

Although the guide's words sound very unpleasant, the honest and professional attitude gives people enough trust.

Creak!

A golden tanuki scurried up to Leon's shoulder, rubbing his thick neck with its little furry head, looking like a flattering man.

"Gluttonous little one," Leon scolded with a smile as he reached out and touched its head.

He took out a handful of pine nuts from his waist pocket, and the tanuki crawled down his arm with cleverness, jumped onto the palm of Leon's hand and quickly grabbed the food, and in an instant wiped it out.

This little pet is, of course, the silver tanukiver that Leon had obtained from the head of the thieves, and at first, Leon didn't know how to tame it.

Fortunately, as a magician, Akram has a lot of knowledge after all, and has already prepared a big weapon to deal with it - a bag of black pine nuts found from the thief leader.

The silver-threaded golden civet rat is also a milk and mother's goods, give it a handful of black pine nuts and be obedient, let it out and no longer run away, and soon took Leon, who has black pine nuts, as his new owner.

However, the mage also said that it would definitely take a while to develop enough loyalty, and he didn't know how to make it work

Leon didn't really care, he didn't know how to ask others, for him, it was more just fun to have this little guy now.

Seeing the golden civet rat that Leon was teasing, a hint of surprise flashed in Wally's originally calm and waveless eyes.

"Ready to land!"

It was at this time that the owner of the ship, who was at the helm in the back, shouted loudly, reminding the passengers to get ready.

The ferry was firmly anchored by the pier.

The sailors quickly laid out the planks and helped to get the caravan ashore.

Leon and the others re-mounted the gray camel, and under the guidance of the guide, they passed through the dock town and entered the Hulun grassland.

Hulun is the only grassland area in the north of the mainland, and the numerous tributaries of the Nucang River and the abundant water nourish this rich land, which has become a natural place for many beast tribes to graze.

However, in a large marginal area on the north bank of the Nucang River, although it is nominally the territory of the Beamon Kingdom, out of vigilance and vigilance against the human race, there is almost no trace of the beast tribe.

Wandering bandits became the masters of the area, and in the vast area of hundreds of miles from west to east, large and small horse thieves and bandits emerged one after another, becoming the greatest enemies of caravans and caravans.

Among the bandits, there are beasts and humans, wanted criminals, homeless wanderers, outlaws who lick blood with knives, down-and-out adventurers... It's a mixture.

According to the guide, it is winter, and there are relatively few caravans, so the large horse thieves are generally huddled in the mountain camps, and only those small teams that do not have enough supplies for the winter will brave the frost and ice to swim around in search of prey.

Such bandits are also the most vicious.

The guide he hired for fifty or sixty gold coins was worth his worth, and although it was a grassland, it was in fact a place of mountains, forests, rivers, and swamps.

The long green grass is knee-high, there is no ready-made road to walk, and if you are not familiar with the terrain, you don't know when you walk into the quagmire of getting lost.

Wally, on the other hand, was always able to quickly find a safe path, avoiding the area where the Grey Camel might be trapped, and heading north.

Luckily for them, it was sunny for three days without much trouble.

But on the fourth day, trouble came.

"That's a scout of the horse thief..."

Wally's expression was a little solemn, and he looked behind him: "He will follow us all the way, trying to find out our reality, the real team should be nearby." ”

At the rear of the team, I don't know when there was an additional tracker on horseback, followed from a distance.

Due to the distance, Leon couldn't see the other party's appearance clearly, but he could be sure that the other party had bad intentions.

"And what do we do?" asked Leon in a deep voice.

Wally thought for a while and said, "If the strength is enough to completely eat us, they don't need to be tempted to rush over directly, this is obviously a small team." ”

"So we don't need to pay attention to it for the time being, if they sneak up on the temptation, as long as we can teach them enough lessons, I believe they will leave wisely. ”

As soon as they arrived on the Hulun grassland, Yan Hammer and the others no longer hid themselves, and quickly took down the cloak that covered their faces.

Finding that there were actually four people in his team who were orcs, Wally, who had a lot of experience, was not surprised or frightened, but was more confident in the strength of the team.

"Do you want me to scare him with a spell?" said Akran eager to try.

"That's a good idea," the guide nodded in approval, "Knowing that we have mages on our team, I think they'll be a lot more wary." ”

"I don't think so..."Leon sneered and shook his head: "Let them come over, dare to come and fight our idea, and want to leave without paying any price?"

"Yes!"

"Let them come, knock them out!"

"Give them a taste of our tomahawks!"

A few bear hammers roared, and the long journey, combined with the previous hiding, had already made the idle fellows feel bored.

Now that I finally encountered a little exciting thing, how can I be willing to let it go easily?

Even the little hammer raised his bow and arrows, shouting to shoot the thief with a full face!

Leon laughed - this is the bear man he has cultivated, he can fight bravely, and he will definitely not be afraid of any challenge!

Akram and Wally smiled wryly and did not object.

So the team moved on, as if they didn't see the tail behind it.

However, by dusk, the tracker gradually changed from one to five, and slowly narrowed the distance between the two sides.

This psychological tactic made Leon scoff, and he became more and more sure of Wally's judgment that the opponent was a small team.

The sun was below the horizon, and the savannah ushered in a new long night, which became much colder.

Leon set up camp on the edge of a low hill, erected three tents and lit a bonfire.

The tracker vanished, as if dissolved into the night.

"Normally, they would attack us at night or in the wee hours of the morning, at least a tentative attack. Wally flipped the jerky and said, "If they find our weakness, they will all pounce on it, like wolves on the prairie!"

"Then we'll wait for him!" Leon swallowed the hard bread, his eyes glittering.

Seeing his gaze, the senior mercenary who had experienced countless dangers trembled in his heart, and suddenly felt that the person sitting opposite was not a person, but a tiger who was about to choose someone to devour!

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