The fear and anxiety in the small town for days finally came to an end after the demon was executed. Rather than nailing all those who disrespect the Pope to the Wall of Atonement, as the Cardinal did, the benevolent Demon Cavalry Commander took a softer approach: for example, he interpreted the teachings of the Darkmoon Church as a mistake due to the impudence and ignorance of the Darkmoon priests, and attributed the massacres that had swept the city to a secret society led by the demons. In the end, the commander of the demonized cavalry submitted an application to the Pope to posthumously crown Avirad and Koloa, who had died in the battle with the demons, as saints.

Snow Moon 1, Coruna's Night, Auroville, Castle of Dawn, behind the small building where Archmage Ezares lived.

The small building was surrounded by a half-moon-shaped pond, and it is not known what the archmage poured into the pond during the experiment, making the pool black and smelly. Coruna's azure light shone up, blending into a strange dark blue glow that made the pool look indescribably weird. All the plants that had grown in the pond had withered, and the breeze blew, and the long broken stems disappeared into the water.

Naturally, there are no frogs chirping in such a pond, but there is a slight croaking of frogs in the distance. In fact, Dawn City in Xueyue was supposed to be early winter, but because it was located in the southerly corner, you could occasionally hear the weak chirping of toads in autumn.

A dark figure passed silently downstairs, and he looked up to listen to the movements of the archmage who was recuperating upstairs. Then he came to the back wall, and climbed up the pits in the wall with great skill. It stands to reason that after the last accident in the castle, the bandit army should have strengthened the castle's guards, but now the city walls are empty.

The shadow climbed down from the other side of the city wall in a puff of smoke, and as soon as he took two steps, he heard a familiar whisper from under the wall: "Stop! Where are you going?"

The shadow was startled, and fell from the wall under his head and feet, but before he touched the ground, he stretched out his hand to prop it up, took advantage of the situation, somersaulted, and stood firmly on the ground, not looking weak.

"Kalb Disdaf?" the shadow asked the man standing in the shadow of the wall.

"It's me, Your Excellency, how old are you?"

"Twenty-nine, almost thirty. The shadow patted the dust on his palm and took a few steps forward, "Knowingly, why are you asking this?"

"Twenty-nine-year-old, like nineteen-year-old, do these things in the middle of the night over the wall, should I praise you for your vitality, or should I accuse you of not knowing your own respect?" General Karbdisdav stepped out of the shadows, standing in front of the shadows, with a birch bow on his shoulder.

"This ...... I just remembered that there were still a few things I didn't do on business. "That shadow is naturally Mu Sang's excellence.

"What official business?" asked General Karbudisdaf, "Your Excellency only needs to give an order, and someone will naturally do it, so you don't need to climb over the wall in person in the middle of the night, right?"

"Hmm...... About the inexplicable annihilation of the Angel Believers' Hall...... I suspect Mittcard did something to it......"

"That's what I wrote in my report to you!" the lieutenant general unconsciously raised his voice, but as soon as he said this, the white-haired elf realized that he had lost his temper and immediately lowered his voice.

"This ......" Mu Sang was glad that it was the night of Coruna, and the light of the blue moon was not enough to illuminate the sweat on his forehead, "actually...... Actually, before the Great War...... I want to find a woman. ”

After Mu Sang Zhuo said this, he was quiet all around. The general could only hear his heart pounding—he himself didn't know why he was so nervous. General Karbudisdav didn't speak for a long time, and finally just sighed: "Didn't you swagger when you looked for a woman that time, and you grabbed what you liked?

His Excellency the General had nothing to say, and among his colleagues and subordinates, General Karbudisdav could be said to be the one who knew him best, and he was salvaging other prevaricating words in his head, but the white-haired lieutenant general spoke first: "Before you go on the expedition, you have something you must do, right?"

"Ah?...... Well. ”

"In the afternoon, you personally arrange the handover of the defenders here, and I know that something is wrong with you. If it's not convenient to tell outsiders, please bring a self-defense weapon. Although it is said that the hidden stakes of the hostile forces in the city have been pulled out recently, it is better to be careful. "General Karbudisdav threw a short sword to the Grand General.

"I brought a weapon. Mu Sang Zhuo patted his back with his left hand, but he still stretched out his right hand to catch General Karbudisdav's sword, and the lieutenant general on the opposite side made way for him.

Mu Sang Zhuo took a step forward, looked back at his loyal subordinates, and seemed to hesitate.

"General Karl Budisdav. ”

"Go and come back, it's good to have a wayward boss who counts me unlucky. ”

Mu Sang Zhuo looked at the face that looked like condensed fat under the blue light of Keluna, and asked in a low voice, "Do you want to go together?"

"Huh?"

"If you're not at ease, just follow me, aren't you already wearing chain mail?"

"Who doesn't worry?" Mu Sangzhuo furrowed his eyebrows, "I just don't want to lose our Supreme Commander before we go on the expedition." ”

Mu Sang Zhuo smiled, jumped over the moat, and diverted the topic: "The moat of this Castle of Dawn is built like a child's toy, and it has no defensive value at all. ”

"That's true. The white-haired lieutenant general jumped across the river, "Dawn is probably rarely touched by war, even the castle of Dawn is built like that—ponds, buildings, corridors. ”

General Karbudisdav followed Musang Zhuo into an alley, this alley was not wide, and he could reach out to the wall, and the high walls on both sides blocked the blue moonlight of Coruna, and ordinary people could only touch the wall here and move slowly. The lieutenant general secretly rejoiced that the elves' eyesight was better than that of humans at night—he saw that the ancient walls of earth and stone were covered with moss. Mu Sang Zhuo is as keen as a wolf who uses his sense of smell to guide the way. If it weren't for the constellation of Odeskar hanging high in the sky, General Karbudistav might have forgotten where he was heading.

At last they came to a tall pear tree, full of pears, and a few branches bent down by the heavy fruit. Mu Sang Zhuo ran a few steps like a child, jumped up and picked a pear, wiped it on his clothes, and threw it to General Karbudisdav.

"Eat it, it's sweet. ”

The lieutenant general stood stupidly under the pear tree, looking up at Mu Sang's excellent thief climbing up the tree. The pears are already ripe, and when the branches are shaken, many fall off. A dog barked a few times in the yard next door, but the dog soon took a kick or a stick from its owner, whimpered and hid in a corner to lick its wounds.

“...... Hush...... Don't make a sound......," General Karbdisdaf could faintly hear the dog's owner talking through the wall, and then the man blew out the lights with a thud.

I saw Mu Sang Zhuo climb to the second fork in the tree, bent down and groped behind the tree for a long time. At last he seemed to pull out something, and the lieutenant general saw that he was very careful to wipe it with the hem of his own garment.

"Come up!" Mu Sang Zhuo finished wiping that thing, and suddenly saw General Karbudistav under the tree, and waved his arms to greet him. Quietly, the dog in the yard was obediently silent, but the general may have felt that his voice was a little abrupt in this quiet night, so he lowered his voice, waved his hand under the tree again, and said softly, "Come up." ”

The lieutenant general hesitated, carefully hid the pear in his bosom, and then went up the tree, and they sat side by side on a thick branch, like naughty teenagers.

Mu Sang Zhuo held the thing he had just touched tightly in his hand, and in the haze, he could only see a thin metal chain hanging between his fingers, and in his empty hand he held a freshly picked pear, biting it in small bites, which was similar to the usual rough general.

Karbudistav will follow the general's gaze into the distance, and about a third of the houses of Dawn can be seen in the trees, and from a distance, the tall and low houses are scattered. Coruna's faint blue glow shrouded them in a veil that made their faces more and more hazy. The rustling of leaves, the footsteps of the night wind, which was already a little cold. A few ripe pears bid farewell to the last attachment of the branches, and expressed their determination with broken bones.

"Still ...... Tranquility too. The general took a greedy breath and turned to the white-haired elf, "If it weren't for us, Dawn would be more peaceful." ”

Karl Budisdav nodded, and through the mottled shadow of the leaves, he saw the corners of the General's mouth slightly upturned, and he whispered:

"Usually at this time, the pears on this tree have already been plucked by the naughty children. Thanks to us this time, the tree was able to retain so much fruit. If you don't eat it, it will fall to the ground and rot. ”

The lieutenant general nodded. The general was silent for a while, and then he devoured the pears in two of the last three bites, threw the nucleus far away, picked two more, wiped them on his clothes, and handed one to General Karbdisdav.

"Taste it, this pear tastes really good. ”

The white-haired elf couldn't bear to disobey the general's wishes, so he took the pear and took a small bite, and the pear was really cool and sweet, refreshing people's hearts and lungs.

"I ...... What did you ask me last time...... My past ......," Mu Sang Zhuo carefully picked the words, "...... Want to hear it?...... It may be a bit long to say...... Can be boring...... Maybe you've already guessed ......"

"Oh. General Karbudisdav sat up straight and looked up at him, "Whatever you wish, Your Excellency. ”

Mu Sang Zhuo turned his head, his silver eyes avoided the lieutenant general's gaze, and said in a self-talking tone:

"This city is indeed one of the good cities on the side, and the city lord Bray has a kind family. Due to the existence of Locke Fortress, the city has experienced little war, the Leiting River to the south makes its air less dry, and the mines in the Magnet Mountains provide it with plenty of money. Merchants traded it for grain from Waldshire, and the Barlord Plains to the north supplied it with meat and milk – arguably, no other city in Faliston could match it. ”

"Hmm. ”

“...... The spring breeze that blows here brings plenty of freshness from the Emerald Forest, the summer thunderstorms are frequent due to the Margaret Mountains to the southeast, and the pears are ripe in late autumn – it was the Mid-Autumn Festival when we first arrived, and the weather was drier and sometimes heavy in late summer...... However, autumn is also the day when the Bray family executes prisoners, and the blood under the guillotine will soon dry up......"

General Karbudisdav shuddered, he didn't understand why the general suddenly switched from a sunny and sunny to a cold-blooded slaughter, but Mu Sang Zhuo only paused and continued: "...... My favorite thing about winter here is if we stay here for a little more than a month - the winter here is not too cold, even if it snows, it is only a thin layer, and near the day of Grace, every child will make a small lantern out of orange peel saved in autumn, and put a small candle head in it, strung with red silk thread, and carry it in ......"

A gentle expression appeared on the general's face as he spoke, and as soon as the resolute face smiled, it immediately returned to his youth, with the youthfulness unique to that age.

“...... If it had snowed in Dawn City at that time, and it had been a clear night for Coluna, the little orange lanterns chasing between the blue moon and the white snow would be like meteors in the sky, and the children chasing would be as innocent and lovely as the legendary angels of the Feather Clan more than a thousand years ago...... Unfortunately, that was a long time ago—I—I'm Rohan. ”

Mu Sang Zhuo took a deep breath, as if he had thrown away all the burdens at once, and he could finally hold his head high. He turned his head, quietly expecting the lieutenant general's reaction.

General Karbudisdav didn't react at all, and the general saw that he just took a bite of a pear.

"How...... I'm from Rohan, don't you be surprised?" asked Mu Sangzhuo.

"Let me think about it......" General Karbudisdav shook his head, "is it any wonder that you are uncharacteristically so tolerant of the people of Rohan, because of your homeland?"

"It's not my hometown, but I've always wanted it to be. Musang looked in the direction of Odescal, the Lord of Order, "My true homeland is far, far north, and I may be reluctant to say that I am a Rohan. As you may have heard, I am a Seminarian, and the nobles of Iveuisnir have never regarded us Seminarians as part of the kingdom. ”

Karbudisdav nodded: "I have heard a little about this people who survived under the raids of the Irish pirates. ”

The general looked down at the chain in his right hand, and his right finger couldn't stop rubbing against his palm, and the lieutenant general was curious, and stretched his neck to look inside. The light on the tree was dim, and he could only vaguely see a cylindrical object in the palm of Mu Sang's hand, which was wrapped with a flame-shaped ornament, which looked like the holy emblem of the Dark Moon Church.

Musang Zhuo noticed Calbuddisdaf's move, so he put the object in his hand into the mottled shadow of the tree, under the faint glow of the blue moon, although the light was not very bright, but it was enough for the lieutenant general to see the appearance of the thing clearly.

I don't know if it was made of tin or lead, maybe it should have been silvery-white, but now it was a dull gray, illuminated by the faint blue light of Coruna, which made it look like the vicissitudes of time.

I saw Mu Sang's eyes half-open and half-closed, staring at the chain in his hand with a blurred gaze, but his thoughts flew into the distance. He whispered, "Twelve years ago, she and I ended our wanderings and came to Dawn City. I relied on my strength to do odd jobs for the merchants of Auroville, and carried ore for the head of the mine, although I was very tired, but I finally said goodbye to the days of hunger and hunger. Auroville is a paradise compared to the rest of Midfeldt. I was a big kid at the time, so I took her to play in the city after work. The snow before Grace Day reminded me of my hometown, but it was much warmer than my hometown, and the streets were filled with the smell of freshly baked bread and Dawn City sticky rice balls—I thought I would always be able to live here, but then she ......"

General Karbudisdav hesitated every time he heard Mu Sang Zhuo say "her", and couldn't help but interject and ask, "She...... Anna?"

“...... Yes, Anna, her countenance may not be the most beautiful among women, but she has a heart that no one can match. The general lowered his head and kissed the chain, and there was a trace of sourness in his voice, "I was young and vigorous at that time, because of something, I was seriously injured, and I had to recuperate in bed for a long time. The coolie's income was very low, and I had no savings. Seeing that the grace of Demis, the goddess of death, was about to befall me, she told me to take good care of my wounds. Anna went out every night after I fell asleep, and when she came back she dragged her tired body to take care of me, and she brought me the best doctors in Auroville, and used the best medicines, and as to where the money came from, she only hummed softly, and never told me. She said that I used to take care of her, and now it is her turn to take care of me. After more than a month, I was able to move gradually. One night, I sneaked up behind her and saw her walk in...... That place. ”

Mu Sang Zhuo clenched the fist of his right hand, his knuckles rattled, and he added, "...... It's where we caught that demon boy last time. ”

The lieutenant general closed his eyes, because he couldn't bear to see the smile on Mu Sangzhuo's face at this moment.

“...... A young girl, is there more choice at this time? Fate is so ruthless! She sacrificed a girl's most precious thing for me, just to save my life!" Mu Sang Zhuo is like a wolf howling in the night sky. Many of the leaves were stirred up by this whistling sound, and fell with a flutter, and as soon as General Karbudistav opened his eyes, he saw that the leaves were constantly whirling and falling, like those who could not help their own fate.

"I remember very well that it was not long after the Day of Divine Grace, and the thin snow on the ground had not yet melted, and I saw clearly what it was, and then I stood in the snow all night. At dawn, I saw Anna staggering out of there, and I felt the cold. Anna looked up and saw me, ran up and hugged me, crying and begging me to forgive her. I couldn't do anything at the time, and hugged her like a fool and cried...... Then I passed out and woke up to find myself in bed. That night made my illness a little worse, I had a high fever, my eyes were misty and I couldn't see clearly, and I had to turn my head. As soon as I moved, I alarmed Anna, who was decocting the medicine. She pressed my chest and covered me with the quilt. I called out to her again and again, begging her to kiss me, and she said she was filthy and would leave me when I was well. As soon as I heard this, I was anxious, and clung to her, for fear that if I let go, I would never find her again—even though I was sick, my hands were so strong that my nails had scratched the skin on her hands, and she was biting her lip and not saying a word, and I only knew how much she was bleeding when I saw my own hands. I forced her to swear to the Lord God that she would never leave me, so that she would take the medicine or I would die. ”

The general said a lot in one breath, and his chest couldn't help but rise and fall.

"This is Anna, the woman I will never forget. Mu Sang Zhuo concluded, "If that doesn't happen, I will live with her until I am old." ”

The lieutenant general was silent, quietly listened to the general's words, and then quietly waited for the general's breathing to calm down. Mu Sang Zhuo was silent for a long time after saying that, and never said what that thing was, in this world, many things can make life part, although the reasons are different, there is only one result.

In the end, it was Mu Sang Zhuo who broke the silence first, he looked at the chain and said, "Then she died, I am really incompetent! I can't even protect our happiness...... This was her chain, and I ended up hiding it in this tree, hoping to forget all about this painful experience. However, you will never be able to deceive yourself. I want to die, this country has imprinted me too deeply - the first teaching of Our Lady of Coruna is that we are forbidden to end our own lives with our own hands. I lived, but I lost my soul, wandering around like a puppet, ten years ago, I arrived in the Heavenly Saint Empire, and it coincided with the conscription of His Majesty the Heavenly Saint, so I enlisted in the army, I thought this would be good, as long as the enemy slashed at me, I could do it, but I wished, I could still be brave, let myself die like a man - before the war, I knew that my time was short, so I gave up on myself in the pile of women. But fate seems to have been working against me, and my comrades-in-arms around me have fallen one by one, but I have never been able to die. You know what happened next. ”

General Karbudisdav let out an "um" and said, "When I met you, you were already the leader of the forward battalion, and you were still the leader of the battlefield, like a madman - your comrades-in-arms admired your courage not to be afraid of death. ”

"Bernadotte is right, I'm not afraid, just because I don't have what I want yet. Mu Sang Zhuo lowered his eyebrows, hammered the trunk of the tree with his right hand, as if in a monologue, "However, there are some things that you will not have anymore if you miss them." ”

"His Majesty the Heavenly Sage asked you to lead the troops to attack Dawn City, this matter is very difficult for you, doesn't he know that you are from Luohan?"

"Yes, Your Majesty doesn't know that I'm from Rohan - I've never told anyone about it. But this cannot be regarded as Your Majesty's embarrassment for me, in fact, I am more desperate than Your Majesty to change this country!" Mu Sang stood up suddenly, his silver eyes flashing with angry flames, "This country is stubborn, conservative, backward, superstitious, and ignorant! The nobles who live here are all the kind of drunken moths, and the people who live here only know how to worship the gods and authorities blindly, and are obedient to atrocities and oppression, and have never had a soul of their own! If no one had planted the spark of change here, Auroville would have been as corrupt as a pool of stagnant water...... If it weren't for these damn bastards, Anna wouldn't have left me!, so these damn bastards have to be changed!"

The branches of the pear tree trembled with the General's anger, and General Karbdisdav carefully reminded him not to exert too much force, or they would probably fall. The general was stunned, and his angry face froze. Then he laughed and jumped down the tree. Then he looked up at the lieutenant general in the tree and asked:

"Will you still believe in me and follow me as you did before?"

"Of course. The lieutenant general jumped off the tree lightly and looked up at Mu Sangzhuo, who was half a head taller than him, "This story can't be told casually. But there's one thing ......"

"A little what?"

"Your Excellency...... It's so selfish. It's really ...... to vent this annoyance on an innocent woman when you have the boredom in your chest."

"It's not venting, it's not!" the general frowned, "how can I say that well? In fact, there is really not much difference between humans and animals—isn't it the same between people? I'm just staying true to my instincts. ”

The lieutenant general shook his head with a wry smile, his white hair flowing indescribably under the blue moon. I only heard the general say in a heartfelt manner: "There is no doubt that I am an excellent person." ”

General Karbudisdav shrugged his shoulders and quipped, "I suggest that you write these words in a 'On the Reasonableness of the Race' and submit them to the Theological Council of the Holy Capital Icarus, and you may be able to be a saint—didn't you say that you would become a philosopher after the war?"

"Come on, it's not like you don't know that the Pope's old virgin hates me to the bone. Mu Sang Zhuo said indignantly, "That old virgin will never know what is going on between men and women. ”

The lieutenant general sighed: "Actually, you yourself are not very clear. ”

"How?"

"If you don't know how to get along with a woman who isn't Anna, can you do this? ”

"......" Mu Sang Zhuo was thinking about how to explain this matter in his heart, and the lieutenant general's face suddenly changed, and he started to fire arrows like lightning, and the cold light of the arrow was facing the direction of General Karbudisdav, and shouted: "Come out!"

"What's coming out?" the general was a little confused, but as soon as he said that, he heard a slight sound behind him.

After all, Mu Sang Zhuo is a battle-hardened general, and General Karbudisdav is his longest-standing comrade-in-arms. As soon as he turned sideways, General Karbdisdav's birch bowstring rang three times in succession, from high to low.

When Mu Sang Zhuo turned around, the three arrows had been nailed into the trunk of the pear tree, and a shadow could still be vaguely seen.

Mu Sang Zhuo let out a loud shout, and hit the trunk of the tree with a punch, and the pears of the tree fell like hailstones, and there was a small figure in the middle.

Before the man could land, he took out a huge blade, and with a swing, his eyes were full of golden arcs.

Mu Sang Zhuo was stunned in his heart, and he avoided this swing with a fold of his waist. General Karbdisdaf's bowstring rang three more times from high to low, the first two arrows still had a tail note of the air, and the last dull sound was clearly the sound of arrows piercing into the flesh.

The man snorted, and it sounded like a child.

The white-haired elf was stunned for a moment, and in that moment, the child fell to the ground along with the curved blade.

Mu Sangzhuo's fist at the kid stopped two fingers away from his face, and the kid's left arm covered his face, and the blade of his right hand swung down from the left. The blade was also accompanied by several golden orbs of light. Mu Sang was able to dodge the blow as he retreated a long distance with incredible speed.

"Holy Light Bullet?" General Karbuddisdav was taken aback, he just wanted to pursue, but was stopped by the general.

"Wait!" Mu Sang Zhuo looked at the figure disappearing around the corner of the street, "This is the 'Twin Boy Demon Son'! ”

"I know it's the 'Twin Boys!'" General Karbuddisdaf was a little angry, "why don't you take him?

“...... No. Mu Sang Zhuo refused, "Things seem to be a little bit wrong." ”