Raindrops fall from the clouds and rustle against the waterproof canvas. A dozen or so foals, which were not sturdy www.biquge.info bowed their heads in the rain, walked forward with heavy steps. The already uneven road was even more rugged at this time, and a dozen tall figures walked silently beside the vehicle, and the mud splashed on the top of the boots stuck to the surface of the boots between the leather boots or in small puddles, but no one cared. In the team, there is a boy who is not burly, and he has also learned the solemnity of the adults, and he is a little dazzling in the queue.

The redwoods on both sides of the road were silent, like guards, and like countless sharp swords, densely extending towards the end of people's vision. Hidden by their tall bodies, the muddy roads looked very cramped, far less imposing than the Southern Boundary Fortress, of course, this was Aaron's idea.

This is already the Xilin, to be precise, the Xilin Federation, the concentration of human cultural and spiritual wealth, synonymous with freedom and equality. For thousands of years, countless famous writers, poets, philosophers and masters of art have been born in this fertile land. The entire human world, where more than half of the books, operas and musical works originated. However, it is undeniable that the thousand-year-old peace has already corroded the armor and swords of the Xilin people, and even the blood and bravery inherited in the blood.

In the past, west of the Vasi River, there were fierce inhabitants burning with fierce war intent, and even the orcs did not dare to take it lightly. But that was at the beginning of the Third Age, or three or four thousand years ago. The vast empire founded by Uke Ryan, the only "Great Emperor" in human history, at the beginning of the Tertiary Age, was already divided two thousand years ago. The strong inhabitants of the north once wanted to drive the slackers of the south into the swamp of misery, and to make neighbors with countless but invisible barbarians.

But the power of human beings to preserve their own interests is endless. The eight southern states suffered a lot of money, and finally reached an agreement with several semi-civilized tribes on the edge of the bitter swamp, which was able to withstand the fierce pursuit of the northerners. After the Lionmanes invaded and the Shadow Lizards began to wreak havoc in the Valley of Miracles, the fierce northerners spared their former compatriots. However, the "Xilin" Federation, which inherited the name of the ancient empire, lost its foreign enemies and began to rot from top to bottom. The so-called cultural center must not hide the gold coins and treasures that the Federation gives to the North every year. Luckily, the Shadow Lizards have always been a tenacious threat to the northern borders, and have brought the southerners the peace they yearn for. As for a little money, the right should have been given to the northern barbarians - this is the common "arrogant" psychology of the southern aristocracy.

By now, it is the end of the Quaternary period, and the Xilin people have long been accustomed to tranquility. Ironically, for thousands of years, the inhabitants have consciously moved to the west, even if they abandon the fertile land near the Vasi River, and keep their distance from the traditionally docile Minotaurs, so that the west bank of the Vasi River is often hundreds of kilometers in circumference, with less than 100 inhabitants.

The forest then regrows and gradually covers the eastern border of the Xilin Federation, which is a silent irony for the so-called "Xilin".

However, people don't care, the peaceful life has cooled the blood of the ancestors, and the once tough nerves have been numb. Ten years ago, when the three boundary forts were erected in the eastern part of the Vasi River, the Xilin people showed nothing more than a lack of interest. The Middle Boundary Fort, which was closest to them, was not even as well developed as the Southern Boundary Fort, which was within the Minotaur territory.

Isolated in the territory of the Minotaurs, the southern boundary fort is bordered by vast grasslands to the north and the Vasi River and dangerous bitter marshes to the south. While it is easy for human inhabitants to exchange valuable minerals, it is often difficult to get anything that will allow them to live comfortably. In recent years, many merchants have seen opportunities, but only a small fraction of them have the strength and courage to go to orc territory.

In fact, a caravan as small as the Torrev caravan was rarely seen in the Southern Frontier. But Aaron, who thinks he has a lot of experience and has lived in Fort South, is obviously a guy with little business sense. To be precise, he lacks almost nothing but how to pander to his boss and show his submission on the surface.

But the twelve men in Torev's caravan were very fond of him. There is no other reason, Aaron has been working since he was a child, and there is no one who he can't do. Ever since Aaron had taken two days off and started to help, one or two people had been able to spare almost every day without having to wait on a dozen dwarf horses, tighten ropes, or worry about the taste of dinner. Therefore, these helpers or guards often teased him with cigarette rolls, strange candies, compound spice packets, etc., which made the boy "gain a lot of knowledge".

As for Aaron himself, at first he was always accustomed to silence. Because experience has taught him that less talk means less mistakes, and less mistakes lead to less punishment. He often dreamed of the knight's brown eyes, which were always as soft as the moonlight that night, and he could not help but cry. Whenever he had such a dream, he had to warn himself not to forget his boss Soyth, his reward and tasks. But there is no doubt that the caravan crowd is nothing less than a good boss for him, asking for less and rewarding more. In the month he had been walking along the Dijiang River, he had almost erased the traces of his past hardships. In the eyes of everyone, Aaron, who has fully recovered his body, is just an honest and hardworking child, but no one knows his deep stubbornness and unyieldingness.

Five days earlier, the team had arrived at Crescent Beach, where the Vasi River had turned from east to west and north to south. After that, it took a day of work to cross the Dijiang River and sort out the supplies, and then officially began the journey in Xilin. However, the good weather suddenly left, and the continuous rain caused the caravan to advance at a rate that dropped again and again, and instead of reaching the small border town of Lodetai as scheduled, it slowly walked through the endless redwood forest. Although everyone doesn't say it, they are very angry and depressed in their hearts, except for Aaron.

The boy felt that the days of having a fixed meal every day were simply incomparable happiness. But since arriving in the Xilin Federation, all the uncles in the caravan have lost their spirits one by one, which is really strange. However, this does not affect his own personal feeling of being good, and he has to show this feeling in action, but no one has paid attention to him for a few days.

At this time, it was the fifth day of marching through the redwoods, and the entire caravan was silent for several hours. And Aaron, who had been shut up for a few hours, couldn't help it anymore, and jumped all the way to the front of the team by stepping on a small puddle.

"Hey, Uncle Beard, how many miles have you walked today?"

Uber suddenly felt the urge to shave off his beard, and threatened Alun viciously: "Don't keep asking, stinky boy, or I'll clean you up again." ”

Speaking of which, the first time I cleaned up was half a month ago, when Aaron tried to play a prank for the first time in his life, and almost roasted Uber with fire oil on the outside and tender on the inside. So Uber smiled and launched a "challenge" to him, almost beating him off two buttocks.

But the naughty boy didn't buy his account at all, but made a grimace and pouted, "You still beat me, Uncle Akril said that he would protect me, your sword looks sharp, but it can't beat his water elemental." ”

Naturally, it was impossible for Uber to really fight with Acriel, and he was so squeezed that he couldn't refute it. I thought that you kid just watched Xiao A send more than a dozen carriages across the river with the water element, and he worshiped him like this, which is really shallow. But naturally he will not express his thoughts, so as not to be entangled again. I had to change the topic and said: "Didn't you kid just ask how many miles you have walked today, according to the terrain and markers, this forest is almost three-quarters of the way through." ”

Hearing him say this, Aaron couldn't help but slump his shoulders. It's like a dejected monkey who sees delicious fruit on a high spire, but can't climb it alive. After half an hour, he said listlessly, "Now that the road is so bad, won't it take two or three days to walk?"

It's not that he can't stand the rain all the way, it's just that there is not a single human city in the southern part of the Minotaur Territory, except for the Southern Boundary Fort, and he is really itching to hear that he can go to Lodtai, a small city where caravans can handle goods after walking out of the redwood forest.

When Yu Bo saw his dead face, he couldn't bear it, and comforted him: "Boy, you can't always think about the worst, maybe the moon god will bless, and the sun will be high tomorrow morning!"

Aaron ignored him, muttered a blessing from the moon god, and slowly hid behind the convoy, finding a place to hide from the rain under the cover of a towering rainproof canvas. The heavy expression on Uber's face was not slightly soothed by the departure of the annoying boy, but looked deeper under the dark green cover.

In the evening, the rain miraculously stopped. Only thick clouds remained, still stubbornly obscuring the sky. A white cloud on the horizon is dyed by the setting sun, showing a magnificent orange and red, which also makes the travelers who have been through the wind and frost of the journey finally have time to take a break.

The caravan, including Aaron, was thirteen men. Seven of the guards were looking for half-dried firewood near the clearing that had been opened a few months earlier to fuel the night's campfires. Aaron helped the others clear the ground and pitch their tents. Speaking of which, this was a skill he had learned since he left the Southern Border Fort - he had never had the opportunity to live in a tent outside the city as an illegal child laborer.

When the last burning clouds on the horizon had dimmed, a warm campfire had already burned in the middle of the regular camp. On the rough cedar shelf, an iron pot is constantly licked and licked by tongues of fire, making a gurgling sound. More than a dozen people sat around the campfire, most of their eyes staring at the pot, and the tip of their noses was already stirring with a hint of meat.

Akril sniffled and exclaimed, "If you want to cook soup and cook, Aaron is still good at it, and we people, with good pork chops and pine mushrooms, end up eating the same as cold and hard dry food." "But it's the idea of currying favor and cheating some broth.

Alun pouted, "Today, I used three days of jerky to cook this pot of broth, which will definitely make all of us fat, uncle, you are in the wrong place." ”

Akril smiled, "Wouldn't that be better?" After saying that, he stared straight at the iron pot, not knowing what to think.

Alun opened the lid of the pot, stirred two spoons, and announced the start of the meal with a smile. The members of the caravan offered their bowls one after another, and then silently ate the mushroom broth. In other words, they would have laughed and scolded during the meal, but everyone had not eaten hot food for five days, and today it was surprisingly quiet. No one saw anything unusual about the silent Aaron.

At the end of a campfire dinner, the sky was completely dark. With the exception of Yuber and Torreve, who stayed on vigil, everyone else squeezed into their sleeping bags and dreamed of everything they craved.

Aaron tossed and turned in his sleeping bag, trying to find a comfortable position, but couldn't sleep. Finally, I couldn't help but crawl out of my sleeping bag, sat down by the campfire, and quietly watched the flames. Uber sat down beside him and asked him softly, "Why can't the stinky boy sleep and eat at night?"

Aaron turned his head to look at him, but instead of the usual smile on his face, he had the same lonely expression he had had been many nights ago. "Uncle, can you go to Lodtai the day after tomorrow?"

"You've been asking this for a long time, if it's sunny tomorrow, you'll be able to get to Lodetai in the evening. ”

Aaron didn't answer, but asked, "Uncle, do you know where Moon Ling is?"

"Moon, the territory of the temple, far from here. To get there and see the old man of the moon god, you have to go through a long bitter marsh area, which was put in a few decades ago, but there is not even a road that can be passed..."

Looking at Aaron with a thoughtful expression, Uber's words came to an abrupt end. "Stinky boy, are you going to Moon Collar?" was bitter in his low voice.

Aaron stood up gently, replied, "Probably," and walked slowly towards the tent he was in. Uber was left alone, beside the fire, frowning.

Torrev came from the other side of the camp and sat down beside him, silent, with the same solemn expression.

The night breeze gently carried away the water that had been accumulated for many days, and a flash of fire in the forest kept jumping, leaving only a deeper shadow on the trunks of the neighboring trees.