"The sky is blue, the wilderness is vast, and the wind blows the grass and the cattle and sheep are low. "A song of the Ele speaks of the grassland scenery. The grassland is divided into desert south and desert north, the grassland in the Central Plains population actually refers to the desert south grassland that is more suitable for grazing life in the strict sense, as for the desert north grassland, the climate is cold and harsh, foreign beasts and poisons are rampant, rare and uninhabited, and it is the norm to see half a cent of people for hundreds of miles. However, if you can pass through this almost barren Mobei grassland, you can reach the legendary countries of the Western Regions.

The dividing line between Mobei and Monan is Atami, and after the beginning of spring, the various tribes that had spent the winter on the shore of Atami moved back to their respective pastures, and only a few large tribes had to stay on the shore of Atami because their families were too thick to clean up for a while.

On the other side of Atami is a vast expanse of land, in which two small figures are struggling to walk.

Both of them wrapped themselves in heavy cloaks, and the shadow of their hoods obscured their faces, making it impossible to see their true faces. The first person was carrying a huge weapon like a door panel, saying that it was a sword, but not only was the length far more than three feet Qingfeng, but the width was also several times that of the long sword. Behind him was a petite man, holding a wooden staff in his hand like a twinch of dead branches, clutching the man's hand tightly, and following in his footsteps.

The howling wind swept across the barren Mobei grassland, and the man who could only be regarded as medium or even a little thin was like a wall, firmly blocking the woman's body, keeping these winds mixed with sand and gravel out.

"Matthews. The woman spoke, her voice crisp, but the language she spoke was not the Central Plains, not the Prairie language, not the Houjian language, not the Baozhu language, but a language that had never appeared in the Central Plains.

The man walking in front of the woman stopped, turned his head and asked softly, "What's wrong, Elena?"

The woman named Elena said, "How far is it to get to Lake Best? ”

Matthews had a map out of thin air, which was different from the paper of Shuxuan and other materials, and the material was very thick, and it looked like sheepskin or cowhide.

He carefully studied the map in his hand for a while, and after comparing it with his surroundings, he said, "According to the marks on the map, there are about three days to go, Elena." ”

Elena covered her forehead and lamented, "Lord, why do you punish your most faithful believers so much? ”

Matthews reached out and pressed Elena's shoulder and said with a smile: "Elena, you are just a hypocrite, you have no loyalty to the faith of the Lord, and the Lord will not have the slightest mercy and favor for you. ”

Elena opened Matthews' hand and said, "Maybe it's just the Lord's test of us, isn't it, Matthews." ”

Matthews spread his hands and said, "Maybe you're right, Elena, but the most urgent thing we need now is to find a safe place to spend the long night that is coming, and the night in this wasteland can be extremely dangerous, as our experience during this time has proven. ”

Elena looked around, looked up at the dying sunset again, and said helplessly, "Matthews, you are right. ”

In the dark of the night, a pair of bonfires rose behind a leeward sandstone.

The view is wide and the surrounding area is endless, even if there is any fierce beast attack, enough for two skilled adventurers to react in advance.

Elena sat on her knees in front of the campfire, her hood removed, revealing a delicate face with high cheekbones and well-defined features, but the most impressive thing was her blue eyes like the blue waves of the sea and her blonde hair that shone faintly in the light of the fire.

Elena was looking through a heavy tome by the light of the fire, and Matthews was fiddling with the fire while casually asking, "Elena, how much do you know about the mysterious East?"

Elena replied without raising her head, "I repeat, Matthews, I have told you everything I know, that this book was left to me by Uncle Camur, who crossed Lake Best and crossed this moor from the far east to our land. According to the description in the book, after we bypass Lake Best, we will come to a vast grassland country, which is ruled by a monarch named Lin Yuan, and further east of the grassland country, there is a large, mysterious empire called Zheng, and there are many other kingdoms around this empire, which may be the end of our journey, or a new beginning of our journey. ”

Matthews said calmly, "Elena, you know, I also have a special mission on my shoulders, or an order that I can't refuse. ”

Elena's eyes suddenly sharpened, but for a moment, her tone was flat, "Well, let me guess who gave this order, the gray-bearded old men in the council, or the big men in the Templars?"

Matthews hesitated for a moment, then said, "I have been approached by both the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Council and the Presiding Judge of the Templars, and they want me to properly send back some information after I reach the mysterious East, so that they can make the right decision. ”

Matthews paused for a moment, then continued: "I can sense that they should represent the Speaker and His Majesty the Pope, respectively. ”

Elena said softly, "Matthews, believe me, this is a bad idea, if you do what they ask, you can only get a terrible result." ”

Matthews shrugged, "Elena, you're right, but I don't have a choice. ”

The two fell into a brief silence, and all that was left was the sound of the howling wind

After a long time, Matthews asked softly, "Elena, what about you, and why did you embark on this journey to the mysterious land of the East?"

Elena gave him a blank look, "I thought you wouldn't ask." ”

Matthews touched the bridge of his nose and didn't speak.

Elena muttered in a low voice, "Uncle Camuel wrote in the book that the East is covered with gold tiles, paved with gold bricks, the doors and windows are decorated with gold, and even the rivers are covered with rolling ores, and the East is simply a splendid world of gold, a paradise for adventurers. From the first time I saw this sentence, I became deeply interested in the legendary East, I longed for it there, I longed for it, and now I finally have the opportunity to set foot there, how could I miss it?"

Matthews smiled, "An adventurer's paradise, I'm afraid it's not that simple, the country of the steppe has a monarch, and the monarch will definitely protect his rights and interests, how can the mysterious empire that occupies most of the East allow outsiders to steal his wealth?"

Elena, who was still in high spirits, suddenly wilted like a frosted eggplant after hearing Matthews's words.

――

Zhongdu.

Lin Han's team slowly walked out of the gate of Zhongdu.

Xiao Yu and Lin Yinping saw him off in person.

Lin Yinping looked at his younger brother, who was already slightly taller than himself, a little sad about parting, and said melancholy: "Xiaohan, take care of everything after returning to the grassland, if there is any danger, come back to Zhongdu, if your brother-in-law doesn't allow it, come to my sister, and my sister will tell him!"

Xiao Yu, who was standing on the side, smiled helplessly.

Lin Han, who was already a prince, seemed to be the same boy in front of his sister, and made a grimace and joked: "Sister, governing the army requires military law, and you make it very difficult for your brother-in-law to do this." ”

Lin Yinping glanced at Xiao Yu and asked softly, "Lord Wang, are you embarrassed?"

Xiao Yu coughed lightly, shook his head and said, "Don't be embarrassed, don't be embarrassed." ”

After all, Lin Yinping was a person with a double body, so he couldn't stay for a long time, so after explaining a few words, he went back to the carriage.

Xiao Yu stretched out his hand and patted Lin Han's shoulder, "Leng Qian, what your sister said is right, human favor is more important than legal principles, this is an immutable principle." No matter how big the grassland is, it is not as big as human life, so just do your best. ”

Lin Han nodded silently.

Xiao Yu said softly: To deal with outsiders, we must pay attention to power and strategy, but to deal with this kind of half-baked own people, we must pay attention to human feelings. Employing people is not suspicious of suspicion, and the heart of guarding against people is indispensable, this truth has been said by the predecessors, but what to do, or to make their own ideas, sometimes, suspects also have to use, but also have to prevent, which is proportionate and hot to rely on your own control. ”

"But remember?"

Xiao Yu looked at Lin Han.

Lin Han nodded vigorously and said in a deep voice, "Remember!"