The shouts and sounds of running behind him were getting farther and farther away, and no one would pay attention to such a figure for the entire chaotic town of Kugil. If other people run around aimlessly in order to survive, they simply want to be as far away from the battlefield as possible. Then his purpose is clearer - to return to the beginning of the matter, and at the same time to the end.

Betma had already ripped off her disguise and walked carefully in the darkness of the street corners, avoiding the bandons of guards rushing to the city gates. The notes in the palms of his hands were already soaked with cold sweat and stuck together wet. When he first saw those simple words, boundless shock enveloped his heart like a mist growing in the dark night, colder and colder, and there was no hope in sight.

Who, why, and how?...... Many questions popped up in silence, like a howling ghost, tearing at Betma's ears. When the first voice of betrayal played a faint trilling sound in the bottom of his heart, Betma even pumped his mouth hard, and he was extremely ashamed of his vacillation.

But evil thoughts are like a strong wind blowing through the rocks, it will use time to smooth the edges and corners, and finally in the slightest crevice, completely destroy all the once insistence, until it collapses without a trace. What's even more terrifying is that the human heart is sometimes far less hard than a rock.

Betma succumbed, succumbing to growing fear. At first, he thought it would be a painful thing to do, but when the words were shouted in the crowd, he found himself much more relaxed. Yes, it's that simple to do evil.

In the alley across from a tavern, Betma stopped, where he and the drunkard had collided. He was waiting for the other party to reappear and give him a satisfactory result.

After a while, it seemed that the chaotic town had gradually quieted down, and just as Betma's remaining patience was about to dissipate, a calm voice came from behind him. "I think you're waiting for me ......"

The chief of the guard was suddenly startled, turned back suddenly, pulled out the dagger in his sleeve, and held it horizontally in front of him. Following the sound, I saw a tall man slowly walking out of the shadows deep in the alley. A black stand-up collar jacket with gold wire hemming, a snow-white scarf, and a faint smile on his fair face, I have to say that this is an elegant man. The only thing that was a little surprising was that there was a foggy gray in his eyes.

"Take it easy, in a way, we are friends, not enemies......" the man said as he walked, "so far, I have no ill will. ”

Betma raised the dagger in his hand. "Don't come here again," he glared at the ground beneath the man's feet, "this distance is good for you and me." ”

The man was stunned for a moment, but quickly stopped. "As you wish, my friend ......," he said, and he bowed gracefully as he stretched out his richly embroidered sleeve, "and my name is Eshkant, and I hope that this answer will save you a question." Say, my friend, and see what I can do for you. ”

"Reward!" Betma said coldly, "I have made my own choice, and I will take my fair share of the reward!"

"Bang bang bang...... Eshkant smiled and applauded. "Very good, simple, crisp and straight to the point. He tugged at the edge of his sleeve and continued, "As for the payment, that's what you deserve. However, you need to make another choice. ”

Betma frowned and didn't speak.

"The first option, I'll give you a lot of money, far more than you think. Whether it's incognito in the kingdom of Orem or in other realms, it's all right. Eshkant paused, stared at Betma and continued, "The second option, I will tell you a name—the name of my master. You can choose whether or not to be loyal to him, however, if after you hear the name, choose to refuse. Trust me, you're going to die here in no time. ”

As soon as Eshkant's words were finished, Betma found himself stared at by several cold, murderous auras, even though it seemed that there were only the two of them in the narrow alley in front of him. However, he never doubted the truth of the other party's words.

The chief of the guard clenched the dagger in his hand, and a fine layer of cold sweat overflowed from his forehead. It was a difficult choice, and it seems that the first one was more secure and safe. But the second is more tempting and contains infinite possibilities, the problem is simply that with it comes obvious dangers.

"Don't worry, my friend......" said Eshkant, "we have to face too many choices in our lives, the more we are young, the fewer we are old." Among the many choices, we slowly chose the final self. I like to call those fateful choices opportunities. Not everyone has the opportunity to choose their destiny on their own. Trust me and cherish your few opportunities......"

Betma gritted his gums hard, and a hint of gambler-like madness flashed in his eyes. "Tell me that name!" he whispered, straightening up and tossing the dagger to the ground. In the current situation, resistance is already an extremely stupid thing to do.

Eshkant smiled, seemingly unsurprised by Betma's choice. He squinted, opened his lips, and whispered a name.

In an instant, the head of the guard's eyes widened, and his mouth opened in fright, making an intermittent "gurgling" sound. The next moment, he suddenly fell to one knee. "The Former Guard Chief, Bet Ma, is at your service. ”

Betma lowered his head, because in front of that name, he was an insignificant existence at all, and the other party didn't even have the need to deceive himself.

"Wise choice! It's always nice to be dealing with smart people. Eshkan nodded and said, "Get up, my friend, and welcome to the ranks of the hunters!"

"Yes, my lord!" replied Betmar at once, and stood up.

"The master once said that only the interests that cannot be separated, and the right to be strong enough to obey, can be exchanged for true loyalty, and everything else is a vanity. Eshkant quipped, "Let's go, get out of Kugil." Thanks to the foolish sheriff, our prey has escaped from the siege......" he glanced at Betma beside him.

Betma was stunned for a moment, and asked a little nervously: "Your Highness, they actually escaped?!"

"Yes, the blacksmith bought his life for time, and finally cut the ropes of the wooden gate and trapped the guards in the city. Eshkant replied lightly.

The chief of the guard didn't speak again, his eyes were cold, and there was no warmth in them. After the change of position, many things became more brutal. For him, Sovereign and his party must die.

"Don't worry, my friend. At this moment, our Highness also has a choice. "Unfortunately, no matter what you choose, the result is the same. ”

With that, the two of them walked into the depths of the alley, and finally disappeared in the shadows of the sun.

......

As Eshkant said, after fleeing for a long time, Sovereign had to stop them. It's not that the situation is safe, but that there is a problem in front of us that must be solved immediately.

At the bottom of Echo Canyon, several disorganized bloody men were riding on horseback, looking at the forks in the road in different directions and hesitating. Before their eyes, the great landlord god Zankoravi showed his most majestic side. The clear blue sky was squeezed into a narrow line by the cliffs that stood on either side, hanging high above the head. A clear light of heaven hung down from above, illuminating the darkness in the valley floor. From time to time, the breeze that walked here blew through the weathered rock wall of the Debut, whimpering, as if someone was weeping and screaming.

High overhanging crevices like this, as well as isolated mountain cliffs, stretch throughout Echo Canyon. If you look at it from above, it looks like a piece of earth cracked by a severe lack of water. The people in it are just tiny ants, and if they are not careful, they will be completely lost.

In front of him was a flat avenue that stretched deep into the canyon, though it was rough as far as the eye could see. But it is clear that the road is perennially walked and is not so desolate. On the other side, it was not like this at all, and if it weren't for the deliberate reminders of Tandra and Old Sean, Essaoweran wouldn't even be able to see that the trail that plunged into the crevices between the cliffs was actually a "road" in the true sense of the word.

"What shall we do?" said Old Sean with a frown, the blood stains on his body that had congealed and dried up as he moved, "It will take us at least a day to walk south along this road before we can get out of Echo Canyon and see Lone Rock City." ”

Thomas looked at the people around him with difficulty, and objectively speaking, everyone present was injured to varying degrees. The most serious was Soveland, whose face was already pale from blood loss, and even the least injured Kuhl had a deep wound on his arm. "With the current situation, it won't take us a day before we're going to catch up, and we will. He shook his head and said.

"Can't you avoid the main path?" Paislin continued, taking a deep breath, "I mean, burrowing into the crevices of the countless crisscrossed cliffs, where the terrain is big enough to hide us all. ”

"I'm afraid, no," Kuhl said with a wry smile...... "It's so big that if we leave the main road and don't need to be pursued by the guards behind us, we'll be completely lost in it, and we'll never get out again." ”

Tandra sighed, his face overflowing with unspeakable pain, but the pain didn't come from the wound on the ** at all. Kuhl is right, no one has yet drawn a map of Echo Canyon, and there is only a partial sketch in the Holy See of Order. He said, "It's too dangerous to venture out of the Lord's way." ”

Sovereign wrapped a bandage around the wound on his arm, then bit down on the end with his teeth and tied a dead knot. He wanted to persuade Tandra, because he could see that a series of tragedies had brought about some imperceptible changes in this tower-like man. But Sovereign didn't know how to speak, and after all, he didn't say anything, just subconsciously avoided the topic.

"In short, we're only going west for now, right?" Sovereign hesitated, but said anyway, "In other words, we're going into the Death Mist Swamp, right?"

His words caused an eerie silence in the crowd. In fact, for the subjects of Orem, the westernmost Death Fog swamp of the kingdom is basically an unknown land. The legends about it have become scary ghost stories for children before they go to bed. But one thing is well known, there is always a fog that cannot be dispersed, and the fact that once you enter, it is basically the same as death.

"Let's go to the Death Mist Swamp!" Tandra said in a low voice, looking at the crowd, "If we're lucky, we can go from the Death Mist Swamp to the western border of the Western Province." "In any case, it is better to be chased and besieged to death." ”

"I'm in favor. Old Sean said, "Only there can we get rid of the entanglement of our pursuers." It's a bit risky, but it's the best thing to do. ”

The rest of the young men glanced at each other, and they all saw a decisive color in each other's eyes. "Let's go, then, let's go to the Death Mist Swamp!" said Soveland, gripping the reins of his horse.

Soon, before the fork in the road at the bottom of the valley, the fleeing crowd collectively reversed direction. After a slight pause, we plunged headlong into the cliffs along the looming path.