If you want to survive in the wild, shelter is extremely important.

Some sworn fiction biographies will always describe how a great hero can easily live in the wilderness for a long time without carrying any supplies, but the truth has never been as rosy as it is depicted in literature.

In real life, even the most elite survival experts like Henry will try their best to avoid falling into that state.

Survival is not child's play, and it naturally does not seem exciting and interesting. A person can survive without food for three weeks, without water for three days, and without shelter, for up to 3 hours in the limit state.

These limit states are storms, snow, or other crisis situations. But even on the sunny plains of Acasta, finding a good shelter when you have to spend the night in the wilderness is something that most people in their right minds do.

Only the aristocratic ladies and boys who think it is interesting to go out into the wild without anything to survive, and those who actually run to the trees and sleep for two nights like the white-haired Loan girl will understand that even the wooden beds in the cheap inns are full of all kinds of strange smells can feel like heaven compared to it.

Words go back to square one. It is certain that the castle will be the place to spend the night, but it has yet to be proven whether it is safe to live inside the castle, which has been inhabited for many years.

The forests of Protacia are quite large, and from the center of the Acasta Plain down the Garlil River, past several city-states of Avenella and many small villages, to the Valley, which borders the kingdom to the south and borders with the Tambur Mountains, the dense forests on the left belong to Protacia.

And right here in the Broken Canyon, a large part of this forest borders the forest at the foot of the Tambur Mountains.

As a result, a considerable number of beasts and monsters migrate to the forests of Protacia, perhaps to escape predators, to find food, or to perpetually.

Because the area is so vast and lush, no traveler will know what kind of creatures they might encounter in the forest. Therefore, it is common sense for everyone who travels on the Plains of Acasta to be cautious at all times—and Henry and they are no exception.

Night has fallen, but the homemade lighting tools are not difficult for these experienced adventurers. The best torch material you can find in the Protacian forest is the bark of the black pine of the Ekka pine, which can be made by peeling off the bark full of flammable pine resin, wrapping it with hay and dry pine needles, and fixing it tightly.

The group spent more than half an hour making a lot of torches, and then Henry took out the flint and set them on fire. The gradually lowering temperature of the night and the rest along the way made Mira somewhat refreshed, and she watched the warriors next to her take out the same flint and steel as Henry, and realized that she was the only one who didn't know this.

The girl followed the sage with a small torch that Henry had made for her, and the two of them slowly approached the entrance to the castle.

The gate was quite large, and the horses could be led directly into it.

It was so dark that it was bottomless, and the faint moonlight was blocked by the branches and leaves of various tree species, and there was nothing left, and even the light of the torches in everyone's hands could hardly shine into it.

The second bright moon emitted a not-so-bright moonlight, and the whole world was covered in a cold pale blue.

Standing at the entrance of the cave and listening to the howling autumn wind, Mira flinched, the warm orange of the torches could only illuminate such a small area in front of them, and beyond that, it looked as terrifying as eternal darkness.

Henry took a step, and the girl followed him closely.

Then someone else came in with their horses. They moved forward slowly, and though there was no sign of the ground except for the vines crawling around and the damp dirt, everyone was as careful as they could.

The archers put away their bows and stood tightly with their companions with their torches, and the three ladies also dismounted from their horses and stayed in the protective ring.

The squad of thirteen people was divided into two parts, which looked after the front and back sections of the horse team.

Several shield warriors held shields and looked around vigilantly, this kind of terrifying rumor about the ancient castle would not be lacking anywhere, and they slowly moved forward, one step at a time.

The passage to the door was quite wide, and there was room for a horse and two people to stand, but the clammy smell of walking near the wall made people feel very uncomfortable.

The "neighing" horses also showed similar emotions, and there seemed to be something in them that was disturbing them. But these excellent warhorses showed good qualities, and they obediently followed the guidance of their masters and slowly walked inward.

The clammy walls and musty air made several ladies cover their noses with handkerchiefs, and the sound of footsteps echoed through the empty and silent castle, making some of the mentally unhealthy people want to turn around and flee the place immediately.

Mira grabbed the corner of Henry's coat, and the sage did not react, he was carefully observing the structure of the castle and the weathering of its surface.

The mercenaries behind him may be worried about some monsters or even ghosts living here, but Henry himself is more concerned about whether the castle is still in good shape after all these years.

He didn't want his group to come and accidentally touch a vulnerable link and cause the entire castle to collapse.

The sage looked left and right, and the team leader behind him looked at him with a solemn expression.

"What are you looking at?" he asked Henry in a questioning tone, apparently not enough for half a day to let his suspicions go completely—and Henry turned his head, just one glance at him and then back.

Mercenaries and adventurers are often superstitious about strange things, because they are generally illiterate, but they always encounter unexplained things in this kind of work, and they are convinced by the current and very appropriate rumors such as 'the ghost leads the passerby into the castle of the jungle and never returns'.

"......" Henry didn't reply, making the team leader a little nervous, he contacted this person inexplicably, and at this moment he was almost about to believe that this passage was actually the devil's maw, and they were heading all the way to hell - but at this moment, Henry spoke.

"It's a Barlordian castle," the sage said, pressing his hand to the cold, grayish-white surface of the higher walls and no moss.

"If you're not familiar with it, I'll put it another way: it's a castle of the most popular style in West Valier two hundred years ago. Henry looked back at the men behind him, his light blue eyes reflecting the flickering light of the fire and looking like a ghost leading to death, and the sage continued.

"The typical character of the Barodian castle is that it is boxy and regular, and it is not too high on the outside and on the inside, continuing the customs of the West Valiers, who have done it in detail as simple and beautiful. ”

"This style of architecture was still used in the country for half a century, and it was not until the birth of Philippe Goethe that the great architect gave Avenella its first possession of the famous churches and castles with wonderful flying arches and spires. ”

Henry shrugged: "Even if the irony is that this so-called Avenella character was created by an architect who is half Sivalier blood, it is a remarkable achievement. ”

Henry said this, and the team leader frowned, "I can tell you know something about the castle, but what does that have to do with our overnight stay?"

He said this, and the others, including Mira, nodded in agreement.

Henry helplessly touched his forehead, it was terrible to be uneducated, he thought so and said, "It matters, of course it matters." ”

"Knowing the type of castle and considering the weathering and the signs of destruction of the stone pillars of the gate outside, as well as its distance from Ashinil, I can be sure that it is the city of Ashrinil in the past—" Henry paused: "The castle that was said to have been destroyed by the dragon"

"Dragon!" followed by an exclamation, and then the young lady covered her mouth again and blushed.

"Rest assured, ma'am, even if it were a dragon that had been through two hundred years, it would have only one skeleton left, not to mention that I didn't believe in the legend at all. Henry shrugged, and the team leader raised an eyebrow again and asked, "How so?"

"Traces. Henry raised an eyebrow and replied, "The damage on the outside looks more like a catapult than a wyvern with sharp teeth and fire, and I guess that Ashenir must have clashed with the people of Sivalier." ”

"It's like this, and the newborn and fragile Avenella buried it for the sake of the relationship between the two countries, which is probably why people don't know that such a castle exists in the middle of the dense forest just 70 kilometers away. The sage said, and the team leader nodded.

"I admire you very much. He said in a tone without a hint of admiration, "But what does this help us now?"

"Helpful, great help". Henry shrugged his shoulders, then walked down the aisle and into a hall.

"Knowing that it's Ashinier, we can systematically try to find its lounge, a kind of well-enclosed and probably undamaged place, well, a typical Barrowdian castle would have the arsenal in the room on the left, and diagonally opposite the ......," Henry turned the torch to the other side, and in the mossy and grassy hall, a tightly closed, rotten wooden door that had turned dark black was clearly visible.

"Step, step, step, step" The sage walked over, and Mira followed him closely.

"Come, get it for me," Henry handed the girl his torch, for some of the Mira could only hold it, and she stood there looking at Henry like the others who walked into the hall afterwards, wondering what he wanted to do, and the next second, the former turned his back to it in front of the wooden door.

Then, like a horse, he lifted his right foot and kicked it hard with his heel on the surface of the blackened wooden door.

"Bang-hu-la-"

Over the years, the wooden door had been rotten and easily crumbled, and countless insects that had hidden in it fled in panic and burrowed into the tiny crevices that the fire could not reach.

"Come on. Henry took the torch from Mira's hand, and he stretched it forward, and the torch lit up the boxy lounge.

"It's not bad. Henry smiled, and the squad leader next to him put away his weapon and walked over with only a torch.

The lounge is not big or small, and it looks just right for a dozen people to rest.

In addition to some ventilating openings on the sides and at the top, it has six stone beds, also made of gray and white stones—large enough to sleep two or three people, and some moss, but only in the lower pedestal position.

The high stone bed keeps people away from the humidity of the ground, and if a fire is lit, there is enough warmth in the relatively confined space to spend a peaceful night.

"It's really good. The team leader finally breathed a sigh of relief when he looked at the team members with relaxed expressions on their faces, and then he stretched out his hand to Henry: "Bernie Cleveland." The sturdy Bernie said this to Henry, and the sage shook his hand back and gave his name.

The handshake was a considerable representation of the other party's recognition and friendship with him, and Henry's goal was achieved, and for the time being, these people should all be on the same side as them—he turned his head to look at Mira, and the girl was relieved to be able to find such a place where she could sleep well.

Several mercenaries took out the torches they had prepared from their horses and some firewood that they had picked up before it was dark, and if they were in the field, they would have attracted unwanted attention, but here they could safely light a fire to warm themselves and roast hot food.

Night had fully fallen, and the horses had been placed in the hall outside, and the group had a place to stay in the rest room where the campfire was lit.

Henry looked at this scene full of tranquility, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled, but then he inadvertently turned his head, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of something outside, as if something was about to move in the darkness.

The dark shadow lurked in the corner, its eyes reflected the firelight, staring at them, even Henry couldn't help but shudder, he grabbed the short knife and stood up, and at the same time shouted to warn everyone.

"Be careful, I guess we're not the only ones here"

He said this, and as the sage's words suddenly fell into a quiet darkness, only the cold breath and the rustling voice that had become clear at some point echoed alone.