In the dark morning mist, the Sword Castle ushered in a new day. [(7764)] As the literal meaning describes, there is no rising sun today, the sky is covered with dark clouds, and black clouds are rolling on the horizon in the distance, as if a violent storm is brewing.

The second handwritten letter of the Prophet Muhammad was placed on the table of the Istaruns, in the same low-key and humble tone as ever, and the terms of the negotiations were changed only slightly. In the previous letter, the Prophet expressed his willingness to share the city with the Istalans, while on this letter more detailed conditions for negotiations were laid out. The Brotherhood is willing to submit to the Ixtalon and give them the reintellment, but in return, the Ixtalon must also take over the defense of the Sword Keep.

Compared to the first letter, this time the prophet was clearly full of sincerity, and even hinted in the letter that many issues were discussed. This was a big surprise for the Istaron exiles who had just finished a long journey.

"There is no pie in the sky, and that prophet is not an ordinary character who is willing to be subservient to men. The more humble his attitude is, the more indicative it is that something is wrong. If we accept negotiations, we will fall into his trap. Rolana remained suspicious of Muhammad, or rather, she knew as much as she did about calculating sages, who never considered the lower limit when planning the layout.

If she were to lead the Isttalon army, Lolana would not hesitate to split the second messenger into five ponies, and then go all out to uproot the remnants of the Brotherhood. The best enemy is the dead enemy, and the dead enemy does not pose a threat. The advantage of this is that it is simply neat and does not leave any trouble, but the disadvantage is that in the case of the brotherhood dog jumping over the wall in a hurry, his own people will inevitably suffer certain losses.

From the side of friend or foe, Lolana made the right choice, but as the leaders of the exiles of Isttalen, Tiana and El had more to think about.

After a long journey through the brown hills, the depletion of the exiles is quite severe, and the overall situation is not optimistic. The proportion of women and children in this team is too large, and it has congenital deficiencies in terms of physical fitness, and the reason why it has survived until now is all supported by the tenacious willpower of the northerners.

If you don't reach your destination, it's fine, gritting your teeth and persevering, you can always keep going. But now that the Sword Fort has been captured by chance, the city is small but still protected by walls, and it can barely be regarded as a suitable shelter. However, exiles are just ordinary civilians after all, and as long as this breath is relaxed, it may not be so simple to set off again.

Inertia is the original sin of mankind, and if it is not a matter of life and death, who can be willing to leave their homeland. The road ahead is still long, but now there is a shelter from the wind and rain, even if they know that the danger behind them is approaching step by step, most people still have a fluke mentality in their hearts, and would rather use their lives to block the possibility that one in 10,000 does not exist, hoping that they can escape the gaze of death.

"I feel the rancid smell of the undead approaching, the city is not safe, but now we must also rest, otherwise the children will not be able to go further. Tiana gazed at the prophet's letter and said to herself.

"As long as the Masonry Brotherhood remains here, we won't have any security at all. Lolana said with a frown.

"On the map, the distance from Fort of Swords to the Camille Heath is less than two hundred kilometers, and it is a plain area with a network of transportation roads. At our previous speed, it would take us more than half a month to get there. El knocked on the table and said in a deep voice: "By that time it will be just in time for the autumn harvest, and no matter what Churkin's attitude towards us, at least we can find a way to get food." And the surplus food here has been eaten up by the refugees, and I don't think it's worth staying. ”

"You're right, but we really can't walk anymore. Tiana picked up another report from the table, rubbed her temples and said bitterly, "This is the report of Monsieur Bonaparte and Mademoiselle Mediaa in the morning, and the number of our patients has risen considerably since we entered the city, although most of them are prostration from exhaustion, not a great problem, but these people must be well rested." ”

"How much time will we have if we stay?" El asked bluntly. Anyone who has escaped from Isttalon is familiar with the black shadow on the horizon, the dark canopy that accompanies the army of the undead. In the morning, El climbed to the mountain pass and estimated that the shadows were still far away from the Sword Castle, at least a week, but he preferred to listen to Tiana's opinion in this regard. When it comes to dealing with the undead, the girl is far more experienced than his half-ass.

"According to the intelligence, the provinces on both the east and west may have been overrun by the plague, and Count Kemal's resistance is unlikely to last long, so we cannot have any good illusions. Tiana pulled the map, drew a circle around the Sword Keep with her fingernails, and said seriously, "This area is all hilly and mountainous, and even an army of the undead who don't need to rest will be able to maintain a normal pace. It takes them at least a week to climb the mountains, and we have to stay with them for at least three days, which is the safest distance. In other words, we won't be left with more than four days to recuperate. ”

"The premise is that we have to negotiate with the Brotherhood, otherwise we will be in a lot of trouble to keep them here. Lolana said unhappily, "Then we have to reach a reconciliation with the local strength of the Sword Castle, otherwise we won't be able to rest at all." ”

"It's easy to handle this side of Sword Castle, after all, their new head of the family is still with us, and I'll take care of them. El nodded and said, "As for the Brotherhood, we can drag it out, as long as it drags on for these four days, let's just leave and let them die." ”

"Well, that's a solution, Miss Tiana, and I can take care of that. Lorana sighed and said, "I'm more worried about our internal problems than those unfashionable mobs." ”

"I'll take care of the internal issues...... For now, let's hurry up. Tiana covered her forehead and whispered.

It was past nine o'clock in the morning, and the sky was still overcast, and the fog blocked the sunlight, and it looked as if the sky was mourning for the future of the city. Tiana began to convene an impromptu meeting of the parties' representatives, but El did not think that such a meeting would help much for the current situation. He also had his own work to attend to, and despite the brief respite for now, he still didn't dare to let his army relax as well.

Palanti led the Black Knight on his way, while Ahmed led the Mountain Hunters back into the forest behind him, keeping an eye on the undead in the distance. There are troubles on both sides of the front and back, and it is impossible to be too cautious no matter how cautious. El himself rebuilt the city's defenses in the army, leaving the task of cleaning up the remnants of the Brotherhood to General Hank and his Night's Watch warriors.

Compared to those political troubles, the real headache for El was the Night's Watch force currently under his command, and General Hank's commitment to him was limited to the area of the brown hills, and it was unknown what he was thinking now. In order to prevent this abandoned army that belonged to the enemy camp from making a big deal one day, it is a good idea to find them a job that can divert their attention anyway, and it is a good idea to put it on the side of the Brotherhood.

El finds himself becoming more and more of a shameless politician.

In a secluded and uninhabited small house in the depths of the city forcibly occupied by the Istarons, El met with Schimako and Diana.

Miss Would-Swordmaster's injuries were not particularly serious, thanks to the mercy of the puppeteer's men. What really brought her into a coma was the poison in her body. This poison is not fatal to a powerhouse of her level, but it is very difficult to deal with, and it is more likely to aggravate the symptoms in the case of physical exhaustion. Although the problem is not complicated, the ordinary temple priests are still helpless about it, and can only hope that Diana's own body will recover. Sleep is a healthy body's protective mechanism, but with this level of self-recovery alone, it's hard to say when she'll wake up.

Simako sat beside the maiden, and waited all night without sleep, his eyes bloodshot. The injuries on his body are also very serious, and yesterday he was only temporarily controlled by medication. Although his life has been saved now, it is obvious that he is also a wasted person, and staying here is purely a psychological problem.

"I suggest you go wash your face now, eat something and get some good sleep. El walked in with a basket of bread and wine, and said earnestly to Ximako. After capturing the Sword Keep, the team's food reserves were immediately replenished, so that they could eat fresh bread. This is tantamount to absorbing the blood of the people of Sword Castle, but El did not feel half guilty, the rebellion had nothing to do with him, and later the city was broken, and these civilians were not killed by him, and he enjoyed these ownerless food without any psychological pressure.

It turned out that El was still thinking a little too much, and as a nobleman, Ximako did not even think about the origin of these breads, and after listening to him say this, he picked up the wine bottle for a while, and then gulped it down, and it seemed that he was indeed hungry enough.

"How's going in the city?" asked Ximako, who had regained a little regain his life, and asked in a hoarse voice.

"The Sword Castle has fallen, and the North Wind family is probably dead. The Masonry Brotherhood killed many people, regardless of the nobility and commoners. And we killed them all night, and now everyone is tired and ready to negotiate. Elyi said simply.

Ximako nodded numbly, as a silver-rank powerhouse, he could hear the news from the outside even if he was sitting here, just wanting to get a positive answer from El. After escaping from the puppeteer, he didn't dare to stay in the noble district at all. As a great swordsman who was dedicated to martial arts, he didn't have the smart mind to bargain with those old immortals.

At that time, the only people he could trust were the strange and familiar Isttalons, so without saying a word, he ran over with his eldest lady.

"I heard that the puppeteer was killed?" asked Shimako, who was silent for a moment, then raised his head to look into El's eyes.

"Well, it was your ancestors' hands, and I picked up a bargain by the way. El moved his finger and nodded.

"I have no way to repay you and Miss Tiana for your kindness, but this life can be counted. Ximako looked back at the unconscious girl, took a deep breath and stood up and said to El Zhengse, "I am willing to use the vault of the Sword Castle in exchange for you to eradicate the Brotherhood and avenge the Sword Castle!"

Source of the novel: Ran Book Library (Jiangsu Net)