Chapter 30: The Attackers

Dawn has come. ()

Perhaps surprised by the squad's astonishing reaction speed, the enemy did not show up in the night. Only occasionally a few arrows and a few stones were shot. Two hours after the attack, the camp had returned to calm, but Martin and his party were not sure if there were still people outside, so they continued to lie dormant in their hiding place, not daring to move. As the campfire gradually dimmed, Martin and the others were no longer in a disadvantageous environment where they could be attacked at will.

The stalemate continued, and Jill heard someone whistling to his mount, while Martin did his best to stabilize the mood of several animals, but the next morning, the reins of a mule and a horse were severed, and the remaining animals waited for Martin in a daze, not knowing what had happened in the mess last night.

Martin looked around with his sword in hand, and he found that fifteen men had attacked him the night before.

"Some of them are still barefoot," Martin said, staring carefully at the messy pile of footprints, "and here, you see, their arrows are very rough. This group of people is not a big role, it is estimated that they are homeless people in the swamp. ”

"Do these people have anything to do with the Chanda soldiers we're looking for?" , an attendant asked, puzzled.

"Renault is their crystallization", Martin laughed, turned around and covered Renault's head with his palm, "Young man, you should know them well."

Renault shook his head, "My mother said that we are different from them, they sharpen their knives and grab things, and we weave nets to catch fish. Not all the people who live in the swamps are thieves, but every time the patrols are attacked by thieves, they can't find them to take revenge, so they break into our village and take revenge."

"Anyway", Martin waited for Renault to finish, then asked in a slower tone, "who the hell are they you should know a little bit, right?" After you yelled twice last night, they obviously didn't let the cold arrows come again. ”

"I can understand them," Renault said, looking at an arrow broken from a tree in Martin's hand, "but they weren't with us, they were deeper in the swamp, on the east side of the swamp." Mom taught them 'flower face people' because they always put paint on their faces. They used to live together, but then the Wikibians burned down their village, and they lived in a scattered area, and Mom said that's why their people were the most vulnerable to thieves. ”

The faces of several of the attendants had visibly become ugly, perhaps because of what had happened last night that made them feel terrible. The swamp seemed strange and dangerous, and it is said that caravans often disappeared into the swamp, leaving nothing behind. These young men were reluctant to follow in their footsteps, but fortunately they had not been in the swamp for very long, and it was too late to turn around and go back.

Martin saw the meaning of a few of his subordinates, and he himself didn't want to break around without a clue, mainly because he was worried about what would happen to Jill.

"Jill", Martin handed the broken arrow in his hand to Renault, who had been staring curiously, and then tightened the sword into the scabbard and said, "I think it's better for us to go back." We didn't prepare for anything this time, although we showed up in the surrounding villages before entering the swamp, but who can be sure if the Zen masters knew we were coming? And I'm worried that the Zen people didn't find out that we were coming, but that the outlaws were ready to wait for us to fall into the net. ”

"Are you going back like this?" Although she had spent the night huddled nervously in the bushes, Jill seemed to regain her spirits, "No, we have to find those people. And I have a feeling that last night's group of people will have something to do with the Zenda soldiers."

"Hah", Martin began to instruct his men to clean up the bags scattered on the ground, "If you want to talk about it, I guess they often fight." In the case of the Chanda soldiers I know, it is possible for them to commit suicide, but it is absolutely impossible for them to participate in the robbery. Well, there are fewer animals, we can't take too many things, we have to find a place to bury this big vat of flour, otherwise they will drag themselves down. ”

"No," Jill said, finding a stone and sitting down, "put the flour here." Just like the gift we gave to those last night. I guess they're watching us somewhere right now, so wherever we bury the flour, we'll be able to dig it out with our front foot and back foot. It's better for us to take the initiative to give it to them."

Martin didn't object, but he used his marching hammer to knock a small hole in the lower end of the flour bucket and let the flour spill out.

"Before those bastards come to pick up the bargains," Martin put away his marching hammer and looked at some of the swamp finches flying low around him, "Let's feed the birds first."

The team was soon on the road again, and at Jill's insistence, the team continued towards the heart of the swamp. Looking around, except for a faint cloud in the distance, the blue sky is now bright and open, and it looks like an ordinary afternoon. But Martin sniffed the air around him like a wolf and concluded that there must be heavy rain tonight. It is said that the reason Martin has this ability is that he has rheumatism in his legs, and he can feel a cloud the size of a fingernail.

The smell of humidity permeated the swamps, and the occasional half-muddy mix of dead small animals made the plains seem empty and monotonous. Several of the attendants carried their spears over their shoulders and looked listlessly around.

Occasionally, a wild orange tree or two dotted the dark ground, showing a dull green, and the orange trees here do not grow everywhere like Rhodoc, and the oranges they produce are not at all delicious.

Jill always remembered the taste of Rhodok kumquats. Whenever he thought of the smell of oranges, saliva naturally welled up from his lips. It was a long time ago, when Master Arcadio came back from a trip to the city, he would wrap dozens of golden oranges in a paper bag and dump them in a wooden basin, and Jill would wash them impeccably and polish them one by one, looking very beautiful.

Jill smiled slightly, letting her memories be pulled away by an orange tree.

For a few hours, Jill had to admit that Martin's speculation was correct, that the small dark cloud had obscured the small half of the sky, and it seemed that it was still expanding rapidly, and from time to time there was a dull thunder from afar, and the insects of early spring flew low close to the water, "the wings of those insects were stained with too much water", and the old housekeeper once said that the insects before the rain were "like people who covet too much, and they can't fly high."

Jill's memory is interrupted by Martin's questioning.

"Mr. Jill," Martin said to Jill after summing up the route with one of his retinue, "if you don't want to be drenched in the rain, I'm afraid we'll have to hurry, so you can take some grievances." ”

With the help of several retinues, Jill climbed onto the back of a mule with difficulty, and was led forward by his retinue.

The squad, which had abandoned walking, moved at a noticeable speed. By the time the raindrops finally started to fall on the ground, the team had found a crack in the rock, which was not bad, except that a little rain would come in when the wind was blowing, but it was much stronger than being drenched outside.

After packing up their things, several people sat around to keep each other warm. Soon, several of the attendants began to nap with their eyes closed, and only one was sent a few dozen paces away to be a sentry, and Martin promised him to take him in the middle of the night.

Jill wrapped the blanket tightly and soon fell asleep.

By the time Jill woke up again, Martin and several of his followers had woken up, their swords in their hands.

Seeing Jill wake up, Martin, who was strapping his helmet on his head, reminded, "Stay here, don't go anywhere", under the leadership of Martin, several entourages were pale, but they still bravely rushed into the rain.

The sound of a thunderstorm came, and there was a faint noise of noise. Jill didn't seem surprised, he knew that the group of people last night would definitely have contact with him, either tonight or tomorrow.

Jill was right, and the chances of being attacked tonight were the greatest, as some caravans let their guard down shortly after being attacked once, at which point the shrewd raiders would organize a second attack.

The voice gradually subdued, and Gil sat down on the edge of the stone.

When Renault woke up and learned what had happened, he trembled with fear.

"Come out", said the silent Jill suddenly, his voice full of power, "if you hear it, come out".

There seemed to be dark elves whispering from inside the rain curtain, and Jill waited for a response from the men.

Renaud leaned over Jill and shivered.

Finally, a muffled voice came through, speaking something that Jill couldn't understand.

"Do you know what they're talking about?" Jill stared at the rain curtain and asked Renault without replying.

"Sir, I can't hear clearly", Renault shook his head and looked out in fear, "'horses', 'food', 'return people' and so on." They were speaking with an accent, and it was raining, so I couldn't hear clearly'''"

"Oh, they're telling us to give them horses and food, and then they'll exchange people back."

"Sir, what shall we do?"

"You ask them to send someone over, and I'm going to talk to him."

"I don't dare to let them come'''"

"Then you tell them I'm going over."

"It's raining, sir, you'll get drenched when you go out."

"I have to meet them, do I?" , Jill smiled, then touched Renault's head, "Say it", Jill gestured to stand up.

At this time, Renault gritted his teeth, and then shouted a few words into the rain curtain. Hearing it, Renault's voice was full of tremors, and a few words were repeated several times.

"Sir, I asked them to come over, but they didn't reply," Renault stopped when he saw a ghostly figure suddenly appear from through the rain curtain around the cracks in the stone.

The man's hair was long and messy, wet and struck on the chain mail he was wearing, the man was tightly wrapped in armor, and the leather boot on his left foot was still covered with animal hair, and a few thick leather cords tied the man's equipment firmly to his body, making him look very lean and strong.

The man looked at the two men, then muttered a few words at Renault.

"Sir, he asked if you were in charge."

"Yes."

Renault said a few more words to the man.

"Sir," said Reynolds dejectedly, "he said that he would ask for flour, a bucket of flour for one man, and that he would raise it in a month, and then kill one captive a week after that time." ”

"Tell him I'm angry."

"Sir'''?"

"Tell him."

As Renault stumbled a few words, the man gave a grim expression and then said a few threatening words.

"What did he say?" , Jill asked Renault.

"He said, '''He said he won't bargain with you, and he will increase the price, and now he has to have two buckets of flour per person, or he will cut off their ears.'''

"You tell him that I'm not angry because I feel sorry for the flour, it's because he thinks of us so lowly. Tell him, 'My attendant I will give him ten barrels of flour for one; Martin, I gave him a hundred buckets of flour in exchange; As for myself, tell him that if he is willing to hide in the swamp for the rest of his life and eat flour, he will drive me away as soon as possible, and the flour of the whole world will not be as precious to them as I am to them. If they want a chance to get out of the swamp, take me to meet his leader. ”

Such complicated words made Renault have no idea where to translate, so he could only pick up a few words that he could say. But the man seemed to understand as soon as he heard it, and laughed a few times, seeing that Jill's expression was obviously more curious than fierce. Then the man tapped his chest and shouted a few sonorous words at Jill, as if to express something unquestionable.

"Sir," said Renault, "he said he was the leader here." ”

"You tell him that I don't do business with people who only have flour in their eyes, and I want to see his real leader."

Renault truthfully conveyed Jill's words.

The man didn't seem to be provoked, but quickly disappeared into the rain curtain. Soon after, the man returned with a group of men, and brought a group of people from the night who had been beaten to the point of bruising and swollen faces.

Some of the ragged men in cloaks around looked at Jill curiously. Jill's words just now surprised these people.

Jill looked at the men, searching for something until he saw a man in iron boots and carrying a longbow.

"This man is their chief."

The man was also looking at Jill, and when he saw that Jill was looking at him, the man muttered, "This Nord is interesting."

This phrase is in the words of Old Calard--- that is, the language that appears only in ancient astronomical or philosophical texts.

Jill smiled, these grammars were taught to him by Lord Arcadio himself.

"You're funny, too."

Jill replied in standard Gukarard dialect.