A dove flew in front of me and spoke to me

It says, "You're going to fly back."

"Where are you going?" I asked him

"Come back to the valley"

The mural I saw at Fandra came to my mind: gravel paths winding through forest valleys, white castles surrounded by wheat fields, verdant mountains in the distance, and high clouds

The pigeon's eyes dripped blood, "You must fly back"

"Ding Ding Ding"

A rapid brass bell sounded, which woke me up and countless people began to shout, under the cabin, two rows of paddle stretched out of the cabin, inserted into the water, splashed white water pulp, and the pulp hands shouted in unison, each beat corresponded to a paddling action, I clearly felt that the hull was moving fast, smooth and brisk, after a day and a night of sailing, we finally arrived at the opposite shore at dawn

I opened my eyes and saw the light coming through the cracks in the canopy of the cabin

The people in the cabin were getting up one after another, someone opened the curtain and walked in, shouting loudly, let everyone get ready to land in half an hour, I heard the whistling wind, and even some birds, I thought there were no birds in winter, the sky outside looked gray, flashed, only the halo shone brightly, the cold air rushed in, and the half-asleep people began to cough

"You're awake," Giovanni said, sitting beside me, tightening his belt and cleaning the crumbs and head from his cloak, "I hear you talking in your sleep."

"What dreams?" The dreams that were clear just now have begun to gradually become blurred, but I remember that there are white doves and a valley

I yawned and rubbed my eyes

"White dove," said Giovanni, "I hear you don't remember what happened before you were adopted?" ”

"Yes"

"Uh, I guess you dreamed about the past, I heard 'Acre' or something," Giovanni shaved the stubble on his chin with a knife, "Do you have any impressions?" ”

I suddenly sobered up

"'Acre?' I asked him, "Did I say anything else?" ”

"No, you just say a few words, and then you wake up," said Giovanni, "but Victor, I've heard stories of soldiers on the battlefield who forget their most terrible memories by themselves, and those who have lost their loved ones suddenly can't remember what their loved ones look like, which may be sad, but for those people, it may be a kind of compassion."

"Compassion?" I couldn't keep up with Giovanni's words

"Well," Giovanni nodded, "It would be nice if I could forget a lot of things for the rest of my life," Giovanni fell into a brief deep thought

I continued to ask him some questions, all pestering him to ask him if my dream talk revealed anything about my previous life experience, but Giovanni couldn't say anything, and I could see that he didn't want to dwell on this issue anymore, so I sighed and stopped bothering him

Giovanni took out two pieces of coarse grain bread, asked a boy with the boat for a bag of water, and ate it silently with me

The boatmen around us sang and walked around us, the sailors shouted for the merchants in the boats to get out of the way, the shouts and curses came one after another, and the deep and powerful voices of the sailors came rhythmically

Finally, the boat shuddered, and leaned against the shore

A doctor came over and hastily quarantined us, then agreed to let us ashore, and the people around me scrambled towards the hatch, and Giovanni led me out of the cabin

A bitter cold wind blew my cloak tighter, and after the faint mist on the docks cleared, the whole world appeared before me: dock workers moving goods back and forth, some cattle shuddering in the mud dragging carts, wheat straw on top of a straw hut was blown everywhere by the wind, steaming stoves were boiling water, and dirty people were sitting around and chatting with each other

As far as the eye can see, the large town area stretches out, and the round dome of the church is like the sun on the horizon, ringing bells in the distance, and the architectural styles are varied, some of which are dilapidated wooden buildings, others are Western-style stone buildings, and this place looks like a combination of Valankov and Little East Lake City

Ali's men had a carriage waiting on the docks, and when we boarded the docks, we jumped into their carriages, and a Creelian gave a few words to a dock keeper about their cargo, and left the dock, and the keeper was flattering to them, and bent over like a river shrimp

We walked along the central stone road, and I looked curiously through the car window at the face of the town, there were many ruins, continuous streets were burned down, some houses were left with black frames, some were simply rubble, and some of the people with dull eyes sat on the edge of the ruins, with a vial beside them, and a few dead branches in it; Others were carrying buckets and brushes cleaning the charred stone ruins; In some areas, craftsmen are busy erecting wooden beams and stones and rebuilding

The traces of war are everywhere

Catching my gaze, a Creelian pursed his lips, "A year and a half ago, this was rubble."

"Allah willing," the man twitched, "the soldiers of the Burks and their mercenaries, the heretics of the forest, surrounded the city; The battleships of the Berks sailed out of the Novtole River and surrounded the docks and they gave us ten days to leave the city Salanders, the Burke diaspora, the Creelids, the Westerners, and so on," the man twisted his shoulders, and then he showed a look of disgust, "We're going to leave from these people on our knees, damn it"

"Yes," said another Creelian, "Lech said we were their allies, but he demolished our six mosques in the river, and we were forced to kneel when we went out of the city, and there were more than two hundred Creelian soldiers in their army, and we had to crawl in front of them like dogs."

"You're all right," Giovanni said, "I've heard that some Wikibians want to get out of town, and if they are caught, they have their heads cut off immediately."

"Yes," said the Creelian man at first, "I saw with my own eyes that a Burke woman and her Vikian husband were caught, the Burke woman was let go, their son was thrown into the water and drowned, the Vekian man was beheaded, I don't understand, why Lech did this, this is an idiot would do it, if Lech wasn't so cruel, this place would have belonged to him a long time ago"

"You don't understand anything, Rashid," said another, "after Wright slaughtered the city, the three castles behind him surrendered without resistance, and Lech didn't have much trouble demolishing the castles around it, and withdrawing before the winter, it seems that he is at a loss, but when he wants to attack this place in the future, it will be as convenient as entering his own house."

"Knives can kill," the Creelian named Rashid was visibly unconvinced, "can knives make money?" Lech won't do this for long."

"If you're talking about something outside of five years, it is," said Giovanni, "but who in five years will be able to shake the rule of the Berks in the Riverlands?" ”

"Hmph," said Rashid, "if the king of West Vecchia had gone eastward, or the Salanders had gone north, the Berks would not have been so proud."

"Don't mess up," a Creelian yelled before Giovanni could speak, "there's no point in talking, is it?" Emperor Frederick of Svadia is eloquent, and King Vecchia dares to leave the Western Front and run to the East? Did he want his own to be captured again? The Salanders go north, the Creelians lose their autonomy, and those stinky southerners will come and steal our business, you idiot"

The atmosphere inside the carriage suddenly became tense, and I don't know why the Creelians suddenly started arguing

Giovanni tried to steer the conversation away, "You call Frederick Emperor?" I've heard that the Salanders are recognizing Emperor Harauth"

The somewhat agitated man spoke without waiting for anyone else to speak, "Haraus is nothing but a usurper, just like the second prince sultan of Salander, the Creelians are subject to the orthodox sultan of Saland, but now sitting in the royal tent is a false sultan, I heard that the Valans only serve the orthodox Emperor Chanda, and we Creelians should be the same: we should only submit to the orthodox Salander Sultan, so we have no obligation to be vassals now, we should be independent, like our ancestors"

The Creelians around them looked a little embarrassed, and they blinked to soothe the agitated companion while watching our reaction

Giovanni showed a numb expression, as if he hadn't heard anything, and then Giovanni smiled, "Eh, we're still being bullied by the Burkes, who cares who the emperor of Svadia is"

The speechless Creelian laughed dryly and stopped talking

Rashid groaned, "I said, my friend Ali from afar said that you are going to go down to the Congress Square, it is a stronghold of the Berks, you have to be careful, the people here are far away from the Berks, if you get too close to them, you will be hated by the people of this city There are many people in the city who want to avenge their brothers and sisters, some people took out all their possessions to hire someone to kill a Burke or their dog's leg" Rashid stuck out his tongue, "You have to be careful, my friend"

"Thank you," Giovanni nodded, "I will remember your teachings"

The carriage stopped, "Allah protect you" The Creelians pressed their chests together and nodded

Giovanni took me out of the carriage

At this moment, a group of Burke cavalry, dressed in bright red uniforms, was walking by the deserted fountain above the square, their horses walking loudly, the soldiers with their heads raised, the red jewels like flowers blooming on their helmets, their breath condensed in the air into white smoke, and the Burke soldiers were surrounded by some listless Wikiatia, who had betrayed their compatriots and were demoralized

It was the first time I had seen a Burke soldier

..