The night before, after the possession of the demon had left, and before everyone had fallen asleep, Jonah had once again been so annoyed by the brief loss of his memory that he could not sleep, and he asked the guests of room A51 a question that he had been holding back for a long time: Why did you live in Cherry Ferry and how long had you been living here?

Waiting to cross the river. I've been waiting for six months. Long Ji said.

Follow in her footsteps, ditto. Elliott said.

Don't know where to go. Three years and two months. Toba said.

I find life full of battles interesting. Fourteen months. Sibi said.

I hope to find clues about something from all kinds of people. Fourteen months. ...... Everyone answered for Jedon, who was keeping vigil outside,—— if you asked the silent southerners themselves, it was impossible to get such a clear answer.

What about you. Ryuki asked Jonah.

Destiny. Jonah thought for a moment and said. This answer was severely despised by Sibby.

"Do you know what the other rooms usually do to a guy like you, who is weak and feathered and poor enough to live in an A-class room? They will tie you to your bed, take all your belongings, give you only water every day, and wait until you die of hunger ,—— thirst, within 72 hours. "You're lucky enough to be in a room run by the old farmer Dumb Mr. Goodman, and if it weren't for the Pitchfork Squad to take you in, you wouldn't have survived the first three days." It's still 'fate', you've read too many knight novels, don't you, brother?"

"Hey, be harmonious, be ......harmonious," the head of the room intervened weakly, and in the hazy night, he was seen lying on a severely small bed, with his head, arms, and legs hanging under the bed, like a huge octopus lying on a pebble.

Jonah didn't have any ill feelings for the quick-talking little girl, and knowing that she was right, he sighed.

Seeing that no one was talking back, the talkative Sibi muttered a few words and said, "Do you want to hear the story of the dead Southerner?"

"Jekor's story? I'd love to hear it. Jonah replied, "But it's not good to let me hear it." He looked out the window, and it was pitch black outside the narrow window, and he couldn't see anything.

"It's okay, it's okay, he's funny, he doesn't understand. Sibi jumped up excitedly, sat on the edge of the bed, and took a storytelling stance.

"It's night, go to sleep, and I'll talk about it when I have time. Long Ji suddenly spoke, and Xibi, who was splashed with a basin of cold water in his face, even his hair withered slightly, and he didn't talk back, muttering and lying back, pulling the quilt, and covering it from his heels to the top of his head.

Jonah smacked his lips and pondered for a moment the complicated interpersonal relationships in room A51, and then struggled for a while between the prophecy and the demon in his head, and finally fell asleep. Oddly enough, the quality of sleep was not bad.

“...... In short, this is an overview of the mission, we and His Excellency Jonah have signed, and the time is running out after lunch. Jonah retracted his reverie, Elliott's briefing had just ended, and the members of the Pitchfork Team were sitting around on the stone floor, with the looming silhouette of prying eyes in the gaps around them, and Jonah was used to the feeling of being spied on.

The mission itself is simple: bring back from the Sukasa Gorge an update on the war in the Kingdom of Bazeral, including detailed movements of the "Golden Hammer" in three days. This kind of mission is more common in the routine official mission of Cherry Ferra, and the father hires a team to carry out reconnaissance and intelligence work, which is dangerous, and the difficulty is medium to low M-level. But today, with the half-heavy Golden Earth Dragon corpse in front of him, this ordinary task suddenly became less ordinary. The faces of the people were solemn.

"I've been thinking for a long time, how can a 'hammer' be gold, and a 'hammer' with gold? The best blacksmith on the mushroom farm can't do it. The head of the room said with a frown. Sibby jumped up and slapped him in the back of the head.

The stone floor is shallowly carved with a map drawn by Elliot with a long sword, a straight line represents the other side of the holy river, a circle represents the cherry crossing, a winding line represents the post road to Bazelar, and the many short traverse lines on the curve represent the mountains of the path, Sukasa Canyon is an ownerless town, a point of information, and the only way for the kingdom of Bazelar to go northeast along the riverbank. Daddy guessed that he could find out the reason why the two Golden Land Dragoons came without telling him.

"By the way, Daddy is exempt from lighting work for three days, Your Excellency the Astrologer. The Rose Knight said to Jonah, "We invite you to ride with you, or your legs will not be able to handle the seventy miles of the mountain." ”

Jonah tries to move and injure his leg. Healed well, and now there was only a faint ache in walking, but long journeys were not the forte of a seventeen-year-old astrologer's apprentice. He nodded gratefully.

"Well, I said after lunch. Out of nowhere, Toba took out six plates, six knives and forks, six small pieces of dark red jerky, six water bags, a bottle of salt, a bottle of pepper, a large piece of hard bread, a bread knife, a handful of unknown wild fruit, and a bottle of butter. Placed on the ground.

Jonah took the plate and looked at the black gold gopher meat inside.

"Eat, it's a day's amount, rest assured. Ryuji whispered, as if holding back a smile.

Jonah blushed and poked the food on his plate with a fork.

After lunch, the Pitchfork team packed their bags and set off.

It was a clear day, and Jonah, sitting on the back of the unicorn, looked curiously at the surrounding scenery, this was the first time he had stepped out of Daddy's sphere of influence since arriving at Cherry Ferry.

The destructive power of the Golden Riding Dragoons is evident as the team walks through the bottomless crater (Pit 6, the public excrement of Room A51 and the surrounding rooms, a peaceful area) and through a large area of dilapidated shacks (the dwellings of the powerless surround the town in a circular shape along the invisible boundary of Cherry Crossing), and the destructive power of the Golden Riding Dragoons is evident: a violent passage appears in the center of the shack area, and the remains of the shacks are paved with blood and mud in the shape of arrows.

Many powerless men gathered here, digging through the ruins for something of value, and as the pitchfork squads passed, they scattered and disappeared like hot drops of dew, gathering again behind Elliott's horses' hooves.

Jonah looked back, and he was startled by the strangely shaped humans with missing organs, several human-faced beast-like Ez, one of whom looked very strange under the crotch of a huge buffalo.

"If no one hires them, they rarely attack a strong team of tenants. Do not worry. The Rose Knight turned back to Jonah and said, "On the way back we can go and meet Mr. W, who lives nearby." ”

"The King of the Night of Cherry Crossing, is he a powerless man?" Jonah asked, remembering Ryuhime's introduction yesterday, in surprise.

"He doesn't need daddy's protection. Elliot said briefly.

"It should be said that he is a pervert who likes dirty corners, with maggots flowing in his veins, living in the pile of dead people, and he enjoys it. Sibi, who was walking in front, did not look back and commented.

"They're familiar. Eli said more briefly.

"Shut up!" Sibby said.

The Rose Knight was silent.

Sunny and a little breezy. The team picks up pace, and Jonah sits a little drowsy on the unicorn's back. As you enter the mountains, the lush vegetation along the road rapidly decreases, and the bare black-gray rocks stand on either side,—— you can see where the stone houses of Cherry Ferry came from - there were no pedestrians on the post road, and Jonah saw no pedestrians during the three-hour journey.

"Not a good sign. Elliott said.

Jonah nodded, his eyes unfocused as Toba's back swaying from side to side as he walked.

Sibi was obviously bored too, she slowed down and walked with the Rose Knight, wiping a handful of sweat from her head, her short wheat-colored hair spilling messily on the outside of the silver collar, the skin that the green hunting suit did not cover was sweaty, and her little face glowed a healthy red from exercise. Jonah looked at her, and his heart moved, and he felt something sweet grow in his marrow.

He was startled, a little ashamed to pinch a handful of his thigh meat, and had nothing to say: "Sibby, tell a story." ”

"Damn. Dude, call sister, and forget again?" Sibi blew out a steaming murderous aura through his small nostrils.

“...... Younger sister. ”

"Okay old brother~" Sibi smiled sweetly, "I promised you to tell the story of Yekong, Sister Long Ji, you haven't heard it, do you want to listen?"

"Okay. Ryuji slowed down as well, alongside them.

"Ahem. Sibi cleared his throat and evened out his breathing: "Jekong is a dead Southerner. Sister Long Ji and Eli have been to the south, but I haven't, and if I hear something that is not right, I am not allowed to correct it. I will take the storyteller's emphasis, if you are not used to listening to it, you are not allowed to speak out. So I'm going to start it.

It is said that there are two great powers in the southern continent: the kingdom of Tocharo, ruled by King Isaacios, who believes in Luta, one of the seven main gods of the Anglican Church, and the kingdom of Veda, which believes in the ancient religion of Buddhism. The desert separates the two countries, and there are few wars between the two countries.

I start with this day, because from that day on, JeKong's memory is blurry.

It was a spring afternoon, the sun was already setting in the west, Yekong was hiding under the water, looking at the golden red western sky through the swaying water, the water was ten feet deep, with a faint green, the bottom of the water grew dense aquatic plants, and a huge Buddha statue was half-sunk in the mud, the Buddha was naked and wore a crown, with a flame of light on his back, and his eyes were full of compassion.

In the ancient country of Veda Buddha, the Buddha statue has the real Buddha to stay overnight since the day of molding, with great mana, the sword is not broken, the world is not destroyed, mortals will cry if they look directly, reach out and touch, touch and die.

Every year on December 3, "Buddha Day", each temple will move the Buddha statue throne to the center of the street, the Buddha people pour into the street, the right shoulder to the Buddha around three turns, the scriptures say that the day around the eighty Buddha, there is great merit. There are pious people who see the Buddha as weeping until they lose their sight, and there are those who believe in the Buddha and die because of the Buddha's liberation. The Vedic state believes that this is the case with Buddhism.

Jekong hid under the water, his iron-colored robe swaying with the current, he held a sword in his right hand, and held the aquatic plants in his left hand to stabilize his body, holding his breath. Whenever I need to breathe, I approach the huge leaning Buddha statue, recite a confession, and take a breath in the belly of the Buddha.

- It's a big secret.

The Buddha statue cannot be touched, but the navel of the Buddha statue is the source of life, always exuding majestic breath for people to breathe.

Ironically, this secret was passed down by the pagans, who had risen from the eastern part of the Buddha kingdom and burned the war all the way to the Maharajas, the capital of the Veda, who claimed that their religion was the source of all religions, and that the name "Veda" came from their texts "Vedas", that the Buddhas were the descendants of the true gods they worshipped, and that many centuries ago, the monks had distorted their teachings and founded Buddhism with the support of the king, and had banished them to the banks of the holy river in the far east.

Over the years, they silently spread their teachings among the people, and with the support of several vassal kings in the east, they finally erected the Brahman banner and slaughtered the capital of Buddhism with 200,000 soldiers and 150,000 private soldiers, hoping to overthrow the royal power and establish a new king and establish a pagan religion as the state religion.

The proof of all this is that the navel of all Buddha statues has an invisible umbilical cord connected to the throne of the Vedic gods, transmitting the power of wishes collected from the devotees.