Lockhart looked at the "breakfast" in front of him.

It is a turquoise sè with bowl-shaped ground leaves. It contained a shallow, crystal-clear liquid - it was said to be fresh morning dew.

And the living habits of the jīng spirit tribe, this is their breakfast.

This tent is the place where the king of jīng falls in the snow.

He was hung in an oil pan that day. Lockhart thought he was dead. In his opinion, there was no need for the enemy to keep himself as a prisoner - let alone so. These enemies. Not "people" since the beginning of this war. They are not in the habit of keeping captives. All the humans who are caught. In the end, there is only one end: to be killed. And it becomes the ration of these guys.

Lockhart was not afraid of death. But I was still a little jealous of becoming these Longwu rations. So the most he does every day now is to pray silently. In this way, you can strengthen your faith.

After being untied from the pan that day, Lockhart was actually drenched all over his body _ it was sweat and, to be honest, if he hadn't drunk water since he was captured. I'm afraid that in that scene, he can really pee on the spot - this is not a shame, but a normal physiological reaction. It's not that he's not brave, it's just. In fact, the so-called "warriors" are not those who are deliberately beautified as great and glorious images, even brave people. Before you die, you will be scared and afraid. Merely. They have a stronger belief to back them up - not to say that fear goes away, but that the power of faith overcomes fear.

But...... He's not dead!

And. has been locked up in the big tent of the jīng spirit king, and has survived to this day.

Falling Snow has a strange attitude towards him: on the one hand. Luoxue didn't ask him anything in the torture, even. Relative to the identity of "captive". Lockhart also received some kind of preferential treatment, as King Jīng told Lockhart. Just be in this tent. He can move around as he pleases. Even everything in the tent. He could look at it as he pleased—as long as he didn't step out of the tent, he was almost treated like a guest.

Apart from...... The food that eats every day is a little bit worse.

――Do all of these jīng spirits seem to be meat-free?

In the morning, the ground is dew, but it is a change of shape. Rose dew, lily dew...... But after all, it's just dew.

At noon. They will eat something bizarre and pancake-like. The flavor seems to have been ground from some kind of plant. And at night...... They make some very refreshing plants and fungi......

Lockhart remembers that after he woke up, to this day, these jīng spirits have not starved himself, but the food sent by jīng spirits really makes Rohart feel that he is about to become a rabbit - a grass eating rabbit.

Although the jīng spirit king also said that it could order the orcs to send some meat over. But Lockhart firmly rejected the offer (or the temptation?)

Because Rohart was jealous: those orcs ate all kinds of meat - including human flesh! God knows if the meat they send is from animals. Still is......

There is a certain amount of magic with this tent, which is what Rohart has gradually learned in the past two days.

Winter has already begun in the northern part of the continent. However, this jīng spiritual tent is like a huge mushroom, and in fact it is the same. It was indeed a huge mushroom with the genus Magic, and the edge of the ground dragged like an umbrella all the way to the ground. A circular shank in the middle supports the roof high.

This is something specially made by the jīng spirit clan, and the temperature in it is very comfortable. A cold wind was already blowing outside, and inside. Lockhart didn't feel the slightest chill.

This huge tent was divided into two rooms, inside and outside, and the jīng spirit king seemed to live outside. And Falling Snow would spend an hour or two a day chatting with Lockhart, this kind of chatting situation. At first, it was just Falling Snow speaking unilaterally, and Lockhart either kept his mouth shut. Either just scold twice, or sneer twice.

Gradually, though. Rohart's astonishing discovery. This jīng spirit's resistance xìng is ridiculously good. No matter how bad his attitude is, the other party does not look angry at all, and ...... Falling snow knowledge. It's amazing!

The content of the conversation. The snow falls very carefully, and it never involves human military intelligence. However, the falling snow has changed from the astronomical, geographical, and humanistic knowledge of the Roland Empire to the history and culture. We chatted casually all the way, and the topics were often whimsical. What do you think of and say what......

Although Rohart is a carpenter's son, he has also undergone some cultural learning since joining the Tulip family's air cavalry regiment. After all, Du Wei thinks. A qualified officer must not be illiterate, in the Tulip family. A systematic and prescribed cultural curriculum has been formed for the education of people at the rank of officers.

Lockhart had been in the Northwest for three years, and he was no longer the carpenter's son who could only write his own name. At least. He studied history well. However, when chatting with this jīng spirit. He often felt ...... Humiliation and shame.

Yes. It's shame!

This jīng spirit talks about the history of the Roland Empire of mankind, and the head is the Tao. The history of civilization in which era, and the rise and fall of which dynasty. Even in history, from the founding of the Roland Empire to the present, there have been some major national policies. The political system of the empire, etc., when this jīng spirit often talked about it, he came to it casually and talked eloquently—this kind of bearing, no matter how much Rohart hated these enemies in his heart, he had to admit it. This guy has to be knowledgeable, I'm afraid it's far better than when he was in the Northwest Land, and the teacher who taught him classes!

I am afraid that the only people I have seen who can compare with this jīng spirit in terms of knowledge are the Duke of Tulip himself, and the administrator of the northwest, Lord Philip, in order to vigorously promote the culture of learning for officers, in the northwest. As an example, Du Wei once personally taught these officers. And Philip used to give lessons to these officers.

But Lord Tulip is known for his erudition, and Lord Philip. He is also often referred to as the prime minister's talent, and he is also a famous university scholar Mr. Lan Hai's high-ranking apprentice.

Most importantly, ...... They are all human!

But this jīng spirit ...... It is a jīng spirit. But to human civilization. It is so well understood. Obviously it was not done casually, it must have been carefully and diligently studied - with a very strong purpose!

Even. In talking about some of the famous buildings of the Roland Empire. For example, the city walls of dìdū. dìdū famously the Magic Guild Liumangalthough Building, the Temple of Light, the pottery vertical pillar-shaped hall, etc., etc., when the snow fell and talked about the ground. Even from the origin of this architectural style to the historical origin and the background of the times. And so on and so forth......

These topics are obviously not something that Rohart can understand.

There are also some splendid poems, wonderful chapters, magnificent epics left by famous poets in human history. Beautiful opera and so on......

It even gave Lockhart a hint of delusion: what else in this world does not know about this jīng spirit?

He was very annoyed that as a human being, the other party, this jīng spirit, talked to him about the splendid culture of his nation. But he often speaks dumbfounded. Even many things, I either don't know a lot, or I haven't heard of it at all!

Even. Falling Snow can also recite some ancient poems in more than two ancient languages of the Roland continent - these languages. Lockhart couldn't even understand a word.

Can...... I'm human! I'm just a foreign race!!

"I've read your general history of the continent a total of thirty-one times. There are also versions of different generations, and versions of the land before the revision...... Well. The last time I came to your empire. In some cities in the Northland. I got a lot of books, and I brought back about 4,600 books. ”

Luoxue sat in front of Lockhart very casually, her expression and tone as if she was chatting with an old friend: "To be honest, I admire you humans. Indeed, you have created a splendid civilization. ”

"You have taken so much trouble to learn about our human civilization. What kind of heart does Ann have?" Lockhart said coldly.

"A thousand years ago, Aragorn, the founding emperor of the current Roland Empire, said: Defeat your enemies. First, get to know your enemies thoroughly. Well, the original sentence recorded in the history books should be: know yourself and know your opponent, and you will not be defeated in a hundred battles. ”

(If Du Wei was here, he would definitely despise his past life and plagiarize his grandson's great art of war,)

"Hmph. So you're not at ease. The more desperately you try to learn from our human civilization. Your intentions are becoming more and more vicious. Lockhart shook his head.

"No, actually, quite the opposite. Falling Snow shook her head. It had a faint smile on its face: "Lockhart, I'll tell you a secret. Would you like to hear it?"

"Whatever you want. Lockhart's tone was cold: "If you want to say something, you will naturally say it, but I won't tell you any secrets of my land." ”

Luoxue smiled with a hint of mockery: "For me." There are no secrets in you. Lockhart. ”

After saying that, Luoxue stood up, and it waved its hand lightly. The tent door closed silently, and turning his head, the Spirit King looked at the human captive, and his tone was a little dark:

"The more I learn about your human civilization, the more a thought comes to my mind, even though we are enemies now. But as I get to know you races, I feel more and more, maybe. It is possible to defeat you on the battlefield. But...... We will defeat humanity once and for all, or you will be exterminated as a genre. It is absolutely impossible. ”

When it says this. The gaze in his eyes is very clear and calm.

As the commander of the invasion of the sinners, it said such things. It left Lockhart stunned.

"You remember what I told you two days ago. A long, long time ago. Let's do it about our race being expelled from this continent. ”

"Hmm. 10,000 years ago, you were expelled ......" Lockhart shook his head: "Of course I remember. ”

Falling Snow nodded.

It then voiced. With a hint of fluttering......

"When I was born. Just far, far to the north, beyond your frozen forests. Over a vast ice field, and over a mountain guarded by dragons. Over an endless wasteland, all the way north. That's where I was born. Unlike your Fertile Continent of Humanity. It was a wild land. There is a lack of water. The land is far from being even described in terms like 'barren', if you've been to that place. You'll understand that one by one you crouch on the ground and grab a handful of dirt hard. You will find out. Half of your hands are hard sand, and there are treacherous mountains, but most of them are hard stones, and iron ore is a very rare and rare thing, and even the woods are common on your continent...... We don't have it there. Even if the magic seeds of our jīng spirit land are planted, it will be a land of decay.

There is a cold wind all year round. When it comes to winter. The wind fills people's eyes, and even strong orcs can't go out, because the wind can sweep people directly into the sky, that kind of wind. It takes about two months to scrape every year.

Since I was born...... Or even earlier, from the time our race was first deported there, food was always a scarce thing.

In our country, the orcs are very dry, but all the old and decrepit orcs have reached a certain age. will take the initiative to say goodbye to his family. A man goes into the depths of the wilderness and dies quietly - just to reduce the waste of food!

And when the young orcs were born. The baby's constitution is strictly checked within the family. If it is unanimously agreed that the infant is weak, and that he or she may not be able to become a strong laborer when he grows up, then the parents must endure grief and despair and kill the weak baby, or ...... Specially sent by the tribe to use a broken car from afar. Advance into the depths of the wilderness......

Every autumn...... For you humans. It is a festival to celebrate the harvest of the land.

Oh. Inside. You humans also have a great festival called the Harvest Festival -- but in our case, you don't know it: autumn. For us, it means: war!

Every year, grain is very scarce in the harvest area. So, in the fall, many tribes and tribes are intermittent. They will wage war in order to take away the food for the winter. The tribes will fight each other. snatch the pitiful little bit of food in the other person's hand......

You can kill and kill, and kill to the end. There has never been a winner! Because the war has subtracted a lot of people. So, every autumn to war. After a large number of deaths, the remaining earthlings had enough food to survive the winter.

I saw it in the book. You humans celebrate the harvest every year. Singing and dancing. Produce a lot of sake...... But there we are. When winter comes, the orcs are in the prime of life, and they have to say goodbye to their wives and children. Then assemble in batches. When they go to the battlefield to die, they go to the ground. No one knows if they will come back alive or survive this winter.

You live in this fertile land. Perhaps you will never experience that kind of pain and cruelty. ”

Despite his hostile position, Lockhart couldn't help but be moved when he heard this!

The sound of falling snow was still so faint, and there seemed to be a faint sadness in its tone......

"All earth orcs, dwarves. And we jīng spirit. And that includes me, our race. Each one, when born, came into this world, after being sensible. Our elders will tell us that we were not born to live in such a barren world, our ancestors once lived in a fertile continent with countless sweet and clear lakes. There are countless rivers. Dense and boundless forests, there are fertile ones to grab a handful, and even pinch out the fat of the fertile soil! There is plenty of rainfall. Gentle winds and warm sunshine - our ancestors once lived in such a beautiful land.

But. We lost that land.

We were defeated by a race called "Human". Evil and greedy humans. Drove us away, took over the continent, and forced our children and grandchildren to live in this hungry and cold world!

One generation, one fork generation!

Each and every one of us has been instilled with these things from the beginning of our sensibility. And then. The elders finished each time. will tell us in a tone full of eyes: we must work hard. Wait for one day in the future. When we are strong, we will return to that fertile land. Avenge our ancestors. Kill all the greedy and evil humans. Take back our homeland!"

Speaking of this, Luo Xue clenched his fists: "Every orc, dwarf, and jīng spirit has been instilled with these since childhood, until the day they die!"

Lockhart was moved.

Even though he was just a carpenter's son, he could still feel the shock of the content of these words!

This...... Countless generations. Repeated indoctrination of such thoughts has precipitated thousands of years of longing and hatred...... When it erupted. What a terrifying amount of energy this would be?!

Humans are now ...... Is there such a belief that borders on madness?

"I am the land king of the jīng spirit clan. Luoxue said softly: "I was born destined to take on this responsibility, I want to bear the future fate of my tribe on my shoulders, my father is the king." My grandfather was king, and my great-grandfather was king. I...... So. As the king of every generation. We're all looking for ways to get back to Earth all the time.

I was born in that rìzi. It was snowing heavily. My father named me the place as Falling Snow. And before I was an adult, my father died...... He left the ministry. Take a few strong people in the clan and go to the human world.

I know...... He must have died at the foot of the sacred mountain guarded by the dragons.

In fact, we 'sinners'. The leaders of each generation will take the strongest of the clan to venture into your human world, trying to make a way home, but. Every generation. No one will come back alive. ”

"I used to hate human beings so much. Falling Snow smiled. Its smile was tinged with a hint of mockery: "It's like the thought I was infused with when I was a child: humans are robbers." It is a greedy and evil race that has robbed and occupied our homeland. And the only goal of us criminals is to kill all of you human beings! to completely exterminate your race! Otherwise, the words of the earth will not be enough to wash away the tragic fate that we have suffered for nearly 10,000 years. It is not enough to make up for the old people who have committed suicide in the wasteland after they have been old in the past 10,000 years, and the weak little lives who have been killed just after birth...... 10,000 years down, this blood debt. It's so big, so big, there's no room for mitigation unless it's cleansed with blood!!"

"I used to have this strong belief: kill all the human race, exterminate the human race!! But ......"

Falling Snow shook her head gently. It smiled a little innocently: "But now I don't think so...... Because, as I learn about your human civilization, I have to force myself to accept the fact that a race like yours cannot be exterminated! At least, we races can't do it! We may be able to defeat it, but we can't be exterminated!"

As she spoke, Luoxue sighed softly. Its voice gradually lowered: "But, this is my thought. It's just me...... Those orcs. They don't think so, the orcs have been until now. All insisted. Only by killing and exterminating all human beings can we have a way to live...... But. I am very pessimistic about this goal. I'm afraid it will never be possible beforehand - even if the war lasts ten, fifty, a hundred years...... None of this can be achieved!

It may be possible to defeat a nation, but it is necessary to completely erase a race that has developed for tens of thousands of years and has a mature civilization...... It's definitely not something we can do. In my opinion. It's a dead knot, and this war will go on -- and it will go on forever! I don't see the direction of the future, and I don't see even a glimmer of hope. I'm afraid. My generation. My next generation, and the next generation, will continue to fight like this. Endlessly!"

Lockhart heard this. He frowned. Finally, I couldn't help but ask Luoxue a question: "So, what do you want?"

"Me?" Falling Snow smiled lightly, and it looked at the human in front of it: "I want peace...... We Jīng spirits have never been a warlike race, we just want peace, as long as we have a home where we can thrive. ”

said. The falling snow pointed to the outside of the big tent.

Its smile was bitter: "Just a few days ago, we have begun to grow food in the surrounding land that has been occupied. For you humans, this is the northern part of the continent. The land is not fertile enough. But for us. Compared to the place where we have lived for generations. The land here is unimaginably fertile! They have already started to grow food. The first harvest will be available next year! The grain will continue to supply our army here! On the land that has already been occupied. We're going to hold it here. Unless we're all dead. Otherwise, we will never leave! We have waited 10,000 years to come back here, and now there is no power to make us go back! This year, the grain has been planted. It will continue next year! The Queen's ...... The year after tomorrow...... From generation to generation, the war will not stop!"

Lockhart's face involuntarily grimened, and he muttered, "I think." I see what you're trying to say...... Hmph!"

"This is a war that is destined to have no winners. There will never be a winner. Falling Snow said softly.

H Sicang Grand Canal.

A warship of the Roland Empire Navy was moored next to the dock in Dìdū.

To the surprise of the porters on the docks. Such a warship was actually anchored in Mingang, and. Soon. dìdūli. A group of heavily armed guards of the Diwang City arrived and tightly imposed martial law on this pier.

For a whole day, no cargo was unloaded on the ship, and no one disembarked, and there were bystanders around, who had been seen from afar. In one day, there are three consecutive court envoys dressed as court etiquette officials. Accompanied by the Imperial Forest. Got on board the big boat.

Such a novelty. It immediately attracted the attention of many well-intentioned people.

And at the same time, in the royal palace of dìdū. A heated debate is unfolding.

"I firmly oppose it!"

In the main hall. An old man with a gray beard. He wore a very strict and wide robe. Waving his hands excitedly. Arguing loudly.

Then, he looked up at the two men sitting high on the throne...... His Majesty Charlie Jr., the current Emperor of the Empire, and His Royal Highness the Regent of the Empire, the father of His Majesty the Emperor.

"Your Majesty!!!! The old man roared quickly and resolutely: "I am firmly against giving those natives more than the standard courtesy!! They are different from the prairie and the prairie! The prairie has confronted us for many generations. Although I don't want to admit it, I have to say that we have basically acquiesced to the fact that the government on the grassland is dúlì! They have the strength to fight with us in some areas. As a compromise, the empire had already recognized the fact that the steppe lord was the 'king' back then! We can treat us as a subject. But...... These natives of the South Seas are definitely not good!! If we ...... That is a kind of humiliation! It is equivalent to the empire recognizing the legitimacy of the land of these natives in the Nanyang! Your Highness! There will be a second time! There will be a third time...... It will become a regular practice in the future!! In my opinion, such a precedent must not be set! In the future, if any of the indigenous tribes on the island call themselves kings. Send someone to the Empire. Do we all give a Kingdom Emissary treatment??"

Subsequently, there are some veteran bigwigs in the military, and many of them still belong to the naval system.

"I agree with the Minister of Ceremonies. An old military minister bowed down, with a hint of anger and distress between his eyebrows: "Your Majesty, Your Highness! Once upon a time, our huge navy was invincible in the South Seas. Those natives of Nanyang can only bear our share of the land that we wantonly rub together! Even now, they have never had the strength to fight against us. Never!! For these natives. They are nothing more than the granaries of the Empire's South Seas, and we can harvest them at any time when we need them. But now, we actually call it 'country'! This is absolutely something we cannot admit! They are different from the steppe people. The grassland people have the strength to fight against us, but these Nanyang natives don't!"

"If we recognize them as a 'state,' then we must treat them as a state according to the laws and protocols of the empire...... And there will be a lot of trouble in the future! We also have to consider the influence of public opinion, if the people of the Northwest Grassland know about this, they will definitely laugh at us for being too weak!! The natives of the South Seas are only worthy of being our slaves. They don't deserve to be our guests!"

The Minister of Ceremonies raised his fist and roared.