When the army was assembled in New Oasis, Lydia had talked about how to govern the Eighteen Tribes. She said that in her previous life, there was a resourceful person who had also encountered the problem of tribal rebellion, and the method he proposed was called "attacking the heart first".

Nick and the others didn't understand it at all.

Lydia tells them the story of the Seven Captures, and when the wise protagonist finally triumphs over the poisonous spring and the invulnerable soldiers, Nick and the others almost drop their eyes on the ground.

Some people once suspected that the characters in this story were mythical gods.

It wasn't until Lydia finally talked about the big victory that the coach was reluctant to sacrifice human heads, and invented "steamed buns". Nick was convinced that he was talking about a real historical figure. After all, he had just eaten a steamed bun in the morning.

……

But why does the current non-smile ask him, "What do you think?" ”

Nick clearly remembers telling this story, he was on the scene without laughing, but he just didn't say a word.

He could only bite the bullet and say: "I think the price of catching the enemy and letting him go is a bit too great......

"That's not something humans can do." Don't laugh and admit frankly. For some reason, after listening to Lydia's many stories, he no longer seems to be conceited to be the greatest genius in the world.

Nick hurriedly looked for the bottom of the stairs for Buxiao: "What Mr. Axey means is that the princess's thinking has some meaning worth learning from. ”

"Oh?" Didn't laugh in response.

Feeling that he had saved his head, Nix breathed a sigh of relief: "The Eighteen Tribes have lived on the edge of the Wild Sand Empire for a long time, and their lives are miserable, and they can only live by robbery. In the harsh desert, most of the patriarchs live in luxury, while the lower tribesmen are miserable......"

He looked at Nick motionlessly without smiling, occasionally moving his dog ears to indicate that he was listening.

Nick cautiously asked, "Catching and letting go may not be able to influence those stubborn patriarchs; If they destroy their nests, although it is happy, it will also create a large number of poor and homeless people. If there was an opportunity to absorb those ethnic groups as the labor force of the new city, maybe it would be better? ”

Bu smiled and sniffed, "Axie is really a genius. ”

Although he didn't quite understand what was going on, Nick probably thought that not smiling should be a sign of agreement.

"What about her?" Don't smile and ask again.

Nick was stunned for a moment, to be honest, he wasn't quite used to the short, concise style of language that didn't laugh. After running around in my head, I understood: I didn't smile and asked about Finks.

"She's talking to my daughter about secret topics between girls." Nick seemed a little envious when he said this.

When his daughter was still young and wanted to be close to him, he chose to go out to fight and entrusted his daughter to his family; Now when he feels old and wants to get his daughter's closeness, she is past the age of clinging to her father.

Most people only know that their children want to raise them but don't treat them, but they don't think that the children's childhood is also a fleeting time.

In a sense, Finks seems to fill in the gap of his leading daughter to play. Nick suddenly smiled and joked, "It's a pity that my family is not a son, otherwise I would have forced him to marry the Finks girl." ”

"Really?" Don't smile and ask suddenly.

Nick laughed, "Of course it's just a joke, how could I force a child to get married......"

"Nope." Not smiling interrupted him, "The previous sentence. ”

"The previous sentence?" Nick blinked inexplicably, "I said: they're talking about girls' secrets......"

"Yes." He shook the body of the black dog without smiling and sat up slowly, "Really? ”

Nick suddenly had a bad feeling.

Especially when you don't smile and question it, you'd better check it out quickly.

Nick quickly turned around and ran out of the party—followed by a black dog. The two figures rushed towards the camp like arrows off the string.

"Women's Soldier Camp...... Call...... Call...... Maya and Finks' tent ......" Nick shouted as he came to the tent out of breath.

No one responded.

Nick pulled back the curtains, and the beds were neatly made, as if no one had stayed here at all. Their clothes and weapons were gone.

"This ......" Nick was just about to roar loudly, but when he looked back and caught a glimpse of Buxiao's cold face, his whole body trembled, and he swallowed back the anger. Suppressing the irritability in his heart, he patiently asked, "They, where have they gone?" ”

Bu smiled and simply looked around, taking away the jugs, maps, tinder boxes, blankets, and bamboo tube military rations. Without exception, it was indicated that the two mischievous girls intended to travel the desert at night.

"Let's go." Without smiling, he motioned for him to follow.

Nick asked unexpectedly, "Where to go?" ”

"Sentry."

It's easy to fall into a sense of chaos if you don't laugh and do things without laughing. Probably because he doesn't laugh and does things and rarely explains, so many times he can only blindly follow his actions.

Nick stupidly followed Bu Xiao to a nearby sentry. He gestured to his waist without smiling, "Child, have you seen it?" ”

The sentry was so frightened by the sudden appearance of not smiling that she almost drew her double sword, but fortunately a steady veteran next to her, Bard, stopped her: "Don't panic, Eggers, don't laugh at the general." ”

Eggers was so frightened that his brain went blank and he lost his ability to speak. However, Nacian next to him seemed to understand the language of not smiling: "The meaning of not smiling the leader is: Have you ever seen a child who is about this tall?" ”

Crohn thought for a moment, "There were a few people who came out of the women's barracks just now, and there was a girl among them. By the way, it was Chief Finks who took them out. ”

dared to take someone out of the barracks without permission, and there was a murderous aura between his unsmiling eyebrows.

"If I'm not mistaken, she's probably the cook's niece." When it comes to food-related things, Crohn has a good memory, "They all seem to call her Pami." ”

.

In the darkness of night, Finks and Nick's precious daughter, Maya, lies on a sand dune and silently scouts the distant village. The little girl, Pami, hid behind them, her face pale with fright.

Her former home is now in ruins, and there are corpses scattered across the ruins.

Some were warriors of the eighteen tribes, but most of them were local villagers.

But strangely, some dark figures were lying around the corpses, looking for something. Judging by the outfits, they should be some homeless refugees, forced to be displaced by the war, and can only find some relics to survive.

Finks muttered quietly, "Obviously not laughing at the construction of such a beautiful city for them, they can start their lives again, why should they rummage through garbage and eat here." ”

Maya snorted, "Who would know what a donkey thinks." ”

Finks couldn't help but punch her: "You talk too much like 'that woman', it's so annoying!" ”

Maya grinned, "It seems that you still can't forget 'a certain man', don't forget that he is old enough to be your father." ”

Finks glared at her, "What qualifications do you have to say about me, you father-lover?" ”

Maya glared back at her, "At least I still have a chance to make a face to my father." ”

The two were about to start arguing, when suddenly an excited shout came from a distance, "Found it, it's 'Miye'!" ”

The name "Lost Leaf" was like a spark in the crowd, and it immediately caused a frenzy among the crowd. They flocked to the finder like a beast that had been hungry for three days had pounced on the food.

"Misty?" Finks and Maya looked at each other, the first time they had heard the word. Finks looked closely through binoculars and saw that the men had pulled out a few ordinary-looking leaves from the corpse's backpack.

But these ordinary looking leaves have an indescribable charm. The alluring aura spreads in the night breeze and makes people want to stop.

"Miye, my Miye!" Someone grabbed a leaf stalk and chewed it happily in his mouth, and for a moment it was as if his soul was out of his body and fell into an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

More people joined the scramble, and the scene spiraled out of control. At first, they used their fists, then they picked up sticks, then someone pulled out the corpse's weapon, and then they forgot the bottom line of human nature and did everything.

Seeing the crowd in front of them biting each other like mad dogs for the "lost leaves", Finks and Maya felt a chill inexplicably welling up in their hearts.

They...... Is it really still human?

"It's horrible, it's crazy!" Pami was so frightened that she burst into tears, but the cries were mercilessly muffled by the clamor of the fighting.

Finks pressed her sword nervously, her other hand already reaching for her crossbow from behind her to stand on guard: she frowned, "It doesn't look like it's a good day. ”

Maya took Pami in her arms and comforted, "Sister Pami, I'm afraid I can't help you find the doll tonight, let's come back tomorrow night, okay?" ”

Pami wiped her tears and nodded sensibly.

The battle for the ruins of the village is getting frenzier and frantic. And in this eerie atmosphere, an invisible pressure seems to be looming.

Just as the three girls were about to retreat quietly, there was a sudden shock.

Whoa!

There was a terrifying howl that frightened the three girls' hairs on end. The three of them hurriedly lay down on the spot, prostrate and observe the situation, and then the three of them saw an astonishing scene: a huge demonic beast suddenly emerged from the depths of the desert.

It was a "desert spider". It resembles a giant spider, with a towering body and skin like a tough rock, covered in deep cracks, as if carved by the combined force of time and sand.

The eyes of the demonic beast emitted phosphorescence, and the fierce aura of soul magic permeated the night, and the six huge long legs swiped rapidly, and the huge body immediately rushed towards the crowd of people who were competing for the lost leaves.

Sharp fangs spat out from the bloody mouth, but those people didn't know what to fear, and they still only cared about fighting for the leaves.

The "Desert Spider" devoured the stupid humans one by one, as if they were opening a can and enjoying the dried fish inside.

And the lower half of those people's bodies had fallen into the giant mouth of the demonic beast, and they also grabbed half of the misty leaf and stuffed it into their mouths, and finally showed a satisfied appearance, and safely became the food of the demonic beast.

Sister Pami was obviously still young, and when she saw this scene, she only felt dizzy, and her stomach turned upside down, and she suddenly vomited.

The beast had eaten the last refugee and was about to leave. Suddenly, it seemed to smell the breath of other humans.

The breath of Sister Pami's vomit.

Its compound eyes suddenly looked back, and instantly spotted the figures of the three girls.

"Oh no, this guy can see us." Finks patted Maya, "Let's go!" ”

Maya picked up Pami and jumped to her feet, following Finks and running!