Compared to the way out, the caravan's return journey was much calmer, not to mention the orcs and sand bandits, except for a few corpses next to a few supply points, they didn't encounter half a figure at all, and even animals were rarely seen.

But everybody knows why.

The thought of this makes many people's mood difficult.

The merchants, as always, kept their distance from Dante's greatsword, and stayed behind with their empty eight camels, stealthily glimpsing their eyes with imperceptible resentment and unwillingness.

The few remaining mercenaries led the way with two camels in front of them, and none of their horses were left, and the only two camels were "borrowed" by Dean and the merchants after arguing (and even intimidating them with their swords) in the name of safety.

Dean and McGee walked at the front, dragging their tired bodies and gloomy moods to make out their way home, occasionally discussing the location of the next supply point.

The old hammer was still wounded, leaned half of his weight on the camel, and coughed with difficulty, and seemed to be about to fall, but Luisa walked behind him worriedly, ready to catch him when he fell, and the fast rope followed sullenly, looking preoccupied, and at the same time losing interest in telling jokes and selling business.

The atmosphere of the whole team was quiet and oppressive, death and blood had worn away the once relaxed and pleasant atmosphere of the mercenaries, and after raids, battles, attrition, and blackmail, it was as if the happy team would never come back.

In this case, the prince could only remain silent - he tightened the crossbow behind his shoulders, pulled the viscarf that sounded the sun, and consciously walked at the end of the mercenary team, and after fighting side by side against the orcs, he became familiar with this team with heavy losses.

Thankfully, perhaps it was the Star Cavalry that swept away most of the threat, or perhaps their doom had finally passed, and there were no surprises on the way home except for the long yellow sand under their feet and the scorching sun overhead.

And as the distance increased, Tails felt a strange feeling with every step of the sand: the ground beneath his feet seemed to come to life again, telling him the direction and the landscape after each step.

So......

Finally, on a certain day when the sun was setting and the team was silent, Tails was stunned as he climbed a sand dune.

The mercenaries ahead stopped.

Luisa exhaled with mixed meanings.

No one spoke.

"What's wrong?" Tails said cautiously, taking two steps.

Dean turned around and said silently, "We're here." ”

Telston paused.

Following his gaze, Tails looked up with an indescribable emotion, looking beneath the sand dunes, at the seemingly boundless desert horizon.

The boy was stunned.

Fortress.

A fortress that stands in the desert.

No, that's more than one fortress.

It's a group of fortresses.

It is a myriad of fortresses, large and small, with different styles, extending beyond the field of vision.

They appear behind a low, boundless wall, sandwiched between several thick, large sand dunes at different distances from each other:

Some fortresses are erected alone in the wilderness, far away from other of the same kind, some fortresses are stacked tightly in one place, squeezing each other, some fortresses are built in the style of watchtowers, pointing abruptly to the sky, some fortresses are boxy, and earthy yellow stone stairs can be vaguely seen between different layers, some fortresses are angular and thick, which is used for defense at a glance, some fortresses are wide and low, like more dwellings, some fortresses are more than ten meters high, standing out among the sand dunes, and some are one or two floors low, it seems that they can only dry clothes.

Perhaps because of the wind and sand, the color of these forts matches the sand, and in many places there are traces of fire and smoke, and from a distance, they look like a pile of clumsy building blocks lined up on the beach.

Tails swore that if it weren't for the vegetation that jutted out from one fortress to another, if it weren't for the foundations that appeared beneath many of the forts, if it weren't for the twin silver star flags flying high above the forts at the forefront, if it weren't for the wooden horses scattered around the low walls, if it weren't for the bustling figures shuttling between the forts, he would have thought it was the remains of some ancient desert city.

"Bladefang Dune," Dean looked at the familiar place with a complicated gaze, "Bladetooth Camp." ”

Bladetooth Dune?

Tails shook his head in amazement, looking at the man-made structures that had suddenly appeared in the desert wilderness.

That's what it is......

"After this big camp that is enough to sustain thousands of people, and after a day of walking east, your feet will no longer be yellow sand," Dean patted Tails on the shoulder, "Congratulations, Waiya, the Great Desert is over." ”

Call it a day.

Looking at the star flag fluttering in the distance, feeling the sense of direction that reappeared in his heart, Tails sighed slowly.

The merchants rushed up, and many of them wept with joy as they looked at the familiar scene in front of them.

"I know," Tom Ding breathed a sigh of relief, and then his face was full of sadness, "but our cargo ......"

But his face quickly changed: "Hey, Big Dean, we appreciate your escort all the way, to be honest, you are the most powerful guide and bodyguard I have ever met, really, if someone else else...... But as you can see, we are unlucky to come out this time, and we will have some problems with capital turnover, so we may have to wait for a while to make the final payment......"

Dean's expression sank and he looked at him coldly.

The mercenaries' eyes also turned cold.

"Wait a while?" McGee whispered, "Why don't you ...... You're also 'waiting for a while' in the desert, and when your money is turned, I'll send you back?"

Thomding smiled suddenly.

But he quickly turned his head, avoiding the gaze of the bald mercenary and the boneless, and turned to look at Luisa: "I'm not a debtor...... And I pledge in the name of the Tomding family that we started by borrowing money - even the Bright Star Royal Family borrowed our money back then - we are the most trustworthy......"

Tails raised an eyebrow.

Tomding's eyes rolled, and he clung to the reins of the camel as if he were about to ride it away in the next moment: "I'm just saying that you have to understand us...... Dear Louisa, think about it, your father, old Dante is such a good man, helping the poor and the weak, and I have been friends with him for many years, will I still pay for this money?"

His face was full of sad nostalgia, and he looked at the female captain hopefully.

Louisa looked at him steadily, and finally let out a helpless breath.

"Forget it, stop using the 'I know your father' trick, I didn't expect you to give me money......" Luisa muttered and shook her head, "You better think about how to get past the guards...... Now that the lockdown is still in effect, we are entering the camp at this time......"

Tomding's face was overjoyed the moment he heard the word "Forget it."

"I knew you were a good man," the pot-bellied merchant was elated, as if he wanted to pat Louisa on the shoulder, but his arm was knocked away by McGee halfway through: "Don't worry, we've bought off that insatiable freak, as he said, no one will be difficult for us to ......"

They soon knew if Douro's words had any effect.

"Douro?"

The guards guarding the Bladetooth camp stood in front of Tom Ding, looking suspiciously at the caravan with nothing left but ten camels: "Did he say that?"

Tom Ding nodded obediently, with a lovely smile, looking familiar: "Yes, yes, Brother Douro knows me very well, and I will know when he comes back...... We didn't know about the lockdown ......"

The guards looked at each one with a frown.

"Yes, you and Douro ...... Familiar?"

Tomding waved his hand and laughed: "Of course, we met on the road...... We drank together, and I gave him a lot of good things before leaving, and he insisted on sending soldiers from the Stardust Guard to escort me back, but I refused......"

Fast Rope's eyes widened, and he turned his head to give Tails a look of surprise that he was "what are you doing".

The guard nodded with a straight face, and then he turned his face to whisper in the ear of a higher-ranking officer.

"Ah, I don't feel good. The old hammer whispered.

Luisa frowned slightly: "Why?"

The old hammer shook his head and pointed to the soldiers who were guarding the horse rejection with unkind faces: "Because I seem to recognize them, they are not ......"

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw the officer nod.

I saw the officer striding forward and sternly ordering to the Xingchen soldiers present:

"Take them down!"

Thomdine's face turned pale suddenly!

The officer coldly pressed the weapon on his waist: "Violating the blockade order, going out without permission, and daring to bribe the army...... You're so daring. ”

The mercenaries looked at each other in amazement.

Looking at the dozen or so soldiers who came up with their weapons, Tomding waved his hand anxiously: "But Captain Douro said......"

"I don't care what that freak says!" the officer said sternly, pointing to the flag of the stars above his head: "This is the land of the stars, we are the sacred army, and no one can bend the law for personal gain in the face of the law!"

Tomding seemed to have instantly turned into the helpless little flower cat, overwhelmed and full of grievances: "But...... Douro ...... Aren't you all in this together?"

The officer frowned.

"Who the told you we were with those freaks?"

He took off the shield behind him and tapped the pattern on it vigorously.

Tails narrowed his eyes and was surprised to see that the shield was a large terrifying skull with four black eye holes.

That's not the ......

"Do you see clearly, this is a four-eyed skull!"

I only heard the officer proudly and smugly: "We are from the ruins, and we are soldiers of the Falkenhaus family!"

"It's not like Williams's bunch of, one, one!"

Tom Ding was utterly stunned, he stared at the strange skull, and muttered:

"Four-Eyed Skull ......"

Dean sighed quietly.

Tails thought a little more: it was the Falkenhauges family direct recruits guarding the Bladetooth camp, which meant that their commander was at least ......

"You have two choices," the officer said arrogantly, "pay the fine, or I'll send you to the Prison of Bones......

Amid the terrified wails of the merchants, the soldiers of the stars pressed closer.

The mercenaries gritted their teeth, and Tails clenched his palms, wondering which of the soldiers was the Supreme Commander.

Right now.

"Colin!"

The old hammer's voice rang out: "Little nose Colin!"

The righteous and stern officer was slightly stunned.

"Who?" the officer with the small nose looked around suspiciously, "Who's talking?"

"It's me," the old hammer sighed as he stepped out of the crowd, "serving with you under Lord Mann, and even being ambushed while crouching in the pit......"

He didn't have to say any more.

"Hammer!"

Small-nosed Colin widened.

The old hammer smiled awkwardly.

The mercenaries looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

A few minutes later, the merchants were escorted into the Bladetooth camp by the soldiers, and their camels were taken away by the Falkenhause soldiers as fines, while Dante's greatswords stood on the other side, silently waiting for the outcome of the old hammer's negotiations.

"My sunset...... Colin smiled as he watched the ten camels being taken away, and patted the old hammer on the shoulder, revealing the western wilderness he was accustomed to: "Hammer, how did you become a 'sword seller'?"

The old hammer sighed.

"It's a long story...... Why have the soldiers of the Ruins and Winged Fort been conscripted at the same time, and have gone into the desert with the standing army?"

Tails was intrigued by these words and listened intently in the senses of hell.

Colin rubbed his hands: "That's a long story...... In short, not only them, in the past two months, the Blade Tooth camp has been full of conscripts from all over the Western Wilderness, Heroic Soul Fort, Wing Fort, Rikenan and even Xinxian Land, many of them are nobles or noble soldiers who can bring their own horses, and even skull guards and crow whistle light horses, taking turns into the desert ......"

Old Hammer frowned, "What the hell is going on? I saw them chasing orcs in the desert......"

Colin shook his head: "I don't know, but I guess it's the barren bones or the gray mongrels who are moving east again, because most of the people who go in are cavalry...... And our two-legged ......"

"Just collect the toll here?" said the old hammer, looking at the ten camels and Tom Ding from afar.

Colin spread his hands and didn't answer.

The old hammer sighed helplessly: "But, ten camels, this is all this gang has......"

"Don't, hammer, don't intercede for them, you pity them, but who will pity us?"

"The standing army has the king's salary, and our bounty, and we can't even buy a regiment of yarn!" Colin sniffed dissatisfiedly: "You know, it's September, my family's mill is about to start, and my service period has long passed, but my brother and I don't know how long it will take to go back, and my buddies in the same team as me, and a ...... who is about to give birth at home."

"But you're too greedy, and the merchants will protest - the nobles in the camp are okay?"

Colin grimaced, clearly in a bad mood.

"Listen, Hammer, you've been out of the army for a long time...... Unlike during the Desert War, Camp Bladefang is no longer the Falkenhaus family's steward," Officer Littlenose waved his hand:

"Now this is the territory of the royal standing army, and the usual oil and water are the sons of Williams's subordinates, there are really not many places where we can rub oil, if it weren't for the standing army expedition, there is a shortage of manpower, do you think we can stand here...... So, it doesn't matter if he protests or not, he can catch it, anyway, if something happens, it's Williams' trouble......"

Tails listened to these words, thoughtful.

"Listen," Colin put his arm around the old hammer's shoulder: "For the sake of the past, I won't embarrass you, and I won't take the mercenary tax, but when you go back, remember to report to my father, so that he must take a good look at my mother-in-law, don't let the cripple in the former village mess with her......"

Finally, thanks to the friendship of the old hammer's comrades, Dante's greatswords made their way into the city without danger—or rather, the vast oasis camp in the desert.

Skimming over the boundaries of low walls and rejecting horses, the crowd was rushed.

A crowd that Tails hadn't seen in a long time.

shoulder to shoulder, the shadow is more than enough.

"New here, go bame the others - we're not white pigs!"

Dean coldly pushed away a drunken-looking man and gave him a hard kick in the abdomen as he collapsed.

"Dante's greatsword, have you heard of it?"

Tails watched as the man who got up on the ground and cursed walked into another alleyway, where a group of fierce men looked at them with bad intentions.

"I thought you were dead outside," said one of the men inside, rubbing his fists and laughing, "bald—oh, and my beautiful, thorny little flowers, Louisa!

"yourself!" Luisa gave him a middle finger with a blank face and continued to walk forward.

The man laughed.

"A message for free, bald," he gouged his nostrils, "It's been a mess here lately! Don't mess with the soldiers! Maybe they're some nobleman's guard!"

The bald mercenary frowned when he heard this.

Dean turned to Tails and said, "Hold on, don't get lost." ”

"You don't want to be alone in Camp Bladefang, these people are more terrifying than the orcs. ”

The fast rope behind him nodded fiercely.

Walking down the "streets" between the forts, Tails looked left and right in amazement and apprehension: he soon got a taste of the "character" of Camp Bladefang.

The architectural style here is not even as orderly as an ordinary small village of Xingchen, but the chaos is comparable to the shield area of Longxiao City and the lower city of Yongxing City.

Between the yellow sand and gravel, people came and went everywhere, because the road between the forts was uneven, wide and narrow, which made it seem that this place was chaotic, and the people on the streets were dressed in a very different style from the Northlanders and Tails had seen the Star People, both light and shaded, and many people covered their heads.

And if you add sound to the picture......

"The dragon's kiss velvet, which the king can't even enjoy, is only sold for two silver coins a bundle!"

"Do you want to know the story of your life? Authentic desolate bone descendant, darling of the desert gods, divination your fate, six copper coins at a time......"

"Hey, little handsome guy, don't you feel lonely when you sleep alone at night...... Do you want to see my face? Why don't you look at my legs? Yes, I'm a man...... Eh, you're not right, if you don't believe it, come and touch it, what is worse on my body than a woman - hey, you have touched it, you want to go? Come, look at my pectoralis muscles and fists, look at the brothers behind me, you say it again: give or not give money, give or not give money, give or not give money!"

"I especially want to kill someone? I hate someone so much? I especially want to be someone else's wife? I have a lot of experience and a lot of blood, and ten gold coins will help you kill someone! I promise not to do it in the city, the way is clean, the corpse is thrown neatly, it is never illegal, and it is well-known! Now you can pay the deposit first, and then pay the balance after the task is completed!"

"What? You say I stole your wallet? Grandma, do you think I look like someone who will steal your things? Do you look at your wallet again - yes, yes! I never steal, it's a robbery! your grandma!"

"Believers, Lambs! Woe is coming, the night will return, and the believers will live! Now go to the Temple of the Night, watch the latest play, "The Story of the God of the Night and the Queen of the Revival King", and have a chance to get an unexpected reward-ah? This is not allowed to be performed? Hey, you heard me wrong, I'm talking about the latest play, "The Story of the God of the Night and the Queen of a Founding King"—Eh, what are you doing—let me go—woo, you don't—you can't interfere with artistic freedom———— the night will eventually return— Help!"

"Collect weapons, collect weapons! Swords, guns, swords, axes, bows, shields, spears, hammers, whether it is second-hand or new, whether you have military or private collections, the quantity is preferred, and the price is fair!"

"What about the blockade of the camp? Billy the Trader will help you! Circumvent the desert from the east, avoid patrols, and be absolutely safe! Comfortable camel caravans, straight to the Duchy of Thera, one gold coin per coin!"

Merchants selling along the streets, mercenaries with knives, adventurers in a hurry, prostitutes who almost exposed all the parts that could be exposed, and of course groups of big-headed soldiers, bustling along the way.

Dante's greatswords were accustomed to squeezing through these strange and varied crowds, occasionally scaring off many of the would-be ones with vicious glances and unceremonious movements—according to McGee, it was Tails' "white pig look" that caught the attention of many people, and would have been in more trouble if they weren't fully armed.

They finally turned around a fortress with a window and came to a less narrow and closed clearing.

Dean stopped and said solemnly, "I'll have to go to the garrison house and find Frank, he needs to know about this time." ”

"I'll go with you," Luisa's face darkened, "I'm the captain after all." ”

Dean nodded.

McGee glanced at Dean and then at Luisa, and sighed, "So...... I went to dispose of the extra gear. ”

"Then let's go to 'my house' and meet up with Seaman," the old hammer continued, "by the way, help Wya's family find out where his family is." ”

Tails was taken aback, but before he could say anything, the mercenaries scattered in a tacit manner.

And he was dragged by the fast rope, followed by the old hammer, and turned onto another remote road.

"I'll tell you," Kuairope sighed, "You don't know how terrible this place is, the first time I came, I met a beautiful young lady, and it turned out to be ...... Alas, life is impermanent, O Waiya, you have to cherish life, for example......"

Tails smiled ugly and looked at the old hammer pleadingly.

The old hammer smiled when he heard this, and without hesitation, he interrupted the fast rope to start doing business.

"It is said that the sand dunes of Bladetooth were originally sand dunes and had no camps, until a long time ago, when a caravan spontaneously built a resting fortress here, and as more people came in and out of the desert from here, the forts increased one by one...... Until it was comparable to a small town, a certain star king or a certain duke of the Western Wilderness took it down. ”

"Obviously, the location here is too important...... Although the Bladefang Camp has been divided among many families, most of them have died out due to wars and desert raids. ”

"After the Year of Blood, it became a fief of Baron Williams, but he was not a vassal of the Falkenhauges, but a direct vassal of the king - I used to doubt that he would be able to get enough tax from this fief that didn't even have arable land, but apparently, now it ......"

The old hammer shrugged his shoulders as he looked at the strange people lining the streets.

Tails nodded.

"Camp Bladetooth is a famous place of chaos, with many opportunities and dangers," the old hammer sighed, and said to Tails with nostalgia and emotion: "Many criminals in the kingdom have been sentenced to exile here, some go to the Prison of Bones, some go to the death squads, and those who survive have become the inhabitants of this city—I don't know if I should call it a city—plus the surrounding peasants, craftsmen, and big-headed soldiers who have nowhere to go, and this is what it looks like." ”

"When there is a war, it is even more exaggerated here. ”

Tails walked up an uphill hill, and the noise around him was suddenly much quieter.

Immediately afterward, he saw an extremely tall tower behind a circular bunker.

It is twenty or thirty meters long, slender and towering, and seems to stand in the middle of the open space of many fortresses, but it is far away from other buildings, and it seems particularly isolated.

Tails couldn't help but notice that the tower was sparsely populated, and that all the people who had been shouting and shouting strangely fell silent as they passed it, turned their heads to look elsewhere, and walked away quickly.

As if afraid of something.

Tails narrowed his eyes, and he saw that the top of the tower, the highest window, had been sealed with wooden bars.

Sparsely populated high-rise ......

Tails' heart moved.

"That tower is really tall, is there a big man living in it?"

The boy asked curiously.

The old hammer followed his gaze, and his face suddenly sank.

"Nope. ”

"The aristocrats never lived there, and I guess Baron Williams wasn't there...... That tower is called 'Ghost Prince'. ”

"After all these years, no one should dare to live there. ”

Tails frowned:

"What prince?"

"I know, I know!" "The legend in Bladefang's camp ...... There's an ominous ...... in that tower."

"Shhhhh

"Eighteen years ago...... In the Year of Blood, the Bones and Orcs once attacked Bladetooth Camp, and I served here at the time. ”

I saw that the old soldier's expression was tense, and he pointed to the tower: "Before the camp fell, a noble prince - I mean the king's son, a real royal bloodline, not a fairy tale prince - came to the early stage of the west, to the Blade Tooth camp, and the labor army was in charge. ”

"He lives there, the tallest tower of Bladefang's camp. ”

Tails' heart tightened.

He looked at the lonely tower, and a sense of foreboding welled up.

"One dark night, the prince ...... from there, from the highest window"

"Pushed down. ”

Tails froze.

He looked at the farthest point of view, the window sealed by wooden bars, and slowly moved his gaze from there to the clearing at the bottom.

Suddenly a chill surged.

"The rest of the story, I heard from others after retiring," the old hammer exhaled slowly: "It is said that King Kessel caught the murderer after the war. ”

As punishment, he put both the murderer and the accomplice in the highest room, and started to light a fire from the first floor and burned upwards. ”

Fast Rope let out a breath and pursed his lips.

"Quite a few people could not stand the fire and jumped from that window to pay the price for the prince's death. ”

"Burn to death or fall to death, the screams and wails of the prisoners died down in the first hour," said the old hammer's voice, which became cold and bleak, "but the fire burned all day." ”

"Strangely, the tower still stands—and the most mysterious thing is that when the flame is extinguished, there is not even a trace of burn on the exterior or interior. ”

The fast rope pursed his lips, and with the explanation of the old hammer, he nodded with a solemn look in his eyes.

Tails stared at the tower steadily, his scalp tingling slightly as he saw it intact.

"Since then, all sorts of strange things have happened there—from singing in the middle of the night to ghosts in the windows, to even faint screams and wails, and even the sound of burning flames, even in broad daylight...... The baron had to seal that window. ”

"The nobles stationed here also had unbelievers who wanted to live in it...... But ......"

The old hammer shook his head silently.

"Everyone who lived there died in the desert and never came back, and they didn't even have their belongings removed. ”

So everyone said that the tower was cursed by the death of the prince. ”

The old hammer pulled Tails, who was unconsciously approaching there, a little back.

His expression was ugly:

"Since then, the locals have called it 'Ghost Prince'. ”

The fast rope shook his head and slurred.

Tails stared in amazement at the eerie, desolate and desolate tower.

Ghost Prince......

"Who?"

The boy asked blankly, "...... who died there?"

"Which prince is it?"

The old hammer shook his head.

"Forgot," the veteran grimaced, "I only looked at him from afar when he entered the camp." ”

"The prince was handsome, prettier than a girl. ”

Looks beautiful.

Tails swallowed his throat.

A long-ago name came to mind.

The Ghost Prince.

"But what's the use of being handsome," the old hammer snorted lightly, looking at the open space under the "ghost prince", his eyes were misty:

"That night, I was one of the first patrols to arrive. And I remember very well, that beautiful prince ......"

He sighed slowly:

"It was the face that hit the ground first. ”

(End of chapter)