The four of them came from Lengshi Town and took several hours, but the northern scenery along the way was amazing. Although Tieqin and Xiao Qiao agreed that "there are snow-white everywhere, and they will get tired of it after watching it for a long time, right?" But Olaf and the Alps felt completely the same. The empty snow fields, the hills with pine trees and the empty sky, the sky looked higher and clearer than what was seen elsewhere.

After climbing the slope, they finally saw the Old Wuken Village among the small hills with pine trees from afar. "Look!" Xiao Qiao pointed to the Old Wuken Village in the distance. Even if he looked at such a long distance, he could see the charred under the snow. But Xiao Qiao was definitely not referring to this at this moment, but wisps of smoke rising from the charred ruins covered by snow.

"Someone is making a fire?" Alps held the pine tree with one hand and gasped. It was obvious that he, who was wearing iron armor, could not bear it.

"Is the battle over?" Tieqin asked in surprise and disappointment.

"It shouldn't be that fast." Olaf felt something was wrong. "Take out the weapon and let's touch it quietly."

The four of them went downhill this time, and the speed was much faster than before, but it still took nearly half an hour to get down. However, the ruins of Laowuken Village were blocked by the pine forest and hills. The snow here was like sand, and every step it took would make the snow fall. In order to prevent slipping, the four of them carefully supported the pine trees and walked down. It was much easier to walk on the road when they came to the flat ground. The four of them also found footprints left by Bai Gaode and others when they passed by.

I don't know how long it took for the four of them to climb up a hill again. The ruins of Lao Wuken Village appeared in front of me again, but this time they got closer, and the fires in the ruins were still smoking. "Xiao Qiao, you have high reconnaissance skills. Go to the ruins to explore the way. Be careful not to be discovered." Olaf gave the order. Xiao Qiao didn't say much. Her thick gray cloak had a good hidden role in the snow. Agility, perception points and proficiency of special skills made her quickly sneak into the ruins like a gray fox on the snow.

The giant bear Olaf held the handle of the hammer wrapped in leather in his hand, and the heavy feeling in his hand made him feel at ease. The three of them hid behind the hills, observing the silent ruins.

"Someone." Xiao Qiao's voice came from the team's voice, his tone was a little nervous, "But they are all dead, both snow robbers and mercenaries."

After hearing this, the three of them exchanged their eyes, and they all came out from behind the hills in tacit understanding and rushed towards the ruins. Along the way, the three of them looked around alertly. Olaf held an iron hammer in his hand, his iron fist in his hand, and the Alps held up an iron shield, ready to block the hidden arrows flying from somewhere.

But all three arrived at Lao Wuken Village safely, but when they entered the village, they all found large pieces of footprints and hoof prints on the ground. Olaf squatted beside the footprints. His special skill "observation" proficiency is the highest among the four. When he observed the footprints and hoof prints on the ground, a large transparent box appeared in front of him:

War horse hoof prints.

Footprints of a man wearing iron armor.

More than thirty people.

Footprints of a man in leather armor.

War horse hoof prints.

...

"Sure enough, something was wrong." Olaf stood up again. Although neither the Alps nor the Iron Fist "observed", the large number of footprints and horseshoe marks on the ground had already explained the problem. However, if so many people were hiding in the ruins, they would definitely not be able to escape Xiao Qiao's eyes, so the three of them did not panic too much and rushed to the center of the ruins.

In the center of the ruins, the three of them came to the battlefield where corpses were everywhere. Xiao Qiao was also standing beside him. Olaf also saw Bogold's square barrel iron helmet. "What's going on?" The Alps was a little at a loss when they looked at the battlefield. As Xiao Qiao said, the fallen people were mercenaries and snow robbers. The blood that had begun to turn black and dyed the snow red. A bonfire in a half-collapsed charred building was about to be extinguished, and wisps of smoke were emitted.

This is a triangular open space, surrounded by the ruins of farmhouses, and in the middle of the open space is a dilapidated well. The snow bandits mainly fall on the open space, while the mercenaries die in unused places, Bogaud dies by the well, and others die at the campfire and in another half-collapse farmhouse and another exit of the open space. These mercenaries include mercenaries who fought side by side with Olaf and others three days ago, and there are also mercenaries who came here to start map missions, with a total of eight people. At this moment, all eight mercenaries died here...

"Wait." Olaf felt something was wrong, "Look at how many people died."

The four began to check the body together. The protection system would automatically blur the wound or mosaic it, but this did not affect their counting of the body. "There are only seven." Xiao Qiao reported with a frown.

Iron Fist spat, "And several faces were smashed, and bloody and mosaiced, and it was impossible to tell."

"There is one person not dead." Olaf looked around, "Has he escaped? Or was this group of people not killed him for some other reason?"

"It's a flying fish!" Xiao Qiao said decisively, "There is no corpse here with a bow or arrow."

"Maybe it was plundered, after all, that kid's equipment is pretty good." Alps disagreed.

"More than this, I should care more about who this group of people are." Tiequan reminded.

"They have more than 30 people, including heavy armor, leather armor, and war horses." Olaf recalled, and activated the "observation" skill again. There were many boxes floating around. He crossed several boxes and came to Bergold's body. His square barrel iron helmet was smashed into pieces, but this was not a fatal injury. Olaf squatted down to "observe" Bergold's wound. Although he looked blurry, the box still appeared:

Fatal injuries: piercing injuries, probably pierced by straight sword weapons to death.

"It was done by the mercenaries of the Principality." Olaf announced that he stood up, "The Snow Bandits will not use straight swords."

"And they don't have any war horses," the Alps agreed with Olaf's point of view.

"What are the mercenaries in the Principality doing here?" Tiequan asked in confusion.

"Three days ago, someone sent the news that the map mission was about to be launched to the forum..." Xiao Qiao judged.

"And the people who saw this news were not just players of the Kingdom." Alps added what Xiao Qiao wanted to say.

"So that is..." Iron Fist realized something.

"Their target is Sir Via!" Olaf also realized, "they want to stop the map mission from opening!"

...

Joel walked staggeringly in the market in Lengshi Town, and the vendors looked at Joel with suspicious eyes. He didn't care. He looked at this store, selling wrinkled apples and pears, and looking at that store, selling cold and hard side bags and long bread. Alu, what would Elu buy if Alu buy? Joel thought painfully, what would she buy and what would Hemi like?

After leaving the market, Joel continued to move forward and headed towards the church. No, I can't go. Joel warned himself that Hemi didn't like me drunkenness. But he couldn't stop until he came to the old cemetery. He looked at the iron gate with frost on it. Alu, Alu might have been buried here. Joel thought, and he reached out to push the door open, and then walked in staggeringly.

There was snow and frost on each tombstone. Some of the engraved words were blurred, while others were blocked by frost. No matter which one, Joel could not see clearly. The wine made his eyes sway. The cold wind blew him to wake up a little, but then he was intoxicated by alcohol. What kind of tombstone would they give Elu? Joel staggered on the snow-covered stone road. The stone? No, it should be wood. Joel looked at the cross tombstone made of wood on the hillside in the distance, so he walked over shakingly.

Not far away, the old man guarding the tomb stood and looked at him, but did not say hello. Joel didn't care. He continued to walk towards the tombstones made of wood. What would be written on Elu's tombstone? Joel didn't expect that a word would be twisted by a knife, but he couldn't stop and miss Elu, and the wine could not stop him. Even if he died of drunkenness, Joel could hear Elu's voice in the dark dream.

Alu Joel shook to the wood cross, without words, and there were no words on the cross.

"Who are you looking for?" The old man guarding the tomb had come at some point. He was holding a shovel in his hand, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to block his eyes. Joel then felt that he was so old. "Who are you looking for?" The old man asked again, "Tell me I might be able to help."

My wife Joel thought painfully, but what he finally said was, "Ghost."

"There are no ghosts here." The old man carried the shovel and turned around and left, "There are no ghosts here. Believe me."

Joel sat down in front of a wooden cross. The snow on the ground made him feel cold and made Joel wake up a little. As he woke up, he reached out to caress the wooden cross in front of him. There was frost on it and ice cones were hung. The cold and rough touch made Joel feel that he was still alive. The drinking for several consecutive days made Joel unable to tell what is true and what is false. He looked haggard, as if he had grown a lot, with a black stubble on his face and bloodshot eyes. Joel didn't know when he had such a time, but that was, the one who saved and freed from this pain was Elu.

A cold wind urged him, and the cold made Joel forget his sadness in that moment. He lowered his head and saw a delicate little flower swaying with the wind. It was so small and white that Joel almost didn't see it. Alu. Before he could occupy Joel, he heard the sound coming from afar.

beep------

Melodious and empty, accompanied by the breeze, it seemed to dissipate at any time. But it made Joel's heart hop violently. It was the sound of a horn.

He looked in the direction where the sound came, the side door of the church square, where since the night of the Spear Hunting Dinner, Sir Via has installed guards. They were wrapped in thick cloaks and stood in the snow and shivered, and snow still piled up on themselves. They also brought horns, as long as...

Joel stood up, he pricked up his ears and wanted to hear the sound again. Did I hear it wrong? Joel was not sure. But the sound did not sound again. Just when he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he turned around and saw the old man stopping his work, looking up in the same direction. When the two of them looked at each other, they both understood that we were not wrong.

Joel quickly brought out the "backpack" panel and took out the black wooden bow, quiver and straight sword that the Alps had handed to him before. No, there were not enough arrows! Joel looked at the old man guarding the tomb and found that the other person was also looking at him. The old man nodded to Joel.

Joel immediately accelerated his speed and rushed towards the old man's hut. He hung a quiver on the wall of the hut, filled with good black wooden arrows! The wine seemed to evaporate in an instant, and Joel's body moved uncontrollably. Hemi! Hemi was still in the church! The trumpet was blowing, which meant that someone was invading.

Snow Bandit? Joel gritted his teeth, and he rudely broke open the door of the old man's cottage, grabbed the quiver hanging on the wall, and stuffed the arrows inside into his quiver. Then he rushed out of the cottage, the old cemetery, and rushed towards the direction of the church square.

Hemi! Hemi! Blessed by the gods! Joel is running, don't have any trouble!

After rushing through the old cemetery, I finally saw the Church Square from afar, next to the side door at the edge of the Church Square... Joel narrowed his eyes. The two guards had fallen down, and the blood stained the snow red. Several figures of unseen figures moved around them, as if they wanted to open the side door.

No! Joel speeded up and rushed down the church square. The horn sounded too short just now. Joel was not sure if the other guards in Lengshi Town heard it, but they couldn't care so much at this moment. If they were allowed to open the side door, Lengshi Town would be robbed! The church would be the first to be involved!

To hurt Hemi... Joel decided to think that anyone who wants to hurt Hemi again must pass him on my body.

Outside the side door of Lengshi Town is a large forest, with not only pine trees, but also black iron trees, sentinel trees and other thick and cold trees. An ancient road passes through this forest and connects the road leading to other towns. In spring and summer, this road will be used, and trucks will be transported to the market through the side door. In autumn, the side door will also be opened, and craftsmen will return the trees cut from the woods with ox carts. But when winter comes, the side door will be closed with black iron wood latch and reinforced with thick iron chains and iron locks.

Joel was already panting when he rushed to the church square, but he still found a fruit tree to hide. He poked his head out and saw several mercenaries in iron armor or in thick cloaks. One of the tall mercenaries was smashing the iron lock on the side door with a war hammer. A huge jingle echoed in the church square, and his accomplices beside him urging him.

Joel carefully approached the fruit tree. At this time, a sound came from the direction of the church. Joel looked in the sound. A guard rolled down the steps of the church. A mercenary rushed out, raised the big sword in his hands. With a wail, the big sword pierced the guard's chest. The mercenary had already controlled the church! Joel's heart sank.

Joel took the arrow and aimed at the mercenary who was about to pull the sword out of the guard's chest. At this time, the mercenary also found Joel standing next to the fruit tree opposite, holding a longbow, but it was too late. The black wooden arrow broke out of the air, and the narrow arrow reflected the white light of the snow, and nailed it into the mercenary's face armor fiercely. With a "clang", the mercenary staggered back and fell heavily on the snow-covered stone steps. The iron armor jingled, attracting the attention of several other companions.

"Enemy attack!" a mercenary shouted, and the sound of the war hammer smashing the lock finally stopped.

Joel pulled the arrow on the bow. At this time, the mercenary with the big sword actually staggered again, and the iron armor jingled. Although the arrow pierced his face armor, it did not kill him. Joel pulled the bow again and aimed at the mercenary. The black wooden arrow shot out, but this time it shot his curved breastplate, and a clang sound was bounced away, leaving only a small groove.

The mercenary who stood up again picked up the sword and walked towards Joel. The speed was neither fast nor slow, but he was shaking a little when he walked. He dragged the sword with one hand, and the blood-stained blade left a thin black drag mark on the snowy ground. Then he grabbed the arrow on his face armor with the other hand, pulled out the arrow, and threw it on the snow.

Joel shot two arrows in succession, one hit his face armor again, but this time it did not stab the gap in the face armor, but was bounced away by the iron armor. The second one was directly blocked by the mercenary with a big sword. After blocking the second arrow, the mercenary began to speed up. He held the hilt of the sword with both hands and dragged the big sword toward the position where Joel was standing. Joel quickly retreated and dodged the first sword. After the mercenary quickly swung the second sword, and three consecutive swords forced Joel to retreat to the edge of the church square. One of the swords left a deep sword mark on the fruit tree beside it.

Taking advantage of the mercenary's great sword slashing into the snow, Joel stepped on the black wooden bow and drew out the straight sword at his waist. The sword had been polished brightly. For several days, when Joel woke up on the straw bed in the tavern at night, he took out the sword and polished it carefully with the grinding stone given by the Alps. Now it was sharp enough, but Joel knew that even so, it was still not sharp enough to cut the iron armor of the mercenary in front of him.

Seeing that Joel was forced under the wall, the mercenary slashed across the sword with a big sword, and was about to cut Joel in half! At this moment, Joel only felt that the mercenary's movements could be seen clearly. He rolled towards the direction of the sword blade, and the big sword almost slashed against his arched body, but Joel also quickly rolled to the right side of the mercenary. Before the mercenary could recover the momentum of the big sword, Joel had already held the straight sword in both hands and stabbed the mercenary's armpit.
Chapter completed!