Joel watched a large piece collapsed at the edge of the snow pit in the distance, and Sister Simoken behind her nervously grabbed Joel's cloak.

"What is that?" Sister Qianmoken looked at the large piece of ice and snow that rolled down like a small avalanche, and the white snow dust floated in the air for a long time and refused to dissipate.

"I don't know." Joel shook his head, "Maybe it's just a simple landslide." No matter what it was, it was very dangerous. Joel looked at the edge of the snow pit, and the landslide was a distance from the low and gentle slope they were about to climb out of the snow pit. "Let's go quickly."

The sun gradually rose, like a bright and dazzling white fireball hanging high in the blue sky. The snow sand danced on the snow with the sharp north wind. This desolate scenery was the only one that exists on this empty snow field. When the sun reached its noon position, Joel and Sister Simoken climbed the gentle slope.

There were no traces of people everywhere. Even if they would be buried by wind and snow in less than half a day, this is a real nobody. It was almost over when the two climbed out of the snow pit. Joel raised his head and drank the last sip of honey wine in the leather bag. The leather bag was completely flattened. After he drank the last drop of wine, he threw the leather bag aside. Keep it as a souvenir, Joel said to the snow field behind him.

Climbing out of the snow pit, then on a sunny day without wind, Joel looked into the distance and saw a slightly tilted whistle tower standing in the snow field, with the shadow on the side of the sun on its back, and a little further behind it was a dark gray dome of a fortress buried in the snow, and the shadows were almost pitch black. "Is that the ancient fortress?" Sister Simoken also tiptoed to look into the distance. "You can actually see it here, are we almost here?"

"There is still a long way." After Joel said that, he took a step with a calm face. Something was wrong. He did not tell Sister Simoken what he thought. Telling this at this moment would only scare her. But it was indeed not right. Why was there no smoke? Maybe it was just that it was too far away to see, or was blown away by the wind, and Joel comforted himself so much.

But what if there was really no smoke? Joel thought gloomyly, what if they had left the ancient fortress? What should we do? Thinking of this, he turned around and looked at Sister Simoken with an excited face.

"We are finally coming soon! We have passed the North Wind Judgment, right?" Sister Simoken seemed very happy and excited. "They all said that the North Wind Lord is a cruel and cold god, but now I think it is also a just god!"

God was never just, child. Joel looked ahead, and he didn't say his thoughts to her because he had no point in saying this to the nun.

The next journey was also as boring, long and arduous as the journey a day ago, but he could not be as calm as yesterday. At this moment, he only felt irritable and uneasy. Something happened. Joel vaguely felt it.

"Mr. Contin," shouted Sister Simoken, Joel stopped and turned around, and he saw a puzzlement in the strong nun's face, "Do you smell anything?"

Joel raised his head, and a cold but faint wind blew, not bringing too much snow dust. Compared to other wild north winds, this gust of wind made Joel return to the town in a trance, but the fishy smell of rust mixed in the wind made Joel frown, and a trace of haze was hidden in this wind with the smell of sunshine. It was the smell of blood.

Why is there a smell of blood here? Joel's uneasiness became more and more uneasy. He looked in the direction of the wind blowing, and he walked over quickly. "Mr. Kangting?" Sister Simoken looked at Joel's abnormality and followed him with a step. Joel climbed up the slightly inclined slope in three steps and two steps to the top. What he saw next made his back feel cold.

"Don't come over." Joel tried his best to calmly say, "There is nothing here, let's continue walking." We can only continue walking. Now no matter where we go, it is a dead end. Only when we go there will be a glimmer of life. Joel turned around and walked by Sister Simoken, who looked surprised.

Sister Simoken looked at Joel in confusion, then looked at the top of the slope, and took another two steps to climb up to see what Joel had just seen. But in the end, Sister Simoken bit her lip, followed Joel's pace, and moved away from the slope.

On the other side of the slope, a deep drag mark was left on the snow. A blood-wrapped colon and a twisted and deformed horse leg were thrown there. There were also broken muscles at the broken mouth of the horse leg. The blood was smeared on the snow. The drag mark was crooked like a snake and crawled towards the direction of the ancient fortress.

What was that? Joel felt his hands trembling slightly. The beast could not do that. He pulled off a horse's leg and threw it into it. They would eat it instead of throwing it in such a place. This was not done by the beast. Joel was sure that he didn't know what kind of beasts on the snowfield would do this. This was not a beast, but what could it be?

But whatever that was, Joel was sure that it wasn't something that could be dealt with casually.

Joel walked forward with a gloomy face. Sister Simoken just looked at his back and felt something was wrong. What happened to Mr. Kangting? Sister Simoken thought worriedly, and she couldn't help but look back at the slope. What did he see?

The gods are above, Sister Simokan prays in her heart, Lord of the North, please...bless us.

...

Anthony sat in a tavern drinking. He didn't like drinking in reality, but it was different in the game. Although drinking here can simulate the effect of drinking, he wouldn't really get drunk. He wouldn't really die if he was killed. This is really a perfect world. Anthony was savoring the poor ale in the cup while thinking about it, but "money" was annoying in both reality and in the game. Anthony shook his head and sighed.

Now there are more and more players coming to Lengshi Town from the south. The forum is now in a sensation. The first map mission in the north will be released by the little lord Sir Via here. Many PVE Mavericks have gathered here, and of course there are also a few malicious PVP players. Since the last major invasion (although it is only about thirty people) was repelled, the morale of players in the Kingdom camp has been high, and the name White Rose has finally appeared in the forum's hot posts again.

When was the last time I saw the name of this guild? Anthony took a sip of wine and thought, was it the battle report posted for the Mills Raiders or the battle report posted when attacking the Jungle Fortress? No matter which one it was, it was almost a year ago. Anthony took another sip of ale, and the cup was empty this time.

During the day, there are fewer people in the tavern, and basically they are players. Whether it is NPC or players, the work and rest time is quite regular. After all, there are a few people who start drinking during the day. Anthony thinks that most players are teaming up to do some tasks to clear out snow robbers, and the real map mission will have to wait tomorrow before it can be officially started. Most of the people who do not team up to do tasks stay in the town, some are wandering around the town or doing small tasks to help NPC, or drinking in the tavern like Anthony.

Anthony took out a book he bought from a traveler when he was staying in Black Widow Castle. It was called "The Legend of the North", a folk book that collected various legends and stories from the North. Most of the stories in it were fantastic, but with the return of the magic era, players kept posting that they had seen things that only existed in legends, such as horses, monsters, and even dragons. As a famous treasure hunter, Anthony never lets go of any clues about treasures.

Anthony went through the two chapters I read last time, the legend of the Shaman of the Cold Winter and the King of Snow Monsters, both of which were legends about the ancient and barbaric widows. Anthony scoffed at it, and even if this kind of thing existed, it was not very attractive to him. What Anthony was interested in was not the barbaric natural creation, but the civilizational creation full of beauty and historicity.

Then he turned to the next page, which was the legend about "the ancient Vickweed Kingdom above the crater lake", which was where Anthony read yesterday. He had known this story long ago. He turned over. The ancient Vickweed Kingdom was the legendary ancient kingdom, and eventually sank into the endless crater lake overnight. Anthony had been to that place - that ghost place can be said to be a real lifeless place - he wanted to find the relics of the ancient Vickweed Kingdom there, but found nothing, only the blue ice cubes as dry as sand. By the way, Anthony thought of the cold wind that killed people.

Next page tells the story of the ancient fortress of the ancient Vickweed Kingdom buried in the snow. It is rumored that the place is haunted. The place is indeed evil enough. Anthony still remembers that adventure. He dug for a day with a shovel and finally dug it into the ancient fortress, but found it was pitch black. Every time he recalls what it looks like inside, he can't help but feel cold on his back. The fortress was buried under the snow, but the snow did not enter the fortress, or it didn't go in too much. In short, except for being too dark, everything inside remained in a strange state:

There was a plate and a knife in the restaurant. There was wine in the wine glass. After Anthony smelled it, he confirmed that he could still drink it. The candlestick seemed to have just been extinguished, and when he got closer, he could still smell the smoke from the candle wicks. The long tables were still in this state, as if a banquet was being held, but people suddenly disappeared. And it was just like what just happened...

Later Anthony escaped from it, and the empty fortress was silent, but Anthony felt something was watching him. He left there before the snow blocked the exit, and had never been there since.

Maybe I was lucky. Anthony secretly thanked that if it had been the expansion pack of "the return of the magic age" at that time, maybe the "haunted" thing would have happened. Thinking of this, Anthony raised his head and said, "Boss, give me another glass of wine!"

"How many drinks have you already drunk?" Suddenly a voice turned Anthony's attention away from the book. He looked up and saw the red-haired Lianda, one of Anthony's teammates. The snow bandits in the North started almost two months ago and became increasingly rampant. Traveling here alone was a dangerous thing.

So Anthony from Black Widow Castle found a team. Although he tried not to get involved with them, he was still entangled by this guy.

"Not much," Anthony thought for a while, "You haven't done the sweeping mission with your teammates?"

Lianda shrugged and sat down in an empty seat opposite Anthony's desk. At this time, the red-faced proprietress had already come over with a glass of wine. "Boss, bring me a glass too." She said to her. The old woman glanced at her and turned around and left without saying a word. Lianda ignored her rudeness and continued to say to Anthony, "I don't have a good relationship with them, and there are many people in Snow Bandits, which are difficult and can't produce any good products."

Anthony nodded slightly. He did agree with her statement. "And I found something more interesting in the town than that!" Lianda looked at Anthony with anticipation, and Anthony sighed, "What's the matter?"

"Hmph," Lianda showed a smug smile, "I don't know, since you've asked me like this, I'd better tell you." Suddenly she lowered her voice and leaned closer, which made Anthony feel a little uncomfortable, "I heard that several players kidnapped an npc!"

"Kidnap?" Anthony was surprised, "Traders? I remember that the Kingdom camp and the Principality camp both strictly ordered that people be traded!"

"Who knows," Lianda shrugged, and then she pressed her voice down, trying to look mysterious, "And the one who kidnapped it was not ordinary npc, it was a saint!"

"Saint?" Anthony was even more surprised this time. The title of "Saint" is not something that can be obtained by any NPC. As far as Anthony knows, even the royal city with many temples does not have many saints, and they are all very important NPCs. In this remote "waste map", there can be a saint? And he was abducted?

But after thinking about it, Anthony calmed down again, and abducting NPC was not undenied. "The little lord here did not respond?" Anthony asked.

"How can you react?" As he spoke, the boss lady had already brought the wine glass over. Lianda took a sip. "The map mission is about to be held, and it has just been attacked by the mercenaries of the Principal State. The staff here is obviously insufficient. In the end, it will be left alone." When Lianda said this, a mysterious smile appeared on her face, "But..."

"But what?" Anthony's silence this time attracted interest.

"But the lord issued a reward. Whoever can help him find the Saint back can get a whole bag of gold!" Anthony seemed to be able to see Lianda's big eyes turn into two gold coins.

"Do you know anything?" Anthony also leaned over, with a sinister smile on his face.

"Hmph," Lianda raised her head proudly, put her hands on her hips, "Well..."

Anthony smiled helplessly, "What are the conditions?"

"So refreshing?" Lianda's face showed a look of surprise. "Then I'll tell you what I'm doing."

"Tell me."

"You have to team up with me in the future!" Lianda announced.

"Ha?" The Maverick Anthony was stunned for a moment, thinking that he had heard the wrong ear.

"Hmph, there's nothing I can do. Since you have agreed to my conditions, I'll tell you all the information I know."

"Hey! Wait for me! When will I agree to your conditions?!"

"I'm helping the guards with reconnaissance mission today..."

"So I didn't agree to your conditions!"

"I saw three people riding horses towards the direction of the snow field from afar. Don't look at me like this, mine can be a stunt "hawkeye"!"

"So..."

"Then, I got information about the three people, namely, the priests in white robes, the 'man in iron armor' and the 'barbarians using giant axes'." Lianda said on his own.

"Wait..." Anthony thought the configuration sounded a little familiar, "Is there a woman wearing a cape and carrying a long bow?"

"No, there are only three people." Lianda bulged her face in dissatisfaction, "Don't interrupt me. Where did I say?"

"Information of those three people." Anthony stroked his forehead.

"Oh, yes, yes! The information of those three people," Lianda said as she leaned closer and lowered her voice, "I found out from the guards. Among the people who abducted the saint, there was a priest in a white robe and a barbarian carrying a giant axe."

"Eh?" Anthony stayed there, and those two guys... actually...

"What's wrong with you?" Lianda blinked at Anthony's face, "Are you scared by my information? Humph, let's give you a little praise to me!"

"By the way, where did you think they were heading?" Anthony suddenly realized.

"Hmm?" Lianda showed a puzzled look, "They? Have they gone to the snow field?"

Snowfield...Anthony touched his chin, what are they doing in Snowfield?

...

"What is this?" Tiequan looked at the horse's leg on the ground with his brow, and then looked up vigilantly at the old wolf who had been staying not far away and refused to leave. The Alps stood on the slope and did not come down. He kept looking at the shadow of the ancient fortress in the distance. Olaf squatted beside the horse's leg "observing" the horse's leg.

"It was pulled down by something." Olaf said as he stood up.

"I can see this too." Iron Fist took two steps back and followed Olaf to the snow slope again. "Is there any other clue?"

"At least it was torn off by something about the size of the palm of your hand." Olaf said seriously, "This trip seems really dangerous."

Although Olaf had this bad premonition when he received news from Xiao Qiao in the Alps, he became even more certain after seeing the horse's leg.

"It's almost dusk," said the Alps as they approached, "we have to hurry up."

"I know." Olaf said as he turned around. The old wolf had already pounced on the frozen horse's legs again and began to feast on it.

"Be ready for battle at any time," Olaf suddenly paused again, "No, no..."

"What's wrong?" Alps asked in confusion.

"It is always ready to escape." Olaf came to the horse. He looked back at the Alps who were about to say, "We have no chance of winning."
Chapter completed!