The Book of Hibernation

Winter Thistle left Milltown that night.Before leaving, he told the shopkeeper that he would go to the academy to observe a certain experiment. It would take a long time, and it might take half a month to come back at the earliest.

Not long after he left, before dawn, someone knocked on the door of the shop.

The shopkeeper opened the small window on the door, and there were several people dressed as travelers standing outside.At first, the shop owner didn't dare to open the door. After all, she was the only woman in the shop. Later, she found that there were also women among the customers, and the men spoke politely. They didn't look like robbers or the like.

They said that they were in a hurry and wanted to buy things now, and they needed a lot of things, which could be paid in full gold coins.

The shop owner weighed the risks and opened the door for business.

The customers are also very polite when they come in, and they don't touch the things in the store casually.Among them, a middle-aged woman has been chatting with the shopkeeper. She not only wants to buy spell-casting materials, but also wants to find someone to repair the several magic items she carries. Magic gems or something.She is an ordinary spellcaster and does not understand enchantment, so she needs the services of a refiner.She prepared the reward, but the refiner she met last time refused to take the job, thinking that her request was too complicated, so she wanted to ask the shop owner if there were any refiners here.

The owner told her, that's a coincidence, my tenant is the best refiner in the workshop town, he is capable of what you said, but it's a pity that you came a little late, and he's not here at the moment.

The female mage immediately said that she heard that the descendants of the mage Haman are in the workshop town. Could it be that your tenant is him?The owner said it was him.

There's nothing to hide, it's no secret these days.

The female mage asked where to find this person, and the shopkeeper told her about Dongji's going to the academy.After hearing this, the female mage just sighed a pity and didn't say anything else.

The owner continues to sort out the things the guests want.Just as she turned around and squatted down, a heavy blow landed on the back of the head, and the shopkeeper immediately passed out.

The group of guests was divided into two groups. One group searched the upstairs rooms, and the other group searched the warehouse and basement, but found nothing in the end.

They found Winter Thistle's room, where most of the luggage and personal belongings were still there, and it looked like the occupant had just left temporarily.

Some people proposed to kill the shopkeeper so that she would not talk too much, but some people objected for fear of causing trouble.In the end, they still didn't kill the shopkeeper, but took some valuable goods.From this point of view, the store was robbed by passing travelers.

===================

At the same time, Dong Ji woke up suddenly in the carriage that was traveling overnight.

Aldin sat across from him, fell asleep with his head up on the cushion, and woke up when he heard the movement.

What they were riding in was not a passenger carriage, it only had small transom windows and no wide windows. Fortunately, the interior of the carriage was fairly comfortable.

The convoy consisted of three vans and one van.This is a caravan selling seafood. It travels between the seaside and inland cities regularly, and has always been traveling day and night like this.

"Can't sleep?" Aldin asked.

Winter Thistle said, "No. The magic alert I put up has responded, and someone has entered my room."

"Could it be the shopkeeper?"

"No. She will knock on the door and will not sneak in. Although she is not a real mage, she knows how to get along with mages."

Aldin immediately understood what was going on.Winter Ji was worried about the safety of the shopkeeper. Aldin said that he would send Xinying back at the next station and send someone to confirm the situation.

Winter thistle uses messenger wax pellets.Aldin has received this kind of message, so he knows the general process of casting the spell. It is said that this kind of spell is quite troublesome, and it is not troublesome to receive it. The main reason is that the sender is very troublesome, requiring many bottles and cans, and also requires a regular operating platform.Now Winter Ji is sitting in the carriage that has been driving fast all night. Although the interior of the carriage is quite comfortable, it cannot avoid the bumps.Aldin was very curious about how Winter Thistle would complete the spellcasting in this situation.

As a result, Winter Thistle didn't need to cast spells at all. He took out the ready-made wax pellets, stuffed the note in, put the wax pellets into a small box that looked like a jewelry box, and the arraignment was completed.

Winter Thistle explained, this is the communication wax pill he made in batches, the spell is preset, and the activation is delayed.Just like a short-term enchanting tool, this is no longer a "spellcasting", but a "tool".

Aldin rubbed his chin thinking.Looking at his expression, Dongji actually wanted to laugh a little bit, but because she was worried about the landlord, she couldn't laugh for a while.

"Why are you staring at me? Do you want to buy this?" Winter Thistle asked.

"Of course I want to. Anyway, I'm on my way now, and I have nothing else to do. Why don't we talk about it?"

Winter Thistle handed the small box to Aldin, who played with it in his hand.There are no more wax pills in the box, the wax pills have been burned, and the message has been sent to the receiver.

"There is no way to talk about it now," Winter Thistle said. "This thing is not perfect. People who don't know how to cast spells may not be able to use it. The chance of failure is very high. I have to be careful every time I use it. I have to continue to optimize it in the future." It, when it can be like a short-term enchantment, people who don't know spells can use it, then you want to talk about it, let's talk about it."

Aldine returned the box to Winter Thistle.He not only wants to buy the actual product, but also wants to buy this unique research and development process.

Winter Thistle cannot mass-produce magic items by himself. He has to cooperate with large-scale workshops. Of course, Aldin wants the Chamber of Commerce to get this opportunity first.

Winter Thistle could see what he meant.There is time to communicate now, but Winter Thistle really doesn't want to talk about it.

"Talking about this with you always feels a bit strange..." Dong Ji honestly expressed his feelings.

Aldin said: "I don't want you to come back to be my subordinate, I sent someone to cooperate with you."

"I know what you mean. But it's just..." Winter Thistle smiled bitterly, "It always feels like you have become the old Bellos back then, and I have become my father Harman."

There used to be rumors that Old Bellos and Harman were good friends, but later they had a quarrel during the cooperation, and Old Bellows sent someone to assassinate him in order to monopolize Harman's technology.

Now that winter thistle is known, that's not the case.In fact, Haman had already been occupied by monsters back then, and Old Bellos had noticed this, so he sent out a killer.It's a pity that Old Bellos didn't understand the monster's characteristics enough. After all kinds of confusion, he still couldn't guard against the monster in the end.

Harman and Bellos, Winter Thistle and Aldin, their personalities, relationships, and ways of getting along are not alike at all.Winter Thistle understands this too.

He was just a little emotional, wondering if there really was something called "fate" in the world.This kind of thing can't be seen or touched. When it finds a conceited refiner and an indifferent chief of the chamber of commerce, it has to find ways to draw them together, let them meet because of their interests, and then let them go through... All kinds of things, the relationship has become more and more subtle.

If the fate repeats itself, then in the not-too-distant future, the refiner and the head of the chamber of commerce should be successful, should be in danger, and one day should die badly.

But after thinking about it again, he felt that he couldn't put the responsibility on "fate". He was interested in the chamber of commerce and came to know Aldin himself.This cannot be blamed on others.

And he's not just Haman, he's also Jinye.

Winter Thistle fell into deep thought for a moment, but Aldin did not urge him to speak.

After a while, Winter Thistle said: "If you really want to talk about cooperation, let Kanai come back to talk to me in the future."

"Why did he come?" Aldin asked.

Winter Thistle said: "The thing you want to buy is very complicated. I will raise a lot of conditions at that time, and the negotiation will not go well. Let's find some trouble for Kanai. The more you hide him in the house, the harder it is to let him go." The more he takes on the burden, the more insane he gets."

Aldin sighed: "Sometimes I can't help but think, maybe it's good for you to be Kanai's brother, and you can get along in your bones."

"It's too rewarding. If Kanai is really my younger brother, he probably won't live to this age at all."

"How is it possible, you raised Ryan well."

"Lian is easier to feed, and doesn't need to be fed mouth by mouth, unlike Kanai."

After Dong Ji finished speaking, both of them couldn't help laughing.

Sometimes it's fun to talk meaningless nonsense, especially in this kind of long-distance bumpy carriage, to relieve some anxiety.

So knowing it was meaningless, they continued to talk nonsense.

For example, imagine if Kanai had been with Winter Thistle since he was a child, would he be inclined to be a refiner instead of a battle mage who assists soldiers; another example, if Ryan is Aldin's younger brother, would Aldin sell it? If he doesn't sell, will the two of them become mercenaries together, can their personalities get along well...

Halfway through the talk, Aldin suddenly went into a trance and said, "Oh, no. Ryan couldn't have been born in my family. He is younger than Kanai, and before he was born, my parents would have burned to death."

Dong Ji asked, "Why didn't you mention it before?"

Aldin said, "It's too long ago to mention it. And I'm afraid I'll make you cry."

"I won't cry."

"Now you can't, maybe you could before. And you don't cry because of me, it's because you don't want to hear other people's family tragedies, you think of your own home."

Winter Thistle pondered for a while... Aldin was quite right.

Now that I think about it, when he helped March, and even offered to help her repeatedly, it was somewhat of the reason Aldin said.

March is gone.Dongji recalled her, only thought that this person was crazy and paranoid.He was a little afraid of such a person, but he didn't hate her, he just felt sorry for her—her knowledge and talent could no longer be passed on.

Ryan wouldn't think so.Having also lost his parents and also knowing about March's life experience, Ryan would not have such unnecessary sympathy.

"What about you?" Winter Thistle asked Aldin, "Don't you feel bad when you think about the past?"

Aldin shook his head: "It's not the kind of discomfort you think. I was very young at that time, and to be honest, I don't have many memories... If you really think about it carefully, the key point of the discomfort is not thinking about your parents, but that you lived too much when you were young. Bitter, I feel that many people in my hometown are really worthless."

Winter Thistle sighed: "That's right. Ryan seems to be the same way. He is not very sad about the death of his parents, but more unwilling and angry."

The carriage was bumping, and there was a lighting stick stuck in the corner of the car. There was no open flame, and the light was very weak.

Under such light, Winter Thistle's face flickered, and Aldin looked at him, as if he could only see a little bit at a time, and then slowly pieced together to form a complete figure.

"Why are you staring at me again?" Winter Thistle asked.

"A funny idea suddenly occurred to me." Aldin had already started talking and laughing.

"tell me the story."

"I don't want to say it, because it's too stupid and it will destroy my image in your heart."

"Let's hear it, your image in my heart is not very good."

"I don't even want to talk about it."

Winter Thistle put one hand on the cushion and closed her eyes: "That's fine. Anyway, I don't have that strong curiosity."

Aldin really didn't say anything, and closed his eyes to rest.

Before he closed his eyes, he saw that Dong Ji had a smile on his lips.He suddenly felt that maybe Winter Ji had thought of the same thing as him, and he didn't really want to say it.Because it's so stupid...

What Aldin thought of just now was: If the four of us were four brothers who lost their parents since childhood... Winter Thistle was the eldest brother, himself the second, then Kanai, and Ryan was the youngest brother.Seems like it might as well.

But this idea was so stupid, so stupid that he couldn't help laughing and couldn't say it.

The reason why he thinks this way is that just now he inadvertently said that Kanai and Winter Thistle "get along well".After he finished speaking, he realized that if they were really a family, it would be good to get along, but even if they couldn't get along, there was nothing they could do, they would still be inseparable, and they would still be tied together by fate.

There is a natural incompatibility between people. Most of those who "get along well" are restricted by foreign objects, or because of the intersection of interests.If it is neither, it is pure chance.He and thistle are examples.

After chatting for a while, sleepiness struck again, and neither of them spoke again.

When it was almost dawn, the convoy arrived at the next station.The staff took a break, changed horses, and continued on their way.

=============================

Ryan stopped on the mountain road.

The wind blew the horns.This is not a piece of music, nor is it the kind of charge horn in battle, but a continuous, deep and deep sound.

The Temple of Day calls this sound the Miracle Hymn.It is not a singing voice, it does not come from a human voice, but from an ancient vocal instrument that has been passed down for thousands of years.

It was the first time for Ryan to hear the real miracle hymn. In the past, he had only read it in books, and he had only heard the voice imitated by others.

When Ryan first heard the voice, he was stunned and could hardly believe it—playing the miracle hymn meant that the day watchers answered their prayers and performed miracles.

Turning over to the other side of the hillside, Ryan can overlook a small half of White Lake City.This city is actually equivalent to a church settlement, and the scale of the city is not large.Looking from here, the round church square in the center of the city is covered with a large black area, which should be a crowd of people gathered.

Ryan quickened his pace, wanting to rush to the city quickly to see what kind of miracles the Great Temple of White Lake City has obtained.

Ryan didn't wear sacrificial robes or armor, just an ordinary traveler's attire.When he was queuing up to enter the city gate, a guard spotted his holy emblem, saw that he was also a Templar knight, and greeted him warmly.

He walked forward while chatting with the guard.There was a carriage parked not far behind them. The servants outside the carriage approached the window and whispered a few words. The people inside opened the curtain and looked at Ryan's back.

After chatting with the local guards, Ryan finally understood why he played the miracle hymn: there were indeed miracles happening here, and the temple successfully purified a high-level undead creature of the dependent type, allowing the victim to wake up.

Ryan already understood what was going on, but still asked about the identity of the victim.Sure enough, the guards told him that the victim was Kanai, a mage from the Hilda Academy, who had used his own body as a cage to trap the monster for nearly two years.

In the past two years, he has been immersed in the veins of the divine art of White Lake City, and the high-ranking priests have been taking care of him, removing the dead spirits from his body bit by bit.Now, after repeated inspections by the supreme envoy, it is certain that the monster that hijacked the body has completely dissipated.

In the context of divine arts, under the true knowledge of the supreme angel, undead creatures have nowhere to hide.Now Kanai's soul is very clean, without any breath of undead creatures. The temple has completely disintegrated the monster, and there is no trace of it in the world. It is like a shadow shattered by light, and it can no longer harm other people.

The guard sent Ryan into the city and left. He was still on duty and couldn't talk too much with Ryan.

When Ryan walked slowly into the central street, the sound of playing music disappeared.The hymn of miracles has been sung.At this time, most people were listening to the miracle chanting in the church square. There were not many people on the street, and White Lake City seemed particularly quiet.

Ryan came to White Lake City for the first time, and it took a while to find the place to go-a hotel with a dove on the sign.

The hostel has no name and does not need a name. There is only this hostel in White Lake City.

There was no one in the hostel at this time, and the lobby on the first floor was empty.Ryan found a corner seat, ordered only a glass of water, and told the waitress that he had to wait for someone.

The waitress asked who he was looking for, and she could help him upstairs to ask.Ryan said that there is no need to bother her, as long as he waits here, the other party will come to him on his own initiative.

Waiting like this is actually very inefficient, but he has no other choice.

Things started more than a month ago.Lane was still in San Delian at the time.

After leaving Gem Forest, Ryan took leave for a period of time and returned to his hometown in the sea of ​​trees.There was no one else in his hometown, and there was no one he knew in the nearby villages. He didn't stay for long, and soon returned to the Temple of St. Dilian.

In the barracks, his drawers were full of letters from Winter Thistle.In fact, Ryan didn't deliberately not look at it, but because he was sent to the north directly after taking the oath, and he didn't live in the barracks for a long time.The more he didn't watch it, the longer it dragged on, the more he didn't want to watch it.

Ryan suddenly wanted to read the letter that day, so he picked up one at random.This letter was at the top, obviously new.

Even if it's new, it's at least a few months old.Winter Thistle has not continued to send letters in the past few months.

Ryan paid attention to the postmark, his expression gradually changed from flat to surprised.

Postmarks showed that the letter had been sent from Fessisit, several months earlier.

At that time, the exchange of hostages had not yet been completed, and Winter Thistle was still helping the Necromancer deliver the request, and was waiting for the temporary laboratory to be completed...During that time, Winter Thistle had been in the Gem Forest and had not returned to the city. Help send letters, these people can move freely.

What Ryan didn't understand was why Winter Thistle sent such a letter at that time?It was still sent to him... Obviously he was also in the gem forest at that time.

With doubts, Ryan read on, and then discovered something even more astonishing.

Winter Thistle gave an approximate time frame of year, day, month, and asked Ryan to rush to White Lake City within this time period after reading the letter.When we arrive, we will meet at the hostel. I heard that there is only one hostel in White Lake City, so it shouldn't be hard to find.

When the appointed time comes, everything will be settled.The monster's troubles will be properly resolved.Winter Thistle estimated that he would be in White Lake City at that time, so he asked Ryan to come.

Winter Thistle also specifically wrote that he does not have any mysterious special purpose, so that Ryan should not worry too much.He just wanted to arrange a time and place in this way, so that both parties could be mentally prepared in advance and sit down and have a good talk.At that time, the crisis subsides, and everyone's mentality will be more stable.And now—that is, when the letter was written—they had no chance and no mood to talk.

After reading the letter, goose bumps appeared on Ryan's back.

If the letter was mailed a few days ago and arrived today, then it would be fine; the problem is, the letter was sent from Fessisit last winter, and the necromancer business hadn't ended yet...

Obviously, Winter Thistle is very confident in spells. He has already thought about how the dark clouds will disappear in the end, and when Kanai will wake up. Then he estimated a rough date for Ryan to arrive in Bai lake city.

So, Ryan came at the time stated in the letter.He arrived neither early nor late, as White Lake City was celebrating a miracle.

Ryan thought as he waited: Wait a minute, if Winter Thistle walks down from the guest room and sits directly in front of me... what am I going to say to him?

Back in the Jewel Forest, he could see that Winter Thistle had been trying to talk to him, and he'd been avoiding it.

At that time, his mentality was very contradictory. He was hopeful, and felt that everything would be back on track, and they would be able to live as normal in the future... But he was not sure what Winter Thistle was thinking, so he didn't want to communicate directly, and wanted to wait until the immediate situation was resolved. Let's talk about the crisis.

The two brothers coincided with the idea of ​​"let's talk about it after the matter is settled".

Then, he seemed to have lost a large part of the feeling in the middle...

From the moment he stepped onto the ice of the Khiva River, until the ice cracked, and then evacuated with the execution team... His body and mind were in chaos, as if he was still trapped in a thick fog.

It seems like something has changed, and it seems like it hasn't.

It wasn't until he saw the letter that he finally woke up.

He realized that he had almost strayed from the path he should have taken, and luckily the letter brought him back.

He finally saw his eyes clearly, found what he should do, and everything was about to return to the right track...

At this time, someone patted Ryan on the shoulder.

Ryan looked up and saw Winter Thistle.Winter Thistle didn't come down from the guest room on the second floor, but walked in through the door.He should live elsewhere, and then come to the hostel every day to take a look.

Winter Thistle's hair fell loose over her half-elven ears.In fact, it's okay even if he doesn't cover up, he has never been the kind of person who has a conspicuous aura.He didn't wear mage robes, and he looked like a commoner traveling merchant everywhere, which was also the same as before.

Winter Thistle sits across from Lane.Ryan wanted to speak first, but for a moment he didn't know what to say. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "I lost my sword."

"Where did you lose it?" Winter Thistle asked.

"When the ice broke, it fell into the water."

Winter Thistle said: "It doesn't matter, the sword itself is worthless. If you still need it, buy another one, and I will re-enchant it for you."