The Book of Hibernation

Aldin brought an ice bucket, wrapped the ice cubes in a handkerchief, and stuck them to Winter Thistle's slightly swollen ankle.

Dew didn't go anywhere tonight, it dutifully brought Winter Thistle back to the mansion.But Winter Ji didn't know how to get off the horse correctly, and was so anxious that she accidentally fell down and sprained her ankle.

At first, the servants in the yard looked at the horses strangely, completely oblivious to the winter thistle lying on the ground.Only then did Winter Ji think of the masking agent, and he hurriedly used other agents to neutralize the effect.

The servant just saw Dong Ji and wanted to find a doctor for him, but Dong Ji urgently asked to see Aldin first.

Seeing the thistle, Aldine immediately realized that something might be wrong.He took Winter Thistle back to his room, closed the door, and had a private conversation with Winter Thistle.

Winter Thistle was on the soft chair, and Aldin sat directly on the carpet. Without any explanation, he tore off Winter Thistle's shoes and socks, and pulled his ankles onto his knees.

He stroked the wound lightly, judging the severity of the sprain.The half-elf's ankle was originally very thin, even though it was slightly swollen, it could still be held in the palm of the hand.

Aldean put an ice pack on him with one hand and held the uninjured part with the other.

The pain in the affected area was soothed by the ice cubes, but the palms on the legs were a little scalding...Winter Thistle subconsciously wanted to shrink back, but there was nowhere to escape.

Normally, Winter Thistle would definitely ask himself to deal with it, but today he was eager to state what he saw, and he didn't have so much time for other nonsense.

He was slightly red from the base of his ears to the tips, so he had to look away and talk about the business as calmly as possible.

After Winter Thistle finished speaking, Aldin asked, "Who else knows what you said, except you and your brother?"

"And the elves. And the slave caravans. They must know what they've done."

"Elves and caravans don't count. I mean, have you asked anyone else for help? Have you told the city guard or other temporary bodyguards?"

Winter Thistle shook her head: "No more. I don't know anyone else in Harbor City."

Aldin had a sullen face, as if he was thinking.Winter Thistle stared at him uneasily.

After a while, Aldin said, "Winter Thistle, you came back and told me this, which shows that you trust me, doesn't it?"

Winter Thistle didn't know how to answer.He asked in a low voice, "Did you... know about those things in advance?"

"I know part of it, but it's a bit different from the current situation," Aldin said. "Winter Thistle, if you trust me, I am willing to tell you the truth. I know that the Carlos family was involved in the slave trade, but I don't know that they What to do with transporting dead bodies."

Winter Ji lowered her head, hesitated to speak.

Aldin changed the ice in the handkerchief once, and continued: "The caravan belongs to the Carlos family. They did do slave trade in the past. They brought gray mountain spirits from the island and sent them to the northern border of the Sago Kingdom. Since ancient times Gray mountain spirits have had a scornful name for a long time, called ogres. This kind of creature is not welcome anywhere, and no city will give them a customs clearance stamp. Therefore, when transporting such labor, the Carlos family has to use Do something else."

Winter Thistle asked, "Send them to the north of Sargo? Why do you need Gray Mountain Spirits there?"

Aldin said: "There are a lot of mines in that area, and a strong labor force has been needed for a long time. This is not the first time that a caravan has transported ash mountain spirits. There are people on the island who do this full-time, and bridge the relationship between gray mountain spirits and humans. Some gray spirits Mountain spirits will take the initiative to find humans, because they just want to go to the northern border of Sago."

The gray mountain spirit actively wants to be trafficked?Sounds unreasonable, but winter thistles understand why when they reflect on the history associated with them.

Gray mountain spirits originated from the mountains outside the human kingdoms. Over the long years, due to various changes, several of their branch tribes were driven to the islands.For reasons such as ancestor worship, the gray mountain spirits on the island have always yearned for their hometown, but their civilization level is not high, and they don't know how to sail. They have no other way to return to land except to be transported back by humans.

Winter Thistle had also heard of the mines north of Sago.In fact, that was the former Western Wilderness, inhabited by many alien creatures. Later, the human territory expanded, and today's mines came into being.

Some gray mountain spirits were eager to return home, so human caravans took advantage of their low intelligence and brought them back to their "hometown" as high-quality and cheap labor.

Aldin frowned and said: "As for this time, you said that there are barbarians and island elves among the slaves, some are still alive, some are corpses... I don't know what's going on. Maybe people from the Carlos family Didn't tell me the truth."

Winter Thistle said, "I've read the spell, and there are indeed barbarians, island elves, and of course gray mountain elves."

Aldin said: "If there are living people and corpses in that batch of 'goods', and according to what you said, they may be sold to the northern necromancers... This is much more serious than slave trading. I'm not crazy , How could it be possible to cooperate with the Northern Frostfield? Is the Carlos family crazy too? It’s too dangerous to do such a thing.”

"Then what should we do now?" Winter Thistle asked, "When the dawn breaks tomorrow, the elves will come to rescue people..."

From Winter Thistle's eyes and words, Aldin noticed something strange.

He vaguely realized that the thing that Winter Ji was most worried about might not be the slave trade itself...

Aldin said: "If those elves fail and are caught by the city guards, then the city hall will definitely intervene in this matter, and may even alarm the king's capital; if the elves succeed in rescuing the slaves, then they will also leave a bunch of slaves The mess has alarmed the entire Harbor City."

Winter Thistle sighed and shook her head: "The elves won't succeed. They won't be able to save so many slaves."

"How do you know?" Arden asked.

Winter Thistle said: "The elves said that they wanted to pretend to be fishing boats, which means that their boats must not be big enough to carry many people. Next, they will use small boats to get close to the dock area, and civilian fishing boats can only carry at most two of the most Simple thin wooden boats. Thinking about it this way, their number should not exceed ten at most. Also, they are very concerned about the effective number of guards in the warehouse, which also shows that they are short of manpower...they have so few people, there are no more than ten people in the box. There are so many slaves! How did they take away those living people and corpses? And most importantly, the city guard changes very quickly. Such a short time is only enough for the elves to sneak into the warehouse area, not enough for them Complete the entire operation. Once the guards hear the movement, they will definitely dispatch all their hands to surround the warehouse...As far as I know, there are at least a hundred soldiers stationed in the dock area..."

"You're right," Aldin said, "as long as the incident happens, there is no way to end it peacefully. No matter what the outcome is, everyone will know that this incident involves slave trade...even, people will think that the Templar Knights were also involved in the trade." slave."

"I'm just worried about this!" Mentioning Ryan, Winter Thistle's voice trembled, "The elf said that as long as Ryan let them go on purpose, but I thought about it carefully, it's not right... Even if Ryan leaves the warehouse early, even if he He did not participate in the battle, but his identity is still one of the bodyguards of the warehouse, and he is still a knight who participated in the slave trade! The elf must run as fast as possible after saving someone. They escaped. Who will prove that Ryan is innocent? ?Even if it can be proved that he did not know, at most it can guarantee that he will not go to the trial court. He may still be punished internally by the temple. At the least, the probationary period will be extended indefinitely, and at worst, he will be directly expelled..."

Aldin looked at the half-elf, put his palm on his knee, and gently rubbed it to show comfort.

"What should I do..." Dong Ji's voice weakened, and she lowered her head deeply.

"Don't be afraid." This time, Aldin took Winter Thistle's hands.Aldin's hand had just held the ice, but Winter Thistle's hand was as cold as his.

Aldin said: "Your brother's situation is so embarrassing. I am responsible for this matter. After all, I recruited him. Although it was only a temporary recruitment, he is now my subordinate. As the head of the Ten Sail Street Chamber of Commerce I will definitely protect my own people as much as possible.”

"Do you have a solution..." Winter Thistle asked.

Aldin said: "If you trust me, you can rest here and wait for me. I will find a way. I am very familiar with the Carlos family, and I have many friends in the city hall. Don't worry, I will make friends with you." Just give it to me."

Aldin stood up, and Winter Thistle wanted to follow suit. Aldin pushed him back on the soft chair, and told him to continue to apply cold compresses to his ankles. If he needed anything, he could pull the bell wire by the wall, and a servant would come to help him.

Winter Thistle is embarrassed to stay in Aldin's room, but Aldin's attitude does not allow him to refuse.

Aldin went to sort out his clothes and put on everything he needed for going out.Before going out, he turned around and comforted Dong Ji, telling him to have a good sleep and not to worry too much.

Aldin also made a promise not only to guarantee Ryan's personal safety, but also to ensure that he would not be implicated.

Winter Thistle asked tentatively, "Then... where are those elves?"

Aldin said: "I will first go to the person in charge of the Carlos family to understand the situation. Before the elves act, I will try to communicate directly with them to see how to resolve this matter and try to avoid conflicts. Don't worry."

Dong Ji nodded, thanked repeatedly, and did not forget to add: "You are also careful in everything and pay attention to safety."

Aldin smiled at him, turned and left the room.

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Dorin left the Black Fish Tavern at midnight, returned to the small attic where he was temporarily staying, changed the waitress's dress, and put on light clothes that fit closely to the body line.

He prepared the weapon, checked all the necessary items, and after finishing these, he leaned against the head of the bed and took a light sleep for a while.

In the darkest and stillest hours of the morning, Dorin awoke.

He put on a dark light cloak, put on the hood, and turned directly out of the window.

It's a little cloudy today.Due to the lack of moonlight, the street was very dark, but this was not a problem for the elf's eyesight, but it was more convenient for him to conceal himself.

Dorin walked on the scattered roofs, his footsteps were as light as a cat's.Not only did he have to avoid the night guards, but also the occasional drunk who passed by. He didn't want to be seen by anyone.Before today, he had scouted the route many times, so it went quite smoothly.he

Passing through the residential area, we arrived at the appointed reef beach on time, hiding in the shadow of stones and plants.

It was quiet on the reef beach in the early morning, only the distant ocean was breathing gently.

Due to the gloomy sky, Duolin couldn't judge the time from the position of Xingyue. He only felt that it had been a long time, and the rescue team of the island elves had not yet appeared.

Everything is a plan that cannot keep up with changes, and Duolin was not in a hurry at the beginning.He waited patiently for a long time, counting his pulse to calculate the waiting time...

After counting hundreds of heartbeats, he panicked a little, this is not normal, the rescue team is so much later than the appointed time, this is definitely not normal...

Duolin was in a state of panic. Could it be that the rescue team failed to get close to Nanyu Port?Or did something go wrong with the boat after they changed the boat?

Duolin's Xinying is still in the hands of the captain of the rescue team. If they encounter an accident, why didn't they send Xinying to inform them in time?

If we wait any longer, maybe dawn will come soon.Duolin hesitated, not knowing whether he should go to the direction of Nanyu Port to investigate, or should give up the action and evacuate directly.

Just as he was hesitating, he keenly caught some sounds.Someone was approaching, but it was certainly not the rescue team.

There were some footsteps coming from the direction of the fish market.The market is near the reef, but still separated by a certain distance.Dorin is an elf, so he can hear a little movement. If it is a human being, he can't hear anything at this distance.

That market opens after sunrise and closes before noon.If he heard the voice of a street vendor, it means that it will be bright tomorrow...

Gradually, Dorin noticed the sound of horseshoes, and they got closer and closer.Only then did he realize, no, that's not a vendor at the fish market!

There were a lot of visitors, they did not stay in the market area, but continued to walk towards the reef.

Dorin immediately evacuated.Just as he was walking along the shadows of the plants, there was a crisp sound in the distance, the pale light illuminated the sky, and the entire reef beach was as bright as day.

It is daylight gunpowder.There is no lethality, it is only used for lighting to find the enemy.

Those people came prepared, they obviously knew that there were people hiding on the reef.

Duolin hurriedly fled to the fishing port residential area.As he entered the alley, he heard shouts in the distance behind him.He realized that he had been found.

But he still had a way of getting out.Those people were still far away from him. At such a distance, even if those people looked at him from a distance, they couldn't see his specific appearance clearly.

As long as he ran into the complex fishermen's alleys, he had a chance to get rid of the humans on horseback.

He doesn't need to look back, he can judge the distance of the enemy just by listening to the sound.He got into the alley, jumped over the low wall, climbed up the higher roof, jumped to the sheltered low place, sneaked into the wooden window of the resident's house, and then left from other indoor exits, without waking up the sleeping room at all. host.

After a lot of effort, the pursuers behind him disappeared completely.

Those people must still be searching the streets and alleys, but they couldn't tell where the target had gone.

Dorin thought for a while and decided to rush to the dock warehouse.

He also has self-knowledge, and he doesn't intend to do anything on his own, but just wants to see what's going on in the warehouse.

There must be something wrong with the rescue team.So what about the trainee knight Ryan?Was it discovered by others, and suffered a mutation like himself?still……

While thinking this way, Duo Lin was getting out of the attic of a residential building and jumping onto the courtyard wall next to him.

Just when he was about to continue running, suddenly there was a sharp pain in his right foot, as if he was bitten by some wild beast.

At the same time, a strong force pulled him off balance and he fell from the wall.

The elf propped himself up in embarrassment, and turned his head to look. There was no obvious wound on his ankle, but it hurt like burning. He almost thought he was ambushed by a poisonous snake.

A few steps away, a man in a blue-gray robe slowly approached.

The man was clearly a spellcaster, and Dorin had never seen him.

Kanai hadn't seen Dorin either.

However, there was only one Yole Elf nearby, and of course he could recognize the target.

Kanai chuckled and said, "I arranged for so many people to fail to catch you. It seems that my judgment was wrong. Fortunately, I was walking around here on a whim while waiting for news. I didn't expect that there would be a surprise instead."

Dorin's scalp was numb, and he tightly grasped the hilt of his sword.

The sky is now a little brighter than before.He clearly saw that although the mage's hands were empty, the air at the fingertips trembled slightly, like twisted transparent snakes.