The Book of Hibernation

Winter Thistle wakes up gradually, and finds herself in a cave, lying on a sheepskin for traveling.

The cave is very shallow, and the exit is a few steps away, and the forest outside can be seen.

He felt that his shoulders were sore, and he struggled a bit, unable to move.Feeling gradually returning to his body, he realized that his hands were tied behind his back.

His feet were not tied, so he sat up slowly, his head was dazed, and his ears were ringing a bit. Apart from that, there was no other pain. He looked at himself, and all his belongings were still there.

After the tinnitus gradually subsided, he heard someone talking outside the cave.

"I can't do this well! I should go by myself..."

The other person didn't answer right away, and said after a long silence, "Then what do you want to do?"

"At least it can't cause such a big commotion."

"Come on, there is no better way to change you."

Dong Ji was still a little dazed, and could only hear a female voice.

One of them said, "Go and untie him."

Another said, "Go yourself. I'm not your servant."

The sound of footsteps stepping on fallen leaves approached, and a backlit figure appeared on the edge of the cave.Seeing that Dong Ji woke up, the visitor sighed, quickly comforted him, and said to untie him immediately.

Winter Ji's mind became more and more clear-headed, he took a closer look, isn't this March?

He looked at March in surprise, not knowing where to start asking.March was a little embarrassed and said: "I didn't want to tie you up, I will untie you now."

She untied Winter Thistle and rubbed his arm.Dong Ji looked up and looked out of the cave, and saw a familiar figure again: dressed in black and leather armor, with a mace and dagger hanging on his waist, and a cloth bag dug out of the hole was placed on his head, hiding his face.

Dead hunter?She also came back with March?

When they meet March again at the poorhouse, March doesn't explain her actions, and Winter Thistle privately guesses that she got rid of the hunter and ran back to Harbor City.Now it seems that this hunter not only did not continue to hunt down March, but also seemed to form some kind of alliance with her.

"What are you going to do?" Winter Thistle shrank back.

Hunter and March looked at each other.March said: "Originally, I wanted to find a reason to meet with you in a normal way, and then talk about some things, but now it's too late to arrange... I have to do this."

"What's too late?" Winter Thistle asked.Suddenly he remembered that the hunter of the dead had hurt several priests and had no guilt about it.He suddenly panicked: "Where are the people with me? How are they doing?"

The hunter folded his arms and leaned against the stone wall: "Don't worry, I'm not dead or injured. I snatched the carriage and ran away immediately."

"Really? If they're okay, how could they not chase?"

"Oh, they can't catch up," laughed the hunter, "because I killed their horses."

Winter Ji frowned, but she still didn't say anything.A person like her wouldn't bat an eye even if she attacked a human being, let alone a horse.

He recalled the movement he heard in the carriage and understood her method.When two guards and a coachman were helping passers-by to organize their goods, she not only snatched the carriage, but also quickly killed the guard's mount.It is estimated that the carriage in front of her capsized because of her hands and feet.

"What's going on with you guys..." Winter Thistle looked at the hunter, then at March, "March, you haven't explained your identity yet, how could you be Bellos's subordinate?"

Sanyue smiled and said, "You don't even know? I thought you'd already guessed everything these days."

Winter Thistle made no answer.In fact, he was either busy with magic experiments these days, or he was thinking about Aldin or Ryan, and he didn't seriously consider her identity...

"I know Bellows Jr., that's not surprising, is it?" March said.

Now that I think about it, it is true.

Winter Thistle recalled March's life experience: her father, surnamed Tal, used to be the subordinate of Old Bellos, and attacked the mage Haman under the order of Old Bellos, and he died because of this.

Since the parents knew each other, it is of course possible that March has known Bellos Jr. a long time ago.It just seemed so logical.

March said that her father was away alone and hadn't heard from her for a long time.One day, some people from the chamber of commerce went to their hometown, gave their mother a sum of money, and said nothing else.Mother is just a timid and timid ordinary village woman, she is very afraid of these masters with swords, so she dare not pester and ask.

Thanks to the money, March and his younger brother Tal grew up safely.Little Tal became a day knight and was sent to the temple in Harbor City. Here, he met the new head of the chamber of commerce——Bellos Jr. by chance.

Although the two were not as close as their parents, they gradually became friends.

"I found out about these things after I inquired everywhere," March said. "When my brother came to Harbor City, I was on the banks of the Siwa River. I had no contact with him, and I didn't know Bellos Jr."

Winter Thistle asked: "Have you never been here with your brother before? When we met, was it really the first time you came to Harbor City?"

March said: "I haven't been here before. Why, don't you think I have a good relationship with my family? How is it possible... For Frans, my sister is dispensable, no... it should be said It’s better not at all. We haven’t seen each other very early, and it’s not pleasant to meet anyway.”

Winter Thistle frowned: "Why is this..."

The dead hunter on the side sneered.Obviously she understands why this is not a good relationship between siblings.

Sanyue said: "He chose the Temple of the Day, and I went to the North Frostfield... Why don't we have a bad relationship?"

Winter Thistle sighed and nodded.

March went on to tell what she knew.

She first heard about Bellows Jr. after her mother died of illness.Before that, she hadn't been back to her hometown for a long time.

At that time, she had already met her fiancé Emer, and the two met in a certain ancient ruins.At her mother's funeral, she stood with Emer. Her younger brother Tal didn't speak to her the whole time. Instead, he chatted with Emer and mentioned the chamber of commerce and Bellos.

After the funeral, March left his hometown again.Emer is not a mage, and she is a little afraid of her research, so she didn't go with her for the time being, but chose to go to Harbor City with Little Tower to do some things.

Not long after this, Little Tal and Emer died one after another in Harbor City.

Little Tar never mentioned to his fellow knights that he had an older sister, and Emer was a lonely foreigner, so the news of the two's deaths just stayed in Harbor City, and it was never passed to March in time.

After a long time, March finally found out the news of her relatives.The more she thought about it, the more something went wrong, and she even questioned her father's death back then.So she made her way to Harbor City and found their graves.

After arriving in Harbor City, Sanyue hoped to get help in casting spells, so she was recommended to find the underground market of the almshouse.

In the underground bazaar, she met little Bellos in person for the first time.At that time, she didn't know that this person was the head of the Chamber of Commerce, but only knew that he was a mage named "Wu Yun".

He introduced her to some vendors and introduced her to the market, and then he left, it is said that he had other things to do.

This is consistent with the records of the underground market, and Dong Ji has also found out that "Dark Cloud" has indeed left Harbor City for a while.

In the past, Sanyue didn't think that mage Wu Yun was an important person, so naturally she didn't mention Dong Ji.

Winter Thistle asked, "Does Belos know about your blood refining and the Vengeance..."

Sanyue shook his head: "He probably doesn't know. My words to others are the same - dig up the corpse, wake up the dead, and bring them back to their hometown. He said that he understands me very much, and his attitude is similar to yours. When I successfully cast the spell, He's gone and didn't see what happened after that."

This is actually thanks to Aldin and the local shrine.

The temple was afraid of affecting its reputation, so it downplayed the incident as an ordinary corpse-snatching incident.Aldin's subordinates are also very united, and their mouths are very strict.

So under Aldin's arrangement, there were no rumors about things such as "The Sworn Man", "The Hunter of the Dead", and "The Cleric was attacked", and only a few people knew about it.

Just like that, March left Harbor City with the body of the swearer and his younger brother, and hurried back to his hometown in the northwest direction.

After burying the body, it was not over yet, and behind her was a dead hunter, waiting to kill her.

Of course March would run away, and she did for a while.As for how the dead hunter found her again, she didn't elaborate on this part.

Having said that, the hunter behind March snorted disdainfully.

March originally planned to return to Harbor City, but on her way back, she met Bellos Jr. again.

A thought suddenly crossed Dong Ji's mind.He asked, "Where did you meet him this time?"

"Are you asking about the location?"

"Correct."

"When I passed the border of Fesisit."

The free city-state Fesisit... The Gem Forest is within the territory of this city-state.

Then—the sudden death of Gorman in charge, the frequent invasion of the northern barbarians, the monsters made by necromancers and the products of magic experiments further eroded the gem forest, forcing Fei Xisite to retreat the line of defense... All this happened exactly when Xiao Bei During Rose's time at Fesisit.

Dong Ji pondered for a while, then raised his eyes, and looked at March suspiciously: "You haven't known him for long, why did he trust you so much in such a short period of time? He even made you his envoy?"

"Of course it's because I'm useful." March patted the material bag on his waist, "I'm a necromancer from outside, and I've been to Frostfield. My abilities satisfy him, but I'm weak and need someone to protect me This kind of person is the most suitable for doing dirty work. No matter what he does, he dare not go out and talk nonsense. If he wants to live well, he has to rely on his protection. Anyway, my family has a relationship with him. After he revealed his true identity, I also showed my yearning and dependence on him, so we hit it off."

Winter Thistle asked: "I can see that you are not sincerely loyal to him. What on earth are you trying to do? Are you looking into your family's affairs from him?"

Sanyue shook her head: "Compared to those, first of all, I want to know who he is."

Winter Thistle looked at her puzzled.

March didn't answer, but asked him: "Have you seen Bellos cast a spell?"

"Well, I've seen it."

"What do you think of his tactics?"

"Nothing special either. Not very detailed, but skilled enough."

March said: "But if you ask around, you will know that the new chief of the Ten Sail Street Chamber of Commerce was not a mage at all. Even if he has studied in a low-key way, he shouldn't be the kind of mage who understands alienation and necromancy .”

Winter Thistle frowned and thought.Aldin also mentioned: Elder Bellos knew a little about arcana, but his son was raised by his lover since he was a child, and he was just an ordinary person.

Before inheriting his father's business, Bellos Jr. had never shown any magic ability, and he couldn't even read arcane words.Anyone who has friendship with him in the chamber of commerce knows this.

After becoming the chief, within a few years, he not only had to deal with all kinds of complicated affairs of the chamber of commerce, but also proficiently mastered things that spellcasters can only understand after years of practice, and far surpassed the level of apprentices... This is really not normal.

Some people think that, in fact, Bellows Jr. was quite capable in the past, and he just pretended to be stupid.This makes sense, but if you think about it carefully, there are still many unreasonable places.

March continued: "I also thought that my brother would be killed, maybe because he knew some secrets that he shouldn't know. Maybe he noticed it unintentionally, maybe he didn't even understand what it meant. But Bellows Jr. saw the danger, so..."

Winter Thistle asked, "Then... who do you think Bellows is?"

"It's hard to say. I've never seen such a situation. But at least I can be sure that he is a necromancer, and he is a more complicated one than me..." March looked back at the dead hunter, "I put these The situation was told to her, and she was very interested."

The dead hunter nodded his head in a cloth bag: "As long as I can get close to that person, Otarot will definitely guide me and let me see his identity. But I can't enter the city, and I'm still waiting for the opportunity."

"And then? What are you going to do?" Winter Thistle asked in a low voice.

"Why do you ask such nonsense?" The hunter laughed.

Of course Winter Thistle knew that she wanted to hunt shamans and undead creatures, and that wasn't what he was asking.

He ignored the hunter, and continued to ask Sanyue: "I mean, you kidnapped me here suddenly, you must want me to do something?"

March shook his head: "On the contrary. We brought you to the suburbs in the hope that you would leave Harbor City as far away as possible."

"why?"

"Starting today, many complicated things may happen here. You have helped me. I don't want you to participate in these, and I don't want a refiner like you to fall into the hands of Little Bellos."

Winter Thistle asked, "What's going to happen in Harbor City?"

Sanyue told him that this morning, several other managers in the chamber of commerce also came to Harbor City, and they each brought some mercenaries they could dispatch.Their itinerary was almost a secret, and the people in the city hall were a little caught off guard.

At the same time, the envoys from the royal capital also entered the city not long ago. They directly ordered the local city guards to close the city gates, set up checkpoints within a certain range outside the city, and asked the mercenaries of the chamber of commerce to cooperate with them and obey the unified dispatch.

Knowing this in advance, March intercepts Winter Thistle's carriage with the help of hunters, and takes Winter Thistle to the forest in the outer suburbs before the city is closed.

After Harbor City is completely closed, there will be a town hall meeting.The participants included the local rulers, the Temple of the Day, the chief executives and officers of the chamber of commerce, the special envoys of the Austrian Law Federation, the envoys of the king's capital, and even a few envoys from other kingdoms.

It is not so much a meeting as an accusation and a trial.

And this time is different from the past, it is not possible to muddle through after cleaning up the downstream businessmen.After all, this time it involved the northern Frost Plains, and it was after Feixisite had just had a major incident.

After March briefed the situation, Winter Thistle nodded.He was prepared, and Aldine had told him that.

What he didn't understand was, why did things move so fast?

According to Aldin's meaning, all parties should discuss in private for a while, and after they have a rough solution, they can finally finalize a decent solution.

Winter Ji asked her doubts.

Looking at him in March, there seemed to be a kind of pity in his eyes: "Anaconda treats you very well."

"What do you mean..." Normally, Sanyue didn't know about his other relationship with Aldin, but when she said this, Dongji felt inexplicably guilty.

March said: "These days, Anaconda is probably busy negotiating with various parties every day. He told you to finalize a decent solution? Ha, he just wanted to make you feel at ease. This is simply impossible. Bellows pursues What he wants is not a win-win situation, but wants to destroy everything in Anaconda's hands. When the time comes today, he is ready to start."

Winter Thistle asked, "The timing? What's the timing today?"

"Kanai is back. He was with another envoy from Bellos. He was not sent back by escort, but sat in a carriage and was properly served by his servants."

Thinking of Aldin's previous suspicions about Kanai, Winter Thistle's heart shudders.

At this moment, if Kanai appeared as Bellos' friend, Winter Thistle could guess what it would mean.

Dong Ji bowed her head and thought for a while, then shook her head lightly and said, "March, I know you mean well, but I can't leave. I'll go back with you."

Sanyue was a little impatient: "You are a refiner, not a battle mage, you should hide well. As long as you stay, you will definitely be involved. The next few days, Harbor City will definitely be very uneasy Little Bellos is interested in you. If you stay, he will not let you go. And the anaconda, he will never sit still. Once the situation is unfavorable, he will definitely use his power to fight for a way out. At that time He may not be willing to protect you, thank God if he doesn't use you as a tool...including me too, I will no longer care about your life and death, and I may even betray you and use you when necessary, I will never be polite. Winter Ji, do you want to get yourself into this situation?"