The Book of Hibernation

Winter Thistle curled up worriedly.He thought that he would be questioned soon, but who knew that the whole day passed, and when night fell, he was locked in the underground of the city hall, and no one responded.

The other cells were very lively.The group of mercenaries were very adaptable. They were gloomy at first, but later they started playing dice, and the money they lost was recorded in the account, and they made an appointment to pay back after they went out.

When the soldiers came to deliver the dinner, the mercenaries even started singing.The soldiers who delivered the food were not angry when they saw them like this, and even made a few jokes with them.

The mercenaries felt that the atmosphere was not tense, so they asked the soldiers what was going on outside. The soldiers told them that there was no trial court all day, and it seemed that they were not in a hurry to interrogate them.

After the soldiers left, one of the mercenaries sighed, "It doesn't seem like a big deal. Don't worry too much, they can take care of it."

Others also echoed and relaxed a lot.

Winter Thistle moved to the fence of the cell, looking at the food on the iron plate on the floor.The dinner given by the city hall to the prisoners was not too bad, with sliced ​​bread, a small piece of cheese, a few spoonfuls of mixed vegetables and boiled beans, and a glass of water.

Now it's past dinner time for ordinary people, and it should be almost midnight. Winter Thistle is not hungry at all, and has no appetite, and the mercenaries have obviously been looking forward to dinner for a long time, and they all huddle beside the fence, reaching out to get food.

When Dong Ji went to get the water cup, she also saw the iron plate in front of the cells of the mercenaries.

He froze for a moment, put down the cup abruptly, and shouted: "Wait! Don't eat... don't drink what's in the cup!"

His voice wasn't loud enough, not intimidating enough.Some mercenaries looked at him, while others ignored him at all.

The mercenary near the cell asked, "What's the matter?"

"There might be a problem with your water!" Winter Thistle said anxiously, grabbing the fence, "Don't drink it!"

Just when he said don't drink, someone has already picked up the cup and took a few sips. Fortunately, most of them haven't drunk yet.

Everyone fell silent and looked at him.

"What's the matter, what do you mean?" the mercenary asked.

The Winter Thistle said, "What's in your glasses? Ale right?"

"Yes. What's the matter?"

"My glass is clear water. There may be something wrong with your ale, don't drink it!"

"You have water, probably because you are a mage? People like you don't like wine, so of course I will give you water."

"That's not the question!" said Winter Thistle. "My mugs are made of wood, and yours? They're all pewter, aren't they? Who would normally use tin mugs for prisoners?"

Seeing what the mage said seriously, the mercenaries stopped their movements, but they still didn't quite understand what was going on.

Winter Thistle reached out to the adjacent cell, asking for a tin mug.

The nearby mercenary handed him the cup.It's a glass of ale that hasn't been drunk yet.

It is not difficult to verify the guess and does not require any special materials.

The Winter Thistle poured out a little of the water in her wooden cup, poured the ale from the tin cup into the wooden cup, and mixed it with the water.

After touching the ale, the inside of the wooden cup suddenly boiled and bubbled. At the same time, the water mixed with the ale in the cup turned from light yellow to blue-purple, just like the water where purple cabbage was boiled.

"Sage juice!" cried the Winter Thistle. "Sage juice has been mixed with the ale! It's a dangerous poison!"

Purple sage juice is not an ordinary herbal poison, but a refined and refined finished poison.Unlike arsenic and the like, the venom, though deadly, causes almost no pain to the victim.

After ingestion, people will feel drowsy first, this kind of drowsiness is not violent, people will not realize that they have been poisoned, they will only think that this is normal fatigue, and then gradually fall into a deep sleep.After falling asleep, he never wakes up again.

It seems gentle, but in fact it is extremely toxic and there is no cure for it.It works as soon as it gets in the mouth, and it doesn't help if you vomit right away.

Purple sage juice was often used in assassinations.No pain, no awareness of poisoning, no screaming, no vigilance, no timely intervention in the investigation, no opportunity for end-of-life arrangements.

Everything will happen quietly.By the time others find out, the victim is dead, and the poisoner has plenty of time to evacuate.

There are also downsides to purple sage juice.First, it has a slightly sour straw smell, which may be off-putting to the sensitive if dissolved in water.Therefore, ale is the best cover, and its taste can be completely integrated with ale.

When dissolved in ale, foam will appear on the wooden cup containing the wine, and the wood and poison will cause the wine to change color.To eliminate this reaction, just use tin cups instead.

Winter Thistle tilted the foaming cup slightly to show the mercenaries in the other cells.

"Did someone drink just now?" Winter Ji asked anxiously.

The mercenaries were silent for a long time, and three of them spoke softly one after another, expressing that they had just drank ale.

They were kind of intimidated.But the body is not uncomfortable, so they are somewhat suspicious, thinking that it is impossible to be poisoned in the wine.The winter thistle made them vomit, but they couldn't do it.

Dongji thinks about it, even if the vomiting is successful, it won't be able to save her... so Dongji stopped talking to them, and instead slammed on the fence and shouted for the guards.

Shouting like that, of course the guards quickly came down.

After listening to Winter Thistle's narration, the guard looked at the cup, glanced at the mercenaries in each cell, and said casually, "Poisonous? I think they are all right? Does anyone have a stomachache? Has anyone vomited blood? No? Look, it's obviously all right."

"Why are you giving me different water?" Winter Thistle asked, "Why are you giving me clear water?"

The guard smiled: "It's so self-indulgent. We should have given water. We didn't take care of you, we took care of them. Someone specially gave two barrels of ale, and said one for us and one for them."

Winter Ji asked in surprise: "There is still a barrel of this wine? Have you already drunk it?"

"You can't drink alcohol while on duty. Save it for later."

"Anyway, don't drink!"

The guard nodded with a sneer.He nodded not because he listened to Dong Ji's persuasion, but because he was perfunctory and didn't want to talk to him more.

Seeing that he was about to leave, Winter Ji hurriedly called him to stop, and took the wooden and tin cups for him to check.

The strangely colored liquid in the wooden cup was indeed a bit disgusting, but the guard still didn't take it seriously: "This is because the wood is moldy..."

Seeing that he didn't believe it, Dongji didn't explain anymore.Anyway, these soldiers couldn't understand the composition analysis of purple sage juice.

Winter Thistle asked instead: "Who told you to put wine in tin cups for prisoners?"

The guard said: "Didn't your Chamber of Commerce send someone to deliver it? They agreed to give them one, and after delivering the meal, the cup will be given to them. This thing is not cheap. It is made of tin and silver. My wife will be happy to take it home."

Hearing that it was made of tin and silver, and it was going to be given to them, some of the mercenaries shouted in surprise.

Dongji didn't quite understand, this matter was obviously very strange, why didn't the mercenary suspect it at all?

Seeing Dongji's anxious expression, the mercenary in the cell beside him smiled and said, "You have never been in prison before, right? Let me tell you. After you come in, if you eat When I saw silver spoons, pewter plates and other things in the tableware, it meant that it was for you. It means that someone outside misses you, and this way tells you 'I won't treat you badly after I go out'. Got it Right? Look, no one has brought you gifts."

If this is the case, it is no wonder that the mercenaries are not suspicious.

Winter Thistle hurriedly asked the guard: "No matter why the tin cups are sent, the key is, who sent them? Who sent these cups and ale?"

The guard said: "Are you still interrogating me? How do I know those people? I only know that they are people from the Chamber of Commerce. I don't ask about things that are not under my control. People in our business don't have curiosity in their stomachs." .”

Winter Thistle wanted to say something, but the guard had run out of patience and didn't bother to talk to him.No matter what Winter Ji called him in the cell, he still left without looking back, yawning.

Seeing that there was no hope of communication, Dong Ji hurriedly said to the mercenaries: "Don't drink the leftover wine! Believe me, you must not drink it!"

The mercenary in the cell next to him said, "Oh, we also know that you mean well, but could you be mistaken? Look, it's been so long, isn't the person who drank just now okay..."

After speaking, he looked back.Just now three people admitted to drinking, and one of them was in the same cell as him.

In the corner of the cell, the man leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and seemed to be sleeping soundly, with unfinished bread in his hand.

The other two drinkers were in the same cell.While the others were talking, one of them fell asleep, and the other fell asleep.

Seeing them like this, the other mercenaries suddenly lost their minds.

The people next to them pushed them, and they either ignored them, or muttered in a daze, turned over and changed their sleeping positions.

Others continued to push them and yell at them, but not only did they not open their eyes, they fell asleep more and more deeply.

They're still breathing, and one is even snoring, but it's anything but normal sleep.The companions stomped on their hands and kicked their faces, but they just wouldn't wake up.

Winter Thistle stood in front of the fence, observed for a while, then slowly retreated into the depths of the cell, and stopped talking.

The purple sage juice has taken effect, and it is useless to say anything now.

Not to mention that he didn't have any medicine at hand, even if he did, it would be too late.

While he was silent, the mercenaries gradually became agitated.

Someone first noticed that the sleeping companion was not breathing, and the others checked repeatedly, and then went to observe the situation of the other two... Sure enough, all three of them were not breathing, and their body temperature gradually dropped.

Some people called for the guards, some repeatedly checked the dead, and some stopped talking and lowered their heads, not knowing what they were thinking.

Dong Ji heard that two mercenaries were arguing in the next cell.

At the beginning, their voices were not loud, and their words were relatively indirect, trying to avoid uttering some straightforward accusations; as they talked, the two became more emotional, and finally they ignored it, and their words became more and more direct, even direct The word "Chamber Chief" was spoken.

Now that one of them had spoken out, the other didn't bother to cover it up for him.Apparently, they all thought their employer had poisoned them, to silence them before they could go to trial.

The difference between these two mercenaries is: one thinks that they should keep the secret well and show a loyal attitude, otherwise even if their freedom is restored in the future, they will usher in even more tragic revenge; Being poisoned means that they are thrown away after being used up. It is the employer who failed them first, so they don't have to keep secrets for such people.

Dongji felt that the matter was not so simple.From the standpoint of Little Bellos, instead of arranging poisoning, it is better to bribe some people to arrange for the mercenaries to collude and let them frame other people in the trial court... For example, Aldin is a good frame target.

Dong Ji suddenly thought that there was still March in this matter.In the poorhouse, when he reunited with March, what did March say?

She said she poisoned the old woman with purple sage juice...

Winter Thistle clasped her hands together.It seems that the poisoning tonight is indeed not a simple killing.

At the same time, he also vaguely guessed what March might want to do.

If she really succeeds, regardless of what will happen to Little Bellos, first of all, she will be unable to protect herself, and drag a group of people to destruction.

Winter Ji frowned while thinking, shaking her head.Sanyue is this kind of person, she not only despises her own life, but also always ignores the safety of others... she is unbelievably cruel.

While Winter Thistle was meditating, the mercenaries in the next cell had stopped arguing.One of them reached out to Winter Thistle's cell and knocked on the iron railing.

"Master, are you asleep, Master?" the mercenary asked.

Winter Thistle replied, "No. What's the matter?"

"Look, things are going like this anyway... Tell us the truth, are you a necromancer? Is Lord Bellos a necromancer?"

Winter Thistle said, "I am not a necromancer."

When the mercenary was about to speak, he continued, "But I don't know if Bellos is."

The mercenary asked: "I heard that you have a black market where there are necromancers and items they use, and you sell dead babies, and you even send weapons to the necromancers in the northern Frostfield... Is this always true? ?”

"The black market is real, but we never supported the northern necromancers," said Winter Thistle.

In fact, this "black market" cannot be regarded as his subordinates, but he doesn't need to argue about it now.

The mercenary said: "That's it. You say you are not a necromancer, who can believe it... By the way, we all heard that you are the lover of the anaconda. How did you get involved with Bellos again? Now If Belos wants to save you, isn’t he saving the necromancer? He is the head of the chamber of commerce..."

Winter Thistle couldn't laugh or cry.He'd love to say "I didn't have an affair with Bellows," but he's not in the mood to explain things like that.

Winter Ji said: "So I reminded you just now that this matter is very important. You have already been involved, and you have to plan for your own future."

The mercenary's voice was a little irritated: "Why are you so vague... We just want to ask you, what's going on? Is there anything wrong with Bellos? What do you plan to say when you go to trial in the future?"

Winter Thistle didn't answer right away.

He had already made up his mind to protect Aldin, but he couldn't close his eyes and empty his mouth to identify others as the northern necromancer.

But... is Bellows really?

He had doubts in his heart, but he couldn't be completely sure.

The mercenary urged him by knocking on the railing.These people are very scared now, so I want to ask the mage about his plan first, so that they can have a bottom line.

Winter Thistle said softly, "I don't know...but I can tell them apart."

With his own thoughts in his mind, he had long forgotten what the mercenary asked, so the answer was irrelevant.

The mercenary asked: "What is the difference?"

Only then did Dong Ji come to his senses, and he said, "It's nothing. Just like what I said before, you just need to tell the truth."

The mercenaries next door whispered to each other, and then asked, "If we need to stay in Harbor City in the future, can you help?"

Winter Thistle realized that they should be afraid of being expelled from the Peregrine Mercenary Group or even retaliated after going out, so they were considering whether to simply join Aldin.

If they moved this idea, Winter Thistle would be relieved.

Winter Thistle said: "If it is really necessary, I will help, and Lord Arden will help you too."

"Really? Can you talk?"

"Really, I will try my best."

The mercenaries chatted for a while.After getting Winter Thistle's answer, they turned their attention back to the three dead men.

Even if the deceased was a former companion, everyone was unwilling to just be locked up with the corpse.Then, someone started shouting at the guards again.

Winter Thistle kept looking down the stairs over the banister, hoping the guards would show up, come down and yell at them...but they didn't.

The mercenaries took turns yelling for a while, knocking on the railing and the dinner plate, but no one came up.

The guards ignored him, and even refused to come down to give a warning.

Winter Ji sighed, and slowly moved back to the corner of the cell.He realized that the guards were probably still drinking.

There must be more than one guard. I don't know how many people have been drinking?Could it be that someone hadn't had a drink and ran off to find the doctor and the consul now?

Although he told the guard not to drink, the guard's attitude was very casual, and he probably didn't take his words seriously.

He didn't repeat this matter repeatedly, and didn't ask the guard to promise him that he would never drink the barrel of wine.

Would he believe me if I spoke more firmly?

Or...if I can let him wait a little longer, and let him see the three mercenaries die gradually, there will be far fewer victims tonight...

Winter Thistle couldn't help but began to wipe away tears.

With his eyes closed, he imagined that he was not under the city hall, but on the high wall of Harbor City, where he could overlook the port area.

If it was in that place... Even in the dark, even if the air was cold, he could still look at the lights on the pier and fishing boats, and gradually calm down his mood.