Winter Thistle went back to the tavern to check out the room, took Lushui with her, and made the final journey home.

When it was dark, he came to the true boundary of the tree sea.His family's old house is only separated from the border by a stream, and everything in the half-masonry and half-timbered old house remains the same.

Although the climate in this area is comfortable and there is very little dust, the houses that have not been lived in for a long time still need to be tidied up before people can live in them.Winter Thistle walked up the wooden steps in front of the door, and suddenly felt something was wrong, the steps were too clean, not even a single fallen leaf.

He raised his head to look at the wooden door, and swallowed back the exclamation that had reached his lips.

The padlock on the outside of the door was missing.The wooden window next to it has also been opened, but it is not closed tightly now, it is just concealed.Someone has been in the house and may still be in the house now.

Winter Thistle's first reaction was "Lian is back", and as soon as he took a step, he felt something was wrong again.

It would be great if Ryan came back, but what if it wasn't Ryan?When he made a sound, it would startle the other party.

There were footsteps in the house.Winter Thistle leaned against the outer wall, afraid that the other party would see him through the window.

The wooden door was slowly pushed open from the inside.The people in the house did not come out immediately.Winter Thistle heard a slight sound of metal rubbing, maybe the other party also noticed the movement and was slowly pulling out the weapon.

Footsteps stepped on the wooden corridor outside the door.The man walked to the door and gave a suspicious "Huh".At the same time, Lushui standing in front of the house raised her head and tail, raised her ears, let out a soft snorting sound, and took two steps forward.

Winter Thistle has been with Dew for a long time, and he can see that Dew is in a good mood, and seems to be a little excited.

Seeing Dew, the person inside the door jumped down the steps in two or three steps, and ran to Dew to stroke its nose.Therefore, Dongji immediately recognized this figure.

"Dorin?" Winter Thistle asked softly.

Dorin didn't expect that there was someone behind the door at all, and was taken aback. His first reaction was to turn around with the dagger in his hand.

Although he remembered Winter Ji, he still didn't relax his vigilance and looked around, as if he was worried that there were other people nearby.

"Why are you in my house?" Winter Thistle asked.

Dorin asked, "Are you alone?"

Dongji smiled and said, "That sounds really scary. I should answer 'not alone, there are others coming back with me', so that you won't dare to rob me."

Dorin's face flushed slightly: "I didn't intend to do anything bad," he hurriedly put his sword back into its sheath, "I'm sorry, I came here without authorization. Ryan gave me the key and map..."

"Lane with you?"

"At first. Then he finished his tour, went to the temple of St. Dilian to take his oath, and then..."

Judging by Duo Lin's stammering appearance, I'm afraid this matter cannot be explained clearly in one or two sentences.Winter Thistle said, "Let's go into the room and talk slowly. I'll go and pack things first."

He went to unload Lushui's luggage, and also unloaded the bridle, saddle and other riding equipment, let Lushui relax, and took it to the simple stable on the side of the house.Seeing this, Duo Lin hurried to help him, and was also responsible for moving all the luggage back into the house.

Originally, Winter Thistle was still worrying about the cleaning, but now that she entered the house, everything had been tidied up.The tables, chairs and cabinets were clean, the fireplace was burning very warmly, firewood and charcoal were piled up behind the house, and the water tank was not only full, but gentian stones for cleaning were also put in it.

The gentian stones Dorin used were artificially crystallized. I made a bunch of thistles and put them in the kitchen cupboard.Dorin actually knew that he could put it in a water tank, it must have been taught by Ryan.

It seemed that Dorin had not just arrived, but had lived here for a short time.

As Winter Thistle made her rounds, Dorin felt a little uncomfortable.This is the home of Winter Thistle and Ryan. Although Ryan gave him the key, he moved in without Winter Thistle's consent.

Dorin was at a loss as to how to communicate with Winter Thistle.When he left Harbor City, Winter Thistle was still serving the anaconda, so what happened to the Elven Rescue Team must have been due to Winter Thistle leaking the news.So his impression of Winter Thistle is very wavering: he doesn't look like a bad guy, but he must be vigilant against him.

When Dong Ji was packing her luggage, Duo Lin stood there stupidly, hesitating to speak several times.

Dong Ji saw that he was uncomfortable, so she took the initiative to say to him: "You know today is the beginning of spring, right?"

"um, yes."

"It's almost dinner time, this is a festive meal in the beginning of spring. I bought fresh vegetables and cheese when I passed the village, and cooked scones, which can be eaten hot. Don't be so nervous, we will eat later Let's chat."

After finishing speaking, Dongji felt a strange feeling in her heart: what's wrong with me, the tone of my speech is a bit like Aldin...

After Aldine said something like that, the Winter Thistle usually became so overwhelmed with the content of the conversation that the dinner itself became tedious.He estimated that Dorin would feel similarly now.

So he decided to talk about other things while doing things, to defuse the delicate atmosphere.Dorin also offered to help, and taught him some unique onion-cutting techniques from the elves of the Isle of Yor.

When they talk, it's natural to talk about Ryan.Ryan is now an official Templar Knight. He completed the oath ceremony in San Dilian and was stationed in Feixiite and Gem Forest.

There is no temple there, just a prayer hall and a Templar barracks.The knights in the battalion were divided into two teams. One team was stationed in the west of Fesisit City, and the other team went deep into the gem forest, specializing in chasing and executing blasphemy, so they were called the execution team.

Lane volunteered for the execution squad.Due to his outstanding performance, he is now the captain of one of the teams.

Winter Thistle was somewhat familiar with the system of the Temple of Daylight, and he had never heard of any execution squad.The Temple of Day will not pursue necromancers for no reason, unless they are convinced that a necromancer has committed a crime.

Dorling said that there really was no execution squad in the past, this is a small team that has only recently been formed.Recently, the banks of the Khiva River are not peaceful, and the gem forest is full of dangers. Therefore, the nearby temple formed a execution team of priests and sent them to the gem forest.

Monsters roam the Gem Forest, evidence of the necromancer's crimes.The task of the Squad is to cleanse these evil creatures and execute the mages who created them.

This doesn't sound like a day knight, but it's a bit like something an Otarot knight would do.In a sense, the execution squad is more deadly than the Otarot knights. The Otarot knights will bring the necromancers to the temple for trial, although the results of the trials are usually not much better; Judges themselves, they pursue their targets and execute them directly.

However, the execution squad is subject to many restrictions.They can only move within the Gem Forest, and only have the power to judge and execute within a certain range.Once out of the forest, the members turned back into ordinary temple knights, and they had to obey the orders of the temple they belonged to in everything.

Dorling finished talking about the execution squad, but didn't go into more detail, as if something was omitted in the middle.

He changed the subject and began to explain why he had come to this house: his life was traveling, and he had to deliver a letter to a certain knight's hometown before the beginning of spring, so he left the gem forest.

Ryan saw that he was leaving, so he asked him to send something back home, gave him a map, and told him where the key was hidden.

He first sent a letter to an acquaintance, and then took Ryan's things and found the house according to the map.

Not only did he deliver the goods, but he also lived there for a few days without permission. Now that he met Dong Ji, he apologized for it.

"No need to apologize," Winter Thistle said, "You are not a strange messenger, you are Ryan's friend, of course you can stay overnight."

"Thank you."

"By the way, Ryan asked you to send something back?"

"It's his sword," Dorin pointed to the second floor of the wooden house. "I put the sword in his room. He told me beforehand that he lives upstairs."

Winter Thistle frowned slightly, put down the half-eaten food, stood up and walked towards the stairs.Dorin quickly stood up and followed.

The house is not big, but the structure is compact, and the laboratory and study are on the first floor.Back then, Jin Ye slept directly in the study, and Dong Ji slept in the front hall, or maybe the study, where he slept depended on how busy he was that day.

The second floor of the house was originally a storage room, and Jin Ye and Winter Thistle were unwilling to live on the second floor, mainly because they didn't want to go up and down the stairs frequently.

Later, Lane's mother, Lilana, who lives in the living room on the ground floor, arrives.After her death, the living room should have belonged to Ryan, but Ryan preferred the small bedroom in the attic.He likes the triangular ceiling, and also likes the feeling of lying on the window and looking down.

So Lion lived in the attic bedroom until he was a teenager, until Winter Thistle took him away from home.

Years later, Winter Thistle re-entered the room, and it seemed even smaller than before.

Even if Ryan comes back, he won't be able to live here.He was much taller than when he was thirteen or fourteen years old, and he would definitely not be able to sleep in the bed. Even if he just stood still, he might touch the sloping ceiling.

Ryan's sword lay on the bed without the bedding.This sword was given to Ryan by a teacher and has been with him for several years.Originally, it was just the cheapest batch product in the blacksmith shop. After the improvement of Winter Thistle, it is now a very rare enchanted weapon.

Winter Ji stood beside the bed, staring blankly at the sword: "Why did Ryan send it back?"

Dorin replied at the door: "I guess... he doesn't need it."

"Why don't you need..."

In fact, they all know why.It's just that Winter Thistle doesn't want to face it, and Duolin doesn't want to point it out.

Winter Thistle asked again: "Then what weapon is he using now?"

Doring said, "A battle-axe, and a spare of short swords and daggers and all. Squads are like that. They don't use swords."

In fact, Dorin also asked Ryan why he didn't use a sword before.At that time, Ryan replied with a smile: Knights only use long swords, and the executioner's weapon is of course an axe.

The rest of the execution squad had tomahawks too, but no swords were sent home.

Of course Dorin could not tell Winter Thistle this.

Winter Thistle stared at the familiar long sword for a while, then looked back at Duo Lin: "I will give this sword to you. It would be a waste to leave it here."

Dorin shook his head: "I can't hold it."

"I'll add a feather rune to it, and use spells to adjust it to be about the same weight as your little rapier."

That made Dorin laugh.Winter Thistle, as a caster, is obviously the kind of person who doesn't know anything about swordsmanship and fighting. The lighter the sword, the better. Even if you can stand it, you can't use it to fight smoothly.

Duo Lin explained the reasons for this to him, and Dong Ji nodded, and stopped persuading Duo Lin to accept it.

When they returned to the dining table, the food on their plates was already cold.But anyway, neither of them had much appetite.

Duo Lin buried his head and pretended to eat, his mind kept circling the situation in the Jewel Forest, while Winter Thistle kept looking thoughtful.

Suddenly, Dong Ji said: "Duo Lin, just now you talked about the criminal squad, I didn't understand some parts..."

Dorin was afraid of being questioned.He immediately said: "I don't know much about the details of the execution squad, after all, I am not a Temple Knight."

Winter Thistle said, "You seem to have mentioned that Lane was 'excellent' in the execution squad."

"Um……"

"Excellent performance?" Winter Thistle repeated the sentence again.

Dorin knew exactly what he wanted to ask.As a member of the execution team, the meaning of praise for his excellent performance is self-evident.

This statement is not summed up by Doring himself.When Ryan was appointed as the team leader, a senior knight praised Ryan in this way.

At that time, Duolin was not at ease, but he could not express any objection.

Before arriving at the Gem Forest, Dorin and Ryan envisioned the next day: Ryan and the knight brothers fought monsters together, and Dorin planned to go deep into the countryside and villages to help the ordinary people living here as much as he could.

Under the recommendation of Ryan, everyone in the execution team knew Dorin, and everyone liked him very much.Dorin has keen senses and is good at observing and tracking in dense forests, and has helped knight friends many times.

They have faced monsters made of animal corpses, dealt with golems that attacked all living things out of control, and rescued injured locals.At first, everything was fine.

Gradually, the young people in the execution team got used to this kind of life more and more, but Duoling felt more and more wrong.

Not because anyone offended him, or because he genuinely sympathized with the necromancer.Anyway, he was getting more and more uncomfortable for no reason.

One day during the relationship, he stood in the dim pine forest and saw a dark red forest path.

The execution team caught several necromancers on their way with flesh and blood golems.The golems had been shattered, and the necromancers had been beheaded.

Lane pulled the ax out of the back of a body's head.Dorin approached slowly, and his footsteps made noises on the dead branches. When Ryan heard the movement, he raised his head sharply, his eyes bursting with murderous intent.

When meeting Ryan's eyes, Dorin involuntarily staggered back a few steps.

Seeing that it was Dorin, Ryan showed the same gentle smile as before.As he walked over, he wiped his sweat, and wiped the blood stains on his cheeks and hair tips with the back of his hand, making him look like he was wearing a weird mask.

In all fairness, Dorin was just taken aback at the time, and did not really reject Ryan because of this.

But then, there were more and more moments like this.Ryan is not cutting things every time, nor is he stained with the blood of the enemy every time, and the situation is different every time... But Dorin still feels strongly that starting from that dark red path, some Things changed quietly.

Until that day, in the small square of Hammer Village, he saw the dark red all over the ground again after the execution.

Dorin looked devastated, and Ryan was afraid that he would slip on the blood, so he kept supporting him and sent him back to the temporary residence borrowed from the villagers.

Ryan didn't mention what happened before, but Dorin couldn't hold back his thoughts and wanted to have a good talk with him.

As soon as Dolin started talking, Ryan waved his hand and said: It's okay, you won't affect the execution team.

Dorin did not understand what he meant.Ryan smiled and explained: You are an overly kind person, you are kind to everyone, and you can't bear to see anyone hurt.Your personality cannot be changed.So, if there is a similar situation next time, if you really want to save bad people, then you should do it.It doesn't matter, just do what you want, just follow your heart, don't think too much.Anyway, we will definitely be able to kill the person you want to save in the end, and you will not affect us, so there is no need to have any psychological burden.

Dorin tried to convince himself that the execution team was right, he was too emotional, and he shouldn't have tried to help the necromancer at all.

The father and daughter may have loved their family dearly, but since they practiced necromancy, they must have done a lot of terrible things, and they must have hurt some truly innocent people.For example, later the execution team found a sealed jar in the basement of that house, and there were even boiled stillbirths in it, but it was not known who it came from.

It was his fault, he shouldn't have sympathy for the necromancer.

However, this self-persuasion is of no use at all.Because he didn't blame the execution team, he didn't blame Ryan.

He wasn't wronged or angry, he was just scared.

Lane still smiled at him often, but he grew more and more frightened.

"Dorin?" Winter Thistle called him, bringing him back to the present from his memory.

Dorin still held the wooden spoon in one hand, looking down at the cold dishes on the plate.For some reason, the dish became blurry.

He regained consciousness for a while before realizing that there was too much mist in his eyes.

Dongji asked: "What are your plans in the future, will you continue to live here?"

"No, I'll leave after a few days of rest." Duo Lin shook his head, tears slipped down accidentally, and he quickly wiped them off.

Winter Thistle pretended not to see it: "Oh. I won't live here too long."

"Are you going back to the anaconda?" Dorin asked.

"No. My work in Harbor City is over. I want to go to Fassisite to see."

Dorin raised his head: "You...you are going to the gem forest too? Are you going to find Ryan?"

Winter Thistle said: "Yes. It's been a long time since we separated, I want to see him."

Dorin wiped the corner of his eyes again: "Then let's go together. Have you ever been to the north? If not, I can guide you."

Winter Thistle was a little surprised: "Why, you still want to go back to the Jewel Forest?"

"Yes," Dorin said, "to be honest, I didn't come here to give away the sword... Actually, I felt that the life there was not suitable for me, and I wanted to avoid it for a while, but I couldn't always Hide? Not only is Ryan over there, but other friends I know are over there. I can't hide forever."

Originally, Winter Thistle was about to clean up the dishes on the table.After Dorin finished speaking, he stood there in a daze.

Dorin took the stack of plates from him and volunteered to do the cleaning.

Looking at Duo Lin's back, Dongji was secretly surprised: He chose to leave the gem forest on his own initiative, and now he plans to go back?

Winter Thistle didn't think of Harbor City.Today is the beginning of spring, but the people of Sandonia don't pay much attention to this festival, and there should be no special events in the city.In the middle of the night, the streets and alleys must be as quiet as usual.

Winter Thistle got up to open the wooden window, and the cold air from the distant forest rushed in.

He closed his eyes, and could imagine himself standing on that high platform, looking at the lights of the pier under the night.

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