The Book of Hibernation

Soon, the day came for the first hostage exchange.

The winter thistle stayed in the burrow and did not come forward.He has been reading ancient documents and writing and drawing from time to time. It was only when the necromancer brought him food that he heard that the hostage exchange had ended and the process went smoothly.

Basically, as Winter Thistle guessed, the first batch of hostages released by the necromancers were a few local farmers.Hostages like Doris, Dorin, and Knight DeCarlo must be saved until the end.

The hostage was put into a coma by casting a spell first, and was rushed to the designated place under the control of a necromancer.Many people went to the city-state party, including the guards and the execution team of the temple, as well as several mercenaries from the chamber of commerce. They saw that only one necromancer came, and thought that the others were hiding, but in fact there was no one. Went to a necromancer.

In order to ensure the safety of the remaining hostages, of course they cannot do anything to this necromancer.They were mainly curious, so a person came, how did he take away the supplies full of two carriages after a while?

They soon saw the answer - the necromancer summoned a shield guard.Shield guards are mass-produced construct golems, usually made of metal or earth and stone. They have a simple shape, a huge physique, no intelligent thinking ability, and are completely manipulated by the caster.Although this kind of thing is a bit clumsy, it is not as good as those undead creatures with autonomous consciousness, but its advantage is that it is strong and powerful, and almost no weapons can hurt it.

In some mage towers, the shield guard is often used as a guard, but in the forest, this necromancer uses it as a container.

The head of this shield guard is a helmet, and the helmet is human-sized, which is slightly out of proportion to its huge body.Under the control of the necromancer, it took off the helmet, lifted the chain armor around its neck, and knelt down, revealing the hollow interior.

Then the shield guard took off the roof of the carriage.Take out the contents one by one, and stuff them into the body from the neck one by one.

One shield guard was not finished, and heavy footsteps came from a distance, and another shield guard was on standby.The two shield guards almost just took away the contents of the two carriages.

Afterwards, the necromancer drove the shield guards away and disappeared into the dense forest.

After walking far away, they activated magic that could obscure perception to prevent anyone from tracking them.The magic eliminated the sound of the shield guard moving, and its figure gradually merged into the mottled tree shadows.

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It is said that "the soldiers on the city-state side were dumbfounded."

This sentence was said by the middle-aged mage who delivered the food.He gave Winter Thistle a detailed description of the first hostage exchange.

Winter Thistle asked him, could it be the shield guard you controlled?He said of course not, he didn't go, he heard what the companion who controlled the shield guard said.

"You guys are quite proud." Dong Ji smiled.

"That's not true." The necromancer immediately restrained his expression.When he described the hostage exchange process just now, the expression on his face was indeed very vivid.

This person is the one who was ridiculed by Winter Thistle last time, and he came here often recently.He is in charge of Dongji's diet and daily life. Every time he comes over, he asks Dongji to stop what he is doing, eat first, or give some excuses to check.

In fact, there are not so many things to check, he just wants Dongji to leave the table for a while, so that he can go to the small table and read Dongji's calculation paper and notes with gusto.

Winter Thistle had no objection to his watching.When he was concentrating on his notes, Dong Ji would talk to him, and he would become very easy-going at this time, basically answering every question.

At this time, the necromancer was looking down at a set of calculation formulas.Winter Thistle asked him: "After the shield guard's head is removed, the gap at the joint of the torso should be only the size of a disc. How did you stuff all the supplies in? How long will it take?"

The necromancer didn't understand what he meant: "It's just stuffed like that, how else can it be stuffed?"

"How did the crates and sacks get stuffed in? Or did the mage pry open the crates one by one at the scene?"

Only then did the necromancer understand what Winter Thistle meant.He told Winter Thistle that the things in the carriage were piled up in small portions, similar to those on the market floor, instead of being stored in crates like a warehouse.The retail packaging is not too big, so of course it can be stuffed into the shield guard's neck.

In his opinion, the city-state must have done this on purpose.They only gave items, not a carriage. They deliberately gave a bunch of scattered things to make it inconvenient for the necromancer to carry.Those people probably didn't expect that constructs could be used for transportation.

Winter Thistle asked again how the things had been received.The necromancer didn't quite understand what Dongji wanted to ask, so he answered "very good" perfunctorily.He didn't quite understand why this half-elf cared so much about supplies?But also pay attention to some small details that are not important.

"What do you mean is pretty good?" Winter Ji knocked on the table to make him concentrate, "I'm asking you, have you checked that batch of things?"

"an examination?"

"Check for arcane fluctuations, check for tracking spells, magic items in motion, etc."

"Ah, this," the necromancer said, "Of course we have to check. We have people who are responsible for checking, and March you know is one of them."

Winter Thistle's complexion is not very good: "Call her here for me."

The necromancer became a little impatient: "We all have business to do, and she is not your assistant."

Winter Thistle ignored this sentence.He thought for a while, and then asked: "Have you already shipped the supplies here?" He spread his hands and gestured, "This is the area, the area where we are."

"Why are you asking this?" The necromancer curled his lips in disdain.

Judging from this person's reaction, combined with the previous experience of being taken away with his head covered, Dong Ji judged that the supplies should not be in this area, but probably in another hiding place.

He said to the middle-aged man: "Go find your companions who are hiding in another place, tell them, immediately disassemble all the supplies you got, and count them one by one. This time, it is not to check the spells, but to see if there is anything Extra things. For example, small things with special shapes, or anything that you didn’t want but appeared in the supplies.”

The necromancer curled his lips: "What do you mean? You have to make it clear that you are a hostage, not our mentor."

Winter Thistle stood up and looked at the man: "I think there are hidden dangers in the supplies, and you must check again immediately. If you don't check as I said, your companions may be in danger, and then you are angry Otherwise, the hostages may be harmed, other transactions between you and the city-state will be ruined, and my friends and your friends will die... I just don’t want to see this scene.”

The necromancer was stunned.His toes had subconsciously tilted out of the door, probably out of embarrassment, so he didn't order An to do it right away, and wanted to insist on talking back.

Dongji urged: "Go find Sanyue, and repeat what I said clearly. Go! If it's too late, it's too late!"

Probably infected by his seriousness, the necromancer didn't say anything, just nodded and ran out.

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Day and night could not be distinguished in the cave, so Duoling used the number of times he ate to roughly calculate the number of days.

Of course there are no three meals a day here, only one regular meal.Judging by the hunger, there is probably only one meal every two or two days.The food is fairly clean, there is enough water to drink, and someone replaces the toilet.Probably the necromancer still wanted the hostages to live well.

A few days after Winter Thistle was taken away, Doris was also taken away, leaving Dorin alone in the small cave.

At the beginning, he was very panicked, the surroundings were pitch black, and there was no sound. Who can stand it for a long time?Fortunately, this state didn't last long, and soon, Duolin was also taken to other caves.

He was moved to a bigger cave.A small glowing stone was embedded on the uneven stone wall. The light was so weak that it could only illuminate an arm's length, but it was better than complete darkness.

Dorin was an elf, and the dim light was enough for him to see his surroundings clearly.There were six humans living in the cave, all curled up in the corner with a dull expression, and did not respond to Dolin's joining.

Soon after, Dorin waited for his first meal after changing the cave.Someone left food at the door, and the captives groped for it and picked one at random.

When eating, Dolin generally didn't care about what he was eating. Anyway, he knew that the necromancer wanted to keep them alive, and he would not deliberately poison them to death, nor would he slowly poison them to death with spoiled food.The food is usually flat pasta, which is tasteless and can be eaten with water.

Today, Duolin was surprised to find that the food felt a little softer than before, as if it had been oiled. Although it was still very dry, it could be torn without scooping water. Moreover, seasoning was added, which tasted salty. The smell of garlic.

Just when he was deeply surprised, someone choked up in the darkness.He followed the sound and saw a big man huddled in the corner.

Although the man was a lot stronger than the others, he seemed to have serious health problems.He curled up with all his strength, wrapped in a dry and torn blanket, and kept making strange noises from his throat.

Dorin touched him.When I got closer, I realized that the man was not suffering from any disease, but was choking on dry food.Probably because the food I usually eat is too bad, and it is rare to eat tasty food today, so I ate in a hurry.

Dorin patted the man on the back, and whispered a few words of comfort.

Hearing his voice, the big man was shocked: "Dolin?"

Dorin was also very surprised: "De Carlo... are you De Carlo?"

De Carlo was originally tall and fat, and his back almost didn't look like a human, more like a brown bear. Now he has lost a lot of weight, his swollen cheeks have obviously sunken, and he can feel the bones on his back.

The necromancer not only stripped De Carlo of his armor and weapons, but also his ordinary clothes.Probably they were afraid that there would be hidden dangers in the clothes of the Templar Knights, such as being able to be tracked or something.So De Caro had only one ragged blanket to cover himself with.

Dolin wanted to see if there were any other injuries on his body, but De Caro was unwilling. Dolin knew that they valued dignity, so he didn't insist.In fact, you don’t need to ask. He must have suffered a lot, more than ordinary prisoners.

Dorin sat next to DeCarlo.De Carlo hesitated for a while, and asked, "Dorin... did you deliver the letter for me later?"

Dolin felt incredible: "You are really good enough, when is it, are you still worried about this?"

"Of course I'm worried. Tell me quickly!"

Dorin smiled and said, "I have delivered the letter long ago. She got it, don't worry."

De Carlo leaned back against the wall in satisfaction: "Great, thank you. When I go out, I will take leave and go home, get along with her more, and see if she is willing..."

"I thought you were good enough to get married, but you don't even know if she wants to?"

"Uh... this is complicated. Her family has a marriage contract with mine, we are closer, and she should marry me. If she doesn't like me, she may marry my brother. I don't go home often, and she does Get along with my brother more. I also know that I am not attractive. It’s okay if she doesn’t like me. It’s normal. If she wants to marry far away, then I will only bless her. I won't say it! But if she married my brother, it would be different...I definitely can't stand it..."

De Carlo babbled about the routine of his hometown.At first Dorin listened carefully, but gradually he couldn't concentrate.

The corners of his eyes began to turn sour, and while recalling De Carlo's healthy and strong appearance, he also remembered the blood on the ground in front of the village hall.

He thought of Ryan, too.Ryan said, "Right and wrong are complicated, but order is simple."Now it seems that maybe it is?

Dorin was contemplating when there was a rush of footsteps outside.

De Carlo immediately tensed up and stopped talking.Just as Duo Lin was about to get up, the wooden door was opened directly, and the clay golem blocking the door outside also moved a step away.

A 50-year-old female mage came in and hooked them: "Come out, follow me."

Dorin was a little surprised by this order.In the past, necromancers would not take captives out so lightly.

Not only was Duolin surprised, but other people in the cave also couldn't react for a while.The sorceress drove the clay golems in, pushing and pulling them one by one into the passage outside.

There were seven hostages in this group, and there was only one mage, and she was a short middle-aged woman.

The hostages looked at each other.Obviously, they all saw what the others were thinking.

But in the end they did nothing, tried to escape or attack the mage.They are not familiar with the terrain here, and they don't know if there are other mages in front of them. Even if they really want to run, they can only talk on the ground.

The female mage walked in the front and led the way. After the clay golem was broken, the hostages were caught in the middle.The mage only ordered the hostage to follow her closely, but did not say where to go.Dorin walked beside her and kept trying to talk to her, she just ignored him.

There is a small ball of light floating obliquely in front of the mage.In the dim lighting, Dorin found that her eyes were wide open, her lips trembled as she walked briskly, and her face was covered with cold sweat.

Realizing that she was so nervous, Duo Lin didn't ask any more questions for a while, thinking about what was going on by himself.

At this time, he found that everyone's footsteps were a bit strange: the mage was wearing soft-soled shoes, and the hostages were either wearing woolen socks or bare feet, but he heard noisy and crisp footsteps.

Even if the underground tunnel is easy to pick up the sound, their footsteps shouldn't be like this...Suddenly he realized that it was indeed not their footsteps, it was someone chasing them behind!

Judging from the expressions of the mage and the other hostages, they probably haven't heard this yet.They are all humans, and their five senses are not as sharp as elves.

Dorling slowed down, turned his head, and wanted to say to the others, "Someone is here to save us."He just looked behind him, and before he could speak, he saw a bright light suddenly burst out from the end of the line.

Dorin closed his eyes reflexively, followed by a loud bang and panicked shouts from others.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw the clay golem at the end turned into a ball of flames, writhing randomly in the small space.The two people who were too close to it were also injured by the flames. One rolled on the ground to put out the fire, while the other screamed and ran forward, knocking the others away, regardless of the necromancer at the front.

The necromancer was also stunned.She uttered a short incantation, then extinguished the orb, and scurried into the nearest fork, dropping the hostage altogether.

A few seconds later, there was a scream from the fork.

No one understood what was going on.The burning clay golem kept rushing around. People couldn't stay where they were, and they didn't dare to take the fork chosen by the necromancer, so they had to continue along the passage.A hostage ran away just now, and he ran in this direction.

Gradually, the clay golem was left behind by them.This kind of low-level golem has no intelligence, and the caster is completely out of control when it dies. In addition, the structure is damaged after the fire, and finally it falls to the ground, and the flame slowly goes out.

When the fire was extinguished, the light in the passage disappeared.In the dark, Dorin could see the general outline of the road, but not the details, and the others could see nothing.

They lined up consciously, closely following the person in front. Everyone was at a loss about the current situation, but they dared not ask aloud.

Dorin went first, with DeCarlo behind.Suddenly, De Carlo felt that Dorin stopped in his tracks, and he stopped quickly, and the people behind him bumped into him one after another, and some people made doubtful voices one after another.

Dorin stopped because he saw a dead body.The corpse was facing the wall, curled up, and there were bloodstains on the ground and the stone wall.

In order to identify who the corpse was, Dorin knelt down and reached out to feel it.The corpse was barefoot, with a quilted vest on its upper body... This was the hostage who escaped just now.

His clothes were soaked in blood, and the blood was still warm. Duo Lin felt the huge wound running through his chest. This man might not even be able to howl before he died.

Just as Duo Lin was about to say something, he suddenly heard rustling behind him.He turned his head and saw the person at the end of the line falling silently.

A dark shadow appeared behind the man.Holding the dagger in his backhand, the black shadow immediately stabbed the previous man in the neck.