Heartbreaker

Under the black and silent sky, Chichikov squatted leisurely on the bell tower, with clouds of smoke escaping from his lips.He had been waiting here for a while, and after the tenth stroke of midnight, a gray raven flew out of a certain window of the castle.The old man regained his energy immediately, set up the short | crossbow, and squinted to calculate the flying speed and trajectory of the raven.Crossbow|The silver-gray light of the arrow flashed past, and with a puff, it hit the raven's wings.

"Hey, it hit the target." Chichikov satisfactorily pulled back the thin string tied to the crossbow|arrow, and hid the raven's body in the package.He crept like a furtive shadow into the darkness of midnight, and knocked at the door of the king's chambers.

knock knock knock.

With a creak, the door opened, and Luo poked his head out, with faint blue flames glowing deep in his pupils.He felt it for a while, and whispered, "No one is following."

The old man handed him the package and whispered, "Give this to Lemon and tell him that I have what he asked for."

Luo nodded, and the heavy round wooden door closed again.The old man glanced left and right at the empty corridor, shrunk his body, snickered at the bronze knight statues lined up all around, and walked back to the bedroom shaking his head.

****

After sleeping well for several days in a row, I feel that my energy has recovered a lot, and every blood vessel and muscle fiber in my body is full of vitality.Luo opened the curtains in his nightgown, and a ray of harsh morning light reflected on my eyelids.I stretched out my hand to block the light, but he handed me a package and said solemnly, "Lymon, this was delivered late last night by Chichikov, who said it was what you wanted."

I opened the package and took a look, and took out a small metal tube from the paw of the dead raven. I couldn't help laughing out loud, and I was so happy all morning.I sat in front of the king's office, called the servant outside the door, and said, "Call the treasurer, Ellison!"

I turned around and looked out the window. The harsh winter in the northern region was coming to an end, and the bright sunlight covered the snowfield like diamonds and pearls scattered all over the ground.The old thief Ellison walked into my office slowly, still holding a hot iron bottle, dressed like a plump puff.He didn't dare to bring the servant in this time. It's a pity that the cup of hot tea that was ready to be poured on my table is useless.

"Hello, Ellison." I sat back on the chair and said with a smile, "How are you doing recently? The severe winter is quite difficult. I heard that your cold illness has lasted for several years. Are you still feeling well?"

The old thief smiled decently and respectfully, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I feel in good health."

"Oh, that's great news. What we're going to talk about next may be unhealthy, and it's great to hear you're in good health now!"

His expression froze for a moment, and I smiled and handed him a cloth bag.He took it suspiciously, and immediately felt a sticky hand of blood at the bottom.

"Ah—!" He screamed, his blood-stained hands trembling, "This—this is—"

I held my chin with a smile, "Open it, this is a gift from the king."

The old thief gave me a vigilant look, swallowed, and slowly opened the bag a little.I raised my chin, "Take out the contents."

He reached in and took out, his face was gloomy and pale, and he took out a dead crow with its belly ripped open.

I narrowed my eyes and said, "Ellison, how are your loved ones doing in Twilight Empire? Did Kingslayer make things difficult for them?"

He held the bloody crow corpse in his hand, neither letting it go nor taking it.I pushed the crumpled note by the table, and said with a half-smile, "I don't know that your relative is in the Twilight Empire. It seems that I have to entrust the library to record it in detail. To be honest, Ellison, I It's not unreasonable either. But the matter of releasing ravens to the late empire is big or small, how many things are you going to hide from your king?"

"Your Majesty." He said earnestly, "I didn't think about this matter carefully, but I swear, I have no second thoughts about the Wanjiang Empire. I just want to know the current situation of my relatives. Of course, if you want to punish me And never complain."

I said softly, "Ellison, you have worked so hard, and you are an old minister who refuses to surrender to the kingslayer. I will not punish you lightly. But the raven of the Wanjiang Empire dared to fly to the Twilight Empire. I still have to deal with this beast. .This time it's a raven..."

I went around the table, leaned close to the old thief's ear, and said softly, "Next time it will be you."

****

When I was young, I saw several times when my father was handling affairs. He would hold me on his knees and occasionally smiled and asked me some simple ways of governing the country.Because I always listen carefully to the teachings of the court teacher, so at this time, I can answer with confidence and fluently.Occasionally, Ai Rong would sit on the sofa and chew fruit in his father's office, with a lazy look on his face.

My father asked me, "Lemon, how much can you say about the most basic principles of governing a country?"

I said, "You said, first of all, we must respect and love our people, secondly, we must be good at listening to and selecting the suggestions of ministers, and thirdly, we must strengthen the garrison of the frontier. Only when the hearts of the people, ministers, and soldiers are all gathered under the king's hands can the country grow. Prosperous."

The daylight through the glass window stays in the father's hearty laughter.In the royal father's office, Ai Rong is an illiterate prodigal son, and I am a good son who is smart and studious.Yet when we step out of the office, we become cats and mice.

"Heh." I leaned my head back against the chair and sneered at the ceiling, "The hearts of the people, the hearts of the ministers, the hearts of the soldiers..."

So what if they are all gathered together?You haven't been beaten to the crap by Elliott's army, poor dad.

I took a sip of the hot tea at hand, flipped through the battle records of the Winter Ting Legion in the sweltering heat, meditated on the map hanging on the wall, and analyzed their tactical thinking.After guarding by the wall for two or three hours, I stretched my sore legs and feet, put on a down jacket, and walked to the training ground of the Winter Ting Army against the dry and cold wind.

This place is not always full of the sharp sound of sword blades and the shouts of soldiers. It was crushed into a vast expanse of whiteness by ice and snow. Several soldiers were shoveling snow with shovels. When they saw me, they greeted me neatly and loudly. .

I nodded and said, "Where are your knight commander and the others?"

"Your Majesty, the Knight Commander took others out of the city early this morning." A soldier said, "He said that the Winter Ting Army has many cavalry and is good at riding horses, but because of this, their fighting skills are not strong enough, and their physical fitness is not strong enough, so they are together. Lost to the God Hunter Army in the one-on-one competition."

What is this idiot thinking.I frowned and said, "Leaving Vulture City? What are they going to do?"

"The knight commander said, first run across three sections of flags by the Great Wall, swim across the Xuelian River, and then climb that snow mountain, just look at that one—Your Majesty!" The soldier pointed to the distance, and I caught a glimpse of the There is a high mountain covered with silver and white snow, and I want to laugh wildly and curse.

I'm afraid this stupid knight is crazy.

I rode on the horse, followed by several attendants, and rode the horse to the place where the Winter Ting Army was training.Not even a piece of armor was seen around Vulture City, and the snow on the ground was trampled into pits.I turned my horse's head and ran towards the Xuelian River, only then did I see the menacing back of the Silver Lin Knight beside a winding and narrow Xuelian River.

"The cold will temper your will, and the glaciers will reshape your body! Don't give up, you are the Winter Ting Army who swore to defend the Wanjiang Empire to the death. Look at the white lion flag flying across the bank. Sooner or later, we will hold it high Rush to the pinnacle of justice and victory!"

Fallows' shouts made my scalp tingle across the river.The Silver Scale Knight of the Wanjiang Empire was currently bare-chested, wearing a pair of dripping breeches, shaking the water stains from his hair, like a dog in the water shaking his fur.

His nose was flushed from the cold, his face was pale, and he gave an impassioned morale boost on the other side of the river bank.Seeing this, the Winter Ting soldiers took off their armor and jackets one after another, jumped into the cold river water, and rowed to the opposite bank.

"Ah chirp!"

When I led the horse to the idiot, he was shivering from the cold wrapped in a white towel, and sneezed several times suddenly.

I directed the others to set up a charcoal basin for heating, sat across from him, squinted at him, and said, "Have you been fooled by the severe winter? You are stupid and you lead the whole army to be stupid. Instead of making use of the strengths of the Winter Ting Army, you will be caught." If Marshal Backhouse knew about his shortcomings, he might not be able to recover from the grave."

"Your Majesty... ah—"

When he couldn't help but sneeze at me, I quickly pushed his face away, and I pushed the sneeze away.The idiot sniffed, and said in a low voice, "It doesn't matter, Your Majesty. This is a necessary training. The soldiers are still unable to adapt to it. After a while, they will be fearless of the cold. We need to arm our whole body. Only by leaving a trace of flaws can we meet future battles."

I glanced at him, then turned to look at the soldiers paddling hard in the river.It has to be said that after soaking in ice water, although everyone's physical fitness is up and down, no one wants to give up.Wrapped in towels, the soldiers who had landed on the shore encouraged their companions who were still struggling in the water. If someone unfortunately fell into a coma, the others jumped into the water immediately and worked together to help them ashore.

I watched the scenes and said, "You should thank your father for leaving you with so many loyal and brave subordinates."

"My father is a legend." Fallows stared at the soldiers gathered around the charcoal basin to keep warm, and took a sip of hot and spicy wine to warm up. "Without him, the Winter Ting Army would have been killed a few years ago. It has become a mess... Now that he has passed away, I have to take on the responsibility of the entire legion. I can't fall down, I want to fulfill his unfulfilled long-cherished wish."

I glanced at him and said, "Of course you can, you are King Lemon's Silver Scale Knight."

He laughed out loud, with childishness and pride in his eyes.He is only two years older than me.I rubbed the gold ring on my finger indifferently. He is only 17 years old. Even with Backhouse's teaching, it is still uncertain whether he can lead such a huge army as the Winter Ting Army.Besides, the Winter Ting Army is so united, so united, it makes me feel a bit of crisis.

"Your Majesty, look at those corpses on the Great Wall."

Fallows said, pointing to the Great Wall of Human Bats not far away.The black shroud wrapped the corpse into cocoon-like balls, hung on the city wall, and fluttered miserably in the wind.He looked at it with a cold face, and his tone suddenly became cold and gloomy, "That's why I let the soldiers run against the Great Wall at the beginning of the training. It's a shame for the country, and it's also a symbol of the incompetence of the army. If it weren't for the Winter Ting Army If you fail, no one will want to use the power of the dangerous and evil undead."

My hand that was groping for the gold ring paused for a moment, and then I said, "Oh."

"In the records of ancient books, the undead are the most evil and terrifying existence in the world. They regard human life as worthless and have no own opinions. As long as they return to the world through the summoning ceremony, even if they kill all the people in the world for their so-called 'master' Blink."

I felt extremely relieved when I heard it, "Oh, that's great!"

"However, Your Majesty, the sword can hurt people as well as yourself!" Fallows suddenly became excited, and said, "The power of the undead is far beyond that of human beings. Once it gets out of control, it will be a catastrophe! Not to mention the current situation about the undead. Knowing is just the tip of the iceberg, who knows how false the so-called "repayment" is? For example, the undead summoned by Gerson Renthel earlier, not only did not kill the invaders, but slaughtered his own people - for this kind of thing, Your Majesty, do you still think-"

"What on earth are you trying to say?" I stared at him, and a thought suddenly flashed through my mind, "What do I think about the undead, it's none of your business? Why are you excited?"

"I'm not excited, I'm sorry to offend you, Your Majesty." The idiot sat back dryly, staring at the row of cocoons with dark eyes, and said in a deep voice, "But the existence of undead is definitely a disaster. Premonition. It is very powerful, but uncontrollable, dangerous and full of unknowns... not to mention the evil "summoning ceremony", it is said that the undead use this ritual to devour the soul of the master, gain power, and swear allegiance, so as to confuse the master , is really cunning and hateful..."

"You've almost given me enough, Pharos!" I stood up, feeling the anger burning in my heart make my throat hot and dry, and said in a vicious voice, "It's your responsibility to manage the legion and train soldiers! What does the undead have to do with you?! If In the future, if I hear you say any word about undead, I will deal with it according to military law!"

As I said that, I left the silent idiot behind, and rode my horse back to Vulture City in a rage.The entourage behind me followed me in a panic, and I twitched my hips in anger, and couldn't help but think of the memory of being in the castle of the undead——

Let me ask you again, are you sure you want Luo? ...

How much power he can gain depends on you...

As I said, your souls don't quite match...

"Luo..." I muttered to myself, gnashing my teeth, and suddenly wanted to grab Luo, put him on the saddle, and force him to ask him about his loyalty to me while possessing him.The horse under the crotch was whimpered and neighed by me, and the crown was tightly around the top of my hair. I took a deep breath, letting the cold air flow into my lungs.I slowed down the horse's galloping speed, calmed down my anger and anxiety, looked around the vast snowfield where no undead existed, reined in the reins, and exhaled.

"Let's go." I said to the trembling followers behind me, "Go back to the royal city."

****

"Oh, the undead are really a sad existence!"

The black-robed monk clicked his tongue and let out a sigh of emotion or sympathy.In the silent library, several rows of large brown bookshelves stood tall, and the gilded spines of the books were densely connected into wavy arcs.Luo and Popolo sat opposite each other at the mahogany table, one was flipping through "The Torture of Human Nature", and the other was flipping through "Mystery of the Dead".

Luo raised his eyes and said in surprise, "Are you studying the undead, Popolo?"

The monk said righteously, "Yes! Because Brother Luo, you let me see a new side of the undead and the records in ancient books, so I want to understand and research."

Luo shook his head and smiled wryly, "Most of the records about the undead are speculations and fabrications by later generations. Maybe they have never seen the real undead. Words are scary, and it is easy to guess the majority based on individual cases. The books say that the undead It's an evil undead, which has become the inherent impression of many people."

He paused, and said sadly, "But it's not wrong... No one will sacrifice part of their souls for no reason to summon the undead. Those who want to gain the power of the undead are those who have to be forced to a dead end... This is also the soul of the undead." One of the reasons to repay the favor."

"Ah, but people who become undead have not been redeemed during life, and their bodies cannot be purified after death. Although they have eternal life after rebirth, they cannot act according to their own wishes, and can only obey the orders of their master." Bobo Lu sighed, "I understand how painful it is not to have personal freedom of thought, which is why I left the monastery... Well, can the undead communicate with his master?"

Luo thought for a while and said, "It should be possible, but the owner's wishes must come first."

"Even if you don't agree with the other party's position? Oh, what a pain! Pain!" Popolo lamented for a moment, then suddenly thought of something, jumped up, his eyes widened, "Oh, Brother Luo, His Majesty the King is your master, isn't he?!"

"Yes."

"Oh..." The monk seemed to have thought of something, shuddered, and said in a low voice, "He killed a lot of people..."

"This is also the question I have been asking you for. I have been saying to myself that it is necessary for Lemon to kill those people, because the other party is not righteous. They..." Luo bowed his head, "But killing blindly is not The result I want. If possible, I hope they can live better in this world after atonement. This world is beautiful and splendid. The undead can’t feel the warmth of the sun, but humans can enjoy it day after day; the undead can’t perceive it The connection with the world is effortless for human beings... What human beings have is exactly what the undead envy, everything they have is so beautiful, it is not worth indulging in pain and disappointment."

"Alas, Brother Luo, your thoughts are lofty, but unrealistic!" the monk sighed, "Humans do not regard 'being alive' as the highest fortune, 'alive' is just an empty mold, a basic attribute. Human beings The life of the dead and the life of the undead are two modes. The undead can live without food and water, but humans can't. The needs of human beings to survive in the world are far greater than that of the undead. At the same time, they do not have the power of the undead, so they can only unite together—this is Conflicts arise. Everyone has different needs and pursues different interests, which creates overall chaos. To solve them, you must have a program or belief, and you must elect a leader. And the leaders of different groups will have conflicts, so ..."

The black-robed monk was talking, slumped on the chair, dizzy and let out a long sigh.He swallowed a big mouthful of water, wiped his lips, continued to stare at the undead in front of him and said, "One more thing, I must tell you, Brother Luo. Human life is endowed by the Lord, and only the Lord can decide whether a person lives or dies! The master belongs to justice for the time being, but once the undead kills for him, he will be punished..."

Luo whispered, "Lemon sacrificed his soul and lifespan to wake me up, how can I ignore him when he is in danger..."

"Oh, that's why I said you are pathetic." Popolo said sadly, "It's okay if the master dies and goes to heaven. Once they go to hell, the dead souls have nothing to do. They have to accompany them forever and suffer together with them!"

Luo's voice was hazy for a moment, "Will you be with me forever? In fact, Lemon has always said that he will go to hell in the future..."

"Yes. Unless the undead devour the master's remaining soul to get a complete life, return to the world, and become an ordinary person." The monk scratched his head, "Well, that's what it says in the book."

It's great to be with you forever.

Popolo also said something on the other side, but Luo didn't hear a bit of it.His thoughts were immersed in those words, and there was a very shallow smile on his lips that seemed to be comforting.

It turns out that neither life nor death, heaven or hell can separate us, Lemon.

Great.