Although Minna was happy to have escaped from Nomonka, the pursuers had not yet escaped, and they could not breathe a sigh of relief. All she could do was take care of herself and not let herself become a burden to her grandfather, while Xiao Tianjian concentrated on riding his horse and running away from the pursuers behind him.
The two men who were just discovered at the city gate also escaped on horseback and walked in another direction. Since they diverted some of the pursuers, Ming Na and Xiao Tianjian had an easy journey.
After passing a fork in the road, she soon saw another hill ahead. Just as she was about to turn, Mingna suddenly felt a tightness in her collar, followed by the sound of a whip falling on the horse's buttocks. Her eyes blurred, and she had been Grandpa carried it and jumped into the grass beside the road, rolled it twice, and hid behind the rocks. The horse that had been snatched away was hurt by being whipped and went straight up the mountain.
Ming Na was about to ask her grandfather why he threw away the horse, but Xiao Tianjian covered her mouth and pressed her behind the stone to prevent her from making any sound. She suppressed her doubts, listened to the pursuers galloping past on the road, and then ran towards the horse, and then she suddenly realized. It turns out that grandpa wanted to deceive those soldiers. How clever!
However, without the horse, they would have to walk. Isn't that too slow
Xiao Tianjian, however, had his own idea. The riding skills and horse qualities of the people in the chasing team were different, and they were in pursuit, so the queue was not neat. The last rider was at least four or five feet away from his companions. Xiao Tianjian took advantage of the knights in front of him to turn around on the mountain road, and quietly passed by, broke the knight's neck, threw the body on the roadside, immediately turned around and picked up his granddaughter on the roadside, and headed towards Run back.
Nuojia's army horses were all covered with bridles, so they did not alert others. The soldiers were only focused on the "hunting target" in front of them. How could they expect that someone among their companions had died
Mingna only wondered why the owner of the horse suddenly softened, and then her grandfather took the horse away. However, she stopped being suspicious after thinking about the methods her grandfather had used to deal with her in the past. Returning to the fork in the road that he passed before, Xiao Tianjian rode onto another fork in the road. Ming Na looked at it with her mouth wide open. It turns out... is there such a way to escape
However, the army horse was still very conspicuous, and sooner or later the pursuers would find out that they had been tricked. Therefore, not long after Xiao Tianjian left, he used the old method to make the army horse continue to run forward, and also stole the horse tied at the door of the roadside shop. A horse took another fork in the road.
Ming Na felt that this was not a good idea, but before she could say anything, her grandfather took out a big cloak and covered her head. Her eyes were completely dark. When she saw the light again, she was already in a small forest. She was about to ask Xiao Tianjian where she was when he raised a finger to silence her, then tethered the horse and looked out of the forest. Ming Na followed his line of sight and found that it was not far from the horse-changing shop. Not long after, Nuojia's pursuers came to the intersection in front of the shop. A soldier dismounted and looked at the traces on the ground. After saying something, they all went in the direction where the army horses ran.
At this time, a middle-aged man walked out of the small shop. He first looked curiously at the soldiers who were leaving, and then found that his horse was missing, so he chased after them while yelling angrily.
Xiao Tianjian was delighted when he saw it, and hurriedly picked up his granddaughter and got on the horse, put on the big cloak, covering Ming Na at the hem, told the child not to make any sound, and then controlled the horse to get on the road again.
Nuojia's soldiers are very good at riding, and there are many people in the area around Nomenka. Those people are willing to provide clues to our team. Therefore, although Xiao Tianjian, Ming Na and his party have repeatedly escaped from the pursuit of the pursuers, they are still close to them. Followed closely. As a last resort, they changed their horses four times, each time using less than honorable means. Finally, after dark, they entered a large mountain and temporarily got rid of their pursuers.
They found a cave to spend the night. In order not to attract anyone's attention, they could only light a small fire, eat dry food and drink cold water. Ming Na was used to it and didn't pay much attention to it, but she felt a little regretful. Her magic power was more water-based, so she hadn't learned the fireball technique yet, but she could produce a lot of water to wash her hands and face.
Looking at her grandfather, she hesitated to speak. Xiao Tianjian noticed it and asked, "What do you want to say? Just say it."
Mingna boldly said: "Grandpa, does it really matter if we took someone else's horse? The people here don't seem to be rich..."
Xiao Tianjian was startled and said with a smile: "Our little Mingna is so kind. She obviously hates this country, but she still worries about their people."
"No, no." Ming Na waved her hands hurriedly, "I didn't mean that, it's just..." She didn't know what to say, "My parents taught me that if you want other people's things, you must first get their permission. We take them like this If you steal someone else's horse, isn't it just like the two aunts at the branch? They are just..." She hesitated, "stealing" seems to be a bad word, and it shouldn't be used for the heroic grandfather, right
"Of course it's different, they..." Xiao Tianjian tilted his head, feeling that there was really no difference, but he didn't want to lose face in front of his granddaughter, so he said vaguely, "They took away things from the branch because they were greedy. But we borrowed other people's horses because we had no choice. The so-called "obeying authority when the situation arises" is essentially different. And when those Noga people catch up with the horses and find that we are not there, they will return the horses."
Ming Na blinked: "Really?"
"Of course." He lied shamelessly: "But Ming Na is right. I was indeed too negligent. Next time I borrow someone else's horse, I'll just leave a bag of gold coins as rent."
"Such a waste!"
Xiao Tianjian was startled: "Huh?"
Ming Na's little face was full of seriousness: "Grandpa is so wasteful. A Noga horse only costs three gold coins. Grandpa's bag of gold coins has at least ten gold coins. It's such a loss!" She stretched out her fingers to count: "Actually, I have long wanted to say it, grandpa is a waste of money. After entering the Nomon Card, there is always a bag of gold coins. That day when we went to the hotel for dinner, we were in a hurry and didn’t eat anything. The verbose clerk paid the check with less than two gold coins. , and you threw him two bags! Even if the ring can hold a lot of money, it will be spent soon. Mom said, don’t spend money lavishly. "
Xiao Tianjian was speechless after being scolded by his granddaughter. After a long time, he asked, "How do you know how much Nuojia's horse is worth?"
"When mom and dad were buying horses, they had a long argument over which one to buy. Mom said that buying a horse from Mayton would be enough, with two gold coins per horse, but dad said that Noga's horses are stronger." Ming Ming. After Na finished answering, she looked at her grandpa and suddenly felt a little embarrassed, "I'm sorry, grandpa, shouldn't I have said that?" She was a little uneasy. Although she knew that her grandpa was very rich, she had watched her mother live frugally since she was a child. I always feel like it’s not good to spend money like this.
"How could it be?" Xiao Tianjian smiled, "Just say whatever you want to say. What do you have to worry about with grandpa? You have your own ideas, which is good. However, there is one thing you said wrong. Nuojia's Horses actually only sell for one or two gold coins each in their own country. The price you mentioned is the price after it is shipped to Meton, right? That is much more expensive, because Noga's horses cannot be sold freely abroad. The black market is available, so the prices are extremely high.”
"Oh..." Ming Na nodded, unaware that the topic had deviated from the original focus. Because she just mentioned her parents, she suddenly missed them very much. "Grandpa, where are we going now? Can we go home?"
Xiao Tianjian sighed: "Now that the clues have been cut off, we can only go back. However, these pursuers are very troublesome. If we go back to Qidun directly now, we will have to walk in Nuojia for many days. It is too dangerous, so we might as well go first On the southern border, let's go back via Daofan'a." Thinking about it again, he felt that this was the last option. Although he didn't want to enter the country where the Light Cult was established, it was really hard to be chased behind like a dog. Not a pleasant thing.
Ming Na asked: "How many days will we go?" She was not very clear about the distribution of countries on the mainland. She only roughly knew that her motherland, East, was in the east, and her grandmother once studied in a magic academy in Shaonan in the south. , and there was the fact that Nojia was to the north of Qedon, but what grandpa said was not quite consistent with what she knew.
After Xiao Tianjian asked his granddaughter about her geography knowledge, he decided to give her a tutoring lesson on mainland geography.
He found some stones and soil, first placed a small stone on the ground, then placed a soil clod to the right and below it, and said: "This small stone is Vana, and its citizens are all Illuminati believers. , and the one on the right is East, and the one below is Shaonan, remember?"
Ming Na nodded, and then Xiao Tianjian placed another piece of soil on top of the small stone: "This is Nojia where we are now. Nomenka is located in the center of the country, so we are now south of the center of Nojia." He pointed out Pointing to the ground between the stone and the clod of earth on the right: "The junction of the two countries is Tulei Mountain. At the foot of the mountain in the south are Qedun and Mayton. If we want to return to Qedun, we have to walk across half of Noga, so we have to walk Many days and being chased.”
Ming Na stretched out her fingers to compare the distances between those "places" and nodded again.
Xiao Tianjian continued: "But if we go south and reach the border of Fan'a, it will be different. Fan'a is surrounded by mountains on all sides. Let's go to Mengli, enter Fan'a from there, and keep walking eastward. Arrive at Xike and then go north. It only takes three days to walk to Qidun, and as soon as you leave Nuojia, the road will be very safe." After a pause, he suddenly remembered that he heard the conversation between the tracking target and his accomplices that day, and mentioned that When you come to the place name "Mengli", it seems that something big will happen. Now that the clues in Nomenka have been cut off, can we find out anything by going to Mengli
He turned to look at his granddaughter and thought that Xiao's Trading Company also had a store in Mengli. If he found clues, he could ask the people in the store to look after his granddaughter for him, or simply ask them to take her back.
Minna looked at the stones and clods on the ground and had a certain understanding of the geographical distribution of several countries. She asked again: "Then...where is the Elf Forest? And where is Wishay? Didn't Grandpa defeat it before?" "
Xiao Tianjian smiled and placed a stone on the upper right side of the clod of soil symbolizing Nuojia: "The Elf Forest is here." Then he placed another clod of soil on the left side of the small stone symbolizing Vana: "And this is Weisha, this country is almost They are all deserts. If you want to go there in the future, be sure to bring enough food and water, otherwise life will be very difficult."
Ming Na remembered it and asked: "Is there any other place? The mainland is so big, there must be other places, right?"
"That's almost all here." Xiao Tianjian smiled, "There are also Dragon Island in the southeast and several island countries on the east ocean. There is not much to say. There are many mountains to the west of Weisha, and beyond the mountains is the Demonic Realm, but You probably will never go there in your life, so you only need to know this." He pointed at the pile of soil and stones: "This is the continent we are on. As for whether there are other continents on this planet, I don’t know, it’s said that there is an Eastern Continent, but no one knows if it really exists.”
Ming Na thought for a while and asked in confusion: "Didn't you say that grandpa is a descendant of immigrants from the Eastern Continent? Our ancestors are from there, right?"
"Of course not." Xiao Tianjian categorically rejected it, but he didn't know how to explain his origin. When he saw his granddaughter looking at him curiously, he had to change the topic: "This matter is complicated. Grandpa will tell you slowly in the future. It's getting late now, go to bed quickly, we have to travel tomorrow." He reached out to touch the scars on his granddaughter's face that had not yet faded, took out the medicine and applied it on it, then patted her head to urge her to sleep.
Mingna also felt a little sleepy. She yawned and lay down on the quilt made by her grandfather. But vaguely, she recalled those bloody scenes again, frowned unconsciously, and turned around. My body, I slept very restlessly.
Xiao Tianjian noticed something and thought that the child was just tired and couldn't sleep well, but at dawn, Mingna was awakened by nightmares. He touched the cold sweat on her forehead and began to feel something was wrong: "Mingna, what did you dream about just now? ?”
Ming Na blushed slightly and hesitated for a long time before she said it, and then said: "I'm actually not scared, I just kept thinking...thinking..." Her face became redder and redder, feeling that she was actually scared to do this. Nightmare, really embarrassing.
Xiao Tianjian sighed and began to reflect on his negligence. The child Ming Na was different from his companions in previous adventures. She had never seen blood or death. How could she not suddenly see such a bloody scene? Afraid? He hurriedly comforted: "It doesn't matter. It's normal to be afraid. Grandpa was also afraid when he was a child."
Mingna tilted her head and looked at him: "Is grandpa also afraid?"
"Of course, I am a human being too. But when I become stronger, I am no longer afraid." He said with a smile, "So, if you can't make yourself stronger, at least find someone who is strong and caring. Your husband, nothing will threaten you this way."
Ming Na looked at him with her eyes open, not understanding what he meant.
This seemed to be said too early. Xiao Tianjian smiled mockingly and touched his granddaughter's head: "Anyway, if you are afraid, it is normal. Don't be embarrassed. Just tell grandpa. As long as grandpa is here, you can do anything." do not be afraid."
Ming Na understood this, smiled and nodded vigorously, and then fell asleep under his comfort. Not long after he fell asleep, Xiao Tianjian heard the faint sound of horses neighing outside. Suspecting that the pursuers had arrived, he woke his granddaughter and went out to investigate. Ming Na consciously took care of herself and tidied up the bed, food and other things. As soon as Xiao Tianjian came back, she immediately put the things into the ring, picked up her granddaughter, pulled her over the horse, and quietly went in the other direction.
At this time, two days had passed since the death of King Noga. As the overt and covert fighting in the capital intensified, small actions by various countries were also quietly carried out. The Noga Palace ordered checkpoints to be set up in various places to prevent people with bad intentions from sneaking into the country to cause trouble, and also to prevent spies lurking in the country from having the opportunity to escape. This method is quite effective, and it is said that several foreign spies have been captured.
Xiao Tianjian and Ming Na were trapped in a nearby village shortly after leaving the cave. The Nuojia army set up three series of checkpoints here, allowing only locals to pass through, and strictly interrogating foreigners, and even arrested people if they felt something was wrong. The locals are very alert, and anyone they meet is treated as suspicious.
Even Xiao Tianjian felt a headache in this situation. He had almost run out of dry food, and this was the only way to Mengli. There were high mountains on both sides of the checkpoint. Even if he had to take the mountain road, he had to have enough food. Okay, but the only local shop that sells bread and other delicacies is right next to the garrison. Does he want to take the risk
After thinking about it, he decided to go back to the old method...stealing, stealing from ordinary people's homes, and just leaving one or two gold coins for them. He listened to his granddaughter and not to be too generous with his money.
At this time, Ming Na spoke: "Grandpa, let me buy it."
"You?" Xiao Tianjian was a little stunned.
"Yes. I'm a child, they won't doubt me. Just buy food, right?" Ming Na had a big smile on her face, "I can do it, let me go?"
Xiao Tianjian hesitated.
(The little girl is growing up...very cute~~~the pink one~~~)