As the carriage went all the way to the west, but went directly towards the city gate, Xia Ya was a little puzzled. He took a few steps to catch up with the carriage, and asked, "Uh... Excuse me, who is the Duke? Are you inviting me out of town?"
The coachman named Roddy smiled and said loudly, "Yes, it's outside the city. Go out of the city gate and go south. It will be there in about an hour." After a pause, he glanced at Xiaya and said with a smile: "That's the other courtyard of the Duke's house. On weekdays, the Duke rests in the other courtyard."
Xia Ya nodded, but frowned and said, "If I go out of the city, depending on the time, I'm afraid I won't be able to return to the city tonight after seeing Lord Duke."
The gates of Osgilia will be closed at night, unless you have a special official document pass to enter and exit, but where does Char have that kind of thing? Going out so late, I am afraid that I will not be able to return to the city tonight.
"Ha. The baron is worried about this?" Roddy laughed: "There are many places in the courtyard, so there is no place for you to rest? Please feel free to follow me, and there will be arrangements when you get there."
Finally, I went out from the magnificent city gate in the west, passed the stone bridge over the artificial river, and went all the way to the south, through a forest. The lights were on, and other than that, the earth was pitch black.
Following a road all the way to the south, the terrain gradually flattened. In the distance, you could see a hillside, halfway up the hillside was a manor building. The hillside was not high, but the mid-mountain area seemed to be suddenly cut into pieces. On a flat land, after following a main road uphill, the flat terrain on the half-mountain side also opened a lawn and flowerbed about a hundred paces wide, and the manor was surrounded by this flowerbed.
Standing on the hillside and looking into the distance, you can see the vast sea in the distance. The hillside is only a few hundred meters away from the coast, and there is a faint sound of waves blowing along the sea breeze.
Dismounting from the horse at the entrance of the manor, Xia Ya looked at the tall building in front of her and couldn't help but feel a little doubt in her heart.
If it is said that this is the resting place of the Duke, but it is night now, and looking up, the manor is completely dark - don't the Duke's house light at night
Moreover, outside this courtyard, it is deserted and clear, and the flowerbed is obviously a bit run-down, so let's not talk about it... There is quite a bit of dust on the steps of the gate of the manor, and even a layer of green moss grows on the corner of the steps... This duke At home, there are no gardeners who tidy up the flowerbeds and no cleaning servants
This gate is deserted, let alone guards, there is not even a servant to greet the horse!
So deserted and dilapidated, where does it look like the residence of a high-ranking imperial duke? !
Xia Ya looked at it, and suddenly felt a little vigilant in his heart, holding the hilt at his waist in his hand, and staring at that Rhodey.
Roddy jumped off the carriage, jumped up the steps a few steps, slammed the door a few times, and shouted loudly: "Hey, open the door, I'm back! People are invited!"
These words are without the rules of a big family, let alone a dignified Duke's family, I am afraid that in a small aristocratic family in the countryside, no servant dares to shout in such an unruly manner!
The doubts in Xia Ya's heart became deeper and deeper, and her eyes narrowed into a line.
With a creaking sound, the door of the manor was opened, and a head stuck out from inside, a middle-aged woman with an old-fashioned and rigorous look looked at Roddy, frowned slightly, then opened the door, and said coldly, "Why did you come back. "
Roddy tilted his head: "I met a few caravans crossing the border at the gate of the city, and waited in line for a while." After speaking, he turned around and pointed at Char: "Well, this is the invited guest, Lord Baron Char. already."
After finishing speaking, Roddy raised his hand to Xia Ya and said with a smile, "Lord Baron, my task is completed, please come in."
The woman inside with an old-fashioned expression and serious expression looked at Xia Ya with scrutiny, and then stepped aside as if unwillingly.
Xiaya looked at the gate, the lights were dim, and it was deserted—he was a little hesitant: There are too many doubts about this place, and that Roddy said it was the Duke's other courtyard, I'm afraid these words are all deceitful! How could the dignified Duke of the Empire live in such a place... Humph!
Could it be... some kind of enemy, tricked me into coming here
But looking up, the badge on the gate of the manor, the totem pattern, looks quite old. The raised part of the metal badge has faded, but the pattern of the badge is actually the Minas family. Clan emblem!
The clan emblem of the Minas family, which Char had seen in Ruhr, could not be faked. Moreover, the family emblem on the gate is very old at first glance, and it is definitely not a temporary disguise.
Well... although there are oddities everywhere, Xiaya finally took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, glanced at that Roddy, and still stepped up the steps.
No matter what, I have already come to this place, whether it is a blessing or a curse, I can't hide from it.
If someone really set up a whole set here and wanted to deal with him, he would have walked to the gate, and now it would be too late to turn around and run. People can set up an ambush in the house, can't they catch up? It doesn't make much sense to run at this moment. It's better to go in and see what's going on!
He casually touched the hilt of the sword, and then reached into his arms with the other hand, Xiaya felt a little regretful in his heart.
He thought he was here to see Duke Minas. He didn't wear dragon scales on his body, nor did he wear his fire fork. Now he was wearing an ordinary long sword, and he was just wearing a samurai robe.
Even though she thought so in her heart, Xiaya still strode up the steps and walked towards the door.
The woman with an indifferent expression flashed to the side, and Xia Ya saw the other person's appearance clearly. This woman was wearing a black robe, and the style of the robe was old-fashioned and conservative, just like the clothes of the nuns in the church. With this woman's face Stereotyped expression—she wouldn't really be a nun, would she
The woman held a candlestick in her hand and threw it at Xia Ya coldly: "Come with me, don't walk around."
Seeing this woman walking into the hall, Xiaya had to keep up. After only two steps, the door behind him creaked and slowly closed.
This hall is very spacious, but it is obviously old. There is a faint smell of corrupt dust in the air. The chairs and sofas in the middle of the hall are obviously not cleaned, and they are covered with a layer of white cloth to prevent dust. There is a stepped staircase on each side leading to the second floor.
There was no light in the hall, but by the candlelight in the woman's hand in front, I could barely see the outlines of the surroundings. This hall is very high, and it is a hollowed-out space. From the stairs on both sides, you can clearly see the fence on the second floor. In the middle of the hall, there were several metal lamp posts about the height of one person erected around it, but it was obvious that the lamp sockets above were almost rusted.
Underfoot was a soft, fine-quality carpet, but as we walked along, some dust was clearly raised.
The doubts in Xia Ya's heart became stronger and stronger. The vigilance in his heart was raised to the highest level. He pressed the hilt of the sword tightly with one hand, stepped up, and followed the woman closely. He made up his mind to pay attention. Take this woman first!
The woman walked in front and didn't care about Xia Ya's actions at all. She didn't take Xia Ya to the stairs on both sides, but went directly inside, walked deep into the hall, and passed through an arch-shaped hall inside. Door…
The two walked out of the hall, and then passed through a corridor. At the end of the corridor, the woman finally stopped, looked back at Xia Ya, seemed a little dissatisfied, and frowned: "What are you doing so close to me."
Xia Ya didn't answer, just looked at each other coldly.
There was a hint of disgust in the woman's expression, and then she pushed open the door at the end of the corridor with one hand: "Well, it's inside."
Xia Ya looked outside the door, took two steps and walked out the door. The woman stood in the door and suddenly added: "Don't take too long! Come out quickly!"
After speaking, she actually slammed the door shut!
Xia Ya was stunned for a moment, and at this moment, her heart immediately lifted!
Outside the door, here is a garden. Obviously, the house of this manor is in the shape of a ring. The garden is in the atrium of the building. At first glance, the area is very large, with a width of a hundred paces. The foot is soft soil, and the garden is planted. There are bushes and holly trees that are obviously lacking in trimming and look messy, and a flowerbed opens on the ground, but at this season, there are no blooming flowers, and it looks dilapidated. The black soil in the flowerbed was so nakedly exposed.
Xia Ya looked at it and was relieved. The terrain of this place is not complicated. Obviously, there are not many holly trees. If it is an ambush, there are really not a few ambushes hidden here.
At this moment, Xiaya has determined in his heart that the Duke of Minas is definitely not waiting for him here! I was only afraid that I had been deceived by others.
He was not polite at all. He gently pulled out the long sword and held it in his right hand, and then slowly walked into the atrium garden step by step, then looked around, and said coldly: "Hey! Are there any living people? Come out! Who the hell saw me and tricked me into this hellish place?"
He shouted twice in a row, and after looking around, he finally fixed his eyes on the direction of a row of slightly taller holly trees in the distance—this is the only place in this yard where people can hide!
Sure enough, just as Xia Ya watched intently, the holly tree suddenly swayed, the green bush seemed to be disturbed by something, and when it swayed slightly, a figure flashed out from behind the tree.
Then there was a little starlight, the figure was tall and slender, and from a distance, the head was afraid that it would not be able to lower itself, a slender and slender shadow.
Xia Ya took two steps closer, but suddenly saw the man in the distance rubbing his hands with both hands, as if it was some kind of tool to start a fire, and with a bang, a flame burst out.
The man held a candle in his hand and carefully lit the candle. Under the candlelight, a familiar face was looking at Xiaya with a happy smile. His face was a little excited, his eyes seemed resentful, and there was a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, and there were two bright rays of light in those eyes.
"Hey, turtle, don't you recognize me?"
When Xia Ya saw the other party's appearance, he was relieved and immediately became ecstatic.
"Yi? You... poor bastard?!"