The north wind is blowing, and the clouds are rushing away.
On a three-storey black stone clock tower in Longqiang Town, the weather beacon made of iron sheets was blown loudly. Don't pass it by. The watchman of the clock tower, a hunchbacked old man, took a sip of wine, smacked his lips and said, "This damn thing, I will pick you off one day, and then throw you into the furnace to watch you melt into molten iron!"
This small town is located in the south of Devil's Throat, separated from the lava-filled land by a mountain. Whenever there is a wind blowing from the north, it will bring thick heat, so even in winter, Dragonlance Town does not suffer from severe winter like other cities in the northern region. But the life of the residents in the town is not so happy. Because of the proximity to the Devil's Throat, it is difficult to grow crops here, and animals are even rarer, so it is difficult to make a living.
Iron shops are a major feature of the town. There are many blacksmiths in the town, and iron shops of all sizes are scattered in the streets and alleys. Blacksmithing has become the main business of the residents in the town. If you go to any iron shop here, you can see many shields and spears displayed outside the shop for customers. Longqiang Town is famous for making guns. The residents of this town come from an extinct tribe. The tribe named Gao Cang has passed down the craft of making guns from generation to generation. The spears cast by them are of high quality, and the men in the tribe are almost all top-notch spear throwers. The spears they throw can shoot and kill hares fleeing hundreds of meters away.
It's just that Gao Cang's temper is as hard as the spears they forged. Many lords have recruited them, but they would rather live in this difficult town than live a life under orders. Longqiang Town is like a black nail, deeply rooted in this barren land.
It was noon, and the watchman of the bell tower climbed up the spiral staircase with difficulty, and rang the iron bell upstairs. Then he took out a pipe and took a few puffs. The old man leaned on the fence and watched the scene of the town that had remained unchanged for ten years. At this time, he let out a "huh", and as far as he could see, there was a team hobbled from outside the town.
There are very few visitors in Longlance Town, and only a couple of weapons dealers visit in a year. Although the spears made by the Gaocang people are of high quality, they are eccentric and have a long journey, so it is not easy to do business with them. But at this time, the merchants visited earlier than in previous years, so after the team entered the town, the residents of the town stopped their work, looking at them curiously and vigilantly. Some children even picked up stones on the side of the road and threw them at the team, but they were blocked by burly warriors holding shields. The child's parents hurriedly dragged it away from the side of the road, but there was no reproach, and there was some kind of hostility in their eyes looking at the team.
In one of the carriages, a blond girl poked her head out and said to a young knight next to her, "It seems that we are not welcome here."
"I think so, but after walking for so long, everyone needs a place to rest. Anyway, let's rest in this town for the night, not to mention we have to find out the way to the imperial capital." The silver-haired knight smiled. .
Looking for a place similar to a hotel to stay, a group of men stopped the team. The leader is an old man with gray hair. His facial features are profound and his skin is covered with spots, but his eyes are still sharp. Dozens of middle-aged men behind him were all wearing self-sewn leather armor, with guns or spears in their hands, and their steady and steady breath surprised the silver-haired knight slightly. He thought of such a small town, but there are
So many capable fighters. He could clearly see the faint brilliance of source power on those men, most of them were fighters of level 11 and level 11, and the strongest one had at least level 15. Such a group of soldiers can be thrown into any lord's army at will, but they are not much combat power.
But it was quite strange that they appeared in an unknown town.
While the knight was looking at them, the group of men, especially the old man at the head, was also observing the dusty team. Judging from the mud and powder on the people and horses, they seemed to have come out of the ground. Many people's faces were smeared with dirt, even the silver-haired knight who was obviously the leader. It's just that other parts of this knight's body were mottled by the dust, but the silver hair was still dazzling.
Furthermore, there are many warriors with their own characteristics among them. The knight next to the horse with a black spear, the boy with double blades on his back, the woman holding a dark red long sword and closing her eyes to sleep, and several others are all extraordinary. Such a team, no matter where it goes, is enough to arouse the vigilance of the local people, especially after that incident.
At this time, the silver-haired knight jumped off his horse, with a kind smile on his face: "Where is this?"
The old man was slightly surprised. He didn't know whether the other party was probing or other intentions, but he said truthfully: "Dragonlance Town." He added: "As you can see, my lord, this place is located in the south of the Devil's Throat. We are only a few miles away from that piece of hell." up a mountain."
The knight muttered to himself: "Damn it, it's down to the devil's throat..." He exhaled, brushed off the lime from his coat on his chest, and said, "As you can see, old sir. We need a place to rest, please ask the town Is there a hotel?"
"Sorry, we rarely have outsiders visiting here, so there is no such thing as a hotel. I suggest you leave the town and go north. After about three kilometers, you will see a road leading to the town of spirits. You can rest there. And there is wine to taste."
The knight nodded: "Believe me, I don't want to bother you. But we are already very tired, neither man nor horse can walk. If you can provide an open space, and finally get close to the water source, let our men and horses rest for a day, I will Will be very grateful sir."
"Is it like this..." The old man looked at the men behind: "What do you say?"
"Just ask them to leave."
"Maybe it's a conspiracy..."
"Maybe it's just travelers who need help. There are also old people and women in their team."
"Old woman? What if it's just a cover?"
"When did Gao Cang become so timid?"
"Hey, what do you mean!"
"Shut up!" The old man snorted, turned around and said, "Okay, my lord, there is an open space outside the town, and there is a small river nearby, or you can camp there, if you don't mind."
"Of course I don't mind. It would be even better if the people in the town would sell us some food. The journey was tough, we lost some things on the way, and now we urgently need to replenish supplies."
The old man sighed: "Dragon Gun Town is not rich, my lord. I am afraid that what you can replenish is limited, but there is still enough food for a day or two, as long as you pay a fair price."
"Thank you again." The knight bowed and retreated to the side of the horse: "Jie
Care to give us a guide? "
The old man pulled a young man over: "Mira will take you to camp."
So the team left, they set up tents in an open space near the river outside the town, lit a bonfire, and sent soldiers to guard. After the young man named Mira left, the silver-haired knight washed his face with the water sent by the soldiers, revealing a handsome face. He squinted his eyes in the direction of the town and said, "The people in the town don't look as hospitable as Squirrel Town."
"They just said that they are Gaocang people..."
"Fares, you know them?"
This team is naturally Allen's caravan. After they left Tallinn Aisha, they walked underground for four days before finding the exit. But back to the surface, even Ian's father didn't know where he was at all. Fortunately, the old man suggested following the trend of the water veins. The reason is very simple, where there is water, there will be people. Someone, naturally knows where he is. But even Allen didn't expect that after leaving Tallinn Aisha and walking through the place called the large underground tunnel by the residents of Frostwind City, he would have come to the vicinity of the Devil's Throat, which was a few days faster than expected.
Fares held the spear in his hand. Ever since he got the black ice, the mercenary leader had to sleep with his arms around the black war spear: "Gao Cang is actually a tribe. I heard that it existed before the empire was established. It is a very old tribe. After the rise of the empire, the tribe of the Gaocang people did not want to be merged into the empire and became the people of the emperor, so they hid in the mountains. But as time went by, this tribe gradually declined. In order to prevent the future, The tribe eventually moved out of the mountains and accepted the jurisdiction of the empire, but they still settled in the barren land. Unexpectedly, this Dragon Gun Town was built by the Gaocang people."
"I saw a lot of iron shops in the city."
"The Gao Cang people's gun casting skills are very good, but they have a bad temper, so few people do business with them. Moreover, the gun throwers of the Gao Cang tribe are very famous. It is said that the imperial army tried to force them by force when the country was founded. The Gao Cang tribe obeyed, but the cavalry of the empire at that time were repelled by the Gao Cang tribe's spearmen. Later, due to the disparity in the number of troops, the Gao Cang tribe retreated into the depths of the mountain."
"Then, those men should be their fighters just now." Allen frowned: "It's understandable to have a weird temper, but this is our first visit, so where does their hostility come from?"
Fares shrugged: "Who knows."
For this sudden team, the people in the town were both curious and at the same time maintained some kind of unexplained vigilance. However, after discovering that the team was camped by the river, and only sent people to the town to buy food, they stayed in the camp quietly, and the sense of vigilance among the townspeople eased a lot.
There is a tavern in the small square of the town, the only tavern in the town. On weekdays, people in the town collectively discuss what to do in the tavern. For example, at this moment, the old man and dozens of men who stopped Alan and his party were crowded in the tavern, and there were residents who had heard the news outside the tavern , Hundreds of people crowded the tavern to the brim.
"Mayor, that bastard Peel said that if we don't move away, he will use force. And these people came in less than two days, aren't you afraid that they are Peel's people? What if they attack us at night? , then everyone in the town will be in danger!" In the tavern, a bearded man patted the table and said.
(end of this chapter)