"Your Highness, we have arrived. This is already the swamp area of Bailu Lake." The guide pulled off the wool cloth covering his face and said while exhaling.
Today is December 11th, winter has come. There has just been a light snowfall, and the endless low-lying field is covered with a thin layer of white snow, which is dotted with a little green and dark brown, which are the evergreen plants that grow in the swamp of Bailu Lake and those that grow on the field. Raised slopes and large stone rocks.
"Your Highness, I just received a message from the Eagle on the dark line of the Sabaji Principality on the road. So far, the pursuers who went to the swamp area of Bailu Lake still failed to catch Mr. Reddy, and instead brought a carriage of wounded people. Dark line According to the news from those wounded, Lord Reddy is still dealing with them. From the mouths of those wounded, Lord Reddy has become a very terrifying demon. Except for the three great sword masters, no one can stop him Raid. Grand Duke Sabaji sent another brigade of soldiers to the swamp area of Bailu Lake, and escorted nearly a hundred carriages of supplies. It is estimated that they should be winter equipment for those who are chasing... "
Tager held a small bamboo tube and a thin silk scarf in his hand, and he read the information written on the silk scarf. Next to him was a big bearded man riding a horse. On the left shoulder of the big man was a letter eagle that was steaming and swallowing the beef strips that the big man gave him...
Taking another look at the endless field, Lorist slid off his horse and pulled off his black mask: "Map..."
This time, Lorist brought 1,500 people from three brigades of the guard battalion to the Bailu Lake swamp area, but now there are only more than 30 people around him. This was because Lorist, who was worried about Reddy's safety, took a step ahead, and the large group of people followed behind, and they were still about three hours away.
Schwader, who was wearing a bearskin coat, got off his horse quickly, took out a roll of the map of Egret Lake and Swamp from a shoulder bag he was carrying, called a guard to pull it out, and hung it in front of Lorist. .
The guide took a sip of wine from a small copper jug, muttered about the hellish weather, then walked to Lorist's side, carefully looked at the map for a while, and then pointed: "Your Highness, we are here now, and we are here now. If you walk forward for half a day, you will reach the red tree fortress, which is the only checkpoint in the middle of the road. There are swamps on both sides of the red tree fortress, even in winter, the checkpoint is the only one in the middle of the two swamps On the mound, there is no other way around the mangrove fortress except for a muddy path that can only pass one carriage to the checkpoint. Unless we dismount from here and start a detour... "
"You mean you can bypass the Red Tree Fortress here?" Lorist asked.
"Yes, Your Highness. My old Jisang is well-known in the swamp area of Bailu Lake. He knows where to go and where to go. To be honest, in winter like this, if you ask someone else to guide you, he will become blind. But I know that the Bailu Lake swamp in winter can be frozen solid, and there will be people impassable. This is more than 30 years of experience. Since I was young, I have lived with my father in this area, and I have no ability. Otherwise, I would have died here long ago." Old Jisang took two sips of spirits and his voice became rough.
"Hehe, old Jisang, we are looking for you because you are the one who knows the Bailu Lake swamp best. We only hope that you can be worthy of the exorbitant reward we pay you. You know this way, we need to find someone in this area ..." Tager came over and said to old Jisang.
"Looking for someone..." Old Jisang remembered, and he yelled at Tager: "Master, if you want to find someone, you should tell me where this person is in the swamp of Bailu Lake, and where did he enter the Bailu Lake?" The lake and swamp, did you leave any signs or signs along the way? Bailu Lake and the swamp are so big, I can’t help you find someone if you just say one…”
"Uh, Uncle Jisang, the person we are looking for entered the Bailu Lake Swamp from the Principality of Sabaji. It is estimated that he should be walking in the direction of Lake Bailu. The Principality of Sabaji is neither friend nor foe, and they even sent people to Hunt down the person we are looking for, that's why we entered the Bailu Lake swamp from this side. He probably didn't make the mark or something you said, or it would be destroyed by someone. If there is a mark left, it should be in a tree or a rock A circular cross or a bear pattern is engraved on the lower right of the car. But we are sure how to find someone, and what we can ask you is to be responsible for seeing where you can go and where you need to go around..." Lorist looked up and said to old Jisang.
"Ah, Your Highness, you don't have to be so polite, just call me by my name. Old Jisang is very happy to serve you." Being called uncle by Lorist made the guide Lao Jisang flattered.
"Tagr..."
"Yes, Your Highness." Tagle turned around and said, "Papa Mobinham, I'm sorry to trouble you."
The one called Papa Mobenham is an old man with gray hair and beard who looks a little old but very energetic. He is wearing a hunting suit made of animal skin, and he cracked a smile when he heard Tagle's greeting. Get up: "Your Highness, just look at mine."
After speaking, he turned around and lifted a large cage surrounded by thick skin from the horse behind him. He lifted the thick skin and opened the door of the cage. A large falcon jumped onto the arm of Father Mobbingham. A gust of cold wind passed by, the falcon shook its wings, turned its head and looked around.
"What a big golden eagle!" exclaimed the guide Lao Jisang.
"Have you ever seen a golden eagle?" Papa Murbenham asked while stroking the feathers on the falcon's back. The hunting jacket on Dad's chest.
"Little Moyu has been with me for seventeen years. When I picked it up at the bottom of the cliff, it hadn't grown feathers. It must have just been born. Somehow, it fell down from the nest. It was lucky that it didn't fall to death. I took it with me. Going home and thinking of him as my third son, after all these years together... ”
"Daddy, daddy! My old Mobbingham! Please don't forget about it, put the eagle up there and let it find someone! When we find it, let's find a warmer place to warm up and have a drink. Is it okay to listen to you slowly tell what you and the eagle have to say? We promise to listen carefully, even if we are tired of listening to it, we will listen to you again..." Tager was anxious.
Father Mobinham came back to his senses, and gave Tagle a dissatisfied look: "Why are you in a hurry, if you don't let the eagle get used to the cold wind, it's courting death if you fly directly up, wait a little longer..."
The guide Lao Jisang asked curiously: "Are you going to let this golden eagle fly up to find someone? Is it possible? Does it know the person it is looking for?"
"I don't know." Lorist replied, "It's hard for an eagle to find a person in the sky. But it's easy for an eagle to find a group of people, especially in such an open and endless swamp area. The person we're looking for is being picked up by a group of people." Chasing and killing, if this eagle finds those who are chasing and killing, it is equivalent to finding the person we are looking for... At least we know that the person we are looking for is nearby. By the way, Father Mobbingham, you will let me know later Your eagle searches the area around Bailu Lake to see if there are any crowds hunting there. In such a cold weather, the hunters should have a campsite... "
"Your Highness, I will let Xiao Moyu go to the direction of Bailu Lake to look for it. Please rest assured that we will definitely find Lord Reddy." Father Mo Binghan replied respectfully.
Father Morbinham is currently a special advisor to the Volibear Intelligence and Investigation Bureau of the Norton family. He used his years of experience in falcon training to cultivate a mature eagle communication system for the Norton family. His eldest son has become a knight of the Norton family, and he is in charge of the Xinying Department. The second son is still in the bronze rank, and once the fighting spirit rank is promoted to silver, he will also become a knight of the Norton family. And the current treatment of Father Mobenham is the same as that of Master Julien, and he also ambitiously hopes to make new contributions to the family, so that his family can further become a territorial noble...
After a while, Father Murbingham finally put his falcon into the sky. The falcon hovered in the sky for a while, and then flew towards the west, which was the direction of Bailu Lake.
"Okay, Uncle Jisang, let's go west too, you have to tell us where to go and where not to go." Lorist looked back at the sky, turned his head and said to the guide old Jisang.
"This...Your Highness, we have to abandon our horses and walk on foot." Old Jisang said hesitantly: "There are places in the swamp where people can walk but horses cannot. Or if it's in the mud, it's too late to even rescue..."
"It's okay. You are the guide. If you understand this place, then you have the final say." Lorist smiled and said, "El, send two people here to guard the horses and wait for the follow-up horses to arrive. The rest of the people got off the horses to check their equipment and luggage." , bring a few pack horses and necessary equipment and supplies, let’s wait a step first. Order Parker and Hughes Great Swordsman to set up camp here after the follow-up troops arrive, and make logistical preparations.”
"Yes, Your Highness." El replied standing at attention.
…
Reddy is really at the end of his rope.
He disappeared in the magic grass swamp seven days ago. After two days of rest, he recovered from his physical fatigue. He supplemented his physical strength and nutrition with the dry food in the bags carried by the killed soldiers, and the wounds began to heal. Scar, everything is going for the better. But he didn't expect that the great swordsman Sandy actually ordered his hunters to bring kerosene and set fire to prepare to burn all the water plants on the magic grass swamp...
The water plants on the muddy lake in the Magic Grass Swamp are evergreen in winter because they are full of water, but Reddy, who is familiar with the muddy lake, knows very well that these water plants are slender and juicy, but once the oil is poured on the flame and roasted, they will be roasted soon The dryness burns quickly, and if the wind helps the fire in one day, the water plants in the entire magic grass swamp will be burned dry, and I must leave this muddy lake immediately...
If the magic grass swamp is like a spindle, then Reddy's small wooden raft is one-third of the distance from the center of the spindle to the opposite bank, and he still has some time to paddle the small wooden raft to the opposite bank. The only thing that can help him escape is that the aquatic plants burn with a lot of smoke because they are full of juice, and the smell is extremely bad. Perhaps Reddy can use this to avoid the eyes and ears of the sentry and the tracking of the hounds to escape the hunt.
It's just that the wind was too strong, the fire burned quickly, and thick smoke billowed. Reddy wanted to go fast, but he couldn't. From time to time, the roots of water plants in the lake caught the small raft, so that Reddy had to use his long sword to clean up and cut off these obstacles. When the fire was almost burning to the back, the small raft was still four or five meters away from the opposite bank, and the front was full of dense aquatic plants, and there was no way for the small raft to move forward...
Reddy grabbed the rowing pole and tied it tightly to the spear. Seeing that it was about three meters in length, he picked it up and threw it with all his might into the aquatic plants in front of him. In the silt at the bottom of the lake, only a foot-long tail remained above the water. Reddy grabbed the long sword, took a deep breath, jumped vigorously, stepped on the tail of the spear with his right toe, the spear slid down, and Reddy fell down. But just as his feet were about to enter the water, Reddy borrowed some strength from the spear, jumped up again, and landed in the mud on the bank with a "plop".
The upper body was lying on the shore, but the two feet fell to the lake, stepping on a mass of water grass roots. Here we can borrow strength, but Reddy dare not stand up, because of the wind direction, thick smoke is rising straight to the shore, and the sentry posts set up by those who were chasing people have long since disappeared. Reddy first used The long sword cleaned off the roots of the water plants wrapped around his feet, and then resisted the unpleasant smell and crawled forward step by step on the ground.
The fire on the magic grass swamp burned for a day, and finally revealed the true face of the entire mud lake. Reddy took advantage of the darkness to escape from the encirclement, and ran in the direction of Bailu Lake evasively. The pursuers didn't know whether Reddy was hiding in the magic grass swamp, which gave Reddy a night. But at dawn the next day, the hunters will soon find the small raft half submerged in the water on the opposite bank, and they will be able to confirm the direction of Reddy's escape immediately...
Reddy's premonition was right, the pursuers had already followed the trail he left last night. Because the geography is unfamiliar with many swamps, Reddy's escape overnight was half the effort. He took an unknown number of turns and bypassed many swamps, but he didn't escape very far. It took only three hours for the pursuers to see Reddy's back.
But at this time, Reddy and the pursuer were still separated by a large swamp. Reddy pointed his middle finger at the pursuer. This was also a gesture he had learned from Lorist, and he thought it was a gesture of contempt. The sword master sat down and rested for a while without chasing him.
The pursuers didn't look for a path to cross the swamp. Last night, Reddy made a wrong turn and poked a little bit with a long branch to cross the swamp. Seeing that the distance was not far away, the chasing soldiers began to gather longbowmen and shoot arrows at Reddy. This made Reddy miss the longbow he had discarded on the small raft very much. Now he has no ability to fight back.
After scolding Reddy a few words, he had no choice but to continue running. The hunters followed closely behind, and after two days, the dry food was gone. If it hadn't happened for half a day that the snow covered Reddy's trail and found a nest of water rats for Reddy, this It took Reddy to sleep all night and fill his stomach, otherwise Reddy, who was tired and hungry, would have collapsed long ago.
But yesterday the snow was still a little too light, and the sun came out the next day. The hunting team with hunting dogs soon discovered Reddy's whereabouts, and Reddy could only continue to flee helplessly. When he was finally approaching Bailu Lake, Reddy suddenly found out in despair that there was also a group of outflanking troops in front of him, and there were more than a dozen knights rushing towards him. Looking back at the chasing enemy, Reddy gave a wry smile , drew out the long sword. When things come to an end, you can only do your best, as the teacher once said, killing one is enough, killing two to earn one, now let's see how much I can earn...
…