The sound of the wheels of the four-wheeled carriage was monotonous and repeated, and it was difficult to move on the muddy mountain road.
Reddy, who was driving the carriage, yelled loudly: "My lord, we should find a place to rest, the road is too difficult to walk. People can't stand it, but the horse can't stand it, and the carriage also needs to be taken care of. I feel that the wheel on the left Some lean out, hard to control...”
Lorist rode his horse to the side of the carriage, and said loudly, "Persist for another half an hour, and there will be a small mountain town after passing this mountain road. We will rest there for two days."
It's been seven days, Lorist and his party of five have been driving the seven-day journey without stopping around the clock. Twelve strong Zeno horses who are good at long-distance running and outstanding endurance, and a long-distance four-wheeled carriage obtained from Gerdos City, rest for an hour every forty miles, and change horses to continue on the road. After running like this for seven days, they covered almost 300 miles in one day. The distance of nearly 2,000 miles made everyone feel a little exhausted.
With a "whoosh", a rough long arrow rubbed against the carriage and fell to the ground.
"Day..." Lorist scolded, swung his stirrups off the saddle, quickly climbed into the carriage, stood beside the driver's seat, drew a javelin from the roof of the carriage, and protected Reddy who was driving.
How many times have you run into bandits blocking the way? Sixteen or seventeen? Lorist couldn't remember clearly, he encountered two or three waves of robbers almost every day. At first, Lorist and his entourage were very sympathetic to those yellow and emaciated road robbers in ragged clothes, and they didn't want to hurt more lives. They just punished them a little and gave them some food, but then they became numb. Most of the time, they rushed past, leaving those two-legged robbers far behind.
If we talk about the difference, it is that the robbers in the Kingdom of Ridley are mostly destitute refugees with no food and clothing. Many of the roadblockers are old people and children with gray hair and holding wooden sticks and farm tools. They want food more than money . But in the Kingdom of Antinac, the number of robbers encountered was a little less, but these robbers were more professional and better armed. They were real bandits, more ferocious and tyrannical. When encountering such robbers, Lorist's subordinates showed no mercy.
There were several screams in the distance, which must be the masterpiece of Josk who opened the way ahead. Sedkamp's head came out of the carriage: "Master, what happened again?"
Lorist shouted in a deep voice: "Go in, you will encounter bandits, put on your crossbow and be careful."
Raising his hand, he threw the spear like lightning, flew into the forest beside the road and pierced a bandit who was aiming at the carriage with his bow and arrow.
An angry shout erupted from the bushes beside the road, and more than thirty bandits rushed out wielding swords...
The spears flew out one by one, and in the blink of an eye, more than a dozen bandits who rushed to the front were nailed to the road and howled in pain...
The remaining 20 bandits turned around in fright and wanted to run away, but Lorist's spear disappeared.
"Chop him up!" A bearded bandit yelled at Lorist. Seeing that Lorist had lost his spear, the bandits gathered their courage again and surrounded him again.
"Day, two hundred throwing spears! It's been used up in just a few days." Lorist pulled out his sword and jumped off the carriage, saying to Reddy, "Quick battle, send them on the road early."
A bandit fell headlong in front of Reddy, with a crossbow bolt stuck in his forehead, which was shot by Sederkamp in the carriage.
Reddy shouted dissatisfiedly at the carriage: "Don't steal my business!"
The light of Lorist's sword flashed, and the four bandits fell down with blood spurting from their throats.
Only then did the thieves realize that they had kicked the iron plate, but only two of them met each other, and there were only five or six thieves left out of the twenty or so thieves. These five or six bandits were out of their wits, turned around and wanted to escape, but Reddy and Lorist, who had lost their temper, rushed up and killed them all.
"Ah!" A bandit who pretended to be dead and sneaked into the bushes by the side of the road while Lorist and Reddy weren't paying attention was shot in the back by an arrow from Sedkamp, uttered a scream and struggled a few times before breaking. Annoyed.
The encounter ended with the annihilation of the bandit army. Sodkamp jumped out of the carriage and began to grope for the spoils on the dead bandits. Reddy came to the carriage to check the condition of the wheels, while Lorist was checking whether the throwing spears he brought back were useful. Unfortunately, these throwing spears were all Disposable items, after being thrown by Lorist, either the tip of the gun is blunt or the barrel of the gun is cracked, and cannot be recycled.
Pat rode back from the front and reported that the bandits had dug a big hole in the road ahead, and the carriage could not pass. Josk shot four bandits to death just now, and now he asked himself to come back and get a shovel to fill the hole.
"What's wrong with the wheels?" Lorist asked when he came to Reddy.
"Look, my lord, there is a latch here. No wonder it always feels like the wheels are leaning outwards. It is difficult to control the carriage when it turns. Now I will cut a wooden one and put it in. When I get to the town, I will have to find a blacksmith to make a new one." Just weld the pins on and you'll be fine," Reddy said, pointing to a hole in the wheel.
"Well, let's do this first." Lorist turned around and saw Sedkamp approaching with a big smile on his face.
"Master, look, these bandits are so rich. Some lords' guards can't afford such chain armor and chain armor. There are three sets here, and I stripped six sets and piled them on the ground over there. And these There are two or three gold coins of the old man's head on the thieves, and half of their weapons are standard. Master, if we can find their den of thieves, we will be very happy, I am sure there are many good things there..." Sedkamp Very happy to say.
Lorist looked at the chain armor and chain armor he brought over, they were really good. The important thing is that when he was fighting bandits just now, Lorist wiped his throat with his sword and killed those bandits. So these armors are intact.
Seeing that Sedkamp was moving these armors into the carriage, Lorist "coughed" a few times and said, "Well, Sedkamp, we are traveling light this time, and we have to go on the road. Are you sure you want to take these armors?" Bring back the chain armor too?"
Sedkamp said aggrievedly: "My lord, our family territory is very short of good armor. In the north, there are more leather armor and less iron armor. Besides, there are only a few sets, and it will not affect our journey."
Well, well, you can move if you want. Lorist stopped talking. He felt that Sudkamp had only been working with Fatty Shi for more than a month, and he had learned Fatty Shi's miserly nature to the fullest. There is a lack of iron armor in the Northland, and I don't even think about waiting for the family caravan to return to the Northland, where the iron armor will go. Forget it, there is no need to teach Sedkamp a lesson for such a trivial matter, and it is commendable to be considerate of the family.
After re-starting the road, nothing happened. In less than half an hour, the rocky city wall of Fengyata Town, a small mountain town marked on the map, appeared in front of Lorist's group.
Several guards guarding the gate of Feng Yata Town stared at Lorist's party curiously. It was really rare for five people, twelve horses and a four-wheeled carriage to drive such a long distance. However, after Lorist showed the badge of the Norton family, the guards let them go, and the entry fee was also waived.
Lorist inquired from the guards about the location of the best hotel in Feng Yata Town and where the blacksmith shop with the best craftsmanship was, and generously rewarded these guards with an Imperial Old Man's Head gold coin. Many thanks.
Feng Yata Town is not big, with only five or six hundred households and more than two thousand residents. A street that runs across the east and west divides the town into two halves. On one side are neat stone houses with shops open underneath, and on the other side is a residential area made of wood and stone, which looks a bit like a slum.
Lorist and his party stopped at the Red Wine and Tired Bird Hotel, and Lorist booked three rooms on the third floor. After a full meal, Reddy drove the carriage to find the blacksmith shop, and Pat went to the stable of the hotel to instruct the servants how to take care of the dozen or so Zeno horses he had brought. Sedkamp moved the nine sets of armor to the guest room where he and Pat lived, and brought sand, rags, and butter, and prepared to polish and clean them. Lorist and Josk returned to their respective guest rooms, ordered the hotel servants to bring over the bathing utensils and hot water, and fell asleep early after taking a bath.
Lorist got up the next day and told Pat to bring breakfast and put it on the table, ready to go back to sleep. Then I heard the bells ringing in the town...
"Sunday, I'm sick, but why do you ring the bell during the New Year's Eve?" Lorist put his head under the pillow, trying to prevent himself from hearing the bell.
"My lord, this seems to be a wake-up call..." Pat said.
Lorist was quick-witted, got out of bed, went to the window to look out, but saw the panicked pedestrians on the street, and many of them looked terrified.
"Hey, it's really a wake-up call. I haven't heard of a war between the Antinac Kingdom and anyone. Could it be that it's such a coincidence that we caught up?" Lorist babbled while putting on his clothes.
Looking at the map, the town of Feng Yata is more than 500 miles away from the Principality of Madras. Could it be that the Principality of Madras and the Kingdom of Antinac declared war, and then fought all the way here? It seems unlikely, the Principality of Madras is more than self-preserving, not aggressive enough. Although nominally attached to the Kingdom of Iberia, he has always ignored the orders of the second prince. Could it be that he could not stop the pressure and finally sent troops to attack the kingdom of Antinac of the third prince
While eating breakfast while looking at the map, Lorist was guessing wildly in his mind. There was a knock on the door, and Lorist looked at Pat and motioned for him to open the door.
Reddy came in: "My lord, the garrison captain of Feng Yata Town wants to see you."
"Oh." Lorist put down the map and thought for a while: "Please come in."
Just in time, Lorist also wanted to ask what happened to the alarm bell.
The garrison captain of Feng Yata Town is a middle-aged man in his forties with a bitter look on his face. Standing opposite Lorist, he was very embarrassed, and he didn't even know where to put his hands. Lorist asked him to sit down, but he repeatedly waved his hands and said no, just stand.
Well, you can stand if you want. Lorist never wants to force others, so he took a sip of tea slowly, and was about to ask the captain of the defense what he wanted to do, but he heard the middle-aged man cautiously ask: "My lord, May I ask if you came from the winding mountain road yesterday?"
"En." Lorist nodded.
"My lord, did you encounter bandits and you all killed them?"
"Yeah, what's the matter?" Lorist wondered a little, what's so strange about killing a few bandits, why was it so mysterious.
"My lord, disaster is coming. Bandits blocked the city gate in the morning. They said that if you don't surrender before noon, they will attack the town and slaughter everyone in the town..." The middle-aged man's face was filled with bitterness. .
"Bandits? So the alarm bell went off just because the bandits came?" Lorist asked.
The guard captain nodded.
"Tell me, what kind of bandit is so arrogant, dare to besiege Feng Yata Town, and even threatened to wash the town with blood, don't the local lords ignore it?" Lorist became interested.
"My lord, it's not that the local lord doesn't care, but he can't. He has conquered the bandits twice, but both times failed, and the casualties were heavy. The second time the lord himself was seriously injured, that's why these bandits are so arrogant A few years ago, there were wars and civil strife. Many deserters, refugees and robber gangs gathered in the mountains and forests around Panshan Road. About three years ago, a golden swordsman who called himself Panshan Wolf came and brought some people to take those mountains. The gang of thieves were subdued, and they set up a stockade on Heishi Mountain near Panshan Road, and then began to block and rob roads on Panshan Road, collecting tolls."
"Oh, the bandit leader is still a golden swordsman? This is really interesting. It's the first time I've heard that a master of fighting spirit who can be promoted to the golden rank will degenerate and become a bandit." Lorist laughed.
The captain of the defense was anxious: "My lord, I really didn't lie to you. The Lord Lord killed three silver-ranked family knights in two conquests. You can go out and ask about it, and everyone knows about it. This Panshan wolf is vicious and lustful. He slaughtered three villages near the Panshan Road, and it was because of this that the lord sent troops to conquer, but it failed twice."
Lorist looked at the middle-aged man and asked him: "Since bandits have already blocked the city gate, what do you want to do as the captain of the garrison instead of defending the city and telling us these things? Send us to Bandits? Tell them not to slaughter the city?"
"No, no, my lord, we didn't intend to send you out..." The middle-aged man with a bitter face said: "My lord, I'm here to tell you about the Panshan wolf so that you can prepare early. There is only one garrison team in this town , the number of people is less than 80, and only I, as the captain, is at the silver rank. And the bandits have four to five hundred people. In addition to the Panshan wolf who is at the gold rank, they also have seventeen masters at the silver rank. The difference in strength is too great. It won't last long, I just hope that the adults can play it by ear, leave the town as soon as possible, and then go to inform the kingdom's military to send troops to wipe out this group of bandits, then we will die in peace."
"No, since the strength of your garrison team is so different from that of the bandits, why didn't the bandits attack the city before and had to wait until we killed a few bandits before coming to block the door?" Lorist asked coldly with a solemn expression. .
"Oh, my lord, I am dissatisfied with you saying that our lord had an agreement with the bandits." The captain of the garrison looked a little ashamed: "After the two conquests failed, our lord was worried that these bandits would attack the city. Not good, maybe they will take the opportunity to deprive them of the position of lord, so they entrusted a large chamber of commerce to come forward and sign an agreement with Panshan Wolf, that is, Feng Yata Town is open to bandits, and bandits can purchase what they want here. Needed materials can also be sold here, and the goods they robbed can be sold to the chamber of commerce. As long as the convoys of those chambers of commerce pay the road purchase fee for crossing the Panshan Road, it will be unimpeded. It's bad luck, the local lords don't care about it. And those bandits can enter the town to eat, drink and have fun if they don't carry weapons.
"This time the bandits blocked the door because, my lord, one of the bandits you killed yesterday was the younger brother of the Panshan wolf, so the Panshan wolf went crazy and wanted to slaughter the city regardless of the agreement. My lord, wait until the bandits break through the door and enter." The town will definitely be plundered everywhere, and you will be able to break out of the encirclement if you speed up your horses at that time."
"Hehe, four or five hundred bandits, the leader of the bandit of the golden rank, really has to go and see for a long time." Lorist picked up the long sword placed on the table next to him, and said to Pat and Reddy who were standing beside him. : "Let's go meet these bandits, Reddy, let Joe bring more arrows, it's best not to let a bandit escape today."
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