At noon, the bright sun tore through the hazy fog.
The river wind was blowing vigorously, a large knee-deep water plant swayed slender waist, and the green reflection was bathed in the golden ripples of the river.
The Choate River has a pleasant scenery, but Lambert, Aiden, and Triss have no interest in admiring it.
The three waited until Roy, Kayan, Escal, Owl, Cohen, and Coral arrived through the portal, and after roughly explaining the basic situation to them, they launched a big search along the river bank.
The witchers who were best at finding traces joined forces, and within a moment, they dragged out from the reeds a wooden boat that was half-wrapped with canvas, covered with gray and white spots, old and rotten, as if it would disintegrate at any time.
There were a few patches of pale red blood on the swelled bow deck, and the witcher moved his nose at the same time—
The fragrance is fragrant and sweet, the smell of herbal plants and monster organs and tissues is mixed, which is extremely pungent.
But everyone is familiar with this, this is the unique smell of the conventional potion "Swallow".
"It seems that Gaitan's injuries are more serious than I expected." Aiden stretched out his tongue and licked the blood on his fingertips, and his red lightning-like pupils rolled, "Escaped from Fort Amelia to the Choate River on horseback. One night passed, and he didn't rest for a second in the middle. Even if there was a potion to suppress the injury, he would lose too much blood, so he didn't have the energy to deal with the escape traces perfectly."
It's disturbing that the cat faction, the school best at stealth, leaves such obvious clues.
Roy even began to suspect that conventional methods were too late to save the life of his colleague
"He is very weak, and the next road can only be supported by will, and he can't run too far!" Aiden turned to look at the tense companions around, and gritted his teeth, "We must find a way to find the situation before the situation is irreversible. he!"
He took a deep breath and roared red-faced,
"Witcher, must not die in a hasty escape!"
Everyone was silent.
To die like a bereaved dog is undignified and pathetic!
"Be optimistic, guys, since fate has led us to find this ship, it's only natural to find Gaitan. Isn't that how the story is written?"
Roy patted Aiden on the shoulder comfortingly, and looked up along the position of the wooden boat. A bright red ribbon with sweat and blood was reflected in the silver-gray pupils.
The ribbons meandered in the air, and a row of blood-stained footprints pointed to the dense forest in the distance synchronously appeared on the soft mud below.
Everyone realized that they had to race against time, and resolutely followed the blood trail and ran wild.
Even the always lively Lambert was so silent that he lost his interest in joking.
The two sorceresses knew that their physical strength was limited, and after blessing everyone with a light-weight technique, they watched them pass through a wet grass and into the lush birch forest.
The dappled sunlight shone through the gaps between the branches and leaves.
One after another, sturdy and sharp figures formed a column and galloped, nimbly jumping over the fallen dead trees, brushing the humus layer of moss mushrooms and fallen leaves, like hunting wolves.
Roy rushed at the forefront, Lambert and Aiden were on the sides, looking around from time to time, looking for Cat Pie.
The clues along the way became more and more shocking. In addition to blood, a series of iconic objects gradually appeared—
Drinking potion jars, three alchemy bombs, five sharp throwing knives the length of an index finger, leather jackets full of pockets, poison packs, hides slashed by swords, scorched by fire, covered in resin and blood and sweat cloak…
Before everyone's eyes, there was a shaky figure clutching the wound, with a shaky figure, his chest undulating violently like a broken bellows, and a stumbling back figure.
Every time he took a difficult step, blood poured out from the open wound.
Obviously, Gaitan, who was seriously injured, was exhausted and unsustainable. He began to abandon most of the "burdens" he had with him, and used his last strength to struggle to survive!
But in this wilderness, where can he hide, without the conditions for healing, how can he save himself
Maybe he just moved forward out of instinct.
Roy's sense of urgency became stronger and stronger, he simply greeted everyone, took out his hand crossbow and pulled the trigger continuously.
The bowstring vibrated.
shhh-
With the sharp sound of breaking through the air, Roy jumped out of a distance of 100 meters in the forest, flickering and tracking at an eye-popping speed.
He made up his mind that as long as Gaitan still had one breath left, he would immediately use a dose of high-absorption decoction to save his life!
After a while, he left his companion far behind and flashed to the two fork roads at the exit of the dense forest. At the intersection stood a slanted wooden sign, pointing to Kent Village in the east, and indistinct writing in the west.
Roy squatted down to examine the stagnant pool of blood between the fallen leaves under his feet. He touched his index finger and sent it to his nose to sniff.
It is very fresh, and it has existed for no more than three hours, which is quite a lot more than the blood left in the rest of the way, so Gaitan should have stayed here for a long time, and even fell into a coma here.
But where is he
Roy pricked up his ears subconsciously, restrained his breathing, and carefully turned to look at the green nettles, thorns, and low birch trees around him...
Sparrowhawks chirped on the branches, and polypods crawled among the moss, making rustling sounds.
There was not the slightest human gasp or heartbeat.
Five minutes later, the unwilling Roy searched the neighborhood. Unfortunately, except for the bloodstain, the witcher's senses could not capture any marks belonging to Gaitan from all around. Melting out of thin air.
This is really counterintuitive.
Roy couldn't help rubbing his chin and fell into contemplation at this incredible scene.
Soon, there was a slight sound of footsteps behind him, and the witchers headed by Lambert rushed out of the woods.
"Boy, what's the situation? Did you get lost during the day, or did you have insomnia and drowsiness last night?"
Lambert swept around eagerly, pressed his companion's shoulder and asked,
"Why don't you continue to track down if Gaitan is not found? Human life is at stake, there must be no slack!"
"The clue is broken here, where do you want me to chase?"
Roy patted the mud in his palm, looked around at everyone, shook his head and sighed,
"Sorry everyone, Gaitan is missing."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Escal's angular face after being transformed by the high-sucking decoction was full of doubts, and he said in a loud voice, "How can a person who is dying from serious injuries and barely able to walk disappear inexplicably? If you walk by, you will leave traces! You must have missed the clue."
"Then open your eyes and take a good look!"
Three minutes later, the witchers looked at each other.
"Damn, that's impossible!"
Aiden growled in disbelief, "If the hungry beast dragged him away, there's no way this bloodstain will be left behind."
The owl squatted down beside him, his gray-green eyes shot a hint of doubt, and muttered,
"I didn't find any footprints or excrement of wild animals, nor was there any trace of fighting around, or the jet-like blood stains and minced meat formed by sharp teeth."
Roy held the cold and quiet snake pendant in the placket and added,
"The chaotic energy is unusually calm, which means that at least in the past week, no one has released spells here, ruling out the possibility of escaping with a portal."
"Guyden, a cat pie, can't grow wings and fly away, or burrow into the soil and escape?" Lambert said angrily. "It's more absurd than fooling a child!"
"Calm down, man!" Kayane punched Lambert hard in the chest and looked around, "If you have time to complain, it's better to use your brains and use your rich experience and experience, everyone think about it! "
"Is it possible that Gaitan was rescued?" Keen rubbed the slight depression on the fallen leaves with both hands, and his tough face naturally revealed a sunny temperament, which made people feel relieved, "Look carefully, near the blood stains. There are some messy footprints, which means that someone else passed by. If they properly treated the wound for Gaitan on the spot, there would not be too many smells and traces! Maybe, Gaitan has been moved to a safe The place."
There was hope in Aiden's eyes upon hearing this, and it was better to be rescued than to die on the spot.
Roy shook his head, this was just self-deception.
Even the most skilled field nurses can't bandage the blood tightly, or even leave the slightest smell, causing the collective perception of the witchers to fail!
As for the footprints, this road is the only way to go from the forest to the Choate River, and it is full of all kinds of footprints along the way.
What matters is the smell, Gaitan's breath is gone.
"Everyone, I know this possibility is very slim, but it's the most reasonable at the moment, or do you have a better idea?!" Keen said solemnly, "I don't have time to hesitate, I suggest going to the village to the east immediately. Ask about the situation."
A pair of different-colored vertical pupils flickered, and after a while, everyone nodded.
"Then the troops will be divided into two groups. Don't forget, we are not only dealing with the missing cat faction. The army sent by King Fu is rushing in quickly. They must not be mixed in and affect our actions?! "
Roy quickly made arrangements. He brought Aiden, Cohen, Kaiyan, and Escal, and followed the footprints outside the dense forest to find the village of Kent, the gathering point of humans in the east.
However, Lambert was reluctant to stay in the birch forest with the owl, continuing to search for clues, cooperating with the two sorceresses, and by the way, used the identity of King Fu's bodyguard to mislead the approaching Solden soldiers.