[Thanks to Brother Xiang and full-time angels for their monthly support! ! ]
The feeling of hostility didn't disappear until Hei Xiao led them into a hotel, which made Alice and the others breathe a sigh of relief. After all, you are in a place with a population of nearly 10,000, and almost everyone is hostile to you. This kind of mental pressure is not good. The hotel that Hei Xiao led them to live in is called "Dark Night", which is one of the "industries" owned by the Shadow Clan in Hakara.
The hotel is mainly used to entertain members of the Shadow Clan and several vassal clans. Like several other powerful clans, there are similar hotels and bars in Hakalari. These places are not only the footholds of the members of the clans they belong to when they come to Hakala, but also the pattern of division of the clan forces. Like this hotel "Dark Night", almost the entire block around it is the Shadow Clan's sphere of influence.
Everyone who lives in this neighborhood is a vassal member of the Shadow Clan, and it is much safer for Zero to live here.
"Today we will live here first, and tomorrow I will take you to the holy mountain." Hei Xiao said to Ling, then looked at other people and said: "As for you, stay here temporarily while Ling is away. Don't worry, this place is safe , if you don't move around at will."
Hei Xiao called a Sander, and the Sander clan was short, like a dwarf in a magical world. But they are smart and business-minded, and they have a talent for making tools. Most of the craftsmen in Hakala are Sanders. The Sand Clan is attached to the Shadow Clan, and pays a certain amount of supplies to the Shadow Clan every year for protection. This is also the way of life adopted by many small and medium-sized clans on the Black Land.
The Sander in front of him is called Hagen. At first glance, he thought he was a ten-year-old human child, but his face was already wrinkled like the bark of an ancient tree in Twilight Forest. He rubbed his hands and chattered, "It's our honor to have you here, Mr. Heixiao, but these human guests are probably not very popular with us. Hagen can only arrange a few hidden rooms for them. But you have to tell them not to walk around. Those greedy Cordians are always hanging around lately, and the lazy Nado people are also a headache. Hagen wants to send more guards, but... "
"Okay, okay." With Hei Xiao's deepness, it seemed that he couldn't stand the long-winded words of the Sander. He interrupted Hagen: "Arrange rooms for my friends first. As for the rest, I will let Jess come to you. You can talk to him."
"Thank you so much." Hagen showed a bright smile on his old face, and then yelled into the depths of the hotel: "Damn Pound, where is your fat pig, come out and help the guests. So many Guest, are you trying to tire old Hagen to death? My legs are so short and the damn stairs are so high. Next time I redecorate, I'm going to make them all lower!"
Zero looked at Hei Xiao, who spread his hands with a helpless expression.
Next, zero them each to a room. The layout of the Dark Night Hotel is like a horseshoe, the lobby is located in the center, and there are high walls and guards on both sides. Of course, the gate is open during the day, in case of an attack. Once the gate is closed, plus the outer wall as high as five meters, it is enough to resist the attack. In fact, most of the buildings in Hakhara have such similar functions, so that during the war, a building like the Dark Night Hotel can be transformed into a small fortress.
Zero and their rooms are all arranged facing the inside of the hotel for the sake of concealment, so that it is difficult for people outside the block to find them. In contrast, the environment of the rooms is naturally not as good as those facing the neighborhood. At least in terms of vision, the latter is much better than rooms like Zero and the others.
The room assigned to zero is the best, with a living room and a separate bedroom, and the bedroom has a small balcony. There is a chair and a low table on the balcony, and it is a pleasure to sit and drink on the balcony at night.
In the evening, everyone came to the restaurant for dinner. As for the sharp-edged hunters, they naturally did not follow into the city. Instead, Ling stayed outside the city. They could hunt and kill some mutant beasts to satisfy their hunger, but they were not afraid of starving them.
Dinner is very rich, just look at a table of dishes, mostly with various fruits and vegetables. There are only a few plates of barbecue, and the appearance is not very good. It can be seen that the chef of the hotel is not that good at cooking meat. Hei Xiao explained: "The Sander people's diet is mainly wild vegetables and fruits, so there is not a lot of meat in the hotel, and the chef is not good at this aspect, so you can just eat it."
I tasted it a bit, and the purple-green vegetables were added with a dressing similar to salad dressing, which tasted sweet and sour. Moreover, there is a lot of water in these vegetables, and the juice has a honey-like taste, rich in fiber and various nutrients needed by the human body. The taste is not that bad, and besides, everyone has eaten too much barbecue on the trip, so it's good to change to a lighter taste now.
Hei Xiao ate very little, and basically only took a few mouthfuls of food to show that he was done eating. He said to Zero: "Rest early, we will set off early tomorrow morning. Your injury?"
Zero moved the arm that was cut by Albert, and smiled: "It's okay."
"That's good." Hei Xiao stood up, said "whatever you want" to the others, and then went back to the room by himself.
It took nearly an hour to eat a meal, during which time the hotel kitchen had to keep serving food, which made old Hagen complain that the human beings could eat too much. The frowning look made people laugh, and after dinner, Lia said that she would live with Moni. Zero has no objection either, Moni's injury has recovered, and if anything happens, she can protect Liya, so she doesn't have to worry about it.
Back in his room, he saw two bottles of wine brewed by Sanders on the entry table. There is a note below, with the word "gift" written in crooked human language. Zero smiled slightly, took a shower first, and then came to the small balcony with two bottles of wine. Unscrew the bottle cap, and there will be a faint fragrance of wine sent out. Zero took a sip, the wine tasted sweet, but it was quite strong, which surprised him.
He could roughly taste that it was brewed with some kind of fruit, but he didn't know what other ingredients were added to this fruit wine. The stamina is so strong that ordinary people would have to lie down after drinking a few sips. Zero finds it very novel, since alcohol has almost the same effect on them as plain water for a powerhouse of his level. As far as Zero knows, there are some special drinks for high-level people in Asgard, and psychotropic drugs are even added in it, so that high-level people can also experience the feeling of drunkenness.
And those special drinks are enough for an ordinary family to live a full year of food and clothing in Asgard.
Zero rarely drinks alcohol, even less alcohol that can make him feel drunk. He didn't leave until tomorrow anyway, so he didn't mind getting drunk alone tonight. After a few more sips, I felt slightly drunk. This feeling is really novel and wonderful. Wine, like music, seems to be able to circulate among different races. And drunk, it will remind people of things that they usually did not expect, or did not dare to think about.
Just like Zero now, this slightly intoxicated feeling made him open the memory valve, thinking of what happened in the Western Continent, and thinking of Cinderella even more. Before he knew it, he had been away from that continent for several months, and he didn't know where Cinderella was now. Judging from the reproductive cycle of humans in the new era, if Cinderella is willing, she can even give birth to a new life now.
I don't know if the crystallization between me and her is a clever boy or a cute girl? Thinking about it, Zero even sketched the image of the child in his mind. That is the image obtained based on the combination of his and Cinderella's appearance. And with Zero's current mastermind's computing power, such a picture is almost the same as the real one.
When imagining his own child, a smile escaped from the corner of Zero's mouth.
When he picked up the wine bottle and was about to take another sip, a warning sign suddenly appeared in his heart. Throwing forward violently, the wooden armchair he was sitting on just now was smashed to pieces by a sudden arrow! The remaining strength of the arrow had faded, and it still stuck into the wall, and the arrow feathers at the end were swaying. Zero didn't stay, and a tumble had already reached the bedroom. When he looked out of the balcony again, his eyes were serious, and he didn't look drunk.
There was a sudden momentum behind him, and then there was a series of crackling sounds from the ceiling. A tall figure followed the falling marl and sawdust to Zero's bed, directly crushing his bed. Then roaring and rushing forward, the killer held a knife and ax in both hands, and sliced off Zero's head in a staggered manner.
Zero let out a muffled snort, and thin golden flames shot out from his eyes. Without changing his posture, he quickly slid back and crashed into the man's arms. Then the shadows of fists flew, and the dull whistling unique to reloaded warheads continued to sound in this small bedroom. Like a stormy sea, Zero killed the person who attacked him helplessly.
He punched heavily in the opponent's abdomen, and the reloaded warhead had a random secondary implosion effect. Amidst the muffled thunderstorm, a wave of blood rushed out from the man's back, splashing the entire wall together with bones and fragments of some internal organs. The opponent was hit hard by this, and finally fell down, but died. Only then did Zero see clearly that the alien who attacked him was covered with gray hairs all over his body, but there were black hairs on his chest that naturally formed an "X"-shaped pattern.
It was like an ape-man, and Hei Xiao was the first to break into the room when he heard the commotion here. Seeing the killer killed by Zero, the Shadow Clan elder Yizheng asked, "What's going on?"
At the end of the sentence, Zero suddenly shifted, allowing a powerful arrow shot in from the window to be nailed straight to the wall. Then several arrows chased Zero and shot fiercely. Zero and Hei Xiao retreated to the living room together, looking at the arrows nailed in a row on the bedroom floor.
Alice and others also came one after another, Jin Pai dismissed everyone, and said to Ling: "Ye Liu went to greet that archer."
Nodding his head, he was very relieved of Yeliu. Sure enough, ten minutes later. Yeliu came back and captured another person. That is also a foreign race, tall and thin, with a pale face. It seemed he was knocked out by Ye Liu, the girl threw him to the ground, Jin quickly found a chair, and tied him up tightly. Hei Xiao flicked his hands, releasing a jet of jet black energy from his fingertips.
He shot the energy jet into the man's chest, and the man trembled as if he had been shocked by electricity, but when he opened his eyes, he was awakened by the electric shock.
Hei Xiao said sharply: "Who are you? Why do you do this?"
The archer spit out a mouthful of bloody phlegm at Hei Xiao, and said with a sneer, "You don't want to know anything from me, noble Shadow Clan elder!"
"Really? Then it seems that I have to use some means." Hei Xiao smiled lightly.
The archer showed disdainful eyes, he was silent, and suddenly his whole body trembled violently. Hei Xiao's expression changed, and he just pried open his mouth. There was a mouthful of dirty blood flowing out of the archer's mouth, and the pupils of his eyes were dilated. He had committed suicide by taking poison.
Hagen called some people to carry the bodies of the two killers out. As for the room, it would not be possible to tidy it up for a while, so he simply changed the room for Zero. In the new room, Hei Xiao stayed, while the others went back to the room to rest. Hei Xiao said in a deep voice: "These two people, one is a shooter of the Storm Clan, and the other is a fighter of the Black Hammer. It's just that these two are criminals and have been expelled from the two clans. I didn't expect to be here Appeared and attacked you."
"This matter should not be that simple. I asked Hagen just now, and the two bottles of wine were not sent by him, but were stolen. Besides, there are some things added in them, which can make people's reaction nerves change." It's too slow." Ling Tanshou said: "So, this is a round. It's a killing round against me."
"That's the problem. This is our Shadow Clan's control area. That person was able to send these two people here, and even let the Black Hammer soldier ambush you on the first floor in advance. It is very important to be able to do this. It's not easy, and only the top management of the holy temple can do it." Hei Xiao said indifferently.
"It seems that a certain elder of your holy temple doesn't want me to come."
Hei Xiao snorted: "When the lion is sick, some coyotes and wild dogs come out, trying to take advantage of the opportunity. What a joke!"
Ling was thoughtful, and Hei Xiao's expression seemed to be more or less certain about who planned the attack. But he didn't intend to say it out. It seems that the situation in the holy temple is more complicated than he imagined. At this moment, the door opened and Hagen came in, uncharacteristically and succinctly said: "Pound committed suicide."
"Whose person is he?"
"Of the Blackhammer clan."
Hei Xiao pondered: "How long has Pang De been with you?"
"Nearly five years," Hagen replied.
"Have you recruited new people recently?" Hei Xiao asked, shaking his head.
"There was not enough manpower a few days ago, so I recruited three guys to help Pound..."
"Go and call these people."
Hagen went down at once, and he came back not long after. The old Sander said with a sullen face, "One is missing, and his name is Hess."
Hei Xiao nodded: "It should be that he killed Pound and wanted to blame him. You go and find out the origin of this name Hess. Including his clan, who he had contact with, etc."
"Understood, my lord."
Hei Xiao looked at Ling again and said, "Let's rest, we still have to go to the Holy Temple tomorrow. But it may take three or two days to track down Hess. These few days are enough for the other party to erase a lot of evidence. So in the end, it is still Strength is the most important."
Nodding, after Hei Xiao left, he also went to bed. There was nothing to say all night, and in the early morning, Hei Xiao knocked on the door. After the two had breakfast, Hagen sent Ling a cloak for him to put on, and Hei Xiao and Ling left the hotel. Because it was morning, there were not many passers-by in the city. Coupled with the cloak that Zero puts on, no one will take a second look at Zero unless they are caring.
Hei Xiao led Zero around the city before going out through the west gate. After leaving Hakara, Lingcai asked: "Did you find out something?"
Hei Xiao was a little surprised, nodded and said: "You are careful."
Zero lifted his hat and said with a smile: "If you just go out of the city, there is no need to go around the city so much. So I think you deliberately took me to step into the control area of certain clans. Besides, In two or three places, I felt that someone seemed to recognize me immediately."
"Those clans are Yasuo, Luan, and Kaz. Among them, the Luan are the most hostile, followed by Kaz and Yasuo." Hei Xiao glanced in the direction of the holy mountain: " Since they can recognize you at a glance, it must be that their superiors have issued some kind of order. And showing hostility, it seems that the patriarchs of these clans don't like you that much."
"I didn't come here to please them either." Ling Tanshou said.
Hei Xiao smiled and said nothing. After leaving Hakara City with Zero, he walked to a stream diverted from the holy lake. Old Hagen was already here early, asking a few people to put a moon boat into the river. The moon boat is a tool for traveling to the holy mountain through the stream and river, and it is made of logs from ancient trees. Sander craftsmen hollowed out the heart of the tree and made the sides of the hull into a crescent-like shape.
The two ends of the crescent are painted with black paint with a pattern of falling feathers, which is the symbol of ShadowClan.
There are already two oars on the boat, and a moon boat can take four people. After deducting Ling and Hei Xiao, the remaining two places will be filled by two boatmen. They are responsible for paddling and driving the boat to the foot of the holy mountain.
The streams and rivers branched from the holy lake fall on this land in a meandering way. Sitting in the boat, Ling watched the river banks on both sides rise and fall. Occasionally, some strange beasts unique to the black land passed by the shore, and would cast curious eyes on the boat.
Going to the holy mountain by the river will save half a day than walking. So by noon, Zero could already see the black holy mountain. Only when you look at it from a close distance can you realize how majestic this mountain is. It almost rises from the ground, and there is no corresponding transition between the foot of the mountain and the flat ground. The steep slope makes the mountain look extremely steep. There are no plants growing on the mountain, but the black mountain body and those natural cracks reveal red rock formations. On these cracks, most of them have stone steps. However, the cracks are not connected, so the bloody stairs are naturally intermittent.
Between the intermittent steps, there are cables fixed by steel rings nailed into the cracks in the stone, and climbers can use the cables to travel between the steps. However, when borrowing the cable, the feet are suspended in the air, and if one is not good, it will fall from the mountain. That was no joke. According to Hei Xiao, hundreds of people fell to their deaths in the valley at the foot of the mountain every year in order to climb the holy mountain. It also became a natural burial valley for pilgrims.
So if you want to go to the holy mountain, you can't do it without certain strength.