Arcane splendor begins with the throne

Chapter 172 Enemy Attack
The rays of the first rising sun shone on the windswept river.

The north bank of the Yuexi River is a fertile land full of weeds and thorns. The weeds withered and the flowers faded away. The small streams flowed into the big river, and the submerged and rotten branches leaned against the bank.

The south bank is the edge of the Dusk Forest, and what grows on the river bank is a mixed forest. All kinds of trees are mixed together, forming a nondescript, but only in this way, a changing family.

The leaves of the broad-leaved trees have long been scattered in the bleak autumn wind, standing there stubbornly like naked soldiers. The needle-shaped leaves of the pine trees that have survived the cold wind are still emerald green, embroidered in the frost of the previous night. The silver edge is really beautiful.

However, the slender branches and haggard looks of shandingzi, Datouxiang and other small shrubs during the wandering period look wretched.

The sudden visit of a fishing boat that was slowly sailing across the river made the weak family in the forest into a mess. A beautiful squirrel, with big eyes and wide and long tail straight up, disappeared into the jungle. deep.

Immediately afterwards, the kobolds with lizard heads, the goblins with wide foreheads and big mouths, and the vicious rabbits with well-developed hind legs foraging for food at the foot of the tree, all got into a mess and fled to the depths of the woods.

Brynden noticed a watchtower on the high ground ahead, growing taller and bigger with the strokes of his oars.

But before he got there, he knew that it was deserted, and the weather-beaten stones of the tower were covered with roses that had been withered by frost.

Those withered roses looked like refugees with skinny faces and yellow skin.

Another rose, he could not help thinking.

The smell of roses is very fragrant, fragrant and intoxicating, and you will be intoxicated in the fragrance when you smell it, and it has a wide range of uses. The flowers can be steamed into fragrant flower oil, and the petals can be used to make pies and rose wine. It can also be soaked in hot water, and even the flower buds can be used as medicine.

Even the colorful flowers can serve as the family emblems of the major families of the Amastaxia Kingdom, and they are embellished with sacred mottos to always warn future generations.

However, ironically, it can also become a national disaster.

Just like the scenery in front of you.

As the fishing boat moved forward slowly, many simple single-person wooden houses passed by along the way. They were supported by long thin bamboo poles, which looked like water cranes.

There is no doubt that there is no sign of any inhabitants here, only crows flying overhead, or singing strangely from the branches on the bank.

Famine and war took everything away. They passed the villages along the coast, but they didn't see any villagers. There were only empty fishing nets that were cut and torn hanging from the trees, which was the only sign of fishermen's residence.

This reminded him of his hometown, Surging Tide City.

The Aurum River in Tegrila is full of fishermen's boats, large grain ships, merchant ships selling all kinds of goods, and even colorfully painted and extremely gaudy circus ships.

They symbolize the sails of the major chambers of commerce or families competing for beauty on the river, passing by villages and forts on the river bank.

This unforgettable memory made him think of his hometown involuntarily, and the paddles in his hands accelerated a little involuntarily.

After a while, he saw a worse situation.

A pale and swollen corpse first came into his sight. A weak goblin was lying on its belly, its small claws were tightly grasping the belt of the corpse, as if grabbing the last straw, trying to treat him as a A boat sailing towards the shore.

The dark red cloak and the blood-soaked rose mark made him guess that the corpse was the Rose Army of the Tasha.

No one cared about how the trembling goblin climbed up, and no one would think about whether the little goblin would be able to "row a boat", let alone where its future lies.

Because the group of them had been sailing on the wide river day and night for nearly five days, and it was extremely strenuous to row the boat due to going against the current.

Brynden glanced back subconsciously.

as usual.

Holding a long sword with a sheath in his arms, like a bamboo pole on the river bank, Tistan stood motionless at the stern of the boat, his cold and dead eyes like two gray stones.

This swordsman of the White Crow Mercenary Group is always like this, if you don't look carefully, you can't even feel his existence.

Ream the Onion sat with Rowland the Skinny Cucumber, humming a two-part ballad about three sisters and an iron wolf, while tending to their wooden lute and sorrel bow .

The water was so humid that they had to take good care of their weapons.

Since the voice was too loud, Xia Mei on the other side would be dissatisfied, so the two could only hum in a low voice.

Even so, he could still clearly hear that the two described the three sisters vividly, with detailed details, which added a little fun to the tedious journey.

On the other side, Breeland's female warrior handed over the oars that she had been paddling in the middle of the night not long ago, and she was leaning against the bumpy cabin with her eyes closed to rest.

She really closed her eyes and rested her mind, because she had arms like a cow, as thick as hardwood, and the long tendons on her arms stretched and contracted with each stroke. Even after paddling in the middle of the night, she did not show the slightest sign of fatigue.

The 'Mantis' Solas, who had been rowing with her most of the night, was different. He fell asleep exhausted at some point, snoring like a pair of mating ducks.

But he could clearly feel that Solas' right hand was always pressed on the handle of the scimitar from beginning to end.

Evidently, he hadn't slept soundly.

With nearly a year of adventure career, he knows very well that resting at night to restore physical strength is a skill that every solo adventurer must master.

At this moment, he suddenly felt ripples on the surface of the river, and the breeze was helping him to disperse the mist ahead, so he quickly signaled Yadong, who was rowing behind the boat, to raise the sail.

Yadong is red and fat, like a pomegranate. He is a native of Tegrila. He went out with passion at the age of 13 and has not returned to his hometown for four years.

It just so happened that they would pass through his hometown on their way to the King City of Tegrila, which made the fat young man very happy.

He also claimed that after passing through his hometown, he must show off to everyone in the village that he has become a subordinate of the Lord Duke of Longshou Harbor and the Storm Islands, and he will definitely become a knight in the future.

Brynden, who had not yet become a knight, assured him that he would become one.

"My lord, is it okay to hang up the sail?" After Yadong hoisted the sail, a look of worry floated on his red and fat face.

"It's fine, there won't be any problems." Brynden looked ahead, the wind was following them, and he obviously felt that the boat was going much faster.

The gray woods on the river bank swayed in front of him, and the mist sometimes swallowed up the trees, and sometimes exposed their thick branches, which made him feel a sense of urgency involuntarily.

He began to worry a little about the sharp arrows of elves suddenly appearing from the forest.

Yadong's worries were right. After all, their sail was a piece of stiff triangle cloth embroidered with roses, the colors of the Rose Army.

If they meet the Green Chaos Rangers of the elves, they will definitely get into trouble, but this is the only sail they have. The raised sail can allow them to reach the landing point in the Dusk Forest as soon as possible and end this boring and boring water journey.

Just when he was considering whether to lower the sail, a little girl who was fetching water by the river appeared in his sight.

When the eyes of the two met, the girl, like a frightened deer, hurriedly dropped the barrel in her hand and ran away at full speed.

Work in a while.

They passed by a charred tower. A dozen farmers were digging in the field under the tower's shell. They looked at the fishing boats with dull eyes, and after making sure that the intruder was not a threat, they continued working.

This made him feel relieved, guessing that there was no trace of green chaos activity around him.

Afterwards, he controlled the direction of the fishing boat and continued to move forward.

The Yuexi River is wide and the flow is slow. The closer it gets to the Dusk Forest, the more meandering the river becomes, with loops and twists everywhere. It is also dotted with densely wooded islands and sandbars blocking the waterway. There are even some hidden reefs below the water surface. .

But he grew up in Surging Tide City since he was a child, and he has a wealth of knowledge about rivers, and he is also very familiar with the direction of rivers. Even the rushing Aurum River can't trouble him, let alone the wide and slow Moon Creek River.

"The owner of the tavern confessed that he would dock when he saw a tower with signs of human activity."

The female warrior Xia Mei appeared behind him, frowning as she looked at the tower that was gradually disappearing from sight, "He also specifically warned us not to take this road."

After finishing speaking, she didn't care whether the other party listened to her opinion or not, but leaned against the cabin and continued to close her eyes and meditate.

"He's not the boss." 'Praying Mantis' Solas sat up, rubbed his eyes, and moved his sore arms.

"That's right." Brynden nodded and said, "This boss who is not the boss is too enthusiastic about our choice of path. We don't know his true identity. I think he might want to trick us into a trap, maybe Use us."

"That's right, smart Mr. Salted Fish." Solas smiled at him, showing his big yellow teeth, "After all, for the past five days, I have been sleeping smelling the blood of the real owner of this boat. An indelible fragrance that I don't want to repeat."

"He may also be lying about the news about Green Chaos, Crazy Hunter, Raider Mercenary Group, and Rose Army." 'Pomegranate' Yadong, who was punting at the stern, analyzed:

"He did this, most likely to let us buy this dirty boat, and get our mounts and carriages by the way. Along the way, we saw almost no villages burned and destroyed by humanoid creatures. trace."

"But don't forget that we are about to walk a strange river, with almost no traces of human activities. You can see that the water is very shallow from the reeds growing in the mud on the bank."

'Onion' Rim carried the well-maintained lute behind his back, "If it is stranded in the middle of the river, it will be troublesome."

"You don't have to worry about that." Solas said indifferently: "Have you forgotten the true identity of our Lord Xianyu? He is the second son of the Marquis of Stormy Waves City. Just like a fish."

"A delicious salted fish?" 'Onion' Ream winked at Solas.

"Red-eyed trout!"

Brynden frowned. It was a matter of family honor. He corrected the poet seriously in a strong and unquestionable tone:
"A freshwater fish that likes to live in deep water areas. There are a lot of red-eyed trout here, and they can be found from time to time, which means that our sailing route is safe."

His ancestor was once a fisherman, and it was precisely because of the living habits of red-eyed trout that he helped the first king of Tigrila find a way to quickly cross the Oram River.

So he was made a noble and had his own manor and territory on the river bank. Now, he has become a marquis of the kingdom, and the entire Oram River is the fiefdom of his family on the river.

'Onion' Ream smiled coyly, but kept silent.

"But with the road conditions ahead unclear, we are likely to encounter evil humanoid creatures when we land." Half-elf ranger Roland said with a hint of worry in his expression.

"At least evil creatures are not as scary as sinister people."

Brinden said: "Besides, this road not only saves us the time to go through the Dusk Forest, but also avoids the area where the Raiders, the Rose Army and the elves are fighting as much as possible."

Everyone heard the words and no longer objected.

At dusk they found a suitable place to land, and they left the fishing boat and walked towards the Duskwood.

Roland, a half-elf ranger familiar with the terrain, took the initiative to lead the way.

They passed through the mist-shrouded jungle until the Moon Creek River disappeared without a trace behind them, and finally successfully arrived at an almost abandoned trade road that Brynden had traveled through the forest from the Kingdom of Campos to Amastasha.

During this period, they encountered many evil humanoid creatures, but the scale was not large. Even five ogres blocking the way were easily dealt with by everyone working together.

Just as he guessed, there were indeed no traces of the rioters, the Green Chaos, and the Rose Army of the Tasha people fighting or passing by here.

It can be seen from this that their battle sites are mainly concentrated on the banks of the Moon Creek in the 'Lolas Zhuo' Plain.

They walked cautiously all the way into the night, and the half-elf ranger Roland finally decided that he could take a break.

The crowd found a grove of oak and fir trees by the shallow stream, and Roland suggested not to light a fire, so their supper, as usual, became moldy hard bread and cold smoked kippers.

The half-elf ranger volunteered to watch the first half of the night, and his fellow bard volunteered to accompany him.

Brynden didn't feel sleepy, he leaned against the oak tree and looked up at the sky, dazed.

The night was strangely quiet, with the stars hanging high in the blackness surrounding the half-moon.

In the distance, there were faint howls of wolves, which made everyone nervous.

Other than that, there was no sound at all.

War and carnage have not touched this land, he thought.

Accustomed to seeing refugees fleeing famine, he suddenly felt that surviving is really a kind of happiness, because as long as he passes through the Twilight Forest, he can soon return to his long-lost hometown.

He began to miss his father a little bit, and missed him taking him on the bank of the Aurum River, observing the living habits of the red-eyed trout, while explaining to him the motto of the Hejian family in earnest: keep calm.

Unknowingly, he was aroused by the poet's melodious singing, and kindly sent him to sleep.

The name of the song was "Stars Above the Road," and it was one of his many romantic ballads.

It was very late at night, and the waning moon that was sinking in the west appeared and disappeared among the scattered clouds.

Suddenly Brynden awoke from his sleep, and then, without warning, murderous and wild howling erupted around the camp.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Roland shouted to everyone: "Quickly draw your swords and stand back to back!"

The female warrior Xia Mei was the first to react, and she pulled out the two-handed sword behind her back for the first time.

'Praying Mantis' Solas drew out the two scimitars from his waist, and brandished them like a fierce praying mantis warrior.

Ranger Roland drew an eagle-feather arrow from the quiver behind him, and stuck it on the ground in front of him like a small fence, while his poet companion held a rapier by his side.

Others also took out their weapons one after another, ready to fight.

"boom!"

Accompanied by the sound of the bowstring when Roland fired the arrow, the ferocious shadow in the darkness broke through the night and rushed towards him in an instant.

The female warrior Xia Mei brandished a mighty two-handed sword, and was the first to meet her. 'Praying Mantis' Solas and 'Pomegranate' Yadong also rushed out from left to right, and the others followed closely behind.

'Onion' Rem stood calmly beside the ranger who was shooting arrows, guarding against the shadow of a surprise attack in the darkness.

In an instant, everyone found their opponents, weapons and flesh protested against the tranquility under the moonlight in the darkness.

At the same time, a shadow suddenly emerged from the darkness of the woods and rushed in front of Brynden.

It was tall, like an ape, haggard and resolute like a dry bone, with a dark green complexion, glowing with emerald luster.

The scars on its haggard face are moving along with it, oozing lustrous blood non-stop, the skin as black as a shadow, dotted with the deep gray-green of the forest everywhere.

Every time it took a step, the bloody wounds on its face flowed like wax tears on a candlestick, shining a cold luster under the cold moonlight.

"For Longshougang! Long live Longshougang!"

Brynden clenched his trembling weapon, mustered up his courage, shouted, and raised his steel sword to meet him without showing any weakness.

This cry made him seem to have found a power that he had never mastered.

I feel that at this moment, I am no longer the second son of the Hejian family, no longer the unlucky boy who has never had any luck at all, and no longer a wandering adventurer, but a man who strives for the glory and glory of Longshougang. Knights of the future.

The wind suddenly rises!

Cold, to the bone!

…………

(End of this chapter)