Sword and Magic and Taxi

Zhao Mai's nervous sweat fell from his forehead. The conflict between his accelerating heartbeat and his attempts to breathe softly caused him to feel dizzy. Even when facing the kobold, he was not as nervous as he is now. Perhaps it's because I have fought kobolds, goblins, and orcs countless times in various video games, and I have lost the sense of strangeness. But the sudden appearance of a body by the river is by no means a common sight.

You have to go take a look no matter what. You must know what happened before you can decide what to do next. Zhao Mai forced himself to calm down, put aside distracting thoughts, and observed the surrounding environment again and again. After that, he carefully came out of his hiding place.

Under the willow tree, there was indeed a cheetah carcass. Its body was twisted into a twist from the middle, and its two front legs and two hind legs formed an angle of 180 degrees. It seems that after crossing the river, Lucius and the others were attacked. Could that arm be Lucius's?

How could it be?! Zhao Mai pushed aside the withered willow branches and saw the face of the corpse. Eagle Wing Druid Dale's eyes were wide open, a big hole was broken in his heart, and his blood had long since drained away. Judging from his appearance, he must have experienced a hard struggle before his death. His limbs and torso were covered with small wounds, as if he had been struck by a wire rope.

The druid had not been dead for more than a day, so it didn't stink yet. Only then could Zhao Mai endure the discomfort and pull his body out from under the willow tree. His fatal wound was a penetrating wound to the heart. Judging from the rolling of the flesh, it should have penetrated from behind and exited from the chest. He didn't have any weapons or equipment on him, and even the pockets under his robe were clean. This made Zhao Mai have to wonder, was Dalle captured first and then executed?

There were no traces of other people around, and Zhao Mai didn't know how to trace footprints, so he was helpless. The most important thing now is to rush back to the community as soon as possible and tell the druids the news. However, we cannot let his body be exposed to broad daylight like this!

Although they didn't get along for a long time, Dalle gave Zhao Mai a good feeling. He was able to calm down and listen to what the young man had to say, and he readily agreed to give him the medicine to cure the disease as a reward. Zhao Mai estimated that a bottle of third-level spell potion was worth about 750 gold coins, and a training mission for a junior apprentice would never yield such benefits.

Moreover, while cruising along the way, Daler from the Eagle Wing Community was able to treat everyone equally and even sometimes took care of the relatively slow Zhao Mai. This was a heartwarming feeling for Zhao Mai who came into this world alone. .

Mr. Daler, I want to bury you underground, but I'm afraid I can't. I don't have the tools to dig, and this side of the river is full of woods, and the ground is tangled. I can't dig a hole big enough. Zhao Mai looked at Dalle's wide eyes and said: There are no fish in the oil smoke river, and the water burial effect will not be good. If your soaked body floats to Lang'er Town, there may be no way to treat you. So I just I can choose to light you on fire and cremate you.”

After saying that, Zhao Mai stretched out his hand and closed Dalle's eyelids forcefully according to the method he had seen in movies and TV shows. It is said that the human body is difficult to ignite and the more branches needed, the better. Zhao Mai is not like some druids who are not willing to destroy branches. After more than two hours, Zhao Mai built a cremation pile by the river.

A normal cremation pile requires oiling, so keep everything simple. Zhao Mai used the ignition device of the musket to ignite the bark fibers and slowly started a fire. He patiently tended the fire until he was sure all parts were burning.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, my abilities are limited. Zhao Mai watched Dalle's body being swallowed up by the flames and said his final farewell words to him: Although you can't be buried in the ground, the power of nature will eventually possess your body. It turns out that The force will accept your soul. I don’t know if this is right or not, I hope you won’t mind.”

After doing all this, he immediately left with the food reserves and headed towards the direction of the Druid community in his memory.

Further west, deep in the dense forest about thirty kilometers away from them, a strange team was slowly advancing. The leaders were two giant earth monsters, which looked like unicorns magnified a hundred times. Its huge, pincer-like claws have serrated edges that can cut through trees blocking its path. Then they use their long, hard horns to push the tree trunk aside to clear a path.

Following them were four trolls, who together carried a sedan, carefully maintaining balance, and moved forward behind the earth giant. The sedan was surrounded by thick curtains in the shape of a small room, and it was unclear who or what was riding inside.

From time to time, some gray mist floats out from the gaps in the curtains and slowly settles toward the ground. Some weak creatures such as moss and mushrooms quickly lost their vitality after being exposed to the gray mist. They changed from growth to aging and soon died.

Following the sedan were two strong bugbears, with solid muscles on their naked bodies and a huge head on their hairy shoulders. The mouth with a pair of lower fangs was chewing raw meat, which was bloody and seemed to have just been taken from some animal. Their eyes looked left and right, constantly investigating the surrounding situation, and from time to time they looked at a large cage behind them that was being carried by the troll.

Lucius, Aphra and Ziyue were locked inside, their hands and feet tied, but their mouths were not stuffed with smelly cloth. As long as they moved around, they would be beaten with long sticks by the bugbears following them. They would be told in a low voice that it was okay to talk, but if they really dared to shout loudly, they would be given a hard stick.

This is how Ziyue got a big bump on her head.

Tell me, what are they going to do? Why do they keep going deep into the farmer's forest? Ziyue said to Aphra and Lucius while rubbing the swollen bumps with her hands and moaning softly.

Lucius was left with only a pair of shorts, and his muscular body was covered with stains, making him look miserable. There was also a very obvious strangulation mark on his neck, which was still a purple bruise. From time to time, Lucius would touch the scar with his hand, and it seemed that he could still feel the horror of the rope tightening around his neck and then being dragged violently into the water.

However, these wounds were nothing compared to the pain in his heart. The cheetah died in front of him, which dealt a serious blow to him. Aphra looked at the despair that appeared in his eyes from time to time. This was a kind of despair caused by shock and grief. She began to worry about Lucius's state, fearing that he would lose his calm at some point. It's okay for now. Lucius is a little tired but not decadent. He still maintains his usual rationality: Besides the Departed Walker community, what else in the Farmer's Forest deserves the attention of these people?

Even if he is very powerful and killed Mr. Dalle, the Druid master in the community is not easy to mess with. He will definitely be defeated. Ziyue curled her lips and said to the sedan, Go to hell. You gesture.

This is exactly why we are still alive. Aphra said suddenly.

We have no exchange value! Ziyue didn't understand: Besides, the Departed Walkers are not rich, and they are far inferior to Eagle Wings, right? What do these bad guys want?

Lucius sighed deeply, lowered his head and said, I'm afraid the three of us are just here to buy time.