The day after entering the woodland, light rain began to float in the sky, and then gradually became heavier. They put on straw raincoats, wrapped oil cloths on food and washing hats, and walked on the paths in the forest. The horse's hooves stepped into the decay mud and squeezed out to the wild grass and shrubs growing wildly in the middle.

Li Ou sat on the shaking horse and looked forward. The rain hit the tree canopy and splashed everywhere, so the forest seemed to be covered by a layer of gray mist, everything was unclear and confused. He bent down to avoid a branch sweeping towards him, and looked back. Luo Xi seemed to be shaking on the horse's back as if she was powerless, but her eyes had regained their spirits. But the rain made people worry.

"Don't worry." She noticed Leo's worries, forced a smile, and said weakly, "I'm not that delicate."

Having said that, she was having a high fever and could not get cold. He tried to urge the horse, but the road was the biggest obstacle. He was irritated, and his right hand opened and closed, trying to reach to the hilt of the sword around his waist. It would be better not to mess with me again. Looking at the silent mage behind him, he thought gloomyly.

After that, the team became even more silent. The gray-black straw coat wrapped them, and the long team lowered their heads, frustrated and had no fighting spirit. They urged their horses to shuttle through the woods and spin in the mud. Tears kept flowing in the sky, and they were as clear as funeral teams.

Fortunately, the journey was shorter than they thought. Before the heavy rain had stopped, they walked out of the suppressed woods. It seemed that the map was wrong. Li Ou looked at the map in the hand of the guard captain and thought. The desert was wider and the woods were smaller.

"Go to this side." Lamar determined his direction.

The forests gradually became sparse, while the grasslands and crops gradually appeared. In the rain curtains in the distance, smoke from cooking cooks floated into the sky to guide them. They meandered along the low hills, and the destination of this trip was close to them.

This is a small village. Eight-foot-high wooden fences are erected at the foot of a hill, and several wooden arrow towers stand around to guard against wild beasts and bandits. Two archers sat bored in front of the watchtower to fiddle with chess pieces. When they noticed Leo's fully armed guards, they were so scared that they threw down the chess pieces in their hands and grabbed the arch.

"We are from Ayinbrou." The captain of the guard shouted.

"Wait." An archer said tremblingly. Another archer ran down the archway and went to report.

"Why can't we go in directly?" Li Ou asked without understanding, "This place is still under the jurisdiction of Aiyin Blo."

"It is true in theory." The captain of the guard nodded. He looked into the inside of the city wall in the rain, but he could not see anything except the heads stumbled around. "But this is the edge of Ayinbulo, and at the other end of the hilly grassland is another country." It was the Republic of Xiufalaz, a democratically elected country. "Besides, bandits are rampant on the grassland, Ayinbulo has never sent troops here."

This is the difference between a city-state and a country. Li Ou thought that the country focuses on territory, while a city-state only cares about the gains and losses of a mere city.

At this time, the shaking gate of the village opened, and a middle-aged militia wearing a jute shirt walked towards them, took the certificate from Lamar and looked at it carefully, while others were waiting for his response behind him. He was probably one of the few literate people in the village. Leo guessed.

"That's right, it was the noble guards of Aiyin Blolai." He finally confirmed.

The only militia wearing broken fur armor spoke at this time in the arrow tower, "Get out of the way and let them in."

The militia held spears and bronze swords to both sides so that their team could pass through the narrow and low wooden gate. However, the road behind the gate was muddy than the forest, and the horses kept slipping. They had to turn over and get off the horse, pulling the reins deep and shallow in the mud. On both sides of the road were wooden houses, only two floors at the highest, standing crookedly in the mud, as if they would collapse at any time. They turned around and finally found the only hotel here behind a row of bungalows.

"Follow him and take good care of the horses." The captain of the guard looked at the dilapidated and shady hotel, and could not rest assured. He ordered his subordinates to follow the groom, "The horse materials here are not too much and not good enough, we can use what we bring ourselves."

They stomped off the mud under the eaves, and walked in on the creaking floor. The roof of the hotel was low and the windows were narrow, so they had to burn candles during the day. However, there was only one candle in the entire hotel burning in the pottery tray, making the hall dim and difficult to see. The old woman who was lying beside the candle flame heard the sound and raised her head quickly. In just a moment, her eyes were filled with the luster of gold coins, revealing her yellowed teeth, and her hands kept rubbing on the dirty apron.

"Dear men." She ran out of the bar and bent down to them. "What do you need?"

"Clean room, hot water," said Leo, looking around, there were spider webs in the corners of the room, and the wooden stakes were full of insect-eaten pits. He said hopelessly, "I hope you have steaming fresh food here."

"Dear Master." She smiled dryly with an exaggerated smell of garlic and onion. "We have few people here to care about it, so how could anyone clean the room and make fire to make rice." This is true. Caravans usually move through the ocean. Only the wind and waves and pirates on the sea make people afraid. However, the ocean is vast, and there are deserts, jungles and grasslands, and bandits are rampant. But there is nothing, right? Leo regretfully thought that if they had known this place was so simple, they should have stayed in the militia camp. The old woman saw that Leo looked unhappy and immediately smiled dryly, "But I can light a bonfire immediately, kill chickens and sheep..."

This is all I can do. It was raining outside, and Rosie couldn't stand the bumps again and again. "The room can be cleaned tomorrow, and now there is hot water." Leo interrupted her with a frown. "We want to stay here for a while."

"That's good. I will definitely entertain Zhou Quan." The old woman rubbed her hands hard, her face with unconcealed joy. "Lame, lame!" She shouted loudly as if she was a person's name, "Hurry up and cook for the nobles!"

They went up to the second floor and found that the second floor was more dilapidated than the first floor, covered in dust and full of mold. Li Ou kicked open the ragged door panel and immediately fell a pile of dust. Lu Yuewu pulled off the hay spread on the bed and lie on the hard bed panel with Rosie. They could only make the money tonight. "Where are those mages?" Lu Yuewu suddenly asked, "Don't care about them?"

"No matter." Leo said impatiently, "I am not their mother. They can't die."

Soon the hot water was boiling, and the old woman directed a lame girl to bring in the wooden bucket and poured the hot water into it. "Lame" was her? Li Ou couldn't help but look at her again when she heard the old woman calling her name again. Then he couldn't help feeling pity. The girl not only had a disability in her left leg, but also had a terrible scar on her left cheek covered by her long hanging hair. He took the heavy bucket from the girl's hand and poured the hot water into the bathtub. She poured her softly and left squintedly under the old woman's urging. The room soon became steaming, so Lu Yuewu urged him to leave and pass the time elsewhere.

He slowly walked downstairs and saw Lamar drinking with his men in the hall. They dug open the cold fire pit and found firewood to burn the fire. The hall became warm and bright, and the troublesome rain outside seemed to have turned into rhythmic striking music, drinking and applauding them happily.

Leo joined them and sat down opposite the captain of the guard. The guard next to him immediately filled him with a glass of strong wine. After a sip, it seemed like flames emerged from his throat to his stomach, and the dampness and coldness all over his body were completely removed.

Around the fire, a guard hummed a little tune. Although it was not as melodious as a singing girl, it also had vicissitudes and magnanimity. They beat him and whistled. Before a glass of wine was finished, the game on the branches exuded an attractive fragrance. The fat was roasted so that the oil drips oozed into the fire and crackled. The golden crust was shiny and shiny.

"You want some?" Lamar cut a large piece of meat with a knife and put it into Leo's plate.

"Where are those mages?" Li Ou asked softly while using wine to supplement meat, "Did they run away or were they drowned in the rain?"

"Not even." The captain of the guard looked calm and could not see any strangeness. "They would not stay here with a noble despair. Mostly they were going to the villagers' homes."

At someone else's house? Just in time, Li Ou put down his knife and fork, "If anyone causes trouble in the village, please put it on first. Remember to block their mouths with dirty rags and wrap their fingers with thin ropes."

"So they don't cast spells?"

"In order to prevent them from casting spells, we have to be responsible for the personal safety of the villagers, right?" Leo smiled.

The captain of the guard nodded, "I will tell you to do what you said."

Unfortunately, until the third day, the mages did not make any extraordinary moves, and everything seemed calm. But Li Ou vaguely realized that a secret association was formed among those mages, and as for what they were going to do, it was obvious that it was self-evident. However, Li Ou did not regret taking rough actions against them, and he even felt that it was too light to cut off one finger.

"Will that woman arrive today?" Rosie sat on the bed, stretching lazily. Her body was healed, and the magic was flowing unimpeded. Leo looked at her shining eyes. At this time, he had no doubt that she could burn the entire village alone. "She would better not be late."

At this moment, the rain had just stopped, and the sun was still struggling behind the dark clouds. The roads outside the hotel were filled with puddles of all sizes, and several children were playing the game of jumping into the mud pond, splashing all over the mud.

"It is said that she is a bachelor's degree." Leo smiled sarcastically, "a young female bachelor's degree."

"Returned from Desperate Castle?" Rosie looked surprised.

It is located in the snow and ice in the north of the mainland, and it is an academic paradise. "Who knows?" Li Ou shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not. Money may be more effective than we imagined, and it is not accurate."

Lu Yuewu only glanced at him, and he immediately raised his hand to surrender. "Okay, this is just a joke." He smiled bitterly, "I should not underestimate others, especially the other party is likely to be our enemy."

The girl from the East was unmoved. "I have seen a bachelor's degree." She spoke slowly, "They are also in the East. They are famous for their strategies, and they are usually the right-hand men of kings, princes, generals and ministers."

"They know astronomy and geography, and I can do this."

"You can still predict." Li Ou couldn't help but tease.

Lu Yuewu did not interrupt their tone for their bickering, and she continued, "The scholars are good at breaking. They will only be like fish in water."

Like a fish in water? I'm afraid the shark is trapped in the shallows.

Leo once asked Joe Hull why he chose to let him go. "I am like a light in the dark, enough to attract moths." He said. However, Joe Hull asked him, "What are the worries about the lights that are enough to burn moths? Do you know that once they are burned, the oil and wicks will be replaced again and become brand new?"

It turns out that he intended it. Leo knew the castle's order: Those who kill the ten people of Black Morning Light can be named a noble. With so many guards as their companions, killing Black Morning Light is easy to get rid of. Joe Hull threw an olive branch to him, and he could not refuse. This was a win-win exchange. Leo thought to himself that he cultivated the team and I gained status. But no matter what, I still have principles.

However, he had no way to talk about the two girls in front of him. He put aside these flashes of thoughts and smiled and continued the previous topic, "I just don't know how this female bachelor would view his bloody kingdom?" He was extremely expecting this.

It was noon, and a shabby carriage pulled by an old horse drove into the entrance of the village.

The driver was an ordinary horse-driving man who drove the horse to stop in front of the hotel, then jumped off the shaft and opened the car door. A woman in a traveler's cloak held a book in her hand, pulled up the hem of the cloak and jumped out of the carriage. Her long golden hair rose high with her movements, like a light silk tight rising in the wind.

"Is it her?" Rosie asked.

"If it weren't for her, who else would there be?" Joe Hull said, the only woman in the Black Thorns family - his sister was a few years younger than Leo. The woman downstairs was in her prime, and she also had the iconic blonde hair of the Black Thorns family. "Let's go, let's go down. We have to welcome the wanderers who have returned from afar."

They went downstairs and found that the guards had protected her and were responsible for the alert in their respective positions. The mages who had not seen much for a few days gathered in the hotel hall, flattering their ladies and showing great esteem. It is not difficult for Leo to guess that there were also deliberate slanderous words mixed in.

"Selastin? Leo?" Her eyes were beautiful, with a blue pupil as blue as a lake, and she was as smart as if she could speak. "I am Evela. My brother mentioned you in the letter."

"Hello, Miss." Leo raised her hand and touched her finger with her lips. "I am Serastin? Leo. You can call me Leo directly."

"Mr. Li Ou." She nodded slightly and looked up at the surroundings, "Where are my brothers? None of them came?"

"They are plagued by affairs."

"It's better not to come." She whispered. If it weren't for the fact that Leo was very close to her, she wouldn't have heard her murmur clearly. "When will we set out to return to Aiyinbulo?" Leo looked into her eyes, and there was no flaw in her eyes, and she couldn't wait to pretend that she wasn't deliberately pretending.

"Let's go tomorrow. The heavy rain has stopped and the road is difficult to walk." Li Ou explained, "and it's too late at this time."

The bachelor's lady nodded slightly.

However, the mage jumped out and interrupted. "Miss, how can you live here?" The mage whose fingers were cut off grabbed the long staff. The fiery red garnet at the top made Leo want to borrow flowers to offer Buddha. He hurriedly flattered, "You should join us. We will convince the village chief to give up his big house for you to live in. It is better than here with spider webs."

"Don't bother others, I'll live here." She refused calmly and stepped on the shaking stairs.

Li Ou asked Lu Yuewu to find a lame girl and asked her to help organize a free room. The dust flew with the dancing of feather dusters, and the air was filled with the smell of rats and bat shit.

"The hotel here has only such conditions, and you will only be wronged for one night," said Li Ou.

"I have lived in a much worse place than this, so I can have a place to shelter from the wind and rain, and also to take hot water to satisfy myself. You don't have to bother me." The bachelor's lady said, "By the way, Mr. Leo, you can call me Evera directly, without being called a lady, I am not a lady. You can ignore my surname. I am just an ordinary bachelor." She emphasized.

"The surname is an invisible power," said Leo. He had asked the girls to go back and rest, and he came to deal with the young bachelor who returned from school. He wanted to see how wise she was. But until now he only saw the calm like Lu Yuewu in her eyes. "You can't deny it, give it up."

After hearing what he said, the bachelor's lady put down the book in her hand. She stared at Li Ou for a long time, then slowly said, "You don't have a good impression of our family." She said affirmatively. No one has a good impression of the word Black Thorn. Of course he would not say this. So he responded silently and listened to what she said. After a moment, she spoke again. This time she lowered her eyelids, "I'm the same."

Leo has no way to identify whether this is true or false. If it is true, the reason should be the same as his thoughts; if it is false, it would be too false. "Why?" he asked.

She smiled and stopped talking about this. She stubbornly pulled the topic, "Along the way, people were telling a dangerous word." She returned from studying abroad, but caught up with the world, and the black morning light was eyeing me. "So it seems that I didn't seem to be the time to come back."

"I can only say that I'm not so lucky." Leo said, "Their target is not you."

"Who will know?" Miss Bachelor picked up the book again. "Before danger comes, people always find various reasons to comfort themselves, believing that misfortune will not happen to them, and gloat about the miserable experiences of others. They forget that they are also on the verge of death and will be pulled into the vortex at any time."

"Then I have to be glad I'm also in it, so don't worry?"

She shrugged and shook off a few strands of hair. "The brave man who faces difficulties is more admirable than the coward who is worried about being afraid." She looked at Leo, "We should plan ahead now. Don't forget that Aiyinbulo has another name."

The Alchemy Capital. There is no need for her reminder. Although Li Ou denied it, he knew clearly in his heart that if the black dawn was making a big fuss, then no one could stay out of it and escape smoothly.
Chapter completed!