The weather is getting colder.
When the giant sun is in the sky, the clouds look hazy and unreal, more and more gray-yellow streaks appear in the sky when day and night alternate, and the starlight looks cold and bright. There are various signs that this will be A winter that is colder than usual.
It is difficult for homeless people to survive such a winter.
"Red-Nosed Tom" was limping on the way back to the settlement while holding a bundle of dry firewood that he had finally collected. The cold wind of the frosty moon blew from the north, sweeping through the sparse surroundings. The trees and low hillsides blew on his face and poured into his collar, making him feel as if his whole body was immersed in a basin of gradually cooling cold water.
He is a young man who is only seventeen years old. According to Ansu law, he has reached adulthood. However, long-term malnutrition has made him as thin and short as most of his peers, and he looks like a minor in terms of body shape. Generally, only his rough and darkened face and eyes that have gradually become numb can reveal his true age and his harsh living environment.
He can already see the settlement. It is said to be a settlement, but it is actually a small and simple camp located in the mountains and forests of the southern border. Even the camp is barely described: some low and shabby tents and stones. The heaps are gathered here, surrounded by a circle of equally broken fences and thorns. The little remnant of the Tanzanite mine extending to the southeast forms a low barrier here, barely providing shelter for the poor people hiding here. The most basic shelter - to resist the cold wind from the north, so that winter comes later and the people here live longer.
Tom walked into the camp holding dry firewood and saw a pair of cold and dull eyes. There were twenty-six households and one hundred and two people gathered here, but a few days ago this number was One hundred and nine. Most of the people were refugees who escaped from the Condor Territory. A flood there made these people homeless. The remaining people came from various viscounties in the south. They all lost their land and asylum due to various reasons. poor.
They wandered from city to city or village, being driven, plundered, killed by local lords or local beasts, or died of cold and hunger. The southern border was barren, and most of the land was It is difficult to support a larger population, and for those nobles who only know how to scrape the blood and sweat from the land and serfs, any refugee who wanders into their territory is a disgusting mouth that needs to be fed, so the refugees eventually The only option is to "settle" in the wilderness.
Tom found a place to stay, which was a tattered small tent - this was already a very good situation, because not every family had a tent, and many people were already in the process of exile. They lost almost all their belongings, and they could only sleep in tree roots or stone nests, wrapped in tattered clothes or a pile of weeds. The reason why Tom could still have a small tent to protect him from the wind and rain was entirely because He and his sister still had their scimitars and bows and arrows.
The fire in front of the tent had gone out, but it was not night yet, so Tom carried the firewood insideIn the tent, after his eyes adjusted to the darkness inside, he saw a pair of bright eyes looking at him in the darkness.
"Sister," Tom looked at the black-haired girl, "I didn't find the mushrooms, I only found these firewood."
The black-haired girl just stared blankly. , and then suddenly said after a few seconds: "The two children of Bohm's family are starving to death."
"...Oh," Tom agreed in a low voice, sat down in the dark, and after a few After a few seconds, he whispered, "Today...is there anything to eat?"
The black-haired girl was stunned again, and Tom couldn't help but have an ominous premonition in his heart, but after a while, The black-haired girl suddenly moved half of her body, fumbled for something and threw it over.
It was a small pheasant with a fresh smell of blood - but in the tent filled with all kinds of peculiar smells, Tom was completely unaware of its existence.
A thin pheasant is not enough to fill the stomachs of the two siblings, especially when they can only eat one meal a day, but it still cheers up Tom: Compared with roasted mushrooms and roasted moss, meat can make people last longer in the increasingly cold weather. He was overjoyed: "Did you hit something?! We don't have to be hungry today!"
"Bring the hunting knife with you when you go out to moult the chickens later," the black-haired girl said calmly, "Bring it in a conspicuous place."
"Yes!" Tom pressed harder. He kept his head, but as he became more accustomed to the darkness in the tent, he finally noticed something strange about his sister—she was always lying in a weird posture in the corner, and her speaking strength was obviously not as strong as usual. Tom had an ominous expression. Hunch came closer and finally saw the blood stains near her sister's shoulder and the arm hanging limply by her side, "Sister, are you injured?!"
"You were bitten by a wild dog. "My muscles," the black-haired girl's voice finally trembled, "I...can't hunt anymore."
It was as if a bucket of ice water was poured over his head, and Tom was instantly cold from head to sole - he couldn't hold it. The knife, unable to draw the bow, and the injury to the arm meant that the only sister who could go hunting in the woods lost the ability to obtain food, and this also meant that the two of them... were certain to die.
Everyone is hungry, and it is impossible for anyone to help their siblings. For these people who have lost everything, even if it is just a small injury on their hands and feet, a short period of time Loss of labor force is a fatal threat!
What’s more, people bitten by wild dogs are extremely susceptible to infection, and once infected in this case, it is impossible to save them.
"I..." Tom gritted his teeth and made up his mind, "I will bring my bow and arrows tomorrow..."
"Don't go," the brunette said in a strong tone. His eyes fell on Tom's feet, "If you go, you can't come back. Hunting in the woods is different from collecting firewood nearby!"
Tom was not born lame. My legs were beaten by the lord’s knightsBroken, because the knight went to the church and listened to the sermon. The priest of the Blood God Sect said that only by breaking a man's leg with his own hands can martial arts and courage break through the bottleneck, so the knight broke Tom's leg without hesitation. Legs—compensated for half a sack of wheat afterwards.
"I know how to set traps," Tom insisted. "I remember how to spot bear and wolf tracks and get around..."
"But if you die outside , I will definitely die," the black-haired girl stared into Tom's eyes, "It's really not possible to go pick up mushrooms in the forest and look for tree seeds and fruits under the roots of the trees..."
Really If not, what can we do? She doesn't know anymore.
Tom bit his lip, thinking hard, and finally said what he had been thinking for a long time: "We can...find the lord here..."
"You forgot everyone How did they get driven away in the Carol Territory?" the black-haired girl said sternly, "It is the Frost Moon, a month when farming is no longer possible and it is difficult to hunt. The noble gentlemen will not allow even one more mouth to appear in the territory at this time! "
"Then..." Tom thought for a while and said hesitantly, "Maybe slaves are needed in the mine - the lord of Tanzanian Town has a large mine. Even if there is a frost moon, the mine will be needed." Slave labor..."
"Can you work as a slave?" The black-haired girl stared at Tom's legs, "I can't work now, and neither can you, even if they want slaves. , and they won’t want us to do this!”
“What about going further south? I heard that the south of Baishui River is the newly developed territory of the Cecil family. There should be a shortage of all kinds of places like this. Someone who works... I can at least tan leather."
"Don't think about it," the black-haired girl finally sighed, leaning back on the moldy haystack with blank eyes, "Noble. The gentlemen...are all the same..."
The howling wind blew from the north again, sweeping through this desolate poor camp.
Hunger and cold caused people to stop their only activities of the day. Everyone huddled up in their tents or haystacks, in this way to minimize the loss of physical strength and heat, and in the process , the camp gradually became quiet.
But outside the camp, in the slightly denser woods, some shaking shadows were gathering.
They were armed with a variety of but extremely sophisticated weapons, without any unified markings on their bodies. They gathered in groups in the mountains and forests, staring at the small settlement through the trees and the night.
Like a hyena watching its prey in the dark, its eyes full of greed and hunger.
……
In the lord’s camp in Cecil’s territory, Gawain received Philip’s report.
"A refugee gathering place? In the north of Baishui River, in the mountains and forests east of the Tanzanite Mine?"
"Yes, sir," the young knight nodded, "Originally Knight Byron was supposed to report to you, but he was exploring the ruins in the mountains, so the news was transferred to me."
Gao Wen put down the dip pen in his hand: "How big is the scale? Have people been contacted?"
At the same time, he felt excited: after opening up information channels everywhere, the investigators finally began to discover those Hidden refugee settlement!
"The scale is not large, about a hundred people, but it is possible to contact other refugee settlements through them," Knight Philip replied, "But our people haven't contacted them yet... because it's a bit Trouble."
"Trouble?" Gawain frowned.
"Some armed men of unknown origin are operating near that settlement. I am afraid they are the mercenary 'slave-catching team' waiting to strike." Philip showed a trace of disgust on his face, "According to the information passed back. According to the news, those people are very well-armed, and there must be extraordinary professions, and there may even be one or two spellcasters, but the level is unknown."
"A plurality of extraordinary people are here?" Gawain was a little surprised. , "The strength of this mercenary team is not bad."
Knight Philip nodded: "Sir, how should we deal with it?"
"Of course... go and deal with those who should be taken care of by Sisi." Bring back the people under the protection of your family," Gawain smiled, "The mountains, plains, jungles and rivers east of the Tanzanite Mine and south of the noble territories are all unclaimed lands. In this area to the south, as long as If it’s ownerless, it belongs to the Cecil family!”