Chapter 243 Unknown Malice
Hitchhich is easy to do with a map.
Especially the map of the Snover Clan, which also details most of the gathering points and dangerous areas of earth-line creatures in this area.
As for Gothe, all he had to do was follow the instructions on the map, bypass the red points or areas, and rush to the location circled by Baruch that represented the Snowfield Guardian branch.
Of course, he still doesn’t know what happened to the Snover clan after he left.
And Gillette Snover's direction in the final opposite direction also caused the pursuers pursuing Baruch's trace to perfectly miss Gothe.
With the blessing of [Skating Skill], Gothe strode across the snowfield at a speed of forty kilometers a day.
Gaode, who set out on the 4th of the Awakening Month, took only ten days to complete the journey that was expected to take less than half a month and arrived at the lake point marked on the map, called Xiaoyan Lake.
The reason why it is called this is probably because the outline of the edge of the lake is somewhat similar to that of a swallow.
The lake is not big and has long been frozen.
Like most places, there are always many creatures living near water sources, especially humans, who like to live around water sources.
Even if this is a frozen lake, the same is true.
The branch of the Snowfield Guardians was established on a hill next to the lake.
It is a group of low buildings, located in an open area, backed by hills and facing the lake, with an excellent location.
Since the Snowfield Guardian branch does not need to move as often as the northern tribes do, their buildings are real buildings, not tents similar to yurts.
The exterior walls of these buildings are made of light gray patterned stones unique to the snowfields.
Patterned stones are closely spliced together, leaving almost no gaps, which can effectively withstand severe cold, wind and snow.
The overall style of the building is simple and practical, without excessive decoration. There are several narrow windows on the wall, and thick curtains made of animal skins are hung inside the windows to block the cold wind.
Gothe came to the gate of the Snowfield Guardian branch.
Because there is a lack of large trees in the snowfield, that is, a lack of high-quality wood, the door here is different from common doors and is not made of wood.
Instead, solid animal bones are used to make the frame of the gate, and then tough animal leather and animal bones are used to reinforce the main body of the gate. It can be said to be very exotic.
Gaode slowed down, shouted inside and asked, "Is there anyone there?"
Soon, a middle-aged woman wearing a roughly made blue robe came out. There were some strange patterns on the robe, which was the symbol of the guardian of the snowfield.
Blue is the color favored by the guardians of the snowfield.
In fact, just as the forest people like green, most of the people in the snowfield like blue or white.
Different from the sect’s clothing in the outside world, the middle-aged women’s robes are rough and practical, and there are also some objects that are too practical to be simple, such as small bone knives and amulets.
Middle-aged women have rough skin on their faces, but they still maintain a certain degree of elasticity and do not look old.
She looked at Gothe with a hint of vigilance in her eyes, "Outlander, who are you looking for? What's the matter?"
Gothe kept smiling, "Hello, I'm here to see Guardian Damon."
"Are you looking for Lord Damon?" The middle-aged woman looked at Gothe, still a little doubtful, with a questioning look.
"I was entrusted by Guardian Baruch, and there is an important message that needs to be conveyed to Guardian Damon." Gothe explained.
The middle-aged woman thought for a while, then nodded and said, "Come in with me first. Lord Damon is not in the church now, and it may take a few days to come back."
The middle-aged woman led Gaode into the church.
Once inside, Gao De found out that there were many young children inside, who were exercising under the guidance of teachers from the Snowfield Guardian Church.
In the snowfield, a strong body is very important.
Perhaps sensing Gothe's surprise, the middle-aged woman named Ona casually introduced two details to Gothe.
Through Ona's introduction, Gothe gained a deeper understanding of the Snowfield Guardian.
The so-called Snowfield Guardian Chapter is actually more like an “orphanage”.
The reason why the Snowfield Guardians want to establish a branch here is to facilitate contact with the members who are "fighting independently" in the snowfield.
More importantly, it is used to house orphans who have had their families taken away from them due to the cold, or who have lost their families due to earth-line creatures.
If no one takes them in, these children will soon starve to death or be frozen into an ice sculpture.
The guardians of the snowfield take in these orphans, provide them with shelter and food, and also teach them.
However, this kind of asylum is time-limited.
When these orphans reach adulthood, they have to leave the Snowfield Guardians and fend for themselves, just like eagles on the snowfield.
Of course, there are a few talented children or children who have awakened the Ice blood.
These children will be actively recruited as members by the Snowfield Guardian.
In fact, most of the members of the Snowfield Guardians have this background.
It is precisely because they have received the teachings of the Snowfield Guardian since childhood that they can understand and accept the teachings of the Snowfield Guardian, and then devote themselves.
Otherwise, it is generally impossible to find so many people with selfless dedication among mages who have matured their three views.
Oona brought Gothe all the way to an empty room.
"Foreigners, there has been a frequent beast tide in the southwest recently. Lord Damon left the church last month and went there to investigate the details."
"However, as the leader of this branch, Guardian Damon cannot leave the church for a long time according to regulations, and he should return within a week. Come."
"If you have nothing to do and are not in a hurry, you can wait here until Guardian Damon returns."
"If you have something urgent and cannot wait so long, you can tell me the important news first, and I will convey it to him immediately after Guardian Damon returns."
Gothe listened silently to Ona's words, but his eyes became a little strange at this moment, as if he had discovered something.
"Mage, she is a bad person, but not that bad."
A bad person, but not that bad, that is, the malicious intention is only directed at herself, and it has not reached the point of wanting to kill herself?
Gothe quickly understood Flora’s description.
"Lord Flora, are you sure?" He communicated with Flora who was hidden in his pocket through spiritual communication.
"Of course." Flora affirmed.
Where does the malice come from?
Gaode was puzzled.
He has already announced the name of Baruch.
As for Baruch, as a powerful mage among the guardians of the snowfield, Ona should have respect for Baruch, so why would she be malicious towards him?
Could it be that you doubt your origin?
That should also be to question him in detail, instead of just bringing yourself here and letting yourself wait for Lord Damon's return.
This is more like "asking you to enter the urn".
Many thoughts flashed through Gothe's mind in an instant, but on his face, he replied calmly:
"It's okay, I have nothing important to do. I'd better wait here for Guardian Damon to come back. The message that Guardian Baruch wants me to convey is more important, and it's better for me to convey it to Guardian Damon personally."
Ona nodded, "As it should be."
“However, since it is important news, why didn’t Guardian Baruch come in person, but entrusted it to you?” She asked in confusion.
"He has more important things at hand and can't leave for the time being." Now that he knew that the other party had malicious intentions, Gothe stopped telling the truth and hid the news that Baruch was injured.
"So that's it," Ona didn't doubt Gothe's words, and added: "You sit down first, I'll get you some food. You must be hungry after running all the way here."
"Indeed! Then I'll trouble you." Gothe immediately laughed heartily.
"It's okay." Ona smiled and nodded, and then left the room.
As for whether he really went to get food or what to do, it was hard to say.
What to do now?
He thought quickly in his mind.
A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, and this is definitely not a place to stay for a long time.
But if you want to leave, it’s definitely not now.
This is their territory. Now that he is running away, Ona will soon discover that if they mobilize all their efforts to find him, there is a high probability that they will be able to track him soon.
Then we can only run away at night.
Everyone was asleep by then, and it must have been several hours by the time Ona discovered that he had run away.
The snowfield is so vast that it has not been easy to find him for the past few hours.
With this thought, Gothe quickly made up his mind.
If the other party really wants to capture him, it won't delay it until now. It should call for action as soon as it sees him.
After all, he has already delivered it to your door automatically.
Obviously, Ona's decision was to stabilize him temporarily, which was in line with what Flora perceived as "bad, but not that bad."
Just sending a letter, why did it go so wrong? After analyzing everything in his mind, Gothe couldn't help but feel a little depressed.
I thought it was just a simple letter delivery task, but it turned out to be what it is now.
If Flora wasn't gifted with wisdom and the ability to detect malicious intent, he would have become a piece of fish on the chopping board without even realizing it. Who can explain this?
After a while, Ona came back holding an earthen pot.
The earthen pot contained fish soup, with a piece of fish meat floating in it, still emitting steam.
The biggest benefit of being close to Xiaoyan Lake is the "fishery" resources.
This is also their confidence in taking in orphans.
The fishery resources of Xiaoyan Lake, combined with the income from hunting, mean that the food supply in the branch will generally not be interrupted.
Gaode's heart moved and he quietly cast [Detect Poison] to check whether there was any poison in the fish soup.
Fortunately, not really.
Of course, [detecting toxicity] is not necessarily safe.
There are many ways to hide from the detection of [Detect Poison], but they are all high-level spells and require a high-level mage to do it.
Since there is a high-level mage who wants to frame him, why go through such a big circle and poison him? Just take him down.
With this thought, Gothe made a grateful expression, took the earthen pot, took a hearty sip of the hot soup, and let out a pleasant groan.
"Comfortable! I've been traveling for so many days and I haven't even had a sip of hot soup," he lamented while complaining: "And it's fish soup. I haven't had this for a long time since entering the northern border."
Ona saw Gothe being so forthright and forthright, and the smile on her face became even more obvious.
“Thank you for your hard work,” she said.
In her opinion, Gothe's behavior was that he didn't realize anything was wrong at all.
Just as she wants to stabilize Gothe, Gothe also needs to stabilize Ona first and lower her vigilance to facilitate her escape plan at night.
Gothe maintains the persona of a "simple and ignorant foreigner" and remains in this branch of the Snowfield Guardians.
It was already afternoon when he came, so it got dark soon after.
In the evening, Gothe had another hot dinner with the orphans who were taken in by the guardians of the snowfield and a few teachers.
It can be seen that the orphans are very curious about him, a foreigner.
There were even a few bolder children who took the initiative to ask about the situation in other places.
Because in the eyes of people from the north, although most foreigners are not good people, the rich resources and good conditions in foreign countries cannot be denied.
Children are also very curious about the legendary rich foreign land.
Gaode didn't hold his hand, so he casually introduced them to a few words about the outside world.
"Food. It would be great if we could grow food here." Among the children, a somewhat thin girl couldn't help but sigh.
The main reason why food is so scarce in the north is that crops cannot be grown on the permafrost tundra, including the most important staple food, barley.
Without such a predictable and fixed harvest, the people of the North could only make a living by hunting and herding.
Obviously, these two methods are inherently unstable and have great limitations.
"You are wishful thinking again, Pearl!" Immediately, other children "laughed" and said: "Little Pearl just wanted to grow food, but in the end, she never succeeded in growing anything!"
Suddenly, other children also laughed.
Of course, this kind of smile is a smile without malice.
The little girl named Pearl faced the laughter of everyone, but she persisted, "If one day we can really grow food in the north, there won't be so many people starving to death!"
"You have a good heart, but the land in the north will never grow food." One of the instructors touched Pearl's head and said gently: "Little Pearl, you'd better work hard. You have ice blood, and you will become a powerful guardian in the future, guarding the snowfields."
"I will definitely do it." Pearl waved her little fist and vowed.
The instructor's words actually made Gaude take another look at the little girl. He didn't expect that this guy who looked so lonely actually had ice blood.
After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.
Gothe also returned to his temporary guest room.
He sat cross-legged on the bed and began to practice the "Aoki Sutra of Immortality".
At this time, nearly four months have passed since Gaode was promoted to a first-level mage. During these four months, he had hardly interrupted his practice for a day.
But his total mana is still stuck at 20 drops of liquid mana, and there has been no new breakthrough.
According to current estimates, it will take at least a year to condense a drop of new liquid mana.
It can be seen that it is difficult to improve the mage.
When he finished today's practice, there was almost no sound in the entire Snowfield Guardian branch, only the sound of the never-ending howling of the cold wind in the snowfield.
Obviously, most people have already fallen asleep.
Gaode no longer hesitated and stood up immediately.
He first used charcoal to leave a sentence on the floor of the room:
"There are members within the Snowfield Guardians who practice forbidden necromancy and control the beast tide to attack the northern tribes in order to practice necromancy for themselves."
No matter what, the task assigned to him by Baruch still had to be completed.
Henceforth, Gothe used [Switch Technique] to quietly open the door.
There is no moon tonight.
The moon is dark and the wind is high.
Under the cover of night, Gaode, who had the ability to see in the dark, was like a fish in water. He chose a direction and quickly touched it.
He did not go through the main entrance, it was too conspicuous.
Soon, Gothe came to the corner closest to his residence.
With the help of [Cat Claw Technique], he easily climbed out of the wall, then used [Skating Technique] and ran towards the west.
That is the direction of the coastline.
The message has been sent and the map has been obtained.
Next, Gothe will concentrate on finding a tree planting spot.
(End of this chapter)