Clouds are constantly passing by in the sky, and the layers of clouds are constantly changing in mid-air. In my eyes, they are almost as unpredictable as the world.
"It's so good." I closed one eye and raised a hand to gesture on my head: "It feels so good to be able to catch the clouds with one stretch of your hand, but... you can never catch it."
"Don't worry about those damn clouds..." Helter asked nervously: "Tell me, boss, isn't our relationship with Fichet very good? What's wrong with you? I won't tell others!"
"Do you really want to hear it?" I said calmly: "If you listen, maybe you will think about things, and you can even think of things that are not there."
"Believe me!" Haiert said: "I swear in the name of Haiert that I will not think wildly and will keep it secret!"
"Your name, Helter, is not very valuable... It doesn't matter whether you tell others or not, this matter... anyone with a discerning eye can see it." I put down my hand and said softly: "Fichet is probably also worrying about this.
, on the contrary, it was me, a person who thought I was very smart... I never realized it."
"what is that?"
"The problem between me and Fichet is similar to the problem between you and me." I closed my eyes: "Fichet is a prince, he will become the king in the future, and I will become one of his
Minister. In other words, I will obey him in the future, and I will abide by any of his orders... But in our current relationship, he has always listened to me, and he has been called around by me."
"Indeed... it is indeed the case." Helter said: "It seems that His Majesty reminded you last time. In that conversation... Didn't Fichet say that he didn't care?"
"The reason why Fichet said that was just to hide it." I slowly recalled everything at that time, and seemed to be muttering to myself: "Fichet knows that I don't want to talk about such things in front of my elders.
, and there were several elders present at that time, so Fichet said this. Thinking about it now, he probably wanted me to have some time to think about it and face it, so that I could understand it myself, but at that time...
But I didn’t understand his good intentions.”
"Speaking of it this way, when Fichet was with you..." Helter slumped on the ground: "Were all those silly things just an act?"
"Maybe!" I nodded and said with a wry smile: "When Fichet was with me, he was forced to pretend like this to cater to me. He cherished me so much. With such a bad friend like me,
It’s really hard for him.”
"Then what are you going to do?"
"In order for my character to develop without any hindrance, maybe I should kill him?" I opened my eyes and looked at Geert, and said word for word: "Just like you will do to me in the future."
"No way! Fichet...he is our brother!" Haiert's body trembled violently and he said tremblingly: "Besides, I have never thought about what to do to you..."
"If this continues, one day you will do the same thing." I closed my eyes again: "There's nothing strange about this."
"Don't do this! Boss, you can't do this! Think again..." Helter grabbed my shoulders and shook me violently: "Think of a better way to better handle the relationship between you and Fichet! You are not like this these days.
Have you been thinking about it..."
"Do you still want to hear it?"
"Yes, boss. I want to hear..."
"Aren't you very impulsive?" I looked at his hand holding my shoulder.
"Boss, I..." Haiert was stunned, and his hand left my shoulder: "I have calmed down now."
"Okay, since you still want to hear it." I sorted out my thoughts and said what I was thinking: "I have thought about it a few days ago. I must balance killing him and giving up the dominant position.
Choose one among them.”
"For the former, I don't know if I can be ruthless enough to do this. Even if I can be ruthless, I will definitely live in a state of regret for the rest of my life... In other words, after doing this
What I lost was not only Fichet, but also everything I once owned and was proud of in my heart, and I no longer had the face to face all the relatives and friends around me. If I had to choose another one, I would still have this
Everything, but for my flamboyant personality, this process will never be easy." I fiddled with the grass around me: "...If I really want to decide to choose the latter, I will gradually adjust my mentality, and
Try your best to improve the relationship with Fichet and let him gradually become the leader, that is to say, let Fichet be the boss."
"Boss, make up your mind." Haiert looked at me very nervously: "Which one do you choose?"
"Which one should I choose..." I pulled out two grasses and held them in front of my eyes, looking left and right: "On one side is Fichet and on the other side is myself. Which one should I choose?"
"It's not just Fichet here!" Helter pulled out a lot of grass and stuffed each one into my left hand: "Fichet is also filled with me, Moya, Jack, and Marfa.
, there are sisters Lorna, Winslee, Merlin...and your parents, your two brothers...and many good people, piles and piles of people!"
I looked at the pile of grass on my left hand, my eyes blurred, and I couldn't tell who was persuading whom.
"Okay, boss, let's make a decision." Haiert said softly: "Just choose one, it's not difficult..."
"I……"
"Choose one...if it's a man, just pick one."
I looked at my two hands, my left hand gradually tightened, and my right hand loosened weakly, letting the grass slide down. I held the pile of grass in front of my nose with both hands, and took a deep breath of the aroma of the grass in my hands...
…
"Boss!" Haiert shouted: "Did you choose Fichet?"
I nodded.
"Can you do the latter?" Haiert stared at me with both eyes: "You promise?"
"I can do it." Fichet's smiling face slowly emerged in my mind: "After all, what I cherish most is the friendship with Fichet, and I have no interest in being a king at all..."
"But, can you really tolerate him?" Haiert was dubious, but said with great relief: "Your character is much more arrogant than mine. Can you endure kneeling to Fichet every day? Besides, there are a lot of things about me, Wang Xianming.
Bullshit?"
"I said I can do it." I nodded solemnly again and said: "This is sacrifice... Yes, this is the so-called sacrifice. Fichet is my friend, and I am willing to sacrifice for Fichet.
These."
"Boss! I knew it was like this." Haiert shouted and patted me heavily on the shoulder: "Boss will not let me down..."
"Well..." I said, "Don't use too much force."
"Wait a minute... Damn!" Haiert pushed away from me fiercely: "This is not right!"
"What's wrong?"
"It's obviously you who is preaching to me, but now it's me who's persuading you?"
"You are too easy to deal with." I shrugged helplessly.
"Forget it...I won't argue with you about this." Haiert spread his hands and said, "Now that your problem is solved, what should I do? I'm not you, how should I deal with things between us?"
"I can't help you with this matter." I shook my head and said, "You are said to be a smart person. You can think further and deeper, and don't get dizzy."
"It's that simple?"
"It's that simple." I said, "If you still can't let go after thinking about it clearly, you can tell me at any time."
"Then what?"
"I will give this position to you." I pointed to my throat and said, "You can use the sword in your hand to poke me here. I'm afraid of pain, so I hope you can move more quickly... Then, then
You will be promoted."
"Is it really that simple?" Heldt asked.
"It's that simple." I answered him.
There was another moment of silence, and this time it was Haert looking at the grass on the ground in a daze...
"Let's go, this is not something we can think of in a short time. You can go back to the camp and think about it carefully." I stood up and patted the dust on my body: "This matter is over. There are still things waiting for us to do."
"What's up?"
"Have you forgotten those six thousand people?" I said: "Now that we are out, let's go and visit them!"
"I said boss..." Haiert said softly: "We don't have to go."
"Why don't you go? This is necessary reconnaissance." I stretched my aching body and walked out: "We are not going to pick a camp."
"That's it..." Haiert jumped up from the ground: "Wait for me, boss!"
Before approaching the mouth of the canyon, Geert and I took off our cumbersome coats, hid ourselves in the dense forest, and crawled all the way to the edge of the canyon. We looked a little embarrassed, but fortunately no one saw us.
"Boss." Haiert lowered his voice very low: "You can see their camp if you go further, but you may encounter their patrols."
"You're not so useless, are you?" I answered him in a lower voice: "How can we conduct reconnaissance without getting closer? Be careful, we need real intelligence."
Haert nodded: "Okay."
"Let's stay apart a little bit," I said, "use gestures to communicate."
After saying that, I chanted softly, and several soft vines wrapped around my body and limbs. Green leaves stretched out from them. A thin layer of camouflage completely covered me. And a vine surrounded me.
It became hard and changed my outline with its lines... This magic was what I ordered the elf magician to "teach" me.
At the same time, chanting came from beside me. This chanting was somewhat similar to what I just heard. I turned my head in surprise and found that Helter was also using the same magic.
There are some differences. Not to mention the vines on his body are thicker, and the leaves seem to have a lot of velvet.
"Have you learned it too?" I asked in a low voice.
"Yeah..." Haert moved a little, and his body suddenly trembled: "Fuck!"
"What's wrong?"
"Do these elf magicians also depend on their status when teaching magic? It's all about learning, so why do I only get this?" Looking at the beautiful vines clinging to my body, Haiert said dissatisfied: "These hairs make me itchy and...
pain……"
I smiled secretly and crawled to the side, not forgetting to tell Haiert: "When it comes to threatening techniques, you are still a bit immature."
We were separated by fifteen arm's lengths and climbed towards the edge of the canyon one after the other.
I focused all my attention on crawling forward, my ears collecting all the sounds within fifty arm's length, and my nose not idle either. The air mixed with various smells was slowly inhaled, and I could distinguish rotten leaves from it.
, dead wood, flower fragrance, and even animal excrement... In this dense forest where even sunlight cannot shine through, vision is far less sensitive than hearing and smell.
As I moved forward, Geert stopped to guard me. I advanced to a certain distance, and then gestured for him to follow. The process continued again and again, and we finally came to a cliff next to the canyon. If we moved forward a little further, we could see
Arrive at the camp of that troop.
This is the edge of the dense forest, and the trees have begun to thin out. I have to be more careful when moving forward.
There was a slight sound above my head in front of me. I froze at that moment and gestured to Halt to pause. The sound was the sound of a branch breaking.
Haiert replied to me with gestures, and slowly sneaked to the side to hide himself, just keeping the distance where we could communicate with each other.
I kept my whole body still, closed my eyes, and listened quietly. A few more soft sounds came from the front, including branches being broken, leaves scraping against the metal surface, and someone turning around... It was in the tree
superior!
I slowly moved my body behind a big tree, hiding myself first, and then looked towards the tree where the sound came from. Unfortunately, the leaves of that tree were too dense, and I couldn't see anything except the trunk below.
arrive.
I conveyed my judgment to Geert with gestures and gave him instructions on the next step.
Haiert's eyes hidden under the leaves blinked, and he reached out to grab some soil on the ground, formed a small ball and flicked it to the bushes on the side.
In an instant, a frightened bird flapped its wings and flew out. Just as the bird flew out, all the sounds in the tree in front suddenly stopped, as if the other party was also passively observing.
Although there was no sound at all, the atmosphere was extremely tense. I looked at the tree and almost stopped breathing. After all, we took the initiative. When we were hiding, we had already hidden ourselves in each other's blind spot. The situation
It is more beneficial to us.
The subtle sound in the tree came again, and it seemed that the other party couldn't hold it back any longer.
With a sound of "Whoosh!", a crossbow arrow shot into the bushes! Then a green figure jumped down from the tree. Before his toes touched the ground, the long knife in his hand was already dancing, and there were a few white lights.
In a flash, the bush turned into a big ball of debris...
"Good sword skills, it seems he is not an ordinary soldier." Staring at this guy who was wielding a sword, I thought to myself: "Poor bird, where will I find its nest when I come back soon?"
The flying debris fell down, and the guy wielding the knife finally stopped. Panting, he inserted the knife into the soil beside him, and then sat down... This guy was of medium build and wore close-fitting armor.
, the outside is camouflaged with leaves, the armor is a large piece of hard armor, and the branches are inserted into the gaps in the armor, no wonder it makes a noise.
Geert looked at me with his eyes and asked me if I wanted to kill this guy. I flicked my little finger and told him to wait.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Another voice asked from the tree: "Is there anything over there?"
"There's... there's a fart!" The guy sitting on the ground yelled into the tree: "You greedy and fearful bastard, why don't you come down and see for yourself!"
Another guy jumped down from the tree, breaking many branches on the way.
"Come down, come down, what's the big deal?" The guy who came down later was also dressed in the same attire, but he was a head shorter: "Who told you to lose the guessing game? This is what happens if you don't have any money to pay."
"Holy shit! How long are you going to stay in this damn place? This place is really not for human beings." The guy who jumped down earlier cursed dissatisfiedly and took off his helmet and put it aside: "This is so small and
Where did the tight armor come from? Is it for humans?"
"Be patient, we may not be able to stay for a few more days." The shorter one sighed and said helplessly: "In such a tragic war, it would be great if we can go home alive..."
"Bah! My noble Bansai soldiers will one day be so depraved that they not only have to stand sentry in this dark place, but also disguise themselves as bandits!"
"Keep your voice down!" the short soldier warned, "It will be a disaster if the officer hears you!"
"Sir? Go to hell, sir! Now you know how to put on airs and talk about dignity. When we were surrounded by the demon alliance, their performance was worse than slaves..."
"Stop talking about this, you will really die if people hear it." The short man patted his companion on the shoulder: "Don't complain, our origins are different, and the world of officers is different from ours."
"You don't need to remind me, I know it...but why are we here? Just to kill those refugees?"
"I heard it was to prevent the refugees on the dividing line from flowing into our side." The short man said, "I also heard that it was not a direct order from the military, but that the compassionate Lord Zuoji was worried that the influx of refugees would cause trouble.
Order."
"It's an order from Lord Zuoji in red! Then why would we be chosen to execute it? We are the most elite troops in the Bansai Empire."
"Haven't you heard? Our commander seems to have some relationship with Lord Zuoji or Lord Youji."
"It's no wonder. Maybe after this trip, Commander will be promoted..."
"But, have you heard?" the short man said, "Something seems to be happening over the canyon..."
"how do you know?"
"So you always lose money, you have a pig brain!" the short man spat: "You haven't seen it yet, why do we have so many lookout posts along the canyon? Why did the refugees arrive a few days ago?
Are you going to come here like crazy? Why can’t the commander let a single refugee come over and have to shoot them all?”
"Didn't you say that Lord Zuoji is afraid of bringing trouble to our alliance?"
"It's really not wrong at all to say that you are a pig brain..." The short man smacked his lips: "In the wild, even a dog can survive, let alone these refugees with arms and legs? Just don't let them enter the national border.
No need to order us to come here to block it?"
"why?"
"How do I know?" The short man kicked his companion: "Go back to the tree quickly, it's almost time for shift change, I don't want to cause trouble!"
The two people cursed and climbed up the tree, continuing the conversation on the tree.
I signaled to Geert, asking him to stay where he was, and I walked around the big tree where he was standing, climbed to the edge of the cliff, and looked into the canyon. (To be continued)