Compared to the outbound journey, the caravan's return journey was much calmer. Not to mention the orcs and sand pirates, except for a few corpses near a few supply points, they did not encounter any human beings at all, and even animals were rarely seen.
But everyone knows why.
When thinking of this, many people feel difficult.
The merchants, as always, kept their distance from Dante's sword and stayed behind with their eight empty camels. Their furtive glances often contained imperceptible resentment and unwillingness.
The few remaining mercenaries walked tiredly and led the team with two camels. None of their horses were left behind. Dean and the merchants argued over the only two camels.
(even threatening with a sword), and "temporarily borrowed" it in the name of safety.
Dean and McGee walked at the front, dragging their tired bodies and gloomy moods to identify the way home, and discussing the location of the next supply point from time to time.
The old hammer was still injured. He leaned half of his body weight on the camel and coughed hard to move forward. It looked like he might fall down at any time. Louisa walked behind him worriedly, ready to catch him when he fell. The fast rope was unhappy.
He followed behind, looking preoccupied and losing interest in telling jokes and promoting business.
The atmosphere of the entire team is quiet and depressing. Death and blood have eliminated the once relaxed and happy atmosphere of the mercenaries. After experiencing raids, battles, attrition, and blackmail, it seems that the happy team will never come back.
Under this situation, the prince could only remain silent. He tightened the crossbow behind his shoulders, straightened the sunshade, and consciously walked at the end of the mercenary team. After having the experience of fighting side by side against the orcs, he and
This team that suffered heavy losses knew a lot.
Fortunately, maybe the Star Cavalry eliminated most of the threats, or maybe their bad luck finally passed. Apart from the long yellow sand under their feet and the scorching sun above their heads, there were no other accidents on the way back.
As the journey increased, Thales felt a strange feeling every time he stepped on the sand: the earth beneath his feet seemed to come to life again, telling him the direction and topography after each step.
so……
Finally, on a day when the sun was setting and the team was moving forward silently, Thales stopped when he climbed up a sand dune.
The mercenaries in front stopped.
Louisa exhaled a breath with complicated meanings.
No one spoke.
"What's wrong?" Thales caught up two steps and spoke cautiously.
Dean turned around and said silently: "We're here."
Taylor paused.
Following his gaze, Thales raised his head with an unspeakable feeling, looking below the dunes and toward the seemingly endless desert horizon.
The young man was stunned immediately.
fortress.
A fortress standing in the desert.
No, it's more than one fortress.
It's a group of fortresses.
There are countless fortresses of different sizes and styles, extending out of sight.
They appear behind an endless low wall, sandwiched between several thick and large sand dunes. The distances between them vary greatly:
Some forts stand alone in the wilderness, far away from other similar ones; some are stacked closely together, squeezing each other; some are built like sentry towers, pointing abruptly to the sky; some are in all directions
Square, with khaki stone staircases vaguely visible between different levels. Some forts are angular and thick, and they are for defense at first glance. Some forts are wide and short, looking more like residential buildings. Some forts are more than ten meters high.
There are flocks of chickens standing out among the sand dunes, some of which are one or two stories low, seemingly just for drying clothes.
Perhaps due to the wind and sand, the color of these forts matches the gravel, and there are traces of fire smoke in many places. From a distance, they look like a pile of crude building blocks lined up on the beach.
Thales swore that if it weren't for the vegetation protruding between the forts, if it weren't for the foundations that appeared under many forts, if it wasn't for the double cross silver star flag flying high on the front fort, if it weren't for the low walls everywhere
The wooden horses were placed there, and if it weren't for the bustling figures walking between the fortresses, he would have thought they were the remains of an ancient desert city.
"Blade Tooth Dune," Dean looked at the familiar place with complicated eyes: "Blade Tooth Camp."
Blade Tooth Dune?
Thales shook his head in surprise and looked at these artificial buildings that suddenly appeared in the desert wilderness.
This is……
"After passing this large camp that can support thousands of people, walk east for another day, and there will no longer be yellow sand under your feet." Dean patted Thales on the shoulder: "Congratulations, Huaiya.
The great desert ends here.”
So far.
Looking at the stars and flags flying in the distance, and feeling the sense of direction reappearing in his heart, Thales sighed slowly.
The businessmen caught up, and many of them cried with joy when they saw the familiar sight in front of them.
"I knew it," Tomdin breathed a sigh of relief, then looked sad: "But our goods..."
But his expression soon changed: "Hey, Big Dean, we are very grateful for your escort all the way. To be honest, you are the most powerful guide and bodyguard I have ever seen. Really, if it were anyone else...
But as you can see, we were unlucky on this trip and lost all our money. There will be some problems with capital turnover, so the final payment we agreed on may have to wait for a while..."
Dean's expression darkened and he looked at him coldly.
The eyes of the mercenaries also turned cold.
"Wait for a while?" Mikey said softly: "How about...you also 'wait for a while' in the desert, and then send you back when your money is in circulation?"
Tomdin's smile suddenly stopped.
But he reacted very quickly and turned his head, avoiding the sight of the bald mercenary and the skeleton man, and turned to look at Louisa: "I am not a deadbeat... and I guarantee the reputation of the Tomdin family, we started as a loan company.
Even the Bright Star Royal Family lent us money back then, and we are the most trustworthy..."
Thales raised his eyebrows.
Tomdin's eyes rolled, and he held the reins of the camel tightly, as if he was going to ride on it and run away at the next moment: "I'm just saying, you have to understand us... Dear Louisa, think about it,
Your father, old Dante, is such a good man, helping the poor, helping the weak, and doing charity. And I have been friends with him for many years, how can I still default on this small amount of money?"
His face was full of sad nostalgia, and he looked at the female captain expectantly.
Louisa looked at him steadily, and finally exhaled helplessly.
"Forget it, don't use the 'I know your father' trick anymore. I didn't expect you to give money in the first place..." Louisa muttered and shook her head: "You should think about how to get past the guard...
Now that the blockade order is still in effect, we are entering the camp at this time..."
Tomdin's face lit up the moment he heard "Forget it".
"I knew you were a good person," the pot-bellied businessman said happily, as if he wanted to pat Louisa on the shoulder, but his arm was knocked away by Mikey halfway: "Don't worry, we have bribed that greedy freak, he
As I said, no one will make things difficult for us..."
They soon knew whether Duro's words had any effect.
"Duro?"
The guard guarding the Blade Tooth Camp stood in front of Tomdin, looking at the caravan with nothing but ten camels with suspicion: "Did he say that?"
Tomdin nodded obediently, smiling brightly, as if he was familiar with the world: "Yes, yes, yes, Brother Douluo is very familiar with me. You will know when he comes back and ask... We don't know about the blockade order..."
The guard frowned and looked at everyone.
"Really, you are... very familiar with Douro?"
Tomdin waved his hand and laughed: "Of course, we met on the road... and we drank together. I gave him a lot of good things before leaving, and he insisted on sending Stardust Guard soldiers to escort me.
Come back, but I refused..."
Quick Rope's eyes widened, and he turned around and gave Thales a surprised look like "What the hell?"
The guard nodded with a straight face, then turned his face and whispered into the ear of a higher-ranking officer.
"Ah, I don't feel good." Old Hammer whispered.
Louisa frowned slightly: "Why?"
Old Hammer shook his head and pointed at the soldiers with unkind expressions guarding Juma: "Because I seem to recognize them. They are not..."
Before he finished speaking, the officer nodded.
I saw the officer striding forward and giving stern orders to the Star soldiers present:
"Get them!"
Tomdin's face suddenly turned pale!
The officer pressed the weapon on his waist coldly: "You violated the military order, went out without permission, and dared to bribe the army... You are really audacious."
The mercenaries looked at each other in shock.
Looking at the dozen soldiers who gathered around with their weapons pressed, Tomdin waved his hands anxiously: "But Captain Douro said..."
"I don't care what that freak said!" the officer said sternly, pointing to the star flag above his head: "This is the land of stars, we are the sacred army, in the face of the law, no one can bend the law for personal gain!"
Tomdin seemed to have instantly turned into that helpless little cat, at a loss and full of grievances: "But...Duro...aren't you two together?"
The officer frowned.
"Who the hell told you we were with those freaks?"
He took off the shield behind him and tapped the pattern on it vigorously.
Thales squinted his eyes and was surprised to see that on the shield was a huge and terrifying skull with four dark eye holes.
This is not that...
"Did you see it clearly? This is a skull with four eyes!"
I heard the officer say proudly and complacently: "We come from the ruins and are soldiers of the Falkenhausz family!"
"Not the same as those brats from Williams!"
Tomdin was completely stunned. He stared at the strange skull and murmured:
"Four-eyed skull..."
Dean sighed quietly.
Thales thought more: the people guarding the Blade Tooth Camp are conscripts directly under the Falkenhausz family, which means that their commander is at least...
"You have two choices," the officer said arrogantly: "Pay a fine, or I will send you to the Prison of Bones..."
Amid the panicked wails of the merchants, the soldiers of the stars pressed forward step by step.
The mercenaries gritted their teeth, while Thales clenched his palms, wondering which of these soldiers was the supreme commander.
At this moment.
"Colin!"
Old Hammer's voice rang: "Little Nose Colin!"
The stern officer was slightly startled.
"Who?" The officer with the small nose looked around in confusion: "Who is talking?"
"It's me," Old Hammer sighed and walked out of the crowd, "I served under Lord Mann with you, and we were even ambushed while we were squatting together..."
He didn't need to say any more.
"hammer!"
Small-nosed Colin's eyes widened.
Old Hammer smiled awkwardly.
The mercenaries looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief again.
A few minutes later, the merchants dejectedly entered the Blade Tooth camp under the escort of soldiers. Their camels were taken away by the Falkenhaus soldiers as fines. Dante's swords stood on the other side, silently
We are waiting for the outcome of Lao Hammer’s negotiation.
"What a sunset..." Colin smiled as he watched the ten camels being led away, while patting Old Hammer on the shoulder, speaking in the Western Wilderness accent he was accustomed to: "Hammer, how did you become a 'sword peddler'?
of'?"
The old hammer sighed.
"It's a long story... Have there been any big operations recently? Why were the soldiers from Ruin Ruins and Wing Fort recruited at the same time, and went into the desert with the standing army?"
Thales was aroused by these words and listened attentively in the hell sense.
Colin rubbed his hands: "This is also a long story... In short, it's not just them. In the past two months, the Blade Tooth camp has been filled with conscripts from all over the Western Wilderness, including Heroic Soul Castle, Wing Castle, Li Kenan and even Xin
Xiandi, many of them are nobles or noble soldiers who can provide their own horses, and even Skull Guards and Crow Whistle Qingqi, taking turns to enter the desert..."
Old Hammer frowned: "What happened? I saw them chasing the orcs in the desert..."
Colin shook his head: "I don't know, but I guess the Bone Man or the Gray Bastards are moving eastward again, because those who move in are basically cavalry... and we two-legged ones..."
"Collect tolls here?" Old Hammer looked at the ten camels and Tomdin who was about to cry from a distance.
Colin spread his hands and didn't answer.
Old Hammer sighed helplessly: "But, ten camels, this is all these people have..."
"No, Hammer, don't intercede for them. You pity them, but who will pity us?"
"The standing army is paid by the king, but what about our rewards? We can't even buy a ball of wool!" Colin sniffed dissatisfied: "You know, it's September, and my mill at home will start work soon.
The tour of duty has long passed, but my brother and I don’t know how long it will take to go back. My buddies on the same team as me also have a baby who is about to give birth..."
"But you are too greedy. The merchants will protest and the nobles in the camp will not have any objections?"
Colin grimaced, obviously in a bad mood.
"Listen, Hammer, you haven't been in the army for a long time... Unlike during the Desert War, the Falkenhausz family is no longer in charge of the Blade Tooth Camp," the small-nosed officer waved his hand:
"Now this is the territory of the royal standing army. The money and water usually belong to Williams' gang. There are not many places for us to take advantage of it. If it hadn't been for the standing army's expedition and lack of manpower, do you think we could stand in this position?
Here... So, regardless of whether he protests or not, just get what you can, anyway, it will be Williams's trouble if something goes wrong..."
Thales listened thoughtfully to these words.
"Listen," Colin put his arm around Old Hammer's shoulders: "For the sake of the past, I won't embarrass you, and I won't pay the mercenary tax, but when you go back, remember to report it to my dad.
A letter, asking him to keep an eye on my mother-in-law and not let the cripple from Qiancun mess with her..."
Finally, with the comradeship of Old Hammer, Dante's swordsmen entered the city or, in other words, this vast oasis camp in the desert without any danger.
Passing through the boundary formed by the low wall and the horse, a crowd of people came rushing towards me.
A crowd that Thales had not seen for a long time.
They are crowded with each other and shadowy.
"Come on, let's go and blackmail others. We are not white pigs!"
Dean coldly pushed away a man who looked drunk, and gave him a hard kick in the abdomen when the man fell down.
"Have you ever heard of Dante's great sword?"
Thales watched as the man who got up on the ground and cursed walked into another alleyway, where a group of fierce men looked at them maliciously.
"I thought you died outside," a man inside wiped his fists and smiled: "Bald head, and my beautiful and prickly little flower, Louisa! When will you come to my bed and sleep for a night? I promise it will be better than that.
Big Dean’s bed is comfy!”
"Go fuck yourself!" Louisa gave him a middle finger expressionlessly and continued walking forward.
The man laughed heartily.
"A message is included for free, Baldhead," he picked his nose: "It's been very chaotic here recently! Don't mess with the soldiers! Maybe they are the personal guards of a certain noble!"
The bald mercenary frowned upon hearing this.
Dean turned his head and said to Thales: "Follow closely, don't get lost."
"You don't want to be alone in the Blade Fang camp. These people are more terrifying than the orcs."
The quick rope behind him nodded fiercely.
Walking on the "street" between fortresses, Thales looked left and right in surprise and anxiety: he quickly understood the "characteristics" of the Blade Tooth Camp.
The architectural style here is not even as orderly as an ordinary small star village, but the chaos is comparable to the shield area of Longxiao City and the lower city area of Yongxing City.
Between the yellow sand and gravel, there are people coming and going everywhere. Because the roads between the fortresses are uneven and vary in width, it makes the place even more chaotic and disorderly. The dressing style of the people on the street is different from that of the Northlanders and Thales.
The star people I have seen are completely different, they are light and can protect themselves from the sun, and many of them cover their heads and faces.
And if you add sound to this picture...
"The dragon-kissed velvet that even kings cannot enjoy is only sold for two silver coins per bundle!"
"Want to know the story of your life? The authentic descendant of the desolate bones, the darling of the Desert God, can divine your fate for six copper coins at a time..."
"Hey, handsome boy, don't you feel lonely when you sleep alone at night... Do you want to see my face? Why don't you look at my legs? Yes, I am a man... Hey, you are wrong, come here if you don't believe me
Touch and see, which part of me is worse than a woman? Hey, you’ve touched me, and now you want to leave? Come on, look at my pecs and fists, look at the brothers behind me, and say it again: Here you go.
No money, no money, no money!"
"You really want to kill someone? You really hate someone? You really want to sleep with someone else's wife? The experienced mercenary Mara, who has seen countless blood, will help you kill people with ten gold coins! Promise not to do anything in the city, in a clean way, and dump the body
It’s neat, never illegal, and has a good reputation! You can pay the deposit now, and the balance will be paid after the task is completed!”
"What? You said I stole your wallet? Grandma, do you think I am someone who would steal your things? Look again, is this your wallet? Yes, it is! I never steal, this is
Grab it! Fuck your grandma!"
"Believers! Lambs! The disaster is about to happen again, and the dark night will eventually return, and only believers can survive! Now go to the dark night temple and watch the latest play "The God of the Dark Night and the Story That the Queen of the Revival King Has to Tell",
Is there a chance to get an unexpected reward? This one is not allowed to be performed? Hey, you heard wrong, I am talking about the latest play "The God of Night and the Story of a Founding King's Queen" Hey, what are you doing, let me go?
, if you don’t, you can’t interfere with the freedom of art. Save your life!”
"Put away your weapons, put away your weapons! Swords, guns, swords and axes, bows, shields, spears and hammers, no matter if they are second-hand or new, whether they are for military use or private collection, priority will be given to large quantities, and the price will be fair!"
"What to do if the camp is blocked? Merchant Billy can help you! Detour through the desert from the east and avoid patrols. It's absolutely safe! Comfortable camel caravan, direct to the Principality of Sera, one gold coin per person!"
There were merchants hawking along the street, mercenaries carrying swords, adventurers in a hurry, prostitutes showing almost all their exposed parts, and of course, groups of big-headed soldiers. It was bustling with people along the way, and it was very lively.
Dante's swords were accustomed to squeezing through these strange and diverse crowds, and from time to time used their vicious eyes and rude actions to scare away many people who were about to make a move. According to McGee, Thales "looked like a white pig"
"It attracted the attention of many people. If they hadn't been fully armed, there would have been more trouble.
They finally turned around a fortress with a window and came to an open space that was not so narrow and closed.
Dean stopped and said solemnly: "I have to go to the guard house and look for Frank. He needs to know what happened this time."
"I'll go with you," Luisa said with a sad face, "I am the captain after all."
Dean nodded.
Mikey glanced at Dean, then at Louisa, and sighed: "Then...I'm going to get rid of the extra equipment."
"Then let's go to 'my house' and meet up with Ximan and the others," Old Hammer answered: "By the way, help Huaiya inquire about the whereabouts of his family."
Thales was taken aback, but before he could say anything, the mercenaries dispersed in unison.
And he was dragged by the fast rope, followed behind Old Hammer, and turned onto another remote road.
"I'm telling you," Kuai Sheng sighed, "You don't know how scary this place is. The first time I came here, I met a beautiful young lady, but... alas, life is unpredictable, Huaiya.
, you should cherish life, for example..."
Thales smiled uglyly and looked at Old Hammer for help.
The old hammer smiled when he heard this, and without hesitation opened his mouth to break the fast rope that was about to start doing business.
"It is said that Blade Tooth Dune only had sand dunes and no camps at first. It was not until a long time ago that a caravan spontaneously built a rest fort here. As more people came in and out of the desert from here, the number of forts increased one by one... until
When it was comparable to a small town, a certain Star King or a certain Duke of the Western Wasteland captured it."
"Obviously, the location here is too important... Although Blade Tooth Camp has been entrusted to many families, most of them have perished due to wars and the invasion of the desert."
"After the Year of Blood, this place became the fiefdom of Baron Williams, but he was not a vassal of the Falkenhaus family, but a direct vassal of the king. I once doubted whether he could get from this piece of land that didn't even have arable land.
We can get enough tax revenue from the fiefdom, but obviously, looking at it now..."
Old Hammer looked at the strange people on the street and shrugged.
Thales nodded.
"Blade Tooth Camp is a famous place of chaos, with many opportunities and more dangers," Old Hammer sighed, and said to Thales with nostalgia and emotion: "Many criminals in the kingdom have been sentenced to exile here, and some
Go to the Prison of Bones, some become death squads, and those who survive become the residents of this city. I don’t know if I should call it a city, plus the surrounding farmers and craftsmen who can’t survive. They have nowhere to go.
The big-headed soldier is like this."
"When there's a war, it's even more exaggerated here."
Thales walked uphill, and the noise around him suddenly became much quieter.
Then, he saw a very tall tower behind a circular bunker.
It is twenty to thirty meters long, slender and towering. It seems to be standing in the middle of the open space of many fortresses, but it is far away from other buildings and seems particularly isolated.
Thales couldn't help but notice that there were only a few people around this tower, and the people who were originally shouting all kinds of things became strangely silent when they passed by it, turned their heads to look elsewhere, and left quickly.
As if he was afraid of something.
Thales squinted his eyes and saw: The highest window on the top of the tower was sealed with wooden bars.
Sparsely populated high-rise buildings...
Thales's heart moved.
"That tower is really high. Are there any important people living in it?"
The young man asked strangely.
Old Hammer followed his gaze and his face suddenly darkened.
"No."
"Nobles never lived there, and I guess Baron Williams wasn't there either... That tower is called the Ghost Prince."
"For so many years, no one should have dared to live there."
Thales frowned:
"What prince?"
"I know, I know!" Kuaisheng was elated: "The legend in Blade Tooth Camp... there is something ominous in that tower..."
"Hush!" But Old Hammer interrupted him sternly.
"Eighteen years ago...during the Year of Blood, the Bone Tribe and the orcs once captured the Blade Fang Camp. I served here at that time."
The veteran looked tense and pointed at the tower: "Before the camp fell, a noble prince, I mean the king's son, a real royal bloodline, not some fairy tale prince came to the early stage of the west and came to the Blade Tooth Camp.
The labor force is in charge."
"He lives there, in the highest tower of the Blade Tooth Camp."
Thales's heart tightened.
He looked at the lonely tower and felt an ominous premonition.
"One dark night, the prince came from there, from the highest window..."
"I was pushed down."
Thales was stunned.
He looked at the farthest window in his field of vision, the window sealed with wooden bars, and slowly moved his eyes from there to the open space at the bottom.
Suddenly a chill came over me.
"I heard the rest of the story from other people after I retired," Old Hammer exhaled slowly: "It is said that King Kessel caught the murderer after the war."
"As punishment, he locked the murderer and his accomplices in the highest room and lit a fire starting from the first floor and burning upwards."
Kuaisheng let out a breath and curled his lips.
"Many people couldn't stand the fire and jumped out of the window to pay the price for the prince's death."
"Whether they were burned to death or thrown to death, the screams and wails of the prisoners disappeared within the first hour," Old Hammer's voice became cold and desolate: "But the fire burned for a whole day."
"The strange thing is that the tower is still standing and the most mysterious thing is that after the flames were extinguished, there was not even a trace of burn marks on either the exterior walls or the interior."
Kuaisheng pursed his lips, and nodded solemnly as Old Hammer explained, his eyes solemn.
Thales stared at the tower intently, looking at it in perfect condition, his scalp felt slightly numb.
"Since that time, all kinds of strange things have happened there, from singing in the middle of the night to ghosts on the windows, even vague screams and wailing, and even the sound of burning flames. Even in broad daylight... the baron had to seal the door
window."
"There were nobles who were stationed here who did not believe in evil and wanted to live there...but..."
The old hammer shook his head silently.
"Everyone who lived there died in the desert and never came back. They couldn't even move their luggage and belongings."
"Then everyone said that the tower was cursed by the prince's death."
The old hammer pulled Thales back a little as he was approaching unknowingly.
His expression was ugly:
"From then on, the locals called him the 'Ghost Prince'."
Kuai Sheng shook his head and clicked his tongue.
Thales stared blankly at the eerie and deserted tower.
Ghost Prince...
"who?"
The young man asked blankly: "Where did he die..."
"Which prince is it?"
The old hammer shook his head.
"I forgot," the veteran said with a sullen face, "I only saw him from a distance when he entered the camp."
"That prince is very handsome, prettier than the girl."
Looks very beautiful.
Thales swallowed his throat.
A long-standing name came to mind.
Ghost Prince.
"But what's the use of being handsome," Old Hammer snorted, looking at the open space under the "Ghost Prince" with misty eyes:
"That night, I was one of the first patrols to arrive. And I remember very clearly, that beautiful prince..."