As the curfew time approaches, there are fewer and fewer guests in the tavern. The blood-whistle mercenaries come to "my house" in twos and threes. It seems that they are going to get drunk tonight.
Dante's swordsmen came down from upstairs one after another. Louisa and Old Hammer said hello to Thales and left. Seaman and McGee ignored him and walked straight out of the tavern.
When Dean went downstairs, he was stopped by the blood whistler.
"Hey, Dean," Ricky snapped his fingers and raised his glass to the bald mercenary: "I heard you guys are in trouble outside?"
These words attracted everyone's attention.
"In normal times, I would probably say that we are 'okay,'" Dean said as he walked down the stone stairs step by step, looking quite solemn: "But now... I guess denying it doesn't make much sense."
He glanced at the two serious mercenaries beside Ricky.
"Yes," Dean said calmly, "We are in trouble."
The mercenaries in the tavern were silent. They looked at each other worriedly or doubtfully.
Ricky frowned.
"So the rumors are true?"
"Williams and his vicious dogs are out again... What is it this time, the second purge campaign? Go north to fight the Exeters? Support the Free Alliance? Or is the King of the Stars displeased with the Tower of the End?
Determined to take them out? Do you think they might hire the Centurion to fight? Or just capture the death squads in the Bone Cage?"
When Thales listened to Ricky's description of the Baron and the Stardust Guards, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
Obviously, the mercenaries have limited affection for the Baron of the Blade Tooth Camp.
"I don't know, but if I tell you," Dean shook his head, "they are serious this time."
"As for hiring...I don't think they're short of major generals, Ricky."
With a warning on his face, Dean looked around at his colleagues with blood whistles: "Even the 'Blood Whistle' can't withstand the charge of just ten armed cavalry, and I think they have at least a thousand cavalry as fast as a horse.
When it comes to it, they don't care which side you're on."
Ricky was silent for a while and looked at each other with his friends.
"One Thousand Riders..."
"I'll keep it in mind that we've all been having a bad time recently," Ricky shook his head and pointed at the bar: "What to drink? Rye? Old beer? Blood grapes? Don't tell me it's Chaka..."
But Dean just waved his hand and refused: "No, we have experienced enough these days."
Ricky lowered his finger.
"Dean, you know, if you feel..." He looked at Dean seriously and raised the corners of his mouth: "The blood whistle welcomes you at any time, we are about to move, and we are lacking someone who can be the captain... maybe
Higher?"
Dean spread his hands, and it could be seen that this was not the first time he encountered this kind of conversation: "Thank you, but... I have a captain."
Ricky chuckled.
"Taking orders from a woman, Dean," the blood-honking mercenary smiled and took a sip of wine: "You will die in her hands one day."
The mercenaries nearby cheered one after another: "Maybe he died 'on top' of her?"
"Or 'inside'?"
People in the whole tavern burst out laughing.
Dean just shook his head indifferently, waved goodbye to Ricky, and came to Thales.
"Is it over?" Thales put down his wine glass and raised his head and asked.
Dean sighed and nodded.
"Probably, it's not a happy team conversation. We've lost too much."
"What about you, Huaiya?" the mercenary asked: "Do you have any clues about your family?"
"Probably," Thales exhaled and answered him in the same tone, "I'll familiarize myself with the environment, deal with some things, and set out to find them tomorrow."
"Handling things... sounds good," Dean raised his eyebrows: "What about tonight?"
"I don't know yet, maybe I can ask Tampa for a bed," Thales said, giving Tampa a sharp look: "As long as I have enough money."
Tampa bares her teeth happily.
Dean laughed too.
"You heard it too, the blood whistle filled the entire tavern," the bald mercenary looked at the people in "my house": "Come with me, we rented a small house nearby, which used to be the team's temporary residence.
It’s a station, but...it will at least allow you to survive for one night."
Looking at Dean's expression, Thales' heart moved.
His fists slowly clenched and then unclenched.
Thales smiled: "That sounds good. Anyway, I don't have anywhere to go?"
Dean raised his hand, indicating that they could leave.
Thales walked down from the bar and picked up his luggage.
"Hey, Dean," Thales shook his head towards Tampa, turned back and said seriously: "Thank you."
"For...everything from the desert to here."
Dean looked at him for a few seconds.
"You're welcome, I'm planning for myself," Dean looked at him and said in a joking tone: "You are a nobleman, maybe quite rich, right?"
Thales smiled.
"But before that..."
Dean frowned and looked to the other side of the pub: "Why did he drink so much?"
Thales followed his line of sight: Quick Rope was walking staggeringly and stumbled down on a table, attracting unkind looks from the guests.
"We have encountered too many deserts." Thales sighed slightly.
"Yeah," Dean frowned more and more, "for a newbie who is joining the tour for the second time."
When the group of guests were about to roll up their sleeves and give Quick Rope an unforgettable night, Dean turned and walked towards him.
"Come on, help me."
"Can't leave him here."
Thales shrugged and walked forward.
A few hours later, Thales was lying upright in the cabin belonging to Dante's sword, feeling the comfort of the hard bed and staring blankly at the moonlight outside the window.
The mercenaries' station is indeed not very good. There are four beds in a small room, clay walls, thatched roofs, sand and dust cobwebs everywhere, and the fence door seems to fall apart when pushed and pulled, even outside the house.
The simple toilet reminded Thales of the time in the abandoned house.
But at least it's better than sleeping in the wild.
Ten meters away, the sound of the fast rope's heavy breathing could be heard slowly, mixed with some drunken talk and sleep talking from time to time.
Dean was sleeping in another room next door. Old Hammer went to find his old buddies whom he hadn't seen for a long time. He was probably going to drink until dawn. McGee never liked being in crowds. There were only a few desolate bones in the camp and they were highly hostile.
People have their own places to go, and as for Louisa, according to Dean, she went back to live with her mother and stepfather.
Thales took a deep breath.
Unbelievably, he escaped from Longxiao City and passed through the great desert. Although it was only a short section on the outer edge, he experienced the black path, the meteorites, the dead crows, and even hunger, loneliness, heat, cold, orcs and mercenaries, and finally
Arriving at the territory of Star Kingdom.
He is back.
Thales looked at the desolate moonlight over the desert border and felt the rare tranquility of the Blade Tooth Camp during the curfew time.
Quick Rope turned over and fell to the bottom of the bed, but he still muttered something and did not wake up.
Thales let out a sigh of relief and sat up.
In the hell sense, Dean's breathing in the dream can be clearly heard next door.
In the darkness, he watched the outline of the fast rope spread out in a complicated "k" shape on the floor, smiled and shook his head.
This group of people.
Mercenaries.
What kind of life is that?
Thales thought blankly.
The prince took two slow breaths. In the next second, he grabbed the luggage and time crossbow by the wall and stood up gently.
He carefully stepped over Quick Rope's body, opened the door without making a sound, walked through the shabby little hall, and opened another door.
In front of him, a sturdy bald man crossed his arms and lay on his side on the bed, his chest rising and falling evenly, and his breathing making a slight sound.
He slept soundly, unlike the fast rope next door.
Thales closed the door and walked to this man's bed.
The prince stared at him silently for a long time.
It took so long that the moonlight started to move.
He looked at Dean's broad back and slowly stretched out his hand.
Stretching towards his waist.
Pulled out the jc dagger.
The blade exuded a faint cold light, and Thales couldn't help but frown slightly.
Six years.
This sharp dagger given to him by Yara has been with him for six full years.
Quaid, Blood Clan, Dragon Sky City, Disaster, Lumba, Great Desert...
In the past six years, no matter what kind of danger he faced, whenever Thales stretched out his hand to touch this dagger and felt its cold and tough texture, an unreasonable sense of security would arise spontaneously.
The power that made him grit his teeth again, stiffen his shoulders, and face everything in front of him.
But that was all self-defense, a forced counterattack and fight back.
But this time...
Just today, Thales suddenly realized: when the blood flows through the blade of the dagger, the blade reveals more than just its name.
It is essentially a murderous weapon.
Every time, when Thales mustered up the courage and determination to stab the enemy with a dagger, he would remember the feeling when he used the jc to take away his life for the first time: the hot and greasy blood passed over the gauntlet and gushed into his forearm.
Up, flowed to his chest, and shot towards his head and face.
However, those feelings have never been as real as now.
How easy it is to take away a life.
It’s not that I have never killed anyone, on the contrary, I have killed many people.
Thales said silently.
From living in an abandoned house in the lower city, to an assassination on King Street, and a life-and-death bloody battle in the desert...
But for a long time, he deliberately ignored those murderous feelings.
He doesn't have a choice, does he?
Kill, or be killed.
Thales gently raised the jc, narrowed his eyes, and pointed the tip of the blade at Dean's neck.
In the hell sense, the blood rushing in his carotid arteries was so powerful and vital.
Thales continued to hold up the dagger, aiming at Dean's neck, his face expressionless.
He has no choice.
He told himself silently.
A simple stab can negate the meaning of the other party, strip away the other party's existence, and make the value of the other party's continued existence in this world disappear without a trace: he is just gone, gone, dead, and then
Nor will he appear anywhere, in front of anyone, or at any time.
Just like what Kuaisheng said: From now on, he has no thoughts, no feelings, no consciousness, nothing can be left behind, and he knows nothing.
He completely disappeared and lost all possibilities, all development, and all future.
Thales came back to his senses and looked at the sleeping living person in front of him.
All it takes is a gentle poke.
Everything about the other party will disappear immediately.
As for the sword holder, he, Thales, can get a lot: Revenge? Benefits? Or simple satisfaction?
Or, is it the kind of refreshing feeling that after killing the other person, you can eliminate the unhappiness, frustration, hurt and pain you felt from the other person, along with the other person's existence, and completely vent your depression?
And...calculate the pleasure of achieving your goal and making a huge profit after eliminating the other party?
Or is it the sense of strength, power, and dignity that controls life and death, plays with the fate of others, and decides everything with a single palm?
Hold.
Thales stared at Dean's neck and trembled slightly.
He has no choice.
He told himself for the third time.
Another necessary killing, nothing more.
Is it?
Feeling of pleasure.
Quaid's hideous and hateful face flashed past.
Feeling of pleasure.
Nuen Wang Zhizhu’s smiling smile flashed through his mind.
Sense of power?
This time, Charmaine Lombard's cold and cold expression appeared before his eyes.
Thales took a deep breath and moved the dagger to the best angle for stabbing.
For the pleasure of revenge, for the pleasure of profit, for the bullshit power, God damn it, he only cares about so much... Just one click and everything will be over.
As long as you kill him, you don't have to worry anymore
That moment.
A pale and frightened face appeared in front of him.
That was a face from so long ago that Thales had almost forgotten it.
It's Kellett.
One of the people in the sixth house, that poor child, bravely rushed out at the last moment of his life just to protect that little girl.
However……
Thales trembled slightly, as if he had returned to that night again: Damn Quaid smiled and slit Kellett's neck. The child's face was full of fear, but the murderer's face had a ridiculous and shocking look.
People feel disgustingly satisfied and excited.
Hold.
It's the same for Quaid, right? Just a light touch and that refreshing feeling...
Hold.
Another face appeared in front of me.
She was a little girl standing in the Hall of Heroes of Longxiao City, with her arms folded aggrievedly, a bit arrogant and squeamish on her face, which made people quite annoying at first glance.
Alex Walton.
An innocent child born of sin.
Her raised mouth was eventually replaced by painful spasms and twisted cheeks after drinking the poison.
Thales stared blankly at the sleeping Dean, but in front of him was King Nunn's cold smile, Michael's desperate cry, Nicolai's expressionless indifference, and the little slippery man's frightened sobs...
Hold.
The same is true for King Nun. With just a glass of wine, the shame and hatred of the past are over. That feeling of pleasure...
Hold.
Thales closed his eyes gently.
Dean's neck disappeared before his eyes, and Longxiao City six years ago emerged from the darkness.
In the dilapidated and burning shield area, corpses lay everywhere, wailing endlessly.
In such a picture, the terrifying man with a cold face, the Grand Duke of Black Sand, coldly puts on the blood-stained crown.
Under his feet, the head of the born king rolled down into the dust and fell into the countless corpses in the shield area, including those of civilians, nobles, craftsmen, farmers, and White Blade Guards...
【Don’t be indifferent, Qi Ren, don’t be indifferent...】
[Human beings are animals and will gradually get used to many things, such as indifference, and certain perceptions that we know are inappropriate. 】
[I’ve heard it for so long that I don’t know how bad it is. Once you relax and get used to it, you will no longer feel the gap between yourself and the outside world, and you will never be able to find your original self. Hold on, Fei Ren, don’t compromise, don’t let this happen.
The world captures you.】
[Hey, Miss, why have you suddenly become so... so 'Wu Qiren'? 】
[Is it really good to complain about yourself...Besides, isn't this your professional strength? Start from a perspective you have never seen before, shake your established understanding, refresh your world view, and break your unthinking, convinced, and even belief.
For the misunderstanding and superficial understanding of the supreme dogma, to discover that something is so absurd, and the way you looked at it before was so unreasonable, to show yourself a brand new world, to discover the daily use of yourself and the world
But you don’t know the truth, so you can sublimate yourself?】
[Hey, when I say it to you so vividly, I suddenly feel that I am so great.]
[Alas, there is no other way. If you have been with me for a long time, even if you are as stupid as Spongebob, you will gradually sublimate...right...]
[So can we go? Stop petting my head. Your cat is in your own home. You can pet it for free without tiptoeing. We have already donated money, so there is no need to stand in front of this donation box for five minutes, right? 】
【Ah! My comic exhibition is gone, gone, gone!】
Thales opened his eyes suddenly!
In the silence, Thales was panting gently, sweating profusely, and his expression was struggling.
The jc was only a palm away from Dean's carotid artery.
The handle of the dagger was tightly clenched in his hand, and the tip of the blade was constantly trembling.
Hold.
Hold!
Time seems to have passed a long time.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
No.
The prince put down the dagger tiredly.
Thales touched his wet forehead and bit his lower lip with difficulty and pain.
Finally, he put away the dagger and took one last look at Dean who was sleeping.
The prince, like an ascetic believer who had gone through great hardships, slowly turned around and faced the door with a bitter expression.
However, just when Thales took the first step to leave,
"Why?"
The sudden sound made Thales' hair stand up!
"Why did you give up?"
Thales closed his eyes and sighed heavily.
He turned around and in the moonlight, he vaguely saw Dean sitting up and leaning against the wall, staring at him coldly.
"A knife in the back and killing the enemy before he sees you is always the best choice." The bald mercenary said calmly.
He bent one leg and stepped on the edge of the bed, resting his right elbow on his knee. The ax was at hand.
"or……"
"You have to capture me alive?"
Thales looked at the mercenary with difficulty.
"You're awake." He said bitterly.
"Otherwise? Do you think I should let down my guard completely and trust you with my life?"
Dean sneered: "Who the hell are you?"
Thales opened his mouth, not knowing where to start.
"I, you..."
"Or if I ask more directly," Dean flicked the ax in his hand, his eyes sharp: "Who sent you?"
Thales looked at him steadily.
His eyes struggled.
Finally, Thales slowly exhaled.
He put away his complicated expression and returned to his most indifferent expression.
"Dean, right?"
"You were rescued from the desert by old Dante a few years ago and have become one of them since then, but before that..."
Thales looked back at Dean coldly.
"An ordinary mercenary, but he is both literate and knowledgeable," the prince said softly: "You come from the north, you swing the ax just right, and when you face the orcs, you use a set of feints and feints.
His movements always remind people of Exeter’s other famous hand-bladed guard.”
Dean said nothing, his eyes focused on the ax at hand.
The houses under the moonlight were silent, and the curfew on the streets made the surroundings so quiet that it almost didn't look like the Western Front, but a rural countryside.
"Not only that, you also know a lot of orc language, and it is far from the level of 'Hello, damn, kill you' that soldiers learn after meeting them," Thales continued: "That will take quite a long time.
systematic learning."
"You also shaved off your hair, it seems that you can hide the color of your hair."
Dean's face was expressionless. He raised his left hand and touched his head.
Thales stared at him straightly.
"Your insights and reserves on national affairs and political situations are far beyond the reach of a dumb soldier who only travels between life and business."
"Even Tampa is saying that it is such a waste for you to be a mercenary, and even the blood whistlers want to recruit you."
Thales took a deep breath and expressed his biggest doubts with difficulty and hesitation:
"Dean, mercenary Dean, don't you think these characteristics...are too obvious when placed on one person?"
The sound echoed in the small room and was clearly audible.
time seems
Dean raised his head and met Thales' questioning eyes without flinching.
"obvious?"
Dean's face showed disdain and anger: "Humph."
"So, who sent you?"
He asked bluntly:
"Risban? Or the Blade Guard?"
Thales' eyes were frozen in mid-air.
"Or someone else?"
Under the moonlight outside the window, Dean spoke slowly, his eyes becoming more and more serious: "The order you received is to find me... or to kill me?"
Thales frowned deeply.
He still stared at Dean motionless.
"Even Mikey said that it was a mistake to follow Tomdin out this time. He is not a good trade partner, and Xingchen's blockade order is even more inappropriate." Thales did not answer, but continued softly:
"But you still came out with the mercenaries, why?"
"This is inconsistent with your usual shrewdness and wisdom."
Dean clenched his fists.
"Is it because you know about the Freedom Alliance and the storm that Exeter and Longxiao City are experiencing? Is it because you are worried about your hometown and country that you ventured north? Do you just want to confirm it?"
Dean said nothing.
So Thales spoke again.
"Answer me, Dean," Thales sighed: "Are you him?"
This time, Dean slowly looked up.
"he?"
Dean said calmly: "Who?"
"You know who I'm talking about."
Dean smiled.
He slowly raised his arm and pointed at Thales.
"you."
"You're suspicious too, aren't you?"
"A man came from the north and fell strangely in the desert." Dean tilted his head and glanced at Thales: "In his hand, he held a military crossbow that looked like it was not owned by ordinary people, and a sharpened knife.
A dagger as sharp as iron."
Thales felt his back and waist tighten in a trance.
"Your words and deeds are very orthodox, very polite, and you pay attention to details. You can tell that you are a well-educated person. This is why no one else wants to talk to you in the past few days. Well, maybe except Kuai Rope, he is just a
A stupid boy who was frightened by the sea."
"And you are very smart. At least the life story you fabricated is in line with your words and deeds. At first glance, it makes sense."
Dean sneered.
"But what makes me wonder is that you are different from most nobles."
"Whether it's hot sand or cold rock, you can lie down without any hindrance and fall asleep easily; dried meat that has been dried for several months, thick bread that is too hard to bite, and fishy smelling
Stews, roasted food, no matter how unpalatable it is, you can swallow it smoothly and eat it habitually."
"It's like you're used to it."
"At least, it's not like the adults in the castle that I know."
"So, either you come from a nouveau riche family, and you don't have time to turn into one of those stupid and selfish bastards in the castle who are becoming more and more stupid and selfish from generation to generation," Dean narrowed his eyes with a solemn expression:
"Either there must be someone in your family who is wise and wise through experience or knowledge, time or experience. He chooses to use cruel wind and frost to shape the next generation into men instead of using food and fences to make you fat.
Breeding pigs.”
Thales remained motionless and listened quietly.
"And Wyatt Castle?"
Dean sneered, looking at Thales with cold eyes: "Next time, when you tell another Northlander his name, you'd better not use the same name as 'Star Fox' Gilbert Castle.
surname."
Thales moved slightly.
"Back then at Broken Dragon Fortress, that star man came alone, and under the angry gazes of the King of Exeter and six Grand Dukes, he talked and argued back and forth, and when the peace treaty was finally signed, he was quite famous.
.”
Dean raised the corners of his mouth.
"Sorry," Thales shook his head regretfully: "This is my first time running away from home. Many things happened suddenly and I was a little nervous."
Dean's eyes flashed.
"So, who are you?" he asked quietly.
"A mere teenager, but possessing extraordinary agility and sharp reflexes. I suspect that he is the 'coming of age killer' who was able to persist in not peeing his pants when he faced the terrifying orcs for the first time. Seka?"
Dean lowered his head, his expression submerged in the darkness where the moonlight could not reach: "According to what Tomdin said, those star cavalry, are they hunting you?"
Thales breathed slowly.
He clenched his fists and then gently lowered them.
"Listen, I didn't want to make things so complicated," Prince Star spread his palms and said in his most calm and serious tone: "I could have found the army at the Blade Tooth Camp early and asked them to take action... but I didn't.
, I waited until now.”
Dean nodded slightly and smiled.
"So you are indeed of high status and have a lot of connections with the officialdom," the bald mercenary sneered: "But you have been incognito until now just for me?"
Thales ignored the other party's words.
"I just need you to answer a simple question for me, Dean." He said calmly.
Dean stared at him with interest.
"What a coincidence," the mercenary nodded: "Me too, Huaiya."
silence.
In the suffocating silence, the two people stared at each other silently in the dark and airtight house.
Until Thales spoke again.
"So, Dean," the prince of the stars cleared his throat, and finally asked the final question seriously and cautiously:
"Are you Moral Walton?"
"The wayward prince who escaped from Longxiao City six years ago?"
Dean didn't answer, didn't make any move, and didn't even look at him with a superfluous expression.
He just stared at Thales coldly.
"What about you, Huai Ya," he said slowly, raising his head slightly, letting the moonlight shine on his angular features:
"Should I call you Thales Brightstar?"
Thales tensed his muscles.
"The culprit who shook the whole of Exeter and transformed Longxiao City?"