When Michael took Claude and the big man Gimi up the mountain, he happened to see the old woman who led the village leader leaving and going down the mountain. However, Mike was not in a hurry. He said softly: "Sir, I saw her going up the mountain to ask for help."
If the one carrying the basket comes down the mountain empty-handed, the basket must be placed in the grove..."
"Go and see, I'm very interested in what's in her basket." Claude nodded and said, what secrets are these villagers hiding?
The basket is easy to find. Last time, Michael noticed that the basket was placed under a large cherry tree. It was the most obvious place in the grove. There was also a large bluestone under the tree. The old woman of the village elder’s family
Just put the basket on the bluestone.
The three of them quietly walked towards the grove, and sure enough, they found a portable basket on the big bluestone under the cherry tree. The basket was also covered with a piece of linen. Claude listened carefully and found no unusual movement around the grove.
, then pointed to the basket: "Light the fire and see what's in the basket?"
The big man Gemi Flint lit the torch in his hand, and Mike opened the linen cloth covering the basket. But the contents in the basket made the three of them a little disappointed, a baked wheat cake on a wooden plate, and a small half piece of black rice cake.
Bread, a grilled sausage, and a small bag of salt.
"Sir, it seems that the black bread, grilled sausages and salt were all bought by the village chief from our canteen. The copper coins you paid them in the cane basket were taken to the canteen to buy these foods. You agreed to their purchase.
"." Mike looked at the food in the basket carefully and recognized that it was all food rations for their squadron.
There is plenty of food anyway, but the rainy season is coming next, and many things can easily become moldy if they are not well preserved. Besides, after the rainy season in March, the battalion headquarters will transport some heavy supplies, and the enemy will not launch an attack during the rainy season. So Claude suddenly found himself passing
Stocking up on grain and ammunition early was not a far-sighted thing, but rather a waste of effort. So he decided to sell some of the excess grain reserves to the villagers in Squirrel Village to make the relationship between the two parties closer and friendly. Besides, these villagers didn't have much money.
, don’t worry about them buying too much and reducing their food reserves.
The big man Gemi looked at the basket and said: "Sir, I think there must be someone from the village hiding in the mountains and forests, so the village elder's wife only brings him food once every three days. Look, the food in this basket
Enough for an ordinary person to eat for three days."
It is indeed enough for an ordinary person to eat for three days. For the big man Gimi, this thing is just the amount of his meal. Claude was also very disappointed. He probably must be a young widow in the village or something, and he was afraid of being taken away.
The military camp waited on these foreign invaders, so they fled to the mountains. They only sent food up every two or three days. No wonder the village elders and the villagers did not dare to wander up the mountains for fear of being discovered by themselves.
"Let's go, put out the torch, don't let the villagers find us going up the mountain. It's boring, I thought they were hiding something." Claude turned and left. He was not very interested in the young widow. But after walking for a while
Claude stopped again, feeling something was wrong.
First of all, the villagers in Squirrel Village have no concept of country. They only know that their lord is Baron Novilik. Wei Flinsland. They are the baron's subjects. Everything in Squirrel Village belongs to the baron lord, including
Their lives. Although Claude and his friends were invaders from a foreign country, they came to liberate them and changed their tragic fate as territorial citizens.
When Claude told the villagers that there would no longer be a baron to exploit them, and they no longer needed to pay so many things as taxes to the baron, they were happy from the bottom of their hearts, and they were sincere to Claude.
support. Moreover, Claude and his squadron are stationed in Squirrel Village. They treat these villagers very friendly and fairly, and even find them jobs to earn extra money. The relationship between the two is really like a close relationship between the military and civilians. There is no secret that would make these people
The villagers were so secretive and taboo about him going up the mountain...
Secondly, the person hiding on the mountain is definitely not a young widow. In this era, the concept of chastity of widows is not very valued. Just as Markchi said, if there are really young widows, they will welcome the troops stationed because
Not only can they find a way to make money, but they may also be able to leave themselves children to support themselves in old age.
"Let's go back and hide to see who will pick up the basket." Claude made the decision softly.
The three of them returned to the grove, found a hiding place on the rock forty or fifty meters away from the basket, and stared at the basket on the bluestone under the cherry tree in the distance.
I don't know how long it took, but a dark shadow quickly passed under the trees in the woods, and soon approached the basket on the bluestone.
Michael pulled Claude's clothes nervously, while Claude and Gemmy's eyes widened at this moment. They never dreamed that what they saw was such a scene.
A black wolf the size of a pony appeared next to the bluestone under the cherry tree. Its two green eyes were exceptionally clear in the darkness, but the strange thing was that the black wolf had the handle of another basket in its mouth.
I saw this black wolf biting the basket under the bluestone. He was about to bite the handle of the basket on the bluestone, but suddenly lowered his head and sniffed something next to the bluestone.
Instead of biting the basket containing the food, the group behind the circle growled a little irritably at the rock where Claude and the others were hiding.
Obviously, the black wolf discovered the scent of Claude and the others, and vaguely sensed that they were hiding in the rocks.
The black wolf rushed a few steps toward the rock where Claude and the others were hiding, then looked back at the basket on the bluestone, and then retreated. It kept spinning in circles while growling in a low voice in annoyance,
It seemed that he wanted to rush towards Claude and the others, but he also remembered the basket with food on the bluestone, and he seemed determined to never put it down.
After a while, the black wolf stood still, raised its head in the direction of Claude and the others, and twitched its nose carefully, as if it wanted to remember the scent of Claude and the others. Finally, it growled lowly.
With a sound, he jumped onto the bluestone, lowered his head and bit the handle of the basket, and his figure flashed towards the depths of the grove...
The black wolf walked for a long time before Claude and the three of them woke up from the shock. They never dreamed that the one coming to get the basket would be a big black wolf.
"Here, has this black wolf become a spirit? I heard from the old man that there used to be Warcraft. Some Warcraft could even imitate human speech and were very smart..." Mike murmured.
"That monster is a giant dragon. The only monster recorded in the book that can speak human language is a giant dragon, not a black wolf. This black wolf has obviously been trained by people, so it can restrain its wild nature. If it is really a wild wolf, I just smelled it
Our smell has already rushed towards us in a wild way, instead of still thinking about the basket and hesitating. Besides, the basket is filled with food for humans, not blood food for wolves." Claude knocked.
He touched McJack's head and said to the big man Gemie: "Light the torch, let's go see what's in the basket that the black wolf brought over."
There are two small wide-mouthed jars made of blue clay in the basket, about as big as Claude's fist. There is a big pine cork on the jar. Pull out the pine cork, and by the light of the torch, you will feel the sweetness.
The smell hits your nostrils.
"This is wild honey." Claude stuck out his tongue and tasted it. It was indeed honey.
Michael pulled out the pine cork of another jar and said, "Bah, this smells so bad. What kind of medicine does it seem to be?"
Claude took it and took a look. Isn't this the dark green rice paste-like ointment in the hands of the villagers? It is mainly used to treat headaches, fevers, and colds in children. Last time some of his soldiers caught a cold, they used a few spoonfuls of this ointment mixed with water and drank a large amount.
After a night of sleep and sweating profusely, the treatment effect is comparable to those cold medicines.
For this reason, Claude went out of his way to ask the village elder Tou how to prepare this folk remedy and how to make it. He planned to spend a lot of money to buy it, and paid a high price of five gold crowns. As a result, the village elder refused to say anything, and Claude
De thought that the village elder cherished the secret recipe handed down from his ancestors, so he didn't force him. Now I know that this is how they got the ointment...
Looking at the dark mountain forest, Claude thought for a while and said: "Pack up the things and put them back. Let's go down the mountain."
"Sir, don't you want to know who is hiding in this forest?" Mike asked.
"It's not from the village," Claude replied: "It should be someone who lives in seclusion in the mountains and doesn't want to come out. Although I want to know who he is, I don't want you to take risks. Someone who can drive such a big black wolf
People must have some abilities that are different from ordinary people. As long as they don't hinder us, let them go. If they can trade fairly with poor villagers like Squirrel Village, they shouldn't be extremely evil people."
"Sir, even if he can control such a big black wolf, he still can't stop our muskets. If we don't gather our brothers tomorrow and turn the forest behind the village upside down, I don't believe anyone can hide from us.
Search." The big man said unconvincedly.
Claude smiled and shook his head: "There is no need. The mountains and forests are so big. If you want to avoid our search, there are plenty of places to hide. Besides, we have no complaints and no worries. Why did we go to find this person hiding in the mountains and forests?"
What? Although we have to be stationed here for a long time, to the villagers of Squirrel Village, we are just passers-by after all. Let them and this person hiding in the mountains and forests keep their secrets, as long as it does not hinder
We, we just pretend we don’t know about this.”
"Okay, sir, we will follow your orders." Mike and Big Germi replied.
"Go back and have a good rest, and don't talk about it to the soldiers, lest they become curious and go looking for this person in the mountains and forests. Sometimes it's not very safe even with a musket in hand. The black wolf is very sensitive.
If it wants to sneak up on someone in the mountains and forests, it will be difficult to guard against it. I don't want our brothers to be hurt out of curiosity, do you remember?" Claude warned McJack and Gemmi sternly.
Perhaps it was Claude's stern warning that made Mike and Big Germi have to consider the consequences of bragging and leaking the matter among the soldiers. The two men hurriedly vowed that they would keep this matter in their hearts and would never tell other soldiers.
Think of everything I saw tonight.
"Okay, I believe you." Claude thought for a moment and said to the two of them: "Tomorrow morning you two go back to the battalion headquarters and ask Major Lederfangk for some pesticides and powders for preventing poisonous insects in the mountains and forests.
The weather is getting warmer, and many poisonous insects are out and about. Our camp must also be prepared to prevent and control poisonous insects. In addition, I will give you some money. You can purchase some good ingredients and more rye wine in the town where the battalion headquarters is located.
Come with fruit wine. If I can’t buy wine anymore, I won’t be able to keep the two bottles of good wine left in my room. This guy Markchi has been thinking about these two bottles of good wine.”
Both Mike and the big man laughed. During this time, Markchi, an old drunkard, was addicted to alcohol. However, there was no alcohol in the camp. There were only two bottles left in Claude's room. He had always wanted to get them from Claude.
I got these two bottles of wine in my hands to satisfy my craving. Unfortunately, I was powerless and couldn't get the wine from Claude no matter what I tried. I even made a bet with Claude and lost all the money I had around me.
He was so clean that he had no choice but to take a leave of absence two days ago and went to Murray Ed's place in Black Rock Village to have a drink before he finally stopped his alcohol addiction.
"Sir, you bought the wine for Master Sergeant Markchi, right?" McJack asked with a smile.
Claude also laughed: "This guy has lost all his money to me. How can he still have money to buy wine? Let's buy more this time and let this guy drink enough. I persuaded him last time and wanted to be promoted to second lieutenant."
It's best to quit drinking, otherwise it will be difficult to move up. This guy said that there is no way, it is a habit left behind after going to the battlefield. Every time he is lucky to survive from the battlefield, it is impossible not to get drunk.
He can't sleep, and he is a pitiful person."
"By the way, sir, the mountain roads are in such bad condition now. What should I do if the wine I bought cannot be transported in a horse-drawn carriage?" asked the big man Gemie.
"It's okay, just spend a little more money to hire a team of pack horses. I can still afford this fee." Claude said.