When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 720: Carriage and Jackdaw

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and old Laffer's carriage had already passed the seventh icy pass.

The wheels slipped on the gravel slope, and the axles groaned with a whistling sound like a dying patient.

Old Laffer tilted his ear toward the carriage, listening like a brilliant physician to the spasmodic gasps of the axle.

"The axle is about to fail." Old Laffer grabbed the rope that tied the cargo on the carriage and shouted to the coachman, "We have to stop and repair the axle."

"Are you the captain of the hundred or the captain of the tenth?" The groom in front did not even turn his head, "If one of us is delayed, the entire transport team will have to stop.

If you want to rest, go to the Bear Bite Burger and rest. If you want to be lazy, no way! "

Old Laffer immediately started to curse at the coachman: "You pig, do you think your grandfather is talking to you in plain language? If the carriage breaks down, the traffic jam will last even longer!"

"Who are you with? I'm the groom!"

"You will regret it if I tell you this. I have transported grain along this road before, but anything that doesn't rest will break down. The weather is too cold, the nails will shrink, and the wood will become brittle. Do you understand?"

"I'll fuck you..."

After several rounds of arguments with the groom and being whipped by each of the ten captains, old Laffer returned to the queue with an indignant look on his face.

On the blue-gray mountains covered with white snow, the light red dragon blood moss and the common short grass moss complement each other.

And under the steep and dangerous mountain wall, a long black and gray dragon was moving slowly.

The recruits wore uniformly issued double-breasted wool coats and dog-skin or wolf-skin hats on their heads.

They really were like wolfhounds, moving silently and ruggedly, and only the old horse could emit puffs of hot and moist breath.

The cold wind in the mountain pass made people's faces hurt. Experienced people like old Laffer would buy lard or sheep fat in advance to apply on their faces.

Those inexperienced recruits or new recruits from the plains had to either pay double the money to buy from them or continue marching with gaping wounds all over their faces.

It had been more than half a month since they left their hometown. They first took a boat down the Ibe River, then took a boat to Rapids City, and then changed to the Nauan River.

Then we went upstream along the Nauan River and were pulled by trackers across the turbulent gorge.

Then they headed north from Horn's hometown, Upper River County, and arrived at the border of the Thorn Garden, Gravel Plain, and Thousand River Valley.

What they faced were high mountains and increasingly cold air.

Walking on the creaking frozen soil, old Laffer could see the wheels swinging left and right more and more.

It struggled to hold on, biting the axle tightly, but it couldn't help but become looser and looser.

Finally, when passing the ninth pass, the axle completely failed. With a click, the crisp sound of breaking even scared away the snowy owl in the crevice.

"Oh, damn it!" The coachman jumped off the carriage and stared in amazement at the wheel stuck in the crack of the ice.

The broken axle wasn't a big deal, but the huge pressure on the wheel stuck it firmly into the cracks of the frozen soil.

"Oh, damn it!" Old Laffer immediately repeated the words in a sarcastic tone, imitating the groom.

But the groom was in no mood to fight him again. He was even sweating in the cold weather. "What should I do? What should I do?"

"What's going on... Damn it, what's wrong with this wheel?!"

Captain Ten arrived quickly but had no other options. Even if he whipped the coachman hard a few times, he couldn't solve the current problem.

"You guys, take the shovels and pickaxes off the carriage."

Several enthusiastic recruits immediately stepped out and took out shovels and pickaxes from under the tarpaulin. They straightened their backs, bent their waists, raised the pickaxes high and swung them down.

“Ding——” Under everyone’s dull gaze, the iron pickaxe actually collided with the frozen soil and made a metallic sound.

After a few hits from the pickaxe, not only did the wheels not move at all, but the hands of several soldiers were numb from the shock.

At this time, the convoy behind also arrived.

"Hey, what's going on in front? Why aren't they moving?"

"The axle is broken and the wheel is stuck in the ice!"

"We still have to go. What are you doing? Can you make way for us?"

"Stop arguing. It's such a small place. How can it fly?"

A young recruit seemed to be confident of his strength and stretched out his hand to grab the wheel hub, but was stopped by old Laffer: "What are you doing?"

"Get the wheel out! It can't be blocked forever, right?"

"If you want to get your skin peeled off, then do this!" Old Laffer pulled the recruit so hard that he staggered.

The new recruit was about the same age as young Laver, but old Laver was not without temper, and if he insisted on having his own way, he would not stop him.

Unexpectedly, the young man was surprisingly obedient. He retracted his hand and said, "Then tell me what to do?" The groom also rushed forward as if he had seen a life-saving straw: "Brother, I am wrong. I am short-sighted. If you have any ideas, please bring them up. This has delayed the whole team's progress. I can't bear it alone."

Seeing the groom admit his mistake, old Laffer nodded with satisfaction: "If we want the wheels to come out, we have to use hot spring water to thaw the frozen soil."

"Brother, please stop joking. It's so cold in this mountain. Where can I find hot spring water for you?"

"Don't be in a hurry. Who said we have no hot spring water?" Old Laffer said as he unbuckled his belt.

The golden warm liquid was poured on the wheels, and dreamy and misty white mist rose up, blocking the recruits' vision.

People stared at the sturdy mountain man in amazement until the ice began to crack in the fishy smell.

"Holy Father!"

As dozens of strong young men poured hot urine on the carriage, although it gave it a smell of urine, the convoy finally continued to move forward.

When they finally crossed the pass, the endless gravel wasteland seemed to jump out suddenly and glared into their field of vision.

There are groups of grass, intermittent puddles, large and small stones and crows flying all over the sky.

Shepherds dressed in animal skins and woolen clothes stood on the hilltop, watching them alertly but peacefully.

"when--"

At the junction of the foothills and the wilderness, the bronze bell on the watchtower suddenly rang, startling the old horse pulling the cart and causing it to raise its front hooves.

"arrive!"

Old Laffer raised his head.

Eight three-pound falcon guns were displayed on the hexagonal low wall and the central bastion.

The cold wind from the mountain pass blew through the huge mill blades on the hillside, and old Laffer could occasionally hear the creaking sound of gears turning.

The cold wind howled, the horses neighed, and when the new recruits, who were frozen stiff, stepped onto the wilderness, the first breeze actually brought a sense of warmth.

The long convoy slowly entered the pass of the valley and immediately rolled into a heap, turning the originally calm air into turbidity.

The horses neighed, causing the sheep on the distant hillside to bleat as well.

Piles of new recruits huddled in front of the cast iron and oak gates, unable to find their place among each other.

They stretched their necks, looked around, and shouted the team officer's name loudly.

But if everyone is shouting, then no one can hear it.

Several officers in padded jackets were waving canes in frustration and walking back and forth on the grass in front of the bastion to restore order and formation.

"You maggots! Stand still! Stand still! You don't look like war monks at all! Stand still! I'm talking to you!"

"Stand in two lines! Hold the damn letters of recommendation above your heads!"

In front of these rude officers, even old Laffer, who had always been unruly, lowered his head and held the letter of recommendation above his head.

He stroked the edge of the letter of recommendation, where the holy emblem was outlined in wax by Brother Ansel.

"Name!"

"Laffer de Hunt."

The registrar paused as he wrote: "Germany?"

“My grandfather’s grandfather.”

"Is it the groom of the Duke of Hermash?" The quartermaster suddenly interrupted, whipping the frozen ground with a cane, sparking sparks. "There have been six grooms of the Duke before you. Mark him as Laver Hunter, next one!"

He retracted his hand, picked up the blanket assigned to him, adjusted the wolf hunting bow on his back, and walked towards the bastion.

But suddenly, the crowd became restless, as if something chaotic had happened in the distance.

"Holy Father!"

“Is that a shepherd?”

"Let me into the bastion, let me into the bastion!"

"mom!"

Several officers hurriedly swam through the crowd, beating them with canes and asking loudly, "What's wrong? Why don't you fart?"

The new recruit who had tried to grab the wheel suddenly grabbed the arm of old Laffer who was watching:

"Uncle, look over there!"

(End of this chapter)