Heart of the Castle

Chapter 212 West, West, West
The sun once again shone on the towering city walls of North Aura, giving the town shrouded in plague clouds a solemn golden border.Several soul mourners in black robes walked slowly across the suspension bridge, taking heavy and slow steps unique to funerals, and a group of civilians followed behind them, some of them looked extremely sad, while more What was revealed was a face that had been numb and bewildered.

A neighing of a war horse came from behind, followed by the rapid sound of hooves hitting the ground. Everyone, including the comforter, involuntarily parted to the two sides, and all looked in the direction of the sound with surprised eyes.

A group of people wearing dark blue cloaks rode horses and galloped, and the road separated from the crowd passed by like a whirlwind. The golden thunder and lightning emblem on the cloaks fluttering behind them was extremely eye-catching.The people who saw this scene watched them silently until their backs gradually merged into the western sky.

"To the west...is it an abandoned tower?" a soul comforter murmured. "I hope it won't be like last time..."

"My merciful father, have mercy!"

"Please bless us, God of the Sky."

Sad prayers buzzed from the crowd, and many people knelt on the ground towards the west, touching the ground with their heads piously and helplessly.

The identities of the team of riders who pinned the last hope of the residents were varied. The one in the front was a short, stocky guy. The standard cloak of the Temple of Storms obviously did not consider the existence of this type of body, and it was tightly wrapped around this guy. It looked like a blue potato on the back of a horse; followed by two tall knights with long swords at their waists, and the older one had a The knight's belt with a copper buckle, and the golden double-sword badge on it shone with dazzling brilliance; the several riders following behind wore the unique pointed hat of the storm priest, but instead of wearing the wide priest's robe, they wore secular hard Leather armor, a cowhide belt, and a square-headed war hammer etched with the emblem of the Thunder God.

The war horse in the back of the palace was extraordinarily tall and fat, but it was extremely hard to run, because the knight sitting on the back of the war horse was really too burly, and he was wearing a whole set of heavy steel armor.A square tower shield that can almost allow an adult to hide behind without bending over is on his back, covered with countless sharp short thorns, it is not so much a defensive piece of equipment as it is a piece of equipment. A terrible weapon.

When the majestic city walls of North Aura gradually disappeared behind them, the riders gradually slowed down their horses. White steam was sprayed from the nostrils of the horses, and they changed from galloping to walking at a medium speed.The short man walking in the front stretched his neck and looked around, then pointed to the north direction and said, "Everyone, let's go in that direction."

"Why, the tower we are going to is located in the due west, and we can see it half a day's journey ahead." A man wearing a storm priest's peaked hat rushed up from behind, frowning and questioning.

"If you go directly to the west, it's a shortcut to hell." The short man snorted dissatisfiedly, then reined in the horse, and the war horse under his crotch neighed, kicking and stopping.

"Babrupa, what's the matter?" A young-looking knight also reined in his horse and asked a little strangely.

"Master Li Wei, I think we should determine the route first." The short man bowed exaggeratedly, and then unloaded a bark box from the back of his war horse. "There are out-and-out treasures inside, look at this..." He rummaged through the box for a while, found a scorched yellow sheepskin scroll, and spread it out on the box cover.

The riders got off their horses and surrounded them. A priest glanced at it and immediately asked in surprise, "Is this a map of the vicinity of North Orla?"

"Yes, all the information is recorded on it, and I collected it bit by bit." Babrupa said, nailing the sheepskin map to the lid of the box with a dagger, and then pointing at it .

"This is North Orla..." He pointed to a large white circle on the map, then extended his hand to the right until a black mark surrounded by mountains. "And here is the ruins of the mage's tower..." Babrupa retracted his fingers, and patted between the white circle and the black mark, "We are here now, of course going directly to the west is the closest, but What I have to pass is..." The stubby fingers poked heavily towards a dark gray shadow in the middle of the map.

"Rotten Swamp!"

Babrupa's voice was actually not very loud, but it made the faces of those storm priest costumes change drastically, and they began to whisper to each other.

"The Swamp of Destruction? Where is that?" Levi muttered a little puzzled, and then he noticed that Wilpus's face was also very dignified.

"It was a very dangerous swamp, full of bottomless quagmire covered with duckweed and rotting leaves, and there was only one muddy and winding path through which it was so narrow that even horsemen could not stand side by side. Go, once you lose your way, you will never come back." Babrupa said in a hoarse voice.

"Yesterday in the prison of the Temple of Storms, didn't you claim to know everything about the vicinity of North Aura? Don't you know the road through the rotting swamp?" Priest Faron stabbed the bragging guy from the side.

This sentence obviously stabbed Babrupan's self-esteem with abnormal desire to express, "Of course I know!" He blushed and retorted: "If it's just these things, I can guarantee that everyone will be brought there safely. , but... Pastor Fallon, have you ever been to the Swamp of Rot?"

Reverend Fallon shook his head and said, "No, I haven't been there."

"That's it, so you don't know what terrible things are waiting for us in the Rotten Swamp." Babrupa's face was dark, even when he was surrounded by the North Aola guards, his face was dark. It looks better than it is now.

"There are countless undead wandering in the swamp of decay, some of them are the resentful souls of the travelers who died there, and more are the masterpieces of undead magic. The terrible lich used the skulls of human babies to build pale towers in the depths of the swamp. ;The head of the ghost is propped on the thin legs of the black spider and wanders around; the hag hiding in the mire wears a black robe, groans and wails, and drags the passers-by into the mire..."

"Thank you very much for your horrific description of the rotten swamp, Mr. Babrupa." Captain Ayers, who had been silent all this time, interrupted in a muffled voice: "But these are all unfounded rumors, and perhaps There are old mothers' bedtime stories. Now what we want to know is, which way do we go if not directly west?"

"Go north around the Rotten Swamp, pass through the edge of the Dusk Forest, and then turn west again..." Babrupa's finger drew a rather murderous arc on the map.

"If you go this way, the distance will be increased by at least three times, and it will take about three days." Pastor Faron wiped the sweat on his forehead with his hands and said: "Now if we delay one more day, the people of North Orla will have to increase by tens of thousands." Hundreds of victims."

"But if we get lost in the swamp of decay, or even suffer losses, the possibility of successfully eradicating the dead will be reduced." Another priest said grumblingly.

"Then, let's vote. Those who agree to continue westward and pass directly through the Rotten Swamp please raise your right hand." Pastor Fallon proposed while raising his right hand.

At first, no one responded to him.Pastor Fallon had a painful expression on his face, but then a young arm was raised high. Levi's face turned pale, but the raised arm was as unshakable as a rock.

A second arm was raised, Wilps with a wry grin, and then Captain Els joined them with an arm covered in heavy armor, more and more arms were raised, and finally in the crowd , only Babrupa folded his hands on his chest, his face was so ugly that he was almost dead.

"Crazy, crazy, you are all crazy!" Babrupa gritted his teeth, "I don't want to go crazy with you..."

A knight's sword and a square-headed warhammer were placed on Babrupa's shoulders almost at the same time, making him shut his mouth immediately.

"I think you have no other choice, Mr. Babrupa." Levi said lightly.

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Dear readers of Castle Heart, Castle Heart should be on the shelves in the near future, most likely this Friday. I hope that readers who like this book will continue to support it. If the monthly ticket in your hand has not yet been cast, please vote for this book. Thank you Shen Duxing.

(End of this chapter)