Above the mage

Chapter 243 Unknown Malice

Having a map makes things much easier.

In particular, the Snowflake clan's map meticulously marks most of the leyline creature gathering points and danger zones in this area.

All Gaode needs to do is follow the map's instructions, bypass the red-marked points or areas, and head towards the location circled by Baruch that represents the Snowfield Guardians branch.

Of course, he is unaware of what happened to the Snowfield clan after he left.

Gillette Snowver's final, completely misguided directions allowed the pursuers chasing Baruch to perfectly evade Gaudí.

With the help of the "ice skating technique," Gaode strode across the snowfield at a speed of forty kilometers a day.

Gaode, who set off on the 4th of the month of awakening, completed the journey that was expected to take almost half a month in just ten days and arrived at the lake marked on the map, called Xiaoyan Lake.

The lake is named this because its outline resembles a swallow.

The lake was not large, and it had long been frozen over.

As in most places, many creatures, especially humans, inhabit the vicinity of water sources.

Even though it's a frozen lake, the same applies.

The Snowfield Guardians' branch was established on a small hill next to the lake.

It was a cluster of low-rise buildings situated in an open area, backed by hills and facing the lake, in an excellent location.

Since the Snowfield Guardians do not need to migrate as frequently as the Northern Tribes, their buildings are real buildings, not tents like yurts.

The exterior walls of these buildings are constructed using light gray patterned stones unique to the snowfields.

The patterned stones are tightly joined together with almost no gaps, which can effectively resist the invasion of severe cold and snow.

The building's overall style is simple and practical, without excessive decoration. Several narrow windows are set in the walls, and heavy curtains made of animal hides are hung inside the windows to block the cold wind.

Gao De arrived at the gate of the Snowfield Guardian Branch.

Because large trees, or high-quality timber, are scarce on the snowfield, the gate here is different from ordinary gates and is not made of wood.

Instead, the frame of the gate was made by polishing sturdy animal bones, and the main body of the gate was reinforced with tough animal leather, which can be said to be very exotic.

Gao De slowed his pace and called out into the room, "Is anyone there?"

Soon, a middle-aged woman wearing a roughly made blue robe emerged from it. The robe had some strange patterns on it, which were symbols of the guardians of the snowfield.

Blue is the color favored by the guardians of the snowfield.

In fact, just as forest peoples love green, most ethnic groups in the snowy plains prefer blue or white.

Unlike the religious attire worn by outsiders, the middle-aged woman's robe was rugged and practical, and it was adorned with some overly simple and practical items, such as small bone knives and amulets.

Middle-aged women have rough skin, but it still retains a certain elasticity and does not look old.

She looked at Gao De, a hint of wariness in her eyes. "Outsider, who are you looking for? What do you need?"

Gao De maintained his smile and said, "Hello, I'm here to find Damon's Guardian."

"Looking for Lord Damon?" The middle-aged woman glanced at Gao De, still somewhat skeptical, her eyes questioning.

"I was entrusted by the Guardian Baruch to deliver an important message to the Guardian Damon," God explained.

The middle-aged woman thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Come in with me first. Lord Damon is not in the church right now and may not be back for a few more days."

The middle-aged woman led Gao De into the church.

Upon entering, Gao De discovered that there were many young children inside, who were currently training their bodies under the guidance of instructors from the Snowfield Guardian Church.

On the snowy plains, a strong physique is very important.

Perhaps sensing Gao De's surprise, the middle-aged woman named Ona casually explained the details to him.

Through Ona's introduction, Gaode gained a deeper understanding of the Snowfield Guardians.

The so-called Snowfield Guardians branch is actually more like an "orphanage".

One reason the Snowfield Guardians established a branch here is to facilitate communication among members who are "fighting alone" on the snowfield.

More importantly, it is used to house orphans who have lost their families due to the cold or because of leyline creatures.

If no one takes them in, these children will soon starve to death or freeze into ice sculptures.

The Snowfield Guardians take in these orphans, providing them with shelter and food, and also teaching them.

However, this protection is time-limited.

Once these orphans reach adulthood, they must leave the Snowfield Guardians and fend for themselves, just like eagles soaring over the snowfield.

Of course, there are a few gifted children or children who have awakened their Iceborn bloodline.

These children will then be actively recruited as members by the Snowfield Guardians.

In fact, most of the Snowfield Guardians come from this background.

It is precisely because they received the teachings of the Snowfield Guardians from a young age that they were able to understand and accept the Snowfield Guardians' doctrines, and then dedicate themselves to them.

Otherwise, it would be very difficult to find so many people with selfless dedication among monks whose values ​​are already mature.

Ona led Gao De to an empty room.

"Outsider, there have been frequent beast tides in the southwest lately. Lord Damon left the church last month to go there and investigate the details."

"However, as the leader of this branch, Damon the Guardian is not allowed to leave the church for an extended period of time according to regulations, and should return within a week."

"If you have nothing to do and are not in a hurry, you can wait here for the Guardian of Damon to return."

"If you have something urgent and can't wait that long, you can tell me the important message first, and I will pass it on to Damon's guardian as soon as he returns."

Gao De listened silently to Ona's words, but his gaze became somewhat strange at this moment, as if he had discovered something.

"Master, she's a bad person, but not that bad."

The bad guy, but not that bad, he was just malicious and only targeting me, and it hadn't escalated to the point of wanting to kill me.

Gao De quickly understood Flora's description.

"Are you sure, Lady Flora?" He communicated with Flora, who was hidden in his pocket, through telepathy.

"Of course," Flora affirmed.

Where did this malice come from?

Gaode doesn't understand.

He had already mentioned Baruch's name.

As a powerful mage among the guardians of the snowfield, Baruch should have been respected by Ona, so why did she harbor malice towards him?

Is it because they doubt their own origins?

They should have questioned him in detail, instead of just bringing him here and making him wait for Lord Damon's return.

This is more like the meaning of "inviting someone into a trap".

A flurry of thoughts raced through Gao De's mind in an instant, but on the surface, he calmly replied:

"It's alright, I don't have anything urgent to do. I'll just wait here for Damon's Guardian to return. The message that Baruch's Guardian asked me to deliver is more important, so I'd better deliver it to Damon's Guardian personally."

Ona nodded. "That's only right."

"But since it's important news, why didn't the Guardian of Baruch come in person, but instead entrusted it to you?" she asked, puzzled.

"He has more important things to do and can't leave for the time being." Since he knew the other party had malicious intentions, Gao De didn't tell the truth and concealed the news of Baruch's injury.

"I see," Ona said without doubting Gao De's words, and added, "Please sit down first, I'll go get you some food. You must be hungry after traveling all this way."

"Indeed! Then I'll trouble you." Gao De immediately burst into a hearty laugh.

"It's alright." Ona smiled and nodded, then left the room.

Whether they were actually going to get food or do something else is hard to say.

What should we do now?

He quickly began to think.

A wise person does not stand under a crumbling wall; this is definitely not a place to linger.

But leaving is definitely not now.

This is their territory. If he runs away now, Ona will find out soon. If they mobilize all their resources to find him, they will most likely be able to catch up with him very quickly.

That means we'll have to run away at night.

By then everyone will be asleep, and by the time Ona discovers he's run away, several hours will have passed.

The snowfield is so vast, and several hours have passed; finding him again won't be so easy.

With that thought in mind, Gao De quickly made up his mind.

If the other party really wanted to take him down, they wouldn't have waited until now; they should have called for reinforcements the moment they saw him.

After all, he had already delivered himself to their doorstep.

Clearly, Ona's plan was still to keep him calm for the time being, which was exactly what Flora had perceived as "bad, but not that bad."

"It's just delivering a message, how did it all turn into such a mess?" After analyzing everything in his mind, Gao De couldn't help but feel a little frustrated.

What I thought was just a simple mail delivery task has turned out to be what it is now.

If it weren't for Flora's innate wisdom and ability to detect malice, he would probably have been a fish on a chopping board without even realizing it, and who would he have been able to reason with?

After a while, Ona indeed returned carrying a clay pot.

The earthenware pot contained fish soup, with a piece of fish floating in it, still steaming.

The biggest advantage of being near Xiaoyan Lake is the availability of "fishery" resources.

This is also the source of their confidence in taking in orphans.

The fishery resources of Xiaoyan Lake, combined with the catch from hunting, generally ensure that the food supply in the branch is not interrupted.

A thought struck Gao De, and he quietly cast [Detect Toxicity] to check if there was any poison in the fish soup.

Thankfully, no.

Of course, detecting toxicity is not always reliable.

There are many other ways to evade the detection of [Poison Detection], but those are all high-level spells that require a high-level mage to perform.

Since a high-ranking monk like Gao Huan wanted to frame him, why go through all this trouble by poisoning him? Just take him down directly.

With that thought, Gao De put on a grateful expression, took the earthenware pot, and first took a hearty sip of hot soup, letting out a satisfied groan.

"So refreshing! After traveling for so many days, I haven't had a single sip of hot soup," he exclaimed, while also complaining, "and it's fish soup. I haven't had this stuff in ages since I entered the North."

Seeing Gao De's straightforward and generous attitude, Ona's smile widened even more.

"Thank you for your hard work," she said.

In her view, Gaode's behavior showed that it was completely unaware that something was wrong.

Just as she needed to keep Gaode calm, Gaode also needed to keep Ona calm and lower her guard so that he could make his escape plan for the night easier.

Gao De maintained his persona as a "simple and ignorant outsider" and stayed in the Snowfield Guardians' branch.

He arrived in the afternoon, so it got dark soon afterward.

That evening, Gaode had another hot dinner with the orphans taken in by the Snowfield Guardians and several instructors.

It was clear that the orphans were very curious about this outsider.

A few of the bolder children even came up to ask about the situation in the other town.

Because in the eyes of the people of the North, although most outsiders were not good people, the abundance of resources and good conditions in other places were undeniable.

The children were also very curious about the legendary, prosperous foreign land.

Gaode didn't stand on ceremony and casually gave them a brief overview of the outside world.

"Food... I wish we could grow food here too," a somewhat thin girl among the children couldn't help but sigh.

The main reason why food is so scarce in the North is that crops cannot be grown on the permafrost tundra, including barley and wheat, which are the most important staple foods.

Without such a predictable and fixed harvest, the Northerners would have to rely on hunting and herding for a living.

Clearly, both of these methods are inherently unstable and have significant limitations.

"You're just daydreaming again, Pearl!" another child immediately mocked. "Little Pearl only wants to grow crops, but he's never succeeded in growing anything!"

Immediately, everyone else burst into laughter.

Of course, this kind of laughter is not malicious.

Despite the laughter of the crowd, the little girl named Pearl remained steadfast, saying, "If one day we in the North can truly grow food, so many people won't starve to death!"

"Your heart is good, but the land in the North is absolutely incapable of growing crops," one of the instructors said gently, patting Pearl's head. "Little Pearl, you should work hard. You have the blood of the Iceborn and will become a powerful guardian to protect the snowfields in the future."

"I definitely will," Pearl said confidently, waving her little fist.

The instructor's words made Gao De take a second look at the little girl. He hadn't expected that this seemingly frail girl would actually possess the bloodline of the Iceborn.

After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.

Gao De also returned to his temporary guest room.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and began practicing the "Green Wood Longevity Sutra".

At this time, nearly four months had passed since Gao De was promoted to a first-ring mage. During those four months, he had almost never stopped practicing his cultivation method.

However, his total mana remained at 20 drops of liquid mana, with no new breakthroughs in sight.

Based on the current progress, it is estimated that it will take at least a year to condense a new drop of liquid mana.

It is evident how difficult it is for a mage to advance in their cultivation.

When he finished his training for the day, there was almost no sound in the entire Snowfield Guardian Branch, only the ceaseless howling of the cold wind over the snowfield.

Clearly, most people have already fallen asleep.

Without further hesitation, Gao De immediately stood up.

He first left a message on the floor of the room with charcoal:

"Some members of the Snowfield Guardians practice forbidden necromancy and manipulate beast tides to attack the Northern tribes in order to practice necromancy."

Regardless, he still had to complete the task Baruch had given him.

Then, Gaode silently opened the door using the "Switch Technique".

There is no moon tonight.

The night was dark and the wind was high.

Under the cover of night, Gao De, who possessed the ability to see in the dark, was like a fish in water. He chose a direction and quickly made his way there.

He didn't use the main entrance; that would be too conspicuous.

Soon, Gaode arrived at the corner of the wall closest to his residence.

With the help of the [Cat Claw Technique], he easily scaled the wall and then used the [Ice Skating Technique] to run westward.

That's the direction of the coastline.

The message has been delivered, and the map has been obtained.

Next, Gaode Maps will focus on finding suitable locations for planting trees.

(End of this chapter)