In the next second, Gleeward pushed Thales away and looked elsewhere. His breathing quickened.
Kurtz coughed softly.
"I see Kevin." Kurtz shook her head to the left. There, a young man peeked his head out sneakily from behind the wall and waved at them. Thales recognized him. He was the young coachman who drove the Old Crow to Shield District last night.
Perhaps it was because they had just finished talking about him, but when the three of them saw Kevin, their expressions did not look too good.
It was as if they had been caught talking behind someone's back.
"I'll go make the final confirmation. Wait for my signal." Kurtz spat out the grass in her mouth, patted the dust off her hands, and stood up. Her originally rascally temperament instantly became neat and tidy.
Gleeward nodded and watched her leave.
Only the veteran and the prince were left.
The atmosphere was a little heavy.
Thales watched the seamstress leave and suddenly said, "To be honest, I've been in Northland for six years. It's rare to see a Northlander girl like her."
Gleeward paused for a moment and snorted softly.
"Kurtz's father used to be a military doctor. She grew up in a military camp. Her childhood was filled with blood and screams."
Thales' gaze shifted.
The veteran tapped his fingers on the wheelchair, as if he was reminiscing about the past.
"Until her father passed away unexpectedly. The teenage Kurtz had to face those ruffians. You can't imagine what a girl would experience in that hell. You can't even imagine what she would become."
Thales' heart tensed.
He looked at the corner where Kurtz disappeared with slight surprise and recalled the tough impression the seamstress gave him.
Gleeward said absentmindedly, "At least before I fished her out.
It's a pity that the famous Dragon Clouds City isn't much better. Shield District and Hammer District are even more so. "
At that moment, the tough veteran seemed especially tired, as if he had just gone through a great battle.
Thales inhaled slowly.
"No wonder."
Gleeward snorted softly and shook his head. "You were born noble. It's hard for you to imagine everything going smoothly for you. But do you think she was born with a mouth full of vulgarities, a temper that's hard to tame, and no sense of gentleness at all?
"Do you think that she doesn't want to put on glamorous clothes and makeup, sit in a warm, splendid palace, and enjoy a sumptuous dinner and a man's love like a regular noble lady from the north?"
Gleeward tightened his grip on the wheelchair. The remaining three fingers on his left hand trembled slightly. "When life is tough on you, you have to be tougher than it is."
Thales did not speak for a long time.
But then he looked up.
"But I think she's very good right now." The prince's heart was a little heavy for some reason, and his gaze was sharp.
"A woman at her strongest, most beautiful, and most charming."
Dong!
Thales cried out in surprise.
He placed his hands on his aching forehead and looked at Gleeward indignantly.
The veteran expressionlessly retracted his right hand, which was as big as a wok. "Don't try to pick up girls at such a young age."
Thales gave him an aggrieved look.
"But, you're right.
"She's great." Gleeward smiled faintly. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes shone slightly. "It's been more than ten years. Kurtz has been our brother for a long time now."
Thales rubbed his head hard and said in annoyance, "Just brothers?"
"She'll be very disappointed."
Gleeward cast him a glance, whether it was intentional or not, but he did not speak.
A few seconds later, the veteran suddenly spoke.
"What kind of person is your father?"
Thales tensed up.
"My father?"
Gleeward turned his face to the other side and shook his head. He shrugged as if he did not care. "Yes."
The prince blinked.
'That's a memory from too long ago.'
Thales frowned and answered rather hesitantly, "H-he's a king."
* Dong! *
The second time, Thales held his head with tears in his eyes and watched indignantly as Gleeward retracted his right hand.
'Why?'
Gleeward was rather exasperated. "F * ck, who the hell doesn't know that your father is a king … Say something else, something useful, alright?"
Thales gritted his teeth. "Don't touch me again!"
"Something else? He … "The prince was about to speak, but a thought came to his mind." Why do you want to know this? "
Gleeward coughed and turned his head around in a seemingly normal manner.
"Oh, about that. You know, the two kings of Eckstedt were despicable and shameless bastards." The veteran shrugged a second time, completely unbothered. He rubbed his back against the wheelchair. "I was just wondering if the King of Constellation is the same."
Thales revealed a doubtful gaze.
"But the Old Crow said that you don't care about high-level politics."
Gleeward's expression changed. "Yes … I-I suddenly changed my mind … It's not a bad thing to know more. The next time we meet, I can mock him instead."
The veteran shrugged a third time.
Thales stared at Gleeward thoughtfully.
Then, Gleeward coughed in embarrassment and turned his face away.
Thales asked tentatively, "But didn't you say that you don't want to see him again, Hicks?"
Gleeward's face turned red. "It's none of your business!"
"Of course, of course, but …" Thales carefully observed Gleeward's side profile and narrowed his eyes. "Why does it have to be my father?"
Gleeward's expression froze.
"Oh, come on." He waved his hand and interrupted Thales in annoyance. "You know … Forget it, forget about it."
Gleeward snorted coldly. It was obvious that he was extremely displeased.
"Who the f * ck cares about your king daddy?"
The veteran crossed his arms and turned around. While shrugging for the fourth time, he angrily muttered to himself, "He's just another precocious, young, rich, handsome, charming, and domineering gigolo."
Thales stared at him quietly and smiled.
"What about Therren?"
Gleeward trembled slightly. "Huh?"
"You heard what I said." Thales sighed. "What about my mother? What kind of person is she? "
This question caused him to wait for an exceptionally long time.
After a long while, Gleeward curled his lips and shook his head in disdain.
"Your mother? Ha!
"That annoying little girl with a crooked brain." The veteran in the wheelchair revealed a complicated and indecipherable expression as he spoke nonchalantly. "She's best at causing a lot of trouble and provoking everyone.
"Fooling everyone into cleaning up after her."
Thales nodded. "Including you?"
"But spare me." Gleeward shook his head and sneered. "I hate her the most."
Thales smiled faintly.
"You and Hicks … were once slaves in the desert, right?"
This question seemed to have poked Gleeward's sore spot.
"Hey!"
He bounced a few inches on the wheelchair. He was very annoyed.
"I don't care what the Old Crow told you …"
Gleeward pointed at Thales with a hostile expression. "I agreed to help you with a small favor, but that doesn't mean we're very close!
"Stop with that 'I'm your good friend', that emotional trick."
Thales blinked helplessly to show that he understood.
The two of them leaned back in their seats again and waited for Kurtz's signal.
Then, Gleeward spoke again.
"Hey, the Old Crow didn't tell me much, but judging from the direction you're going …" Gleeward seemed to be unable to recover from his' rage 'naturally. He said stiffly, "You're going to the desert, aren't you?"
Thales' heart tensed.
He spread his arms and only smiled with his eyes narrowed.
But Gleeward seemed to have seen through his thoughts. He snorted softly.
"Listen, if you want to enter the desert, you'd better have a skilled guide, or else …"
Gleeward shook his head disapprovingly.
Thales thought of something. "Is the desert really that scary? Orcs or Barren Bone people? "
"Both." Gleeward twitched the corners of his lips, and his gaze was sharp. "Orcs, they can crush your skull as effortlessly as we smash eggs. As for Barren Bone people … it's hard to say. Those guys are very strange."
"Strange?"
"But your greatest threat is far from them." Gleeward's expression was solemn. "It's the desert itself, the sun, the yellow sand, and the demons who constantly whisper in your ears, 'Lie down, sleep, dream, and never stand up again'."
The veteran's expression began to drift into the distance again.
Thales looked at his side profile and remembered something. "You've been to the desert before, haven't you?"
Gleeward nodded absent-mindedly.
"When I was a soldier, I went there to fight."
Thales frowned slightly. "And?"
Gleeward raised his head.
"And …" The veteran on the wheelchair looked at Thales sternly.
"There's nothing else."
At that moment …
A commotion suddenly came from the street in the distance.
It seemed to be two men arguing.
"Get ready!"
Gleeward held both ends of the wheelchair vigilantly. "The signal is here. It's our people."
Thales stood up nervously, lowered his body, and held on to the low fence.
"Will this work?"
Thales looked worriedly at the two men who started fighting at the slightest disagreement. He watched as their fight became more and more intense.
More and more people joined in, turning the brawl into a group fight, and the group fight into a riot.
The patrols at the outpost began to frown as they walked towards them. They seemed to be suspicious.
Thales was anxious. "The Star Killer might be suspicious. I've seen the actions of the former White Blade Guards in Dragon Clouds City. I've seen how they could locate a Camian's whereabouts within half an hour in a chaotic situation. The Star Killer and the White Blade Guards know Dragon Clouds City like the back of their hands. This is their home."
The commotion in the distance grew louder. Many people rushed over from the streets after hearing the news and joined in the fight.
Then, a patrol soldier who tried to stop the fight was also punched to the ground.
Gleeward sneered mockingly.
"The Star Killer? Heh heh, that lackey leader and his lackeys? "
The veteran in the wheelchair turned around with a stern expression. "You're wrong."
Gleeward silently patted his chest.
"The people who are most qualified to call this city 'home' …
"It's never them."
The next second, Gleeward turned his wheelchair around. Amidst the growing commotion, he decisively drove out of the cover and rushed past the countless people towards the Cliff of the Sky. "Let's go."
Thales exhaled deeply, then jogged to catch up with the veteran.
The process of avoiding the outpost was easier than he imagined. The fighting between the poor people in Shield District was so loud that the pitiful dozen people in the patrol team were surrounded so tightly that not even a drop of water could trickle through. They could barely protect themselves, much less notice them sneaking into the Cliff of the Sky.
In Gleeward's own words, "Dragon Clouds City is really getting worse with each generation."
In the chaos, before the patrol team could send a large group to suppress them, they slipped under the rocky and uneven cliff wall. God knew how the veteran could move so fast while sitting in a wheelchair!
After making a few turns and before Thales was about to faint, he followed the rear wheel of Gleeward's car and finally saw Kurtz in front of a small, dark hole.
"Are you ready?"
Kurtz looked nervous, but her movements were not sluggish. She took out a low-quality Everlasting Lamp that was obviously modified from an old product from her backpack and tossed it to Thales.
Thales hugged the Everlasting Lamp while panting. He watched Kurtz take out ropes and tools. With a solemn expression, he said, "Anytime."
The sounds of fighting behind them started to slow down.
Kurtz smiled softly, as if she was disdainful. "Remember, only touch the places I've stepped on."
Thales took a deep breath and nodded with mixed feelings.
"Pray that I don't die in there." Kurtz smiled and patted the veteran's back.
The seamstress put the Everlasting Lamp in her mouth and straightened her body. She took the lead and slid into the small, dark hole with her feet facing downwards.
She was nowhere to be seen.
'This is … the Black Track?'
Thales did not have the time to be surprised that there was actually a whole other world in that small cave. Gleeward sighed and patted his shoulder.
"My people will prepare a horse over there. You can go wherever you want to go." The veteran looked displeased, but in the end, he did not say anything. "But, follow Kurtz closely inside."
Thales took a deep breath and imitated the seamstress. He put his feet into the cave. He did not step all the way to the bottom, but he could feel the slight chill inside, as well as the faint breeze.
"You're not coming?"
The fight behind them was still going on, but the whistle of the patrol team could already be heard in the distance.
Obviously, there was not much time left.
Gleeward patted half of his thigh and said mockingly, "Do I look like I can leap over roofs and vault over walls?"
Thales felt suffocated.
"Go." With a dark expression, Gleeward turned to the side. "I have to go back and clean up the mess, especially that dead face."
Thales looked at the veteran and clenched his fists tightly.
"Gleeward." Thales gritted his teeth and nodded heavily.
"Thank you."
The teenager said seriously, "Whether you're doing this for the Old Crow or for my mother."
Gleeward was stunned.
Thales looked at him with sincerity and nodded slightly.
In the next second, the veteran's expression became annoyed. He slapped Thales' back, and as the latter cried out in surprise, he pushed him into the Black Track.
As he watched Thales disappear into the Black Track, Gleeward took a few deep breaths to calm his agitated heart.
'Damn it.'
Gleeward cursed in his heart.
'For his mother?
Who does he think he is? '
With a displeased expression, Gleeward turned his wheelchair around and watched the fight on the street, which was becoming more and more obvious. He spat in displeasure.
"A king."
He looked at the sky, which had just lit up, and mumbled.
"A king." Gleeward's expression darkened. His mutterings were filled with dejection.
"How could he be a … king?"
The veteran looked at half of his thigh and touched his empty left eye. His expression was forced and gloomy as he said in a low voice, "Don't worry.
He said in a low voice, "F * ck."
But after a few breaths, Gleeward's nervous expression relaxed.
With a stiff face, he pulled out a thread from the pocket of his robe in a panic.
He slowly took out a small black leather pouch from between the two layers.
Gleeward opened the leather pouch with trembling hands. He stared at the item inside in a daze, then at the entrance to the Black Track.
He did not speak for a long time.
The veteran stopped moving, snorted softly, and shook his head in a self-deprecating manner. "F * ck …"
The sounds of fighting behind him began to die down.
But Gleeward did not seem to notice it.
He held the item in his hand. His face was livid and red, and he tried his best to put on a fierce expression.
"F * ck!"
As if that could prove something.
A few seconds later, Gleeward leaned against the back of his wheelchair in relief.
He laughed dryly and weakly.
The veteran shut his eyes tightly. There was a faint hint of melancholy in his tone.
"F * ck."
Finally, the item in Gleeward's hand slowly floated down and landed on his wheelchair.
The morning light illuminated it.
It was a neatly tied strand of a woman's hair.
It was soft, smooth, and bright.
It was fiery red.
He felt the friction between his back and the rock strand. After he slid to the bottom with a tense heart, Thales opened his eyes and saw darkness.
Then, he heard footsteps.
"Hey, you're afraid of the dark?"
Thales narrowed his eyes to adapt to the sudden light. He was still in a state of shock as he stared at Kurtz, who was holding the Everlasting Lamp and watching him with a contemplative look.
It was dark around him.
And cold.
Their Everlasting Lamps could only light up a small area around them.
"Follow me." In the darkness, the seamstress only had half of her face exposed by the light. She helped him light up the Everlasting Lamp and sighed. "Even if some paths are difficult to walk, you must still follow them."
Thales got up in a disheveled manner.
Kurtz turned around and used her hands and feet to climb up the dark rock wall. She seemed to be going up the slope.
"I have to climb this stupid place again …
"At least I got three hundred gold coins last time …"
Kurtz said sarcastically to herself, "What about our client this time? He gave us a chance to be hanged, hah! "
"Prince? Hmph. "
Thales could only pretend that he did not hear it.
The Black Track was narrower than Thales had imagined. Just as he was about to reach for the Everlasting Lamp beside him, his arm crashed against the rock wall.
* Thud. *
Thales hissed and rubbed his sore spot. He did not dare to be careless anymore. He carefully grabbed the Everlasting Lamp and laboriously followed Kurtz's footsteps.
Kurtz was obviously familiar with the path, and he could only barely see Kurtz's trousers and boots through the faint light from the Everlasting Lamp.
Soon, Thales experienced the power of the Black Track.
Obviously, there was no flat road here. It was either uphill or downhill, and it was full of potholes. There were even a few places that were as steep as cliffs. Kurtz had to use a hook to climb up, and then use a rope to pull him up.
"Is this place really meant for people to walk?" Thales complained in pain after he fell for the eighth time. "The Black Track?"
"It wasn't this hard to walk in the past." Kurtz chuckled in front of him. "But you know … the calamities played with stones in Dragon Clouds City when they had nothing to do, and they caused half of this place to collapse out of nowhere.
"Blame it on them."
They bumped into things everywhere in the darkness along the way. Thales even fell or slipped several times due to his inexperience. If it were not for his rich experience in wrestling when he was young, Thales felt that he would have been badly battered by now.
"Be careful, don't fall again."
Kurtz's voice came from ahead of him.
Thales blushed and felt the rock strata around him even more cautiously. "Thank you."
Kurtz snorted.
"I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about that Everlasting Lamp. Who cares if you fall or not?"
Thales raised his eyebrows and rolled his eyes in the darkness where no one could see him.
"The ventilation here is terrible. You'll suffocate if you use a torch."
Kurtz chuckled as she led the way.
"And it's too dark here. If you break the Everlasting Lamp, you won't be able to get out without light."
'Speaking of which …'
Thales thought of something. 'I have an idea.'
He snickered in his heart.
The Sin of Hell's River responded to his call and surged into his eyes.
As the blood vessels around his eyes surged, Thales watched with satisfaction as the dark scene before him slowly brightened.
Even though there was only a slight flow of cold air in the cave, Thales felt his vision become much clearer.
Thales only felt that his vision had become much clearer. Many of the obstacles that could not be seen in the dark could now be avoided beforehand.
Hence, he quickly caught up with Kurtz, and this made the seamstress look at him in a higher light.
"You got the hang of things pretty quickly!"
Thales could not help but feel a little smug. He began to pay attention to his surroundings.
"Oh, there are words here?"
Thales flipped over a rather flat rock platform. Through the Sin of Hell's River, he saw strange words on the rock wall.
"Huh?"
Kurtz, who was feeling the way ahead, asked in puzzlement, "Why didn't I notice it?"
Thales paused for a moment. The Sin of Hell's River continued surging.
He narrowed his eyes and touched the words carved on the rock wall.
"August, twentieth … livestock, food …" he read the words on it in a low voice.
Thales' expression became serious.
"The Ancient Empire."
Kurtz climbed up a protruding rock and asked curiously, "What?"
"Words. The words on these rocks are the language of the Ancient Empire. This writing style … is not that of the Final Empire. It's from the Ancient Empire from a much longer time ago." Thales blinked and recalled the Ancient Empire's alphabet that Gilbert taught him a long time ago in bewilderment. "This tunnel has a history of at least a thousand years, or even longer. At least at that time, Northland was still under the rule of the Ancient Empire."
"No." When Thales saw a new sentence, he immediately overturned his thoughts. His curiosity was piqued, and he said excitedly, "It shouldn't be that old. I noticed that there are some words and usage of the lingua franca mixed into these words. It seems to be a record of supplies and inventory."
Kurtz laughed dryly.
The seamstress seemed to be doing something that required a lot of energy. Perhaps she was rock climbing. She said perfunctorily, "Yes, it's really … really awesome.
Now, move your butt and continue walking. "
Kurtz finally climbed up a huge rock. She panted, stuck her head out, and extended her hand towards Thales. She said in annoyance, "Then give me your hand. I'll pull you up."
Thales raised his eyebrows, glanced at the figure above him, and continued moving forward.
But he immediately froze.
'Wait.'
Thales raised his head again and looked at Kurtz, who was above him, in disbelief.
The Everlasting Lamp only illuminated a small part of the rock wall around her. The rest of the rock wall was pitch black.
'But …'
When he saw the scene before him clearly, Thales was suddenly shocked!
He blinked in astonishment. In his field of vision, which was as dark as day due to the Sin of Hell's River, on the rock stratum above Kurtz's head …
Suddenly, there was another person.
It was a man.
He wore an ancient-looking armor and had complicated braids. His face was thin, and his mouth was open. His eyes bulged out, but there were no pupils. There was only white in his eyes.
He looked like a corpse.
Thales noticed in the faint chill that there was only black and the golden light from the lamp in the dark Black Track. But the man was' brightly colored '. He wore a dark green shoulder armor, a bright silver chainmail, and a dark red belt. Even the colors of his weapons were clearly distinguishable.
What was even stranger was that the man looked as if he was embedded in the rock stratum with his face down. He went against gravity and 'laid' upside down on top of Kurtz's head.
At that moment, Thales felt his entire body stiffen. He suddenly remembered the story of the "back to back" bunk in the university dormitory in another illusory world.
'Why now …
'I know … I'm most afraid of this kind of thing …'
"Hey!"
Kurtz shook her arm impatiently and said, "Are you stupid?"
In the next second …
The man moved.
Bit by bit, "he" lowered his neck stiffly.
It was as if his neck had become rusty.
Thales' skin started to crawl, and a chill ran down his spine.
In the next moment, as if "he" had lowered his neck to its limit, "he" started to move his eyes, which were devoid of any life force, and stared lifelessly at Kurtz beneath him.
"He" slowly pulled up the thin muscles on his cheeks and put on a stiff and cold smile. He revealed his abnormally sharp, rust-colored teeth, and with a hoarse voice that sounded as if his vocal cords had been torn apart, he uttered a phrase.
When he heard the phrase that was dragged out, Thales froze.
It was the language of the Ancient Empire.
"Live … people …"
But Kurtz's face was still filled with impatience. She did not seem to notice the thing that was only a few inches above her head. "Do you still want to come up?"
It was as if she did not even hear that phrase.
Thales took a deep breath and lowered his head to suppress the trembling in his body.
'Now.'
'How should I tell Kurtz that there's something above your head …
'There's …
'There's …'
Thales took a few deep breaths and desperately chased away his fear.
He made up his mind.
'What's wrong with that?
'No …
'It's just …
'It's just …
'It's just a ghost!'
Filled with indignation, Thales gritted his teeth, opened his eyes, and raised his head abruptly!
But he was stunned again.
There was only a layer of black rock above Kurtz's head.
'It's empty.
'The man lying on the ground, the brightly-colored ghost.
It's as if they never appeared. '
"Hey, hey, hey?"
Kurtz looked at the dumbfounded Thales with a displeased expression. The light shone on the side of her face and the rock wall.
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