It was getting colder and colder.
When the sun was high in the sky, the clouds looked hazy and illusory. More and more grayish-yellow stripes appeared in the sky as day and night alternated. The stars were cold and bright. All signs indicated that this was going to be a winter colder than previous years.
It was difficult for the homeless to survive such a winter.
Red Nose Tom limped back to the settlement with a bundle of dry wood he had managed to gather. The frosty wind of the frosty moon was blowing from the north, sweeping through the sparse trees and low hills, blowing into his face and into his collar, making him feel as if he was immersed in a basin of cooling water.
He was a young man of only seventeen years old. According to Ansu law, he was already an adult. However, long-term malnutrition made him as thin and short as most of his peers. From his body shape, he seemed to be underage. Only his rough, dark face and gradually numb eyes revealed his true age and the harsh environment he lived in.
He could already see the settlement. It was actually a small, crude camp in the forest of the Southern Border. It was barely a camp. Some low, tattered tents and piles of stones were gathered here, surrounded by a circle of equally tattered fences and thorns. The remnants of the Tanzam Mine extended to the southeast and formed a low barrier, barely providing the poor people hiding here with the most basic shelter. It was to withstand the cold wind from the north, to delay the arrival of winter so that the people here could live a little longer.
Tom walked into the camp with the firewood and saw pairs of cold and lifeless eyes. There were a total of twenty-six households and a total of one hundred and two people here, but a few days ago, the number was one hundred and nine. Most of the people here were refugees who had escaped from Condor Territory. The flood there had left them homeless. The rest came from the various viscounts of the Southern Border. They were all poor people who had lost their land and shelter for various reasons.
They wandered from city to city, village to village, and were driven away, captured, killed by the local lords or local beasts, or died of cold and hunger. The Southern Border was barren, and most of the land could not support a large population. For the nobles who only knew how to scrape blood and sweat from the land and serfs, any refugee who wandered into their territory was a disgusting mouth that needed to be fed. Therefore, the refugees could only choose to "settle down" in the wilderness.
Tom found a place to settle down. It was a small, tattered tent. This was a good situation because not every family had a tent. Many people had lost almost all of their belongings in the process of exile. They could only sleep in tree roots or rock nests, wrapped in tattered clothes or a pile of weeds. The only reason Tom had a small tent to shelter himself from the wind and rain was that he and his sister still had their machetes and bows with them.
The fire in front of the tent had been extinguished, but it was not night yet. Tom carried the firewood into the tent. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw a pair of bright eyes looking at him in the dark.
"Sister," Tom looked at the black-haired girl. "I didn't find any mushrooms. I only found this firewood."
The black-haired girl just stared blankly. After a few seconds, she suddenly said, "The two children of the Bohm family are starving to death."
"… Oh," Tom whispered and sat down in the dark. After a few seconds, he whispered, "Is there anything to eat today?"
The black-haired girl stared blankly again. Tom could not help but have a bad feeling. After a short while, the black-haired girl suddenly moved half of her body, fumbled for something, and threw it to Tom.
It was a small pheasant with a fresh smell of blood. However, Tom was completely unaware of its existence in the tent that was filled with all kinds of smells.
A thin pheasant was not enough to fill the stomachs of the siblings, especially under the premise that they could only have one meal a day. However, it still cheered Tom up. Compared to roasted mushrooms and roasted moss, meat could allow people to last longer in the increasingly cold weather. He was overjoyed. "You got something?! We don't have to starve today! "
"Bring the hunting knife when you go out to remove the feathers of the pheasant," the black-haired girl said faintly. "Put it in a conspicuous place."
"Okay!" Tom nodded vigorously. However, as he got more accustomed to the darkness in the tent, he finally noticed the abnormality of his sister. She was lying in the corner in a weird posture, and apparently, she did not have the strength to speak as usual. Tom went forward with an ominous feeling and finally saw the blood near his sister's shoulder and her limp arm hanging by her side. "Sister, are you hurt?!"
"I was bitten by a wild dog. It hurt my tendons." The black-haired girl's voice finally trembled. "I … can't hunt anymore."
As if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, Tom instantly felt cold from head to toe. He could not hold a knife, could not draw a bow, and the injury on her arm meant that his sister, the only one who could go hunting in the forest, had lost the ability to get food. At the same time, it also meant that the two of them … were doomed.
Everyone was hungry, and no one could come to help the siblings. For these people who had lost everything, even a small injury on their hands and feet, and a short loss of strength, was a fatal threat!
Moreover, people who were bitten by wild dogs were highly susceptible to infection, and in this case, once infected, there was no way to save them.
"I …" Tom gritted his teeth and made up his mind. "Tomorrow, I'll bring a bow and arrows …"
"Don't go," the black-haired girl said firmly. Her eyes fell on Tom's leg. "If you go, you won't be able to come back. Hunting in the forest is not the same as collecting firewood nearby!"
Tom was not born lame. His leg was broken by the Knight of the Lord's family. Because the Knight went to the church to listen to a sermon, the priest of the Church of the Blood God said that only by breaking a man's leg with his own hands could one break through the bottleneck of martial arts and courage. So, Lord Knight did not hesitate to break Tom's leg. After that, he compensated Tom with half a sack of wheat.
"I know how to set traps," Tom insisted. "I remember how to distinguish the tracks of bears and wolves, and I know how to avoid …"
"But if you die outside, I'll definitely die too." The black-haired girl stared into Tom's eyes. "Go to the forest to pick up mushrooms, look for seeds and fruits under the roots, and if it doesn't work …"
What can I do if it doesn't work? She did not know.
Tom bit his lip and thought hard. Finally, he said the idea that had been brewing for a long time. "We can … look for the lord here …"
"Have you forgotten how everyone was chased out of Calore?" The black-haired girl said sternly. "It's the Month of Frost now. There's no farming, and it's difficult to hunt. The nobles will not allow even one more mouth in their territory at this time!"
"Then …" Tom thought again and said hesitantly, "Maybe the mine needs slaves. The lord of Tanzania Town has a big mine. Even if it's the Month of Frost, the mine still needs slave labor …"
"Can you work as a slave labor?" The black-haired girl stared at Tom's leg. "I can't work now, and neither can you. Even if they want slaves, they won't want people like us!"
"What about going further south? I heard that the Cecil family's newly developed territory is south of Baishui. There should be a shortage of people to work there … At least I can tan leather. "
"Don't think about it." The black-haired girl finally sighed. Her eyes were blank as she leaned back on the moldy haystack. "The nobles … are all the same …"
The howling wind blew from the north again, sweeping across the bleak and poor camp.
Hunger and cold made people stop their only activities for the day. Everyone curled up in their tents or haystacks to minimize the loss of physical strength and heat. In the process, the camp gradually quieted down.
But outside the camp, in the denser woods, some shadows were gathering.
They were armed in a variety of ways, but they were all extraordinarily well-armed. There was no uniform on their bodies. They gathered in groups in the woods, staring at the small settlement through the trees and the night.
They were like hyenas staring at their prey in the dark, their eyes full of greed and hunger.
…
In the main tent of Cecil's territory, Gwen received Philip's report.
"A refugee gathering place? In the forest north of Baishui River, east of Tanzan Mine? "
"Yes, my lord." The young Knight nodded. "It should have been Byron Knight to report to you, but he was exploring the ruins in the mountains, and the news was passed to me."
Gwen put down the dipping pen in his hand. "How big is it? Have you sent people to contact them? "
At the same time, he was excited. After getting information everywhere, the investigators finally began to find the hidden refugee gathering place!
"It's not big, about a hundred people, but it's possible to contact other refugee gathering places through them," Knight Philip replied. "But our people haven't contacted them yet … because it's a little troublesome."
"Troublesome?" Gwen frowned.
"Some armed men of unknown origin are active near that settlement. I'm afraid they are the mercenaries, the 'slave hunters', waiting to strike." Philip's face showed a trace of disgust. "According to the news, that group of people is very well-armed, and there are confirmed to be Transcendent professions. There may even be one or two spellcasters, but their levels are unknown."
"Multiple Transcendents?" Gwen was a little surprised. "The strength of this mercenary team is not bad."
Knight Philip nodded. "My lord, what should we do?"
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