Facing such a strange scene, the other two orcs glanced at each other, their faces filled with fear. One of them clenched his wooden club, while the other prepared to issue a warning signal. But they still hesitated.
Because the orc tribe's rules were extremely strict. If they were to issue a warning signal, they wouldn't suffer too much abuse, nor would they be berated or scolded. Under Saruman's rule, the orc tribe was filled with conciseness, efficiency and brutality. The most common punishment was to silently take out an iron mold, and then carelessly press a red hot iron onto the victim's skin!
Before those who were punished could recover from the intense smell of burnt flesh and the immense pain, they would still be demoted to the ranks of slaves. They would only be able to regain the status of a free person if they performed some meritorious service.
With all these factors added together, it determined the tragic fate of the two orcs! They didn't sense the hidden danger, then they had to pay the price with their lives!
In that moment of hesitation, they smelled a fragrance.
A fragrance brimming with enticement. It was like wine that had just been warmed up, but also like the meat of a beast that had just been taken out of a pot of soup. It had the fragrance of a fruit that had just ripened. The two orcs were cold and hungry at the moment. They couldn't help but gulp.
Simultaneously, the nearby trees started to sprout at an astonishing speed, sprouting and growing. Green leaves rapidly sprouted out. A powerful vitality of nature ruled over this place, as though spring had arrived in advance on this cold and barren land. Suddenly, that powerful energy rapidly receded. At this moment, the two orcs finally woke up! It was time to issue a magical warning signal!
But it was a pity that they didn't even have the time to act. Their entire body suddenly surged with a searing pain. Golden light flickered, an ancient elven rune flashed past their eyes. In that instance, the souls of the two orcs were sucked into the ancient elven rune, as though they were being burned and corroded.
"Idiot …" One of the orcs tried to raise his axe, but before he could raise it halfway, it fell limply to the ground. After he said those two words, the tree beside him suddenly snapped into two, and he was also snapped into two at the waist. He fell to the ground like two pieces of wood. Blood gushed out like a fountain, and the snow was steaming. Soon, the blood froze into bright red ice.
The other Orc had just turned around in fear and began to flee when the Divine Elven Rune shot out from behind, piercing a terrifying wound on its back. The Divine Elven Rune then flew back at high speed in an arc. However, the wound on the Orc's chest didn't bleed at all. It didn't seem to feel anything as it continued to run for a few dozen meters before suddenly falling face down! It didn't move anymore!
In the middle of the forest, Sheyan was half kneeling on the ground. His hand was supporting himself against a tree as he panted heavily. Half a retching sound could be heard from his mouth. As he panted, he cursed the realm for stripping away his strength. After a while, he stood up, staggering forward a few steps. Then, a slender figure shuttled out from the trees, and directly supported him. It was the elf maiden, Melody.
Sheyan turned around and asked.
"How is it? Have you buried the chest? "
Melody nodded, but didn't say anything. Deep in her heart, she didn't like killing. Sheyan looked at her abnormally pale face, frowning slightly.
"What's wrong?"
Melody lowered her head to look at her feet, timidly replying.
"I followed your instructions and buried the chest. Coincidentally, I encountered a ….. a wounded bear. Its fur was extremely soft, and its eyes were filled with fear and terror. Thus, I treated its wounds ….."
"I got it." Sheyan sighed, he truly couldn't blame this kindhearted elf maiden. In fact, her twilight elf identity and memories of magic wouldn't cause one to shed their mortal body and lose their innate nature. To Melody, who was only 16 years old in human terms, she had already displayed sufficient strength and courage in the series of encounters she had gone through.
"I'm sorry ….." Melody looked like she was about to cry at any moment. "My strength is about to dry up, I only have one elven ancient scripture left. Killing those 3 orcs is my limit."
"It's fine." Sheyan earnestly replied. "Then let's hurry and leave. While those guys haven't caught up yet. "
At present, his heart was filled with anger. As the saying goes, even a wise man will make a mistake. If only he didn't allow Reef to take away all the Ocean-freak of Moria's eggs! If only one was left, Melody would have recovered to her peak state! How could she be so passive now?
"Are you really fine?" The elf maiden's eyes were brimming with tears.
Sheyan nodded.
"I'm fine. But if we don't leave now, then something will happen."
The two of them started trekking with great difficulty. Although they had slain the 3 orcs, Sheyan still had an ominous premonition lingering in his heart.
Obviously, Saruman's losses this time could only be described as horrifying. Not mentioning those priceless gems, just the amount of mithril and adamantium stolen was probably equivalent to a year's worth of production in Middle-earth! Under such circumstances, Sheyan definitely didn't believe that Saruman would swallow his anger and allow him to escape! Furthermore, he was now a genuine 'burden'. With such a speed, he was afraid there would be even more terrifying pursuers chasing after them!
Thinking of that, Sheyan asked Melody to help him find a cave to shelter from the wind. She would leave first. Even if her divine arts were exhausted, without him dragging her down, her speed would definitely be much faster than before. But this time, the elf maiden was resolute in her refusal. She didn't even speak much as she pulled Sheyan with tears streaming down her face. Helplessly, Sheyan could only continue advancing with her.
Although Sheyan had always felt a great threat, their journey forward had always been very smooth. Their expected pursuers had yet to arrive. Who knew if it was because the twilight elf's blessing was too powerful and concealed their tracks, or because Ocean-freak Moria had inflicted too much damage to Saruman, causing them to be unable to dispatch too many men?
*****
At present, Sheyan and Melody were already treading on a treacherous, icy and slippery path.
The wind was strong, carrying snowflakes as they sliced their bodies like knives. Sheyan had to bend his waist, trying his best to avoid the wind's resistance as he advanced. Occasionally, his body would flash with a green glow. This was the twilight elf's blessing, dispelling any abnormal effects from his body.
On their left, there was an icy gorge that was at least a hundred metres deep. The width of the gorge exceeded 200 metres. Looking down, one could see jagged jagged ice rocks crisscrossing. If one fell down, their intestines would be pierced through and they would die. The other side of the icy gorge was roughly 7-8 kilometres away from the orc city. Standing here, one could even see the white beehive-like cave dug by the orcs.
Sheyan had already noticed the unique topography of this place when he was being escorted. This orc city should be situated within an icy gorge deep within the Misty Mountains. Moreover, this gorge was located at the southern end of the gorge known as' Black Missing Tooth '. Below the mountain range at the southern end of the gorge, was this terrifying icy gorge. It was like a nightmarish belt wrapping around the foot of the mountain range at the southern end of the gorge.
If not for this incomparably treacherous icy gorge, after passing through the 'Black Missing Tooth' gorge and maintaining a straight line, they would reach the orc city after 5-6 kilometres. But with this icy gorge, even after passing through the 'Black Missing Tooth' gorge, they had to first traverse 7-8 kilometres to the west side of the gorge. After reaching the narrowest region of the gorge, they had to use a pre-constructed wooden bridge to brave the vile weather to cross this icy gorge.
Due to the fact that the wooden bridge had been in disrepair for a long time, the process was quite dangerous for the inexperienced captives. Therefore, everyone had to be alert and carefully cross the wooden bridge. Thus, the actual distance from the 'Black Missing Tooth' gorge to the orc city was more than 15 kilometres.
Of course, in such a critical situation where one man could hold the pass against ten thousand, the astute Saruman would definitely arrange for guards. Under normal circumstances, there would be 3 uruk-hais and 10 orcs patrolling the little house at the bridgehead day and night. Even a fly would not be able to slip past. Of course, that was if there was a fly here.
But under the immense temptation of this legendary creature, Ocean-freak Moria, Saruman unhesitatingly withdrew all the guards here, leaving only an old and frail orc to guard this place.
The only thing this orc had to do was to tear apart the magic scroll he carried with him to warn Saruman if he encountered any suspicious situation. Regretfully, this old man was obviously not a conscientious person.
When Sheyan and Melody saw him, he was leaning against a bonfire and sleeping soundly. Its yellowed fangs protruded out from its mouth, as viscous saliva dripped down from its teeth. A large puddle of saliva had already accumulated on the ground. Hence, there was sufficient reason to believe that Reef had swaggered past this place a few hours ago. (To be continued.) If you like this work, I welcome you to vote for it on qidian.com. Your support, is my greatest motivation.)
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