Chapter 73—Screaming Plains

    This is a vast, cold, and formidable land.

    In one year, only one-sixth of the time will have the sun shining on this place, and one-sixth of this one-sixth will be reduced by one-half The sand and mud are covered only with moss and lichens, and the rest are occupied by Carex, Oxytropis, Needle Spear and some unnamed grasses and low shrubs. You can also see the mountains, Birches, aspens and larch, but without exception, they all grow slowly, short and grotesque, and sometimes even the most experienced druids can't see what it is at first sight of seeing them. plant.

    The cyan and green on them can only remain for up to sixty days. For the rest of the day, the leaves of the trees will fall, and the vegetation will shrink and become low. Yellow-brown until the first snow in winter turns them all into white.

    There was a very low temperature for months, accompanied by squalls and blizzards - during this time, nothing was wrapped in thick fur As long as the limbs are exposed to the air for more than a hundred, it becomes stiff, pale and can be easily knocked out from the body; you can't touch metal objects with bare hands, as long as they are It will stick to your warm skin. If you want to take them off directly, you will tear off a layer of skin. The only proper solution is to urinate against it. This heat is enough to get rid of the dilemma, but if you are like a certain The careless idiot bites his dagger in his mouth - although it’s only a short time, he doesn’t want to accept the help of the caster, and he doesn’t want to taste someone’s “taste” when he hardens it, his lips. The face and gums are bloody.

    All things will become hard and brittle, lack of resilience, you need twice or three times as much food to afford the usual work, but every A creature is so fierce and swift. You can catch only the larvae hidden under the bark. You often feel tired and want to rest. You know that you should collect firewood and ignite it so that you don't freeze to death. You He would also sit there numbly, motionless, waiting to get real relief.

    Because of this, humans, elves, goblins, giants can hardly stay here for a long time, only the orcs that are covered with fur like bears, wolves, and horn deer can .

    The mage stood outside the tent and watched a horn deer that three or four cubs were trying to capture. The horned deer had five hundred pounds and a dendritic horn. Stretching out an adult male, the height is so long, the wide and soft hoof is trampled on the yellow-green muddy ground, struggling to prevent himself from falling down - the cubs have no weapons, only sharp but the length and hardness are quite The lack of claws and teeth, and the fur that is wrapped are not as thick as the adult orcs, so they can't bite the strong neck of the horn deer, and they must be careful to avoid the antlers and the slings that are kicking like a dagger. - A cub, like a red-brown piglet on his face and head, rushes to his companion and turns his attention behind with scratching and biting to open the prey. The hair, the fingers are long and deformed, and the thick nails of the nails are deeply inserted between the hips of the horn deer, and only the intestines are pulled out at once.

    The horn deer screamed and ran out like crazy. Its intestines were pulled to the ground, and it was trampled by its own hooves. The cubs ran with it and shouted loudly. The horn deer did not run far. When they fell down, they immediately rushed up, tearing open the belly of their defense, eagerly drinking its blood, eating its heart and chest.

     "It’s a bunch of good scorpions, isn't it?" A voice that is more like a scream than a scream suddenly screams from behind the wizard, one higher than the mage Nearly half of the upper body of the orc looked at the caster with impunity. His footsteps were the lightest in the entire tribe, and he could not even alarm the fish under the ice. The reason why he did this was to intimidate this. The outsider, but he does not know that the Master has already released his other "eyes", and even without it, the Master will never mistake the heavy smell that can be easily identified beyond a thousand feet, but he Still made a satisfying, surprised and fearful expression: "...no doubt," he said. "They will be a group of strong and brave warriors."

  ;   The orc proudly pulled the lips back, revealing all the teeth. "The prince and the priest let you go to their tent." He said that he is one of the few warriors in the tribe, so Is allowed to wear a chain armor and has two pieces , a shield - the fresh bloody smell that came from afar made him expand his closed mouth and flow out of transparent drowning. If it was not the order of the leader and the priest, maybe he would rush to drive away those little scorpions, hurting. Eat a big meal quickly.

    The wizard followed him into the tent of the priest. In fact, even if no one leads the way, he can find the place he needs to go - this tent is better than The tents of the tribal chiefs are larger, and the poles around the tents are covered with the elf's dry heads. Their golden hair is smeared with specially treated grease, which still retains the brocade-like smooth and bright texture. .

    The sun that has become thin and faded shines from the tent's quadrilateral zenith, but the center of the tent still ignites a small bonfire, taller than the body The sturdy leader appeared to be exceptionally thin and priest sitting cross-legged in front of the fire, the flame illuminating his face, and a row of small bottles placed before his knees.

    The Master bowed to the priest and the leader, and then sat across from them: "How?" He asked: "Respected Oaks Priest, respected The leader, have you got the result you want?"

    "This is the water of the elves' lives." The Oaks priest said that his lingua franca is very pure. If you close your eyes, you will not feel that you are talking to the orcs.

    "The Grey Elves and the Half Elves," said the Master: "We have lost a lot of power for this."
< Br />    "If a hundred cowards and a mixed-race can also be called a big break," the leader sitting on the left side of the priest said slowly: "Then I just wonder if This will continue the transaction between us."

    "The owner of the black-blooded tribe with a thousand slaves and five hundred warriors can of course say that, "The mage smiled and said: "I don't mind if you pay with the latter. I guarantee that they will be well treated in our guild, and will be able to taste the blood all the time and sharpen their axes on the bones of the enemy." "

    "The warrior is absolutely not good," the leader said.

    "Slave is also OK," said the Master.

    "The slave does not work either." The priest said: "If the potion is really effective, we can give you gold and precious stones."

    "Ah..." The Master said: "It’s really disappointing... I thought I could recruit the last batch of strong and fierce fighters for the guild. You are not even a slave. Is it because... Are you ready to launch a war against humanity?"

    It’s just a glimpse, the leader of the black-blooded tribe jumped up, his hair Surprised and opened, his body was bigger, and the shadow cast completely covered the mage. He snorted from his throat and quickly filled his mouth with corrosive saliva. His teeth were itchy. Forbearance, unless you wash with hot blood and fresh meat - but in the next moment, his movements suddenly stop, because a dark double snake is coming out of the wizard's arms, showing him even more terrible Two fangs.

    The Oaks priest stood up at a speed that was not commensurate with his appearance. He took the herbs from his skin and recited the gods to them. The carols, the magic filled, if Anemos is an ordinary snake, it will fall asleep in the first time, but beyond their expectation, it shouted loudly, squirting venom to the fire, smog It turned purple, and the priests and chiefs clung to their throats and fell to the ground, and the situation completely changed.

    The mage made a gesture to make sure that people outside the tent would not hear the movement: "Don't be too alarmed," he said softly. "I am just a businessman, a businessman who is completely uninterested in things other than business." He said: "Can we talk about it later?"

    He ordered Anemos to detoxify the two orcs, Anemos Falling on the neck of the leader without consent, the teeth are close to his furry ears: "I think his ears will be very crisp," he said slyly. "What do you think, master?"

     "When we finish talking about our business," the Master said: "I think you will have a lot of ears to eat, you say, the leader?"

    "How do you know that we are going to wage war against humanity?"

    "Do not launch a war against humanity, your tribe will It will be devastating," said the Master. "As far as I know, you have been blocked in the Dragon's Pass for ten years. I saw you. The soldiers are grazing themselves - your human slaves are almost dead, your weapons and utensils are rusted, your robes are broken, there is no salt or sugar in the meat that entertains me... and this year is again With such heat, I walked all the way, the frozen land was melting, the snow water infiltrated into the ground, the lake disappeared, the grassland became a swamp, and the river and the lake could not afford to walk for you and your herds. Thick ice, your deer and sheep can't find enough grass to eat and can't move around. I see that you are slaughtering them in large numbers, before they are hungry, but don't say if you can Eat them before the meat rots and melt, how do you spend the winter? In the winter that requires two to three times the meat but can't hunt?"

     "You have to start a war, rob human food or humans. After all, human beings are also your food. But the question is, do you think that your current strength is enough to break through the dragon's abdomen? Even if you can really Big tribe Together, but as far as I can see, their situation is not much better than yours - your elite warriors have been lost in the Battle of Thundersburg ten years ago, all here after the war. The cubs, their minions can still be tender and tender."

    "The wise tongue of the human," Oaks priest said: "You brought... Potion, isn't it for this?" He raised a small bottle, and the water of life was shining like molten gold.

    “You can try it,” said the Master. “The recipe for this potion comes from the red robe. He has done hundreds of experiments.”

     Humans, or orcs?"

     "This is a good thing for me," said the Master. "I can only guarantee that the potion is effective - you are ready Okay, the base of the potion? Oaks priest?”

    “I killed my last few human slaves.” Oaks priest said: “My favorite slave girl And the smartest and most experienced pastor."

    "You will get more." The Master said.

    "If my tribe is dead," the leader said, "I will hang your head in front of my tent - the Oaks priest will let my brother Inherited my position."

    The Master just smiled.

    The cub who was covered in brown-red pig-like hair was called into the tent of the priest, his eyes shining in the dim tent, because Tensed and the hair straight, when he saw the priest, he climbed respectfully on all fours, licking his toes on the outside, then the leader.

    The Oaks priest took a bowl of dark water from a large pottery jar and added a glittering thing to it. "Drink it." ,"He says.

    The cubs took the wooden cup without hesitation and drank the liquid inside. It was blood. He licked his tongue, human blood, but it was strange. It seems to have been stored for a long time, and it seems to have just been sprayed out of the blood vessels.

    It didn't take long for him to feel hungry - but he remembered that he had just eaten the entire front chest of a deer.

    The Oaks priest and the leader closely watched the situation of the young orc - he first scratched his face with a strange expression, a large hair tied to the skin It’s down.

    The leader jumped again, completely ignoring Anemos's teeth and the tight body, but the Oaks priest waved his hand and forced him to sit down. .

    Then they heard extremely strange sounds, they heard the sound for the first time, but they may never forget it in the future - it is the sound of skin, muscles, bones growing, old hair falling off, new hair growing again Come out, the muscles stretched under the wrap of the newborn skin, and the bones creaked. The cubs fell to the ground and twitched. The pain made his eyes gradually turn red, and the sweat, tears and saliva drenched. The priest's carpet.

    All the growth is coming to an end, the cub, or a new, adult, strong orc stands up, he looks at the wizard, like I saw a piece of delicious meat, and he rushed over and desperately.

    The wizard cast a small spell to solve this little trouble: "This is probably the only flaw," he waited until the Oaks priest and the leader's look became tense. After I got up, I said, "They will be very hungry after the change is completed, but they will be given enough food for them."

    The leader will let his guards take this new The orc moved out and told him to give him a whole deer, and the Oaks priest was silent for a long time: "How many cubs do we have?" he asked.

    The leader frowned, he was not good at calculating: "Probably... there are a thousand."

    ;  "How much water do you have?" Oaks priest asked the Master.

    "A lot." The Master said.

    When the Master left the Black Blood Tribe, it was the third day, the new soldiers ate the deer and sheep that were forced to slaughter in advance, the Black Blood Tribe The leader needs more weapons, which is another big business. He sent the news to his guild and turned to another big tribe.

    The sharp, sharp wind blew in his ear, straightening his cloak - the orcs thought the sound came from their horn, or they The call of the enemy's soul, but the Master knew very early, it was only because the wind from the extremely cold land passed through the hollow of the stone mountain and formed a "whistle" - these stone mountains scattered across the desolate plains, the beast People call them rib rocks, which humans call them dragon ribs, and the screaming plains are named after them.

    Anemos is sleepy in his arms, and when the wizard wakes it up, it insists that he needs to hibernate.