Rhodes stood in the small square in the village, quietly watching everything in front of him——— after Marlene extinguished the flames, there was even a rare trace of tranquility here, as if the fierce attack of the barbarians before was just a dream, but unfortunately reality is reality after all, not a dream.

Li Jie and the other three spirit masters immediately started to treat the village after entering the village, fortunately, most of them were only slightly burned, which was not difficult to treat, and some militiamen were seriously injured in the battle with the barbarians, but after receiving the treatment of the spirit master, they finally recovered. As for the rest, it is not within the scope of work of Lijie and others——— they don't have the skills to bring the dead back to life.

"Thank you for your help."

A voice came from behind Rod, and he turned his head to see a militiaman in rudimentary armor standing there in disarray, thanking himself with a smile, this man Rhodes had seen before, the unlucky guy who was almost killed because the watchtower was burned down. At this moment, he looked quite embarrassed, but he straightened up, stood in front of him, and looked at himself with a hint of curiosity and respect in his eyes.

"If it weren't for you, I'm afraid that our Shenxi Village would be completely finished now, those cunning barbarians, I really didn't expect them to attack when the village chief led people out to hunt. I'm Pooh, the leader of the militia squad in Deep Creek Village......... Excuse me, ............... you guys?"

"We are members of the Starlight Guild."

Rod replied in a deep voice, then nodded at the other party.

"We had planned to travel to the Land of Atonement through Deep Creek Village. I didn't expect to meet those barbarians here. What's your situation like? ”

"Thanks to you, it's fine."

Hearing Rod's inquiry, Pooh's face showed a little helplessness.

"There are more than a dozen people in the militia squad who have survived now, although there are not many, but it is not easy for the barbarians to hold out until now........." Saying this, Pooh shook his head, obviously. He also realized that it was a bit inappropriate to say such a depressing thing now. So Pooh cheered up and smiled a little at Rod.

"Forget it, let's not talk about that. In any case, you are the great benefactors who saved our village, so please stay here for one night. Accept our hospitality. ”

"It's good."

Hearing the other party's invitation, Rhodes was silent for a moment, then nodded. Although he didn't care about the hospitality and invitations of these people, Rhodes also hoped to get some information through here, although he was very familiar with the environment of the Land of Atonement, but time was passing and changing after all, and if he could learn more information, then they would be more sure.

It has to be said that these people who live on the frontier of civilization are indeed very strong. Although their homes have been burned, some of them have lost their relatives and friends. But after extinguishing the flames and burying the bodies, the villagers quickly returned to normal, at least on the surface, they were able to put on a warm smile. Come and entertain and greet these guests from out of town.

During the conversation, Rhodes also learned that the original combat effectiveness of Shenxi Village was not weak, and ordinary barbarians did not dare to come to them for trouble, but this time it was an exception, those barbarians who originally did not like each other did not know what to do with each other and actually united together. He also took advantage of the fact that the village chief took the villagers out to hunt and came to attack, which caught Shenxi Village off guard.

At the dinner, Rhodes also took the opportunity to ask Pooh about the situation of the nearby barbarians, which is similar to the information he knows about the road, outside the border of civilization, there are about a dozen large and small barbarian groups, of course, no one knows their specific distribution location, but for Rod, as long as he can get the approximate location of the other party, then he can see the clues in combination with his own information. …,

It's just that in this conversation, one thing that Pooh said also caught Rod's attention——— according to him, there were a total of three barbarian groups attacking Shenxi Village this time, and they were located not far away, and about half of the three barbarian groups were dispatched this time. This is very rare, because in such a place, whether it is food, resources, or women, it is very limited, so the number of barbarian communities is generally not large, just to avoid the uneven distribution of spoils. And these three communities are mortal enemies of each other, and because of this, Pooh had no idea that they would actually join forces to attack together. This is also one of the reasons why Shen Xi Village was caught off guard by the surprise attack this time.

Such a change is naturally not a good thing for Rod, and therefore, he keeps this matter in his heart. Because in Rod's memory, he had never heard of someone joining forces between barbarian groups, but now, such an abnormal thing has happened, so there must be something wrong behind it......... If you think about it from another perspective, it is quite difficult to get the three communities to put aside their hatred and paranoia about the distribution of benefits and unite them. Not to mention that Shenxi Village is a relatively barren village, and there are no treasures that can be dug up here that can make people rich overnight for a few lifetimes, and those barbarians are even more hateful characters who don't see rabbits and eagles, even if they want to fool them, it is difficult. But now, these barbarians are willing to unite, what are they doing for the sake of it? And who unites them?

For Rod, this will be one of the most important pieces of information to investigate once he enters the Land of Atonement.

"Hahh..............."

The cool moonlight shone down from the sky, and Marlene sat on a stone chair in the village square, staring at the campfire not far away with complicated eyes. There, the mercenaries were chatting and laughing with the local villagers, and seemed very happy. The villagers also praised the mercenaries for their bravery, and offered them delicious food and wine. But this seemed to Marlene to be a bit odd.

"What's wrong? Marlene, sitting here alone? ”

Lizzie walked over to Marlene, whispered a question, and sat down beside her. As Marlene's best friend, Lijie was of course aware of Marlene's abnormality.

"Not used to it?"

"Frankly, I'm really not used to it."

Marlene shook her head at Lijie's inquiry, and then she raised her eyes again and looked ahead.

"I can't understand why these people can be so happy now that they have lost their relatives and friends? Shouldn't they grieve and mourn the death of their companions and friends? The graves of those people are not far away, but looking at their current appearance, I always feel a little ................"

“……… Heartless? ”

Lijie took Marlene's unfinished words, and the latter nodded slightly in acquiescence. After seeing Marlene's response, Lijie chuckled, and then she leaned back against Marlene's side.

"Frankly, that's what I used to think......... A long time ago, when I was just joining a mercenary group, one of my companions died during an adventure. I was very sad at the time, but my regimental commander and the others were not as sad as I was, although they also had anger and regret, but after less than half a day, they continued their lives as if nothing had happened. At the time, I couldn't understand the situation, and I even thought they were a group of cold-blooded people, and even felt that they didn't value their fellow human beings at all. But............ Later I understood..............."

With that, Lijie raised her head and looked at the sky. …,

"That's what we mercenaries do, and we have to be prepared to accept it all the time, but even if our companion falls, we still have to move on——— my regimental commander once told me that if I am worried about commemorating the death of my comrade, and I can't fight and eventually die, then it is definitely not what he expects to see. The only thing we can do is to continue to live, and to live happily, because if the lives they have lost only make us sad, then they will be grieving too. ”

At this, Lijie paused.

"I think that's the same with the people here, Marlene. They live on the frontier of civilization, and they are constantly on the lookout for threats like today, not only barbarians, but also beasts, and even something terrible. They are at risk of losing their loved ones and friends at any time......... But even so, they have to keep living, don't they? If they are burdened with pain and sorrow all the time, will their deceased loved ones be happy? What about themselves? Could it be that their relatives and friends sacrificed their lives for them in exchange for eternal pain and sorrow? ”

Hearing Lijie's inquiry, Marlene lowered her head and thought for a moment, then she sighed.

"Maybe you're right, Lijie............ Are you really mature........."

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Frankly speaking, I was also very disappointed when I lost the regimental commander, and it is difficult to say whether I would have been able to recover without Mr. Rhodes. But now, I feel like I'm okay with that........."

Lijie smiled a complicated smile, and then she reached out and took Marlene's hand.

"But......... Marlene, do you have any troubles? I think something isn't quite right about you lately......... Did something happen between him and Mr. Rhodes? ”

"This ........."

Hearing this, Marlene's face turned slightly red, and she looked at Lijie, but she didn't know what to say.

And at this moment, suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded, piercing the silence of the night sky. (Your support is my biggest motivation.) )