The setting sun shines on the Kodo Mountains and the shadows of the people under the shadow of the mountains and forests.

"Keep up, everyone!

The squad led by Duke Hunter was marching between the walls of the Kodo Mountains, unaware of the dangers facing the kingdom, and still trudging hard. Climb over the highest ridge ahead of you to reach the Swamp of Sorrow, the territory of the Grey Elves, which is only a stone's throw away from their destination.

But the road beneath their feet is not smooth. The Kodo Mountains are connected to the Mandelan Forest in the west and the Red Rock Hills in the east, which is a natural barrier in the north of the human kingdom, and all kinds of monsters in the middle of the continent, including the dragons, and the half-orcs on the frozen plateau in the north are all blocked from the human kingdom。 But on the other hand, it also makes the road to the Dragon Wasteland and the frozen plateau extremely bumpy, as the Duke led the expedition to the nearest way to the Gorubas Cave, its main peak is up to 3,000 meters above sea level, the weather is cold and changeable, often the snow and fog have just dissipated, the rain continues to fall, the road is unusually rugged and difficult.

In the early and middle stages of the Race War, this was the area of long-term confrontation between the dwarven army and the elven army, and the elves used their agility to climb the mountains and steal the fortifications built by the dwarves in the mountains, and struck a series of sudden blows to the rear. The dwarves dug thousands of tunnels and caves into the interior of the mountains, bringing supplies and troops to the front lines. And use the complex and changeable tunnels to take revenge on the elves. After the end of the ethnic war, the various ethnic groups shook hands and made peace in a situation of exhaustion and fatigue. This war-battered natural fortress was also abandoned, and later became known as the dark magic polluted and spread the swamp of sorrow. The caves of the Kodo Mountains gradually became a hiding place for poisonous insects and demons. Normally, it is inaccessible and lone travelers would rather take a detour through the Red Rock Hills to enter the human kingdom, or take the waterway from the dwarven harbors on the eastern coast of the Red Rock Hills to Haiyin Sturm or Qiongyun, with only a few hired bounty hunters risking their lives to search for the treasures, but many have quietly disappeared.

"People from the Hunters' Guild. ”

Duke Hunter glanced at the torn clothes on the bones, swept his gaze over the two hollow eye sockets, and continued on as if nothing had happened. A man behind him followed. He looked down at the dry bones on the ground and asked curiously, "How did he die?" ”

All the Duke's attention was on the road ahead, there had been a heavy snowfall not long ago, and the snow and mud on the ground had made the ground extremely slippery, and if you were not careful, you would fall.

"It's a succubus. ”

"What?" the other looked up at the duke's back in surprise.

"Succubus," the Duke said, glancing back at the right side of her face full of confusion and unease, "a demon, a female demon. He turned around and walked on as if nothing had happened. The mouth goes on to explain: "They bewitch people's hearts, especially men, and turn them into her slaves, and then suck their blood. Kill them. The listener shuddered and glanced at the Duke uneasily, as if he were a demon.

"Maybe we'll meet it in front of us. The Duke didn't seem to notice the other man's panic at all, and continued calmly, "The Kodo Mountains are the main habitat of succubi. Every year, a large number of rangers, especially those from the Bounty Hunters' Guild, haunt the area. And they died because of the succubus, but they still went forward for the sake of money, people died for money, birds died for food, that's what happened!"

"Sister Xueqi, don't listen to the duke's scary, if the succubus is really that scary, why is he not afraid at all?" Sakura's small head with long flowing white hair emerged from Xueqi's back, echoing the long black hair of Xueqi's shawl, if it weren't for the pair of slender ears sticking out between the white hair, it would really have a bit of a sisterly taste. She put her hands on Xueqi's shoulders and smiled nonchalantly: "Even if there are really succubi, we don't have to be afraid, just like we eliminated trolls and mountain beasts before, just destroy them!" Her words made Xueqi's heart a lot more stable, smiled and nodded, and peeked at the duke, the duke moved forward quietly as usual, although he didn't think much of Sakura's light enemy, but he couldn't say too much about affecting morale.

The duke covered the rain on his face with his hands, and at the same time called Xueqi and Gore to the front loudly, and laboriously ordered Xueqi to take care of the team in the chaotic rain, and explored the way with the elves to find a place to shelter from the rain.

A rain made the icy and snow-covered ground even more muddy, and everyone staggered on the mountain path, surrounded by thousands of cliffs, and the howling wind and the bitter torrential rain hit them wildly, making people almost unable to open their eyes, and could only carefully hold on to the mountain wall around them to move forward slowly, for fear of accidentally rolling down the mountain.

However, there are always exceptions. The heavy rain didn't seem to affect Sakura's mood, and the muddy ground didn't seem to hinder or threaten the elf girl's steps, she walked in the middle of the group, facing the outside of the cliff, stretching her arms out to the gloomy sky, breathing in the fresh air of the rain and enjoying the coolness of the rain. For the elves, rain is their favorite thing, the elves believe that rain is a gift from the goddess of nature, can purify the world's filth, so whenever it rains, the elves will come to the rain to enjoy the moisture of the rain and dew.

However, this is not the Norman Forest, the muddy ground is very slippery, and Sakura only cares about enjoying the comfort in the rain, she has long forgotten where she is, she slipped under her feet in the cold, and the whole person lost her balance and slipped to the ground, and the ground under her feet was only more than a meter wide, and there was an abyss beside her, and the slippery mud on the ground made her unable to stabilize her body at all, screaming and falling down.

"Ahh Her staff, on the other hand, had fallen off the cliff and shattered to pieces. The roar of the storm drowned out her delicate voice in an instant. The elven girl struggled desperately, kicking and kicking her feet indiscriminately. Trying to find a foothold to climb up, at this moment, she suddenly saw a big foot stepped on it in the rain and fog, and Sakura, who was so frightened that her eyes were blurred with tears, didn't have time to see who was behind the rain curtain, but just opened a pair of big teary eyes in horror and let out a cry of surprise.

Yuki's voice came suddenly, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps with the sonorous and powerful boots, and the big foot just now quickly retracted, and instead the strong hand grabbed Sakura's arm. And Yuki hurried over, grabbed Sakura's other arm and pulled her up, and the frightened elf girl sat panting in the mud, tears of horror mixed with rain flowing wantonly on her pale face.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Xue Qi carefully squatted down beside her, holding her in her arms, Sakura's body trembled violently, and it took a long time to calm down, and she looked at Xue Qi gratefully. He looked up at the old blacksmith Alfrey beside him, and said in shock, "Thank you, thank you Uncle Alfre, thank you Sister Xueqi." If it weren't for you, I'd be dead!"

"It's okay, be careful in the future. You don't have to pay more attention to safety outside than you do in the forest. Collect the child's heart!" Xue Qi whispered comforting and admonishing softly, and helped her to stand up. Turning back to Alfrey, he told the people behind him to be careful about the road, and he continued to walk forward with the trembling Sakura in his arms.

Alfrey agreed to Xueqi's advice, stared at the backs of the two girls leaving, and wiped the rain from his face with his big thick hand, a strange expression that was complicated and difficult to understand.

Suddenly, Alfrey felt a chilling feeling behind him, and when he turned around, he was meeting the cold gaze of the gray elf Kirsco, he subconsciously turned his face to avoid the other party's scrutiny, and turned sideways to make way for the other party, and the agile figure of the gray elf flashed in front of him, and walked away without looking back. Alfred had just breathed a sigh of relief when he was suddenly slapped on the ground, and he was suddenly shocked into a cold sweat, and when he looked back, it was his old friend Golle.

"Hey, can you not be scared suddenly, my old life almost scared you to death!" Alfre's angry roar drowned out the chaotic sound of the rain, and seemed to be a little angry, but Goller just glanced at him meaningfully, shook his head gently, and cautiously walked around his side and continued to walk forward, Alfrey looked at his back in a daze, and followed with his head down.

"Hurry up, everyone, the duke, they have found a place to shelter from the rain!"

Xueqi's call caused the team to quicken their pace, except for the orcs and minotaurs who walked at the back of the group. They had now been reduced from four to three, and the Minotaur warrior Gorigol had died in a previous battle with the mountain beasts. Xueqi's shout made the half-orc Gru sneer, shrugging his shoulders slightly contemptuously, and his comrade-in-arms half-orc Sal asked puzzledly, "What's wrong with you?"

Gru looked ahead, they were already some distance away from the group, and the rain was pouring down, drowning out the sounds around them. After making sure that no one would hear, Gru clinged to the wall to prevent his tall body from following in Sakura's footsteps, and turned back to the orcs behind him and said in a rough voice: "Look at that woman, since she came to the team, she has not only pointed fingers at the Duke of Huntel's decision, but also kept giving orders, as if she was the leader of the team, and Duke Hunter was even unrestrained, allowing her to command here!"

Thrall nodded in agreement: "What you said is that the impression of a human woman should not be submissive and bow down to men?" The minotaur warrior Kuser behind him also helped: "Yes, not only humans, but elves too!"

Gru snorted in disdain, and said with extreme contempt: "Humans and elves are weak, and it is not strange for a man to appear at the behest of a woman! Look at the duke, and the high priest, they are all weak, I'm afraid they can't even beat our women!" The arrogant laughter of the three echoed between the valleys, like a demon's strange laugh in the messy rainstorm.

"However, the magic of elves and humans is very powerful, isn't Duke Hunter proficient in magic?" Kusser's words discouraged the two orcs slightly. However, Gru quickly regained his arrogant look, and said with a look of disdain, "Magic, what about magic, I don't believe that my strength is not enough to fight his magic! In the previous battles, Duke Hunter was just hiding behind to cast spells. Don't dare to approach at all, after all, he is still a weak guy!"

"Forget it. What's the use of saying that? We can't do anything to that woman. Sal shook his head and persuaded him, and Gru's huge naked feet stepped heavily on the muddy water, splashing a piece of mud, mixed with the raindrops in the air and flying down the cliff, and he said viciously: "That's not necessarily, if there is a chance, I must make her look good!"

"Don't say it, she's up ahead!" Kuser reminded them in a low voice. Sure enough, Xue Qi was standing not far away to greet them. The three of them stopped talking, and followed as if nothing had happened.

The Duke of Hunter was sitting in a cavern, carefully roasting a pile of rain-soaked branches. They had already made a relatively dangerous journey, crossing the terrifying stone ladder into a relatively gentle valley, and found a relatively spacious cavern, where the leader of the elven guard, Gore, cut down some surrounding trees and gave them to the Duke to make a fire to keep them warm.

Sakura crouched beside him and watched with interest as the Duke cast a spell to make a fire. A flame surrounded his hand, like a mischievous elf flying up and down his fingertips, something that the Duke knew about "playing with fire" was a familiar thing to do. Long before joining the rebels, the Duke and Ling Yue often used this method to light fires. The elven girl had recovered from the horror she had just experienced in danger, and the magic flame shone on her rain-soaked cheeks. From time to time, water droplets dripped from his forehead and sideburns, and he was wearing a long white dress, although he had just been stained with some mud. But then it was washed away by the dense rainstorm, and the translucent silk skirt soaked by the rain clinged to Sakura's body. The perfect display of her delicate curves, like a hibiscus out of the water, delicate and moving, endearing.

Kosco stood not far away, secretly observing. Sakura's voice and smile, delicate posture, were unobstructed in front of him, and his throat subconsciously swallowed and gently pursed his lips.

A figure suddenly walked in front of him, his gaze met Gore's, and the two elves of different skin colors looked at each other coldly. Gore glanced back at the smiling Sakura next to the duke, and gave Kosco a cold glance, Kosco read the threat in his gaze, he calmly turned his head to the side, and let Gore pass, he was not afraid, he just didn't want to find trouble.

"Come here, everyone, come to the fire!" Sakura's silver bell-like call attracted the team, they saw that the Duke had dried the branches and lit the bonfire, the roaring flames lit up the entire cave, and the team sat down around the campfire, Sakura and Gore sat to the left of the Duke, the gray elves sat to his right, the elven guard captain to the left was the majestic body of the orc, and the minotaur sat between the dwarf and the gray elf to separate the two old enemies.

The sky outside was getting dark, but the rain had no intention of stopping, and the duke looked at the gradually falling night, and said to everyone: "It seems that today we are going to spend the night here, and everyone has been gone for a day, take a rest and eat something, and later work in pairs, and take turns to be on guard." ”

Xue Qi stood at the entrance of the cave, with her back to the others, twisting her wet black hair, but she refused to drape them all behind her back like Sakura, but still hung down to cover the left half of her face, and at this moment, Sakura suddenly appeared behind her.

"Sister Xueqi, what are you doing?" she looked at Xueqi curiously, a trace of panic flashed across Xueqi's face, and when she saw that it was Sakura, she quickly calmed down, and explained with a casual smile: "It's nothing, my hair is wet, I'll clean it up." ”

"If it's wet, why do you have to put it on the front, don't you feel uncomfortable?" Sakura kindly reached out to help her pull the hair covering her cheeks behind her back, but Yuki nervously grabbed her hand, Sakura was stunned for a moment, not understanding why she was so nervous.

"Sister, are you alright?"

Xue Qi realized that her performance was too abnormal, so she quickly calmed down, and forced a smile to hide her thoughts: "It's okay, I'm used to this look, I feel uncomfortable when I get to the back." Sakura saw that she looked weird, and wondered, but she couldn't guess the mystery.

In confusion, Xue Qi untied a small package from her belt and took out a ranger dry food from it - a special travel food made by the rangers, which can provide the energy and nutrients needed by people in the wild, easy to carry and very durable, Qinglong asked the people of the Ranger Alliance to prepare one for each team member - she turned around and asked the elf girl with a mysterious smile: "Sakura, I heard that there was a person in the team who was in love with you before, is there such a thing?"

Sakura's face flashed with two red clouds, and she replied shyly, "Sister, how do you know?" Xue Qi smiled and stuffed the dry food into her hand, and said, "This is what he asked me to hand over to you when he left, he was afraid that you would not have enough food on the road and would starve." ”

Sakura took it cautiously, looked down emotionally, as if she saw Feng Ling's gentle and loving face, and she said faintly: "Thank you, sister." Xue Qi caressed her wet hair lovingly, looked at the light of longing in her eyes, and whispered in her ear, "Did you miss him?" Sakura nodded shyly, Xue Qi smiled and said, "You eat slowly, and when you finish eating, he will come back to you." She saw the girl's eyes glint with longing, and she couldn't help but smile kindly.

"By the way, my sister gave me this, and you won't have anything to eat!" Sakura hurriedly took out her dry food and handed it to Xueqi, but was stopped by Xueqi: "It's okay, you can keep it, my sister is in good health, she is used to being a soldier and marching, and it's okay if you don't eat for a day or two." But you can't, if you give it to me, you will definitely be reluctant to eat it, the road ahead is still very long, if you don't have the strength to persevere?" Sakura had no choice but to nod gratefully, carefully hiding the dry food left by Kaede.

Watching Sakura walk back to the fire with a girl's heart, Yuki secretly savored her happiness, and couldn't help but show a relieved smile on her face. Suddenly, her eyes noticed the gray elf Kirsco sitting by the fire, she found that he was secretly observing Sakura, the expression on his face was full of fascination and infatuation, thinking back to the past few days, she had noticed him many times like this, Xue Qi was secretly surprised in her heart, could it be that he had anything in mind about Sakura?

A bag of dry food was suddenly delivered to her, and Xueqi, who was contemplating, looked up in surprise to see the Duke standing beside her. Seeing her look at himself in amazement, the Duke smiled easily and nodded to her. Xue Qi hesitated, a little at a loss, and secretly wondered if he had seen through his identity. But the duke only shoved the dry ration into her hand, and said nothing, and took a few steps forward as if nothing had happened, and looked quietly at the rain curtain in front of him, which was only a stone's throw away from him.

His purple robe looked so deep against the backdrop of the boundless night, Xue Qi suddenly felt that this high-powered, prestigious Grand Duke was actually just an ordinary man—just like the one before he became a duke. His heart is very melancholy, but also a little fragile; he is very quiet, there is always a little bit of melancholy written on his face, but occasionally there will be a little humor and amusement of people can't help laughing; he often makes people feel serious, deep and urban, it seems to be difficult to approach, but he inadvertently sends a strong warmth, it seems that in this world, only he can control the feelings of others, and others cannot touch his heart. She gazed at the duke's broad and thin shoulders, and somehow a trace of sympathy arose, how did his thin shoulders carry the burden of this country? It is not easy to lead a country and a people to prosperity and strength on this seemingly prosperous and peaceful continent, but in fact it is full of dangers. She wondered if there would be times when he would want to let go of everything and make it easier for himself.......