Sophie flicked the charcoal fire with a branch, and a handful of sparks rose from the ashes. The flames of the bonfire flickered slightly, causing the shadow to flicker on the ocher rock wall. She turned around and looked outside the cave.

It was windy and snowy, and there was only a gray patch in the night. The wind blew the snowflakes into the cave, but they instantly melted into the golden red firelight.

The north wind whistled strangely in the distance, like the long howls of wild beasts, entering the quiet cave. Only the flames rustled, and each movement was still, reflecting each other. Outside the wind shelter, the forest seemed to be making a shivering rustle.

The sound, if you listen carefully, seems like a set of footsteps approaching.

But after a while, it turned into the sound of wind, whistling, trees creaking and swaying, and occasionally the sound of falling was heard.

Sophie turned around again, a bit of golden light reflected in her dark eyes, and the red firelight reflected on the side of her face, like a curved jade tooth. The girl was very quiet, and there seemed to be a thin layer of mist on the bonfire in her eyes.

The kettle whimpered and white steam rose.

She took off the kettle, picked up the cup, took a cup, and added some brown sugar cubes.

Then he held it up with both hands and took a sip, tested the temperature, and blew a few gentle breaths before bringing it to Qian's mouth. "Come on, open your mouth." Sophie's voice was extremely gentle.

She probed the girl's forehead with her cold hands.

The companion knight girl's forehead was hot, and her amber star eyes were half-open and half-closed. She was wrapped in a thick blanket and glanced at her main knight with some sleepiness: "Sophie, I'm sleepy..."

"It doesn't matter if you're sleepy, just open your mouth."

Akane looked at her helplessly and could only tilt her head weakly and open her mouth slightly in submission.

"There is a medicine to cure diseases in here. When the weather gets better, you should almost feel better." Sophie carefully supported the mountain girl, and when she saw her frowning, she asked: "Is it hot?"

Akane shook her head weakly.

Sophie couldn't help but be startled when she saw her like this. She suddenly lowered her head, pointed the tip of her nose to the tip of the girl's nose, looked at each other, and asked with a clear breath: "Do you want me to take a sip?

One bite for you?"

The mountain girl heard what she meant, her face turned red, and she looked at her at a loss.

Sophie chuckled and then stood up: "I lied to you, go to bed early."

Akane buried her face with the blanket, not daring to look at her, and only sobbed softly in reply.

The cave became quiet again, with only the girl's gentle breathing remaining.

Sophie picked up the branches again and stirred the charcoal fire again to make the flames brighter. Outside the cave, the wind seemed to be louder, so she stood up and looked outside the cave. She slowly walked to the entrance of the cave, and the cold wind blew against her face.

I woke up a lot at once.

She had hardly slept for three days.

Because Qian suddenly fell ill, she had to shoulder the work of keeping watch and camping alone, trudging through the wind and snow, and finally found such a shelter.

It's all because of that annoying guy.

If it weren't for him, she wouldn't have brought Akane to this place. However, although she was a little dissatisfied, she was actually a little surprised when she learned that the other party did not die underground in Fenris.

Even when Fang Yu asked her to help bring things to DuLun, she never thought of declining or refusing.

Thinking of this, she picked up the communication crystal, displayed a line of communication columns on her system, then poked one of the IDs and sent a message to it:

"I've almost crossed the Grand Canyon. Where are you?"

Na Pian waited for a moment and quickly replied:

"Miss Sophie?"

"Did you not remember my ID?"

"Ah, sorry...I didn't pay attention just now."

Fang Plover sent over a cold sweat expression.

He sent another picture, and Sophie saw that the other party was actually assembling a magic furnace. He must have been concentrating on the work at hand and ignored her information.

"We are almost there. Mr. Huiyan should be on the east side of the Big Valley now... If it hadn't been for this sudden snowstorm, we might have reached the northern edge of Ash Mountain Forest."

Sophie estimated the time, and if the snowstorm dissipated in about three or two days, they should be able to reconcile.

She paused for a moment before typing: "Qian is sick."

"Ah, sorry..."

Fang Yu asked: "Do you need us to pick you up?"

"No, do you have a resting place and medicine?"

Of course Sophie knew that Fang Pulun and his friends had renovated a platform. Fang Pulun and his friends regarded her as a friend, so they had told her about it early in the morning. Besides, the two parties were originally going to meet in Du Lun, so they couldn't hide it.

"have."

"That's good."

"But do you really don't need our help?" Fang Yu couldn't help but ask.

"Suddenly you are so concerned about Qian," Sophie raised her eyebrows: "Is there something wrong with you?"

"……of course not."

"Haha," she couldn't help laughing, "Why are you so nervous?"

"..."

After teasing Fang Yu for a while, Sophie closed the communication crystal with satisfaction, raised her hands like a lazy cat, and stretched. But suddenly, the girl stopped, a little

He looked out of the cave suspiciously.

She heard a strange rustling sound.

The sound was far and near, like a set of footsteps, and also like the sound of wind blowing through the snow. Sophie didn't know if she heard it wrong, because the wind and snow suddenly became stronger, and the coniferous forest rustled.

, overshadowed the previous sound again

Still alert, she retreated into the cave, picked up her Pale Flame, pulled out the shining sword inch by inch, and held it in her hand.

She held the sword and walked towards the entrance of the cave. The sound in the wind and snow seemed to become more and more obvious, rustling, as if a group of people were walking towards the shelter. Sophie hesitated for a moment and did not turn around to put out the bonfire.

, because the temperature is so low, the mountain girl still has a high fever...

Suddenly, the sound stopped a few meters away from the cave entrance, but it was so gray in the wind and snow that it was hard to see what was there, so it was impossible to see what was there.

Sophie suddenly had a creepy feeling.

Because she clearly felt that there was an unknown thing standing a few meters away from the cave entrance, looking at her through the wind and snow, but she couldn't see anything. Even for a moment, the surroundings seemed to be completely quiet.

The sound of the wind disappeared, and she could even hear her own nervous heartbeat.

Sophie couldn't help but think of some legends about the snowy night, those legendary creatures that only appeared in the harsh winter of Aitaria, such as winter wolves, frost dragons and pale shadows.

She widened her eyes and suddenly saw a swaying shadow behind Feng Xue, which was clearly a person.

She was startled, but still mustered up the courage, pointed her sword there, and shouted: "Who is there?"

The figure staggered forward.

Sophie took a breath, calmed down, raised her sword and prepared to face the enemy. But suddenly, the figure fell down in front of her with a 'plop' sound.

But who is that person?

Sophie looked at it and couldn't help but be stunned. It was just an empty armor, scattered on the ground in the snow. But there was almost no mechanical structure inside it, and there was no dense dark magic power. It seemed to be just an ordinary armor.

It was just an ordinary rusty armor, abandoned in the snow.

But how could an ordinary piece of armor come to this place alone?

…

Fang Yu closed the communication crystal and shook his head.

He looked out the window. There was also a howling blizzard outside, but a layer away from the cabin, the wind only whimpered lowly. The night was pitch black, the sky was low and thick, and there was almost no light.

Not far away, a fir tree swayed violently in the wind and snow, like a long and narrow ghost shadow, with teeth and claws.

The swaying light of the bonfire reflected on the tree, outlining its outline in the wind and snow. Below was the lumberjack camp. Ms. Sukui and her lumberjacks, a total of thirty or forty people, were stationed around Mr. Huiyan.

Camp.

There was a vigil in the camp, but no one talked. Except for the sound of the wind, everything was quiet.

People often only realize how dangerous the severe winter here is after going deep into the main continent of Kaolin. In just one week after leaving the Masonk Creek station, Mr. Gray Rock experienced four attacks, one of which even encountered a winter wolf.

If they hadn't evaded it in time, they would have suffered heavy losses. The Winter Wolf is a level 43 creature. It is almost legendary in Aitaria. The legendary creatures in Aitaria all have their own characteristics and ignore the general sense.

the rule of.

The characteristic of winter wolves is that they have a wide range of activities, and they always appear together with snowstorms, even ignoring regional level restrictions. Some people have witnessed their whereabouts in novice areas like El Paxin.

Fortunately, the winter wolf didn't seem to be interested in them. He only glanced at them from a distance and then disappeared into the snow.

A subsequent attack injured two more lumberjacks. In fact, they were just ordinary skeletons. They were allowed to sneak into the camp because they neglected to take precautions during the snowy night.

However, this incident aroused Fang Plover's vigilance, and he then placed an alchemical trap outside the camp. Of course, it was actually a buzzer that was triggered by a wire, but it was enough to guard against large beasts and undead that lacked intelligence.

After that, the camp became much more stable.

A candle was lit in the captain's room. The candlelight was unstable and swayed gently with the deck below.

Since it is necessary to fully provide heating and supply hot water and food to the lumberjacks outside, all the magic output of the small magic engine under the platform is concentrated on the two sets of facilities. There is no need for lighting crystals in the cabin.
To be continued...