One day later.
"I think those spell casters usually carry a stick, but you don't look like that at all."
Moqi led Kela toward the canyon, mumbling. Although he was beaten, he looked very happy and in high spirits.
"That one is called a staff. It's a magic item and you have to spend money to get it."
Kela said, "I have been imprisoned in Red Fort before. How can I be as free as you? You have money now, but I don't even have a copper coin in my hand."
"Oh..."
Moqi thought for a while, "So you came to Ferrum to ask for money."
"That's called scale tax."
"Does the family really want to collect tax from us?"
"Guess."
Kela was chatting while scanning the environment of the canyon.
A smooth gravel road was paved between the originally steep mountains. Bearfolk pushed carts filled with wood and grain back and forth, while Mountain Goblin walked along the plank road on the cliff.
When they saw Moqi, they all lowered their heads and said, "Sir, step aside." Kela followed Chrome Dragon and walked unimpeded.
Moqi shows off. "Isn't it majestic?"
"Awesome."
Kela nodded and admitted. "But the reason why they respect you is because you are Ferrum's brother, right?"
"You're wrong about that."
Moqi shook his head. "You can point to any Mountain Goblin and I can pronounce his name. After arriving on the platform, I have to complete a lot of tasks every day. It's only now that it's winter and it seems more leisurely. Didn't you notice that when I took you to see Thunderclap Cliff yesterday, I knew everything about it?"
"As expected of Master Moqi."
Kela said, "That's awesome."
Moqi was elated, wagging his tail and continued to move forward.
The top of the canyon is flat, with a thick black tree standing there, and a battle flag hanging from the top. The red lines on the flag are painted into a pattern of dragon claws, which is bold, eye-catching, and gives a sense of primitive power.
"That's Ferrum's lair?"
Kela looked at the cave not far from the battle flag.
"Yes, it was originally a place where Mountain Goblin stored grain and animal skins. After Ferrum unified Windsong Plateau, he refused to move to the snowy mountains with me because he had many affairs at hand, so he asked Yazi to take people to clear out the old things and dig inward along the mountain to build a nest."
Moqi nodded and said, "It is both a lair and the lord's hall of Windsong Plateau."
Kela looked at it for a while and said, "It looks very much like Valyria's nest."
Moqi was stunned for a moment. He had never thought of this before. Now that he looked over, he realized that the location and style of Ferrum's lair were exactly the same as Nurturer's lair.
"When you said this, I suddenly missed Nurturer. Now there is no dragon in Ochre Valley, and I don't know what Nurturer is doing." Moqi said.
"Only after I arrived at Red Fort did I know how much Nurturer cared about us."
Kela said, "Let's go visit her together then."
The guard outside the cave came towards me, bowed his sword, and said, "The lord already knows about the Red Fort envoy's visit. He has prepared food and wine. Please invite Mr. Moqi and the envoy to come in."
Kela nodded and approached the nest. The sunshine outside was left behind, and the air suddenly became cooler.
The interior of the cave is high and wide, and the rock walls are not deliberately polished, but are scrubbed very clean, revealing the cold and hard texture of the rock itself.
There are rows of low stone shelves on both sides of the cave, where various items are piled up. A small stone platform can be seen deep in the cave. The stone platform is covered with dried sedge and soft animal skins.
Kela gradually felt the water vapor and discovered that in the corner of the cave, there was actually a spring water seeping out of the rock cracks. It was artificially carved into a long and narrow pool. The clear water flowed in from one end and slowly drained out of the cave along the shallow ditch.
Therefore, the water in the pool is always crystal clear, and Little Stone Spirits lying inside is clearly visible.
This is the mountain lord's lair. Although it is not as luxurious and luxurious as the real Great Dragon, it is clean, refreshing and fully functional.
Ferrum woke up from meditation, saw Moqi and the dragon man following behind, looked at them, and his eyes lit up slightly.
"Welcome."
Ferrum said, "When the messenger arrived, I was not on the platform yet, so I could only let Moqi entertain me. I wonder if my brother neglected the guests?"
"Good day, respected Lord Ferrum."
Kela bowed and saluted. "My name is Kela·Ember Scar. I bring you Red Fort's greetings. Mr. Moqi showed me all the scenery on the terrace. He took good care of me and was very kind."
"Your last name is Ember Scar?"
Ferrum looked at her face and found that she was not looking at him, so he began to examine Kela's body.
"I come from the Scalebound clan under the rule of Red Fort. Lord Taigo valued my ability and gave me this noble surname."
Kela answered.
The disguise was good, but he couldn't escape Ferrum's Opening Sight ability. He could tell at a glance that the other party was not a dragon, but since she wanted to play around, Ferrum didn't show it.
"The journey is far away, so I prepared some food as a token of my gratitude for the envoy to enjoy."
Ferrum signaled, and Mountain Goblin from outside came in one after another. They spread a long animal skin rug on the ground, placed plates of dishes on the carpet, put down spirits and wine glasses, and quickly arranged everything.
"You go out. The envoy has a distinguished status and I should personally entertain him."
Ferrum said, and looked at Moqi again. "You should go out and play too."
Eh?
Moqi was stunned for a moment. He was originally staring at the wooden plates and found that no matter whether the dishes were raw or cooked, they were all made of very good ingredients, which were usually unavailable. He could no longer hold back his appetite. Unexpectedly, Ferrum suddenly called him out.
"I..."
Moqi was hesitant, but he was too embarrassed to say that he was greedy, and Kela's identity was wrong. He was worried that Ferrum would be pranked, and wanted to find an opportunity to reveal it.
"I know what you are thinking, but this is dinner for entertaining guests, so don't covet it."
Ferrum said, "And what we are going to talk about next may involve some family secrets. If you know it, it will not do any good. It will only make you have more things to do and have to work every day."
Moqi ran away immediately after hearing this.
Ferrum watched his back disappear, walked to one end of the long carpet, bent his hind legs and sat down, motioning to Kela: "Please have a meal."
Kela took a big step forward, bent his legs at the other end of the long blanket, brought them together to one side of his body, sat down on his side, and spread his skirt flat to cover the lines of his lower limbs.
"This is today's main dish, let's see how it tastes."
Ferrum pushed out the wooden plate in front of him. Thinly sliced black pepper ham was neatly spread on the plate.
The ham is deep red in color, with a ring of translucent fat on the edge, and the surface is covered with finely crushed black pepper particles. It still retains a slightly moist luster after being cut.
Kela twists a piece and puts it into his mouth. The rich aroma of meat is mixed with the smell of smoke and spices. If judged by Red Fort's banquet standards, it is not really exquisite, but in a barren place like Windsong Plateau, it is surprising enough.
"Delicious." Kela commented with the corner of his mouth raised.
"As long as you like it."
Ferrum said, "There are also truffles, lamb, cherries and candied fruits here. I am very proud of these foods. Not to mention how precious they are, but because these ingredients and raw materials are all produced by Windsong Plateau. We collected them little by little. We don't usually cook like this, but since you are here, you must treat them well."
"When you say this, it seems that even the taste becomes richer."
Kela raised his glass. "To the mountain lord, thank you for your hospitality."