The road heading north from Whitewater Valley is not easy.
The first day was fairly flat, and the two of them walked along a semi-dry river bed for most of the day. The river bed was filled with perfectly rounded pebbles that made a crunching sound when stepped on.
The pony walked very steadily, its hooves constantly finding landing points in the cracks between the rocks, walking more calmly than the two Lin Ze.
The slopes on both sides of the river bed were covered with short shrubs, and small red fruits, as big as soybeans, clustered together looked like a string of small lanterns from a distance. Lin Ze picked one and put it to the tip of his nose and smelled it. It had a faint apricot smell.
"Don't eat it." Saira said without looking back.
"What?"
"If you eat one of those things, your teeth will hurt for three days and three nights."
"... How do you know I want to eat?"
Saira looked back at him and said, "I saw you swallowed when you were picking fruits."
Lin Ze threw the fruit back into the bushes. The sour fruit hit the branches, rolled twice, and fell into the crevices of the river bed.
After crossing the river bed, the terrain began to rise upwards. On the slope were large tracts of waist-high withered grass, with roots coiled firmly underneath the ground. It felt almost like walking on a trampoline when you stepped on it.
The wind blew from the north, carrying a muddy smell.
The pony snorted and put his ears back.
Saira stopped, patted the horse's neck, took out a cloth band from his leather pocket, and tied up the horse's ears.
"What's wrong?" Lin Ze looked at her strange movements.
"Occasionally there will be some gangsters blocking the road on this road. This beast is relatively timid. If he is frightened, he will go on strike even if he is hit with a whip."
Lin Ze looked at the pony.
The pony whose ears were pierced also glanced at him.
At noon, the two of them rested under a dead elm tree.
The tree is very big, and its branches are all bare, leaving only the main trunk stuck on the top of the slope, like a big stick stuck in the ground.
Saira tied the horse to the root of the tree, took out the grain cake given by Eve from his leather pocket, broke it into two parts, and handed one to Lin Ze.
After the cake was cold, it was as hard as the sole of a shoe. Lin Ze chewed it for a long time before swallowing it, and my cheeks were so sore.
"Do you usually eat this when you go out?" Lin Ze asked.
"We are on our way, it would be nice to have some." Saira chewed the cake and spoke in a casual tone.
"Do you think the patrol officers are so glorious? Northern Border Patrol have less than 500 people in total, but they are in charge of seven territories."
"Last month, two villages were fighting over land. A group of people fought with hoes all day long. I rode over to break up the fight, but was hit on the shoulder with a hoe."
Lin Ze glanced at her shoulder subconsciously.
"It's nothing, just a skin injury." Saira stuffed the last piece of cake into his mouth and clapped his hands.
"What about you? What do wizards do on weekdays?"
"How should I put it... Some wizards will close their doors and concentrate on studying spells, while others will run around looking for some weird materials."
"Oh, by the way, there is also a kind of black wizard. They will shout slogans every day and go around killing people and setting fires." Lin Ze glanced at Sela with meaning.
"Huh? Why do you wizards still distinguish colors?"
"Then which one are you? Black or white?"
"I consider... a dark wizard, the kind who kills people like crazy." Lin Ze suddenly wanted to tease the patrol officer.
"Hey~ you don't have to scare me, I don't believe it." Sela said to Lin Ze with a smile.
"What?"
"If you were that kind of evil person, I would definitely feel like I wanted to chop you to death with a knife when I saw you for the first time, but I didn't feel that way when I saw you again." Sela shook his head.
"What? Your Majesty the Inspector is so confident in your own feelings?"
"Almost."
Saira laughed, stood up and tied the blanket on the horse again.
The road ahead was even more difficult, with steep slopes and lots of gravel, so you had to use your hands and feet to climb in several places.
Saira walked in front, walking very steadily, occasionally looking back at Lin Ze, as if to confirm whether he was falling behind.
The pony was more relaxed than them. It stuck its four hooves in the cracks in the rocks and moved up step by step. Occasionally, it stopped to nibble on the weeds growing in the cracks.
After climbing over the hillside, there was an open valley ahead. Dozens of dilapidated mud houses were scattered at the bottom of the valley. Most of the roofs had collapsed, leaving only a few crooked walls.
"What is this place?" Lin Ze asked.
"This used to be Quarry Village." Saira slowed down.
"Later, years of war dispersed the people here."
"You seem to be familiar with this place?"
"Inspector, no matter which road you go to, you have to walk through it all." Saira said in a calm tone.
"Two years ago, I led a team to pass by here. At that time, I was chasing a group of horse thieves. When we chased them here, the horse thieves hid in these broken houses. We surrounded the place with water. We originally thought that it would be difficult for them to fly even if they had wings, but in the end we let them escape through the tunnel."
"Authentic?"
"The tunnels left over from the quarrying period were so dark inside that I couldn't see my fingers, and there were many side roads."
Saira led the horse through the ruins, walking very lightly.
The four hooves of the pony stepped on the broken rubble, making a tiny clicking sound, which was particularly clear in the empty ruins.
When passing by one of the mud houses, Saira suddenly stopped.
There is a small pile of firewood ash under the wall of this earthen house. It seems that the ashes are still very fresh, and there are a few unburned thin branches scattered around. The wood has neat fractures. It is not broken naturally, but someone has cut it with a knife.
Saira squatted down and took a look at the firewood ashes, then looked around.
"It looks like someone has been here recently."
Lin Ze also squatted down and dug his fingers through the pile of firewood ash. The ash was cold but still loose, indicating that it was indeed left not long ago.
"Maybe it's a hunter nearby?"
"There are no hunters around here. The nearest village is half a day's walk away. Most of them are bandits. I think we should be more careful."
Saira stood up and scanned the depths of the ruins.
The wind came from the north, passed through the ruins, and made a whining sound between the earthen walls.
The pony moved its hooves uneasily, and puffed out two puffs of white air from its nose.
"Let's go, it's getting dark, keep on going and find a safe place." Saira got on the horse.
"There is a leeward mountain col ahead. We will camp there tonight."
Lin Ze followed the horse and looked back at the ruins.
The two walked for more than an hour, and before it got completely dark, they found the mountain col that Saira mentioned.
Surrounded by low slopes on three sides, only the south side is open. The withered grass on the slope is thick and soft when stepped on.
Saira tied the horse to a short tree at the foot of the slope, took out a small package of dried meat and a piece of hard biscuit from his leather pocket, and divided it into two portions.
"That's all for tonight. Tomorrow we will go to the village on the edge of the swamp and ask for some supplies from the local villagers."
Lin Ze took his share and took a bite of the dried meat. It was too salty, but thinking about the preciousness of salt mines in this era, he still endured it and ate it.
The two of them sat down against the slope, while the pony was slowly chewing dry grass a few steps away.
After the fire was lit, Lin Ze added two pieces of dry wood to the fire, and the flames rose, illuminating the mountain col.
Saira used the scabbard of a machete to poke the fire, and the sparks floated upward along the hot air, flashing twice in the night sky before disappearing.
After eating the dry food, Sela took out the marching equipment from the package and spread it on the ground.
Then she put the machete above her head, folded her arms and closed her eyes.
"You stay up half the night and I stay up the rest?"
Lin Ze nodded and added another firewood to the fire. In fact, it didn't matter if he stayed overnight, but he didn't say that.
It was late at night, and the wind outside the mountain col came in one after another, blowing the flames to and fro.