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“Mentor!” Seeing Hakala fall, the witches surrounded her in panic.
“Idiots! Cough, cough…” She covered her wound, feeling that her lower body had completely lost consciousness. “Quick, quickly kill that traitor for me!”
At this time, Nightingale had already taken Wendy with her and disappeared into the mist.
Back at the fork in the road, she saw that Wendy's forearm, which had fallen into a coma, had turned black, and the venom was gradually spreading. She could no longer hesitate. She gritted her teeth, lifted the other's sleeve, tied a cloth strip tightly along the arm, then pulled out a handleless bishou from the sole of her shoe and stabbed it down hard.
It took her half an hour to cut off Wendy's entire arm, take off her robe and wrap it carefully, and then tie two straps tightly behind her back. As long as she could return to Border Town alive, Nana Wawa could restore the broken arm to its original state.
But… can she really go back alive?
It took her three days to come here alone, and moving with someone on her back would only be slower. If she walked too fast, and accidentally slipped off the path, she was not sure she could climb back up.
Wendy's arm was still oozing blood, and she wouldn't last three or four days like this, but Nightingale had no choice. She would never abandon Wendy – she was injured for her sake.
“Need help?”
Hearing the sudden question, Nightingale almost simultaneously unfolded the mist, assuming a defensive posture.
But there was no one in front of her.
“Don't be nervous, I don't want to fight you.”
Nightingale looked up and found that the other party was floating in the air. “Who are you?”
“My name is Lightning. I haven't been in the Association for long. I run outside every day. It's normal if you don't know me.” She smiled casually. “But I know you, the famous Nightingale, the killer in the shadows.”
“Did Hakala send you?”
“No, no, don't misunderstand,” Lightning slowly landed, touching the ground with one foot. “I want to go with you.”
Nightingale doubted whether she had heard correctly. “What?”
“You said it, we should have the right to choose our own lifestyle freely.” She paused. “I choose to go with you, it’s that simple.”
“Why… why?” Nightingale had completely despaired of the Association. Even Wendy couldn't completely trust her. And this girl in front of her – she was indeed still a child, about fourteen or fifteen years old, similar to Nana Wawa. She had short, refreshing golden hair, a face full of vigor, and words full of confidence that did not match her age. She was not wearing the robe issued by the Association, but a set of close-fitting long clothes and trousers that were easy to move in, plus a leather short jacket full of pockets and patches, so old that she couldn't tell the year. Finally, she paired it with two rough leather belts picked up from nowhere around her waist. At first glance, she looked like a man.
“Because of what you said, black machines that spew white air, gray powder that turns into stone when it touches water, and Snow-Bright that can burst out with thunderous sounds, I want to see them.” She raised her head and said, “I am determined to become an explorer, so of course I have to go to interesting places.”
What kind of reason is this… Nightingale was stunned. It sounded unreliable, but that feeling was telling her that the other party was not lying.
“I don't understand… If you want to be an adventurer, why did you join the Association?”
“Not an adventurer, an explorer!” Lightning emphasized, “I am different from those who work for money. Adventurers are just jackals who do all kinds of dirty work. Explorers only act out of interest! As for why I joined the Association…” she said with a righteous air, “Isn't finding the Holy Mountain a great exploration? But Hakala doesn't understand the spirit of exploration at all. She is completely obsessed with that ancient book, and forcibly connects anything found on the road with the content recorded in the ancient book. What stone gate rising from the ground is just two weathered stone pillars. If she continues to search like this, she will never find the real Holy Mountain. An explorer must honestly record everything he sees. Following the map is not something an explorer should do, this is what my father repeatedly emphasized!”
Although she really wanted to ask who her father was, to be able to cultivate such a strangely thinking daughter, Nightingale knew that now was not the time to chat. Wendy's life was in danger. Since the other party had no ill intentions, it would be good to have an extra helper.
“Your ability is flight?”
“Uh-huh,” Lightning nodded, “Even if I drag you two, I can move like the wind.”
“Then thank you,” Nightingale nimbly tied Wendy behind her, then climbed onto Lightning's back, wrapping her arms around the other's chest.
“Uh… you're really heavy,” Lightning gritted her teeth and slowly rose. “I think, maybe, perhaps, I can't move like the wind.”
……
The two of them advanced in this way alternately. When Lightning ran out of energy, Nightingale carried her through the mist. When she recovered her strength, Nightingale hung on her back and let her fly forward.
Only when both of them were exhausted and had to stop to rest would Nightingale tentatively ask her some basic questions – such as her father, her family.
Lightning said that her father was the greatest explorer in the world, and his footprints were all over the ocean. He owned a fleet of ocean-going ships, and the crew affectionately called him Thunder. Her mother died early when she was young, so she didn't leave many memories. In a storm and rain voyage, the ship hit a reef and capsized, and she was washed ashore on a small island by the ocean current, losing contact with her father. On the island, Lightning used the knowledge and skills taught by her father to spend nearly two months, and awakened as a witch in winter.
Then she flew west all the way, crossed the strait to the southern border of Graycastle, and after several twists and turns, finally joined the Association. She felt that as long as she persisted in exploring, one day, she would meet her father again in some wonder – if he was still alive.
Nightingale didn't get much useful information from these conversations. Her ability could only be used to distinguish whether the other party was lying, but could not determine the authenticity of the content. In other words, as long as someone says that the sun is square and firmly believes in it, the ability will also judge it as true.
However, some information can be inferred, for example, she must have been born into a wealthy family – families struggling on the poverty line cannot afford to explore, and owning a fleet of ocean-going ships also matches this judgment. Therefore, a wealthy ocean-going merchant may be Thunder's true identity. And Lightning's golden hair does not look like the bloodline of the Kingdom Continent, but more like the people of the fjord across the sea.
During this period, Wendy woke up several times, and Nightingale spent a lot of effort to pour a few sips of water into her, and then she quickly fell into a coma again. Feeling the other party's increasingly low body temperature, Nightingale became more and more anxious.
Under the alternate rushing of the two, the narrow path in the canyon, which originally took three days, was completed in only one and a half days. At the entrance, the horses that had been obtained from the prince were still tied in place, and most of the wheat straw piled in front of them had been eaten.
Nightingale carried Wendy on her back and got on the horse, leading Lightning, and ran towards Border Town without stopping.
ps. For the classmates who are chasing updates, are there any free appreciation tickets and coins left~ The 515 red envelope list is counting down, I'm here to solicit votes, ask for extra rewards and appreciation tickets, and make a final rush!
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