Mountain and Forest Kingdom

The cold winter continues, and the north wind howls.

From the sea illuminated by the faint starlight, blue icebergs blew in, and the icebergs quickly tumbled into the icy sea water in the howling cold wind.

The biting cold wind pushed the hard ice blocks to the shore and hit the rocks in the sea.

The cold wind carried the ice floe and crashed into Dumu Port. The broken ice and snow mountains were blocked by the strong wings.

Among the fleets of various countries that were swaying uneasily in the Wings Harbor, there were only a handful of shipkeepers. These people were all drunk and did not complete the captain's instructions at all.

Most of the people in the fleets of various countries were drinking and playing cards in the warm, bright and hot tavern on the shore. While watching the striptease girls, they were holding wine bottles and making noisy shouts. .

The cold wind that was supposed to be a natural disaster, after being slightly blocked by Winged Harbor, roared past the walled city and swept towards the plain behind.

In the town of Pumixiu, the giant statue of the prophet with open hands on the ground stood in the strong wind. The howling wind echoed back and forth in the town, and was soon replaced by the shouts in the tavern below, the cries of babies in every household, and the sounds of cattle, sheep, and pigs. The dogs barked to drive away.

Farther away, fast-growing giant trees grew out of the frozen soil between Nanzhen and Dumu Port.

A corpse is a condensation of time and earth.

The sedimented corpses of pure-blood wizards nourished this barren land, and the squirming earthworms below also provided an excellent soft breeding ground for trees, flowers and plants.

The forest of giant trees forms a mountain, blocking the cold winds that can freeze crops and livestock to death.

Even so, the cold wind at high altitudes continued to pass over the top of the mountain and continue to wreak havoc in the next place.

In the cold winter, cattle, sheep and livestock will freeze to death. Even if they are not frozen to death, they will starve to death.

But it's different here in Nanzhen. Here, cattle and sheep are more valuable than people. They were pulled into special large houses after the river froze.

This kind of stone house is enough to withstand the cold wind outside, used for working in spring, summer and autumn, and used to shelter livestock from heavy snow in winter.

There will be a fire well like a water well in the stable, and some waste wood left over from processing will be burned in it.

Most livestock like to sleep near the fire. The area closest to the well wall is often occupied by guard dogs. Several dogs lie down and rest around the stone wall of the fire well, either facing the fire well or behind them. Stick.

Usually there are also men or elderly people sleeping in this house who are responsible for guarding important livestock.

This is not anyone's home, but an important place in a village and town.

There are no more than a hundred cows and sheep in a town, and ordinary goats and sheep are scattered in various livestock houses. Generally, the livestock houses are together with the kitchen and woodshed.

Even in the cold winter, food for cattle, sheep and livestock is not cut off.

There is feed stored in advance here, and most animals can eat anything that humans can eat.

As long as people can eat enough and have leftovers, most of the livestock in the family will not go hungry.

***

The tenth year of the new calendar, February

The eternal night has ended, and people began to walk out of their houses wearing heavy clothes and carrying wood and iron tools to clean away the frozen snow and slag on the castle walls.

Lolita stood on the ground outside the ring building, jumping for joy.

"Crash! Crash! Waaaah!"

The ice cones hanging from the eaves of the castle quickly fell from a distance of twenty to thirty meters, hitting the ground with a crisp sound and breaking into a large number of ice cubes.

Clara and others stood here and watched, not letting others get close to the wall.

Someone on the roof is tapping with a long wooden pole to make the ice cubes fall down in advance.

Lolita's witchcraft is not powerful, and she does not use it casually. The advantage of her bloodline is more reflected in her mental state and physical fitness. Now Lolita is lively and active, more energetic and more energetic than other children. confidence.

Other girls don't dare to boss around their own mothers and grandmothers.

The sunny and confident Lolita even infected Clara. Clara, who was well-behaved and obedient when she was a child, is now cheerful and confident. Although she has not awakened to witchcraft, she often eats and drinks with Heidi Clara and becomes gradually independent. stand up.

At this time, several little girls gathered together to work again, and Tim also came out of the kitchen and stood watching.

Lolita was very concerned about Tim, "Tim, don't you have to work in the kitchen now?"

Tim tilted his head and looked down at the little sister next to him, "What kind of work are you doing?"

Lolita raised her head and said seriously: "For example, now that it's dawn, the kitchen must be cleaned. There are also a lot of biscuits and meat pieces that have been stored for a month and they need to be taken out to dry in the sun. The warehouse must also be tidied up and cleaned. The stove must be very busy."

Tim smiled and said, "No, today is the same as yesterday. The kitchen I am in is for cooking for the owners, not a public kitchen for outsiders."

Clara was attracted by the conversation between the two and asked curiously: "How many kitchens do we have here?"

Heidi, a tall and aloof girl standing nearby and wearing thick cotton clothes, said: "There are two kitchens in the castle and three kitchens in the building outside, supplying five thousand and five kitchens including nuns, guests, students of the Holy Women's Academy, businessmen, craftsmen, workers, etc. Hundreds of people."

Clara's eyes widened in surprise, "Really? There are so many people here!"

Heidi affirmed: "There are currently three outside. One is for merchants, artisans and serfs on the first and second floors, one is for guests, and the last one is for soldiers, nuns and students. We may build another one this year."

Lolita, Tim and other little girls all nodded seriously, expressing their conviction.

In the entire Saint's Academy, Heidi has the most accurate information and always knows many things that others don't know, just like a well-informed elder sister.

Regardless of age, purity of blood, or ability and temperament, Heidi is more like a big sister than the others.

Clara said with envy: "Heidi is so amazing, she often gets praise from her master."

Heidi held her hands in front of her and raised her head proudly, looking confident and confident.

There is no word modesty in Heidi's dictionary.

Except for the cautious few days when she first joined here, Heidi was more dazzling than others in every aspect.

My only regret is that my breasts are a bit small and haven’t developed much at the age of thirteen or fourteen.

This is the price of wisdom.

There were still ice shards falling above the house, but the little girls were tired of seeing it and quickly walked away slowly.

The eternal night has left everyone lingering in the building for too long. Now that the sky has lit up, everyone is breathing the cold air under the blue sky and stepping on the hard snow to feel the temperature of freedom.

Because the ice and snow on the road outside was too hard and the temperature was too low, everyone quickly returned to the building to escape the cold.

***

In the courtyard of Oak Castle, Lawrence looked at the large oak tree that still had a lot of green leaves.

The temperature in recent years has been cooler than in earlier years, but this year it is slightly warmer than last year.

Lawrence thought back to the snowstorm that had occurred in Telangtu City a few years ago, and recalled some of his past experiences, especially the contrast in weather and temperature.

These personal experiences have been blurred, especially since the standard of living and the quality of the clothes worn vary from year to year, leading to strange conclusions in many cases.

Lawrence turned around and walked towards the entrance of the castle. It would be better to ask other people's opinions on some matters, which would be more helpful.

As soon as I opened the curtain and entered, I felt like I was in another world.

The entrance and exit between the two worlds is a thick door curtain that can isolate most of the temperature.

Lawrence saw Sophia sitting by the fire not far away, so he walked over and asked: "Sofia, do you think it is colder this year than last year?"

Sofia was roasting chicken wings in front of the fireplace. After hearing this, she quickly said seriously: "It's much colder this year than last year! I just went out today and the cold became unbearable, so I came back as soon as possible."

Lawrence looked at Sophia’s clothes, “How many layers of clothes did you wear when you went out?”

Sofia thought for a second and quickly replied: "Third floor!"

Lawrence smiled, "You feel cold because you don't wear enough clothes. When you were a child in this weather, you wore as much clothes as a fat dog. You were chubby. I put on layers of clothes on you. There are five or six floors.”

It's not that children are more resistant to freezing than adults, it's that children wear more clothes, and adults feel uncomfortable and constrained if they wear too much clothes. For example, neither Delen nor Kharan like to wear too many clothes.

Sophia did not argue with Lawrence about this issue, but said directly: "It is the most comfortable in the house. I feel hot even wearing summer clothes in the house!"

Lawrence felt that he and Sophia could not get any useful information, so he went to find Kharan again.

There are some things that Sophia and Salil find hard to come up with useful answers to.

"No." Kehalan replied directly: "This year is colder than last year. In the past, it would have been the kind of disastrous winter that made the ice land have to go out to rob to survive."

Khalan denied Lawrence's feeling and replied as a senior resident: "It gets colder and colder here every few years, and then it gets warmer for more than ten years. The difference in temperature is only a little bit. According to you The difference is just a few degrees."

Lawrence looked solemn, "Will next year be colder than this year?"

Kehalan smiled and said: "What does that matter? We don't have crops to spend the winter in the fields here. Cattle, sheep and livestock can also spend the winter in the house, and they can also be taken to warmer places in the south to spend the winter and come back in the spring. "

"There is fuel and food, and there are so many sturdy houses and wine, so it doesn't matter if it's colder."

Lawrence sighed, "That's it, but there's nothing we can do to fight the cold winter. This natural force is too powerful."

Even the known future technologies cannot change the climate environment. This natural force can only be adapted, but cannot be resisted or changed.

Seeing Lawrence's serious look, Kehalan found it funny. He raised his glass and said, "Be happy. Maybe it will be warmer next year. The Ug people could survive in this place before. It won't be too cold."

Lawrence was not comforted.

It is true that the Ug people live here, but the price may be that some people freeze to death every year, relying on a small amount of fur that can be used for many years, as well as scarce fuel and caves to escape the cold winter.

This situation certainly cannot support a large population. Once the population increases, the excess people must be killed and sacrificed to the big tree.

Lawrence took a few steps back and sat on a chair in Kohalan's room.

There isn't much that can be done at the moment, other than getting more food and building more houses.

Lawrence couldn't think of any other way, raised his head and said: "You are right, we have done a lot so far. Now that the land of ice has gained peace, more and more wise men and warriors will appear in this land in the future. It’s up to them to face the test of winter.”

Kehalan looked at Lawrence with a smile, took a sip of wine and said, "What about you? When are you going to set off?"

"Tomorrow." Lawrence answered decisively.

Kehalan showed a surprised look, "Tomorrow? I thought you would leave in summer or autumn."

Lawrence explained: "Yes, I think Salil and the others think so too. Everyone thinks that I will definitely go again after giving up and coming back, and it was at that time last year."

“But I think spring will be great and we don’t need to wait that long.”

Kehalan thought about this matter with a solemn expression, and then advised: "This is a bit too fast. You have not dealt with many things well. I think it is good to go after spring plowing. The road will be easier by then."

Lawrence shook his head, "No, the snow on the mountains has melted long ago after spring plowing. Then I will have to face the waterfalls and rivers again. It would be better to go up there on the ice now."

Kharan felt that what Lawrence said was reasonable, but he still persuaded him: "What about the church and the Kingdom of Stars? You will leave tomorrow. Have many things been arranged?"

Lawrence put his hands on the armrests of the chairs on both sides, crossed his legs and said, "It's all arranged. I told Olaua about Valkyrie and Hela about the church."

"The affairs of several nobles in the territory have been arranged for a long time. In a few days, they will go to their respective fiefs to inspect the situation. I will not be out for too long. I will be back in about two or three months."

Kharan asked: "So long? Who do you plan to take with you? In addition to Catherine and Sophia, how many people will you take with you this time?"

"I'll go by myself." Lawrence said seriously: "This time is my own business, and it is also a test that I need to face alone. If I haven't come back for more than two months, you can send someone to follow the path I took. Find me."

"I'll leave marks along the way so you can find me."

Seeing that Lawrence had made all kinds of preparations, Khalan stopped persuading him.

"Then I wish you can get to that snow-capped mountain as soon as possible, although I still don't understand why you think climbing to the mountain is a great thing."

Kehalan gave a blessing that he didn't quite understand. As a single woman who had lived alone on the mountain for more than ten years, Kehalan didn't think there was any danger in climbing the mountain, and was very confident in Lawrence's strength and wisdom.

Even if he encounters trouble, Lawrence will retreat in time, which makes everyone feel relieved. (End of chapter)