The Divine Hunter Chapter 9: Swamp Village
This day, evening.
A long queue of dragons drove into the swamps south of Lake Vizima. Most of the team were soldiers wearing silver chain mail, wearing long swords, small bucklers, or carrying crossbows.
There were several carts accompanying him, loaded with wooden barrels that emitted strange smells.
Three figures wearing light leather armor walked in front of the team – the two demon hunters guarding them on the left and right, and Yada in the middle.
The woman pulled the reins suddenly, stopped the magnificent white horse beneath her, looked at the darkening sky and said, “According to the original plan, we will stay in the village ahead for one night, and then take the boat tomorrow morning Black Tern Island.”
Roy lay on Vettel’s back and nodded. Through the light mist in the swamp, he could clearly see the outline of the house not far away.
Kona Village, a village at the entrance to Dustwallow Swamp on the shores of Lake Vizima, was also the temporary residence of the previous two murloc expeditions led by Yada.
Hearing the movement of the large group of people, the village chief Boyev hurriedly came out and said a lot of compliments,
“Anyway, welcome Princess Yada and all the knights to Kona Village again. The old man will arrange accommodation for the adults.”
As he spoke, the rickety old man glanced at the long team with awe.
“This time it’s not as trivial as the previous two times,” Princess Yada waved the whip in her hand boldly and said loudly while riding on her horse, “I have brought dozens of elite knights with me. , prepare to eradicate the beasts on the island at once and completely solve your troubles.”
The village chief lowered his head and said with reverence, “Your Highness is kind! Fortunately, you have always cared about Kona Village, otherwise we would have been swallowed up even by the beasts in the lake, including the flesh and bones. Nothing left.”
“Since you are the people of Vizima, this princess will naturally take good care of you!”
……
During the conversation, the cavalry team had already entered the village.
The village is neither big nor small, with only about two hundred households. By this time, most of the villagers had returned home to enjoy dinner.
White smoke rose from the chimneys on the thatched roof. Amidst the smoke, some curious villagers and their children leaned on the doorframe and stared at the knights on horseback in surprise.
It was as if he had seen the savior, showing joy from the bottom of his heart.
The young demon hunter’s eyes swept across the faces of these villagers,
“The residents of Kona Village don’t look very good…” He noticed that most of the villagers had thick dark circles under their eyes, whether they were children or adults.
“They all seem to be suffering from insomnia.”
Next, Yada gave orders and arranged everything for tomorrow. The knights set up tents around the open space in the village, leaving only one-tenth of the manpower to take care of the horses, baggage and night watch.
“Listen to me!” Yada raised the whip in her right hand and cracked it crisply in the air, “If anyone dares to violate the rules I set and harass the villagers, don’t blame me for being cruel!”
The knights put their right hands on their chests and bowed respectfully in response.
The woman then followed the village chief Boev into the most “luxurious” building with satisfaction. The two demon hunters following her were slightly surprised. The princess’s current behavior was not as rumored. Willfulness and arrogance.
“My humble abode, please bear with me, Your Highness. It takes a day’s riding to get here from Vizima. You must be hungry. If you don’t mind, my old lady is still cooking…”
“No need…” Yada sat on the wicker chair comfortably, with her catkins leaning on the side of the chair carelessly, her two slender jade legs folded together, and a hint of tiredness on her beautiful face, “I We’ve already used dry food. If there’s nothing important, you can go down first.”
“What about these two adults?” The village chief glanced at the tall Lei Suo cautiously,
“These two are professional monster killers, Demon Hunters Leisuo and Roy of the Viper School.” Yada glanced at the two of them with her unique eyebrows,
“They have just arrived in Vizima and don’t know much about the surrounding situation. Boyev, please introduce them to them.”
Seeing that Yada was showing signs of fatigue, the village chief led the demon hunter out of the room,
“Two adults, how much do you know about the fallen half-murlocs?”
The two witchers looked at each other,
To be honest, Roy knew most of the monsters in the demon hunter world, but he only had a rough understanding of the fallen half-murloc species.
Leso thought for a while and said, “Half-murlocs are an amphibious species. They live near waters and live on algae and fish in the water. They also have the weaknesses of most amphibian species and are afraid of fire and bright light. Since the half-murlocs in the Vizima Lake area have the prefix ‘fallen’ in front of their names, they must be different from ordinary half-murlocs?”
Boev’s chrysanthemum-like wrinkled cheeks sank.
“As you said, the fallen half-fishmen are even more ferocious. Since the day they appeared, they have begun to attack fishing boats in the lake… Everyone is worried about being attacked and dare not go deep into Lake Vizima to fish. The fish catch has been reduced by more than half, and life is very tight…”
Boev paused, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes,
“Occasionally, fallen half-murlocs rush to the shores of Lake Vizima to hunt nearby small animals, and then use the flesh and blood of the small animals to…”
Deep fear emerged from his cloudy eyes, “Sacrifice.”
“Years ago, Noel, a fisherman who accidentally landed on the island, saw a stove-like building in the center of Black Tern Island. To be more precise, it was an altar. The fallen half-murlocs were using the flesh and blood of other creatures to worship the people. The horrific creatures sacrificed on the altar…”
“That fisherman, can you come and talk to me?”
Boev sighed, “Later, Noel disappeared inexplicably.”
“Missing?”
Roy couldn’t help but be disappointed. If he understood the characteristics of the altar from his mouth, he might be able to deduce what the fallen half-murloc was worshiping.
“Do you know what they are sacrificing to?”
“That’s not clear.” Boyev said blankly, “A half-murloc god?”
How can a half-fish man have any gods?
Roy then asked, “As far as you know, how many fallen fish-men are there in the lake?”
The village chief shook his head, “I don’t know the exact number, but it must be more than two hundred.”
Roy thought for a while. A fully armed knight and soldier was enough to deal with two fallen half-murlocs at the same time, and Yada brought about forty subordinates.
“Then the strength of the Knights this time is quite weak…”
Even with the addition of two witchers.
Now Roy could only hope that the plan he had prepared would work.
“According to your description, since there are corrupted half-murlocs, then there should also be normal half-murlocs?”
Boev nodded, a flash of memory flashing across his face, “More than ten years ago, the murlocs in Lake Vizima had not worshiped that evil altar. The half-murlocs were still docile by nature and coexisted peacefully with the residents of the lake area. , I have never felt sorry for the fishermen. The old woman who passed away in Kona Village the year before last was once rescued ashore by a half-fish man because she lost her footing and fell into the water.”
“The relationship between people and animals at that time was really harmonious… But now, corrupted half-murlocs have become rampant, and the living space of normal half-murlocs has been greatly compressed. Their current situation is as precarious as the black fish in the lake. ”
“The two kinds of half-fish people are on opposite sides, so is there any way to get in touch with the normal half-fish people.”
Roy thought, this is a reinforcement that cannot be ignored.
Boev’s eyes were filled with wonder, “Even Princess Yada didn’t think of this. The old man heard that normal half-murlocs can still be seen on the eastern coast of the lake.”
“They don’t have the **** and evil aura of the fallen. There are no large black tattoos visible on the surface of their skin, and they will not actively attack humans, so they are easy to identify.”
“But even if normal species are found, ordinary people cannot communicate with them.”
“Boy, you’re not a Druid, this method won’t work.” Leisuo said.
“Haha,” Roy smiled and said nothing.
“This time Princess Yada brought a large number of troops, preparing to directly attack the lair of the fallen half-murlocs and destroy the altar on Black Tern Island. As the village chief of Kona, do you think this method is feasible? Princess If not, just tell the truth!”
Boev looked slightly hesitant,
“Two adults, with all due respect. Although the knights are highly skilled and have extraordinary martial arts skills, Black Tern Island is, after all, the base camp of the fallen half-murlocs…”
“A large group of you rushing to Black Tern Island by boat will definitely alarm them. There is no doubt that they will attack the boat on the way. This will cause some damage first, and the remaining people will have to wait until they get to the island. I’m afraid it won’t be easy to withstand attacks from both front and rear.”
Roy glanced at the old man in surprise, not expecting that the mayor of the swamp village also had such insight.
He observed the other person again and determined that he was an ordinary person.
“I also have this worry, but Princess Yada has made up her mind and does not listen to the advice. She can only make full preparations and the rest depends on God’s will!”
“Alas…” The village chief sighed. “I hope that Your Highness Yada’s trip will go smoothly, that those evil-doing people will be completely eradicated, and that the village will return to normal fishing business as soon as possible.”
“Just do your best.”
Roy looked at the dark bags under his eyes and couldn’t help but ask,
“Why do I feel that the mental state of the villagers in Kona Village is not very good.”
Boev’s throat squirmed. Facing the bright eyes of the two men, he pinched the gray beard on his chin. “This is another matter. In the past year or so, the villagers of Kona have I often have the same nightmare. My sleeping status has been greatly affected. Everyone has gone to herbalists for physical examination, but no symptoms can be found. Some people have also specifically investigated food and drinking water, and there is no problem.”
“Two masters, do you think the village is troubled by something dirty?”
“I can’t be sure now, I have to check to find out.”
The witcher shook his head, his dark golden eyes showing confusion.
Is it possible that besides the fallen half-murlocs, there are other monsters raging in the swamp?
“Then you two have to worry about it.” Boyev continued, “Kona Village is okay, the other village…”
“What’s wrong?” Roy asked,
Boev’s turbid eyes looked to the northwest outside the window, “The Xinte Village that stands on the shore of the lake and makes a living by digging mud and making bricks… Some of the villagers were attacked and killed by crazy degenerate half-murlocs, and the rest That part of me was unwilling to move, and my mental state became extremely bad.”
“Nightmares happen one after another, the frequency far exceeds that of Kona Village.”
“The old man went to have a look half a month ago. I found that some of the three hundred or so households in Xinte Village were in a state of confusion all day long and could not concentrate, and some were delirious. They either made some weird body movements or He was gibbering in a language that no one else could understand, like he was reciting strange spells.”
“Less than one-third of normal villagers.”
The two demon hunters were suddenly silent for a while.
“What are you dreaming about? Can you describe your dream in detail?”
Boev frowned when he heard this, and recalled for a long time, “I’m sorry… I only remember that a vague shadow appeared in the dream, and I couldn’t see clearly what it was… It kept saying something next to my ear. The words are obscure and difficult to pronounce. They are definitely not lingua franca, nor are they like ancient languages… Anyway, the old man can’t understand a single word~IndoMTL.com~, so he often suffers from insomnia. The villagers are in the same situation.”
“Besides nightmares and talking nonsense, are there any other symptoms?”
“I haven’t seen any other symptoms,” Boyev asked worriedly, pinching his beard, “will it continue to get worse?”
“No need to worry, this is just a guess… we will wait until we get back from Black Tern Island.”
“Well, the old man, on behalf of Kona Village, wishes all of you and His Highness a triumphant return!”
When Boyev left worriedly, the two demon hunters began to exchange their thoughts,
“Invading the dreams of swamp residents, whispering strangely in their dreams?” Roy looked solemn, “Is this Sim’s ability, or a little earth spirit?”
“Neither the devil nor the earth spirit has such great ability to affect hundreds of people at once.” Lei Suo pondered, “But this is definitely not a coincidence… There is a problem with food and drinking water? They also excluded it. Drop.”
“Is that altar… the thing enshrined by the fallen half-murlocs causing trouble?”
“It’s possible…” Leisuo nodded and said, “The altar worships a powerful alien, such as a special half-murloc, like an ancient species of deer-headed spirit, possessing some extraordinary abilities. Like controlling a dream.”
“No matter what, there will definitely be a fierce battle tomorrow. Now check all the alchemy bombs and potions in your space bag and be fully prepared…”
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