Pillar of Yita

”Me too.”

”Me too...”

But among more than ten people, a few still didn’t speak. In the end, they finally replied, ”We’re just here to help.”

The woman looked at those people and nodded, ”Thank you, whether you came for yourself, for those around you, or for the sense of justice in your heart, thank you all.”

She looked out the window, ”The ritual will begin in the afternoon, around three o’clock, right in the square outside. They will certainly investigate this area first, but I’ve arranged with the innkeeper for a way to avoid their inspection.”

The woman drew her sword, ”When the ritual begins, those with combat abilities will go up to kill, and the rest will focus on rescuing. The guards’ level is not high, and most of us can handle them, but be cautious of the invokers around, they will take time to get here, we have about five minutes, try to complete the action before then.”

Though some were too frightened to make a sound, everyone still nodded silently.

The woman extended her hand to everyone, ”We were strangers before this, but we came together for a common purpose, so there’s no need to know each other’s true identities, using code names is enough. I am Shaya.”

”I am Mabul.”

”I am Bo, just call me Bori.”

”I am...”

Everyone reached out and bumped hands with each other.

The dark room was filled with silent understanding at that moment.

...

The snowstorm subsided.

Fang Hong and Luo Hao walked out of the forest, looking up ahead, the Egon Forest spreading from the north ended here, among the snowy white world, a low stone wall stretched at the edge of the vision—on the open ground beyond the forest.

Behind them were Tianlan, Luo Yu, Gita, Xiangzi, and Parker’s group, followed by Hilveld and her maid, who carried a massive pack but walked steadily in knee-deep snow.

Lagging at the back was Ai Xiaoxiao, stumbling every three steps, with her face covered in snow looking like Santa Claus’s beard. Gita glanced back, and Tianlan wanted to help her little friend but was pulled back by Xiangzi.

Of course, this wasn’t his idea, but an order from Fang Hong.

”Running dog,” Tianlan grabbed at her collar, but Xiangzi wouldn’t let her succeed—their combat abilities were not at the same level, so she could only use her verbal advantage: ”Brother Ade’s running dog, robot!”

But Xiangzi ignored her, even feeling slightly proud, thinking the title ”robot” sounded cool.

In three days, the snowstorm only paused twice briefly, but the cold currents still lingered around Gula, and under such weather, the Seven Seas Traveler couldn’t take off, and in ’Galeite’, they couldn’t find some of the things they needed.

Fortunately, there was a town called ’Grey Owl Town’ nearby, not too far from ’Galeite’. To save time, Fang Hong divided the Seven Seas Travel Group into two, with one part staying at ’Galeite’ to guard the Seven Seas Traveler, while the other formed an expedition team to ’Grey Owl Town’ to procure supplies.

They traveled for two days, encountering about three to four attacks along the way, including dragon beasts, dragon’s claws, and some undead creatures roaming the wilderness.

In fact, originally, there weren’t undead creatures around Gula Port, but the war had evidently cast the shadow of death.

Along with them were Luo Yu’s parents, as it was also a kind of investigation in a way.

But Fang Hong’s initial concern about having to take care of the two never happened. Although Luo Yu’s parents were just tourists, they were not unfamiliar with adventure. Not only did they not cause any trouble, but they also helped a lot.

All the way, the two only observed, without interfering in any team matters. Fang Hong originally wanted to perform well, but along the way, it seemed their performance was not better than these two seasoned individuals, leaving him a bit sheepish, unsure whether the Seven Seas Travel Group’s performance was satisfactory or not.

But fortunately, even the most stringent Luo Yu’s mother didn’t say much.

It was unclear how many times Ai Xiaoxiao fell in the snow.

She got up, dizzy, only to see a hand reaching out in front, unable to catch her breath, she hurriedly grabbed it like a straw of salvation, being pulled out of the snow pit.

The little girl finally took a deep breath, looked up, and realized the person pulling her was that lady. Ai Xiaoxiao was startled, knowing this lady to be serious and unsmiling, and aware of the meaning of their journey.

But the other party didn’t say anything, just continued walking after helping her up.

The low stone wall outside Grey Owl Town has significant history—it was built during the Dwarf King era, seven centuries ago—when locals were still at odds with the people of Grey Owl Forest, hence the town’s name.

But time has passed, and the people of Grey Owl Forest are long gone, yet the fortress system established here by the knights of Elpaxin remains, having weathered time without proper preservation, now only the remnants stand as the outer wall of this town.