Chapter 90: Difficulties and Arrangements of the Long Road of Blood and Sweat

Rubbing his temple, Horn sat up in the gloomy daylight.

He was too reckless yesterday. When he shot the third arrow with Ferdinand's bow, he started to feel dizzy.

But Horn was still not satisfied, he felt he still had a lot of energy left.

With the thought of "Let me see your limit", he suppressed the dizziness and shot the fourth arrow.

Maybe he was too proud to be proud of himself, for as soon as Horn shot that arrow, he regretted it.

At that moment, he felt as if someone had opened his skull and poured a spoonful of boiling spicy vinaigrette into it, causing him an indescribable, piercing pain.

Horn even wanted to pick up Yun Zhongxue and chop off his head.

too painful.

He even began to understand why those witches went crazy.

Sisters, I really empathize with you.

This also reminded Horn that his limit was only three arrows. After the fourth arrow was shot, he would have no ability to protect himself and might even be at risk of losing control.

You'd better practice your archery, otherwise yesterday I was aiming at a tree and ended up shooting all the arrows at the cliff.

Fortunately, after an afternoon and a night of rest, Horn was finally able to get out of bed.

Standing up from the bed, Horn immediately saw Jeanne and Carrie sitting at the table.

The two sat at the same table, Jeanne conscientiously recognizing the words on "Chevalier Cefar" word by word, while Carrie was talking to her about the basic grammar and syntax of French.

In this matter, Carrie was not naughty, but really taught Jeanne patiently.

When Carrie said she could speak French, Horn thought she was joking. It turned out that she not only knew French, but was also proficient in Alvin and Norn.

Seeing Carrie's overwhelming appearance, he always thought she was a witch with a carnal nature.

But Xixi told him that the essence of a flesh-oriented witch is to cast spells on herself, which must be accompanied by a magical aura.

But she didn't. Judging from the effect of her using the orichalcum rod, she is most likely a spiritual witch.

Shouldn't a spiritual witch confuse everyone like Ruoan?

How could this naughty and silly kid have that kind of temperament?

Horn somewhat believed that Sissi was spiritual.

According to Sissi, Carrie became like a child after being fed with holy water instead of going crazy or stupid. It is very likely that it was her powerful mental magic that was protecting herself.

As for Carrie's overwhelming fighting power, it is really possible that it is just her natural supernatural power.

Without disturbing the two people who were studying hard, Horn endured the headache and tiptoed out of the small room.

In the dim morning light, the citizens of the Papal States had already begun working and packing their luggage, and, driven by the senators, they walked in an orderly manner towards the food shed.

Horn was afraid of getting a headache, so he could only stretch slowly.

After saying hello to the citizens who were greeting him from the hillside, Horn turned and headed towards the hall of the abandoned castle.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?"

"It wasn't even sun just now, but when His Majesty arrived, the sun came out immediately."

"Your Majesty, come and sit on my chair. All four legs are intact."

The cardinals immediately stood up to greet them, while Horn sat down without any airs.

"Haha, everyone has been talking for so long, what are they talking about?"

Sissi pointed at the map on the table and said, "Your Majesty, it's a good thing that you're here. We were discussing how to get to the most difficult part of the Long and Sweaty Road."

The Road of Blood and Sweat is actually an official road established by the El Empire in the Thousand River Valley a thousand years ago.

In that era, the Aiel Empire was truly a behemoth spanning two continents.

At that time, central regions like the Thousand River Valley were basically colonial regions. They sent a governor every year to build a city and collect tribute and commercial taxes nearby.

However, the Aiel people still built at least one military road inside the Thousand River Valley to suppress possible rebellion.

The long road of blood and sweat was part of the military path back then.

The long and sweaty road was once not only a troop transport route, but also an important trade route for the region.

It crossed from Upper Rivershire and went all the way to the Duke of Kush's Fort of Joan of Arc, which was the land transfer center of Longsand County, and continued south to the Ibe River. This long road could connect the two great rivers that crossed the Thousand River Valley.

However, due to changes in terrain such as earthquakes and floods over thousands of years, as well as disasters such as wars and soil erosion, this formerly prosperous land has turned into a monster forest and swamp.

By the time the Kingdom of Leia, which had taken over the area, tried to save it, it was too late.

"Why, how could it be too late?" Horn said with a frown.

Sissi sighed, “First, because the change in terrain is irreversible, half of the original military path is now soaked in the mud of the swamp.

The second reason is that the forest there has been occupied by beastmen, monsters and giant spiders. During the Hundred Years War, beastmen even invaded the Gaotai Mountains and would come down from the mountains to harass us from time to time. "

"There is one more thing." Jieshka added, "The terrain here is complicated, and they are not Leia people. The kingdom already has a large and fertile plain farmland. Why should we struggle so hard in this area?"

“And the difficulty that the kingdom cannot clear this area is why we cannot pass through this area.”

Sissi picked up the charcoal pencil and began to draw and explain on the map.

This area is divided into three parts, with a total length of 300 miles.

There are about 150 miles of walkable plain routes, and this area is inhabited by a large number of beastmen and savages.

The beastmen are semi-native inhabitants, while the savages are the descendants of the bandits who were driven into the forest.

They formed tribes and were very exclusive to outsiders.

"But judging from the notes of the Homer Mercenary Group back then, it's not a big problem." Sissi said with a smile, "If they were good at fighting, they wouldn't be hiding in this barren land.

However, according to the notes, these people were fearless and brave, which resulted in the loss of 68 professional mercenaries in the mercenary group. We should not take it lightly. "

Horn took out a small notebook and began to record silently.

The second thing Sissi talked about was the damaged section of road that was about 50 miles long and was stuck in the swamp.

"This area is the most difficult part of this journey. If you are not careful, you will fall into the swamp and suffocate to death." Sissi said seriously, "We prepared a sheepskin raft just for this route, but this is not the most terrible thing."

From here on, all kinds of vicious monsters will emerge, the most terrifying of which is a large monster covered with hair.

These monsters are extremely bloodthirsty and will attack humans crazily and try to drag them into their lairs.

There was a quagmire under their feet that could easily lead them into if they were not careful, and monsters were attacking them day and night on their sides. Nearly half of Homer's mercenaries had been killed and wounded.

However, this is slightly better for Horn and his group. After all, monsters do not wear armor, and unarmored and leather-armored units are simply sitting ducks for Jeanna.

Moreover, witches can be immune to and suppress monsters to a certain extent. According to some wizards, monsters are a kind of witches' followers.

The third part is the Wild Spider Forest area, which probably emerged in the last two hundred years.

“The Spider Forest is a relatively simple area on this trip.

This area is surrounded by thick fog all year round, making it difficult to see the roads, and there are also giant spiders and dense burrow spiders.

Fortunately, giant spiders usually stay in their own territories and rarely go out. Only poisonous spiders will attack people.

We have the witch, specially prepared herbs, and a map from the Homer Mercenary Group that proves that there is no route through the giant spider territory. As long as our luck is not too bad, it shouldn't be a problem to pass through here."

Listening to the cardinals' discussion, Horn was also silently estimating in his mind.

According to Sissi's explanation, the biggest threat to Horn and others is not the monsters, but the natural environment.

As long as one can avoid the pursuing kingdom infantry and mercenaries, the Road of Blood and Sweat is not particularly difficult to travel.

The fact that the group of kingdom infantrymen had not appeared yet made Horn feel vaguely uneasy.

"How far are we from the Blackbone Swamp?" Horn interrupted Sissi.

"About 55 miles."

"That means it's still 405 miles to Fort Jeanne." Horn stood up and said, "It's almost time, let's set off.

I will give you one day to consider the specific arrangements for the long and bloody road.

In the evening, we will hold another imperial conference and elders' meeting.

Today is October 10th, and there is still a long way to go. ”

　p.s. Sorry, there are only two chapters tonight. I’ll see if I can update more over the weekend.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)