Thirty people returning south by land were crossing a meadow when it suddenly snowed heavily. Fortunately, a team member found a half-buried deep hole on a certain slope.

After entering, I found that there was something special inside. The cave was very large, with stone pillars and other things supporting the top, and there were obviously traces of artificial carving. Then they found something that looked like a mural.

"This is an underground palace, or a tomb, but it has obviously been patronized by tomb robbers and has been touched."

Well-informed team members point this out.

There are animal bones and traces of burning fires near the entrance, and there are quite a few of them. Stanford speculates that some people have used this place as a temporary rest camp, and there are many times.

In order to avoid the wind and snow, they got into the cave, covered the exit with animal skins, lit a fire, and the inside of the cave was warmed up quickly, which was much more comfortable than setting up a tent outside.

The long-distance travel made the team members exhausted. They sat or lay down, many of them took a nap, and some of them were eating.

Standing by the fire, Stanford was dazed for a while, and a urge to urinate woke him up, so he went out to urinate.

Time pulls back to the present.

Stanford put on his belt and recalled the experience of this time in the heavy snow. He planned to breathe fresh air before returning to the cave.

His gaze passed through the swirling snowflakes and looked into the blurry distance.

"Huh?" Something seemed to be moving in the sky.

Stanford immediately became alert. He rubbed his eyes and looked into the distance again.

Indeed, although it was faintly visible because of the snowflakes, he did see something.

Stanford immediately turned and returned to the cave.

"Wake up! Be alert."

He cried out as soon as the hide covering the hole was removed.

"What happened, boss?"

Alcott, who was the vice-captain of this team, asked in surprise. Originally from the Navy, he had previously served as a gunnery officer on a flagship and joined the expedition to manage the use of firearms on behalf of the Army.

"Someone is approaching here, it may be an indigenous people nearby, so be careful anyway."

Hearing what the commander said, everyone in the cave became nervous and took out their assigned weapons one after another.

Their party carried 20 iron swords, 10 iron axes, 10 crossbows, and 6 arquebuses with bayonets.

"We can't stay in the hole."

Matthew held a matchlock gun, his palms sweating. He was actually quite a young lad.

Stanford patted him on the shoulder, "Listen, don't make any noise, I'll go out and check the situation. Those people are still some distance away from here. It would be great if the other party just passed by. If the other party's goal is here , let’s go out and deploy defenses.”

wucuoxs/62714/"Sword Comes"

After speaking, Stanford got out of the hole again, and the rest of the people quietly waited for his news, ready to rush out at any time.

"It's coming towards this cave!"

Stanford's heart became more and more dignified, and there were many people on the other side, about 100 people, riding a lot... It seemed to look like livestock, were they orc cavalry?

The other party may have been attracted by reindeer tethered near the entrance of the cave.

He didn't hesitate anymore, and immediately called out the people in the cave. Taking advantage of the terrain of the slope, everyone formed a defensive formation on it, and pointed their crossbows and muskets at the team that was getting closer.

The opponent soon noticed the change on the side of the slope, and the team slowed down, but a guy on a horse quickly approached to check the situation.

The knight stopped a few hundred meters away, and ran back to the team after observing for a long time.

Soon another person - not necessarily human - came running up on a horse.

"Don't shoot! The opponent doesn't have to be malicious." Stanford warned his subordinates.

One's own number is at an absolute disadvantage, and once the opponent is angered, the consequences will be disastrous.

To his great relief, the man reined in his mount in the distance, rolled over, and then slowly walked over with arms wide open.

This should mean friendly.

"I'll go over there."

Stanford dug a handful of snow from the ground and wiped his face, the cold stimulation made his mind extremely clear.

Kneeling on the ground, he stood up, ready to walk over to communicate with the visitor.

"Boss, why don't I go."

Alcott looked at him worriedly.

"No, I'm coming, this is an order."

Stanford adjusted the boat cap on his head.

When he was recuperating in the indigenous tribe, he learned a few words in the indigenous language, such as "hello" and "friend". I don't know if he can use it here, after all, the two places are far away.

The group of my subordinates who are focused on returning to the Northwest Gulf are not so diligent. What if there is a conflict accidentally.

So Stanford put down the one-handed sword that he was holding tightly in his hand, opened his arms like the opponent, and walked slowly.

Gradually, he saw the other person's appearance clearly, and it turned out to be an orc.

Of course, although it is said that he has seen the appearance clearly, in fact, in the eyes of Stanford now, the orcs all look the same.

Orcs are tall, muscular, and covered with hairs of different shades (some are as thin as some humans with thick body hair), their upper ears are more pointed than humans, and their lower canine teeth are thick and long. , It is very conspicuous when speaking, and the lower canine teeth of some male orcs even stick out when the mouth is closed.

The male orc in front of him is such a standard orc image.

Just as Stanford was pondering whether he should say "Hello" or something in the aboriginal language, the alien on the opposite side spoke first, which shocked him a lot.

"Humans from the South?"

Stanford was stunned, the guy on the opposite side could speak Aldo language.

He didn't react until the other party waved his hand.

He recalled what the orc had said just now, and it seemed to be the accent of the northeast area of ​​Aldo.

"Uh... hello. I didn't expect you to speak Aldo."

He said cautiously.

"Hahaha!" The orc grinned.

"A businessman running around the world, he can't speak a few languages!"

Stanford was stunned again, "Businessman?"

"What?" The orc said teasingly, "Is it because in your impression of a 'higher race', we 'barbarians' would only ride on horseback, waving whips and yelling at the flock of sheep, or holding big knives? Knocking people around for fun?"

There was a smile on Stanford's face, and he tried to be sincere, "I'm sorry if my attitude has misunderstood you..."

"Forget it, human!" The other party waved his hand, "As a businessman who runs around, I don't feel the slightest misunderstanding about this kind of misunderstanding in my heart. Oh, maybe it will be a few years ago."

He continued: "So, let's talk about the current problem. As I said just now, we are a caravan. We have no ill intentions towards you. We just want to go into that cave to hide from the wind and snow. It seems that you Found it. Hey, how many of you are there, hopefully it's big enough for both of us."

Stanford looked at the team behind him, UU Reading www.uukanshu.com really looked like a caravan, with more than a dozen carts fully loaded with things, and dozens of tall horse-like animals. Ordinary horses are even taller, with yellow hair all over and a raised back. It may be the so-called "pack beast" raised by the legendary orcs.

Well, it's not like I didn't encounter orcs who could communicate when I was in the north, although I haven't met one who can speak Aldo...

"That... this gentleman..."

"Finn, please call me Finn."

"Okay, Mr. Finn, you can call me Stanford. I think the cave should be able to accommodate two groups of us."

"Ha, that's great!" the orc named Finn beamed.

"Please allow me to go back and let the brothers prepare."

"Hehe, please. On this prairie, vigilance is a virtue."

The orc smiled and turned back to his caravan.