More than sixty years ago, in the cold forest early in the morning, Burris took the black-robed man's hand extended to him.

The two walked silently and slowly for a long time, and Burris suddenly remembered that he hadn't asked the black-robed man's name.

"How do I... call you?"

The black-robed man thought, as if this question was difficult to answer. After a while, he said in a smiling voice: "Last time, someone called me death."

But "Reaper" does not exist. Burris was familiar with various books on religion and theology, and he knew that "Reaper" was just a literary image, not a real thing.

Among the true gods, there is only one who is not only related to death, but also has left footprints in the world, and that is Otarot who greeted the dead. Obviously this person could not be Otarot.

There is another **** related to death-the guard of the black lake. He is a secondary **** who monitors the river of souls and once stationed in the black lake in front of the hall of the dead. This person is certainly not the guard of the Black Lake either. It is said that the guards of the Black Lake had already died in the war before the separation of the planes in ancient times.

Burris didn't raise any doubts, just as "Reaper" was a pronoun, and the black-robed man probably didn't want to reveal his true identity.

"I have seen you...in the prison car, I seem to have seen..."

"Yes, I saw you at the time," Grim Reaper said, "but I didn't follow you all the time, because... Well, that forest is really wonderful, even I encountered a lot of ‘surprises’."

No wonder. No wonder Burris felt that the dangers encountered along the way were less than expected...The black-robed men have been roaming around them, helping them clear out many untriggered crises.

"Why are you helping us?" Burris asked.

"There is no special reason, just find something to do."

Just after answering, the **** of death suddenly turned around and quickly caught Burris' suddenly limp body.

During this journey, the **** of death only gently pulled his wrist, never grasped his fingers too hard. When his feet were soft, Death didn't pull his hand, but hugged him directly.

After being caught, Burris realized that he almost fell. When he first woke up, he was in a good state, but he didn't know how far he had gone before he was exhausted again.

The black-robed man took out some dry food for the march, which he took from the dead knight. He sat down, let the mage lean in his arms, poured a little water from the water bag to soak the dry food, and then broke it into small pieces and fed it to Burris.

Burris hadn't eaten for a long time, but he didn't feel hungry at all. He was shaking violently and his mind became increasingly unclear. After barely eating something, he had to close his eyes and cover his mouth, restraining the urge to vomit them out again.

Leaning in the arms of the **** of death, Burris thought in a daze: You are not a **** of death, you are not even an undead... because you obviously have body temperature.

Reaper put his arms around him and sighed in his ear.

"Little mage, you can rest, but you can't die. You know?"

"Know, I won't die." Burris' voice was weak, but he answered firmly, "Go to Sandonia...maybe...go to the south...I have to start again, in the future...my own Mage Tower..."

As he spoke, he couldn't hear his own voice. He fainted again, sleeping more peacefully than last night.

He did not have a nightmare, but dreamed of a bustling city, a quiet countryside, a slightly noisy but orderly church... He dreamed that he lived in a tower with countless books, and he discussed spells with his apprentices every day Theory... He dreamed of standing in the sun with a pair of flexible and healthy hands; he made many friends and explored mysterious places with them; others called him your lord, and he owed his compliments to each other; he looked back into the distance, white The tower has disappeared forever; he returned to the frost field with many gifts, Willa and Axia happily greeted him...

The black-robed Reaper straightened his cloak and touched Burris' forehead.

When he removed the palm of his hand, he found that the little mage actually showed a faint smile in his sleep.

========================

Although the island is damp and shabby, Burris and Lot slept very well. If it weren't for the spirits of the Grey Mountain to shout vigorously outside, they might sleep until noon.

Burris saw Lot's face as soon as he opened his eyes. The distance between the two was so close that his eyes couldn't focus.

Fortunately, Lott was not completely awake, still squirming and muttering with his eyes closed. Burris hurriedly sat up, squeezed his hair casually, and sternly pushed Lot to wake up.

Grey Mountain Spirit prepared two buckets of water under the shack, as well as some dried fruits and nuts. When the two weak and sleepy guests simply washed, Grey Mountain Spirit had already prepared the ship to sail.

After everything was taken care of, the matriarch read the blessing and watched the two guests leave the settlement. It took them a few hours to walk through the jungle to the harbour on the other side of the island, where they saw a small, simple sailing boat that was said to be "the strongest".

It’s not far from here to Suhi Island. It’s said that there is only a half-day voyage. The grandson and granddaughter of the matriarch, a pair of big brothers and sisters with earth-colored hair, are responsible for sailing. It is said that they are not only the best sailors in the tribe, but also The best storytelling expert.

Lot is very happy to hear the story, although the story of the Grey Mountain Spirit is not very pleasant. Strangely, the siblings didn't say a word after setting sail, just silently doing what they were doing. They are not like that on the shore, they always tell stories right and wrong.

During the voyage, Burris had been hiding in the cabin... Said it was a cabin, but it was actually just a wooden shack that leaked everywhere. He was seasick. He used to ride on a larger sea boat. At that time, he could walk on the deck like flying without any discomfort... But this kind of boat is different. When riding the wind and waves in the sea, the turbulence is too severe and can make people feel bad. The brain was torn apart.

Lott got into the cabin and looked at Burris' pale face with distress. "Maybe it's better for you to go out," Lott suggested. "It's all bumps anyway, and it might be more comfortable to watch the sea."

Burris nodded. In fact, he doesn't know if it will be better outside, anyway, he is uncomfortable anywhere.

Lot thoughtfully helped him out of the cabin. The two of them sat on the deck with their backs back to the shack, looking at the sister Huishan Jing who was at the helm in front, and the brother who had just adjusted the sail.

There was something strange in the brief conversation between the brothers and sisters. Although dizzy, Burris heard some words keenly.

So he took the initiative to ask: "Good sailor, did you talk about the storm?"

"There is no storm," Brother Huishan Jing was embarrassed and scratched his head, "not afraid, no storm, not the storm, but the storm shadow."

"Storm Shadow?"

Burris and the sailor (very inefficiently) chatted for a while, and gradually understood the meaning of "storm shadow" and why the brother and sister were a little nervous after getting on the boat.

There will be storms in the sea area of ​​Quintilia in certain seasons. This is not surprising, but I don't know when something else seems to be hidden in the storm. The islanders have an additional enemy-the murloc.

Thrilling murlocs are called by humans, and Grey Mountain Spirit calls them "human sharks". This is a sturdy seabed humanoid creature. Their physique is a circle larger than that of the gray mountain spirit. They have thick body fat. Their teeth are like sharks. They have lungs and gills. They also have a special skin that can be adjusted naturally. The pressure on the body. But this race has a very low IQ and is basically unable to communicate with other races, so some people think that they should be regarded as animals, not humanoids.

The murlocs live in vast oceans and trenches, and usually rarely come near the sea. The strange thing is that about a hundred years ago, a whole group of murlocs followed the storm to Quintilla and bullied the coastal area of ​​Black Cliff.

They acted in groups, attacked all ships they encountered, and occasionally went ashore to harm coastal fishermen. In order to expel the murlocs, the human army on the coast and the Quintilian elves united, and it took about a year to completely drive the murlocs back to the ocean.

This battle was very strange and tragic, so it left a name in history. However, everything has two sides. Since then, humans and sea elves have cooperated more and more frequently, and gradually developed a stable trade route.

Later, some researchers believed that the abnormal behavior of the murlocs originated from a series of celestial phenomena and geological movements: an undersea earthquake occurred in the habitat of the murlocs, and they followed the seismic waves to the sea, and happened to encounter the rare red moon, red The full moon will make many creatures go crazy and give birth to a series of unprovoked violence.

There have also been records of murloc attacks in more distant history. Each time it was accompanied by a red moon and seaquakes of various sizes in the distant sea. However, those were isolated sporadic incidents in the past, and there has never been a large-scale incident. Invasion.

At the beginning of the war, the first dead ship sank near Suhi Island, where it sank was "the shadow of the storm."

There is a reason for this naming, and the reason has to go back about sixty years from the war. An elven fishing boat was hit by a storm and capsized and sank near Suhi Island. Years later, when another boat was attacked by a murloc, it happened to be on the same coordinate. Many residents of Quintiliya thought it was a cursed area, so they named it "The Shadow of the Storm".

Because the area is unlucky, the Grey Mountain Jing brothers and sisters plan to go around. They were just talking about this.

And it was not the sea that really made them nervous, but the legendary murloc. Not long ago, two small grey mountain spirit boats went out to sea and never returned. Others in the tribe said that they encountered sharks or the ship hit a rock, but the brothers and sisters did not think so. They helped the two fishermen repair the boat and knew the condition of the boat. They think it's the Murloc coming again.

The sister Huishan Jing at the helm just listened at first, and when she heard that the guest and her brother were almost talking, she pointed to the distance and added: "Suxi Island knows, Master Haiyuan Tower knows."

"Why?" Burris asked.

"A lot of elves patrol, many boats, not many usually, but many now. Also, Master Haiyuan Tower understands, Master understands a lot."

They are referring to Master Morvia, the master of the Tower of the Abyss.

Burris looked at Lott, who looked at the sea level with a blank face.

Strange to say, why didn't Lott interrupt today? Also, before they talked about the Tower of Sea Abyss, why did Lot say that he didn't want to contact the mages in the tower? He is very curious about the Five Pagoda Peninsula and likes to listen to all kinds of novel spells. How can he be uninterested in the wizard wizards of Quintilia?

Pushing forward for about one hundred and sixty years, it seemed that it was the last time the Bone Maharaja left the swamp of the dead.

Do you know that master? Burris wanted to ask, but didn't know where to start.

When he hesitated, a shock hit the bottom of the boat. Brother and sister Huishanjing screamed at the same time, and Lott immediately hugged the wizard beside him, for fear that he would roll off the deck into the sea.

"Why..." Burris hadn't asked the complete words, the hull was hit several times in succession.

What is disturbing is that each impact comes from a different direction, as if something surrounds the boat from below. The collisions are getting denser and more frequent, and the intensity is increasing and decreasing. It seems to be looking for the weakest part of the hull...

——Is it so coincidental?

Burris has never seen the murloc, only read related articles in the book. What happened to the boat now is exactly the same as the murloc attack that year.