Chapter 244: Unknown Malice

With a map, things are easier to handle.

Especially this map of the Snuofu Clan, which also detailed most of the gathering points of earth-vein creatures and dangerous areas in this region.

And Gao De, what he had to do was follow the map's instructions, bypass those red-marked points or areas, and rush to the location circled by Baruke that represented the Snow Plain Guardians branch.

Of course, he didn't know about the Snuofu Clan's encounter after he left.

And Jilie Snuofu's final misdirection also caused the pursuers chasing Baruke's trail to miss Gao De perfectly.

With the blessing of 【Skating Spell】, Gao De strode forward on the snow plains at a speed of forty kilometers a day.

Gao De, who set off on the 4th of the Awakening Month, spent only ten days to complete the journey that was expected to take half a month, arriving at the lake point marked on the map, called Little Swallow Lake.

The reason it was called this name was probably because the outline of the lake's edge was somewhat similar to a swallow.

The lake was not large and had long since frozen over.

Like most places, near water sources, there are always many creatures inhabiting them, especially humans, who particularly like to live around water sources.

Even if this was a frozen lake, it was the same.

The Snow Plain Guardians branch was established next to a small hill by the lake.

It was a low-rise building complex, situated in an open area, backed by a hill, facing the lake, with an excellent geographical location.

Since the Snow Plain Guardians branch did not need to migrate frequently like the northern tribes, their buildings were real buildings, not tents like yurts.

The outer walls of these buildings were built with light gray patterned stones unique to the snow plains.

The patterned stones were tightly spliced together, leaving almost no gaps, which could effectively resist the invasion of severe cold and wind and snow.

The overall style of the building was simple and practical, without too much decoration, and there were several narrow windows on the walls, with heavy curtains made of processed animal skins hanging inside the windows to block the cold wind.

Gao De came to the gate of the Snow Plain Guardians branch.

Because there was a lack of large trees on the snow plains, and thus a lack of high-quality timber, the gate here was also different from common doors and was not made of wood.

Instead, it was made by polishing sturdy animal bones to create the frame part of the gate, and then using tough animal leather supplemented by animal bones to reinforce it to make the main body of the gate, which could be said to be very exotic.

Gao De slowed his pace and called out toward the inside: "Is anyone there?"

Soon, a middle-aged woman wearing a roughly made blue robe walked out from inside. There were some strange patterns on the robe, which was the symbol of the Snow Plain Guardians.

Blue is the color that the Snow Plain Guardians love.

In fact, just like forest peoples like green, most peoples on the snow plains like blue or white.

Unlike the sect clothing of the outside world, the middle-aged woman's robe was rugged and practical, and she also hung some items that were too simple to be practical, such as small bone knives and amulets.

The middle-aged woman's facial skin was rough, but it still maintained a certain elasticity and did not look old.

She looked at Gao De, her eyes maintaining a hint of vigilance, "Outsider, who are you looking for? What is the matter?"

Gao De kept smiling, "Hello, I am here to find Guardian Damon."

"Looking for Lord Damon?" The middle-aged woman sized Gao De up, still somewhat skeptical, her eyes showing inquiry.

"I was entrusted by Guardian Baruke, and there is an important message that needs to be conveyed to Guardian Damon." Gao De explained.

The middle-aged woman thought for a moment, then nodded and said: "You come in with me first. Lord Damon is not in the church right now, and it may take a few days for him to return."

The middle-aged woman led Gao De into the church.

Once inside, Gao De discovered that there were actually many small children here, who were currently exercising their bodies under the leadership of the instructors teaching in the Snow Plain Guardians church.

On the snow plains, a strong physique is very important.

Perhaps sensing Gao De's surprise, this middle-aged woman named Aona casually introduced the specific situation to Gao De.

Through Aona's introduction, Gao De had a deeper understanding of the Snow Plain Guardians.

The so-called Snow Plain Guardians branch is actually more like an "orphanage."

The reason why the Snow Plain Guardians wanted to establish a branch here, to facilitate contact with members who were "fighting on their own" on the snow plains, was one aspect.

More importantly, it was used to accommodate those orphans who had lost their families due to the cold or had lost their families due to earth-vein creatures.

If no one accommodated them, these children would soon starve to death or be frozen into ice sculptures.

The Snow Plain Guardians accommodated these orphans, provided them with shelter and food, and also taught them.

However, this shelter has a time limit.

After these orphans reach adulthood, they have to leave the Snow Plain Guardians and go to make a living on their own, just like eagles on the snow plains.

Of course, there is no lack of children with talent or children who have awakened the Ice-Born bloodline among them.

And these children would be actively absorbed as members by the Snow Plain Guardians.

In fact, most of the members of the Snow Plain Guardians have this background.

It is precisely because they have received the teachings of the Snow Plain Guardians since childhood that they can understand and accept the doctrines of the Snow Plain Guardians and then go on to dedicate themselves.

Otherwise, it would generally be impossible to find so many people with a spirit of selfless dedication among mages whose worldviews have already matured.

Aona led Gao De all the way to an empty room.

"Outsider, beast tides have been frequent in the southwest recently, and Lord Damon left the church last month to go there to investigate the detailed situation."

"However, as the leader of this branch, Guardian Damon is not allowed to leave the church for a long time according to the regulations, and he should be back within a week."

"If you have nothing to do and are not in a hurry, you can wait here for Guardian Damon to return."

"If you have urgent matters and cannot wait for such a long time, you can tell me the important message first, and after Guardian Damon returns, I will immediately convey it to him."

Gao De listened silently to Aona's words, but his gaze became somewhat strange at this time, as if he had discovered something.

"Mage, she is a bad person, but not that bad."

A bad person, but not that bad... that means the malice is only directed at himself, and it hasn't risen to the point of wanting to kill him?

Gao De quickly understood Fu Luo La's description.

"Is Lady Fu Luo La sure?" He communicated with Fu Luo La, who was hidden in his pocket, using the method of spiritual communication.

"Of course." Fu Luo La affirmed.

Where did the malice come from? Gao De was puzzled.

He had already reported Baruke's name.

And as a powerful mage among the Snow Plain Guardians, Aona should have held respect for Baruke, so why would she have malice toward him?

Could it be that she suspected his background?

That should also be a detailed inquiry about him, rather than just bringing him here and letting him wait here for Lord Damon's return.

This is more like the meaning of "inviting the gentleman into the urn."

Many thoughts flashed through Gao De's mind in an instant, but on the surface, he answered calmly:

"It's okay, I don't have any urgent matters. I'll wait here for Guardian Damon to return. The message that Guardian Baruke wants me to convey is quite important, so it's better for me to convey it to Guardian Damon personally."

Aona nodded, "That should be the case."

"However, since it is an important message, why didn't Guardian Baruke come personally, but entrusted it to you?" She asked in confusion.

"He has more important things to do and cannot leave for the time being." Since he knew the other party harbored malice, Gao De did not tell the truth and hid the news of Baruke's injury.

"So that's how it is," Aona did not doubt Gao De's words, and said again: "You sit down first, I'll go get you some food. After rushing over for so many days, you must be hungry."

"Indeed! Then I'll trouble you." Gao De immediately laughed heartily.

"It's nothing." Aona smiled and nodded, then left the room.

As for whether she really went to get food or to do something else, that's hard to say.

What should I do now? He thought quickly in his heart. A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall; this place is definitely not a place to stay for a long time.

But to leave, it is definitely not at this moment.

This is their territory; if he runs away now, Aona will soon discover it, and if they mobilize all their power to find him, it is highly probable that they will soon be able to track him down.

Then he can only run away at night.

By then, everyone will be asleep, and by the time Aona discovers he has run away, several hours will have passed.

The snow plains are so vast; after several hours, it will not be so easy to find him again.

Thinking of this, Gao De quickly made up his mind.

If the other party really wanted to take him down, they wouldn't drag it out until now; they should have been able to call people to take action the moment they saw him.

After all, he had already delivered himself to their door automatically.

Clearly, Aona's plan was still to stabilize him for the time being, which just fits the "bad, but not that bad" that Fu Luo La sensed.

Just delivering a letter, how did it become so full of twists and turns? After analyzing everything in his mind, Gao De couldn't help but feel a bit depressed.

He thought it was just a simple letter-delivery mission, but it turned into what it is now.

If not for Fu Luo La's innate wisdom and ability to sense malice, he would have been fish on the chopping block without even realizing it. Who could he reason with?

After a while, Aona really came back holding a clay pot.

In the clay pot was fish soup, with a piece of fish meat floating in it, and it was still emitting heat.

Being close to Little Swallow Lake, the biggest advantage is having "fishery" resources.

This is also the basis for them to accommodate orphans.

The fishery resources of Little Swallow Lake, combined with hunting, mean that the food supply in the branch generally does not appear to be interrupted.

Gao De's heart stirred, and he had already quietly cast 【Detect Poison】 to check if there was any poison in the fish soup.

Fortunately, there was none.

Of course, 【Detect Poison】 is not necessarily safe.

There are still many methods to deceive the investigation of 【Detect Poison】, but those are high-circle spells that require high-circle mages to do.

Since there is a high-circle mage who wants to frame him, why go through such a big circle to poison him? Just take him down directly.

Thinking of this, Gao De made a grateful expression, took the clay pot, first took a hearty sip of the hot soup, and let out a comfortable groan.

"Comfortable! After rushing for so many days, I haven't had a sip of hot soup," he complained while sighing: "And it's fish soup. Since entering the northern realm, I haven't eaten this stuff for a long time."

Seeing Gao De so straightforward and hearty, the smile on Aona's face became even more obvious.

"You've worked hard." She said.

In her view, Gao De's performance meant he didn't realize anything wrong at all.

Just as she wanted to stabilize Gao De, Gao De also needed to stabilize Aona first, lower her vigilance, and facilitate his plan to run away at night.

Gao De maintained the persona of a "simple and ignorant outsider" and stayed at this branch of the Snow Plain Guardians.

It was already afternoon when he arrived, so after a while, it got dark.

At night, Gao De had another hot dinner with the orphans accommodated by the Snow Plain Guardians and several instructors.

It could be seen that those orphans were very curious about him, this outsider.

There were even a few children who were bolder and took the initiative to ask a few questions about the situation outside.

Because in the eyes of the northern people, although most outsiders are not good goods, the richness of resources and good conditions outside are undeniable.

The children were also very curious about the legendary rich outside world.

Gao De didn't put on airs either, so he casually introduced a few situations outside to them.

"Grain... if only we could grow grain here too." Among the children, a somewhat thin girl couldn't help but sigh.

The main reason why food is so scarce in the northern realm is that crops cannot be grown on the permafrost tundra, including the most important staple foods like wheat and barley.

Without this predictable and fixed harvest, the northern people can only rely on hunting and grazing for a living.

Clearly, both of these methods carry natural instability and great limitations.

"Daydreaming again, Po'er!" Immediately, other children "mocked": "Little Po'er just wants to grow grain, but hasn't succeeded in growing anything!"

Suddenly, everyone else laughed out loud.

Of course, this laughter was not malicious.

The little girl called Po'er was very persistent in the face of everyone's laughter, "If one day we in the northern realm can really grow grain, then so many people won't starve to death!"

"Your heart is good, but the land in the northern realm absolutely cannot grow grain..." One of the instructors touched Po'er's head and said gently: "Little Po'er should still work hard. You have the Ice-Born bloodline, and in the future, you will become a powerful guardian to protect the snow plains."

"I definitely will." Po'er waved her little fist and said firmly.

The instructor's words made Gao De look at the little girl a few more times. He didn't expect this little thing, who looked so small, to actually possess the Ice-Born bloodline.

After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.

Gao De also returned to his temporary guest room.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and began the practice of 【Green Wood Longevity Scripture】.

At this time, nearly four months had passed since Gao De was promoted to a first-circle mage. In the past four months, he had not interrupted the practice of the cultivation method for a single day.

But his total mana remained at 20 drops of liquid mana, and there was no new breakthrough for a long time.

According to the current progress estimate, condensing a new drop of liquid mana would take at least a year.

It can be seen how difficult it is for a mage to improve.

When he finished today's practice, there was almost no human voice in the entire Snow Plain Guardians branch, only the howling of the never-ending cold wind on the snow plains.

Clearly, most people had entered sleep.

Gao De no longer hesitated and got up immediately.

He first used charcoal to leave a sentence on the floor of the room:

"There are members within the Snow Plain Guardians practicing forbidden necromantic spells and manipulating beast tides to attack northern tribes to provide themselves with necromantic spells."

No matter what, the task Baruke gave him still had to be completed.

Afterward, Gao De used 【Switch Spell】 to open the door silently.

There was no moon tonight.

It was dark and windy.

Under the cover of the night, Gao De, who possessed the ability to see in the dark, was like a fish in water. He chose a direction and moved quickly.

He didn't go through the front door; that was too conspicuous.

Soon, Gao De came to the corner of the wall closest to his residence.

With the help of 【Cat Claw Spell】, he easily flipped over the wall and then cast 【Skating Spell】, running toward the west.

That was the direction of the coastline.

The message had been delivered, and the map had been obtained.

Next, Gao De had to focus on finding a place to plant trees.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 245 =====