Chapter 20 Children of the Forest

After the others left, Linde took out some odor-masking powder from his pocket and applied it to the exposed parts of his body, especially his face. In order to prevent the powder on his face from being washed away by the rain, he also put on his clothes He put on the hood behind him, and then used his strong sense of smell to smell the residual scent of the shadow lynx and followed him.

The reason why Lind wanted to track the shadow lynx alone was not because of the ten hunting trials to become a legendary hunter, but because he saw artificial objects on the shadow lynx, which were several carefully woven vines. The vines tied to the shadow lynx will not hinder its movements, but the position and shape can help the person sitting on the shadow lynx's back to stabilize the body.

Although the shadow lynx is huge, it is not big enough for an adult to use as a mount. On the contrary, the size of a child is very suitable. And ordinary children are lucky enough not to be eaten by the shadow lynx, even the legendary ones It is also impossible for a skinchanger to control a shadow lynx as a child.

In the forest, the ability to control the shadow lynx, coupled with the figure of a child, made Linde think of the possibility that the owner of the shadow lynx was actually the legendary forest that had completely disappeared in the south. the son of.

With strong curiosity about the son of the forest, Linde walked through the forest for about half an hour. The smell of the shadow lynx around him became much stronger, and it was also mixed with a lot of other extremely special aromas.

Linde could not smell the characteristics of any plant from these aromas, but he felt that these aromas were related to any plant. If he wanted to use a name to refer to them, natural scent might be the most appropriate name.

Linde slowed down and made his movements as quiet as possible. With the sound of rain, he almost perfectly hid his whereabouts and got close to the target location.

I saw a small lawn appearing unexpectedly in the dense forest, with a mound covered by turf on the lawn.

It is said to be a mound, but it is actually a small house made of branches, wooden piles, lichen and soil. It is just disguised on the outside. If you don't look carefully, you will completely mistake it for a mound.

The shadow lynx that Lind was following was now outside the house on the mound. The deer it had picked up had been dismembered. At the feet of the shadow lynx were three or four shadow lynx cubs. These cubs The cubs were as big as kittens and were feasting on the food.

However, compared to these shadow lynx, Linde's attention was more attracted by the strange human sitting next to the mound, completely covered by a cloak. The shadow lynx had no desire to attack this human, as if this Celebrities are like their masters.

But Linde still saw from some of the instinctive actions of the shadow lynx that the shadow lynx still retains some aggression towards the human. For example, when the cub tries to get close to the human, it will pick up the cub back and point it towards the human. Celebrities show their teeth and claws as a warning, etc. This is obviously not the attitude towards their masters.

What made Lind even more confused was that although he did not see the appearance of this human being, he felt a vague sense of familiarity, as if he had seen someone similar to this person somewhere.

Just as Lind was recalling when he had seen the strange human being, a piece of turf on the mound suddenly loosened, and then a small camouflaged wooden door was opened. A short humanoid creature was holding a wooden door. The bowl came out, came to the stranger, and handed the bowl over.

This child-like humanoid creature is exactly the same as the child of the forest in the legendary story. It has dark maroon skin, big ears and eyes, and has three fingers. It is wearing clothes made of bark and leaves, and has a flower crown on its head. , wearing a dagger made of polished stone on his waist, he looked a little weak.

If you judge the strength of the Children of the Forest based on their appearance, you will definitely suffer a big loss. You must know that the Children of the Forest fought back and forth with the ancestors. They are not only proficient in weapons such as spears and daggers, but also have superb close combat. Skills, and they also know a lot of magic. It is no exaggeration to say that if an ordinary army of one hundred people enters the forest and fights the children of the forest, then one child of the forest can easily kill all of them.

The human seemed to have a very good relationship with the Son of the Forest and had great trust in the Son of the Forest. After taking the wooden bowl, he took off the hood on his head, revealing the face of a middle-aged man, and followed without hesitation. The contents of the bowl were swallowed.

When the human took off his cloak to reveal his appearance, Linde murmured in his heart, because the other person's appearance was very unfamiliar. It was the first time he saw this human, but the feeling of familiarity became even stronger.

Just when Lin De was filled with doubts, he suddenly felt something rubbing under his feet. When he looked down, he saw a shadow lynx cub leaning on his calf, rubbing back and forth, as if it was treating him as a child. Passively tickled the stakes.

This shadow lynx cub obviously came from the belly of the shadow lynx in the clearing, but unlike its siblings, this shadow lynx is not black, but white, and the stripes on its body are not gray, but It is dark black and looks more majestic, but among the wild beasts in the forest, this albino shadow lynx is very unfavorable for survival, because it is very obvious whether it is hunting or being hunted.

Just as the albino shadow lynx cub rubbed Lind's calf, the cub also let out a series of comfortable calls. Although these calls were not loud, they were enough to attract the attention of the female shadow lynx in the lawn. .

In this situation, although Linde had tried his best to hide his figure, he still could not escape the shadow lynx's wild instinct.

I saw that the shadow lynx immediately turned around and let out a low, threatening roar towards Linde's position. At the same time, it swept several cubs to the feet of the children of the forest.

The strange movements of the shadow lynx immediately aroused the alertness of humans and the children of the forest. The humans sitting on the ground immediately stood up and drew out a long sword, while the children of the forest drew out the obsidian dagger from their waists and used another weapon. One hand naturally placed on a bag on his waist. It looked like there must be some dangerous items in that bag.

Seeing that his whereabouts were exposed, Linde naturally couldn't hide anymore. He didn't draw his weapon, he just put his hands on the hilts of the two swords at his waist, and then walked out directly from behind the blocking trees, and What's interesting is that when he walked out, the albino shadow lynx cub also followed closely and clung to his feet. Even after hearing its mother's call, it never left.

However, at this moment, Linde had no intention of paying attention to the movement of the cub. When he walked out, he immediately expressed his attitude: "You don't have to be afraid. I am not your enemy and will not hurt you." As he said that, he Pointing to the shadow lynx that was ready to pounce at any time, he said, "I followed it here, and it carried a prey I killed in its mouth."

The child of the forest seemed to understand the common language spoken by Linde. She knew that the shadow lynx was being followed, so she was very angry and yelled at her mount in a language she had never heard before, and the shadow lynx Then he shrank his neck and grunted twice, as if he felt aggrieved at being scolded, and then showed a more fierce expression and bared his teeth at Linde.

When the Son of the Forest was about to question Linde's identity and whether there was anyone else around, the human on the side lowered his guard, put the long sword back into the scabbard, then made a gesture to the Son of the Forest, and said: "No need. Worry, he is not an enemy." As he spoke, he looked at Linde and said, "I didn't expect to see you here. You were walking too slowly. It took you so long to reach the imperial forest. I thought you were already here. It’s in King’s Landing.”

Hearing this man's words, Linde was stunned. Although his words sounded like he knew him, the appearance and voice of the man in front of him were still very strange to Linde. But the problem was that the familiarity was not because of his appearance. The unfamiliarity of the voice faded away, but it always remained.

It was precisely because of this contrast between strangeness and familiarity that Lind quickly thought of a possibility, and asked tentatively: "Are you the Faceless Man from New Barrel City?"

"What a keen sense and observation. If your name appears on the list, I will definitely not pick it up." The middle-aged man nodded and said with a smile.

Linde looked at the faceless man in front of him who had changed his appearance, and his eyes fell on the scars on the man's chest and abdomen that almost disembowelled him, and said: "It seems that your mission has been completed. "

The middle-aged man looked down at the wound, nodded and said, "Although the process has some twists and turns, it is finally completed."

While the middle-aged man was talking, the son of the forest tugged on his clothes, as if to remind him of something.

"By the way, I forgot to introduce you." The middle-aged man looked very friendly and said, "This is Spark, an old friend of mine. Thanks to her, I was able to survive this time." As he said, he pointed He pointed at Linde and said, "His name is Linde, and he is called the bear hunter."

"Are you Bear Hunter Lind?" Sparkle, the Son of the Forest, looked at Lind in surprise after hearing the introduction of the Faceless Man, and said in proficient common language. From her words, it was not difficult to tell that she knew Lind. .

Linde saluted the sparks and said, "Didn't you expect that even the children of the forest have heard of my name?"

"I heard the bear hunter's song sung by a bard in a village outside the forest." Sparks explained, and hummed the bear hunter's song in the same language just now, although it was the same song. kind of tune, but now the effect of Sparks humming far exceeds the effect of humming in Common Language. "I like this song very much, but you are really different from the bear hunter in the song." He said, She turned to look at the Faceless Man and asked, "Is he really a bear hunter?"

"Yes, he is the Bear Hunter," the Faceless Man responded: "You have to know that any legend contains exaggerated elements and cannot be completely believed."

Sparks no longer paid attention to the authenticity of the Bear Hunter's Song. Instead, she became slightly interested in Lind's ability to attract a shadow lynx cub. She followed her to Lind, looked up and down, and then circled around. Lind turned around twice and asked doubtfully: "You are not a shapechanger, you are not a green seer, and you have no magic power. Why is this shadow lynx cub so close to you?"

When Sparks was talking, the albino shadow lynx cub was hugging Lind's legs with his paws, trying to climb on Lind, but he couldn't do it no matter how hard he tried. In the end, Lind bent down and picked him up. The cub in Linde's arms immediately became very quiet, showing a strong sense of closeness to Linde.

On the other hand, other normal shadow lynxes, whether adults or young, showed strong resistance and vigilance towards Linde. Even with the suppression of the children of the forest, the hostility derived from the instinct of the beast has not weakened at all.

"I don't know what's going on?" Linde stroked the cub in his arms and looked confused. Although he didn't know what kind of power he had in him to make the albino shadow lynx cub so close, he did. It is certain that this power does not come from the Peacemaker, because none of the Peacemaker's combat experiences are related to beasts, so the problem can only occur in the predecessor.

As for the child of the forest, Sparks quickly lost interest in this matter after she could not find out the reason. She turned around and scolded the shadow lynx and cubs. The shadow lynx looked at it and was caught by Lind. He glanced at the cub in his arms, then took the cub and the food on the ground one by one, and got into the tree house on the hill where the son of the forest came out.

Seeing this, Linde also grabbed the skin of the shadow lynx cub in his hand by the scruff of his neck and handed it back to the son of the forest.

However, the Son of the Forest did not reach out to take it, but said to Linde: "Since it chooses to follow you, just keep it!" After that, she turned to the Faceless Man and said: "The medicine will take effect soon. If it works, your body will recover quickly. Now the account between you and me has been completely settled, what do you think?”

"Yes, our account has been settled." The Faceless Man nodded, and then said: "But, are we still friends?"

The son of the forest said with a very determined look: "Friends will not bring danger to friends. Don't come to me again in the future. You have too many troubles. I am worried that you will be implicated."

After saying that, the son of the forest turned around and got into his tree house, while the faceless man showed a wry smile on his face.

However, when the Son of the Forest was about to close the door, she added: "Next time something like this happens again, when you come again, you'd better prepare gifts that are attractive enough for me, otherwise I won't come out to see you. ”

After saying that, he closed the wooden door heavily.

Hearing what the Son of the Forest added, the Faceless Man also had a smile on his face.

At this time, Linde suddenly felt the ground tremble slightly, as if it was an earthquake. Then he saw the bulging tree house in front of him began to slowly sink. Soon the bulging ground began to gradually calm down, and finally became It became a flat piece of grass, and then the grass on the ground began to grow crazily. It stopped when it reached waist height, and the deep grass completely covered up the traces of the Son of the Forest's residence.