Central part of the empire.

This is Lenghu Province, close to the southern border. Among the rolling hills, large and small mountain springs and underground rivers rush down over the rocks in the mountains, washing out lakes of varying sizes.

The lake water is transparent, and you can clearly see the colorful and delicate rocks below. If you put your hand into it, you can feel a cool touch.

Now, under a sloping and hidden rock, Xia Lanluote woke up from her sleep.

Looking at the unfamiliar rock walls and stones around her, as well as the stream flowing between large pebbles not far away, the girl was a little surprised. It took her a while to realize that she had escaped from the vortex in the southern border.

Looking back, she saw the female knight lying not far from her. She sat up, covered herself with a thin blanket, and then came to her side to check her injuries. Seeing that the air knight was gradually getting better, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

By the way, who was it that saved them both that day? She didn't know the person who brought her here.

Rubbing her hungry stomach, Xia Lanluo tried to walk out of the hidden crevice and go out to find something to eat.

As soon as she stepped out of the huge rock, she saw several people working diligently not far away. Some were mending clothes, some were repairing weapons, and some were cooking in small clay pots.

A man in brown leather armor saw the girl sticking her head out, smiled, and walked over.

"Are you awake? Are you feeling better? It's a pity there's a lack of medicine here, so most of the time you have to rely on yourself to fight it."

He exchanged a few words with Xia Lanluo Te, then called over a girl about 14 years old, "Nika, come here and help this sister get acquainted. She's new here."

"Okay, I'll be right there, Dad." The girl was weaving a basket and seemed to be just finishing the last few steps.

"This is my daughter. She knows a lot about the situation here, so I think it will be much easier for you to communicate."

"Thank you." Xia Lanluo nodded, then looked back at the rock face and the trees beside the stream. Light yellow and reddish-brown leaves were sparsely scattered in the treetops, with a few newly sprouted shoots visible among them. The ground looked lightly mowed; there weren't many fallen leaves, and the soft, dark brown soil was visible.

"Hello, my name is Nika, and you?" The girl came over in a lively manner, skipping and jumping.

Then he led Xia Lanluote to walk around and take a look.

"That night, my father received a message saying one of his companions was being hunted, so he ran over to help."

"I found you and my other sister, so I saved you."

"I guess the enemy of my enemy is my friend. That's what I heard Uncle Bai De say. He taught me a lot of words and proverbs."

The girl led Xia Lanluote along the stream, walking on the protruding stones beside the stream with her feet, trying her best to balance with her hands, and seemed to enjoy this kind of fun.

Seeing her almost falling down several times, Xia Lanluo Te wanted to help her but didn't dare to, for fear of making the little girl unhappy.

"It's okay, I have a good balance. In fact, this is also a kind of exercise." She turned around occasionally and saw Xia Lanluote's worried look and smiled.

"My sister is being hunted by the Empire's soldiers. She must have gotten into some serious trouble. But we're the same way. We disobeyed the lord's jurisdiction, so we escaped and are now wandering around."

"Although it looked very embarrassing, everyone gradually got used to it."

"I think my sister should understand all the bad things about the nobility, so I won't dwell on those sad things anymore."

"That's true." Xia Lanluo nodded silently behind her, feeling that she seemed to be within the range.

"I don't understand the big principles. I used to listen to my dad and his friends talk about freedom and equality."

"In their eyes, we are probably the black sheep, haha."

"Because many people saw that we were doing well, they joined us, which meant they poached quite a few people from the empire."

"Now we're scattered throughout this forest, living a semi-secluded life. Because the mountains are difficult to navigate, some magical beasts live there. The nobles are unwilling to spend large sums of money to hunt us down, so they've gradually left us alone."

"Oh, there are fish there." The girl who was talking to Xia Lanluote pointed to a small water hole in front of her. It was a small harbor formed by several stones in the stream, and a white river fish was quietly staying in it.

Then the girl approached carefully and jumped into the water with a splash.

There was a splash and a flutter, and soon she was standing up in the stream holding the big white fish.

"Sister, come and help me, it's too slippery~" As she spoke, she seemed to hold down the fish's body, but the fish's tail jumped and flapped from time to time, splashing all kinds of water, making Nika unable to open her eyes.

"Okay, I'll be right there." Xia Lanluo put the thin blanket on a dry stone nearby and jumped in. The two of them were in a rush and it took them a while to finally get the fish ashore.

"Huh——" Lying on the grass by the stream, their clothes were already soaked, and a damp and cold feeling came over them.

"I'm sorry for getting Sister Lottie into trouble." Nika stuck out her tongue and got up again.

"Let's take the fish to the camp first, and then go take a bath."

"Um."

As they spoke, the two of them took turns delivering the fish to the camp several hundred meters away. Nika was scolded by her mother before she released the fish.

"I'm sorry to trouble you, Nika." A woman with brown braids came over. She was probably in her 30s or 40s and didn't look old, except that her hands had many scars from hard work.

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