"Thank you, Master Dandelion." A man wearing a bright blue cloak with gold edges on his shoulders stood up from the crowd. His voice was not loud but very deep. "Please allow me - Radcliffe of Niubao, the master of magical mysteries - to express my gratitude and praise for your superb skills. I believe that everyone present will agree with me."
The crowd began to cheer, others raised their hands to greet the singers, and the women were moved by the music and sobbed softly, wiping their eyes with whatever they had.
Dandelion also saw the Baron and his family, who had canceled their hunting trip to watch the famous poet's country performance.
The performance was over and the surroundings returned to their previous noise. The merchants whispered a few words and pushed a large barrel of beer under the oak tree. The baron's daughters cast admiring eyes on Dandelion, who was concentrating on smiling at a big-eyed elf beauty.
Dandelion's apprentice put down his lute and picked up the small box he had been using to collect money so that he could properly express his admiration, but he assessed the cheers around him and dropped the box, picking up a large bucket instead.
This action made Dandelion withdraw his gaze from the elven beauty, and he admired the apprentice's cleverness.
"Master!" Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, "You haven't finished your story yet. Tell us what happened next!"
"You didn't mention any names in your song, but we all know that the character in your song can only be the famous Geralt of Rivia, and the sorceress who ignited the flame of love with him is the equally famous Yennefer. As for the unexpected child, the child who is linked to the fate of the witcher and bound by an oath from birth is Cirilla, the princess of Cintra who unfortunately lost her country. Is this correct?"
Dandelion smiled mysteriously and indifferently: "Everyone, the plot in my ballad can happen anywhere, and the emotions in the song can also be experienced by anyone. It has nothing to do with specific people."
A girl screamed: "Master, we all know that this song is about the witcher Geralt! Keep singing! Please tell us what happened next? Did the witcher and the sorceress Yennefer finally find each other? Are they still in love? Did they find happiness? We really want to know!"
A dwarf suddenly stood up from the crowd. He was the leader of a group of dwarf soldiers. He shouted at the screaming girls, as if he was deafened by the noise.
"That's enough! Princesses, sorceresses, fate, love, all this is nonsense, poetic fiction, just to make the story more beautiful and touching."
After that, the dwarf turned to Dandelion again: "Please forgive my offense, great poet. But your poem's description of the war between Soden and Mahakam is really wonderful, as well as Cintra, which was destroyed by the iron hoof of Nilfgaard, and the looting and massacre that took place there - it's so vivid! I am willing to pay for such a song! This is the voice of a warrior!"
"No!" A knight in the audience shouted, "Cintra has not been destroyed. As far as I know, the Lion Knight whose poems are widely circulated returned to Cintra to stabilize the situation and resist Nilfgaard. He is now known as the 'Lion of Cintra'!"
"Huh? Then I have to ask this delusional knight who can't control his tongue." The dwarf leader widened his eyes. "I respect the Lion Knight. I have his commemorative Gwent card in my hand, but as far as I know, he was killed by the Nilfgaardians in Toussaint. How can he return to Cintra to stabilize the situation?"
"Are you saying I'm lying? Insulting the honor and dignity of a knight?" The knight jumped up with a red face. "Everyone in the northern border knows that the Lion Knight has appeared again. How could a man like him be ambushed by the Nilfgaardians? You don't even know this. I don't think you have ever been to the battlefield!"
"Shut your rotten mouth, I am a frontline soldier supporting the battle of Soden in Mahakam!"
A quarrel began, and the voices of the humans and dwarves grew louder and louder, even to the point of drawing swords.
A gray-haired druid in a white cloak came out in time to dissuade them: "My lords! Don't quarrel under the canopy of Beliuheris. This oak tree is older than all the disputes and quarrels in the world! We should learn to love from the songs of Dandelion's poets, not to fight!"
The druid was highly respected, which made the quarreling parties temporarily swallow their curse words. However, a short and fat priest seemed to think that there was an opportunity and took the opportunity to speak along with the druid's words.
"Love and peace, that's it!"
The priest, his face covered in sweat, echoed, "Why do you fight? Because you have no love for God in your hearts. The ballads tell of the fate of mankind, because we are no different from playthings in the hands of the gods, and the land beneath our feet is just the playground of the gods. The things described in the poems, the witcher, the lion knight, the princess and the sorceress are just pure metaphors, the product of the poet's imagination. We can't just listen to the stories, but feel the will of God from them..."
"What nonsense are you talking about, great saint?" a knight shouted, "What product of imagination? That's why I hate you guys who are so superstitious. You believe in your own fantasies and deny the facts you haven't seen. I have seen Lann of Cintra. He is a true knight and a lion worthy of praise!"
"I agree." A slender female warrior also stood up, her smooth black hair combed back into a thick braid. "I am Leila of Lyria. Although I have never seen a lion, I know Geralt the White Wolf. He is an extraordinary warrior. I have never seen anyone who can use a sword better than him."
"But as far as I know." A sturdy young man with red hair shook his head. He was dressed like a traveler. "Queen Calanthe of Cintra and King Ester have no sons or daughters. Where did the unexpected child in the poem come from? What's her name, Princess Cirilla?"
The people who were arguing fell silent. They looked at the red-haired young man, as if wondering how such a person had intruded into their conversation.
The knight kicked the red-haired young man and said, "Queen Calanthe gave birth to a princess with her ex-husband, Princess Pavetta. Later, Princess Pavetta and her husband died in a shipwreck. Princess Cirilla is their only daughter, known as the young lion of Cintra. Do you understand? You idiot!"
A dwarf sat on his barrel and thought, "But I heard that Princess Cirilla died when Cintra was destroyed. All the royal family members died together, including Princess Cirilla."
"That's nonsense!" said the knight again, "The lion is still alive, how could anything happen to the cub?"
The dwarf leader shouted: "Your lion died in Toussaint long ago!"
The dwarves and knights were about to draw their swords against each other again, the baron and the wizard looked on coldly, the dwarf merchant suddenly seized the opportunity to sell beer to the people around him, and the priest loudly denounced the barbaric behavior but no one paid any attention.
"Everyone, we are all children of the earth." Finally, the druid calmed the fight again. "We are descendants of nature, travelers gathered in the Land of Friendship. We are among the primitive roots. We should put aside our respective identities and prejudices, because this land gave birth to all of us. Let us not forget the ballad of the poet Dandelion..."
"Wait," someone suddenly shouted in the crowd, "Dandelion is gone! His apprentice is gone too, with the full bag of coins. Where did he go?"
"He ran away." A tall elf next to the beautiful elf who Dandelion had been flirting with said expressionlessly. He had been watching everything coldly. "While you were arguing about his story, he ran away with his harvest and went to enjoy it."
"What a dwarf!" the knight cursed angrily, feeling that his enthusiasm was wasted.
"Like a dwarf!" screamed the dwarf trader.
"Like an elf!" The dwarf leader puffed his beard and glared.
"Like a human," corrected the beautiful elf who had been enduring Dandelion's smile.
"Where did he go? Where can we find out what happened next?" the Baron's daughters asked in confusion. They were so engrossed in the love story between the witcher and the sorceress that they could not extricate themselves.
…
"At that time, I was captured by Reigns. That was our first meeting." Dandelion's face was solemn. "He was unreasonable and kidnapped me directly from under the giant oak tree Beleukhelis. Otherwise, I would definitely have a good talk with my fans."
Lan raised an eyebrow: "Really?"
"Of course." Dandelion raised his head modestly. "You didn't see the scene. The Baron's daughter and the elven girl were both in love with me. I need to mediate the fight between them. After all, I am a singer and an artist. I should bring peace and love."
Dandelion sighed, "What a pity that abominable warlock suddenly showed up and ruined everything!"
…
When the stranger knocked at Dandelion's door, two girls were sitting on the poet's knees. The money he had just received under the great oak tree was enough for him to indulge in a small luxury.
可是陌生的动静搅乱了诗人的兴致，丹德里恩抚平头发，在硕大的雕花扶手椅里坐起身。两个女孩赶忙跳下他的膝盖，羞怯整理凌乱的衣物，遮住无限春光。
看着姑娘们娇笑着离去，诗人没好气地抱怨道：“陌生的客人，你似乎很会找人，但是实在不怎么会挑选时机。”
“请原谅我的冒昧造访，大师。”陌生人走到桌前，此时他还彬彬有礼，“我知道在这种时候打扰您并不合适，但您从橡树下消失得太快，我没能在大路追上您，也没能立即在这小镇发现您的踪迹。我不会占用您太多时间的。”
他彬彬有礼，却不等丹德里恩对他的问题做出反应，自顾自地继续说道：“我是您的歌迷，也深切地为诗歌中的角色沉醉。我想知道您歌谣里那些主角的真正命运之前在大橡树下听到的美妙之作一定是以真实人物的真实命运为模板的。”
“我想知道。”陌生人直视着丹德里恩的双眼，“杰洛特，以及希瑞拉的踪迹。”
“这位陌生的阁下，”诗人干巴巴地说，“你感兴趣的事还真奇怪，你的问题也一样。我很好奇……”
一个硕大的钱袋砸在丹德里恩的面前：“我希望这能够让你忘掉你的好奇心。”
刚刚在巨橡树下卷钱悄悄溜走的诗人，此刻对于砸在自己面前的钱袋却看都不看一眼，他面无表情地说道：“很抱歉，我真心不想讨论自己作品的主题、灵感和角色，无论它是不是虚构。这会剥夺诗歌的浪漫与美妙，让他归于陈腐和平庸——尤其是对于陌生人。”
“会吗？哪怕面对这一袋足足的报酬？这可比你今天下午那场盛大的音乐会带来的收入还要多，我觉得我已经很慷慨了。”
“这不是报酬的问题，陌生人，而是职业素养，要是我告诉了你，我以后就再也不能开演唱会了。”丹德里恩摇摇头，开始满嘴跑火车，“”
陌生人叹了口气：“我本来想用比较文雅的方式来对待艺术家的，可是很抱歉，我必须知道问题的答案。”
他剥下来自己名为“优雅”的面具，身上开始流露出丹德里恩走南闯北时常遇到的那种亡命徒的气质。
“记好了，我叫里恩斯。而你可能要吃些苦头了，亲爱的诗人。”
诗人眼前突然闪过一道蓝光，他的四肢渐渐麻木、迟钝、僵硬。他想用大叫把这家店面的老板娘喊过来，因为这种“娱乐场所”都会配备几个狠角色来防止人闹事。
但是里恩斯可能看出了丹德里恩的想法，他阴沉沉地笑着：“不用再想别的事情了，这栋房子里面早就只有你和我了。”
“我们之间会有足够多的时间来消磨的。”
……
“我醒过来的时候，肩膀和手腕都扭伤了，这差点让我没法弹琴。我想要尖叫，但是嘴里却好像塞了黏土一样堵住了，我这才知道那个叫里恩斯的家伙其实是个术士。”
丹德里恩嘀嘀咕咕地说道：“他竟然是个术士。这一切真的都太新鲜了，他打扮得像是个雇佣兵，还喜欢用绳索和刀子，哪有术士会这样？”
兰恩笑了笑：“可能你一直接触的都是叶奈法那样的高级术士，这个世界上还是有很多蹩脚的施法者的，我曾经在战场上一口气杀过好几个尼弗迦德的术士，他们连传送门都不会开。”
丹德里恩愣愣地看了看兰恩：“你比我还会吹牛。”
兰恩不在意地笑笑，主动继续关于里恩斯的话题：“我猜你之后一定逃出来了，不然我也不可能在这里碰到你。”
诗人点点头：“是的，我在术士的酷刑下没有透露任何一点杰洛特的踪迹，同时怒斥他的卑劣行径。这让他恼羞成怒，甚至差点要了我的命。好在叶奈法那天也在巨橡树，她路过救了我。”
……
“诸神在上，饶了我吧，我真的不知道杰洛特在哪，我和他上次见面是在一年之前，那个时候他独自把我抛弃在高山上，我从山坡上一路滚下来差点失去了性命，那之后我就和他断了联系了！”
“我发誓这是真的，我比你还要痛恨他！他毁了我的鞋子和美妙的夜晚，如果我再见到他，我一定会用鲁特琴狠狠砸他的头，我们是一伙的啊术士先生！”
丹德里恩放声大哭，那唱歌如天籁的喉咙在让人心神不宁上面也有别样的能力，里恩斯被恼得直接挥手用魔法封上了诗人的嘴。
此时屋内站着三个人，一个是里恩斯，他恶毒的双眼被灯光照亮；另外还有两个打手打扮的人，一个提着灯，一个在门口放风。丹德里恩能够听到他们的呼吸声，还有他们身上浓烈的汗臭味。
丹德里恩跪在泥地上，被一条绳索捆住手腕，绳索绕过房梁拽起他的身体。他试图站起缓解一下肩膀的压力，却发现双腿也被捆住。
“我们的谈话还没结束，你这蹩脚的诗人。明明上次见面时候的场合更加体面，而我也只问了你一个问题。而现在，你必须回答我所有问题，且毫无体面可言。你明白现在的形势了吗？”
丹德里恩感觉喉咙好像被人塞了一块黏土让他没发出声，他只能赶忙点头表示同意。
里恩斯露出微笑，打了个手势。诗人无助地尖叫一声，感觉绳索绷得更紧，他的双臂扭向背后，关节疼痛难当。
“我知道，聪明的诗人，你在混淆视听，我自然知道你和白狼没有联系了。但是你肯定知道，当你一年没见到猎魔人的时候他会在哪里，他们应该有个聚集地，对吗？”
里恩斯挥手解开诗人的禁言魔法：“这回你想清楚再说话，我要你要迅速而流利地回答我，而且知无不言。不然你的嘴唇就要进你的喉咙里了，诗人！”
丹德里恩面如土色，愤怒地咬牙切齿。但哪怕如此，他还是颤抖着继续呻吟：
“我不知道……诸神在上，我只是个诗人！我听到一部分说法，至于其他是我瞎编的，是捏造的……我只是个诗人……”
里维斯恶劣地笑了起来，手上重新开始散发魔法波动，丹德里恩绝望地闭上眼睛。
就在此时，望风的那个恶棍突然提醒道：“阁下，有人来了。”
黑夜的寂静之中，很明显有脚步声在泥泞路上淌水的声音响起，然后是类似木质栅栏被拉开的声音。
里恩斯本身就缺少耐心，再加上急于审问，里恩斯并没有把丹德里恩带到什么隐秘的审讯室，而是就近进行审讯。
他原本信心满满可以让软骨头的诗人把自己知道的东西倒豆子一样全部说出来，可是没想到现在却墨迹了这么久，甚至都把外人引了过来。
里恩斯皱了皱眉头：“把灯熄了。”
房间陷入一片黑暗和寂静之中。
门“吱吖”一声打开，一股恶臭扑面而来，丹德里恩这才知道自己竟然被关在猪圈的一个小房间里。
门口现出一个身穿斗篷、头戴圆帽的矮小女人身影，把风的男人毫不犹豫地挥刀朝她扑了过去，结果把风的男人在惯性的作用下蹒跚跪倒，刀子却没碰到任何东西，只是划过一团烟。
是幻象，来人是个术士！
一个身影在幻象消散之后冲进木屋，灵活地就像一只猫鼬。她先是双手一挥，让一股无形的屏障笼罩了整个木屋，周围瞬间安静下来，看样子她不想要发出太大的动静惊扰四周。
紧接着，丹德里恩看到小个子斗篷人的手中闪电环绕，直接砸在放风男的身上，烤肉的香味伴随着短促的惨叫顿时飘扬开来。
瞬间杀死一人之后，那闪电恍若有灵性一般在房间里面到处跳动，丹德里恩害怕地闭上了眼睛，只听到耳边不断传来奋力的嚎叫或者哀嚎，然后是壮汉倒地的声音。
值得庆幸的是，自己身上却没有半点痛楚。
里恩斯愤怒大喊，身前出现一张蓝色的光膜，紧接着他抽出短剑想要像个战士一样迎敌，没想到那闪电在劈碎了光膜之后居然还有余力，尤有几道电弧黏在他的脸上和肩膀上。
男术士整个人向后倒飞而出，直接撞碎了猪圈的木墙。
小个子斗篷人还想上前追赶，却见到里恩斯的脚下突然出现了一个金色的光圈，他整个人直接掉入其中消失不见，紧接着便有烈焰从里面涌了出来。
骤然变化的局势让小个子斗篷人不得不停下来，口中快速而有节奏地背诵着丹德里恩听不懂的话，随后就有一个黄色的椭圆将火焰包裹在一起然后一同消失。
黑暗再次降临。
“救命！”丹德里恩感觉到堵在自己喉咙的魔法力量消失了，他凄惨地哀嚎起来，“救命！”
“别嚷嚷了，丹德里恩，是我。”小个子斗篷人，或者说——叶奈法，摘下兜帽，用短剑割断丹德里恩的绳索。
Although it was dark, the poet who was well versed in music still immediately recognized Yennefer's voice.
"Thank God, Yennefer! I apologize for all the harsh words and offensive language I said to you before. From today on, you are the most beautiful woman in the world. I hope you and Geralt will never be separated until the end of the world. I want to come up with a masterpiece for you that will resound throughout the North. I'm starting to think about it now... I think... I'm sorry, maybe it's because I've been left hanging for too long, I just want to vomit now..."
"The fact that you didn't pee your pants is the best way to thank me." Yennefer sneered, "I heard your singing under the giant oak tree. I wanted to talk to you, but I didn't expect you to run so fast. Fortunately, I found you after all."
"I want to thank you again, Yennefer. I know you don't like me and we're not even friends, but you still saved me."
The sorceress turned her head and remained silent for a moment.
"You travel with him." After a long while, Yennefer spoke expressionlessly, "Thanks to you, he is not alone. You are his friend. He has your company."
Dandelion lowered his eyes when he heard this.
"Our friendship has done him no good. I have only caused him trouble... and he has always been busy for me."
Yennefer looked at him with a carefree gaze: "But he enjoys it. That's just the kind of person he is."
Neither Dandelion nor Yennefer explicitly stated who that "he" was, but both knew who the other was referring to.
Dandelion took a deep breath of fresh air, waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about me for now. He is in danger now. The warlock is looking for him. Yennefer, you must find him before the enemy and warn him!"
…
"Then Yennefer asked me to come to Redania, to the Oxburgh, saying that Dijkstra and Philippa were here - you may not have seen Philippa, she is another very dangerous sorceress - so that Rience should not mess around here."
Lan nodded. He estimated that Dandelion, who had been in the Bull Castle, didn't know the details of what happened to Geralt, so he took the initiative to say:
"Yennefer did find Geralt later, although she was actually called over by Triss instead of finding him herself, but they met after all - I heard that they were also a couple with a destiny connected, maybe this is fate."
After hearing Lann sort out the relationship between the people in detail, Dandelion showed an interested look: "In other words, one of them is a demon hunter and the other is a sorceress, but now they are teaching the accidental child together?"
"Let's get back to the point. We are talking about Reigns. If I find him, I will kill him so that you don't have to worry about being harassed by him in the future. I heard that he came to Niubao recently. Is that true?"