The Fourth Volume Ice Road 018. Holy Land

  Several people exchanged a glance, then looked at the exhausted Temple Knight behind them. Alfred hesitated for a moment before saying, "Let's do as Lord Nicholas said."

  Nicholas nodded and said no more.

  Down below, Alfred immediately ordered the troops to temporarily withdraw from the green brick road. In less than a moment, a Templar knight returned and said that he had found a place extremely suitable for camping.

  A group of people, led by the Templar knight, turned into the left side of the valley and then after passing through a dense forest, the scene in front of them suddenly became clear.

  Standing at the edge of the forest under a tree, looking at the vast open grassland in front of him, and a huge lake, Du Fan couldn't help but sigh.

  All along the way, what I saw was either ice and snow or magical beasts. At this moment, this standard southern scenery appeared in front of my eyes, and it really made me feel an extremely intimate feeling in my heart.

  Sparse grassland, full of various unknown small flowers, emitting a faint fragrance, making people want to roll around in the surroundings, and in the lens of the grassland, it is a peaceful lake.

  The lake is blue, the water is transparent enough to see the aquatic plants at the bottom of the lake. Every time a gentle breeze blows by, ripples appear on the surface of the lake, so delicate, as if in a dream.

  At this moment it is still noon, and the sunlight falls on the lake surface, making this dreamlike scenery even more beautiful.

  Looking at this picturesque landscape, Du Fan couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of creation. It's a miracle that such a scene can appear in this icy and snowy northern land.

  Most people looked at the scene in front of them with excitement, after all, they had been walking in the icy snow for so long, even iron men couldn't hold on. Just thinking about being able to rest temporarily in this place, most people temporarily threw away their other worries.

  Next, without Alfred's orders, the Templar knights set up camp, lit a sacred fire, and several of them began to discuss going out to hunt for some wild game.

  Du Fan smiled as he watched the scene unfold, not stopping it. Instead, he beckoned a few familiar Temple Knights over and pulled out a bottle of poison from his storage ring, handing it to one of them.

  These temples had long been in tacit agreement with Du Fan, and the familiar mechanisms and traps were all handed over by Du Fan. At this moment, seeing what was in Du Fan's hand, they naturally knew it must be poison or something similar. Originally, the temple knights would not stoop to using such things, but since a certain time when Du Fan's trap solved several magic beasts, these temple knights no longer had any objection to it. They also understood Du Fan's meaning and immediately went to set up traps on the outskirts of the camp with their tools.

  Ferris stood behind Dufan and sighed: "It's a pity that other brothers can't see this scene."

  Du Fan knew that Feyre felt deeply about the more than twenty Temple Knights who had been sacrificed, and didn't know how to comfort him. He could only sigh and say: "They died heroically for the glory of the God of Light, at this moment they must have returned to the Lord's embrace, you don't need to blame yourself too much."

  Ferré nodded silently, but his eyes still held a hint of sadness.

  Before long, a temporary camp was set up, and those in charge of starting fires also chopped down some trees nearby to light several bonfires. Those who had nothing to do for the time being didn't care about anything else, took off their clothes and jumped into the lake to take a bath.

  It was Du Fan and the others who still maintained a bit of dignity, not to the point where they were like those Temple Knights, but rather all pretending to be calm as they sat around a bonfire discussing in hushed tones what they would do tomorrow.

  Nicholas and Alfred were discussing heatedly, while Dufan had already made up his mind to undermine their plans and wasn't prepared to cooperate with them. He didn't even bother to listen, his eyes wandered over Tassia's body a few times, but he couldn't help but secretly laugh to himself.

  Tasia, the iceberg beauty, sat there with a cold expression, but Du Fan could vaguely sense that her body was quietly twisting unintentionally. At first, Du Fan didn't know what was going on, but when he saw that she had a hint of shyness and her eyes were secretly glancing in the direction of the lake, he suddenly understood...

  Sister Tasia, I'm afraid she's thinking of men... Oh no, it should be that she wants to take a bath. After all, girls are born with a bit of cleanliness, and in the past half month, with her physical condition, she can't just grab some snow on her body like those Temple Knights and rub it around as if taking a bath. Although there are a few Temple Knights who have been kept by noblewomen and understand romance, the problem is that no one dares to set their sights on Sister Tasia, no one tries to curry favor with her, so naturally, no one has prepared hot water for her to bathe along the way.

  Poor Tasya!

  Du Fan sighed in his heart, if you are willing to talk to me, how can I not help you prepare bath water? Even if it's helping you wipe your back, accompanying you to take a bath, and serving you to sleep, this excessive request, Young Master, for the sake of Guangming God, I can barely agree.

  Just thinking about it, this flower-like girl, just to serve the God of Light, not only has to refuse so many men's pursuit, but also doesn't even have the chance to find a man to play a friendly match with, what a tragedy is this?

  Having thought of this, Du Fan has decided that tonight he will find Tasya to have a chat, talk about feelings, and then burn some hot water for a bath. You help me wipe my back, I'll accompany you in the bath, and finally everyone will be happy and have a friendly match, this trip won't be in vain...

  The more he thought about it, the more excited and exaggerated he became. Du Fan couldn't help but look at Tasya with a strange gaze, secretly praising her in his heart. How was it that when they first met, she seemed so cold and icy, yet after spending time together these past few days, he found her to be increasingly beautiful? Although not quite on the same level as Chenchen, she could still be considered a stunning beauty, especially with her...

  Thinking of this, Du Fan couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, and then he suddenly remembered the scene when he first met Chenchen. He didn't know why, but his heart suddenly felt a pang of sadness, and the flames in his chest disappeared instantly. He reached into his pocket to stroke the small cat that was still unconscious, and Du Fan couldn't help but let out a sigh in his heart...

  Tasia noticed Du Fan's gaze, his icy eyes swept over him, but he didn't say anything. Du Fan naturally wouldn't make a fool of himself, so he pretended not to see it and sat with an innocent expression, looking like a saint. But what was really going on beneath this pious exterior, no one knew.

  It was evening when the Temple Knights who went hunting returned, saying that there were no monsters nearby, but they had good luck and caught a few small white wolves.

  The wolf meat was smelly and hard to chew, and it wasn't particularly delicious, but compared to the dry rations they had been eating for the past few days, it was a thousand times better.

  Several Templars then skinned and deboned the little white wolf, threw it into a pot to cook, adding some dried rations, making for a decent dinner. During the meal, someone even pulled out a wineskin of strong liquor.

  Originally, the Knights Templar were not allowed to drink when they went on a mission, but tomorrow's entry into the Temple was unpredictable, and Du Fan and others also understood the mood of these Knights Templar, so they pretended not to see it.

  For hundreds of years, the sacred places that have been discovered, which one was not incorporated into the power range of the Holy See after paying a huge price? It is known that the existence of this temple has its own reasons, but in any case, every lost holy land is full of various dangers. There was once a holy land where the Holy See sent dozens of Temple Knights to no avail, until finally sending a high-ranking Saint expert who found out that an ancient demon beast was trapped inside, and even the Saint expert was not its opponent, if it weren't for the blessed power of the temple suppressing it, the demon beast almost swallowed the Saint expert.

  It was finally resolved by the Pope himself at that time, and that place is now the Imperial Capital.

  Moreover, the most crucial thing is that within the sacred land, apart from some divine artifacts, the blessed divine power is also extremely important to the Sacred Theocracy. Although no one explicitly says it, Dufan also vaguely knows that the appearance of the Divine Artisan has a certain relationship with these sacred lands. It's possible that the Divine Artisan can only possess power by absorbing the divine power of the sacred lands.

  It is precisely because of the importance of this sacred place that Cardinal Anthony, in his red robes, attaches such significance to this journey. And it is also precisely because no one knows what dangers lie within the Temple that these Templar Knights are about to embark on a final, frantic...

  These things, Du Fan and others all knew in their hearts, so no one mentioned them, and even when they were excited, they still drank a few mouthfuls with the Knights of the Holy Temple, which was also a joy for both host and guest.

  It wasn't until midnight that the crowd slowly dispersed, except for a few people who were responsible for keeping watch, and most of them went back to their own tents to rest.

  Although Du Fan didn't drink much wine, his heart was increasingly annoyed. After lying in the tent for a while and not being able to sleep, he couldn't help but put on his Taoist robe, holding Chenchen in one hand, and slowly walked out of the camp.

  After arriving at the lake, he found a dark corner and sat down, holding Chenchen and fiddling with her for a moment, sighing: "Chenchen, what's wrong with you? When can you wake up?"

  In response, Chenchen let out a lazy stretch. Du Fan furrowed his brow, though he didn't know what had happened, he vaguely felt that something must have changed about Chenchen. This was something he couldn't understand himself and couldn't discuss with others. Besides self-consolation, there was no other way to deal with it.

  At the moment when Du Fan was feeling depressed, suddenly, a faint sound of water came from not far away. Du Fan was slightly stunned, he put Chenchen into his arms, wore his Taoist robe, and slowly looked in the direction where the sound came from.