There are of course more than one mountain roads from De La Rion to Carson Rico across the Xical Mountain, but the Wind Riser Trail is the smoothest road that can pass a carriage, and it is also the best road to take.
Even in the modern age when steam trains have been passed through the pass of Xical Mountain, this mountain road that has existed since ancient times is still the most important commercial route in the nearby area. . .
The Wind Riser Trail winds and circles on the Sikar Mountain, and finally crosses the border to a foreign city on the other side of the mountains. The Red Water Camp is the largest outpost and barracks set up by the Royal De La Rion Army in the border area. On the one hand, it assumes the responsibility of defense and investigation, and on the other hand, it also cooperates with checkpoints and tax officials to manage the issue of inbound and outbound goods.
Of course, besides the Red Water Camp, there are other military camps in Mount Xikar, but those are not known to ordinary people.
The Red Water Camp itself does not allow any unrelated personnel other than soldiers to enter, but resting in the mountains and preparing goods also require a place. After all, it will take time to go down the mountain from the Red Water Camp and enter the city.
Therefore, the travelers spontaneously gathered outside the military camp to form a small camp. Following the merchants who saw the business opportunity, they somehow got the chief of the Hongshui camp to agree to build a building, and there was also a small hotel in the traveler camp. , warehouses and taverns.
Although the building is simple, it is better than nothing.
When Xia De went up the mountain, he happened to run into a farmer from Fort Midhill who wanted to take a donkey cart of grain to sell in the southern country through the Fengqi trail. So he spent two pennies for a ride, sat in the back of the grain cart and chatted with the old man driving the cart while walking towards the mountain.
Xia De was very curious, the other party seemed to be in his fifties, why did he still come out to transport food, the old man told Xia De with a smile:
"The children have all gone to big cities like Fort Midhill, but the land can't be left unused. This is the land passed down from ancestors."
Even in a donkey cart, Xia De finally saw the towering sentry tower of the Red Water Camp until almost one o'clock in the afternoon. You must know that although he started at ten o'clock, he started from the abandoned tower in the mountain, not from the bottom of the mountain. In other words, unless riding a horse or taking a car, even if an ordinary person enters the mountain in the morning, he will not be able to reach the Red Water Camp until late in the evening.
Xia De said goodbye to the very talkative old man at the camp. The latter had to go to the front checkpoint and pay the tax before he could get the customs clearance documents. Xia De waved his hand, and then stood beside the road sign written in the two languages, looking to his right hand.
On the right is a small peak, with wooden steps and corridors erected at the steep point, leading to the barracks surrounded by a rough stone fence and a wooden wall fence on the higher level. I don't know whether the top of the small peak was leveled artificially or it was originally flat. The Hongshui Camp is located on it. Only a few arrow towers and gun ports are needed to easily block any enemy who wants to attack from here.
Standing on the side of the road, you can see the patrolling soldiers standing on the top of the high wooden wall, and you can also hear the faint voice of shouting.
The "traveler's camp" written in two languages on the road sign is a camp that surrounds the small peak and is located next to the checkpoint of the Fengqi trail. The trees in the forest were cut down and cleared out of the ground. Wooden buildings no taller than two stories were scattered in the camp, and simple wooden fences used to defend against wild animals obliquely circled the range of the traveler's camp. .
There is even an innkeeper who specializes in serving travelers, trying to nail a wooden board with advertisements on the wooden fence around the camp, but when Shade approached the camp, he was caught by a mountain harvester who was close to the fence. The rude butcher, driving away with a chopping knife:
"This is my place, hang your dirty sign somewhere else!"
The butcher, with his heavy accent, added two words that Shad didn't know how to translate to describe the vile behavior of the innkeeper, which made the people who watched this scene laugh.
Although the camp has an entrance, no one stops here to collect tolls and the like.
The outsiders, who had never seen such a scene before, looked around with interest after entering the camp. However, the area of the traveler's camp is at most three times the size of Saint-Andrés Square, and at least a quarter of the area is warehouses. Therefore, although it looks fresh, after a few glances, it feels that it is actually not interesting. .
Lieutenant Radds met today at the Blue Rose Tavern at Traveler's Camp after last week's incident at Fort Midhill's Mechanical Academy. This should be a tavern with a relatively high level of consumption in the camp. The reason for the judgment is not because the name is a little more elegant, but because the travelers who enter and leave here are all well-dressed travelers.
Pushing open the door of the tavern, the noisy sound and the smell of alcohol mixed with fermented food came to the face.
Seeing that Captain Lades was not there, Shad guessed that the captain probably thought he would arrive in the afternoon, so he went to the tavern counter first and ordered a glass of cider.
The price of goods in the traveler's camp seems to be higher than that in the city, but this is also understandable, after all, no matter what is pulled from the city to the mountains, it will cost travel expenses.
There were quite a lot of customers in the tavern at noon. In addition to cider, Xia De also ordered fried carrots for his lunch. He sat down at the table in the corner, called the waiter in the tavern, and ordered a copy of this morning's "Xikal Morning Post", so that he would have something to do while eating.
Even though they only sell newspapers for 3p in the city, UU Reading www.uukanshu.com actually sells them for 4p in the traveler’s camp. Although it is only a penny more, it is expensive if it is expensive. Xia De knew that there was probably no bargaining here, so he didn't say much, but when he counted out the change and handed the four small coins to the waiter, the door of the tavern was pushed open again.
Xia De subconsciously looked in that direction, and the people who entered the door also noticed Xia De's gaze and looked over at the same time.
"Um?"
It's a pity that it wasn't Captain Lades who entered the door, but he was also an acquaintance of Shad. The hair is extremely short, only furry stubble can be seen, the skin is dark, and the double eyelids of both eyes are extremely severe. He looks like he is in his thirties, with a thin body, wrapped in an old-fashioned brown robe that people in desert areas often wear, holding a notebook in his right hand, extremely short eyelashes, and extremely energetic black eyes.
"Mr Sean Asmond?"
This is the "demon scholar" that Shad met in the Pink Rose Hotel in Coldwater Harbour. This gentleman even lost to Shad a Rhodes card of the Devil series in that unscrupulous hotel, and Tell him a story about a man without wishes and a demon.