Above the mage!

Chapter 243 Unknown Malice
It’s easier to get things done with a map.

In particular, this map of the Snover clan also detailed most of the gathering points and dangerous areas of the geomantic creatures in this area.

And what Gaode had to do was to follow the instructions on the map, bypass the red dots or areas, and head to the location circled by Baruch representing the Snowfield Guardian branch.

Of course, now he didn't know what happened to the Snover clan after he left.

Gillette Snover's final, counterintuitive directions also allowed the pursuers who were looking for Baruch to perfectly avoid God.

With the help of [Ice Skating Technique], Gode strode across the snowfield at a speed of forty kilometers a day.

Gaode set out on the 4th of the Awakening Month. It took him only ten days to complete the journey that was expected to take half a month, and he arrived at the lake marked on the map, called Xiaoyan Lake.

The reason for this name is probably because the edge of the lake is somewhat similar to a swallow.

The lake is not big and has long been frozen.

Like most places, there are always many creatures living near water sources, especially humans, who especially like to live around water sources.

This is true even if this is a frozen lake.

The branch of the Snowfield Guardians was established on a small hill next to the lake.

It was a group of low buildings located in an open area, with its back against the hills and facing the lake, with an excellent geographical location.

Since the Snowfield Guardian Chapter does not need to migrate as frequently as the Northern Tribes, their buildings are real buildings rather than tents similar to yurts.

The exterior walls of these buildings are made of light grey patterned stone that is unique to the snowfields.

The patterned stones are tightly spliced ​​together, leaving almost no gaps, and can effectively resist the invasion of severe cold and wind and snow.

The overall style of the building is simple and practical, without excessive decoration. There are several narrow windows on the wall, and thick curtains made of animal skins are hung inside the windows to block the cold wind.

Gaode arrived at the gate of the Snowfield Guardian Branch.

Because there are few large trees on the snowfield, that is, a lack of high-quality wood, the gates here are different from ordinary doors and are not made of wood.

Instead, the frame of the gate is made of solid animal bones, and the main body of the gate is reinforced with tough animal leather and animal bones. It can be said to be very exotic.

Gao De slowed down his pace and shouted inside, "Is anyone there?"

Soon, a middle-aged woman in a roughly made blue robe walked out. There were some strange patterns on the robe, which was the symbol of the guardian of the snowfield.

Blue is the favorite color of the Snowfield Guardian.

In fact, just as the forest people like green, most of the people on the snowfields like blue or white.

Unlike the sectarian attire of the outside world, the robes of the middle-aged women were rough and utilitarian, and were adorned with utilitarian to the point of being too plain, such as small bone knives and amulets.

The skin on the face of a middle-aged woman is rough, but it still maintains a certain elasticity and does not look old.

She looked at Gao De with a hint of vigilance in her eyes, "Stranger, who are you looking for? What's the matter?"

Goder kept smiling, "Hello, I'm here to find Damon the Guardian."

"Looking for Lord Damon?" The middle-aged woman looked at Gode, still somewhat skeptical, with a questioning look in her eyes.

"I was entrusted by Guardian Baruch to convey an important message to Guardian Damon." Gode explained.

The middle-aged woman thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Come in with me first. Master Damon is not in the church now and may not be back for a few days."

The middle-aged woman led Gao De into the church.

As soon as he entered, Gao De discovered that there were many young children in there, who were exercising under the guidance of the instructors from the Snowfield Guardian Church.

On the snowfield, a strong physique is very important.

Perhaps noticing Gao De's surprise, the middle-aged woman named Ona casually gave Gao De a few details of the situation.

Through Ona's introduction, Gode gained a deeper understanding of the Snowfield Guardian.

The so-called Snowfield Guardian Branch is actually more like an "orphanage".

One of the reasons why the Snowfield Guardians want to establish a branch here is to facilitate contact among members who are "fighting alone" on the snowfield.

More importantly, it is used to shelter orphans whose families have been taken away by the cold or who have lost their families because of the underground creatures.

If no one takes them in, these children will soon starve to death or freeze into ice sculptures.

The Snowfield Guardians take in these orphans, provide them with shelter and food, and also teach them.

However, this protection is time-limited.

When these orphans grow up, they have to leave the Snowfield Guardians and make a living on their own, just like eagles on the snowfield.

Of course, there are a few talented children or children who have awakened the Iceborn bloodline.

And these children will be actively recruited as members by the Snowfield Guardians.

In fact, most of the members of the Snowfield Guardians come from this background.

It is precisely because they have received teachings from the Snowfield Guardians since childhood that they are able to understand and accept the teachings of the Snowfield Guardians and then dedicate themselves to them.

Otherwise, it is generally impossible to find so many people with selfless dedication among the mages whose values ​​have matured.

Ona led Gold to an empty room.

"Foreigner, there have been frequent beast tides in the southwest recently. Lord Damon left the church last month and went there to investigate the details."

"However, Guardian Damon, as the leader of this branch, cannot leave the church for a long time according to the regulations. He should be back within a week."

"If you have nothing else to do and are not in a hurry, you can wait here until Guardian Damon returns."

"If you have something else that's important and you can't wait that long, you can tell me the important news first. I'll pass it on to Guardian Damon as soon as he returns."

Goder listened to Ona's words silently, but his eyes became a little strange at this moment, as if he had discovered something.

"Mage, she's a bad person, but not that bad."

The bad guy is not that bad. His malice is only directed at me, and it hasn't risen to the point of wanting to kill me?

Goder quickly understood Flora's description.

"Are you sure, Lady Flora?" He communicated with Flora who was hiding in his pocket through telepathy.

"Of course." Flora confirmed.

Where does the malice come from?
Gao De was puzzled.

He has already announced Baruch's name.

As Baruch is a powerful wizard among the Snowfield Guardians, Onar should have respect for him. So why would she have any ill will towards him?

Is he doubting his own origins?

He should have been questioned in detail instead of just bringing himself here and waiting for Lord Damon's return.

This is more like "luring someone into a trap".

Many thoughts flashed through Gao De's mind in an instant, but on the surface, he replied calmly:

"It's okay. I don't have anything important to do. I'll just wait here for Guardian Damon to come back. The message Guardian Baruk wants me to convey is more important. It's better for me to convey it to Guardian Damon in person."

Oona nodded. "As it should be."

"However, since this is important news, why didn't Guardian Baruch come in person but entrusted it to you?" she asked in confusion.

"He has more important things to do and can't leave for the time being." Since he knew that the other party had malicious intentions, Gao De no longer told the truth and concealed the news of Baruch's injury.

"So that's how it is." Ona did not doubt God's words and continued, "Sit down first. I'll get you some food. You must be hungry after traveling all the way here."

"Indeed! Thank you for your help then." Gao De immediately laughed heartily.

"It's okay." Ona smiled and nodded, then left the room.

As for whether they were really going to get food or do something else, that’s hard to say.

Now how to do?
He thought quickly in his mind. A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. This is definitely not a place to stay for long.

But if I want to leave, it's definitely not now.

This is someone else's territory. If he runs away now, Ona will soon find out. If they mobilize all their forces to find him, they will most likely be able to track him down soon.

Then we can only run away at night.

Everyone would be asleep by then, and by the time Ona realized he had run away, several hours would have passed.

The snowfield was so vast that it would not be easy to find him again after several hours.

Thinking about this, Gao De quickly made up his mind.

If the other party really wanted to capture him, they would not have waited until now. They should have called for action the moment they saw him.

After all, he has already delivered it to my door.

Obviously, Ona's decision was to keep him stable for the time being, which was in line with Flora's perception of "bad, but not that bad".

It was just sending a letter, why did there become so many twists and turns? After analyzing everything in his mind, Gao De couldn't help feeling a little depressed.

I thought it was just a simple letter delivery mission, but it turned out to be what it is now.

If Flora had not been born with a smart mind and the ability to detect malicious intent, he would have been like a fish on the chopping board without even realizing it. Who could he turn to for justice?

After a while, Ona really came back with a clay pot.

The earthenware jar was filled with fish soup, with a piece of fish floating in it, still emitting hot steam.

The biggest advantage of being close to Xiaoyan Lake is the presence of "fishery" resources.

This is also the reason why they have the confidence to take in orphans.

The fishery resources of Xiaoyan Lake, combined with the proceeds from hunting, ensure that the branch’s food supply is generally not interrupted.

Gao De's mind moved, and he quietly cast [Detect Poison] to check whether the fish soup was poisoned.

Fortunately, not really.

Of course, [toxicity detection] is not necessarily safe.

There are many ways to evade detection of Poison, but they are all high-level spells that require high-level mages to perform.

Since a high-level mage wanted to frame him, why would he go through so much trouble by poisoning him? He could just take him down directly.

Thinking of this, Gao De made a grateful expression, took the earthenware jar, drank a sip of the hot soup happily, and let out a comfortable groan.

"Comfortable! I haven't had a sip of hot soup in all these days of traveling," he said with emotion, "and it's fish soup. I haven't had this for a long time since I entered the North."

Seeing Goder being so straightforward and generous, Ona's smile became even more obvious.

"Thank you for your hard work," she said.

In her opinion, Gao De's behavior showed that he was not aware that there was anything wrong.

Just as she needed to stabilize Gaode, Gaode also needed to stabilize Ona first and lower her vigilance to facilitate his own escape plan at night.

Gao De maintained his persona as a "simple and ignorant outsider" and stayed in this branch of the Snowfield Guardians.

It was already afternoon when he arrived, so it was dark soon after.

In the evening, Gao De had another hot dinner with the orphans taken in by the Snowfield Guardians and several instructors.

It can be seen that the orphans are very curious about him, a stranger.

There were even a few brave kids who came up and asked about the situation in other places.

Because in the eyes of the people in the North, although most of the outsiders are not good people, it is undeniable that the resources and conditions of foreign countries are rich.

The children were also very curious about the legendary rich foreign land.

Gao De didn't put on airs and just casually introduced a few words about the situation outside.

"Food. It would be great if we could grow food here." A thin girl among the children couldn't help but sigh.

The main reason why food is so scarce in the North is that crops cannot be grown on the permafrost, including the most important staple food, barley and wheat.

Without this predictable and regular harvest, the people of the North could only rely on hunting and herding for a living.

Obviously, both of these methods are inherently unstable and have great limitations.

"You are daydreaming again, Pearl!" Immediately, the other children "ridiculed" and said, "Little Pearl only wanted to grow crops, but she never succeeded in growing anything!"

Suddenly, everyone else burst into laughter.

Of course, this smile is not malicious.

The little girl called Pearl was very persistent in the face of everyone's laughter, "If we in the North can really grow food one day, there won't be so many people starving to death!"

"You have good intentions, but the land in the north cannot grow food." One of the instructors touched Pearl's head and said gently, "Little Pearl, you should work hard. You have the blood of the Iceborn. You will become a powerful guardian and protect the snowfield in the future."

"I certainly will." Pearl waved her little fist and vowed.

The teacher's words made Goder look at the little girl a little longer. He didn't expect that this little, lonely-looking girl actually had the blood of the Iceborn.

After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.

Gao De also returned to his temporary guest room.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and began to practice the Qingmu Changsheng Sutra.

At this time, it had been nearly four months since Gao De was promoted to a first-ring mage. During these four months, he had hardly interrupted his practice for even a single day.

But his total mana still remained at 20 drops of liquid mana, and there was no new breakthrough.

According to current progress estimates, it will take at least one year to condense a drop of new liquid mana.

It can be seen how difficult it is to improve a mage.

When he finished his training for the day, there was almost no voice in the entire Snowfield Guardian Branch, only the never-ending sound of the howling cold wind on the snowfield.

Apparently, most people have fallen asleep.

Gao De no longer hesitated and stood up immediately.

He first left a message on the floor of the room with charcoal:

"Some members of the Snowfield Guardians practice forbidden necromancy and manipulate beasts to attack the northern tribes in order to practice necromancy themselves."

No matter what, the task assigned to him by Baruch had to be completed.

Then, Gaode used the [Switch Technique] to quietly open the door.

There is no moon tonight.

The moon is dark and the wind is high.

Under the cover of night, Gao De, who had the ability to see in the dark, was like a fish in water. He chose a direction and moved quickly.

He didn't go through the front door because that would have been too conspicuous.

Soon, Gaode arrived at the corner of the wall closest to his residence.

With the help of the [Cat Claw Technique], he easily climbed over the wall, then used the [Ice Skating Technique] and ran towards the west.

That's the direction of the coastline.

The message has been delivered and the map has been obtained.

Next, Gaode will concentrate on finding a place to plant trees.

(End of this chapter)