Unknown Knight

At the same time, Aix and his two companions rode the only two horses out of the city and strolled along the road near the sea.

Sometimes the two girls rode together, and sometimes the two girls clamored to ride together with Axe. Their laughter and playfulness along the way made the people who were watching them from afar more angry, and they kept swearing at them.

They walked for about five or six miles, stopping and starting along the way. When it was almost noon, the weather was too hot, so Axe chose to set up a tent in the shade under a cliff by the sea to escape the heat. The monitor who was following them had already run back to the city to report as he could not stand the heat anymore.

During the lunch break, Aix drew a charcoal sketch of the terrain along the way. After a brief review, he did not find any satisfactory terrain. He decided to walk a little further at three or four o'clock when the weather was not so hot, and then return, otherwise it would be bad to be locked outside the city if it was too late.

Although there are no big wild animals in the wild here, the temperature can drop sharply to below ten degrees. With the thin clothes they are wearing, it is possible to catch a cold. It is better for them to stay in a hotel that can keep warm.

Around three o'clock, the sun was not so strong and the temperature began to drop. They packed up the tent and continued to move forward. Since no one was watching them, they moved quickly. After walking about five or six miles, the three of them came to a natural bay.

This is a bay with dangers on three sides. At both ends of the bay are rocks extending straight into the sea. To enter, you need to climb over a pile of rocks more than 20 meters high along the beach. The middle part facing the sea is separated by a cliff more than 30 meters high and almost 90 degrees vertical.

The entire crescent-shaped bay is divided into two levels of terraces. The first level is a flat but sloping beach facing the sea. The slope from the seaside to the second level is about five degrees. It is about fifty meters wide and about two hundred meters long at its longest point.

The second level is the terrace above the high tide line. The boundary between the two levels of terrain is a steep slope of about four or five meters high washed out by the sea. Above the steep slope is the relatively flat second level terrace, with typical Gobi soil, and fine sand covered with stones of different sizes. The widest part is about 70 to 80 meters, and the longest part is about 150 meters. The entire second level terrace is a crescent-shaped plot of land with an area of ​​about ten acres.

The entire bay is almost sealed, separated by rocks on both sides and cliffs in the middle. There is only one gap in the middle of the cliff, which is about ten meters wide and suspected to be washed out by the water. Next to the gap is a mound about sixty to seventy meters wide and about thirty meters high, which guards the entrance and exit of the gap like a fortress.

Above the cliff is a vast Gobi Desert with flat terrain extending deep into the boundless desert.

The entire bay is hidden and dangerous, especially the mound next to the gap. As long as the mound is defended, the safety of the entire bay can be guaranteed.

Aix was quite satisfied with the terrain here. It was about ten miles away from the city of Zion, relatively hidden and easy to defend. Judging from the traces everywhere, few people should have been here. It was a good place to serve as a stronghold.

There might be a better place further ahead, but Aix is ​​not planning to go any further. After all, all their current sources of survival still depend on supplies from the city of Zion. If it is too far away, transportation will be a big problem. This bay is neither far nor near, just right to be used as a base.

After choosing a good place, the three of them rode at full speed and finally returned to the city of Zion before dark.

Back at the hotel, Niza, Bolcha and others had also been waiting for a long time, and they also got something in return. There were two strange men waiting with them.

One is Old Mike mentioned by Bolcha. It is said that his hometown is in the Rhodok Kingdom. In order to make a fortune in his early years, he went to the Sarand Emirate to sell spices. As a result, his caravan was attacked by desert bandits, and he was captured and became a slave. After many twists and turns, he came to this isolated city isolated by the desert.

Thanks to Old Mike's construction skills in his hometown, he survived in the city by building and repairing houses. Moreover, he was easy-going and loved to make friends, and his skills were very strong. He quickly became famous in the city. Many outsiders who had fallen on hard times followed him and made a living by building and repairing houses. There were about twenty people in total.

In order to look after each other and avoid being overly exploited by local forces headed by the five major families, they formed an artisan association, and Old Mike was elected as the leader of the association.

The other one was obviously a Kugit named Jeb. He was tall and thin with plain looks, but he had a pair of strong arms that almost reached his knees. If he were in Aix's original world, it would be a pity if he didn't practice boxing, but now he was obviously a master of bows and arrows.

It is said that he was a senior captain of Khergit cavalry archers. He was captured by a Sarranid chieftain during the war between the Sarranid Emirate and the Khergit Khanate. Seeing that he was unruly, he sold him to a slave trader. On the way to the Bareiye Salt Mine by the slave trader, he broke free from his shackles and fled into the desert. He crossed the Death Desert while getting lost, and then wandered along the coast to this place, which shows how strong he was.

When he came here, he first made a living by doing hard labor for others. Occasionally, when the master of the house held a banquet, he would go to help slaughter sheep and cattle, and get some cattle and sheep heads and internal organs that the master did not eat, so he lived a comfortable life. Sometimes he got too much meat and fish, and it would go bad if he could not finish it, so he would call people he knew to come over to eat together, and gradually he gained the respect of those around him.

At this time, Jeb's mind became active. In the Khergit Khanate, he was at least a small leader, which was better than being bullied and exploited in this isolated desert city in a foreign land. So he contacted a few people with whom he had good relations, and relying on bravery and ruthlessness, he merged several small gangs. He gathered thirty or forty idle people around him and established a coolie union. He appointed himself as the president, and with his fists he almost monopolized all the coolie work of loading and unloading in the city.

Like many outsiders who had fallen to this point, Zhebu also wanted to save enough money, buy a camel, and return to his hometown with the caravan that came here to sell spices. However, the local masters needed them to do hard work, and they also knew what they were thinking, so they deliberately paid them just enough to live on. Even if they earned more money when there was more work, they would find that the cost of food and water would increase accordingly. As a result, after many years, the remaining money they had did not even allow them to have the courage to drink one more glass of beer in the tavern.

Originally, Zhebu formed a coolie union and became its president. He saved some money by taking a cut, but the coolies' work in the city was not often interrupted, and the local upper-class masters deliberately controlled them. He could not bear to see his brothers die of thirst and hunger, so he had to give back the money he saved to them. As a result, he is still penniless today and has no extra money.

This time he took the initiative to find Borcha. In the tavern, he saw Borcha, who used to be sloppy and could only live by rummaging through walls and cabinets, but now he was clean and lived a decent life. His desire to return home, which was almost extinguished, was rekindled. He hoped to meet Aix, a noble man, so as to realize his long-cherished wish.