Spear and Cross

"There is a controlled adult eighth-level monster hidden in Duken Forest?" The priest Gut who was notified hurriedly rushed to the underground cell that temporarily accommodated the magic cage, and looked at the creature in the cage in surprise, "Oh , it is still a stone giant, a stone giant of this size already possesses some wisdom, it is not easy to control it..."

"Priest Gut, as far as I know, the climate of the imperial capital is not suitable for the survival of stone giants, is it?" Fraxis, who had been appointed by the high priest as the direct person in charge, stayed where he was and waited for him. I made some understanding of the habits of stone giants.

Priest Gut was a little surprised by his knowledge of stone giants: "Yes, no one on the mainland has seen wild stone giants for a long time. They usually live in uninhabited deserts, and their numbers are rare. They will not harm humans. Life is disturbed. But the stone giant's attack ability is very strong, and this one can quickly destroy half of the buildings in the imperial capital in one go."

The so-called stone giants actually have no blood relationship with humans, but are named for their huge stature that walks upright.This is a high-level monster of the earth attribute. When it is an adult, it is about the height of two half-adult men. It is covered with stone-like muscles, but it only has a huge monocular eye on its chest.It looks like a wall of flesh made of stone. It is extremely powerful. It was domesticated by humans hundreds of years ago and used as a weapon to break the city. Later, due to the gradual reduction of wars, it is difficult to see this kind of monster on the mainland. .

"It should be domesticated, and the person who domesticated it has regularly fed it some drugs that induce manic symptoms, and it will attack after a while." After checking the stone giant's excrement and physical characteristics, Priest Gut gave He came to his conclusion, "According to its current situation, the onset date should... be around the day of the ceremony."

Francis frowned.

Is it really for the festival of the temple?

He told Hampton about Priest Gut's conclusion - the high priest entrusted the two of them to take charge of the matter - the latter is assigning several knight captains to strengthen the daily patrol, after listening to him, click Nodded, and sent the captains away.

"Do you think anyone is a suspect?" Hampton asked him.

"I don't know, but ordinary people shouldn't have the idea of ​​destroying the temple ceremony." Fraxis found a chair and sat down, pouring himself a cup of tea, "During the ceremony, the temple will distribute daily necessities to the common people, and the nobles It is even more important to spend money to raise their reputation, and those who want to destroy the ceremony should be those who do not want to see the temple use this to increase their reputation."

"There are quite a few people like this." Hampton raised his eyebrows, "Mr. Noble, would His Majesty the King want to see the temple improve its reputation?"

"Although I don't want to see the power of the Temple continue to expand, the Empire and the Temple are currently in a cooperative relationship based on what they need. The increase in the reputation of the Temple is not harmful to the Empire. His Majesty the King would not do such a thing that would harm his own interests. ——The stone giant is destroying the imperial capital, which is not only a provocation to the temple, but also a provocation to the dignity of the king, isn't it?"

"So you think it might have been done by heretics or people from a hostile country?"

Fraxis put down the teacup in his hand and glanced at him lightly.

"I won't draw conclusions without evidence. What we need to do now is to look for clues and find out who is behind the scenes. Since the High Priest entrusted us with this matter, the Knight Commander doesn't want to end up with an incompetent evaluation. Let's put aside our prejudices for a while and settle this matter first."

Unexpectedly, he would take the initiative to bring up this matter, Hampton looked at him with great interest, and agreed without hesitation: "Of course, my lord priest."

In fact, after the chief priest handed over the task of investigating this matter to Fraxis and Hampton, many voices of doubt arose in the temple.These doubts are not aimed at their respective strengths, but because the news of the discord between the two has spread throughout the entire temple, even the well-informed commoners know about it, and no one thinks that they can live in harmony.

Can two people who have a bad relationship work together to solve the problem?It is very doubtful.

But Fraxis's reaction was beyond the expectations of most people. After returning from Dukken Forest, he began to adopt a business-like attitude towards Hampton. It's pretty positive in itself.

"If this matter is not resolved properly, I may be labeled as incompetent. I have just been promoted to the headquarters. Doesn't it look good?" He replied to the inquiry of his brother who came to him for tea.

Durand Falenad didn't care too much about the reason, but just asked casually.He has always been very reassuring about Fraxis, because compared to his younger brother Royle who disappeared after the Battle of Thorn City, Fraxis is really beyond reproach.

Thinking of Royle, he took a sip of tea from his cup and asked, "Have you heard from Royle recently?"

"No, the people in the temple can't find him." Speaking of the little brother who escaped under his nose, Fraxis frowned, "He knows I'm looking for him, so he will definitely avoid the stronghold of the temple, at least I have been sending people to monitor his whereabouts, but there is no news at all... After the death of the Lord Xiluo, he has matured a lot, and it is not surprising that he can hide from the eyes and ears of the temple."

"There is no news about the caravan at home, and my father is very worried." Durand added a spoonful of sugar to the teacup expressionlessly, and said disgustedly, "The tea you make is too bitter, isn't there any better tea in the temple? ?”

"Of course it's not as good as the Dortmund scented tea brought back by the caravan, but your taste is too sweet." Fraxis shook his head and pushed the sugar bowl at his hand towards him.

Durand added another spoonful unceremoniously, stirred it evenly under his helpless gaze, and then drank it like poison.

After drinking a cup of tea, Durand left, and said that he would ask the servants at home to bring some cans of tea.

Francis accepted his offer.

Although Hampton is annoying, there is a truth to his words.Fraxis was indeed a nobleman. Even though he was used to the practice life in the temple, he still would not refuse material comforts under certain conditions.

"This is the drug residue found in the stone giant's excrement. I sorted it out and gave it to you." Priest Gut handed Fraxis a piece of parchment, on which several raw materials were scribbled, " Some are only produced in specific locations, you can check them out."

"Thank you very much for your help." Fraxis took the paper and was about to salute, but Priest Gut had already turned around and continued his research, so he didn't mean to pay him any more attention.

He straightened up silently, turned and left, and walked towards the knights.

Because of the release of the low pressure, the knights of the Knights dared to greet Fraxis again.He was walking on the way from the training ground to Hampton's room, but within a few tens of steps, there were already more than a dozen knights who were friendly and saluted him, and those who were familiar with him even greeted him directly.

Fonner came out of the training ground profusely with sweat, holding his saber in his hand. After seeing Fraxis, he waved enthusiastically: "Good day, Priest Falunard!"

"..." Fraxis nodded, "Good day, Captain Feng Na, may the glory of the goddess shine on you."

The atmosphere of the Knights was suddenly so warm, he felt a little unable to adapt.

Feng Na took two steps to catch up with him, and eagerly started a conversation: "Master Priest, how is your cooperation with our leader recently? The leader is very happy every day, isn't it true that you have stopped worrying about what happened last time?" Angry?"

Fraxis froze, and then slowly revealed a kind smile.

"...Captain Feng Na, the so-called 'last time', I don't know which time you are referring to?"

Only then did Feng Na realize that he seemed to have said something he shouldn't have said, and added with a dry smile: "No, I didn't say anything just now, don't you mind..."

"I hope you won't make such a small mistake again in the future." Francis responded with a smile.

Fonner wanted to say something to make up for it, but saw Hampton coming out of the public bathroom not far away. He looked like he had just taken a shower, and his dark brown hair was still dripping with water.

Apparently seeing the two of them immediately, Hampton paused, walked towards them instead, and greeted politely: "Good day, Mr. Priest."

Feng Na quickly took a step away from Fraxis, and bowed to his immediate superior: "My lord, please allow me to take my leave first."

Hampton waved his hand to signal him to leave, Fraxis didn't care, nodded slightly and asked: "I got a new result from Priest Gut, do you have time to discuss it?"

"But I just finished my morning training, and I haven't had time to eat breakfast yet." Hampton spread his hands, looking innocent, and continued the next sentence logically, "Why don't we talk after breakfast? I think the temple also Didn't you serve breakfast for the priests so early?"

Fraxis didn't want to dine with him at first, but it seemed demeanor to refuse this request in the crowded knights, so he reluctantly agreed.The two walked side by side into the restaurant where the knights dined. Even though there was a walking distance between them, they still attracted the attention of the entire restaurant instantly.

Fraxis, who was used to being stared at by the crowd since he was a child, discovered for the first time that this feeling can be so uncomfortable-it is obvious that these knights were eating their breakfast while talking and laughing one second, and the next second they were all looking at him. It was concentrated on him and Hampton, as if they were steaming bread and roast meat, more attractive than breakfast on a plate.

Hampton calmly walked to the dining table to pick out the food he needed as if nothing had happened, and then turned around to ask him what he needed.

Fraxis could swear to the Goddess of Light. He heard someone next to him whisper, "Boss, are you going to attack?" When he turned his head to look at the four knights at the table, they looked serious about eating breakfast. There is no feeling of whispering just now.

He walked towards the dining table a little stiffly, feeling that his back was going to be stared out of the hole.

"Need tea or something else? Juice seems to be available today." Hampton had already taken his share, naturally found an empty table to put down, and asked him what drink he wanted.

Fraxis put two sandwiches on his plate, and felt the eyes behind him become hotter, so he could only answer him bravely, "No, I'll do it myself, thank you."

He finally realized that the Knights Templar at the Imperial Headquarters was different from all the knights he had ever known.In the end, they were able to eat this breakfast quietly, thanks to Hampton's sentence "to double the training intensity today, and go to the training ground to gather immediately after eating".

Fraxis breathed a sigh of relief, then finished the last few mouthfuls of sandwiches, and spread the parchment given by Priest Gut on the table to show Hampton, who had also finished eating.

"There are some raw materials on it, which only grow in the southern foothills of the Dorora Mountains, and some are commonly found in the Ducan Forest and the Great Plains north of the Imperial Capital, and each of them needs to be harvested and used immediately. Pharmaceutical people must not leave this area. Too far, unless he quietly built a temporary teleportation array or used a scroll to go back and forth every time.” Fraxis drew a circle on the map and said, “It’s probably within this range, I think the pharmacist is probably hidden in within this area."

Hampton took a look at the area he drew: "It's too big, and it takes up more than half of the capital city. There are too many people, so it's hard to check."

"At present, we can only get this range, so we need more clues. I don't have much research on potions, and maybe I need to find someone else to ask about the production details and medicinal properties of this potion." Fraxis also Some distressed, the population of the imperial capital is too large, and the area drawn includes the temple and the civilian area.The civilian area is the most densely populated place in this area. There are many and mixed people. Hampton said it politely. According to him, it is impossible to check for suspicious elements.

"It seems that apart from leading the patrol, I have nothing to do at the moment." Hampton raised his eyebrows, tapping the five fingers of his right hand on the oak table in turn, watching the blond priest worrying about the map with interest, "If you need my help, please speak up."

Fraxis didn't intend to be polite to him, and agreed, "Of course, this is the work of the two of us."

Now that he had made an agreement with Francis, Hampton was not going to be lazy and break his promise, so he personally brought a team of knights to inspect the civilian area the next morning.

"Boss, why is he so active today? He usually never bothers to take people out on patrol. What stimulated him?" Watching him lead the team out of the gate of the temple, the knight squad on duty at the gate couldn't help whispering, "And it went to the civilian area... We don't usually need to patrol there."

"Yesterday, the boss had a long conversation with Priest Falunard in the restaurant. I don't know what they talked about. After the boss came out, he was full of energy. It's a bit strange."

"Shhhhhh...don't say any more, if we are heard, we will all be finished."

"..."

Hampton knew nothing about these conversations. He led a small team out of the temple, and soon came to the civilian area not far from the temple.

In his opinion, within the area circled by Fraxis, the most likely place to hide the mastermind is the civilian area.After all, there are many civilians living in the civilian area, and it is far less orderly than the rich area, where bloodshed is not uncommon.Hampton himself came out of the civilian area, so he naturally knew how messy it could be and how suitable it was for people to hide.Even he himself took advantage of this advantage in the civilian area during the mission, so he couldn't understand this aspect very well.

Being in the bustling imperial capital and having enough chaotic environment to hide in, isn't the civilian area an excellent hiding place?

In fact, the Templars rarely visited civilian areas, so Hampton and his party attracted the attention of many citizens along the way.The roads in the civilian area are not as spacious as those in other urban areas, so only Hampton rode the horse alone, and the rest of the knights followed on foot, checking for any abnormalities along the street.

Hampton's mount is a black horse named Josephine, with black and shiny fur, which looks beautiful and mighty.He was sitting on the horse, with the corners of his mouth curled into a half-smile, and his gaze swept around intentionally or unintentionally, skipping over the commoner girls gathered on the side of the road to peek at them, observing for any abnormalities, but found something unexpected figure outside.

He has good eyesight and is on a horse, so he saw a person talking to someone in a hidden alley not far away-he would not be mistaken, a person like Fraxis looked very good even in low-key clothes. Conspicuous, that blond hair is like sunshine, how can it be hidden?

... what is he doing here?

Hampton's eyes only paused for a moment at the entrance of the alley, his expression remained unchanged, he calmly inspected the rest of the streets, then stopped lingering, and led the Cavaliers back towards the temple.

The official name of their patrol is that the temple festival is coming soon, and security guards must be strengthened.This sounds reasonable, and none of the residents noticed that the so-called security problem had actually arisen, and they all regarded their patrolling as a rare excitement.

But what kind of turmoil is hidden under such calm, they may never know.

After returning to the temple, Hampton did not go back to his room, but went directly to the door of Francis' room.The pastors who passed by secretly looked at him while saluting, and the more familiar young pastors winked at him knowingly. Hampton leaned on the doorpost calmly and let them watch—anyway, his reason for coming could not be more legitimate. What is shameful?

It wasn't until the tenth pastor passed by that Fraxis came slowly from the path in the garden, still wearing the plain light blue robe that Hampton had seen in the civilian area before.Seeing Hampton standing at his door, Francis was not surprised. He nodded slightly and stood in front of him, looking at him without hesitation.

"...Good day, Commander Brandon, do you need me?"

"About some things I saw during the patrol just now, I want to talk to the priest." Hampton shrugged and glanced at the closed door, "Won't you invite me in for a cup of tea?"

Fraxis was obviously unwilling, but out of etiquette, he unlocked the door and let him in.

His room is neat and clean, not luxurious but looks very comfortable, even the carpet on the floor is soft.There are five or six bookshelves on the wall, not only spell books, but also many other types of books. There are a lot of them, which looks a bit spectacular.

Hampton quite consciously found a chair and sat down, watched Fraxis put down the things in his hands, and made himself a cup of tea leisurely, before speaking.

"When I was patrolling just now, I seemed to see the priest coming to the civilian area. I wonder if I was wrong?"

Fraxis blew on the tea in the teacup, added a little honey to it, and said in a tone that had nothing to do with him: "The knight commander has really good eyesight."

Seeing that he admitted, Hampton raised his eyebrows, stretched his body and leaned back in the chair, calmly waiting for his next words.

However, Fraxis didn't seem ready to tell him why he went to the civilian area, so he drank his tea quietly.His long fingers holding the teacup were slender, well-knit, and looked very pleasing to the eye. Hampton stared at this hand and the owner of the equally pleasing hand for a long time before waiting for him to speak.

"There is an intelligence dealer in the civilian area. I am going to ask him if he has any relevant information."

Hampton went through the list of intelligence dealers living in the civilian area in his mind, and recalled the figure of the person standing with Fraxis just now, and came up with an answer that he himself found a bit unbelievable .

"That 'ghost' who asks for a lot of money and can't find anyone?"

Francis didn't answer, it seemed to be tacit consent.

"Ghost" is a well-known information dealer on the black market. He is elusive, and occasionally sells some secret information that other intelligence dealers cannot get.The news is accurate and true, but his asking price is outrageous and he rarely shows up, so few people can find him.Hampton once suspected the real identity of this person, but he has been unable to find him, and the plan to investigate him can only be ignored.

It is really curious why a nobleman like Fraxis would know the "ghost".

Perhaps seeing his doubts, Fraxis explained a little bit: "I saved his life, and he volunteered to collect information for me three times."

"So that's it." Hampton no longer delved into this point, but turned the topic to intelligence, "Then, is there any result?"

"Not yet." Fraxis lowered his eyes and put the teacup by his hand. "He said that there is no one he thinks is suspicious in the civilian area. I have asked him to continue to pay attention."

"My patrol today is more or less stimulating. If I am vigilant, I may reveal some flaws." After finishing speaking, Hampton tapped his fingers on the table, motioning Fraxis to look in his direction, "Guests sit down It's been so long, don't you plan to pour me a cup of tea too? Dear Mr. Noble."

His tone was joking, obviously saying that on purpose.

Fraxis glanced at him, did not answer directly, but said in a flat tone: "Since I have finished speaking, I still have something to do, so I won't send you out."

Hampton laughed loudly, got up and walked towards the door according to his words, but quickly took his teacup when he passed by him, and drank the remaining half cup of tea in one gulp.

"...You!" Fraxis was caught off guard, and when he realized it, Hampton had already put down his glass and walked out, without giving him a chance to stop him.

"It's really good tea, remember to buy me another drink next time, Mr. Noble." His voice floated in from outside the door, and Fraxis pushed the cup away with a sullen face, and rarely felt that he wanted to beat him. human impulse.

Facts have proved that Mr. Fraxis' old friend, the intelligence dealer known as "Ghost", is very reliable. At least he is not as erratic as Hampton described.Counting from the day he went to the civilian area, Fraxis received a message from him within a few days, saying that he had found a suspicious place.

They made an appointment to meet in a civilian area, and the meeting place was set in a much more remote alley than last time, but this time Fraxis brought Hampton, so it was more eye-catching than last time. "Ghost" stood alone in the corner at the end of the alley waiting for him, looking very unhappy: "Why don't you come by yourself? It's easy to be found that way."

Fraxis actually didn't want to bring Hampton, but he happened to bump into him when he was going out, and he was wearing very ordinary clothes. It seemed that he was going to come to the civilian area, so Hampton asked to come together, and he also agreed. Due to the partner relationship, I had to do this.He looked at Hampton helplessly, feeling that he couldn't find an excuse at all.

Hampton is too tall, with deep facial features, even in civilian clothes, he is very conspicuous in the crowd.Francis's own blond hair can still be hidden with dye, but Hampton can't cut off his own leg, so he can only stick it like this, which is of course easy to be spotted.

"We are a cooperative relationship, and there is a need to share information." In the end, he could only explain in this way, feeling a little sorry for the other party. After all, he broke his promise and brought a third person, but "Ghost" did not breach the contract.

"Ghost" is tall and thin, and his whole body is wrapped in a black cloak. The hood of the cloak is pulled down very low. Hampton can't see his appearance clearly, but he can tell from his voice that he is a young man. , should not exceed 30 years old.The other party obviously knew that he was looking at him, so he lowered the hood a little more calmly, and then shrank into the shadow.

"Before you told me to pay attention to suspicious places in the civilian area, I found one yesterday." He whispered to Fraxis, "There is an old house on Xiaxie Street. No one lived in it before, but recently there have been reports of It was a strange sound, and those who heard it thought it was a bit like the roar of a wild beast."

Francis turned his head calmly and exchanged glances with Hampton.

When they were discussing in the dining room earlier, they had an idea that the other party might be a fanatical heretic, who raised monsters in advance, and waited for the temple ceremony to start before releasing them to wreak havoc, in order to achieve the purpose of causing the temple's reputation to plummet.If the "ghost" found the other party's stronghold, then the possibility of this idea coming true would be greatly increased.

The "ghost" told them the location of the suspicious house, and then took a deep look at Fraxis: "I don't owe you any more except to regularly report your brother's news to you."

Francis nodded and smiled: "But we're still friends, aren't we?"

When he said this, his tone was sincere, and even the smile on his face could not be faked at all, making it difficult to question the authenticity of his words.

"...You nobles really know how to use people's hearts."

"Ghost" shook his head, looking a little helpless, turned around and left after leaving these words.

Hampton didn't speak from the beginning to the end. He stood against the wall and watched them communicate with interest. He didn't speak slowly until the back of the "ghost" completely disappeared from the corner.

"You guys have a pretty good friendship."

"I don't need the Knight Commander to worry about my friendship situation for the time being. Let's take a look at the suspicious house first." Fraxis didn't intend to discuss this issue with him too much, and walked in the direction of the house first. go.

The Xiaxie Street that "Ghost" mentioned is a small street on the edge of the civilian area. The location is very remote, and not many people usually pass by there. Even in the civilian area, it is considered a very cheap location.The road is paved with rough bluestone, because of its age, there are messy ruts left by the carriage on the stone, like a mess left by a late-night dance.

It had just rained not long ago, and Fraxis was wearing an ordinary cloth robe, the hem of which was wet by the dirty water on the stone road while walking.He frowned, quickened his pace and quickly crossed the street, but stopped when he was still some distance away from the house at the end of the street.

Hampton followed him, and immediately saw something wrong with the house.

"Is there an enchantment?"

Fraxis nodded and said in a low voice, "The sound-proof barrier is very tight."

For him to give such an evaluation, it shows that the level of the person who built the enchantment must not be low.Hampton remembered the illusion enchantment in Duken Forest, and judging by the strength he felt, he felt that the owner of the two enchantments might be the same.

"Can you cross the barrier to find out what's going on inside?" Hampton asked, seeing Fraxis shake his head as expected.

"This spellcaster's level is no lower than mine, and I can't detect the situation inside the barrier without destroying it." Fraxis turned a ring on his right index finger, obviously not reconciled. Returning in vain, "...Let's discuss it. We have to go back and report to the chief priest, and then bring more people to surround this place, or..."

Hearing such words from the always orderly and polite Fraxis Faronard, I have to say that Hampton was a little surprised.A smirk slowly formed at the corner of his mouth, and he moved closer to Francis, and whispered in the latter's ear: "Are you trying to persuade me to act without permission, Mr. Noble?"

Fraxis raised his eyebrows, disapproving of his deliberately misinterpreted words: "Isn't this the tacit understanding that a partner should have? Knight Commander, don't tell me that you don't think so in your heart."

"You are right." Happy to hear the word "tacit understanding", Hampton bowed and made a gesture of invitation, "Then please start, and I am willing to serve you as your assistant."

Glancing at him lightly, Fraxis stretched out his hand, took out the casting materials and began to destroy the barrier - the position where he stopped was just a small base point of the barrier, and the destruction from here would not cause the entire barrier to be destroyed. The complete collapse of the world couldn't be more appropriate.Although Fraxis is not very good at enchantment spells, but with the lesson from last time, he now brings materials to destroy the enchantment with him, which can easily dissolve a hole in the enchantment, enough for the two of them to bow down pass.

"This level of damage should not be noticed by the caster in a short period of time." Fraxis explained, bent down to get in through the melted gap, but was stopped by Hampton.

He froze for a moment, and received a condemning look from the knight, and then watched the other party get in first, leaving him behind.

Although not unexpected, this feeling of being protected by the Hamptons is... a little subtle, I have to say.Because of Hampton's hostile attitude towards the nobles and their inconsistent personalities, Fraxis always thought that they could not get along in harmony, but after starting to cooperate, he found that the effect of their cooperation was surprisingly good.Regardless of his personality, he quite enjoyed such a tacit understanding—much more comfortable than the cooperation with Ural before.

Thinking of this, Fraxis smiled, and also got through the gap in the barrier.

Hampton stood by the gap and waited for him. Obviously, he had made some reconnaissance of the surrounding environment, and shook his head to indicate that there was no danger.The two walked towards the house that the "ghost" had mentioned. As the distance shortened, the stench of monsters became stronger and stronger, making Fraxis frowned.

This is not the smell of stone giants, that is to say, there may be other kinds of monsters imprisoned in the house.

Hampton didn't care about the fishy smell, and the smell of Warcraft almost didn't bring him a sense of crisis at all.However, he listened carefully, and his expression became serious: "...there is a cry for help inside, very weak."

They broke the lock on the door and searched upstairs and downstairs, but found no trace of the monster.Finally, Hampton fixed his gaze on the abandoned kitchen floor, and determined that the place with the strongest smell was here.

"There are no traces of spellcasting," Fraxis said.

That is the secret door.Hampton pulled out a dagger from his boot, squatted down to observe for a while, and then suddenly plunged the dagger into the ground.

The dagger was stuck between the floor and the secret door. The angle of his force was very clever. Not only did he not bend the dagger, but he gently and deftly pried up a secret door that was made of the same material as the floor, revealing a dark A secret passage that I don't know how deep it is.The fishy smell became stronger in an instant, Fraxis who was standing aside was almost vomited, and quickly covered his nose with his sleeve.

The two descended into the secret passage one after the other in the previous order. Fraxis cast an insight spell on the secret door, and then cautiously followed the route Hampton had walked.

There is a vertical ladder under the entrance of the secret passage. Hampton stepped on the ground first, looked around and then stretched out his hand to support Fraxis, motioning him to look ahead.

It was a monstrously large vault, and the Golem was nothing compared to the contents of the vault.

Fraxis finally saw the source of the smell, and he looked at the scene in front of him with a livid face, feeling a little nauseous.