The next morning, the two teams parted ways peacefully, and Milgan led his Griffin Sword Mercenaries north to Lion Lake City.
Li Ang asked Eric to take the large army back to Changhe Town, and he himself took a dozen people and set off upstream along the Tongtian River.
He was going to see the ruins where Milgan had found the griffin equipment.
That was Milgan's 'reward' to the Lord - a map leading to the ruins of the Griffin Knights' headquarters.
Hand-painted by Milgan himself.
This playboy was very good at drawing maps and had a wide range of knowledge. After all, he used to be an explorer who traveled everywhere.
Originally, Forcher had found the ruins but found nothing. Leon had previously thought that the ruins did not have much practical value other than their symbolic significance.
But the news that Milgan told the lord aroused Leon's great interest.
Milgan said there was an ebony mine in the ruins.
Milgan discovered the mine ten years ago when he first found the ruins.
However, at that time, Milgan was just a knight adventurer who had lost his territory. Although he knew the great value of the ebony mine, he did not have the ability to mine it.
So at that time he used the ruins in the ruins to bury the mine and hid it, planning to do it again when he had the chance.
Then he armed an army with weapons found in the ruins, named it Griffin Sword, and became a mercenary leader.
But in the past ten years, he has been seducing women to join his mercenary group, taking on various missions of escorting noble women, becoming a famous Knight of Flowers, and never returning to the ruins.
Now, with the 'guidance' given to him by the Lord, Milgan felt that he had a faster way to develop and no longer needed those mineral deposits.
Unlike in the game, this relic is not located at the uppermost river bank of Tongtian River, but in a foggy valley at the foot of Goddess Mountain, more than ten miles away from the source of Tongtian River...
Of course, there is indeed another small river there, which also flows into the Tongtian River, so it can also be regarded as the upper reaches of the river.
The entrance to the valley is obscured by thick fog, and there is a certain degree of visual deception at the entrance, so it is difficult for ordinary people to discover that there is a large area inside the valley.
The entrance to the valley was mostly blocked by a sloping earthen hill, which was also covered with trees.
It looks like the entrance to the valley once experienced a mudslide or landslide, and the earth hill buried the road and blocked the entrance to the valley.
So it’s normal that no one has discovered it before - from the outside, it seems that there is no way to go in this valley.
But a large number of huge rocks fell into the creek, which not only changed the river's course but also combined with the landslide soil to form a new road that even carriages could enter.
However, most people would think that the entrance to the valley is just a rocky beach and would never think of going in.
According to Frederick, Forcher had searched along the Tongtian River for several times but couldn't find it. Finally, he got lost in the fog and accidentally discovered this place.
It's really a very hidden place.
Once you enter the valley, your view suddenly becomes clear. Although there is fog outside, there is no fog inside the valley - this is a compacted road surface paved with many stone slabs. There are no tall trees, and the sun can shine directly into the valley.
The road surface is very flat and quite spacious. It is obvious that this was an important place in the past, but now a lot of tough grass grows stubbornly from the cracks in the stone slabs on the ground, hiding the story of this road under the grass roots.
There is a gate wall outside the ruins. The gate wall is not wide, but together with the cliffs on both sides, it forms a pocket-shaped closed city wall.
Outside the wall is the small river - this small river, which is more than ten meters wide, forms a natural moat.
This was probably originally a fortress-style station, and a lot of thought must have gone into it.
That natural moat should be the snow water flowing down from the Goddess Mountain, and it is icy cold to the touch.
The gate wall is dilapidated, but a rusty chain suspension bridge is still preserved. The chains are all rusty, but the bridge deck looks very solid and is quite stable on the river.
On the nail head of the chain, you can vaguely see a relief of a griffin, and it is estimated that the original craftsmanship was very delicate.
After crossing the bridge, there was a settlement of about a thousand acres, but all the houses and facilities had been destroyed.
Now there are only some weeds growing in the ruins of the settlement. It can be seen that a lot of effort was spent on its construction in the past. The ground was compacted very solidly, and even shrubs cannot grow.
But I didn't see any skeletons or corpses inside. It felt like it had been cleaned by someone.
The mine that Milgan mentioned is right under a .
There used to be a stone building , probably a warehouse used to store things.
Now it is a mess of stones, but there is not much grass growing from the cracks in the rocks - this is also the only place in the entire ruins where there is not much grass.
This is indeed a mine, and it is basically an open-pit mine. Leon only asked his men to move away some of the rocks covering the surface, and they could already see some ores with a black metallic luster underneath.
This relic is actually more useful than the lord originally imagined, or in other words, it is much better than the pure "secret ruins" he originally imagined.
Even if there was no mine, Leon would still think this was a good place.
If you want to do some illegal business or hide something secretly, then this place that is not easily discovered is very useful.
For example - coinage.
Of course, now that we know there is an ebony mine, this place is obviously more suitable as a secret production base...
Le Ang didn't know the specific composition of ebony, but it might be the most suitable thing for making special equipment, because this thing was actually very similar to the special tungsten steel that Le Ang knew in his previous life - that was a special hard alloy used to make drills, milling cutters, gun barrels, tank armor and the like.
Although it is not known whether they are the same substance, this kind of extremely hard material is generally difficult to mine and process, and natural mines like this are very rare.
But just as the lord began to command his brothers to continue moving stones and prepare to see what the ebony mine below looked like, a voice came from outside the ruins.
It was the brother on guard who sent back the warning.
"Sir, there is a group of people coming outside and they have entered the door..."
"Fill up the pit and we'll go out and take a look."
Li Ang asked his men to continue to rebury the stones that had been uncovered.
There were ruins everywhere , and they drove some more carriages over. Since the people who came here could find the entrance to the ruins, it meant that they were very familiar with this place and there was no way to hide.
The lord walked out directly with his men.
There were more than a dozen fully armed men at the entrance of the ruins. They had probably discovered that there were people inside. They stopped by the stream, looked alert, and drew their swords.
"Who are you!"
Seeing Leon leading his men out, the leading knight in a black cloak pointed his sword at Leon in a menacing manner.
The lord saw that the knight's sword was also made of ebony, and the workmanship was very fine.
Are ebony swords so cheap these days? Why are they everywhere?
"Who are you? You don't even raise a flag... bandits?"
When someone points a sword at him, Li Ang will of course draw his sword and point it at the other person, with the same aggressiveness...
Those dozen people actually didn't look like bandits, they even looked like regular soldiers.
The leading knight took a few steps forward suspiciously, and frowned, as if he saw the sword in Leon's hand clearly.
"Are you the 'Griffin Sword' adventure group? Despicable thief! Die!"
Then he actually led those dozen people to charge towards the lord!
Li Ang felt inexplicably wronged - this guy seemed to have recognized the wrong person, did he think he was Milgan?
But it seemed difficult to explain at this time, so the lord could only draw his sword and fight.
After all, it would be more convincing to explain it after defeating the enemy.
But just as the knight rushed closer with his cloak flying, Leon saw the emblem on his body.
"Stop! I don't want to fight you!"
The lord suddenly shouted loudly and took a few steps back.
The knight was wearing an old suit of armor, a very old style, which looked to be the same style as Leofric's.
On the chest of the armor, there is an equally old black griffin emblem with a gold background!
This is a Griffin Rider!
"Humph! But I want to fight you! Mirgan! You stole the property of the Griffin Knights and injured my father!"
The griffin knight didn't stop and swung his sword.
Leon used the sword in his hand to deflect his attack, and then realized that what he was holding in his hand was Milgan Kilik's sword. This sword might really be a trophy Milgan got during his mercenary career...
But the Griffin Knight continued to attack relentlessly, and each of his sword strikes was powerful and heavy. It seemed that he really wanted to kill Leon - or Milgan.
This guy's swordsmanship is pretty good, and it looks like he's worked hard on it.
However, the combat experience of this griffin knight cannot be compared with that of the lord.
Li Ang easily found a gap in his sword momentum, then stepped forward, knocked down the blade with the hilt of his sword, and then used the momentum to kick him over.
The long sword pointed at the Griffin Knight's neck.
"Stop it!"
Leon gestured with the sword in his hand, and the knight finally stopped moving, sitting on the ground and staring at Leon.
"You have such skills, but you steal...shame on you!"
Even in this situation, the griffin knight still glared at Leon fiercely, and seemed to have a very bad temper.
"This is a misunderstanding! I am not Milgan. I am Leon Griffin, Lord of Ayrshire! What is your name?"
Leon didn't want to hurt him, so he put away his sword and explained, pointing to the emblem on his body, which he had just made in the House of Nobles two days ago.
The heraldic designs on both sides are exactly the same, but the colors are contrasting - Leon's is a gold griffin with a black background, and the griffin knight's is a black griffin with a gold background.
These two emblems shouldn't be enemies at first glance...
"Are you Baron Leon? I've heard of you, and I wanted to find you... But why are you holding this sword? This is my father's sword! I thought you were Milgan..."
Seeing that Leon had put away his sword and seemed to have no hostility, the Griffin Knight quieted down, looked at Leon's griffin emblem, and asked suspiciously.
"This is the spoils I seized from Milgan the day before yesterday..."
Leon looked at the sword in his hand and threw it back to the knight: "Since it belongs to your father, I will give it back to you. I don't want to be your enemy."
This honorable behavior indeed won the trust of the Griffin Knight.
He stood up and nodded, but he was a little arrogant and didn't apologize for his reckless behavior: "I am Dallion, Dallion of Pendor. Since it is a misunderstanding, let it go... and you shouldn't draw your sword against me, Lord Leon!"
This guy seems very rude...
"I won't draw my sword against you? Who do you think you are?"
The Lord sneered in displeasure.
Leon knew the name Dallion, and in the game, he was a claimant to the throne. But now, Leon didn't dare to believe in the game...
"Who am I? Ha! I am a direct descendant of the ancient Pendor royal family! It's just that my great-grandfather was betrayed when he was about to be crowned King of Pendor... The King of the Fierce Lion sitting on the throne now is just the descendant of a shameful traitor! I will definitely take back the throne that belongs to me! Lord Leon, since you are using the Griffin emblem, you should swear allegiance to me!"
After hearing what Leon said, Dallion started glaring again, his tone louder than a toad.
The lord was amused, but also felt it was a bit strange. As soon as Dallion arrived, he mentioned bloodline as a way of making people pledge allegiance. This way of thinking seemed a bit childish, and it seemed that he did not have much experience.
However, considering Dallion's age, he is probably in his twenties, so it is normal that he does not have much experience.
Leon knew that he was of the ancient Pendor royal family, and the most direct one at that - his mother's last name was Pendragon!
But if this bloodline is made public, the disasters it brings to oneself will definitely be much greater than the benefits...
If you don't have the strength, what's the point of talking about bloodline?
No matter how noble your bloodline is or how orthodox your legal principles are, you still need money, soldiers, and power before others dare to bet on you...
Otherwise, at best you will become a puppet in the hands of ambitious people, and be kept in the open to protect yourself from open and hidden attacks.
Moreover, Dallion's so-called "blood relatives" and "great-grandfathers" may not be reliable and are most likely bluffs.
After all, Leon's experiences over the past few days have taught him a lot of secrets. Almost all members of the Pendor royal family were infected with the Black Death, and the only survivor was a missing baby. Dallion's ancestors were not necessarily from the Pendor royal family...
Moreover, when he said this in front of himself, the lord of the Fierce Lion Kingdom, weren't you afraid that I would just "eliminate the traitor"?
"Sir Dallion, the Sarleon King may indeed be a usurper, but the Sarleon Kingdom has been established for 150 years. Do you want to overthrow the king just by claiming to be of ancient Pendor blood? Will anyone support you?"
Leon wasn't sure whether Dallion was immature or just bluffing, so he asked a tentative question with a suspicious tone.
"Of course there will be people who support me. The Kingdom of Pendor is the orthodox one! Naturally, there will be people who are loyal to Pendor and will fight alongside me!"
Dallion said indignantly, showing the ring on his hand: "Besides, you should call a true king wearing the royal ring of Pendor 'Your Majesty' instead of 'Sir'!"
It was a golden ring with a griffin emblem, and it looked quite quaint.
The ring faces of nobles' rings are actually seals used in daily life. The ring faces of kings can also be considered as state heirlooms, just like the emperor's personal seal.
But this behavior looks even more stupid - those are things from the previous dynasty, are you showing them to the lord of this dynasty?
"It is an act of usurpation to let others address you as Your Majesty before you are crowned, Lord Dallion. Moreover, you call yourself a member of the royal family of Pendor in front of me. Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"
Li Ang shook his head and thought about how this guy started hacking people without even asking any questions - it was confirmed that this guy was a reckless person and probably hadn't seen much of the world.
"Sir Leon, your performance just now has proved that you will not be my enemy... Your elders should be from the Griffin Knights, right? The Griffin Knights' creed is to protect the Pendor royal family..."
Dallion shook his head and pointed to Leon's griffin emblem.
Heraldry is usually not used indiscriminately these days, because in this age of universal illiteracy, most people rely on heraldry to identify forces.
Leon used the griffin emblem because it was a family heirloom, and family heirlooms could not be changed casually, otherwise the inheritance and opportunities that were originally meant to be there might be lost.
Once a noble's coat of arms is registered, it is usually difficult to change. Just look at how much trouble it was for Leon to change the color...
Anyone who can use the Griffin emblem will most likely have some relationship with the Griffin Knights through their ancestors.
The reason why Baron Leofric took the initiative to show goodwill to Leon was because they both used the griffin emblem. Although Leon never asked, he could guess that Leofric's elders were probably from the Order of the Griffin.
Now that I have met Daleon, I am even more certain of this - the same griffin armor.
But Baron Leofric was much smarter than Dallion. He didn't say anything explicitly, but had been quietly accumulating strength. He even gave up the originally comfortable territory of Kwen Village and took the initiative to fight for BraveShield Castle just to get more opportunities.
Judging from Dallion's expression, after confirming that Leon was not Milgan of the 'Griffin Sword' mercenary group, he probably thought that Leon should be related to the Griffin Knights.
Dallion probably has a special feeling for the Griffin emblem. He probably thinks that if someone uses the Griffin emblem, then he should be a friend...
Such black and white thinking of youth.
"No, my elder does not belong to the Order of the Griffin, but she may have accepted the allegiance of the Order of the Griffin..."
Li Ang curled his lips and smiled, then told the truth.
"You're lying... The Griffin Knights will only be loyal to the King of Pendor! Griffin? I've never heard of this family..."
Dallion was a little angry and looked at Leon carefully, probably thinking that Leon was deceiving him.
Telling the truth has really little effect these days, people don’t believe it.
"Sir Dallion, you are telling me this, aren't you hoping that I will support you in becoming the legitimate king of Pendor?"
Leon understood Dallion's intention, but he felt that Dallion's foolish mentality really needed to be beaten more by society...