Early the next morning, Thaedren returned with the Noldor.
"Sir Leon, your plan is very good. I think there should be no enemies nearby."
Sederen looked very happy. It seemed that most of the Jatu people did not escape.
"But I think you may not be able to rest. We should go to the weapons factory you mentioned right away. I hope there is no trouble there..."
Li Ang pointed to the east.
Sederen nodded: "Of course I have no problem, but don't you need to rest?"
"My troops had just taken a nap, so I didn't pick up these bodies... The wounded are in a valley five miles to the south. Leave your soldiers here and let them clean up the battlefield and take care of the wounded. Come with me to the east to take a look - if you are not here, I dare not approach the settlement of your tribe..."
After the lord had finished speaking, he began to organize his troops, intending to set out immediately.
Of course, Leon would not stay here for too long, as he planned to meet the top leaders of the Fenway family.
But if he appeared near the settlement of the Noldor with his army, he would most likely be attacked, so he had to ask Sederen to introduce him.
The sixty miles to the east were all deep mountains and old forests. Even with Saideren leading the way, it still took a whole day to walk this distance.
It was already afternoon .
"We'll be there soon. Please wait here for a while. I'll go and say hello to avoid any misunderstanding."
Sederen asked Lyon to stop first, and then planned to go into the woods ahead alone.
The Twilight Knight certainly knew that if human troops approached, it would definitely cause misunderstanding, so he had to report it first.
But Li Ang looked up and frowned, then grabbed Seideren and said, "Wait!"
Then he found a place where the trees were relatively sparse and looked up at the sky.
"Sedren, wait! The Noldor should also use a furnace to make weapons..."
"Of course you need a furnace to smelt metal, Mr. Leon... You mean..."
Sai Deren then looked up at the sky, then turned around with a serious expression.
"There is no smoke or birds in the sky... Sederen! Something has happened here, and it just happened recently! Everyone, prepare for battle!"
Li Ang commanded the soldiers to gather together and start to put on their equipment on the spot - the troops did not wear armor during the march, otherwise they would not be able to move in such deep mountains and forests.
"Who are you? Come out!"
At this moment, Sederen seemed to have discovered something, shouted into the woods, and then began to look around.
No one responded, but a few seconds later, with a "whoosh", a beam of light flashed through the forest on the side and headed straight for Li Ang's back.
“Ding!”
Lisadilan stood behind Leon with a shield in hand, blocking the light.
There was an arrow embedded in the shield.
"Over there!"
Risadilan stood still. The place where the arrow tail was pointing must be where the archer was hiding. Sederen took the bow from his back and rushed into the dense forest in that direction with extremely fast movements.
Lisadilan glanced at his shield and did not rush forward. Instead, he protected Leon and took a few steps back.
What was stuck on the shield was not a Noldor arrow, but a wooden arrow with patterned feathers.
"My Lord, this is a Singal arrow... The feathers are made of ostrich feathers."
Lisadilan whispered to the lord behind him.
"Singalians? Why did they come here..."
Leon was quite surprised. Singar nominally belonged to the Principality of D'Shar, located in the desert in the southwest of the continent, separated from the Noldor Forest by half of the continent, at least two thousand miles.
"It could be the Singal slave-hunting team..."
Lisadilan looked around carefully, handed the shield to Leon, and took off the bow and arrow from his back.
This elf killer made his debut in Singal many years ago, and his first business was a murder contract that he saw publicly posted in the largest tavern in Singal.
Yes, publicly posted murders are like bounties, but instead of hunting down the guilty, they simply put a price on human life.
At that time, Lisa Dilan, who was in urgent need of making a living, brought back one of the heads, and then he received his first income after entering human society in a tavern bar in broad daylight...
Risadiran knew Singal quite well, so he acted very cautiously.
Anson seemed to know more about it - his hometown, Ashkoman, now also belongs to the Principality of Desha. He must have heard about the situation in Singal, so his face was full of tension.
Especially after hearing Lisadiran talk about the 'Singal Slave Catching Team'.
"ah……"
A scream came from the direction of the dense forest where Sederen entered.
Ten seconds later, Sederen dragged a man with a shot leg back to where Li Ang was.
"I only saw this one person...but there was only one person, why would he attack the army?"
Sederen dragged the guy to Leon's side and slapped him on the head to stop his screams.
It was indeed a Singal man, apparently a rider, but he didn't say a word. He just lay on the ground and stared at Sederen with hatred.
"I'll give you a minute to say something useful."
Leon looked at the soldiers who were still putting on their equipment, and tapped the prisoner's face with the blade of his sword.
The guy didn't react.
"Sir, let me do this job..."
Andongjia picked up her Raven Stern sword, scraped the blade with her fingers, and chopped the tree next to her with the sword - it didn't even cut through the bark, and it seemed that the blade on the side was quite blunt.
Then she walked to the side of Singal, without saying a word, just looking at him, then stepped on the prisoner's thigh where the arrow had hit it, and began to cut the prisoner's calf with the sword blade.
"Gee...Gee..."
The sight of the blunt knife cutting his flesh was unbearable. The prisoner finally spoke: "Don't...don't do this! Give me a quick death!"
Andongjia still had no expression on his face, and didn't say a word. He just kept cutting his calf seriously.
The leather leggings had been cut, leaving a bloody groove on the calf. The bloody flesh was rubbing against the sword blade, making a "crackling" sound.
"I am a subordinate of Lord Fruz! I was hired to capture the Noldor elves here, but I got separated from the main force..."
Without asking anything, this guy started to confess...
It seems that Misty Mountain’s torture method is very good.
"How many people are there in your large force? Where did you enter the forest from?"
Li Ang began to ask questions.
"1,500 men. We came from the south of Mount Dengil, from a burned-down castle... Oh, Shieldwind Fortress! That used to be Shieldwind Fortress!"
It seems that this is the sequelae of the burning of Shieldwind Fortress. Such a large-scale army passed through the south of Dengil Mountains without being discovered by any force.
"Where did your main force go?"
Sederen asked.
"We returned south. We succeeded the day before yesterday... I got separated and heard the voice of the Noldor. I thought I was discovered, so I shot an arrow..."
"What? Success?"
Li Ang and Sederen were both shocked.
If it was the day before yesterday, it would be one day earlier than when they encountered the Jatu and Misty Mountaineers at the horse farm. This should also be the time when Islandil was marching towards this side.
After the attack, they returned south and probably met Islamandil's army on the way, so Islamandil was delayed by the army of 1,500 people and could not get here.
"When we arrived here, the Noldor here seemed to be preparing to relocate, so we hid in the woods and ambushed them. They were almost defenseless... so we easily defeated them and captured more than 20 people, including three female rangers... This is all I know, please, just give me a quick death!"
The Singal man's shin bones had already begun to sharpen the blade, making a 'chi-chi-chi' sound of friction, and Andongjia's hands never stopped.
So the Singal man's speech speed became very fast. He was now trembling all over and only wanted to die.
"Okay, Andongjia, stop it, take him with you..."
After seeing that his brothers were ready, he led the troops to the weapons factory.
Not long after, the lord arrived at the settlement of the Finwe family.
Many tree houses were built on some of the outermost trees, but they were all empty.
Going further inside, there is a place that is even more spacious than the horse farm. It is a large flat land surrounded by dense forest.
Several large workshops were built in the center, and there was not a single tree left within two hundred meters around the workshops.
A group of people checked all the houses and factories inside and outside, but found nothing in the end - all the people and weapons and equipment were gone, and only a dozen stripped corpses were left at the scene.
“How many people were supposed to be here?”
Li Ang asked Sederen with a frown.
"There are at least a hundred people. They are probably preparing to transport the supplies to the city just like me at the horse farm... It's probably just like what you said, the enemy is hiding nearby and will suddenly attack when the combatants start to transport the supplies..."
Sederen murmured, "I have to find the enemy!"
But now no one knows where the enemy is. The forest is so big that even a large army of thousands of people would be hard to find in this forest.
Since the prisoner would be separated from the main force, it would be impossible to find his accomplices either.
Besides, Saideren hadn’t slept for two days, and Li Ang’s troops had been walking for a whole day, so they could only rest here temporarily.
Half a day later...
“Wu…wu…”
A strange flute sound was heard.
"Our troops are coming!"
Sederen was sleeping. When he heard the sound of the flute, he immediately turned over and found a Noldor arrow without an arrowhead in his quiver. He raised the bow in his hand and shot it into the sky.
It was a whistle arrow, or a whistle arrow, and it flew into the sky with a "woooo" sound.
It seems that this is the way the Noldor troops transmit signals, probably to indicate the location of their own people.
Soon, a force of Noldor arrived here.
When Sederen saw the leader, he immediately bowed his head and put his hand on his chest to salute: "Your Majesty!"
"Sedren, why are you here? What's wrong with these humans..."
Leading the army was a Noldor who looked to be in middle age, wearing a crown in the shape of a wreath of leaves and branches. This was obviously Felgoth-Anr, the Elf King of the House of Finwë.
In fact, it is difficult to tell the age of the Noldor elves, because their lifespan is so long that they always look young.
Considering the life span of the Noldor, if he looks like a middle-aged or elderly person, then he is probably really old.
"Your Majesty, this is Lord Leon of White Hart Castle. He helped me kill more than five hundred enemies. Lord Leon, this is our king, His Majesty Felgos Anr."
Sederen began his introduction.
In fact, the lord cannot be called 'Leon of Bailubao' yet, because his fiefdom is still only Maixiangling.
But Leon did not correct this statement. All his thoughts were on the Elf King.
This was his main purpose for coming to the Forest of Noldor - he wanted to gain the support of the elves.
"Leon..."
Felgas Aner looked at the Lord, and seemed to remember something, but he did not show it. He just nodded kindly: "Thank you for your help, little friend. I hope my family will have the opportunity to repay you in the future... But now, Sederen, we have to rescue the captured people!"
It seems that a lot of Noldor escaped two days ago and immediately reported the situation to the elves' castle - this was the right choice. Whether for the sake of saving their lives or for the safety of other tribesmen, they could only run to where the Elf King was.
If they had fled to the horse farm at that time, they would have led the enemy to the farm as well.
"Your Majesty, you are actually going to lead the army to pursue the enemy personally?"
Sederen looked surprised.
"No, Your Majesty is only here to rebuild the factory... I will be responsible for leading the troops to pursue them. The children who were captured are all my students."
A female ranger stepped forward, looked at Leon coldly, then turned to Sederen and said, "You shouldn't trust humans..."
This is a mature woman with a beautiful face, but for some reason, Li Ang always feels that the word "fierce" should be used to describe her.
When Lisadilan saw the female ranger, he shrank his head and seemed to be quite afraid of her.
Sederen shook his head: "Wendatiel, Lord Leon has already proved his goodwill. You can't treat your friends so rudely."
"friend?"
Wendatil smiled contemptuously and walked directly to Leon: "Well, my friend, what are you doing in the Noldor Forest?"
"Just to find myself a reliable ally..."
The Lord shook his head. "However, judging from your current appearance, you do not seem to be qualified to be my allies! I originally thought that an ancient tribe like the Noldor meant profound wisdom, but what I saw along the way was not the case ... It was more like a group of incompetent people who would turn around and bully the weak civilians after being bullied."
Of course, the lord said this on purpose. This is his usual approach, to arouse the other party's interest in conversation first - dissatisfaction or anger is actually better.
Li Ang's words sounded like a provocation. Wendatil was obviously enraged. There was a fierce light in his eyes, and he seemed to be about to draw his sword.
But Felgoth'an walked over and looked at Leon deeply: "A human said this several decades ago... Child, tell me, why do you think the Noldor have lost their wisdom..."
"Tens of millions of years ago, your civilization was ten thousand times better than humans', but you never thought of using knowledge and culture to capture humans' hearts and make them one of your own. Instead, you treated humans as wild animals... Until now, humans have created a civilization that is no less than yours, but you are still like this..."
"You originally had countless advantages. You were strong, long-lived, and had an advanced technological heritage. In fact, at the beginning, you only needed to lower your noble heads and treat humans as equal intelligent beings. Not only could you coexist peacefully with them, you could even make humans worship you..."
"Three hundred years ago, after you defeated the human army that invaded the forest, you already had the greatest deterrent power. However, you did not use this deterrent power properly. Instead, you killed all the people around the forest who originally wanted to maintain friendly relations with you. You lost the trade route and the communication channel with humans. From then on, you destroyed your hope of rising again with your own hands!"
Li Ang shook his head and smiled, but he didn't finish his words: "Your long lifespan coupled with your fate as a slave of the Sindarri elves has made you lose your creativity and the ability to learn quickly. I guess you haven't made any new inventions in the past thousands of years? You probably also lost a lot of your original ancient heritage, right?"
"But now, you have turned all your advantages into weaknesses. It is your own arrogance that has caused humans' love for you to become a reason to capture you, but you regard it as hatred - you should hate yourselves. With your lifespan, you should have participated in the war three hundred years ago, right? At that time, if you had a little bit of brains, you should have negotiated with humans, agreed on a place where the two races can live together, and required your people to treat humans equally and live in harmony..."
"Now you are nothing more than an armed tribe without creativity, the ability to learn quickly, or even any prospects for development. You have been living off your past and have not changed your bad habits..."
"To call you an armed tribe is to overestimate you - you don't even have a goal. You just wait and see, or kill civilians in revenge after being invaded..."
Li Ang finally finished his complaints and spread his hands: "I don't understand, what's the meaning of your life like this? Is this kind of life called wisdom?"
"Mr. Leon..."
Sederen didn't expect that Leon would say these in front of the Elf King of the Finwe family. He found it hard to accept.
However, Wendatil, who originally had no good feelings towards humans, frowned and began to think.
But Felgas Aner smiled and said, "You are right, child, but you don't understand. The older the history of a group, the harder it is to change it... I know what you said is right, but it is difficult to change people's ideas..."
"It's not difficult, it just requires some sacrifices - unfortunately, you don't have the courage to sacrifice."
Leon shook his head again. He was already prepared to brainwash the Elf King.
Felgas An'er was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Maybe you are right, but we can't afford the sacrifice..."
"The sacrifice I'm talking about isn't the dead..."
Leon grinned. "I mean, you should let some of your people try to integrate with the humans who have good intentions towards you. Sacrifice your arrogant character, your so-called traditions, and the so-called pure blood passed down from the Sindar elves. The inheritance of civilization is not inherited by slavery and blood, but by connecting the interests of humans and elves. In this way, humans will not only protect the Noldor elves, but will also naturally help you pass on the elven civilization."