"Hehe! You'll find out then." Ed didn't tell Fir Tree.
"Any other questions, Fir Tree? "
"My lord…" Just as Fir Tree was about to speak, a voice interrupted him.
" Captain Fir Tree, we've captured two people in the north of the territory and they're being brought here now. I'm here to report to you ahead of time."
"Okay, I understand. You can go ahead and get back to work!"
Ed was a little confused. Wasn't the road over there blocked? How did they get here? But it seemed the Fir Tree Police Squad was doing a pretty good job.
"My lord, would you like to take a look at what's going on here?" Fir Tree asked after glancing at Ed.
"Okay, I'd like to see who it is too."
...
Let's go back to before dawn, to the forests north of Grey Castle Territory.
" Uncle Henry, it seems like no one has walked this road in a long time. Could it be that everyone from Grey Castle Territory is really gone?" The thin little boy Ian looked even thinner. He was using a stick to knock down the weeds in front of him and then slowly walking forward.
" Ian, what you said makes some sense, but don't worry, we have nothing to begin with, dying here might not be a bad choice. Look, the environment is so beautiful."
Henry had already realized the problem: they hadn't encountered anything along the way, and the probability of Grey Castle Territory being deserted was high. But there was no other way; until they collapsed, they could only keep going.
"Oh, Uncle Henry, it's not even dawn yet, so I can't see how beautiful the surroundings are."
"Hehe! Ian, you're right, here's half a black bread for you."
Henry took half a black bread out of his pocket and handed it to Ian, the thin little boy walking ahead.
The little boy Ian did not take the bread. " Uncle Henry, we only have this half of black bread left! I want to eat it when I can't walk anymore, not now when I'm still full of energy."
Henry didn't insist on Ian's request, but instead took the bread back and put it back in his pocket.
Then he looked up and saw that the sky in the distance was slowly turning white, and the road ahead seemed to be becoming clearer. The two continued to grope their way forward.
Half a day later, Henry, lying in a small depression, had to take out the last half of the black bread again. They simply didn't have the strength to climb the small hill ahead.
" Ian, have some bread! This is a nice spot; we don't even need to dig a hole. In time, we'll just be buried." Henry joked, hoping to help them both relax.
But this time, the thin little boy Ian lying next to her did not respond.
" Ian, Ian," Henry struggled to his feet and shook Ian, who was lying on the ground.
" Henry … Uncle, stop shaking me, I'm just a little tired."
Ian opened his eyes with difficulty, looking much weaker than he had been that morning.
Henry quickly put the bread in his mouth. " Ian, eat something first! I was just talking nonsense. We won't die here. A better life awaits us in the future."
" Uncle Henry, you should have this bread! I might not be able to wait any longer."
" Ian, let's eat the bread no matter what! Maybe there are people behind that hill? That's where we're going. We're almost there now, we shouldn't give up now."
The thin little boy, Ian, struggled to look up at the hillside not far away.
"Alright... Uncle Henry, let's split it in half!"