Chapter 8 Noxus Capital
Midwinter late at night.
The biting cold wind danced in the night sky, rolling up the snowflakes and making a howling sound.
The dim starlight falling from the sky penetrates the snow-white curtain, covering the stretching Iron Thorn Mountains with a hazy cloud.
Between the low and flat mountains, there is a damp cave entrance covered with ice and snow.
The Noxian scouts who had marched for half a day were resting in the cave. They had not taken off their armor, either leaning against the wall or sitting cross-legged.
Huo Jixing exhaled a breath of frost, squatted down, and took out the fire box from his waist. The two pieces of iron rubbed against each other, and tiny sparks burst out, but were extinguished by the cold wind in an instant.
He remained unmoved and repeated the action, rubbing the iron block again and again.
However, Huo Jixing seemed more silent than usual, and his mind was filled with the scene of dismembering a wild boar in the snow not long ago.
Although the [Wild Survival] skill given to him by his predecessor included some similar bloody scenes, the images in his memory and reality are ultimately two completely different concepts.
He endured the discomfort and suppressed his inner physiological reaction.
Pfft!
The fire suddenly appeared, tiny sparks ignited the rags, and a heat wave slowly emerged.
Huo Jixing came back to his senses, fiddled with the rags, and slowly lit the piled dry and wet branches. The warm fire began to illuminate the dark and damp cave.
The Noxian scouts scattered around sat down around the campfire one after another, warming up their cold bodies.
Huo Jixing sat in the corner, stretched out his hands and started rubbing them, using the flames to dispel the chill in his body.
After entering Freljord, as a newcomer, even with the help of DeWitt, he was unable to quickly integrate into the team.
So he pursues the principle of talking less and doing more.
Through such efforts, he gained more or less some goodwill.
“Let’s go clean the wild boar meat.”
Not long after he sat down and before his body had warmed up, DeWitt came over, holding the cut wild boar meat in his hand.
After hunting the snow boars, they get a large amount of wild boar after skinning and deboning them, which eliminates the need for them to chew hard dry food that tastes bad.
Huo Jixing stood up and walked outside the cave entrance with DeWitt, washing the wild boar meat with the accumulated ice and snow.
Facing the cold wind, Huo Jixing wiped the pork in his hands and thought to himself as he thought of the elk carcass in the cedar forest.
This is very Freljordian!
The cycle of life and death looks different in this cold and cruel land, but the harsh environment ensures that little is wasted.
After the wild boars in the snow ate the elk, they eventually fell into their hands and became food.
One drink and one peck are all reincarnations.
After cleaning the wild boar, Huo Jixing and DeWitt quickly returned to the cave entrance. It was too cold outside, so it was better to be warmer inside the cave entrance.
Gurgling! Gurgling! Gurgling!
In the iron pot hanging above the campfire, boiling water bubbled, with some stains of ice and snow remaining on the edge.
Seeing the water boiling, Moore, who was in charge of cooking, quickly cut open the cleaned wild boar meat with a short knife, put it into an iron pot, sprinkled it with salt and covered it with an iron lid.
Half an hour later, dinner was ready.
Large portion of bone broth!
Huo Jixing took a gentle sniff at the air, and his hungry body let out a low groan.
It's not that the smell of meat is too good to fill the cave, but in the current severe cold weather, it is very good to have a mouthful of hot soup and a mouthful of meat.
Alec stood up and bent down, filling a large bowl for himself. Regardless of how hot it was, he drank the broth and chewed the meat.
“It tastes good!”
Then, the Noxian scouts surrounding the campfire began to grab cups of bone soup and wolf down it.
After everyone had eaten, Moore, who was sitting next to DeWitt, began to process the remaining wild boar meat. This part would become the food of the Noxian scouts for some time to come.
Of course, the amount of wild boar obtained from hunting must be more than that.
But considering the tasks ahead, it is impossible for the scouts to carry them all with them just to add to the burden.
They cut and processed wild boar meat, packed it with ice and buried it deep in the cave.
Huo Jixing did not rush to do it this time. He and DeWitt needed to rest early, because in the second half of the night, when it was the coldest, it was their turn to watch the night.
The night is getting darker and the sky is dark.
The brilliant stars that remain in the night sky may also choose to hide in the clouds because they are afraid of the cold.
Between the vast sky and earth, only white snowflakes were left dancing wildly, beating against the mountain wall desperately.
“Xing!”
The call rang in his ears made Huo Jixing wake up from his deep sleep.
Looking back, DeWitt had already stood up and was arranging the solid and exquisite composite armor.
"It's time for us to keep vigil."
DeWitt looked sideways, his brown eyes full of bloodshot eyes and fatigue.
"Sorry, I've slept a little!" Huo Jixing said in an apologetic tone, stretched out his hands, and rubbed his slightly stiff face vigorously to wake him up.
While there was still some free time, Huo Jixing felt something in his heart and opened the data panel.
[Name: Huo Jixing]
[Essence: 0]
[Strength: 1.24]
[Physique: 1.20]
[Agility: 1.24]
[Spirit: 2.15]< br>
[Skills: Intermediate Warrior, Wild Survival]
[Talent: None] Compared with when he left the Noxus camp, his attributes have almost remained unchanged, which is why Huo Jixing has no time to exercise.
A whole day, from morning to night, in addition to normal rest, is used to move forward.
“I hope the mission ends soon.” Huo Jixing muttered.
Then he closed the data panel, stood up, sorted out the messy armor, and put on his gray cloak again.
The light in the cave is dim and the gravel is densely covered, making it a bit awkward to walk on.
With the dim yellow light coming from the front, Huo Jixing and DeWitt walked forward slowly.
The nose is filled with an unpleasant smell, which is the smell of sweat mixed with the smell of animal fur. Occasionally, there will be snoring sounds, echoing inside and outside the cave.
This cave is one of the resting spots prepared by Captain Eric.
The inside of the cave is a little damp, but it is well hidden and can block the invasion of wind and snow. It is considered a good place.
In front of the cave entrance, a bonfire burns.
The fireworks that should have been bright were a little dim in the biting cold wind.
Hearing the sound of footsteps behind them, the two Noxian scouts who were huddled in the corner looked back into the depths of the cave, and happened to see the figures of Huo Jixing and DeWitt.
They couldn't wait to get up, nodded to each other, wrapped their cloaks tightly, and quickly returned to the cave, escaping from the biting low temperature of the frozen soil in the north.
Seeing this, Huo Jixing shook his head helplessly and chose to sit down near the wall of the bonfire, where there was still a little warmth remaining.
DeWitt also chose a similar location.
The two people's field of vision, while including each other, can also observe the environment outside the cave entrance.
Crackling!
Huo Jixing wrapped himself in a fur cloak and fiddled with the warm bonfire in front of him.
The dim light swayed, and a few leaping sparks streaked across the dark gray wall, swaying and pulling out the sleeping figures of the Noxian scouts in the cave.
“Here!”
DeWitt spoke in a low voice and handed over the roasted dried wild boar meat. The surface was a little hard and there were traces of frost around it.
The somewhat hungry Huo Jixing's eyes lit up, and he reached out to take it. Ignoring the fishy smell, he stuffed it directly into his mouth, gently grinding and chewing it with his teeth.
"How is it?" DeWitt asked.
Huo Jixing looked surprised and glanced at DeWitt, but he still answered truthfully: "It tastes pretty good."
"I didn't mean wild boar meat." DeWitt raised his brows lightly, grinned, and immediately Nothing more was said.
Huo Jixing chewed the dried wild boar meat in his mouth and vaguely understood in his heart that DeWitt was talking about the previous hunting. It seemed that his cover-up was in vain.
Lowering his gaze, he looked at his chest. After resting for most of the night, and coupled with the healing effect brought by the green gem necklace, his body was no longer seriously injured.
As if he couldn't bear the cold wind, DeWitt curled up his body hard and looked at the hazy starry sky outside the cave entrance.
"This is just an appetizer. There are too many corpses buried in the ice and snow of Freljord."
Huo Jixing swallowed the dried wild boar in his mouth. The real death he faced during the day made him face This scouting mission brings a little worry.
But he had no choice.
Escape?
Huo Jixing did have such thoughts after leaving the Noxus camp.
But the freezing environment of Freljord and the bloody war between Noxus and Winter's Claw directly wiped out his ideas.
Even with the wild survival skills given by his predecessor, he did not believe that he could escape the Freljord intact.
“Is there any more?” Huo Jixing licked the corner of his mouth, as if he was not satisfied.
Although the Noxus camp also provided food, it was not as unscrupulous as it is now to eat meat.
“Don’t eat them all, save some stock, the night is very long.” DeWitt shook his head gently, with a smile hidden in his sunken eye sockets, and threw over another piece of dried wild boar meat.
"Thank you!" Huo Jixing took it, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed it slowly.
"Food." DeWitt looked a little nostalgic and whispered softly: "In the slums of the Noxus capital, food is the most important resource!"
"The Noxus capital, Immortal Fortress?”
Huo Jixing’s expression changed as he recalled this slightly familiar term and looked at DeWitt.
"It is an immortal fortress, but the capital of Noxus is more than an immortal fortress." DeWitt murmured, looking up at the starry sky on the snowy night.
"How should I put it? The Immortal Fortress is the heart of the Noxus capital, but after a long period of expansion, the capital has long covered the plains."
"I have seen it from a distance, and I still remember it deeply."
The unfathomable dark gray exterior walls and the countless imperial flags hanging on the towers are firmly engraved in the depths of memory. Nothing embodies the power of Noxus better than it.
"But I haven't gone in since I was born, which is a pity."
"Why don't you go in and have a look?" Huo Jixing asked doubtfully.
"Go in?" DeWitt looked at Huo Jixing strangely, as if he was looking at a 'monster', but thinking of Huo Jixing's status as a wanderer, he shook his head slightly.
"The place where I was born was the slums of the capital. It was extremely dark there and there was no light at all. Only by joining the Imperial Legion could I hope to leave there with my family."
DeWitt's tone was a little low, and then he chuckled: "Perhaps after this war is over, we may enter the Immortal Fortress because of our military exploits."
The firelight swayed, and Huo Jixing looked in front of him with a smile. The young scout fell into silence. He suddenly understood why DeWitt looked at him with strange eyes.
Not only because of his wanderer status, but also because of his 'ignorance'.
What do slums represent?
It is hunger and poverty, it is disease and plague, and even death!
DeWitt's ability to come out of the slums and survive in this northern frozen soil speaks volumes about his hard work and extraordinaryness.
Huo Jixing swallowed the dried wild boar meat in his mouth, changed the subject without leaving any trace, and continued to chat with DeWitt, passing the long cold winter night.
(End of this chapter)