"Groundhog" Cole looked out the window with some anxiety.

Although it never stopped snowing in this godforsaken place, and the sky was like his grandmother's bedsheets that hadn't been washed for years, both messy and gray, he still had other ways to tell the time.

That was the militia's training. As long as the weather permitted, they would run through the town square every morning at Sparrow Time (8 a.m.). These idiots had been doing this before the Month of Demons arrived, and they were still doing it now. Didn't these people know that the most important thing in winter was to conserve energy? When it really came time to run for your lives, you'd probably have to beg the gods to give you two more legs. But thanks to these idiots, he could determine the approximate time of departure.

That's right, he was going to escape this possessed town! Although the Second Prince's order was for him to lurk in Border Town, observe the movements of the Fourth Prince Roland Wimbledon, and transmit intelligence back to Golden穗 City, he didn't want to stay here for another moment.

He feared that in half a month, he and the residents of this place would become sacrifices to the demons.

This was by no means alarmist!

Since the beginning of winter, strange things had been happening one after another. Others might not have noticed yet—which was not surprising, since most of the townspeople were ignorant hicks who cared about nothing but food, and didn't even have any reverence for the gods. But he was different. He was "Groundhog" Cole! Eavesdropping and stealing information were his specialties, which was why Prince Tifeico had asked him to do this kind of thing.

The city walls that sprung up overnight, the iron rods that made strange noises and could knock down evil beasts, of course, none of these could compare to his most shocking discovery.

The dignified Fourth Prince of the kingdom was openly raising witches!

Good heavens, could there be anything more outrageous than this? If the prince wasn't controlled by demons, he couldn't think of any other explanation!

Even if the prince wanted to sample the witches, he could keep them locked up in the castle and play with them however he wanted. It wasn't the first time Cole had heard of nobles privately keeping witches—these妖 women who could be wantonly played with, and no one would care if they died, were very suitable for some nobles with peculiar tastes, but making it public was another matter.

This was not his delusion, but what he had seen with his own eyes!

Based on the principle of taking money from someone and doing things for them, Cole would stroll near the city wall every day when it wasn't snowing too much. He could often see the Fourth Prince there. He had been wondering what gave this incompetent纨绔 Prince the courage to stay in Border Town instead of running back to 长歌要塞 with his tail between his legs. Now he understood completely: Roland Wimbledon had long been replaced by demons!

He had personally seen the city wall being breached by a huge evil beast, which the demon killed with thunder. Then, the swarming evil beasts were engulfed by hellfire summoned by a witch. In the end, the witch even threw herself into the prince's arms, and no one in the entire militia队 questioned it!

After that, he gradually heard other rumors from neighbors, saying that there was also a witch with healing abilities. What, someone's son was healed after being injured, what, an old lady who slipped and broke her leg across the street was also healed after being sent there. It was simply blasphemy! Accepting treatment from a witch? What was the difference between that and accepting the corruption of demons?

What made Cole make up his mind was what happened two days ago. He personally saw a witch flying out of the prince's castle, circling the castle twice, and then flying back in. The priest of the church often said that witches could only gain one power after being youhuo by demons, and he had seen at least fire and flight. Coupled with the rumors of a healing witch, it meant that there were actually three witches gathered in this small town!

There was no doubt that the demons had turned the lord's castle into a nest for evil gatherings, and the residents of this place were gradually being controlled by them. He had to escape from here as soon as possible. Anyway, he had the secret of quickly building border walls in his hands. As long as he presented this alchemical powder stolen from the city wall to the Second Prince, he would not only not punish him, but would probably reward him handsomely.

The more Cole thought about it, the more he regretted why he hadn't returned to 长歌要塞 with the retreating nobles.

Now, it was certainly impossible to leave this place by land. The wind and snow that lasted throughout the winter would cover all the roads. His only chance was to leave by water on a merchant ship from 柳叶 Town.

According to Cole's observation, on the first day of each month, ships from 柳叶 Town would bring food, and after two to three hours of unloading and loading, they would set sail and leave the dock. He had to sneak aboard at this time, otherwise he would have to wait until next month.

And today happened to be the first day of the month.

"One, two, three, four, one two three four," just then, Cole heard the familiar slogan. Outside the window, a team of young men in brown leather armor ran past in high spirits. If he hadn't seen through the demons' conspiracy long ago, he would definitely have been deceived by this vibrant scene.

It was time to leave, he thought.

Putting on his fur coat and tightening his belt, Cole walked out of the wooden house. The neighbor was drying fish outside the house, and greeted him when he saw him, "Going out so early?"

It had to be said that although the lord of Border Town was controlled by demons, the lives of these fools had actually improved a lot, and they dared to hang dried fish outside the house—you had to know that when people were extremely hungry, they could even swallow dried fish that were as hard as stones raw.

But Cole didn't have time to respond. He poked his head out to look at the militia隊 disappearing in the west, and walked straight towards the dock. The residents here regarded him as the younger brother of Tiejiang, who had come from 坠龙 Ridge to visit his relatives—of course, it was all his fabrication. Before killing Tiejiang, he had asked for the other person's name and address, and disguised himself as his younger brother to lurk here. As for the casually fabricated identity, he didn't care whether those fools believed it or not.

The snow on the flagstone road had been cleared a few days ago, and now it was almost over the instep of his shoes again. He maintained an equidistant pace, trying to conserve energy as much as possible—as for the footprints he left behind, he wasn't worried. In at most a day, the snow would cover them up again. Maybe by the time he arrived at Golden穗 City, they would still be kept in the dark.

When he was almost at the dock, Cole saw the long-awaited sailing ship from 柳叶 Town.

Sacks of wheat were being moved out of the hold, and guards were watching around. He touched his pocket, which contained two Gold Dragons and sixteen Silver Wolves, all his belongings. There were six guards. They probably wouldn't look at the Silver Wolves, and the Gold Dragons weren't enough to share. He had to set his sights on the porters. The accumulated goods provided a blind spot. Knocking out a porter and replacing him was exactly what he was good at. If he could sneak aboard, he believed that under the youhuo of the Gold Dragons, the captain would most likely hide him and take him away.

Just as Cole was about to take action, a shout came from behind.

He thought to himself that things were not good. He turned around and saw several members of the militia隊 rushing in his direction, and there were also people approaching him from the side. Obviously, he had been surrounded.

Seeing that escape was hopeless, Cole immediately raised his hands and knelt on the ground. In his line of work, never resist stubbornly. As long as you revealed all the employer's information, you could usually be safe and sound, or... they might even rehire you at a higher price.

Taking as much money as you could and doing as much as you could was also "Groundhog" Cole's principle.

He just didn't understand how he was discovered.