Chapter 144: Situation Analysis, Unexpected Passenger, Kuaitui the Fast-Leg

Judging from the records in this innkeeper's ledger, he should have some connection to the bandit groups that only recently arrived in the vicinity of Duoen Town. And the bandits who likely raided the Wealth Fruit Merchant Guild caravan were, in all probability, a joint operation by these foreign bandit groups.

Since they were all outsiders unfamiliar with local intelligence, to accurately ambush a large merchant guild's convoy, they would inevitably need detailed and precise information; therefore, an inside traitor within the merchant guild was absolutely essential.

Steward Deripari has recently been investigating the matter of the traitor within the guild. Jier does not care about this, and he himself does not really want to meddle in any more idle business, but if he could resolve this matter along the way, it would also be a way to vent his own frustrations.

Especially since he hasn't fought anyone in a while, Jier's hands are itching.

"Any other gains? Where is that innkeeper? What is he doing?"

Facing Jier's question, the Huimao Hu Li, which was obediently squatting on the ground, spoke up: "Yes, yes. I also discovered a basement in the innkeeper's room, but it is sealed very tightly, and I couldn't squeeze in. That innkeeper seems somewhat nervous; he runs to the lobby counter to calculate money and record the damage and expenses caused by the Warriors, and then he patrols the entire inn alone."

Speaking of this, it paused, tilting its head as if listening to something, then quietly said to Jier: "Listen, he seems to have an old ailment in his leg; his gait is different from an ordinary person."

Jier also tilted his head to listen carefully to the movement outside the room door, and sure enough, he heard a set of solitary footsteps; the gait seemed slightly staggering, as if not very agile.

These footsteps paused for a moment at Jier's door, then quickened and walked forward along the corridor.

"That innkeeper has left," the Huimao Hu Li whispered.

"I know. His behavior is very strange, just like a beast patrolling its own territory..." Jier rubbed his chin, describing it as such.

The Huimao Hu Li nodded, very much agreeing with Jier's description. When it was in the mountains and forests, it often took its split-off subordinates and, as a family unit, patrolled its territory daily, occasionally even going to war with other families of Shapeshifting Monsters that encroached on its territory!

However, it lost more than it won, and the family's territory was gradually driven from the depths of the mountains to the edge of the forest. Compared to the depths of the mountains, the forest edges outside the mountains have fewer animal and plant resources, so for monsters, they are naturally regarded as barren lands.

Shapeshifting Monsters cannot only transform into Humans; they can also imitate and transform into other wild beasts and some monsters that are not too strong. Therefore, for Shapeshifting Monsters, defeating and devouring stronger prey is their path to gradually becoming stronger.

"There must be something in some part of this inn that he doesn't want people, especially outsiders, to know..." Jier pondered, comparing and analyzing the information he heard from the tavern owner, and thinking from the perspective and position of the innkeeper.

He gradually arrived at some conclusions.

Sneering, Jier narrowed his eyes: "These bad guys are actually quite diligent and inspiring, one by one. But did they not think that the more diligent and proactive these scoundrels are, the more others will suffer?"

Afterwards, he let the Huimao Hu Li return to the cage on the carriage to rest, while the pile of coins on the ground was pushed aside by Jier with his foot to air out. The coins were covered in some suspicious slime; after all, they had been swallowed into the stomach of a Shapeshifting Monster and then spat out—who knows if these coins are clean?

Going out, Jier called two Warriors to guard his door, and then he intended to leave this inn to see how the Dwarfs and Merchants staying at the other two inns were doing.

Especially to see with his own eyes whether those two inns were as the tavern owner had described.

But when he walked to the inn lobby, Mr. Zuojigela in the backyard let out a cry of surprise: "Oh my—"

Jier raised an eyebrow, instantly tapping the ground with his feet, causing the wooden floor to emit an unbearable creaking sound, while he himself instantly accelerated, bypassed the corridor from the lobby to the backyard, and rushed into the inn's backyard.

But unlike the situation he worried about, it was not pitch black here, nor were there inn staff sharpening blades and preparing to make a move. The inn's backyard was bright; Jier's direct caravan carriages almost filled the place, and the remaining open space had a campfire, which was prepared for the night watchmen guarding the carriages and horses to warm themselves.

At the same time, windproof Oil Lamps newly bought in Duoen Town were hung against the inn wall, and in terms of lighting, it was very bright here.

At the same time, there were many people here; the drivers were feeding and watering the horses, and bringing buckets of water to use brushes dipped in water to groom the horses, clearing away dust and small bugs from the horses' bodies. Most of the inn's Shop Assistants were also busy nearby; they brought hay and Beans from the inn's storeroom, opened them, and piled them on the ground for Jier's drivers to use.

There were also Warriors guarding the carriages and the supplies on the carriages who had finished their meal early and came here to keep a close eye on those Shop Assistants; once anyone got slightly close to the carriages, they would approach and scold them away.

Mr. Zuojigela was currently moving some things out of his carriage; his two wives and three children were eating in the inn, and he himself was preparing for the Potion material formulation later, striving to formulate a few more bottles of the Potions Jier had specifically requested during this time in the evening.

The exclamation was what he shouted when he was moving things out of his carriage.

He saw that a Wooden Box on a nearby carriage had actually opened from the inside, and a pair of large eyes reflecting light were peeking out from the pitch-black Wooden Box.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened?"

Once Mr. Zuojigela shouted, the people in the backyard all stopped what they were doing and gradually gathered around. Jier pushed aside the people blocking the way and asked the Herbalist: "What happened that could make you so surprised?"

The other people in the backyard didn't realize that Jier had instantly rushed out from the inn lobby, thinking he had been standing in the backyard all along!

"This box! There is something in this box; I just saw it, it wasn't an illusion, there was something in the box looking at me, a pair of large, reflective eyes!"

Jier looked back; the Huimao Hu Li, transformed by the Shapeshifting Monster, had also just curiously walked out from the inn, so it clearly wasn't it that had given the Herbalist a scare. Besides, the Huimao Hu Li had no need to hide in the caravan's Wooden Box; it actually didn't like confined, narrow environments, and certainly wouldn't take the initiative to sneak into a Wooden Box.

"Which box, Mr. Zuojigela, point it out." With Jier here, everyone in the backyard was naturally not afraid of any strange things happening to the caravan; after all, not long ago, their Knight Jier had even participated in a battle to hunt and crusade against an Alien Evil God!

No matter how powerful a strange thing is, can it be more powerful than an Alien Evil God?

Everyone gathered around, and Mr. Zuojigela also bolstered his courage. He stepped forward to identify it, and with the help of the surrounding light, he reached out and pointed directly at the carriage storing supplies, specifically the Wooden Box at the very top.

Jier took one look and discovered something wrong, because the other Wooden Boxes basically all had latches to prevent them from opening and closing at will, and the vast majority were even tied to the carriage with Rope; only this Wooden Box was stacked at the very top, and the place where the latch was originally hung was empty.

Jier casually drew his Hunting Sword, letting it emit a bright white light, then held the blade high, reached out, and used the tip of the sword to pry the Wooden Box open along one side.

"No matter what you are, come out!"

Jier scolded.

But the thing that subsequently stood up from the Wooden Box made everyone look at each other in dismay.

The inn's Shop Assistants shouted in surprise, exclaiming about what kind of wild beast or Monster this was, while all of Jier's subordinates were extremely familiar with that thing.

That thing was covered in fur, had a tail over a meter long, and stood nearly a meter tall. At the same time, just as Mr. Zuojigela described, it had a pair of huge eyes that, at night, reflected light when illuminated by the surrounding brightness.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, thinking it was some kind of Monster, but it turned out to be just a long-haired lynx Beast.

Many people then dispersed, but Jier put away his Long Sword and looked at this Maomao with quite some surprise.

This Maomao was not the leader of the Maomaos—Yongqi Maomao—because their appearances all looked about the same to Humans, and Jier couldn't call its name either, so he asked directly: "What's going on? Didn't we part ways with you all at the Jinbi Dingdang inn last night? Which Maomao are you? Did you accidentally fall asleep and crawl into our Wooden Box? Or is it some other situation?"

Although this Maomao was startled by being watched by so many people outside when it came out of the Wooden Box, because Jier was right in front of it, it didn't timidly run away. Now that many people around felt it was boring and walked away, it wasn't as nervous, and only then did it jump out of the Wooden Box and cautiously approach Jier.

"I, am, Maomao," it said in somewhat broken Human Common Language.

"I know you are a Maomao. Your name? Why did you sleep in our Wooden Box? Did you go to the wrong place? Or does your leader have something to entrust to me? If you were left behind, hmm, I could ride a horse overnight to send you back to Duoen Town. I hope they haven't gone too far yet."

But Jier's words were denied by this little fellow.

This Maomao used its tail to prop itself up, tried hard to raise its body, and said to Jier: "I, name, Kuaitui, Kuaitui! Close combat, powerful."

As it spoke, it also forcefully patted a Steel Dagger carried on its back.

This Steel Dagger with a blade length of over twenty centimeters was a powerful two-handed weapon for the Maomaos, and because the handle was too thick, they even specifically removed the thin rope and leather strap wrapped around the dagger handle, so they could just barely grip the remaining base of the dagger.

Mentioning this name, Jier scratched his head and had some impression; when he first fought against the Hunting God Church hunters, it seemed it was this Maomao that discovered the Church Hunter peeking in the dark.

The battle that happened that night left a deep impression on Jier, because of the opponent's terrifying flames, he had to stay in the Lady's dream for several months, relying only on eating those Mushroom Boys to survive every day.

Damn it, many of those Mushroom Boys were poisonous; every time Jier ate a few mouthfuls, he would be dizzy, and could only rely on sleeping to naturally alleviate it. Fortunately, he had already undergone Knight Training, and by relying on the Life Energy within his body, he did not suffer abnormalities in his liver and kidneys from eating poisonous Mushrooms all day.

Remembering this Maomao, Jier touched its head; Jier still remembered that this close-combat Maomao was a crybaby, because its tail was injured at the time, and it ended up wailing loudly.

"Then what is going on with you? You crawled into our box? If your leader finds out you are missing, they will be worried."

"No, no, Kuaitui, tell, leader. Leader, know, Kuaitui, leave." The Mao Mao named Kuaitui popped the words out one by one.

Jier was somewhat surprised; he had thought this Mao Mao had accidentally fallen into their carriage's Wooden Box, but it turned out this Mao Mao had actively bid farewell to its leader and followed them.

"Then do you have a purpose for following me? Or a mission? Do you want to go out and explore? Or earn more metal or coins to take back?" Jier asked.

Unexpectedly, Kuaitui Maomao shook its head, looking at Jier with burning eyes: "Kuaitui, like, Jier. Kuaitui, follow, Jier. Jier, is, Kuaitui, new, leader!"

This time it was Jier's turn to be astonished; he pointed at himself: "You want to follow me? A Human?"

The Mao Mao nodded: "Follow, Jier. Fight, Scout, until, death!"

Jier smiled, smiling very happily; the various news he had heard just now, added to the situation he had analyzed, had originally made him unhappy, but at this very moment, he grabbed the Mao Mao from under its armpits and lifted it high up.

"Hahaha, good, good, good, I agree to let you follow me, let us fight together, and rush toward death together! Haha, but for now, let's eat first! Come, go with me to eat."

Jier was extremely happy, holding the not-so-small Kuaitui Maomao, and amidst the little fellow's struggling, brought it to the inn's lobby.

"What do you want to eat? Choose whatever you like!" Jier spread his hands, pointing at the various things the Warriors were eating and drinking.

Kuaitui Maomao used its tail to prop itself up and looked at the things everyone was eating.

The Warriors did not feel surprised to see Jier carrying a Mao Mao over; after all, everyone had fought side-by-side with these little fellows many times before and was very familiar with them. For many Warriors, they even liked these half-grown long-haired lynx Beast-kin more than the Dwarfs in the team.

Humans just love fluffy things too much.

After choosing for a while, Kuaitui Maomao was not interested in things like Bread or roasted meat; it pointed at the stewed fish, so Jier immediately found a Wooden Bowl and got a few small, tenderly stewed fish for Kuaitui Maomao.

Watching this little thing stand on the chair and eat properly, Jier sighed with satisfaction.

Just watching this little thing eat made Jier feel his spirits lift.

At this time, the Huimao Hu Li slipped silently to Jier's side again, curiously sizing up this Mao Mao. Kuaitui Maomao hissed sharply at the Huimao Hu Li and said to Jier: "Is, that, fake, fox. Fake, fox."

Jier pressed down the fur that had puffed up on Kuaitui Maomao's head and soothed it: "Don't worry, this is Ruier'erui, my spy subordinate. And this one, Ruier'erui, this is Kuaitui, Kuaitui Maomao, my Scout. You must have seen each other in the team before, but I guess you didn't know each other? Then let's formally introduce you now."

Many of the surrounding Warriors found it interesting to watch Jier introduce a fox and a Mao Mao to each other.

But they did not know that this Huimao Hu Li, regarded as a pet, was actually a defeated and surrendered Shapeshifting Monster. The few Warriors who knew its identity looked at the obediently sitting Huimao Hu Li with serious expressions. They were very at ease with the Mao Mao they had fought side-by-side with, but as for this Shapeshifting Monster, they were not so at ease.

They only hoped Jier knew what he was doing, and that he wouldn't end up causing trouble because of this Monster that he couldn't clean up.

?? Sorry, I wasn't feeling well yesterday, the weather cooled down and I caught a bit of a cold, so I really couldn't find the motivation to write anything. I'm feeling a bit better today.