Chapter 145: The Stubborn Little Old Boss of the [Wangu Canzhuo]

After the little fellow had eaten the fish, it intended to work for Jier; it had slept all day in the Wooden Box, and now, full and satisfied, it was refreshed and ready to work.

The Mao Maos are nocturnal creatures, drowsy during the day and active hunters at night, so Jier took the opportunity to issue it its first task: "As it happens, several shops in this place don't seem like good people; you sneak around and scout the area to see if there are any strange places or individuals."

Kuaitui Maomao nodded heavily and slipped excitedly into the surrounding darkness.

Meanwhile, behind the counter on one side of the lobby, the innkeeper's expression was somewhat ugly. Although he did not know what kind of thing Mao Mao was, he was not deaf, and he had heard Jier's order, so he stared at Jier with some resentment, his footsteps hesitant.

But Jier pulled Xueya Site over, whispered a few words in his ear, and then walked out the front door of the inn.

Xueya Site specifically stepped forward to pester the innkeeper in front of everyone, saying he wanted to calculate the cost of the stay for tonight and so on. Although he was uneasy in his heart, there hadn't been many travelers of Jier's scale recently, and the cost of lodging and other supplies for so many people was a significant income, so he had to patiently haggle with Xueya Site, bickering over the cost of each individual item.

Although the Huimao Hu Li also intended to take advantage of the night and Jier's indulgence to move around, it was not actually a very diligent fellow; after licking the Monster blood from Jier's hand earlier, it had recently felt some unknown changes in its body, so it rested more and moved less, preparing to accumulate enough physical strength to cope with the new changes in its body.

Therefore, it voluntarily returned to the cage on Jier's carriage to lie down and rest.

Jier went to the Dwarfs' side first; after all, the safety of the Dwarfs was more important.

The Wangu Canzhuo inn was not only close to the Shanglu, but its entire building also revealed some of the innkeeper's personality from its appearance.

The outer walls of the inn were dark brown wooden wall panels with a deep color; the first floor on the side facing the Shanglu had no windows, and the second floor only had a fist-sized ventilation hole facing the street.

Quite stingy and conservative.

The sign at the entrance of the inn had the name of the inn written in colored paint by hand, and it wasn't even in a place you could see when you looked up, but rather on the wall.

The main door was thick, and Jier stepped forward to push the inn door, but it didn't budge.

He could certainly push it open with force, but the door would obviously be ruined.

Not wanting to spend this meaningless money, Jier knocked heavily on the door, but then he discovered a rope for a bell by the door.

Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.

After pulling it twice, there was no response from inside, and just as Jier intended to pull it again, a small door opened on the inn's main door.

The faces of two young men appeared behind the small door: "Who is it? Our inn is full, and we are not hosting any more guests tonight. Please go to another inn to spend the night. If other inns are full, then going to the tavern across the street to drink for the night is fine too. However, I don't recommend you spend the night in the surrounding unoccupied shops; the times are not good lately, and many dangerous guys often come here in the middle of the night. If you run into those guys, you'll be out of luck."

The young man speaking inside didn't care who was outside the door, finished saying a whole bunch of things to himself, and then intended to close the tiny little door directly.

But Jier stepped forward and reached out to block the other party from closing the door.

"I am a friend of the alien Dwarfs staying at your inn, and I came over to check on their situation tonight. Let me in," Jier said.

Jier's words clearly surprised the people inside; they moved aside slightly, letting the light from behind shine through the small door and illuminate Jier outside.

Although Jier was not wearing a Helmet, his full set of weapons and equipment clearly stunned the two Shop Assistants guarding the inn door.

They didn't dare to open the door for Jier directly, but they didn't dare to lock Jier out just like that either, so one stood in a stalemate with Jier, while the other ran inside quickly to find the boss and the Dwarf leader who was staying there.

After a short while, a thin little old man walked over quickly and glanced at Jier through the small door at the entrance: "Hmph, you are Knight Qiao Jier, right? Are those aliens who don't understand the language part of your team? They were very troublesome when they checked in this evening."

"Oh, you know me? You're quite well-informed. Did my Dwarf friends cause you trouble? That shouldn't be; they are very well-behaved." Jier was a bit puzzled; before heading to Duoen Town, and even when in Yemei Town, those Dwarfs were very reliable and never caused him trouble.

But the old man complained while opening the Lock behind the inn door: "Well-behaved? Although they look quite well-behaved, except for one leader, the others can't even speak our Human Common Language; it's a huge pain."

Jier raised an eyebrow but didn't show any more confusion.

The Dwarfs had lived among Humans for nearly a hundred years, and each one had long been able to master the Human language proficiently; many even spoke it more fluently than he did. Now that they were suddenly pretending not to speak the Human Common Language, he didn't know what they were thinking.

With a creak, the inn door, which had been closed after dark, opened again, but after Jier entered, the door closed again.

"You guys are really cautious. There aren't really any people or dangers outside," Jier asked casually.

The thin but energetic little old innkeeper said with dissatisfaction: "That's because of the armor on your body, ha, no smart and fierce guy would target a young Knight like you for robbery."

"I see other shops didn't close their doors just after nightfall; is this necessary?" Jier asked casually while walking inside.

The two Shop Assistants guarded the entrance, and the little old innkeeper shook his head: "The evildoers are of course not afraid, they are all in the same gang, but a guy like me who runs a legitimate business has to be careful."

"Legitimate business? You? Do you mean that everyone else is illegitimate? That is a serious accusation," Jier said, sitting on a sturdy wooden chair in the lobby.

"The fact is just like that; you have eyes, go see for yourself, use your ears to listen, and go sniff the smell of blood in those places; anyone whose nose and brain aren't broken can perceive something. Hmph, but many Human Minds are black and gray; they know, but they act as if they haven't discovered it. They even excitedly join in. ￥￥#!"

The old man cursed one last time with great vigor.

Jier touched his nose, feeling a bit awkward, because he was also among the people the old man had just cursed.

Fortunately, at this moment, the old Dwarf 'Iron Fist' was walking over with two subordinates.

Old 'Iron Fist' had changed into light clothing and was not wearing the armor he had worn while traveling by carriage during the day; after all, he was no longer young, and his shoulders couldn't take wearing heavy armor all day. After all, he wasn't young anymore; the other middle-aged Dwarfs in the team were not as exhausted as he was and were eating in the inn's restaurant.

"Jier, you're here. Did you come to check on our situation? Although the environment of this inn isn't great, the service is very good. The price is also... how should I put it, relatively appropriate," old 'Iron Fist' said cautiously; after all, the innkeeper was right next to them, and he didn't want to speak ill of the inn in front of him before leaving.

Jier glanced at the guys next to the old Dwarf who were pretending not to speak the Human Common Language; one was 'Shishou', and the other was Xiaoxuezi. The former was the most powerful among these Dwarfs, and he was brought along to protect the old Dwarf. The latter was the junior the old Dwarf liked to keep by his side; he didn't know if the old Dwarf had any offspring, but he was clearly grooming Xiaoxuezi as his own junior descendant.

Part of the reason was naturally that Xiaoxuezi was the only young Dwarf in the mine, and the other part was likely the old Dwarf's guilt toward Xiaoxuezi's father.

After all, he was the one who had sent Xiaoxuezi's father out to look for opportunities, but Xiaoxuezi's father never returned, and based on the other party's personality and style of conduct, it was clear he wouldn't have abandoned everyone; it could only be that he died accidentally on his journey.

"Hmph, the environment isn't great..."

The little old man muttered a few words, then, not wanting to be in the way, walked off on his own.

There were only the two young Shop Assistants guarding the inn door in the lobby, and another middle-aged Shop Assistant dozing behind the counter on the other side of the lobby. Unlike the previous Siren Ganzi inn, the lobby of this Wangu Canzhuo inn was not very large, which was disproportionate to its footprint.

Needless to say, the saved space must have been turned into more rooms; Jier knew without looking that this style of saving a little bit wherever possible was exactly the same as the innkeeper's.

After there was no one around, Jier asked the Dwarfs about the situation at the inn.

The old Dwarf heard Jier's question, narrowed his eyes, and still gave his opinion: "It's a very ordinary inn overall, with no special features. Although I have mostly only stayed in our Dwarf inns before, your Human inns are no different from ours."

Jier looked at 'Shishou'; this super-powerful Dwarf, a chosen warrior of the God of Strength, shook his head: "No discoveries, the food made here is quite delicious."

"I have a discovery!" Xiaoxuezi spoke up, which surprised the other three.

Jier raised his hand to signal him to speak.

Xiaoxuezi pointed directly at the two Shop Assistants guarding the door: "They look a bit nervous, but they aren't guarding against us inside the inn; instead, they are nervous about the situation on the street outside. And when I helped look after the oxen pulling the carts in the evening, I found that the inn's backyard wall was very high, and an extra board had been added to the top of the wall. When the ox carts entered the backyard, the area around the inn was kept very clean, unlike the randomly built wooden shacks around it."

Jier nodded, affirming Xiaoxuezi's discovery.

Although Xiaoxuezi seemed to be the most lively speaker among the four present, he was actually several decades old; it was just because Dwarfs have long lifespans that he was a child, or even a teenager, among the Dwarf group.

Jier, on the other hand, was the youngest at only seventeen, but his strength and status were on the same level as the other two.

Both 'Shishou' and old 'Iron Fist' did not treat Jier as a seventeen-year-old Human.

"In any case, the situation here seems fine; you all just stay here with peace of mind, and we will set off as usual tomorrow morning."

Jier's words could not help but make the old Dwarf think more: "So, there is something strange in other places, right? Jier, although we previously agreed that you would protect us and lead us to find other Dwarves, we are not weak fellows without combat capability."

The old Dwarf flexed his own arms, then patted Shishou's arms, which were practically like cast steel, as well as Xiaoxuezi's sturdy arms: "We are strong Miners, our hands can excavate the earth, even the hardest rock layers are no match for us, and we can still handle some enemies. When you need us to fight, please do not forget us."

Shishou nodded and said nothing.

Xiaoxuezi was a bit nervous and forced a smile on his face. He did not have much combat experience, and in past battles, everyone did not really let him participate.

"If there is a chance, I will rely on you. In any case, rest well, and we will set off as usual tomorrow. I just heard that the Suishi Cheng ahead is a city built on the ruins of one of your Dwarf copper mines, and it is the main town of the Cuikuang County where we are currently located."

The old Tiequan was stunned for a moment after hearing Jier's words, and then a smile appeared on his face: "It is the Baniusi mine. What a pity, although I have never been there, I heard that it was originally a copper mine with quite a high output. The best part is that the ore belt there is relatively close to the ground, so the mining difficulty is very low, and several families valued it quite highly."

Afterwards, he muttered regretfully: "To think that even such a place was abandoned directly back then; just how urgent was the evacuation..."

To think they could even forget to take them along?

He did not say these words out loud.

Jier then left the Wangu Canzhuo inn, which was cautious and careful from the outside in the night, and walked forward along the spacious and deserted Shanglu toward the Zihonghua inn ahead.

The Zihonghua inn not only had a beautiful name, but its exterior was also very elegant; even in the night, one could see that effort had been put into the exterior decoration of this inn, which also occupied a considerable area.

Of course, this was just an ordinary inn at an ordinary Chalu on the Shanglu, which could not compare to the Jinbi Dingdang inn in Duoen Town, and could not even compare to the Caimen inn where he stayed in Yemei Town.

In front of the door, next to the Shanglu, there was a small open space for parking horses, which was looked after by someone, so there was no need to worry about the horses being lost. But unlike when he first arrived in the afternoon, Jier saw more than one horse tied to the hitching post at the entrance of the inn at this moment.

The person looking after the horses was still the same kid he saw in the afternoon, but two additional shop thugs carrying Iron-wrapped Short Clubs had been added here; these two were burly and broad-shouldered, standing with their hands on their hips, looking quite imposing.

The two of them had originally been staring intently at Jier, who was walking over in the night, but once Jier got closer and they saw his weapons and equipment clearly, they went numb.

"May I ask..." The two were just about to politely ask for Jier's identity; although the Zihonghua inn was still open at night and travelers could come and go as they pleased, they still had to take the initiative to ask when a stranger carrying weapons approached.

But Jier's set of weapons and equipment clearly could not belong to any ordinary character; he did not look like a poverty-stricken Bandit, nor did he look like someone from the Thieves Guild who often operated in the dark of night.

Who would walk around at night wearing a set of heavy plate armor?

"I am Knight Qiao Jier. The Merchants staying at your inn tonight are all part of the Caravan I am protecting. I am here to check on their situation."

Jier said his identity casually as he walked past the two.

One inn thug stayed in place, while the other apologized to Jier, then ran ahead of Jier with small steps back to the inn to report the situation.

'The rules are quite decent.'

Jier thought.

He walked into the half-open door of the Zihonghua inn.

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