Chapter 207: Burning the Monster to Death, Continuing the Journey

The pitch-black roadside forest could make a bold young man wet his pants; under the low shrubs, one could occasionally hear rustling sounds, as if something were hiding inside. At any moment, the strange cries of nocturnal raptors would ring out from the treetops, enough to make a person shrink their neck in fright.

But these things gradually disappeared after nearing the place where the Monster rested.

The animals in the forest were best at gauging the strength between one another; as the Monster that occupied this area, even if it hadn't crawled up from the steep riverbank before, the surrounding animals still knew of its terror.

Jier lightened his footsteps, identifying the path ahead with his own eyes while monitoring the Monster's movements through the vision of the Shadow Bird in his mind.

It was indeed a troublesome Monster; when Jier was still thirty meters away, its previously motionless body began to contract and move—it had already discovered the approaching Jier. Yet, those so-called "guards" of slime monsters beside the Monster showed no reaction at all.

This thing's detection range was quite large; in a forest with so many obstructions, it actually had a detection distance of thirty meters. If it were in an open area, it would likely be even further.

This was also a rather troublesome point about this thing, but a distance of thirty meters was merely the distance of a single sprint for Jier.

Borrowing the Shadow Bird's ability to see in the dark, Jier accurately found a path through this pitch-black forest to reach the Monster without obstruction. Then, the next moment, he quickened his pace, pushed off the ground with his legs, and his figure flashed past the shrubs in the forest, appearing directly at the place where the Monster was resting.

He didn't waste any words on a Monster that had eaten who knows how many people; he started by smashing a toxic Huoyou Guan onto the Monster's body.

Jier used his full strength, so even though the Monster's body surface could cushion and absorb things it touched, the Huoyou Guan still shattered directly on its surface.

Seeming to know the terror of this thing, the Monster twisted violently. Its first reaction was not to pounce on Jier, but to flee toward the deeper parts of the forest. At the same time, the numerous slime monsters beside it stretched their slimy tentacles toward Jier, preparing to spit acid in his direction.

But the next moment, the Torch in his right hand was pulled into a straight line and smashed directly onto the body of the Monster where the fire oil had just been splashed.

Boom—

Flames rose instantly, the firelight scaring the surrounding slime monsters so badly that they scattered in disarray. As for the Monster itself, it retched, opening a hole at the top of its body, and a large pile of half-digested horse carcass fragments spewed out from the top. Although these foul-smelling, filthy things were disgusting, they covered the Monster's entire body after falling, barely suppressing the toxic Huoyou that was emitting green smoke.

"Hmph, so it has this trick."

Muttering a word, Jier dodged twice, avoiding the few mouthfuls of acid sprayed at him. Seeing the Monster, which had barely covered the fire oil on its body, trying to flee into the depths of the forest, Jier threw the other Huoyou Guan from his left hand.

Even though the lighting was poor, Jier, supplemented by the Shadow Bird's vision that ignored darkness, still accurately smashed the other bottle of fire oil onto the Monster's body.

Knowing it was finished, the Monster struggled to roll on the ground, but Jier casually pulled up a half-shrub that had caught fire after being stained with a bit of fire oil and charged straight at the Monster, holding the burning shrub.

The Monster, which had been rolling on the spot trying to rub off the fire oil, instantly extended several black mud limbs nearly two meters long toward Jier, wanting to stick to the Jier who had actively approached. But Jier had long been guarding against this; he didn't get within two meters of the Monster at all, and with a wave and a smash, he slammed the burning shrub onto the Monster's body.

Boom—

Once again, the fire oil emitting toxic green smoke ignited. It not only burned, but also set fire to the scattered horse carcass fragments on the Monster's surface. More than half of the Monster burned in the raging flames, struggling and rolling, but it was useless. The ignited fire oil had half-fused with its mud-like body; it was no longer clear whether it was the fire oil or its body that was burning.

While watching the Monster's end, Jier wasn't idle, either; in a few quick moves, he stomped to death the slime monsters nearby that hadn't yet fled.

Jier was all too familiar with these old friends; the little monsters that required preparation to hunt last year were now things he could stomp to death at will.

Jier kept watching until the Monster was burned clean—at least until flames were burning all over its inside and out and it stopped moving. Only then did he discover that because there had been almost no rainfall this year, even the forest along the river was quite dry. The firelight and high-temperature toxic smoke from the burning Monster had already ignited some of the surrounding dead branches and leaves.

"Troublesome—"

Jier spat, not leaving it alone. Channeling the Life Energy in his body, he kicked the trees around the burning Monster remains one by one, snapping them. After completely extinguishing the burning areas, Jier grabbed whole trees with both hands and, exerting force, threw the large trees, weighing from several hundred kilograms to over a ton, toward the direction of the nearby river.

He intentionally controlled his strength so that the trees would land near the river, avoiding igniting more of the dry forest.

"That should be fine now."

After finishing his work, he raised his hand, and a pitch-black large bird landed silently on his arm. Then, this large, pitch-black bird burrowed directly toward Jier's right eye, as if that were its nest.

With everything settled, Jier clapped his hands, brushing off the wood shavings, and walked back the way he came with light steps.

The Captain of the Tiaofa Dui, that middle-aged Warrior, heard the sound of the fire oil exploding. He raised his head and looked toward the forest south of the road, soon discovering the greenish toxic smoke rising, but it quickly extinguished.

He couldn't help but worry, fearing that the young man who had gone to hunt the Monster alone had met with an accident.

But soon, the sound of a second round of fire oil explosions came from the forest. This time, the green smoke from the burning fire oil did not cease, which put his mind at ease. Regardless of whether the hunt for the Monster was successful, at least that young man was still fighting.

And perhaps because it had released too many Funei Nengliang Chongji that harmed life throughout the day, the Monster had not used this move this time. This made the middle-aged Warrior breathe a huge sigh of relief; with this extremely important ability missing, the danger of hunting the Monster was greatly reduced.

If it weren't for the Monster having this disgusting ability, how could his Tiaofa Dui have suffered such heavy casualties?

If they fought face-to-face, he and his team could use fire oil to beat the Monster so badly its mother wouldn't recognize it—if this Monster had a mother.

But immediately after, what did the middle-aged Warrior see?

Tree after tree actually flew out from the forest, just like stones thrown by someone, each one flipping in the air, drawing unclear parabolas, and landing near the riverbank.

Every time a large tree crashed near the riverbank, it made a sound he could clearly hear from his side. This shocked the middle-aged Warrior, who thought another terrifying Monster with astonishing strength had arrived, or even a Magic Beast!

But he couldn't do anything at this moment; at most, when a Monster really came out later, he would actively ignite the cart of fire oil behind him when those Monsters tried to eat him! Explode with the Monster!

To take one or two Monsters that threatened the Shanglu line with him before dying, this middle-aged Warrior would have no regrets in death!

But this Warrior, who had prepared for a desperate fight, did not wait for a terrifying Monster that ate people, but rather the young man who walked out of the pitch-black forest, unhurried and empty-handed.

"You... how is it? That Monster?"

A hoarse, low voice asked about Jier's situation. Jier shrugged and replied: "Need you ask? Could I fail? Stop joking, two bottles of fire oil thrown on it, and the Monster only had the result of being burned to death. Hmph, when it first caught fire, it even spewed out a pile of disgusting, half-eaten horse carcasses from its body, extinguishing the fire oil on it. But that was its only chance. Once the second bottle of fire oil was smashed on it, it only had the result of being burned to death."

Jier came over to check the bandages on the middle-aged Warrior's wrist, re-bandaged it for him, smelled the fire oil splashed on this carriage, and took the initiative to help the middle-aged Warrior walk toward the third carriage not far away, while his warhorse, Tianxuecao, followed closely behind Jier.

"Just now, I also saw those trees, the trees in the forest, actually flying toward the riverbank. They were thrown over..."

Before the middle-aged Warrior could ask what happened next in his hoarse voice, Jier took the initiative to explain: "I threw them. After all, using fire weapons in the forest, while burning the Monster to death, also ignited the surrounding large trees. I had no choice but to break the trunks of the large trees and throw them toward the damp river nearby."

Hearing Jier's explanation, the middle-aged Warrior's eyes widened. But he turned his head to look at the tall and sturdy prairie horse behind him, as well as the Blue Axe hanging on the Muan, and suddenly realized that this young man, who looked somewhat frivolous, was actually a young Knight of considerable strength—at least his strength was astonishing, much greater than an ordinary Knight.

"So... sorry, Knight, sorry, I am the Captain of the Kendall Baron's Monster Tiaofa Dui, Gun Pake. I didn't recognize your identity just now, I am very sorry. I... I am very grateful that you could come so late to help hunt the Monster. It is truly shameful; my men and I were unable to deal with that guy."

The middle-aged Warrior, Gun Pake, said a great deal in a hoarse voice, and after finishing, he lowered his head in embarrassment.

It could be seen that he was truly sorry, but not for the young Knight who had come to help, but for the subordinates who had died in the Monster's mouth this time.

Jier said nothing. After the two rested for a while leaning against the third carriage, a large group of people carrying Torches came from the town. These people were fully armed, each carrying Huoyou Guan on their backs, and carrying weapons such as Long Swords, Cleavers, and Sickles at their waists. The lighting Torches in their hands were burning fiercely, illuminating the surroundings brightly.

"Knight Jier! Captain Pake! You are here! Where is that Monster?"

The one leading the team was the Captain of the Town Guard of Cui'erfute Zhen, who was naturally familiar with the Captain of the Monster Tiaofa Dui. On the way here, he thought his friend had sacrificed himself, but now, seeing him, except for the loss of his left hand, his condition was fine.

If there were an opportunity in the future, injuries like a severed hand could be treated by the church, but even without that, installing a prosthetic hand or a Short Sword on the left hand would basically not affect combat effectiveness.

Of course, there would be inconveniences in daily life, but it was hard to say regarding combat power; sometimes it might even be an enhancement.

"Need you ask? Of course, it was solved by me. Watch over him, take him back to the town for treatment first; he has lost quite a bit of blood, and his condition is not good. Others, follow me."

Jier waved his hand and directed the dozens of people at the scene. He rode on his tall warhorse, and the others, knowing Jier's identity, also obeyed Jier's command and began to inspect and clean up the battle scene.

Carriages like the one loaded with the heavy Crossbow were, of course, to be taken back to the town. This thing wasn't even from Cui'erfute Zhen, but a heavy weapon specifically purchased by the Merchant Guild; it was of great value and was very effective against the vast majority of common Monsters.

Jier had originally taken an interest in these heavy Crossbows, but after asking the Captain of the Town Guard about the ownership and approximate value of these things, he still didn't dare to be like Kendall Baron, imitating the incident of seizing the magic Crossbow from Guaifeng Zhen, and get these high-value weapons into his own hands.

He had originally intended, while suppressing the Monster, to pretend to accidentally knock the carriage carrying the Heavy Crossbow onto the bridge, taking the opportunity to flip the carriage off the bridge alone, while bringing the Heavy Crossbow back into the lady's dream; this way, no one would be the wiser, and after the investigation, he could say the Heavy Crossbow had been washed downstream by the river to who knows where.

But who could have known that not only would the Tiaofa Dui suffer heavy losses tonight, but this Ooze Monster was also at the end of its rope, being burned to death by Jier in a few quick strokes, not even allowing Jier to sense that Funei Nengliang Chongji at close range.

With regret, Jier led his men to clean up the traces of the battle overnight, and the remains of the burned Monster were also shoveled up and taken away; these were all evidence of the suppression.

As for the reward for helping with the suppression, Jier did not ask; he would let the Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild give whatever they felt like.

When they set off the next day, the Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild had sent a Shop Assistant. Jier had seen this person; last night, he was an attendant following behind the Senior Steward of the Merchant Guild. Upon asking, he learned that the Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild had sent him to follow along, the main purpose being to repay the fact that Knight Jier had assisted in the suppression last night.

With someone from the side of such a big shot in the Merchant Guild following, Jier and his group could avoid the vast majority of harassment along the way, especially the harassment from those greedy locals.

Facing outsiders, especially those travelers and Caravans passing through Ke'er Shan Jun, the locals—especially those in villages and towns bordering the Shanglu—lived off the Shanglu and drank from the Shanglu; they would squeeze every passing Caravan for as much money as they possibly could.

But with this person following in the team, for the entire middle section of the Shanglu, this Merchant Guild member would step forward to coordinate, and most of these matters could be avoided.

You ask why they wouldn't be avoided entirely?

That is because human greed can truly make people very blind; sometimes, even the words of the Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild under the Baron family of Ke'er Shan Jun do not carry much weight. But it does not matter; the armored Warriors in Jier's team, their swords, blades, and Shields are not just for show.

Just like that, the entire Caravan continued on its way, and two days later, they reached a stretch with few villages and towns, but many Bandits in the mountains.

Here, apart from a few bridges crossing the river, most of the journey consisted of winding mountain dirt roads. Although the people of Ke'er Shan Jun were greedy, it was clear that, including the administrators above, none of them intended to spend money on maintaining the road conditions of the Shanglu.

Occasionally, one could see Stone blocks half a person's height rolling down from the barren mountains, or Stone blocks the size of a carriage blocking half the road.

Looking at the marks on those Stone blocks, many had already been lying on the road for a year or two.

Every time Jier saw this situation, he would look at that Shop Assistant from the Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild, but this person had a thick enough skin to look left and right and talk about other things, wanting to take the initiative to direct the Caravan to bypass these Stone blocks and boulders that hindered the journey. But Jier could not tolerate the Caravan bypassing these Stone blocks and boulders one by one; it wasted too much time, so he took action directly, personally pushing these rocks weighing from several tons to hundreds of tons off the road surface.

Do not say that Jier's strength was too outrageous; Stone blocks half a person's height were, of course, a small matter for Jier. He certainly did not have the strength to lift the carriage-sized boulders weighing hundreds of tons, even though Jier's strength was already very great, but he had a brain.

He swung his axe to chop down nearby large trees, casually getting some trunks with the branches removed, first lifting one corner of the giant boulder, then inserting a round tree trunk, and then doing the same on the opposite side. After repeating this in a circle, the giant boulder that had almost taken root on the road surface could be pushed by Jier.

Of course, these giant boulders were not the only ones; there were also big ones that Jier could not push. At this time, Shishou would stand out, and the two of them using their full strength together could push the giant rocks that were originally impossible to shake from the road surface into the Valley.

This also made everyone in the entire team realize once again, clearly, just how great the strength of Humans and Dwarves really was, and how huge the difference between people could be.