Chapter 209: Xueya Site's Account, the So-Called

The bandit who had been kicked flying by Sipulu gasped for a long while on the ground, clutching his chest; the moment he lifted his head and saw the corpses of his three companions lying on the ground, he simply stayed sprawled there, not even daring to get up.

Jier casually gestured for his warriors to dismantle the small toll camp the bandits had built themselves on the side of the trade route, using the dismantled wood to burn the corpses of the three dead bandits, while he waved his hand at Sipulu: "Tell this man to stop playing dead and hurry back to report to the rest of his group; tell them that Jier the Knight, who has come from out of town, is very much looking forward to the next few days of travel, and if there are no monster attacks by the time the caravan reaches Duan Ya Cheng, he will be very disappointed."

Jier's words made the people around him twitch their mouths, not knowing what to say, and Sipulu was also full of questions, but he still carried out Jier's order.

He kicked the bandit who was playing dead on the ground and patted the man's face with the tip of his blood-stained blade: "Did you hear that? My lord is looking forward to your retaliation, don't let him down, get lost!"

"Yes, yes, I'm going, I'm going right now."

This bandit did not have any of the arrogance he had shown when blocking the road earlier; without even looking at the companions he usually drank and ate meat with, he sprang up from the ground and ran toward the mountain forest to the north without looking back.

The man moved quickly and was familiar with the route leading to their bandit lair.

Jier whistled and summoned the Tusi Brothers from the caravan: "You two follow that man, don't let him discover you, record the route to their lair, and then catch up as soon as possible. If they don't satisfy me in a couple of days, I'll take the time to make a trip back and burn their lair to the ground."

The Tusi Brothers scratched their heads, not understanding Jier the Knight's specific intentions, but they went to work first.

They mounted two horses, followed the route the bandit had taken while fleeing, tied the horses at the edge of the mountain forest, sprinkled some insect and beast repellent powder, and immediately followed the tracks left by the man's panicked flight, pursuing him quickly and cautiously.

After dismantling this toll checkpoint and burning the three bandit corpses, Jier continued to lead the caravan forward.

On the road, the accompanying merchants gathered together on horseback, whispering about Jier the Knight's behavior just now; some approved, some were dissatisfied, and others felt that if the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up, appearing indifferent.

The shop assistant from the Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild was the most awkward; he had thought that being sent by his superior on this trip was an act of showing goodwill and demonstrating the guild's strength, but now he had become an awkward character instead.

For the situations the caravan usually had to face, whether or not they needed his help, there were experienced merchants accompanying them to take charge. As for some difficult characters, he, a mere follower from the merchant guild, did not have enough face to persuade the other party not to cause trouble, leaving him in a somewhat redundant and awkward state.

He felt embarrassed to continue riding alongside Jier the Knight, but he also found it difficult to insert himself into the group of discussing merchants, so he had to ride his horse alone, following the caravan in solitude.

This young merchant guild assistant was not too discouraged, after all, he understood the situation Jier the Knight had mentioned earlier, and had to admit that the merchant guild often did not do well enough. The Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild was a management guild established by people sent by the Ke'er Baron family, who ruled Ke'er Shan Jun, directly managing all affairs of the middle section of the Ke'er Shan Jun trade route, and indirectly serving the Baron family in managing and ruling the entire territory.

The Senior Stewards of the merchant guild were all members of the Ke'er Baron family; to tell the truth, these people were good at making money, but they were really not very good at getting things done. It was not just a lack of ability; their willingness to act and their execution were even more vastly different. Just as Jier the Knight said, if one really wanted to solve the problem of the large and small bandit groups that had been entrenched on the trade route sucking blood for years, there were actually ways to do it.

But there was simply no one with the motivation to push these things forward.

As a young assistant, his words carried little weight, and he had neither power in his hands nor the resources to solve the problems.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh. Although backed by the support of the Baron family, this Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild could not collapse, and the middle section of the trade route would not really rot to any great extent. But compared to the other two trade routes that traversed the entire county, the Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild had really done too little over the years.

After years of road optimization and bridge construction, the lower trade route had become increasingly fast and convenient to traverse. And although the upper trade route was long, the entire line was said to be managed very properly by that lady; although one had to worry about monster attacks on the road, the bandits along the line basically didn't cause much trouble, and merchants were rarely extorted for money and supplies halfway.

Compared to others, the middle route of this Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild only had the two advantages of rarely having monster infestations and passing through the county seat, right?

Time passed quickly, and that evening the Tusi Brothers rode their horses to catch up with the caravan, and the caravan also camped for the night in a relatively flat and open area by the side of the trade route.

"How was it? Is their lair far? How is the strength of the bandits? After their men were killed, did they take any action?"

Jier sat by the campfire, watching Weier and Aoni guide the training of the warriors. Beside Jier, a Dwarf held a wooden block and a carving knife, using the human warriors in training as models to create art. Jier even seemed to take out some pigments to help this Dwarf color the wooden carvings that had already been carved. As for the source of the pigments, it was Mr. Zuojigela, the team's Herbalist, who had helped purchase some mineral fragments that could be used for coloring, as well as special dried insects and bright plants, when passing through large cities, and had made them himself along the way.

Tedious techniques and procedures, such as extracting dyeing pigments from bright plants and insects, crushing minerals to grind them into powder, washing, settling, and filtering, all had to be handled by the professional Herbalist in the team. Because buying raw materials for coloring dyes and buying the finished product were almost two different prices.

Zhongtusi helped return the horses, while Xiao Tusi gestured wildly as he told Jier about their discoveries along the way.

"Is that so? Those bandits are tough enough; they actually set out to trouble our caravan as soon as they got the news. Ha, I'm not afraid of them causing trouble, I'm only afraid they lack the courage and will shrink in the mountains like cowardly gophers."

Jier smiled and shook his head, looking quite expectant that those bandits would find some monsters that were interesting and powerful enough to add some fun to his journey.

"But seriously, the scale of the local bandit groups in Ke'er Shan Jun is really small; one group actually has fewer than thirty people, and according to you, their lair only has these people, and there aren't any kidnapped women or children or anything." Jier scratched his chin and asked in confusion.

Zhongtusi handed the two horses he had ridden that day back to the handlers to take care of, and at this moment he walked over and replied: "This is normal. For bandits of this scale who have been established for a long time, most of them have secretly started families in nearby villages and towns; their wives and children live in settlements, not in the boring and dangerous mountain forests. This job of blocking the road to extort money and supplies, rather than calling it a plundering act, I think it is more like a dangerous, immoral job that everyone on the trade route holds their nose and accepts."

Jier chuckled twice: "That's true. Niwaer, are those horse bandits in your Western Province similar to these road-blocking bandits in the Southern Province?"

Xueya Site was helping the handlers cook, and upon hearing this, he shook his head: "Not even close. Compared to my hometown, this Southern Province looks like a trade transaction with warmth. Merchants traverse the trade route and give money to the bandits who set up checkpoints to block the road according to an 'agreement', and the bandits even maintain the smoothness and safety of the trade route?"

He shook his head: "It's too absurd; it doesn't sound real, it's just like having a sweet and safe dream."

Hearing him say this, those from the Southern Province looked at Xueya Site with curiosity, even Jier; they wanted to know how bandits from other places did things.

Jier waved his hand: "Don't look at me; I didn't see any horse bandits blocking the road while traveling through the Western Province."

Xueya Site shrieked: "That's because you were following Kendall's army the whole way! No horse bandit would be stupid enough to attack a complete army! Unless they like drinking dirty water and have their brains eaten away by parasites, without a single bit of brain matter left."

Jier shrugged.

Xueya Site then talked about how the horse bandits in their Western Province plundered.

Horse bandits often left eyes and ears in the towns along the trade route; those inconspicuous eyes and ears would keep an eye on the various caravans coming and going at any time, spying on and measuring the caravan's defensive strength, the goods the caravan was carrying, and the caravan's style of operation.

When they encountered a caravan with weak defensive strength, a caravan carrying valuable goods, or a foolish caravan that was not rigorous in its actions and was careless, the eyes and ears would notify the main force of horse bandits entrenched in the lair deep in the grasslands through various means.

And the horse bandits were exactly as the name implied; they all rode horses, and one person often had more than one horse to ride, at least two horses per person, so their mobility would far exceed that of the caravans on the trade route.

Whether it was arriving at the ambush point in advance, chasing fleeing merchants, or being pursued by local lords, they firmly grasped superior mobility.

"This also leads to the fact that unless they are completely wiped out, it is very difficult to exterminate a group of horse bandits; therefore, the horse bandits in our Western Province still have some deterrent power," Xueya Site said.

As for the process of robbery, the Western Province was much bloodier; no matter the situation, even if the caravan resisted or surrendered, they had to have a bloody fight first when they made contact.

Usually, the caravan's guards would engage in one-on-one horse duels with the horse bandits, or engage in small-scale battles in groups of two or three, and both sides would judge how to resolve the subsequent situation according to the results of the duels or battles.

"If the horse bandit side wins, then the caravan side must obediently offer at least ten percent of the goods and the food and water they are carrying. If our caravan guards win, then the horse bandits must take the initiative to get lost, unless they are not afraid of losses and go all out to fight the caravan to the death. But this situation is rare, unless there is some accumulated grievance or hatred between the two sides," Xueya Site continued.

At this time, someone asked: "Then isn't it very dangerous and high-risk to run a business in the Western Province?"

The person asking was a caravan Steward who had come to Jier's side to build a relationship after finishing his meal with the people from his caravan.

Xueya Site patted the weapons and equipment on his body: "That wouldn't be the case. For one, the most tyrannical horse bandits will have high bounties placed on them, and there are plenty of capable people who want this money. Secondly, the horse bandits who cause too much trouble will be surrounded and suppressed by the Earl's cavalry units, which not only keeps the trade route smooth but also trains the Earl's army. You know, our Western Province not only has to fight the Dwarves in the west but also has to fight the monsters in the Grass Sea in the middle of the province."

The Dwarf sitting and carving the wooden carving glanced at Xueya Site, pursed his lips, and didn't say anything, just feeling that leaving the Babotali Valley and not heading toward the closer Western Province was the most correct judgment. If their dozens of leaderless Dwarves entered the Western Province alone, they would probably be identified as spies within a few days and be completely surrounded and suppressed by the local army.

Now heading east, although it seemed to be getting further and further away from the Kingdom, the risks on the road were not as great as imagined. Not only was most of the trouble settled by Jier, but even for things that couldn't be settled, they, these Dwarves, could help contribute to settling them.

And most importantly, in the Southern Province, their identity could barely be explained as alien mercenaries, while in the Western Province, which was hostile to Dwarves, this identity could not be used at all.

Could it be that they still had to be treated like prisoners, with Jier pretending to escort them as captives?

That would be too painful; it would be better to honestly live in the Treasure Mine.

The large overnight camp was noisy, and looking along the winding trade route in the mountains, there was more than one team spending the night on the road besides Jier's, but even if they were passing through the same trade route, other caravans with smaller scales than Jier's would not get too close.

They often saw that the sky was getting dark and would avoid the open space chosen by Jier's caravan, either going a section of the road back or traveling a bit further to find another open space by the road to spend the night.

And in the sparse mountain forest far from the open space by the trade route, twenty or so guys dressed in messy attire were hiding by a campfire; this campfire's flame was not large, and on the side facing the trade route, these people had set up a large piece of black cloth to prevent people on the distant trade route from seeing the firelight they had started.

Unlike the other guys dressed in messy and dirty clothes, the leader of this group was wearing sturdy Leather Clothing, his face cold, eating roasted jerky while looking at his subordinates who were shrinking their necks one by one around the campfire.

"Have you discussed it yet? This is an excellent opportunity; we went to the trouble of taking a shortcut to get here, not to sit here without speaking and staring at the flames. Where is your courage? It's not like you're really going to die; master the techniques, I've already told you the techniques, everything is very simple."

After taking a fierce bite of dried meat and swallowing it, these Bandits who had taken a shortcut through the forest to catch up remained silent; it seemed that if anyone were to mutter even a single word now, the Bandit Leader would think they were volunteering to go lure the Monster to attack the camping Caravan.

Everyone was no fool; the Bandit Leader made it sound simple, talking about mastering techniques, but in reality, every time they went to lure a Monster to attack a Caravan, several of their own men had to die.

Sometimes the lured Monster wouldn't even cause many casualties to the Caravan, yet they, the Bandits, would lose several lives just from luring the Monster!

When talking to outsiders, they sounded impressive, claiming they had mastered the locations where Monsters lurked around the Shanglu and could easily drive Monsters to attack Caravans. But in reality, how could it be that easy! What outsiders didn't know was that every single time, they had to use their own men's lives to lure the Monster into acting.

Sometimes, the Bandits even suspected that the Monsters were often already full from eating people on the way to being lured, so when they finally encountered the Caravan, they would just cause a ruckus and then return to the forest, satisfied.

"Everyone be a bit braver! Usually, when you're all drinking and bragging about being able to twist off the head of a Dragon, why is no one stepping up now? Be proactive; I won't mistreat the subordinate who takes on the luring job. Whoever can step up and take it on, I will reward them with one of the gold rings on my finger!"

A gold ring—it was said to be gold, but it was actually inlaid with scattered Gems; getting one's hands on this thing would be enough for a family to eat and drink for a lifetime without running out.

Immediately, some were tempted to move, but as soon as a younger Bandit tried to stand up, a veteran Bandit beside him pressed down on his leg.

Silently shaking his head slightly as a warning, in the end, no one stood up.

"Hmph! Then the old way it is: let the Goddess of Luck choose the person responsible for luring this time. This time, a nest of Water-Spitting Crocodiles is lurking in a river near the Shanglu; these things have no brains and are very easy to lure, so I need three people to go. Three people!"

After one final warning, the Bandit Leader saw that still no one was volunteering for the luring work, so he impatiently took a quiver from behind him and stood it up in front of himself.

He scanned his subordinates: "The old rules: take out a small trinket from your person and throw it into the quiver. I will shake it hard in a moment, and the owners of the first three trinkets that fall out will be the ones responsible for luring the Monster this time!"

"Hurry up!"

Only then did the silent Bandits seem more like living people than wood, one after another annoyedly selecting small trinkets from their persons to represent themselves.

The items handed over by the veteran Bandits were mostly small pendants with bead strings, while the inexperienced Bandits who had joined the group less than two years ago took out things like coins or dice.

With a huff, the Bandit Leader saw through the calculations of his old cronies, but he said nothing; he simply confirmed each small object and trinket, put them into the quiver, and then tilted the quiver and shook it vigorously.

Every Bandit present watched this ordinary quiver nervously, terrified that the item representing them would be the first to fall out. Even the veteran Bandits who possessed certain cheating techniques had their hearts in their throats, because even with a little cheating, they couldn't guarantee they wouldn't be chosen first.

"Goddess of Luck, bless me!"

"I beg of you, please, you must bless me!"

"Don't choose me, I beg of you; if I go back, I will make my whole family convert to you!"

The Bandits began to mutter under their breath.