Chapter 268: Fierce Battle at Night

Jier's body felt hot; he did not know if his eyes were red right now, but his field of vision had not turned red.

Everything around him felt somewhat strange and unfamiliar.

It was clearly an ordinary winter forest, yet under his current observation, everything appeared incredibly bizarre.

The bark fragments falling from branches blown by the wind descended slowly in Jier's eyes, then, upon landing, kicked up a small amount of soil from the rotting leaves on the ground.

At the top of a tree trunk not far away, a tiny squirrel was curled up; the little thing looked curiously toward this side, its tail swaying slowly.

Seemingly having discovered a Human staring at it, the usually agile little thing, in Jier's eyes this time, clumsily jumped down from the tree trunk and landed in the branches below to hide.

Watching that little squirrel descend slowly, Jier finally realized that it was not that everything around him had become strange, but that he himself had become strange after eating the Mushroom.

Had the world seemingly slowed down?

No, Jier shook his head. It was his entire person that had become sharp.

That was why he had this strange feeling. Although this situation was good, Jier knew that this Mushroom definitely had toxicity; it was just that the toxicity was likely not fatal.

Touching the Agricultural God Badge pinned to his chest, he hoped that this badge could cure the adverse reactions he had after eating the Mushroom.

Knowing that the Mushroom's effects would last for most of the day, Jier turned back from another direction after running far away.

The sky was about to turn dark; it was now dusk, and those Bandits who had lost three men could not possibly withdraw overnight. After all, they were not Jier and could not safely traverse mountains and ridges at night.

Therefore, those Bandits had no choice but to tidy up their accomplice's corpses and bury them hastily beside the campfire. They also happened to keep watch and rest beside this campfire.

"Are you sure that person ran away?" a bearded Bandit questioned the three Bandits who had returned from tracking earlier. After Popu died, among the seven remaining, he had been with the Thieves of Luodai Cave the longest, so the others naturally considered him the one in charge of the team now.

The three looked at each other and replied, "Yes, that person ran far away after killing Dun'erke. We were afraid of being picked off one by one by that person, so we retreated."

Stroking the weapon of the dead Bandit, this bearded Bandit looked at the people around him and asked, "What do you think of this person's skills? And where did he pop out from?"

The Bandits discussed for a while and all felt that if they were facing two other experienced Bandits alone, they could only say they might be able to protect themselves; wanting to win would be very difficult.

After all, everyone usually trained, lived, and raided together, and everyone knew each other's combat levels. Winning one-on-one was not easy, let alone one-on-two, and to complete the combat victory and escape in the extremely short time after their companion shouted and they returned quickly.

Furthermore, while escaping, he even counter-killed one of their spearmen.

Regarding this person's skills, everyone reached a unanimous conclusion: if they had to fight, they must all charge over together and, after potentially losing one or two people, slaughter the opponent.

Wanting to capture him alive was basically impossible, unless they could luckily knock away the opponent's weapon.

Other questions followed one after another: where did this person come from?

Why did those fleeing civilians lose their tracks when they ran here, and then such a person with superb skills killed his way out?

The seven discussed it and felt the most likely scenario was that those fleeing civilians knew this person was here, so they had come specifically to seek help.

Judging from the three they had killed, the civilians' plan had succeeded. Without eliminating this person, it was impossible to find those hiding civilians nearby.

Especially since if they wanted to search for the civilians, they would have to spread out, but this would lead to them being picked off one by one by the opponent. Once they lost another two men, their team sent out to pursue could no longer guarantee they would safely find and kill those fleeing civilians.

"It seems those damn mud-legs found a way to survive. But why would such a person be hiding here?" Just as this bearded Bandit was picking the dirt off his beard and pondering this question.

An accomplice preparing the camp made a new discovery: a small burrow not far from the campfire.

Several Bandits gathered at the burrow entrance and peered inside. A moment later, a Bandit crawled out from the small burrow: "It's very small inside, but someone definitely dug it out and lived there. It can only hold one person; it must be where that person was living before."

"Damn it! With someone hiding here and helping the civilians he encounters, he definitely isn't a new Bandit who just entered the Forest. Could it be a Warrior specifically sent out from Bingxun Pass to scout?" A Bandit proposed a possibility.

This startled the surrounding Bandits. After all, although the Militia came to clear out the Bandits ravaging the county border every year, for the well-hidden Thieves of Luodai Cave, this had instead become an opportunity for them to rise in recent years.

After all, other Bandit Groups had to lose personnel and supplies every year, while they had not lost a single thing. This made their manpower grow every year; except for those lost in skirmishes with other Bandit Groups or during raids, they had no other deaths.

Those who could come out to be Bandits were all young, landless men; either they had no work, or they wanted to make quick money. They were all young and middle-aged men, so basically no one died of illness every year.

At the same time, other Bandit Groups had to flee deep into the mountains during the winter Militia clearings. Going back and forth, many Bandits died in the harsh conditions of the wild, and they could encounter ferocious Magic Beasts or Magic Beasts that only appeared in stories at any time.

Conversely, the Thieves of Luodai Cave nested safely in their Shandong lair every year. As long as they kept the entrance hidden and reduced the number of times they lit fires each day, they could avoid the Militia's clearings every time, resting and recuperating comfortably. Once spring arrived, the weather warmed up, and there was no rain, they would go out and loot wantonly.

While other Bandits were still on their way back in the mountains, they could already enjoy the first looting dividends of the year.

So many advantages and their gradual growth would definitely make other Bandit Groups jealous, or make the mediocre Soldiers and checkpoint officials in Bingxun Pass, who only knew how to collect taxes and demand money, uncomfortable and feel threatened.

So, was the person hiding here sent to covertly scout them?

Regarding this conclusion, all seven Bandits felt it was the most likely. Feeling the situation was bad, they spontaneously felt they should tell their respective leaders about this matter early.

So that the leaders could prepare in advance.

Just as the Bandits finished discussing, they used their extra weapons to dig a semi-buried pit along the side of the campfire as a place to rest for the night.

With fleeing civilians hiding nearby and a Warrior with decent skills, they dared not rest carelessly, so they had to use a method of two people resting and five people keeping watch, rotating constantly to get some rest.

Not far away, Jier was hidden behind a tree. Having just heard the Bandits' whimsical discussion, he almost laughed himself to death.

Because of the lack of intelligence, these Bandits guessed the most likely direction from the angles they knew, and the result was naturally wide of the mark.

Jier felt the most important point was that they did not know the captured civilians were rescued by him; they thought the civilians had killed their guards and escaped on their own.

Gripping his weapon tightly, Jier looked at the Bandits keeping watch in the light of the campfire, judging where the best breakthrough point was.

He felt these Bandits probably dared not pursue him in the dark or engage him in the dark Forest. He had also heard what those Bandits said; once their number reached five, they would have to retreat.

After all, while five people were enough to deal with twenty-some civilians, there was also a risk of being wiped out. After all, the similar logic of a cornered beast fighting back is something these Bandits who often rob must encounter frequently.

Although he did not know how these Bandits handled that kind of situation, these seven Bandits definitely did not have that ability; once personnel were lost, they would definitely return first. Especially since they had inadvertently learned a piece of intelligence about the Warrior with good skills 'hiding' here.

Jier changed his distance and position in the dark; he had to kill at least two Bandits before the Mushroom's effect weakened, while it was at its peak.

Charging out directly would not work; after all, two fists cannot beat four hands, let alone two fists facing fourteen hands.

Weighing the Long Spear in his hand, Jier recalled the spear throw before dark. Honestly, that was truly a divine strike at the time. He was initially affected by the Mushroom, and his whole person felt like he was drunk, drowsy, but his combat ability was unexpectedly very strong.

Judging the distance, Jier aimed the tip of his Long Spear in the dark Forest at the Bandits talking while keeping watch in the firelight.

Two Bandits were resting comfortably in a shallow pit near the campfire, while the other five kept watch over the pitch-black surroundings and chatted about the captured women in their lair who had submitted to them. Some women had already borne children for fixed Bandits and were already considered one of them. With these people as persuaders and 'examples', the number of newly captured women submitting in recent times was increasing, which made some young Bandits without women quite excited, yelling all day long to go out and loot the families of migrants with few people and travelers with small numbers, regardless of the fact that looting those people yielded little harvest and resulted in high combat losses.

One Bandit boasted in the chat that the easiest to deal with were some Caravans of a certain scale; no fighting was needed, just block those Caravans on an empty road, and those Merchants would obediently leave behind a cart of goods and hand over all their money.

This Bandit believed this kind of looting was the most efficient method, and even the leaders thought so. After all, having to fight a bloody battle every time to get a harvest was not very good. Especially when the goods were clearly worthless items, those who resisted to the death would bring them quite a few losses.

This Bandit pulled open the fur clothing on his chest, revealing scars full of healed wounds, and he proudly boasted to the other Bandits that these were left behind in one bloody battle after another of looting.

Among the scars on his chest, there were those left by bows and arrows, cutting wounds from Cleavers, and a clear bite mark bitten fiercely by someone.

The bearded Bandit, temporarily acting as Captain, gave a disdainful 'tch', also faced the firelight to uncover the fur clothing on his chest, letting the other Bandits see clearly that he also had various wounds, and he even rolled up his sleeves to display the crisscrossing scars on both his arms.

Just as he and that Bandit were showing each other the wounds left from their fight, a burst of hurried footsteps came from behind them.

The five of them reacted immediately, each letting out a roar as agreed upon to wake the two sleeping ones, then uniformly gripped their weapons and faced the direction the sound came from.

However, the footsteps in the dark Shulin came to a sudden stop, followed by something slightly reflecting the firelight flashing past; a long Long Spear let out a whoosh and struck the Bandit who had first shown his wounds.

Who told him to be the closest to the Shulin, and to have left his chest exposed.

The Long Spear slammed squarely into the Bandit's chest, the sharp spearhead crushing the opponent's sternum, the keen Gun-blade slicing through both ribs and lung lobes in one strike, then piercing straight out from the opponent's back.

The thick fur on the opponent's back was of no use at all; the shaft of the Long Spear penetrated halfway before stopping and getting stuck.

This Bandit let out a low wail, then collapsed from exhaustion, his falling body held up by the shaft of the Long Spear.

Seeing their accomplice, who had just been comparing wound scars with them, die, the other four Bandits let out a shout and charged fiercely in the direction the Throwing Spear had flown from.

After throwing the Long Spear, Jier retreated rapidly, and after leading the pursuing Bandits into the pitch-black Shulin, he saw the four of them still sticking close to each other as they chased him.

Jier felt the timing was not right, so he turned to circle the area around the campfire, running in loops through the pitch-black Shulin.

Those two Bandits who had woken up drew their weapons, and as soon as they got up and saw an accomplice dead, they joined forces and charged toward the place in the dark Shulin where the sound had come from.

As they charged over, they shouted out asking if it was one of their own, and if so, to speak up.

Jier was naturally not one of their own, so he did not speak. And the two Bandits charging straight at him also understood that the opponent was not one of their own. One of them had a Cleaver and Mudu, and the other was carrying a large wooden club; the top end of this large wooden club was reflecting metallic light. As Jier looked closely while the opponent's movements felt slower, he realized the opponent had fitted two metal rings to the top of the wooden club, with many sharp Iron Nail spikes protruding from the rings.

This type of weapon, similar to a spiked club, was truly useful for dealing with enemies without formal armor; once injured even a little, one's clothes would basically be shredded by those sharp, pointed Iron Nail spikes, scraping away skin and the flesh beneath.

The pain of having one's body torn apart like that was not something a Human could endure; basically, a few hits could knock a person down, and because of the blood-filled wounds all over, it would be very difficult to save them.

This Bandit using the spiked large wooden club was howling weirdly, saying something about how killing five or six people today would satisfy him.

Since the opponent liked death and abuse, Jier would satisfy him.

Long Sword unsheathed, footsteps quickened, he charged head-on toward this Bandit.

The Bandit holding the Cleaver and Mudu was more cautious; the wide Mudu shielded the front of his body, with only half his head exposed above the shield, and the Cleaver was being held by his right hand, resting back on his shoulder, ready to be swung out and down at any moment.

His footsteps were steady, following unhurriedly behind the lead Bandit. Since the two were not working under the same leader, this Bandit had the intention of letting the Bandit charging in front test how capable this Warrior who had killed three of their men was.

The two charged at each other, closing the distance in a very short time. Although the Bandit using the wooden spiked club charged in front, he still had combat experience; he was very fierce in every fight, using the weapon in his hand to slaughter civilians and merchants who dared to resist. Therefore, he first thrust the spiked club forward, using a sharp metal spike nailed to the top of the wooden spiked club to probe the unknown Warrior he was engaging.

Jier saw the opponent's movements clearly; he crossed his steps, lowered his body, and at the moment of closing in, he slightly deviated from the direction of the opponent's weapon attack, moving toward the opponent's unshielded side.

The Long Sword began to gather strength and swing as Jier lowered his body. Because in Jier's eyes, the movements of these two Bandits were not fast, he used his full strength for this sword strike, directly slashing out from below to cut off one of the legs the engaging Bandit had stepped out with.

Fragments of shattered muscle and bloody broken bone shards flew out from under the blade, leaving behind only the Bandit's severed leg.

"Ah? Ah!!!!" Stepping into empty air, the enemy in this Bandit's eyes disappeared, and then he himself fell down for no reason.

'How could I have fallen?' After he fell, he looked, and it turned out that his foot was still standing on the ground where he had stepped forward, not having advanced with him; only then did he realize that his leg had been cut off.

The Bandit let out a terrified scream.

After Jier severed the leg with one sword strike, he followed up with a small leap, and while the Bandit using the Cleaver and shield was caught by surprise, he delivered a flying kick directly onto the shield in front of the Bandit.

Jier tensed his leg, making his entire body a single unit at the moment of the kick.

His entire body weight, the weight of his weapons, the weight of his clothing, and the weight of the supplies and items in the Backpack on his back were all concentrated into this one kick.

Thud!

With a dull sound, the Bandit who was kicked actually flew backward, his feet even leaving the ground for a brief moment; the whole person flew backward more than three meters, and after landing, he kept rolling, rolling directly into the Earth Pit where he had been resting earlier.

As for Jier, after kicking the Bandit with the Cleaver and shield away, he paused in mid-air, then landed and stood firm on his other leg.

He stomped his feet to relieve the numbness in his leg, then turned and charged toward the Bandit who had his lower leg severed and was wailing while clutching his leg.

Although this Bandit was clutching his leg and wailing in pain, he looked up and saw the Warrior charging over, while his own accomplice was nowhere to be found. He frantically threw the wooden spiked club at his side toward the opponent, attempting to hit him.

But in Jier's eyes, the spiked club thrown by the opponent was simply a juggling game flying through the air; the clown in front had thrown a spiked wooden club for him to catch, and malicious thoughts emerged from the opponent's eyes.

Jier smiled at the corner of his mouth, easily caught the thrown wooden spiked club, then turned his body, and after spinning a circle, threw the same spiked club back at the clown opposite him.

"Now it's your turn." Before Jier's words had even faded, the Bandit lying on the ground opposite opened his disbelieving eyes and was hit squarely in the face by the sharp Iron Nail spikes on the wooden spiked club that had been thrown back.

In an instant, following the firelight, Jier saw the opponent's miserable state clearly; his nose, mouth, eyes, and cheeks were all hit squarely by the rapidly striking wooden spiked club, and as his face met the spiked club, his entire face was gone, leaving only hideous, bloody holes gouged and smashed by the sharp spikes.

Knowing the opponent was finished, Jier stood firmly on both feet to slow down, then glanced at the four Bandits about to catch up in the dark thicket, not bothering with the Bandit who had been kicked away; after all, he himself was a shield user, so he knew very well how difficult a Bandit with a shield could be to deal with.

He hurried to the side of the Bandit who had been killed by the direct piercing of the Long Spear, discovered that this Bandit still had one breath left, and without caring that the opponent was still alive, he pushed the opponent over, pulled out half the shaft of the Long Spear, held it in his hand, and ran toward the pitch-black Shulin.