Chapter 270: Return to Bingxun Pass — The Watcher Outside the Gate

The long spear held in his hand transmitted a sensation of sticky, warm blood; Jier gripped the shaft tightly and ran with all his might into the pitch-black Forest ahead.

The Bandits behind did not pursue; they were gathered in a terrified, startled huddle, their weapons, Shields, and other items held outward, pointing toward the dark Forest, their backs pressed against one another, half-crouched in a shallow pit they had previously dug.

In just the few short hours from afternoon until dark, this ten-man team that had come out of their lair to pursue the civilians had already lost half their number, killed one after another.

The Bandit who used a knife and Shield had his left arm broken when he was kicked earlier. To survive, he had to tie his Mudu to the Upper Arm of his injured left arm with a Rope; his forearm had already swollen up, and he used a few branches and a Rope to bind and immobilize the forearm, only then, covered in sweat, telling his accomplices how he and the Bandit who used the wooden mace had been soundly defeated in an instant, leaving one dead and one injured.

The other four Bandits looked at each other after listening, and the five of them finally discussed it and decided to just stand guard for the night, and as soon as it was bright tomorrow, they would hurry at full speed back to their group's territory and Jiedian.

The mission they had received earlier, to track the fleeing civilians, was now an impossible task to complete.

As for the punishment for failing the pursuit mission assigned by the leader, it seemed less important when compared to death. Compared to the threat of death, they would rather endure the punishment.

Jier, who had entered the Shulin but not run far, listened carefully to the Bandits' discussion from a place not reached by the firelight of their campfire. Hearing that they were indeed going to retreat to their lair at daybreak as he had expected, a smile finally appeared on Jier's face.

Although his body's reaction was strange and his eyes were painful, Jier still slowly withdrew from where the Bandits were staying and found the companions he had hidden earlier.

Enduring the slight stinging pain starting all over his body and the dizziness and pain in his head and eyes, Jier called them over, and braving the darkness, it took some effort to find a Backpack that had fallen to the ground when a Bandit was stabbed to death by his Spear earlier.

There were no weapons inside; the weapons had all been taken by the man's accomplices. The Backpack only contained some supplies for surviving in the wild mountains and forests.

The few of them counted in the dark and discovered that if they included the food Jier had left in his Backpack and ate sparingly, the food in this Backpack could actually satisfy their supply needs for the journey back to Bingxun Pass.

The other companions whispered to each other and proposed to Jier the idea of ignoring the old, weak, and sick civilians and having just the few of them run back to Bingxun Pass in one breath.

Jier knew these people were scared to death of the Bandits; although his own consecutive victories had given them some encouragement, these people, while looking the most robust among the civilians, were actually afraid to fight the Bandits, and they likely had no intention or courage for revenge.

He did not criticize them directly; after all, when one's strength is far inferior to the enemy's, not everyone will have a firm will to fight. Jier did not say much, only firmly expressing his own intention:

He was definitely going back to bring those civilians who were still waiting for them.

Seeing Jier was insistent, the others had no choice; after all, they were still in the Bandits' territory, and although there was no pursuit from the Thieves of Luodai Cave, the Yaguijing Bandit Group was not a pushover either.

If they left Jier alone and ran into a patrolling Bandit team, they would certainly be recaptured or killed.

Therefore, after begging Jier not to tell the others in the group about their actions just now, these people still had to follow Jier and act together.

The return journey was uneventful. Without the threat of pursuing Bandits, everyone relaxed quite a bit, and they could follow the tracks they had deliberately left on the way forward, so the direction was also easy to identify.

After a little more than a day, these few finally found the other group of civilians who had been gathered together, anxiously waiting for their return.

Jier counted the people and found that a few were missing, all of them male.

Looking up, Mr. Xiao Simengsi walked over with a wry smile and told him that on the night after they had split up, those who were missing had forcibly used the excuse of going to relieve themselves, left them behind, and walked off together.

It is hard to say whether this was good or bad; after all, those people were just more confident than they were in trusting him, Jier. If those people could avoid any scattered Bandit groups along the way and luckily escape into Bingxun Pass, then when they met again, Jier would only say to them, you were not wrong.

There is no right or wrong in the act of seeking survival, only whether one truly survives.

He stated that the Bandit pursuit team had been killed by him, five of them, and they had retreated a day ago; now, these people could finally be said to be free of their greatest crisis.

For the rest of the journey, as long as they were careful and put some effort into the distribution and collection of food, they would certainly be able to reach Bingxun Pass safely.

After comforting the civilians who had been waiting for a long time, everyone packed up and returned to a frozen pond they had discovered earlier, each carrying enough ice and warmed water, and only then, after eating some food, did they head in a north-northeasterly direction.

For the next several days on the road, apart from running into two scattered small Bandit groups, nothing else unexpected happened to their party.

It is funny to say, but when they discovered the small Bandit group, Mr. Xiao Simengsi stopped Jier, who was attempting to go up and fight, and instead had everyone take out their weapons and slowly approach the small Bandit Yingdi.

There were really not many people in the small Bandit group; seeing this group of nearly twenty people approaching, although they could see they were not much of a threat, the Bandits still just threw out some harsh words and then turned tail and ran.

They didn't even want the things in the entire small Yingdi.

Just like that, they occupied all the supplies in this small Yingdi without shedding a drop of blood.

Days of fleeing and resting had already improved the health of some civilians; seeing that Jier and Mr. Xiao Simengsi did not stop them, the civilians, after taking enough food and water, took as much as they could carry. They ransacked the small Bandit Yingdi.

This barely made up for some of their previous losses.

Jier did not care about this; he himself found a small box of creamy white, exquisite candles in the small Bandit Yingdi. This thing looked useful, and the price was likely not cheap; he could use it himself, so he kept it.

For the next small Bandit Yingdi, they did the same thing. This Bandit group actually loudly asked them which group they were and why they were so lacking in manners while they were fleeing.

This soul-searching question made everyone on Jier's side bloom with joy, and everyone laughed happily.

Thus, after walking for another day or so, skipping past the sparse Shulin, they could finally see the prosperous Bingxun Pass again.

Outside the south gate of Bingxun Pass, a middle-aged Bandit disguised as a charcoal seller had been keeping watch here for these past few days. Sharing the same task was another person at the north gate of Bingxun Pass, though the other person was not selling charcoal, but had specifically purchased a batch of crude, low-priced miscellaneous leather Gloves from a shop in the pass to sell to passing pedestrians and Caravans outside the north gate.

Interestingly, although the two of them had not seen the fleeing civilians these past few days, one selling charcoal and one selling low-priced Gloves, they had actually both earned a little money.

This earned money could of course not be turned in; that would be asking for a beating. The two of them had a tacit understanding and used the extra money to buy strong liquor, secretly filling small oak bottles, intending to sell this strong liquor back to their lair after the mission with the leader was completed.

Many Bandits and the women living with them could not resist the temptation of strong liquor; after all, the life of a Bandit was dull and tasteless, and those women who had submitted also had unspeakable bitterness and pain in their hearts; this strong liquor was something they could not resist.

Although this Bandit guarding the south gate had made money by pretending to sell charcoal, he actually still paid great attention to the mission assigned by the leader; after all, one of the leaders was currently disguised and sitting in Bingxun Pass, questioning them every night.

Moreover, compared to a little bit of money, this Bandit, who was bargaining with a merchant, understood that in their Luodai Cave, to really climb up, one still had to gain the trust of the leaders. Especially since their Luodai Cave Bandit group had been growing in scale these past few years; if they made it big in the future, wouldn't that be more majestic than anything else?

The opportunity arrived just like that; the Bandit had just finished a transaction and sent away a stingy merchant when he saw a group of about twenty down-and-out civilians walking out of the woods not far to the south.

At the same time, the Soldiers at the gate also saw them. To guard against bold Bandits, these Soldiers placed wooden obstacles horizontally, blocking the south gate's passage, and then rested their Long Spears and spears on the obstacles. At the same time, more than a dozen archers appeared on the gate and the adjacent wall, aiming from afar at those unidentified people approaching.

The person in charge of the south gate of Bingxun Pass was not the Captain of the Soldiers, but the tax official who calculated and collected taxes for merchants passing through behind the gate. Here, his power was the greatest; after all, the money the Soldiers received all came from their Government Office. The lord of Bingxun Pass himself was not here, and these Senior Scribes of the Government Office were the ones whose words carried weight in the entire Bingxun Pass.

As long as the money handed over to the lord every year was not less, Knight Kela, who was busy with affairs in Kendall City, would not come to ask how they managed Bingxun Pass.

The tax official walked up to the top of the gate and used a crystal telescope to observe for a while the unidentified people walking toward the gate. He discovered that those people were men and women, and the clothes on their bodies were made of rags and rotten animal skins stitched together; at a glance, he knew those things were not particularly warm.

Moreover, the expressions on those people's faces did not look like they were here to cause trouble; each one of them was full of excitement.

"Someone come here." The tax official considered for a while and called over a Soldier: "Those people don't look like plundering Bandits; send someone over to ask what's going on."

"Yes! Tax Official Sierte." The Soldier pressed his sword and ran downstairs.

A moment later, a Soldier with excellent skills among the south gate defense Soldiers put on neat and complete Soldier armor, drew his sword, and approached the unidentified people who were coming over to inquire.

Tax Official Sierte saw in the crystal telescope that those people had surrounded the brave Soldier who had gone to inquire, which made his heart rise. Fortunately, those people did not harm him; after surrounding him, they seemed to be saying something to the Soldier.

Through the crystal telescope with powerful long-distance viewing capabilities, Tax Official Sierte saw the shocked face of his Soldier.

A while later, those people approached the outside of the south gate and stopped. The Soldier sent by the south gate hurried back to report to the tax official.

Below, the Caravans and pedestrians who had been queuing at the gate to wait to enter the pass had all moved to the side of the road to avoid these unidentified people. The Bandit who had previously pretended to sell charcoal also packed up his stall and hid to one side.

He stared fixedly at these people; from the clothes and weapons of those civilians, he recognized them as things from their Luodai Cave, and among some of the weapons, the Bandit even recognized their former owners.

Knowing that the people he had been waiting for these past few days were them, the Bandit grabbed a handful of charcoal and smeared it on his face, messing up his face. Because among those people, there were one or two whom he had captured from the civilians during the plundering he participated in during the autumn.

He was waiting; once these escaped civilians were let into the pass, he would sneakily follow them, and once he found their lodging, he would have to report this news to the leader immediately.

Jier finally let out a sigh of relief; he had finally rescued these poor civilians. The soldiers at the south gate did not make things difficult for the civilians, mainly because there were some people with a bit of status among them. Besides Mr. Xiao Simengsi knowing the Captain of the soldiers, there were also two middle-aged men in the group who actually knew the tax officer at the city gate.

With this connection, the civilians who had fled all the way here were spared the harsh treatment and scrutiny of the soldiers. The two middle-aged men first borrowed a sum of money from the tax officer and arranged for everyone who had shared these hardships to stay at a high-class inn on the main street of Bingxun Pass, allowing everyone's long-anxious hearts to finally rest a little.

By tomorrow, the Stewards of the pass would naturally send people over to carefully question them about their affairs.

Jier and Mr. Xiao Simengsi naturally would not stay with them. Jier supported Mr. Xiao Simengsi, who still had somewhat unsteady footsteps, and led him toward his home—the Simons Chamber of Commerce.

The Bandit, whose face was covered in charcoal ash, fixed his eyes on the sign of the inn where the civilians were staying, confirming that the signboard was an iron plate depicting a galloping horse pulling a cart. This Bandit had previously pretended to be aimlessly following behind these happy but exhausted civilians, noting that they would not be questioned by the clerk of Bingxun Pass until tomorrow, and tonight was their golden opportunity.

After memorizing the location, the Bandit shouldered his basket full of charcoal and hurried away.

He arrived at one of the most mixed-crowd streets in Bingxun Pass. There were casinos, Red Houses, fighting and beast-baiting pits, taverns, and small theaters everywhere, but if one had no money in their pockets, they were not welcome here.

The Bandit stared intently at the balcony outside a wooden house across the way, where several heavily made-up women had deliberately lit charcoal braziers to warm themselves in this cold winter. Compared to the women in their Bandit lair who had nothing, and had never even used cosmetics, the women of Bingxun Pass, though average in appearance, looked far superior in charm thanks to the cosmetics transported from afar via the Shanglu.

And they smelled so good!

Unlike the foul stench in their cave lair, the roads of Bingxun Pass were just as filthy, but since it was winter, all the filth had frozen into a hard, solid surface on the road, so the smell was not noticeable.

As a result, the scent of the women on the opposite balcony, who were deliberately posturing and flirting, drifted a long way down the street.

The Bandit took a glance and saw at least five rough men like himself pretending to loiter nearby.

The bouncers of the brothel saw so many idlers gathered at their entrance, obstructing their business, and thus emerged from the warm room to drive away these idlers who had no money in their pockets and could only sniff the air.

This Bandit happened to be passing by; he inhaled deeply with his frozen, red nose, wanting to smell more of this scent that made his imagination run wild. After driving away the other idlers, those bouncers came right up to him.

The lead bouncer saw the charcoal in the basket on the man's back and snorted with disdain: "Get lost if you don't have money."

Hearing this, the Bandit stared at the bouncer opposite with a fierce expression.

Feeling uncomfortable under the man's gaze, the bouncer paused and said, "If you want to play, you can. Give some of the charcoal on your back to the girls inside, and we'll let you go in and find a girl to play with." The bouncer calculated that the amount of charcoal in that basket was not small; if he could scam some free heating charcoal, he could keep the money for today's charcoal for himself. As for finding a girl for this dirty, smelly charcoal seller, that was just a matter of saying a few words for bouncers like them.

If those girls in the house wanted their lives to go smoothly, they had to suck up to bouncers like them who could settle problems. As long as they found one who was easy to bully and threatened them a couple of times, they would have to obediently entertain this charcoal seller.

The Bandit had no time to find a girl to play with; he had to quickly tell the leader living here the news. He rudely pushed aside the bouncer blocking his way, a move that angered the bouncers.

"Huh? You looking to die? I don't know who else in the vicinity would dare to provoke us like this. You charcoal seller, heh, do you not know our names?" The lead bouncer was pushed and immediately flew into a rage.

He didn't even use the club tucked at his waist; he simply rolled up his sleeves, intending to teach this insolent charcoal-selling man a lesson.

This Bandit had never been afraid of a fight; seeing the other side wanted to brawl, he also rolled up his thick fur sleeves.

Just then, three rough and sturdy men walked out of the tavern nearby, saw the charcoal seller, and immediately swarmed over to help.

The Bandit looked back and realized they were three of his accomplices. The leader had ordered that everyone except those keeping watch at the north and south gates and those keeping watch at places with good information in the city should stay in their assigned rooms and not show their faces. But after all, they were just bandits who only knew how to kill and rob; they had to give those waiting people a place to relax.

So the leader had chosen this tavern as a place for his subordinate bandits to relax, but they were only allowed in this tavern; they were not allowed to go anywhere else on this street.

The three bandits who came out to relax today happened to see one of their own being entangled by a few trash bouncers after finishing their drinks; they rushed up, baring their fists and thick arms, forcing those flashy but useless Red House bouncers to back down automatically.

"You alright?" the accomplice asked.

"I'm fine! I have urgent news for the leader; our target has arrived, come back with me?" the Bandit said to the three accomplices who had just helped him.

"Finally here. Being cooped up in the room all day, not allowed to go anywhere, the brothers were about to go crazy. Haha, let's go." The four men huddled together and walked toward a dark alley on the edge of this bustling, decadent street.