Chapter 278: Bingxun Pass — Night Talk at the Simons Chamber of Commerce

When he opened his eyes, he could see through his faceplate that the two most troublesome and lethal bandits had already been stabbed with many holes by him and were long dead.

"Heh, hahahaha." Jier couldn't help but laugh; facing such difficult opponents and defeating them was something worth celebrating, especially since he had avenged the five citizens who died at the inn.

He hoped that if their spirits existed here, they could see the scene of him taking revenge.

Jier shook off the two corpses; this place was not a place to linger. Once the sounds of battle ceased here, he didn't need to guess to know that people living nearby would definitely come over to see what had happened.

Of course, only those who were not afraid of death would be the first to come over to see if there was any profit to be made.

Jier stood up with difficulty; when he lost consciousness just now, his body seemed to have recovered some strength. He used his dagger to cut off the head of the Bandit Leader in front of him. This was a wanted felon, and whether he handed it over to the soldiers of Bingxun Pass or to Mr. Kendo of the Simons Chamber of Commerce, he would surely be able to collect a considerable bounty from them.

Moreover, this was also proof of his victory in battle; otherwise, who would know that it was he who had dealt with these bandits who had infiltrated Bingxun Pass?

Next, Jier collected the weapons of the bandits he had killed, especially the Battle Knife in the hand of the Bandit Leader named Lao Feisi. Having fought with it himself, Jier knew how excellent this weapon was.

At the same time, he also briefly checked the things the various bandits were carrying. He found a bunch of keys on Lao Feisi; although he didn't know which lock they opened, at least for him, it was a memento.

The valuables on the various bandits were not few, and they all had more or less coins on them. In the room of this courtyard, Jier also searched out quite a few coins in the room that should have been the leader's residence, and in the room where the subordinates lived, he also found a small hidden Wooden Box. Shaking it, the sound of many loose coins colliding came from inside.

Jier also didn't know why this ordinary bandit would bring so many coins out.

Never mind, now they were all his.

After packing up, Jier put the obtained weapons and coins into a large animal skin bag. This bag looked like it had been brought by the bandits, and it should have been for carrying food and water when going out.

Carrying the bag on his back, Jier also tucked that Battle Knife into his waist, hanging it as an adjacent companion to his Long Sword.

Walking out of the courtyard and coming to the blood-stained alley, there were people peeking sneakily at the exit of the alley, but as soon as Jier's figure appeared, they all disappeared again.

Jier ran quickly out of this pitch-black alley. When exiting the alley, there were still people hiding at the corner trying to swing wooden sticks to hit his head and knock him unconscious.

But Jier was running out quickly, and the opponent's club only hit the empty space behind him.

Jier grabbed the head and face of this bold person, pressed his blood-covered glove against the opponent's head and face, and dragged the person along with his running.

The smell and sensation of the cold blood made this person immediately scared silly, and he made begging sounds in an unknown dialect.

Jier only gave him a small punishment, flicking his right hand to throw the whole person onto the ground to the side.

The time Jier spent fighting the bandits was actually not very long, but due to the cold of winter and the screams that had come from the alley earlier, one end of this street, which was usually very lively, was completely empty at this moment.

The lights hanging at the doorways were also much fewer. Jier wrapped himself tightly and ran away quickly, leaving the people here only daring to huddle in their houses, gripping their self-defense weapons, guessing what had happened in that alley earlier? And who were the two sides of the battle? And why were they fighting?

Jier was covered in congealed blood, so he dared not return directly to the inn he was renting. After considering it, he decided to tidy up at the Simons Chamber of Commerce first.

At least he had to clean the bloodstains off his body.

After leaving that bustling street, he didn't take the main road but chose to advance through dark alleys. Although he was not familiar with the surrounding roads, at least he could distinguish east, west, south, and north. The Simons Chamber of Commerce was on the side of the Kendall River in Bingxun Pass, and most of Bingxun Pass was on the west side of the Kendall River.

He just needed to walk east in the pass, and finally, by the river, he would be able to see the building of the Simons Chamber of Commerce.

Along the way, Jier was careful not to let his figure be discovered by the occasional passerby, only crossing the middle of the street when there was basically no one around, darting from the shadow at one end of the street to the shadow at the other.

After searching for a long time, he finally reached the riverside by relying on the sound of the flowing water as he approached the Kendall River.

After considering it, Jier found a piece of soft cloth used for wiping the sword blade from his body, and after taking off his fur Cloak, he dipped it in water and simply wiped the armor on his body.

The river surface reflected the moonlight and starlight. Jier carefully wiped the surface of the armor with the wet cloth he had wrung out. Soon, even in the night, Jier could see that the soft cloth in his hand had been dyed deep red by the blood.

Besides the armor, there were the weapons.

The Long Sword, the Dagger, and the Shield. The captured Battle Knife, on the other hand, was not stained with blood and did not need to be wiped.

Jier just simply removed the bloodstains and wiped them clean first; the subsequent maintenance of the weapons had other methods and was not the urgent matter right now.

The cloth strips and Rope on the front of the Shield had all been cut and fallen off. Jier used his gloved right hand to rub the front of the Shield, slightly feeling the faint traces left by the hacking and striking on the surface.

Because there was only very slight damage overall, this made him surprised at the performance of this shield. After all, he didn't know how many Battle Knife hacks from that old bandit the shield had blocked before. Checking it now, there were only very faint hacking traces on the surface. And his hard cowhide armor, the main armor on the abdomen, had only taken one attack and was torn open for the most part; he estimated that one more strike would have cut in and churned up his stomach.

Jier stroked the armor wound on his abdomen and felt that this set of hard cowhide armor was already somewhat insufficient when facing bandits with better weapons; he had to start thinking of ways to forge better iron armor.

The Leather Armor could no longer protect him well.

Especially since Jier himself had relied on these weapons and equipment superior to his opponents in many battles; if he didn't have sufficiently good weapons and equipment, the results of his battles would surely not be so good.

Rolling the wolf-fur Cloak, which was covered in blood, into a ball and stuffing it into the Backpack containing the coins, Jier shouldered the backpack, pressed his hand on the weapons at his waist, and searched for the nearby Simons Chamber of Commerce.

Although he had been there twice, Jier was still not very familiar with the nearby roads, let alone looking for a place at night.

Fortunately, there was no curfew in Bingxun Pass. Because it was located at a vital point on the trade route, there were Caravans coming and going both day and night. It was estimated that because they felt no forces around would come to attack here, Bingxun Pass did not close its city gates at night. This was very popular with the traveling merchants; although the wilderness at night was not safe, for those large Caravans with sufficient manpower and excellent guards, traveling at night was not a problem at all, and personnel rotation could greatly increase the distance the entire Caravan traveled each day.

For Caravans that made money as long as they transported goods, the shorter the time for each trip, the more they earned.

After wandering for a while on the side of the riverbank near the Kendall River, Jier finally found the Simons Chamber of Commerce, which occupied quite a large area.

Bang, bang, bang!

Afraid that the Gatekeeper inside wouldn't hear, Jier knocked on the main gate of the Chamber of Commerce with his fist.

"Who is it?" Unexpectedly, as soon as Jier knocked on the door, someone responded from inside.

It sounded quite like that Chamber of Commerce member named Doddell.

"It's Jier, we met this afternoon."

A small door the size of a face opened on one side of the main gate, and firelight shone out from inside: "Hmm, if it's the warrior Jier, walk to where I can see you."

Jier walked generously to the front of the small door, letting the firelight inside illuminate his face.

It was estimated that because they had only met in the afternoon, that Doddell still had an impression of him. After confirming it was really Jier, this Doddell whispered and asked Jier why he was visiting late at night.

After all, they had agreed before to wait until the next day to wait for Mr. Kendo.

At this time, Doddell asked in a low voice: "Is it related to the battle at an inn I just heard about? I went to drink just now and heard that something happened in the pass, and a lot of people died at an inn?"

Jier was noncommittal: "It is related to that. Listen! It was done by the bandits from Luodai Cave, and the inn where the incident happened was the place where the citizens I rescued were temporarily staying."

This news clearly gave Doddell inside the door a shock. He hurriedly closed the small door, opened a crack in the main gate, and let Jier come in quickly.

And as soon as Jier came in, he discovered that Jier was wearing a full set of armor. The other party had also been wearing a Helmet before, but because the faceplate was not lowered and the lighting was insufficient, he had not noticed.

After Doddell approached Jier, he smelled a thick, pungent smell of blood: "What is going on with you? What exactly are you here for?" He somewhat regretted letting Jier in. The other party was in this full set of armor, with two weapons tucked into his belt, and he was also carrying a bag and a shiny metal object on his back; no matter how he looked at it, he didn't seem to have come with good intentions.

Jier closed the main gate behind him, let out a sigh of relief, and said: "Don't worry, I fought with those bandits earlier. Don't just stand there, hurry up and wake up the people who can speak for the Chamber of Commerce."

Seeing that Jier did not intend to draw his sword and commit violence as soon as he came in, this rough-faced man Doddell felt slightly relieved, led Jier to the hall of the Chamber of Commerce, and then shouted to wake up everyone still inside the Chamber of Commerce.

He kept a wary eye; every time he woke someone up, he let them hold something for self-defense. Although that Jier did not intend to fight or kill, basic precautions still had to be taken, and don't look at Jier being covered in armor; they had so many people, and if everyone took a weapon, they could subdue the other party no matter what.

Compared to Doddell's cautious worry, Mr. Xiao Simengsi, who had been called up from his rest, was quite at ease with Jier. After all, having spent many days together, he knew that this quiet young man was actually very reliable, and he understood how much responsibility and fatigue Jier had shouldered in the mountains and forests to bring their people back.

The merchant guild hall grew crowded; the men each carried some weapons for self-defense, while the women and children hid near the hall entrance, either yawning or soothing children who were crying after being woken up.

"What's wrong, Jier? What happened outside? Doddell told me that something happened at an inn in the pass tonight. I heard him say that it was the inn where everyone who was rescued was staying temporarily?" Mr. Xiao Simengsi asked, draped in a bear-fur Cloak, his face full of weariness.

Jier nodded: "Something did happen. After I left you this afternoon, I went to the inn where everyone was staying to attend a celebratory dinner at dusk. I was careless at the time and didn't expect trouble within the pass, so I didn't bring my long weapons. As a result..." At this point, Jier clenched his fist and struck a thick wooden pillar in the hall, emitting a *thud*.

At this moment, the sleepy Mr. Xiao Simengsi noticed Jier's equipment, which was armed to the teeth, and, whether it was an illusion or not, he seemed to smell a thick scent of blood coming from Jier.

"What exactly happened?"

"Just as we were drinking and eating to celebrate, a gang of about ten Bandits rushed in from outside the inn's main gate and launched a shameless attack on everyone, who were caught by surprise!" At the thought of this, Jier was furious, and he panted heavily.

Most of the people around knew what had happened to Mr. Xiao Simengsi, and now, hearing that the people rescued with him had been shamelessly ambushed by Bandits, they all became uneasy, as if they might be hacked to death at any moment by Bandits popping out from who knows where.

Although Mr. Xiao Simengsi was shocked that such a thing had happened not long ago, he was more concerned about other things: "What about everyone's losses? What about the Bandits?"

Jier skipped over the process of the battle, as Mr. Xiao Simengsi would have plenty of time later to ask the other survivors himself: "We lost five brave people, and the Bandits had two killed by everyone."

Jier then told Mr. Xiao Simengsi what happened afterward. It was clear that Mr. Xiao Simengsi was very dissatisfied with the late arrival of the pass Soldiers, and even more alarmed that the Bandits had infiltrated the pass and boldly committed such an atrocity.

Previously, their Chamber of Commerce had been subdued by suddenly attacking Bandits, who, after a simple looting, kidnapped him. At that time, the Bandits were still cautious enough not to use weapons, subduing them with their bare hands.

Now, these Bandits had actually dared to break into an inn and kill many people with weapons. Fortunately, because of everyone's desperate resistance, the Bandits did not achieve their goal of killing them all. Regarding the fact that the Bandits wanted to kill all the people, Mr. Xiao Simengsi only realized it after hearing the news; the Bandits were likely afraid that the people who escaped from their lair in the Shandong would tell the clearing Militia their location, or that those people would act as guides and lead the Militia to their lair.

After finishing this, Jier asked Mr. Xiao Simengsi and the Steward of the Chamber of Commerce to come closer, and he whispered to them about what happened afterward.

It was not that Jier had not thought about hiding the fact that he had killed those Bandits, but for one thing, he would then be unable to produce the head of the Bandit Leader to claim a reward, and for another, this matter could not be easily hidden. After all, this was a bustling, important pass, not an uninhabited wilderness, and the people who died were not bankrupt commoners with no one to care for them, but cruel Bandits who had just committed a bloody crime.

Regardless of how much attention others paid to this matter, as the most powerful people and organization in Bingxun Pass, the Government Office of Bingxun Pass would not let those Bandits off easily. At the very least, they had to put on a show for everyone to see, demonstrating that through their work and efforts, they had finally either brought those Bandits to justice or driven them away, to show that they had the ability to maintain order and manage the pass.

Therefore, it was imaginable that when the pass Soldiers arrived at that alley and found the Bandits all killed by someone, the subsequent events would be difficult to resolve.

What would they do? Would they reward Jier as a heroic Warrior, or arrest him as an unstable factor for public security? It was hard to say.

Experience told Zhao Ji that in times when it was hard to judge good from bad, one must have someone backing them up, otherwise, the good would likely turn into bad, and the bad would certainly turn into something worse.

Although the Simons Chamber of Commerce was not like the Fox Tail Chamber of Commerce, which could speak to the upper-level rulers in Kendall County, in Bingxun Pass, where there were many foreign merchant guilds and merchants had great influence, the Simons Chamber of Commerce might be able to provide him with some support.

He took the blood-stained head of the Bandit Leader out from the animal-skin bag on his back. Once this thing was brought out, Mr. Xiao Simengsi, who had been repeatedly persuaded and threatened by the various leaders of the Thieves of Luodai Cave, immediately recognized who the owner of the head was.

"'Lame Catcher' Lao Feisi? How is that possible? Who? No, you finished off this guy?" Mr. Xiao Simengsi looked in surprise at the head on the table and the fully armed Jier.

Jier unhooked Lao Feisi's weapon from his belt and placed it on the table: "That's right, I finished him off. The matter is like this." Jier then explained that after he had provided simple treatment to the injured people and saw that the inn was protected by Soldiers, he returned to the place he was renting, took out his full set of weapons and equipment, searched from the inn, and finally found the Bandit's Jiedian residence in a small alley on the west side of the street where all kinds of shops were located.

Regarding the battle process, Jier glossed over it, saying only that he used his armor to take advantage of the fact that the Bandits did not have good weapons, wiping them all out, and that it was only a difficult victory when he fought the Bandit Leader.

Although this matter seemed extremely exaggerated to the people of the Simons Chamber of Commerce, the head of the Bandit Leader was now sitting on the table, so it was by no means a lie, which made them all re-evaluate just how powerful this young hero invited by the Chamber of Commerce president was.

Afterward, Mr. Xiao Simengsi took the head of the Bandit Leader and indicated that he would deal with the subsequent events together with Jier, though it would be best to wait for his uncle, President Kendo Simons, to return to discuss it.

Jier accepted this; he was arranged into a guest room by Mr. Xiao Simengsi, allowing him to rest temporarily until daytime when President Kendo returned, so everyone could discuss the next steps.

Jier also told Mr. Xiao Simengsi about his concerns regarding the Bingxun Pass Government Office. Regarding this, Mr. Xiao Simengsi sneered and cursed the high-ranking power-holders of Bingxun Pass who only knew how to collect taxes and throw their weight around.

It seemed that Bingxun Pass had many Soldiers, but in reality, most were a bunch of good-for-nothings who had entered through nepotism, and they were far inferior to the guards of Kendall City.

Jier thought about it; indeed, whether it was their weapons and equipment, individual Duanbing, the thoroughness of the city gate inspections, or their state of mind when handling affairs, the guards of Kendall City, though seemingly fewer in number, were clearly stronger than the Soldiers of Bingxun Pass.

Regarding this, the others from the Simons Chamber of Commerce all agreed, and they complained one after another about those city gate Soldiers who only knew how to collect taxes and demand money, while whenever any big or small event happened in the city, those Soldiers were always late. This time it was even more outrageous; a group of wanted Bandits could sneak into the pass and commit a major crime, and they were still late, and in the end, it was actually the hero Jier who avenged those people himself.