Chapter 287: Yinyulin Village - Steward Irupachi

Zhao Ji felt he had to go up and take a look, to see if those unknown monster marks on the tree trunk above were the same thing as what he had found inside the clump of leaves under the tree.

No sooner said than done.

Zhao Ji climbed toward the heights again, but before climbing, he found a spot where a branch met the trunk and took off a part of his armor that was getting in the way.

He dared to do this now mainly because his current high position seemed relatively safe.

None of the surrounding trees were as tall as this one, so he didn't have to worry about being attacked by any monsters or animals in the forest.

After taking off some of the heavy, cumbersome armor, Zhao Ji's climbing speed suddenly increased, and in no time at all, he was close to the monster marks at the very top of the tree.

Once close, Zhao Ji used the Dagger in his hand to poke hard at the translucent substance stuck to the surface of the trunk.

Just as he expected, after the Dagger poked it, it made a "bang-bang-bang" sound of hard objects colliding.

"Looks like the same thing," Zhao Ji muttered to himself, and then he subconsciously looked toward the road to the south and the forest further south.

He narrowed his eyes; he seemed to have discovered something.

If he weren't in this very high place with an excellent field of vision, he really wouldn't have been able to see what was hard to spot from the ground.

In the forest south of the road leading to Yinyulin Village, he also saw a towering tree that was clearly taller than the others. Needless to say, at the top of that tree, he also barely managed to see a color different from the trunk.

Looking again at the translucent substance covering the trunk above his head, Zhao Ji could tell that both were the same thing.

Why would there be such a strange thing on the top of such tall trees? If it was made by a monster, then what was it used for?

Zhao Ji was completely baffled.

He had no choice but to climb down slowly, put on his armor, and slide down along the Rope he had left behind.

After reaching the ground, he untied the Rope he had fashioned into a loop and simply retrieved it.

He ran quickly out of the forest and then arrived at the forest south of the road. Relying on the orientation he had noted earlier, he soon found that same tall tree in the equally gloomy forest.

Zhao Ji climbed up slowly; because he had experience, once he climbed to a place he felt was safe, he took off his cumbersome armor and sped up his climb to the top of the tree.

At the top of this tree, he saw the same hard, translucent substance as before.

Now he could be certain that this was definitely left behind by a monster.

He looked north and soon found that same tall tree in the northern forest. He tried to mentally connect these two trees located in different forests, and as expected, it worked.

Not far below the imaginary line connecting the two trees was the campfire clearing where the fawn was devoured last night.

Although there was a slight deviation, it looked about right.

So, did that monster use these two trees last night to create White Mist and then ambush prey on the ground from high above?

Regarding this, Zhao Ji had some doubts; it wasn't that he didn't believe the solid evidence he had found, but rather, the distance between these two trees was simply too far, wasn't it?

Using the width of the road on the ground as a reference, he estimated that the distance between the two trees was at least over two hundred meters. What kind of monster could be two hundred meters long? If it were really two hundred meters long, would it still need to eat passing merchants and Hunters who came looking for tracks?

Ridiculous.

"If it were me, I would have gone to attack those Bandits in the mountains long ago; there are plenty of them anyway, and no one cares if you eat them," Zhao Ji said with a laugh to himself.

There was nothing else up there, so Zhao Ji came down and returned to the side of the road.

After checking the hard, translucent ball of substance he had put in his bag again and finding no changes, Zhao Ji packed up the Handcart, moved it onto the road, put his armor into the box, and after getting everything ready, headed toward the west.

It was getting dark, but Zhao Ji didn't stop his pace; he simply ate some food and drank some water, then pushed on in one go, heading west.

He had heard people say that although unknown mysterious disappearance events had occurred on this road, clever merchants soon discovered that as long as they didn't stop on the road at night, there would be no danger at all.

Therefore, although many people were afraid of this road and didn't dare to come here for trade, there were still some fearless merchants who traveled all the way west, going straight from Kendall City to Yinyulin Village without stopping.

The fact that the road hadn't been completely cut off was one reason why the high-ranking officials of Kendall City didn't have much of a reaction.

Therefore, Zhao Ji followed the methods of others and traveled through the night toward Yinyulin Village. If his guess was correct, at this speed, he would arrive at the village in the middle of the night.

Zhao Ji now understood why there would be no disappearances at night if one didn't stop walking. It was entirely because the terrifying monster at that location didn't actually move that fast; if people coming and going didn't stop, it couldn't sneak up and attack them at all.

Hilarious; such a terrifying monster last night, yet its movement speed was so poor—perhaps at this very moment, it was chasing behind Zhao Ji.

But it simply couldn't keep up with his pace.

As long as Zhao Ji didn't stop his pace, there was nothing to worry about.

When the moons in the sky were hanging high in the center of the sky, Zhao Ji finally saw the continuous fields and the village wall not far ahead by the faint moonlight.

The fields of Yinyulin Village clung completely to the surrounding open space, forming a small area that was long from east to west and short from north to south. Although the place was not large, by the moonlight, Zhao Ji could fully see that this village had expanded itself to the limit.

Without clearing the edges of the forest on the north and south sides, the village's footprint could only develop toward the east and west. But the more it developed toward the east and west, the more inconvenient it became for the Villagers to farm the reclaimed fields.

After all, if my land was on the flat ground on the west side of the village, but my house was on the east side, I would have to travel a long way every day to farm. But if the Villagers' land and homes were all on one side, then the Villagers would basically never go to the other side of the village, and over time, the two sides of the village would completely become two separate villages.

By then, for the sake of land and water sources, they would fall into endless conflict.

Coupled with the fact that every household basically had young people who had participated in Militia training, when the conflicts accumulated, a very bloody battle would surely break out.

It would be fine if the lord of the village mediated locally, but as far as Zhao Ji knew, the lord of Yinyulin Village was that Knight Fikena, whom the people of Kendall nicknamed 'Pig'.

Based on the news he had heard, that so-called 'Knight' who never left the city would certainly not be able to solve the future troubles of Yinyulin Village.

Having said so much, these were actually things Zhao Ji analyzed and judged as he approached the village. Although they were all just his own conjectures, relying on the experience of his previous life, he could be certain that if no changes occurred, the future Yinyulin Village would definitely erupt into the situation he had imagined.

It was only a matter of time.

"Is anyone there? Someone come and open the gate for me!" Jier arrived at the large wooden gate of the village, pounded on it with his fists with a "bang-bang-bang" sound, and then shouted toward the inside of the wooden gate.

Just as he expected, there were people on night watch inside; after all, with mysterious 'disappearance' events nearby at night recently, it was impossible for the village entrance not to have people assigned to guard it.

"Who is it? Whoever you are, Steward Irupachi said that for safety at night, the village gate will not be opened. Please spend the night outside the gate; don't worry, previous merchants have all done the same, and no one has ever gone missing outside the gate. Please rest assured and wait until daytime." The sentry inside was a middle-aged man; he climbed onto the platform by the wooden gate, held up a Torch to look outside, and said this after seeing Jier alone.

Jier rolled his eyes; he felt the gatekeeper was making things difficult for him, but he had no proof.

Not wanting to trigger a conflict, and since he himself didn't have enough power to guarantee anything, Jier had no choice but to park the Handcart by the Wooden Wall outside the village gate, take out his camping equipment, fiddle with it for a while, and crawl inside to sleep.

The gatekeeper on top saw that Jier was no longer shouting, so he put away the Torch and turned to return to the hut behind the gate to warm up.

It was impossible for the gate to be opened; it wasn't an important Caravan arriving at the village, and since it was just one person, it was impossible for him to open the gate.

The next morning, Jier woke up early. He crawled out of the low, windproof, and insulated Tent he had set up last night, stretched his body a few times, packed up his things, pushed the cart close to the village wooden gate, and knocked again.

"Coming, coming. It's the person from last night, right? The village rules are just like that, please don't be angry, I'm just a gatekeeper." The large wooden bolt inside the gate was moved, and then one side of the wooden gate opened. The middle-aged man he had seen last night was smiling ingratiatingly as he spoke to Jier, his eyes looking from time to time at the Long Sword at Jier's waist and the Long Spear tied to the Handcart.

Jier didn't mention anything about last night and asked him where the village Steward, who actually had a say in the village, lived.

"You are looking for Steward Irupachi? His family is in the tallest house in the middle of the Cunzi; you can find it if you keep walking straight." Seeing the blue axe tied to Jier's handcart, the gatekeeper guessed what Jier had come for: "You are the warrior the Steward hired, right? That is truly great. After the rumors of those three Hunters dying, everyone was afraid that no one would come to solve the trouble our Cunzi is facing. It is my fault for not welcoming you in immediately last night; please, you must help our Cunzi."

Giving a perfunctory nod, Jier pushed the handcart toward the center of the Cunzi.

The Cunzi was just an ordinary, unremarkable rural village. He guessed that because land was scarce and no one dared to venture deep into the Forest, the Village really could not compare to the Doraerlin Village he had seen.

Because the weather was cold, Jier did not see many Villagers on the road to the center of the Cunzi; they were all huddled in their respective homes to keep warm.

Due to being close to the Forest, there was no shortage of firewood in the Cunzi. Every household's stone chimney was emitting faint black smoke, and since there was no wind here, the air in the Cunzi was not very pleasant.

Of course, this bit of smoke was nothing; compared to the exhaust fumes emitted daily by the millions of cars in the big city from his past life, it was still far behind.

A small matter, nothing to worry about.

Jier did not see any rivers or ponds in the Cunzi, only water wells on the roads between a few households, which indicated that obtaining water here was difficult, and farming was also relatively difficult.

After all, without a natural river, if one wanted to water the fields, one had to rely entirely on human labor to draw, transport, and pour the water.

It was completely incomparable to the convenience of farming in the fields and farms near Kendall City. Therefore, the yield of the fields here naturally could not compare to the surroundings of Kendall City.

No wonder that even though there was a decree in Kendall County for migrating to cultivate land, those steady and hardworking Farmers would rather be tenant farmers on farms and pay an extra tax to the farm owner than come to these remote villages in the County to reclaim new land.

Only Doraerlin Village had developed relatively well, while the rest of the population was concentrated on the alluvial plains near Kendall City.

Thinking this, he soon arrived at the center of the Cunzi.

This place was clearly inferior to Doraerlin Village; apart from a few large families in the Cunzi, there was only one small inn specifically for entertaining traveling merchants.

After considering it, Jier decided to find the Steward of this Cunzi first.

The tallest house in the center of the Cunzi was very easy to find; it was a three-story, peaked-roof large wooden house built with thick logs. To be honest, if he did not know this was the house of the Steward's family, he would have even thought it was a small village Church belonging to some denomination.

The center of the Cunzi still had a bit of life; for a Cunzi stretching east to west, if one wanted to go to the other side of the Cunzi for business, one would definitely pass through the middle.

The passing Villagers all looked at Jier, this strange outsider, but because Jier had a Sword at his waist, no one came up to talk.

Knocking on the gate of the Steward's family, there was an immediate response from inside. Soon, the courtyard gate opened, and a youth slightly younger than Jier, with a Short Sword hanging at his waist, opened the gate.

"I haven't seen you before, what is the matter?" While asking, the youth saw the Long Sword at Jier's waist and looked quite envious.

Jier puffed out his chest: "I am the warrior Qiao-Jier from Kendall City. I have come entrusted by the Steward of Yinyulin Village. Please announce me to your master."

"Are you here to solve the disappearance incidents? I thought that after those three bold Hunters vanished a while ago, no one would come again. Come in, I will go call my father." Hearing Jier's purpose, the youth was quite excited; he went *patter-patter* around the main building and ran into the courtyard behind the house.

Jier did not just wait; he pushed the handcart into the courtyard, took out his armor chest, and began to put on his armor.

First impressions were very important; he did not want that Steward to see his youthful face—hardly older than the man's own child—and develop a sense of contempt. Therefore, he put on his armor directly, straightforwardly letting everyone who saw him know that he was a person of ability.

So, could he ask for a higher price later?

He did not know if this was possible, but Jier intended to try. If it was effective, he could study the experience and technical methods of how to get clients to pay more later.

Soon, just as Jier had only put on the upper half of his armor, the youth led his father, who was the Steward of the Cunzi, over.

"This is?" This Steward was a middle-aged man, looking somewhat thin, with two meticulously groomed mustaches on his face, looking like his living conditions were quite good.

This was something Jier had only recently learned: men basically all kept mustaches to some degree, and just by looking at the level of care for their mustaches, one could tell their financial situation and recent state of life.

To a certain extent, a person's personality could also be seen from their mustache.

Of course, men did not all keep mustaches because everyone liked them; some might like them, but more people kept them simply because they did not have a convenient and effective way to shave regularly.

Therefore, Noble families with very good living conditions were even more likely not to keep mustaches. Unless they needed the mustache to manifest their dignity and power.

"Ah, I am Qiao-Jier, from Kendall City, and I am a partner of Todd from the Table Corner Tavern. I have accepted your commission to come and handle the recent road disappearance incidents occurring in Yinyulin Village." Jier awkwardly wore half his armor, so he had to put on the remaining parts of his armor while talking.

"I am Lao'er Irupachi, the Steward of Yinyulin Village. This is my son, Kesi. As soon as you mentioned it, I remembered; indeed, I heard people in Kendall City say that the warrior Jier from the Table Corner Tavern is very capable and has solved quite a few troubles in the city. I didn't expect you to be so young." Steward Irupachi nodded, introducing himself and his son.

Seeing Jier finish putting on his full suit of armor, Steward Irupachi circled Jier a few times, nodding incessantly: "Such majestic armor, you certainly look like a warrior. Although you are young, you must not be unfamiliar with the strange things happening in the countryside, right?"

Jier revealed a confident smile: "That is correct. A strange, bloody incident once occurred at a farm outside Kendall City, and I showed my skills there. As for what is happening in your Cunzi, I actually already have a lead."

Hearing that Jier had a lead, both father and son's eyes lit up: "Really? I thought that after the three brave Hunters died inexplicably, no one would dare to come and help our Cunzi solve this matter. I originally planned to drag it out until next year to ask the Baron to know about this, but I didn't expect you to already have a lead. This is not the place to talk; please come into the house quickly. The fireplace is lit inside, and it is very warm. Kesi, go quickly and tell your sister to boil hot water and take out the dried flowers to steep in water to drink."

"Okay." The youth named Kesi went *thump-thump-thump* up the stone steps of the house's main entrance, opened the door, and ran inside.

Then, the youth's shouting could be heard from inside.

"Apologies, my son is a bit reckless. Just leave your handcart in the backyard of the house; let's go drink something hot first, then warm ourselves by the fire and talk about your findings. We don't have much in Yinyulin Village, but we certainly have plenty of firewood for burning."

Jier followed the Steward's guidance, pushed the handcart into the backyard, and then came to their living room from the back door of the courtyard.