Chapter 288: The Steward's House in Yinyulin Village — Conversation and Verification

The inside of the house was much warmer than the outside; in the wide fireplace built from cut bluestone, large logs were burning vigorously, casting a constant stream of heat throughout the entire room.

Jier took off the wolf-fur cloak draped over his shoulders, followed Steward Irupachi to the vicinity of the fireplace, and casually found a chair made of sturdy wood to sit down on. He placed the cloak over the back of the chair.

"Come, come, come, this is a specialty of our village, wind-dried eyeless fish, come and have a taste." Steward Irupachi brought over a wooden dish of translucent wind-dried fish for Jier to sample.

After thanking the Steward for his kindness, Jier picked up a small fish and discovered that this wind-dried fish indeed had no eyes; it must have been a lightless species living in the underground rivers within the mountains. Because there was no light, their useless eyes had degenerated.

The small fish was not large, so Jier popped it into his mouth and chewed; it was fresh, fragrant, spicy, and slightly salty—very delicious.

The middle-aged Steward also picked up two small fish for himself; he ate one and fed the other to his son, who had walked over carrying a wooden tray.

"Big sister soaked some Xuzi Flowers picked and dried in the summer inside, you all drink it. *Smack, smack. *" On the wooden tray sat a large copper water bottle, from which steam was rising; long, dried flowers were bobbing up and down in the hot water. After the Steward's son finished speaking, he chewed on the dried fish his father had fed him and sat on a wooden stump near the fireplace, curiously examining Jier's armor from head to toe.

While waiting for the dried flowers to be fully steeped by the hot water, Jier first took out the commission document that the Steward had previously left with Todd from his backpack, proving that the identity he had spoken of earlier was not a problem.

After proving his identity, Jier first explained to Steward Irupachi why it had taken so long after receiving the commission to come to their Yinyulin Village.

Hearing that Jier had previously been near Bingxun Pass dealing with Bandits, the Steward nodded. In truth, he had no complaints about this young warrior Jier arriving so late; after all, three Hunters had already died on the road where the incidents occurred, and he himself had no expectations that anyone would come again. Now that this young warrior named Jier, who had a reputation for bravery, was able to come, he was already very pleased.

After all, ever since the mysterious disappearance incidents appeared on the road, many of the Merchant Guilds that had long-term cooperation no longer sent people to trade, and how to transport the various crop outputs of their village had become a difficult matter. Moreover, only some bold Merchants would ignore the danger to come and trade for goods produced in the city, and the prices they demanded were far higher than before—truly black-hearted, yet their village could only grit their teeth and accept it.

Steadying himself, Steward Irupachi poured a cup of the steeped flower tea for both himself and Jier, and asked the question he had wanted to ask since just a moment ago: "You said just now that you have clues regarding the disappearance incidents? If they are truly very useful, I am willing to pay some money for them. Please speak, I am listening."

Jier then spoke of the night he had spent at the simple Yingdi where the Hunters had died, leaving behind only three pairs of feet.

Successfully hunting a six-legged fawn.

Monitoring the bloodstains left behind at the Yingdi where the Hunters had died.

Lighting a campfire, digging a pit to hide in, and leaving the captured deer outside.

The sudden mysterious White Mist at night, the panicked fawn, and the pitch-black giant mouth that descended from the sky.

The next day, failing to find any traces in the surrounding wild grass.

And the translucent, hard substance discovered on the largest trees in the Forest on the north and south sides.

Speaking to this point, Jier went to his handcart and retrieved the unknown hard substance contained in a bag.

Steward Irupachi's mood was quite unsettled after hearing Jier's experience and discovery; he took small sips of the slightly warm flower tea and looked at Jier. Meanwhile, the youth Kesi on the side was frightened by the experience Jier described.

This was not a bizarre story of ghosts and Monsters that mothers used to scare children before bedtime, but a real-life predicament occurring right beside them, which made Kesi think of the Monsters in various stories; he hugged the Short Sword at his waist, as if he could rely on that small sword to protect himself.

"As you say, the disappearance incidents occurring on the road recently... are all the work of an unknown Monster?" Steward Irupachi asked.

Jier nodded; he had seen it with his own eyes, so he could be certain.

But the Steward seemed not to believe it.

"But it has been a long time since such dangerous Monsters appeared here; ever since I was small, I have only been able to hear from the elders in my family about the Monsters that once rampaged across the land. Are you truly certain it is the work of a Monster? Because according to what you say, that thing is not an ordinary Monster, but a Magic Beast."

"Magic Beast?" Jier had only heard the name of Magic Beasts, but did not know specifically what a Magic Beast was.

"It is a Monster that possesses some magical, miraculous powers. It is not something that can be defeated by ordinary Monsters relying on human strength; it can only be defeated by Priests and Knights who possess extraordinary power. No matter how many ordinary people there are, they are no match for them." The Steward explained to Jier; he seemed to feel some regret that Jier, a warrior, did not even know about this thing.

Jier thought for a moment: if the white Mist that appeared and disappeared in an instant, which he had seen before, was the work of magical power, then what he had seen at that time might indeed have been a Magic Beast.

"Perhaps, that thing really is a Magic Beast?" Jier asked tentatively.

Steward Irupachi seemed somewhat dissatisfied with Jier's rash statement: "If the ice mist that occasionally appears at night is all counted as the work of a Monster, then Magic Beasts would be far too common."

Seeing that the Steward did not seem to believe Jier's claim that the Monster was a Magic Beast because he had not seen it with his own eyes, Jier had no choice but to open the bag in his hand and pour the unknown hard, translucent substance inside onto the ground.

"What is this? Is this the thing you said you discovered?" Kesi and Steward Irupachi both curiously leaned in to watch.

"That's right, you can find something to tap it and see; it is much harder than steel. At the very least, my Steel Dagger cannot leave any marks on it."

The Steward quickly brought over a Tool Hammer, and after a round of tapping, it was true that not a single mark could be left on the object.

Looking at the conspicuous withered leaf inside this thing, although Steward Irupachi did not fully accept what Jier said, he was at least more supportive of Jier's claim that the culprit behind everything was a Monster.

"I acknowledge a part of the discovery you mentioned. But as for the specific situation, if possible, I hope you can personally take me to see it." Finding a piece of Linen Cloth to wipe his hands, Steward Irupachi said to Jier with a frown.

"What do you mean?" Jier did not quite understand the other party's meaning.

Steward Irupachi shook his head: "If what you say is all true, then can we try it once outside the village, far away, following your previous method? Find a goat, tie it in an open space; if what you say is true, that Monster will certainly not let go of such an easy-to-get fresh meal."

It seemed this Steward was still quite cautious and would not rely on Jier's one-sided account to accept anything; he insisted that Jier take him to see that thing with his own eyes.

Jier shrugged: "It makes no difference to me, if you have the guts for it. Of course, I will protect you well, as long as you do as I say afterward."

"Then it is settled; we will set off after eating the midday meal. Kesi, stop playing, go help me prepare the things for going out." Steward Irupachi seemed to be a man of action; he immediately began to arrange the matters that would follow.

Jier also stopped caring about that unknown hard, translucent substance, placed it casually in the corner of the wall, and drank his flower tea while eating the delicious wind-dried eyeless fish.

He did not need to pack his things and could set off at any time; although he had to go back out as soon as he arrived at Yinyulin Village, as long as this Steward could acknowledge his information and clues, he could at least obtain a portion of the commission money. After all, compared to others, he could be considered to have found the truth behind the road disappearance incidents.

Steward Irupachi, besides explaining the situation to his family, also brought over other influential family members from the village. They all gathered in the hall of the Steward's house to discuss the current situation.

Everyone had met the warrior Jier from Kendall City, but they did not believe Jier's Magic Beast claim at all, and regarding the disappearances being caused by a Monster, they were only half-convinced. Now, everything had to wait until Steward Irupachi and Jier actually saw the situation tonight.

Steward Irupachi's wife did not want her husband to take this risk, but as for the others in the village, they either had the guts to go out with Jier but no one acknowledged what they said, or what they said was acknowledged but they did not have the guts to follow Jier out of the village at night.

After looking around, it was truly only Steward Irupachi himself who had both the guts to go out and was a person of weight in the village.

Since it was only for staying one night, there were not many things to prepare; Jier only rolled up his dog-skin bedding to bring along and carried an iron shovel for digging pits on his back.

Steward Irupachi also appeared to be a person who frequently traveled between Yinyulin Village and Kendall City; the preparations for the trip were quickly completed with the help of his family.

His family and other fellow villagers of the Steward's rank saw him off. Soon, after eating a simple midday meal, Jier and Steward Irupachi walked out of the village under the farewells of the Villagers.

They had discussed it beforehand; the chosen location could not be too close to the village, because the disappearance incidents did not occur around the village.

Jier naturally believed it was because the Monster did not have good large trees around the village to help it hunt, but the Villagers did not know the reason for this; they only knew that the disappearance incidents would not happen in the village or its surroundings. They naively thought that the village's tall walls blocked the unknown factors from the Forest and the wilderness.

They walked east from the village for over three hours and finally selected a place that looked ordinary to serve as the testing site.

Steward Irupachi secured the goat he had been leading to an open space at the edge of the road.

Jier used his Two-handed Axe to chop down a small tree, then processed the small tree and made a simple campfire to light.

After the campfire was lit, Jier had Steward Irupachi look after the campfire, while he himself followed the previous method and began to dig pits on the opposite side of the road.

Because there was no need to dig a large pit to hold a handcart, they only needed to dig two hidden pits for the two of them to simply hide in.

Jier worked extremely fast; shovelful after shovelful of frozen, hard soil was dug out and scattered to the side.

Not far away, Steward Irupachi watched and clicked his tongue in wonder, saying that if Jier went to farm, he would certainly be an expert, and many Farmers with daughters in their families would fight to have him as a son-in-law.

Jier was left between laughing and crying by the words of Steward Irupachi. Come to think of it, he was right; he shouldn't have been digging so quickly, but he didn't know how it happened—he had received the favor of the God of Agriculture, granting him benefits time and time again. Not only did he occasionally possess abundant stamina in his body, but his strength had also increased significantly; even more interestingly, his ability to plow and dig had improved inexplicably.

The soil, which should have been frozen hard by the cold weather, seemed to become much softer under his shovel, making it easy to finish the job quickly.

After digging the pit, Jier even camouflaged it. Then, the two of them and a goat waited for nightfall.

The goat approached the warm campfire, chewing on the withered yellow grass on the ground, unaware of what was waiting for it.

Winter nights always come very quickly.

As for this saying, it would be better to say that winter days are somewhat short.

After the sun in the overcast clouds fell behind the rolling mountains in the west, darkness instantly shrouded everything around.

Following the previous instructions, Steward Irupachi crawled into the pit prepared for him, covering his head with a warm felt hat and camouflaged withered yellow grass.

His bedding had already been placed in the pit, so he was actually burrowing inside the warm bedding, and with the thick layer of soil blocking the outside, it was not cold here. Even without a campfire to provide heat, it was not impossible to barely stay for a night.

Seeing that Jier was still full of confidence at this moment, Steward Irupachi wondered if everything Jier said was true. It was just that his life experience told him not to easily believe others' words, even if the other party was not drinking or had no conflict of interest; only what one saw with one's own eyes was real and true.

Without seeing what Jier said with his own eyes, he simply did not accept Jier's words.

But what if everything in a moment was really as Jier said? Then what would happen to their Cunzi?

A young man like Jier would certainly not be able to deal with a huge monster, even if it were not a Magic Beast.

And if it really were a Magic Beast, then he would have to go to Kendall Baron to file a complaint; after all, the lord of their Cunzi was such a useless person. Usually, it was fine; after all, as long as the fixed amount of Cunzi taxes were paid, he never came to their Cunzi, and since he didn't mess around, it was too good for them, the stewards who actually managed the Cunzi.

But now, there was trouble.

The Knight Lord, who was usually considered convenient because he never managed things, was of no use at all. He hoped Kendall Baron would take the situation in their Cunzi seriously.

After all, the appearance of a Magic Beast was no small matter.

Since he was a child, he had heard stories from his elders. Originally, Kendall County did not have a name; when Humans first entered this place, they fought against all kinds of Monsters, and the Imperial Border Knights, who led the first batch of migrants, slaughtered extensively, killing all the Monsters in several nearby counties, and exterminating Magic Beasts batch after batch.

Only after that did a large number of migrants from the Empire dare to settle down.

But how could the initially developed land be easily taken into the pockets of Humans? Later, Monster attacks still occurred from time to time, and Magic Beasts also devoured many people every year.

The Imperial Border Knights split into five, stationed on the true borders of the various border provinces of the newborn Kingdom; they no longer frequently went to exterminate Monsters and Magic Beasts. Fortunately, immediately after, the strength of the migrants themselves stood up; the exiled Noble Kendall Family established Kendall City, and they led the Knights and brave Soldiers who emerged enthusiastically from the people, forming their own sword and Shield of Kendall.

By the time Steward Irupachi was born, there seemed to be fierce Monsters in the deep mountain Forest, but Magic Beasts were already extremely rare.

In his life, he had no chance to see the shadow of a Magic Beast. When he was young, when he told his elders that he wanted to see what a Magic Beast looked like, some of the elders—no, the oldest elders—would terrify him into silence, while his father's generation would laugh loudly and tell him that if he wanted to see a Magic Beast, he would have to wait for the Magic Beast to come out itself. When the Magic Beast came out to cause trouble, there would be Knight lords from the city riding warhorses covered in steel, wielding war hammers and heavy swords that weighed as much as two people, to hack the Magic Beasts into pieces.

Returning from his thoughts, Steward Irupachi thought about the words of his father's generation. Now, it seemed that a Magic Beast might appear again, but where were the Knight lords riding steel warhorses?

That lord of their Cunzi, whom the people in Kendall City jokingly called a "pig"?

What was he thinking? His son might even have more Yongqi than that guy.

Or was it Kela, the Knight invited by Kendall Baron several years ago?

Maybe there was a chance, but what would their Cunzi have to pay to be able to invite a Knight with such skills?

Just as he was letting his imagination run wild, the environment around him, which had been somewhat noisy even though it was dark, suddenly changed.

Steward Irupachi shuddered; the crackling sound of the campfire burning disappeared, and the chewing sound of the goat eating grass wantonly because no one was watching also disappeared.

The rustling sound of the branches in the north and south Forest also disappeared, and even the sound of breathing from the pit where Jier was hiding not far away vanished.

It seemed that all sounds had disappeared.

What was going on?

Steward Irupachi's breathing became rapid. He carefully followed what was said before, slightly poking his camouflaged head out of the pit and looking at the opposite side of the road.

For some reason, a layer of hazy White Mist had risen around.

That shouldn't be; in this sub-zero weather, the water vapor in the air should have turned into white frost attached to the crops; how could it become the mist common in other seasons?

Could this be the White Mist that Jier mentioned?

Through the White Mist, Steward Irupachi barely looked at the goat by the campfire on the opposite side of the road.

If everything was as Jier said, then next—

Under the White Mist where sound had vanished, a thick, pitch-black, column-like object more than a meter wide slowly extended down from the sky. While it was slowly extending down, its bottom opened to both sides, forming a terrifying giant mouth.

Unlike the six-legged deer that Jier captured in the wilderness, the goat raised by the villagers was completely unaware of what had appeared above its head.

Steward Irupachi was stunned; he opened his mouth wide, his eyes wide open, literally dumbfounded.

Just as that pitch-black giant mouth was about to accelerate and bite the goat standing still in place, the stunned Steward Irupachi subconsciously opened his mouth in surprise: "Is this a Monster? No, is it a Magic Beast?"

Oh no! Steward Irupachi immediately realized that he had just spoken. Jier had told him many times in the afternoon that no matter what he saw at night, he could not speak or make a sound.

But what did he just say? Did he speak? Did he? He did. Ah, what should he do now?