Chapter 30: The Battle of Duoduogongti Village (Part I)

Jier borrowed a sturdy metal container from the Dwarf and placed the Black Plant Core of the new monster he had captured inside. He dared not use a wooden box to store this thing, fearing that it might be controlled by the object due to their shared origin, and it would not be a pretty sight if the wooden box storing it grew legs and ran away.

Therefore, Jier felt there was no problem with using a metal container for storage.

After sealing it, Jier saw that the monster's remains were not dangerous, so he had Aoni take some of the monster's limbs to notify everyone in the team about this new situation. This was mainly to ensure that the Warriors who had dealt with the Parasitic Vine Monster before would not let their guard down and be caught off guard.

Especially for this kind of monster with branches growing out of its head and flowers blooming, it was even more necessary to call Jier to deal with it, or for a dozen Human Warriors to form a formation to handle it.

As for the disposal of the monster's corpse, the Herbalist Zuojigela boldly tasted the liquid in the Water Storage Vesicles of the monster's body himself.

Of course, he did not put it directly into his mouth to taste, but first observed, then smelled, and finally dipped a little liquid with his fingernail and sent it to the tip of his tongue to investigate.

After the inspection by this professional Herbalist, Zuojigela discovered that the liquid in the Water Storage Vesicles of this kind of monster was a good thing; it seemed to be able to boost spirits and heal wounds.

However, this was, after all, a type of monster material, so even if used for treatment, it could not be taken in large quantities, and certainly could not be drunk to quench thirst.

However, Jier was an exception. Hearing Zuojigela say that the monster's Water Storage Vesicles were non-toxic and even beneficial, he ignored his disgust and dug out a fist-sized vesicle from the monster's abdomen. Looking at this thing that resembled a dried-out orange, Jier bit off a piece with his mouth, chewed it a few times, and spat out the dregs, finding that it was indeed very thirst-quenching, and his entire spirit was invigorated.

"Although it's a bit strange, it's quite useful." Jier ate the entire Water Storage Vesicle in a few bites, spat out the moistureless dregs, and then signaled for everyone to set off.

Because traces of the Monster had appeared, the group changed their previous pursuit of speed; all Warriors put on the Armor Plate Breastplate issued to them, while other Armor parts remained stored on the vehicles. At the same time, because the Monster was a Parasitic Vine, it must be afraid of fire, so everyone additionally tucked an unlit Torch into their waist.

Although it was afternoon, Torches were still lit on the carriages to facilitate the Warriors in quickly igniting their own.

The Dwarfs also made some adjustments, which Jier did not pay much attention to, because that was the Dwarfs' business after all. If the Dwarfs listened to his advice or accepted his command, and there were casualties in the subsequent journey, the responsibility would be Jier's own. He could not run from that, nor could he shirk it.

But if the Dwarfs did not need to accept Jier's command and advice, then as long as Jier performed the basic escort and protection duties he was supposed to during the subsequent journey, then any trouble the Dwarfs caused themselves, or casualties caused by their own carelessness, would be none of Jier's business.

He would have no responsibility for it.

Therefore, Jier did not pay attention to the corresponding response measures and adjustments made by the Dwarf team after encountering the Monster's presence.

Since they would arrive near a Village by evening, Jier estimated that there would likely be Monsters there, so he had everyone prepare for battle early. Especially regarding the captured Soldiers, Jier indicated to them not to try to cause trouble during a potential battle, because for one, those Monsters did not distinguish between Humans; once defeated and captured by them, one would have their brain and internal organs parasitized and devoured. Although they might look the same for a while, the person would have actually died early in the initial stage of parasitism.

Whoever caused trouble for the team during the subsequent battle and journey, Jier would tie that person up in an area where Monsters appeared and let them be miserably parasitized and killed by the Monsters.

Secondly, Jier would not easily spare those who caused trouble. He understood in his heart that these surrendered Soldiers most hoped to be handed over directly to the local Noble Lord, because nominally the local Noble Lord was the lord of Changmai Village, but in reality, the relationship between the two was not close; these Soldiers had long since inquired about this from the Villagers of Changmai Village. Therefore, if Jier carelessly handed these Soldiers over to the local Noble Lord, these Soldiers might instead escape punishment for their crimes.

Because they were, after all, experienced and capable organized Soldiers, even if there were only a dozen or so, they were an additional force for the Sasi County Lord Family, which was currently suffering from internal and external troubles.

If they were handed over to the local Noble, they would likely be treated differently within a few days; it was possible they would be separated or organized into a separate combat unit.

But these Soldiers were dreaming; Jier would not hand them over to the local Noble Lord family. He wanted to sell these Soldiers far away to those daring Merchant Guilds in Dorn Town, letting these wicked Soldiers taste the price they deserved in the heavy labor of an unknown future.

Of course, Jier would also make a profit from this.

The entire team continued to move forward cautiously, and according to their pace, they arrived not far outside a Village ahead before evening.

At this time, the sun was already hanging low on the distant horizon, and it would not be long before it turned dark, and they would inevitably have to spend the night temporarily in this Village ahead.

But from far away, the thing Jier worried about still appeared.

When he discovered that the survival of that new type of Monster required a large amount of water, he guessed that they might change their previous hiding spots, moving from remote corners or the edges of forests to unmanned Villages that were more convenient for obtaining water.

The prosperous Villages around Yemei Town all relied on the abundant local groundwater to survive; the farmland outside the Villages was one thing, but there were many water wells inside the Villages.

Those Monsters had hands and feet, so of course, they would fetch water to survive just like Humans. The difference was that Humans fetched water to irrigate crops, while they fetched water to feed themselves directly.

The entire team stopped behind a hill a few hundred meters away from the Village. Jier first rode his horse around the area to confirm that there were no hidden Monster scouts around; in fact, the Monsters did not have the intelligence or need for that, and they would not set up scouts around.

Afterwards, he abandoned his horse and took the two Tusi Brothers to conduct combat Scout ahead, while the Warriors behind made full combat preparations—everyone wore full Armor, put on Helmets, and carried all their weapons on their bodies, armed to the teeth.

The Dwarfs did not take risks; although they also armed themselves, they would not rashly intervene in this battle. After all, it was agreed before they left that although they had more combat power, Jier's team would protect and guide them home along the way.

The Dwarfs did not need to intervene in more battles. Although the old Dwarf actually wanted to let his men fight a battle, mainly to see what level of combat power these Dwarfs had in the outside world.

If their strength was sufficient, then the safety of the Dwarfs' return home would naturally be reassuring. But if they needed to be careful about all kinds of dangers with their current strength, then they had better shrink behind Jier and let Jier protect them on their way home.

But for the first battle, facing unknown parasitic Monsters, the old Dwarf was still a bit worried.

As for the Soldier captives in the carriage, they had already been intimidated by Jier once before, and at this time they were also temporarily kept under watch by the Dwarfs. Before setting off, Jier had instructed the old Dwarf that if these surrendered Soldiers made any unusual moves, he should kill those who were acting strangely.

Even if he killed them all, Jier would not blame them.

These words were spoken in front of the surrendered Soldiers, which made these guys who were somewhat restless have to settle down. After all, for them, the upcoming Yemei Town might allow them to get rid of their status as surrendered captives, so waiting another day or two was acceptable.

Jier carried the head of the Yueshui, without taking any other weapons, and brought the Tusi Brothers to approach the Village from the downwind side.

This Village had just been introduced by the local Zuojigela, named 【Duoduogongti Village】, which in some remote local language meant a land covered with wild vegetables.

"There aren't many wild vegetables in this wilderness? The name doesn't match reality." Jier looked at the weeds everywhere on the ground and complained.

Zhongtusi shook his head and whispered: "Knight Jier, it seems it hasn't rained at all this year, so it's already good that there are some tenacious weeds on the ground."

Xiao Tusi walked in the front, leading the remaining two to constantly use the yellowing and wilted shrubs to approach the Village ahead.

Similar to other Villages near Yemei Town, these Villages here did not have high walls, and the inside and outside of the Village were basically separated by a wooden Fence less than two meters high. Inside the Village, households used tall mud bricks to build their own walls between each other, and even planted thorns on the mud brick walls to guard against other people in the Village more than the beasts outside the Village.

In fact, near Yemei Town, there were no large animals in the wild, because here, besides the farmland outside the Village, there were only a few small Shulin specifically for providing firewood for the Village; other than that, there were only low shrubs and grassy wilderness.

Basically, a simple and barren wild environment could not breed swarms of beasts. When Humans controlled and continuously transformed the natural environment in one place, these places basically were no longer the home of beasts.

Those beasts either died early in the battle against Humans for their homes, or tucked their tails and retreated to other places further away.

In short, from the perspective of the locals, their low Village walls were actually quite normal.

However, this also facilitated the Monsters' occupation of this Village at this time, as well as Jier and his team's Scout operations.

Because it was about to get dark, Jier could not let the Warriors fight those Monsters at night, and it was not that they couldn't, but it was unnecessary. Therefore, their Scout operation was very fast.

Combat Scout, after all, should be done as quickly as possible without being discovered by the enemy; even if discovered by the enemy, one could fight while scouting.

Therefore, under the leadership of Xiao Tusi, the three of them arrived at the Village Fence before long. Jier first jumped up to confirm that there were no hidden or active Monsters on the other side of the Fence, and then, one in each hand, threw the Tusi Brothers lightly into the Village, right by the Fence.

Immediately after, Jier jumped in himself.

He moved carefully, trying his best not to let his heavy weight cause a loud and dull landing sound.

Fortunately, after entering, there were no Monsters active here.

Giving a wink, the three of them rushed quickly toward a Farmer's house with the courtyard gate wide open.

Jier went in first, so even if there were Parasitic Vine Monsters hiding in the courtyard or the house, there was no fear. But this caution was unnecessary; there was no one in the courtyard, and the same was true in the house.

Then the three of them walked lightly along the Farmer's wooden stairs to climb onto the roof, reached the roof covered with Wheat Straw through the attic window, and used the height and open line of sight to scout the situation in the Village.

Jier saw at a glance that in the open space in the center of the Village, next to the main water well in the Village, there were more than twenty 'people' standing blankly in place. They were facing the setting sun, and there seemed to be a feeling of reluctance.

He whispered the Prayer taught to him by the Great Bird Deity to improve his long-distance vision.

Under the dim, yellow sunset, the 'person' in the center of that 'crowd' was precisely another new type of Monster, one with a head blooming with flowers.

As for the Monsters gathered around it, some were no different from the previous parasitic Monsters, while others had branches with small leaves extending from their eye sockets. Still others had their mouths wide open, with moving vines still swaying as they reached out from within; this disgusting vine was also covered in quite a few leaves.

It appeared that the Monsters were centered around that flower-headed Monster, with the other Monsters using their respective degrees of mutation as a screening mechanism; the closer they were to the other's state, the closer they naturally stood to it, while the Monsters further away looked no different from the most ordinary parasitic Monsters.

Jier whispered what he saw to the Tusi Brothers, and the Tusi Brothers also helped Jier point out two other groups of Monsters gathered in other directions within the Cunzi.

Relying on the impression from the few times the two of them had visited this Cunzi before, those two locations were precisely where the other two main water wells in the Cunzi were situated.

"This is not strange; it is clear that the changes in those Monsters require the consumption of a large amount of water. However, I am a bit worried. These Monsters currently still have Human physiques, but everyone knows that trees are often very tall. If these Monsters are not eliminated as soon as possible, it is hard to say whether these Monsters will continue to maintain their Human physiques," Jier sighed in a low voice.

Zhongtusi narrowed his eyes, his tone somewhat serious: "You mean? If these plant-parasitic Monsters are not wiped out as soon as possible, will they become as tall as trees in the future? That is terrible; the Trenches dug by Yemei Town will not be able to stop Monsters that have grown tall."

Xiao Tusi then mocked: "Forget about the future; with this kind of new Monster, as long as a few dozen of them move out collectively, Yemei Town will be forced to defend its town walls to the death. And as for the thousands or tens of thousands of Villagers outside the town, no one will be able to stop the attack of this group of Monsters."

This was also what Jier was worried about.

It seemed he had arrived at just the right time, or rather, the timing of the operation agreed upon with the Heir of the Sasi Baron family was just right. Thinking deeper, the other party had the support of various churches in the town, and perhaps they had known about the development trajectory of these plant-parasitic Monsters, which had caused trouble in Human society many times, for a long time.

"I hope everything is within the other party's calculations. If I had arrived late, I reckon the battle would be very arduous."

Jier muttered.

The three of them could not see the situation at the other two locations from the roof of this Farmer's house. After carefully recording the Monster situation seen here, the Tusi Brothers remained still, while Jier went back down and came to the roofs of other Farmer houses nearby to secretly observe the situation and numbers of the Monsters at the other two locations from elsewhere.

"There are a total of three parasitic Monsters with heads blooming with flowers. There are eight Monsters with branches growing out of their heads. The others are ordinary parasitic Monsters, totaling exactly fifty. The center of the Cunzi has the most Monsters: one flower-headed Monster, four Monsters with branches growing out of their heads, and twenty-three ordinary parasitic Monsters. The Monsters on the left and right sides are basically the remaining ones, distributed equally."

The three of them carefully retreated from the Cunzi, not letting the Monsters discover them. After returning to the troop blocked from view by a small hill a few hundred meters away, Jier informed everyone of the Scout situation, and after everyone absorbed the information, he began to make his battle deployments.

Everyone concentrated and listened.

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