Chapter 304: Bandit Winter Camp — Bandits Fleeing in All Directions

The survivors in the bandit winter camp let out successive wails; they wanted to run, but this terrifying, massive Magic Beast was circling the campfire at the center of the camp at a steady, unhurried pace.

Each time its long, sharp legs moved on the ground, they pierced a narrow, at least half-meter-deep puncture mark.

The few bandits and female civilians hiding in the simple tents only dared to huddle inside, wrapping themselves in animal skins, shivering incessantly and praying that the terrifying Magic Beast outside would not notice their small, tattered tents.

In truth, the Magic Beast knew there were humans in the small huts, but it discovered that the people inside did not come out, neither fleeing nor attacking it, so it simply acted as if it had not seen them.

Those few humans still standing were huddled tightly around the campfire, which made it feel somewhat troubled. After circling twice, it decided it was better to eat the human corpses on the ground first.

Supporting its body with four legs, it freed one leg to nudge the human corpses on the ground, carefully slicing open the troublesome clothes and animal skins on the human bodies, then used its leg to pierce the corpses, lifting them up to its mouth to swallow.

While swallowing its food, it tried hard to shroud its body in Mist once again.

The remaining bandits by the campfire trembled and supported each other, avoiding falling to the ground, which might have provoked the Magic Beast to attack.

Although they did not know why this terrifying Magic Beast did not come to eat them, their minds were already occupied by terror, and they had long since lost the ability and capacity for normal thought.

It was not that these bandits who had killed people were soft; it was just that in the last few dozen seconds, this terrifying, massive Magic Beast had killed more than half of their entire Bandit Group.

Moreover, compared to being killed by the Magic Beast's sharp legs, being swallowed alive into the Magic Beast's long, giant mouth was even more terrifying to them.

They watched helplessly as the Magic Beast leisurely pushed aside the ruins of a wooden hut that had been crushed from the start, swallowing the woman inside who was still alive despite being pinned down.

And when the Magic Beast had finished eating the human corpses or injured people on the surrounding ground, these bandits watched as people hiding in nearby tents were dragged away by the Magic Beast's legs, then the tent canvas was sliced open, and the screaming, naked bandits inside were split in two and shoved into its giant mouth to be eaten.

The Magic Beast did not spare the woman inside who was screaming loudly with her eyes tightly shut; the pitch-black giant mouth descending from the sky smashed her to death on the ground in one bite, and only after things quieted down did the Magic Beast swallow the woman, who had been smashed into a meat patty, into its mouth.

The tents in the camp that had people in them all met this result. One fierce bandit in a tent even wanted to rush forward to fight the Magic Beast to the death, but after this person approached the Magic Beast, it simply lowered its massive body abruptly, crushing the human who had rushed under it into the mud.

The fierce bandit pressed into the surface soil was not yet dead, his arms and legs flailing wildly on the ground, but he was immediately dug out of the ground by the Magic Beast's sharp legs, swung in mid-air a few times to shake off some of the clinging mud, and then sent into its mouth.

Among the remaining bandits by the campfire, the oldest one regained his senses, gritted his teeth, and slapped the other few still-dazed bandits, waking them up.

He clenched his teeth and said in a low voice to the other bandits the only way he could think of now: "There is still one way to escape. Listen carefully: in a moment, everyone choose a different direction—southeast, northwest, whatever—and flee together into the Forest outside the camp. No matter how fast that monster is, surely some people can get away. Listen to me closely: if anyone escapes, hurry to report the news to other nearby winter camps."

A bandit was about to speak, but was interrupted by the old bandit: "I know no one will believe it just by being told, but a warning will at least put them on alert. If you really want to avenge everyone, run toward the middle of this Forest. A group there is the most powerful one near our Bingxun Pass, and this Forest is a safe area they have cleared. Those tough guys can avenge us. Remember, go to the middle of the Forest and find the group with the walled Yingdi."

Saying this, the old bandit gasped for breath and whispered to himself: "They should avenge us, perhaps, perhaps."

He picked up the Short Sword and Dagger he was used to using and said in a deep voice: "Prepare, prepare."

The last woman hiding in a tent was found by the Magic Beast and was just about to be stuffed into its mouth when a loud shout erupted from the campfire: "Now! Run!"

At the same time, all the surviving bandits by the campfire ran outward, avoiding the direction where the Magic Beast was.

The bandits used all their strength, bursting with all their energy, running toward the increasingly close Forest.

Of course, the Magic Beast could not let this food run away; it moved all its legs, circling around from the outer perimeter to intercept the humans.

One bandit who was moving in the opposite direction of the Magic Beast was particularly clever; after running halfway, he turned his head to look at the Magic Beast's direction, then actually made a turn and ran toward the Forest from the Magic Beast's previous position.

This bandit understood—no, it should be said that all the surviving bandits understood—that they didn't need to outrun the Magic Beast; they only needed to outrun the others while the Magic Beast was killing them.

The bandit being chased by the Magic Beast looked back and was so terrified his soul almost left his body. The huge, terrifying Magic Beast was chasing him closely from behind. This shocking realization made his legs lose strength in an instant, collapsing to the ground, gasping for air desperately as if he were drowning, unable to suck even a bit of air into his lungs.

The Magic Beast pierced this person head-on with one leg, then immediately turned to chase another fleeing bandit closest to it.

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!" This bandit shouted the only thought in his mind at that moment, from muttering to roaring while running.

"Ahhhhhh!!!!" This bandit turned around while running and threw his weapon straight at the chasing Magic Beast.

His technique was seasoned; the moment he turned, he used the momentum of the turn to throw the Two-handed Axe in his hand.

The Magic Beast dared not be careless; it raised a leg and blocked the spinning, flying axe with a clang.

Seeing the attack was ineffective, the bandit leaped forward in mid-air, dodging a follow-up counterattack from the Magic Beast.

After landing, he rolled to dissipate the force and was just about to stand up from a half-squat to continue running when the Magic Beast's long, giant mouth, over a meter thick, was quickly extended from the front of its body, slamming its closed mouth directly into the bandit's back.

Struck by this, the bandit was like a stone hit into the air, flying straight off the ground for over thirty meters before crashing into a tree trunk.

After crashing into the tree trunk, he fell to the ground and had no breath left. Only large amounts of blood mixed with Viscera fragments gushed out from his tilted head and mouth.

The Magic Beast stood stunned for a moment, and only after it confirmed that the human it had hit was dead did it chase after the next bandit who had already leaped into the Forest.

It seemed the bandits, who ran at the same speed as the Magic Beast, could not be caught, but the bandits had not anticipated that for a Magic Beast with a massive body, it was just a shallow layer of snow on the ground, but for them, humans no taller than two meters, the nearly half-meter-deep snow was truly an insurmountable hurdle.

These bandits cursed the snow in their hearts while praying to all the gods they knew, hoping they would not be the next lucky contestant the Magic Beast would come looking for.

The clever one who chose the direction of the Magic Beast's original position ran excitedly toward the Forest that represented safety.

But he had not expected at all that not far away, a pair of red eyes hidden in the snow would slowly rise from the snow, followed by a fast and loud sound of a sword being drawn.

Clang.

But the clever bandit, whose mind was full of thoughts like "I am safe," paid no attention to this discordant sound of a sword being drawn, because the continuous screams of humans dying behind him were like a whip, invisibly lashing at his consciousness, making him constantly quicken his pace, even though the deep snow could not stop his escape.

Where to go after this? Should he listen to the old bandit, who was probably dead by now, and tell other Bandit Groups the news that the Magic Beast had entered the winter Forest?

Laughable; he was a cruel and clever bandit who had killed two men and three children; how could he ever do something that harmed himself to benefit others?

Running to the camp of the group with the highest strength that the old bandit said could fight the Magic Beast was the safest choice. Perhaps they could fight the terrifying Magic Beast, and with the credit of bringing the news of the Magic Beast, he should be able to spend a safe winter there. When next spring arrived, he would not do this dangerous work; the wild Forest was still too dangerous, and towns were much safer.

Moreover, the people there were not very aggressive and were much more stupid. After all, the more people there were, the more idiots there were.

Relying on the existence of those idiots, he would surely be able to carve out a new world.

As he ran, he touched the coins he had been accumulating in his chest. Those heavy coins were the result of his desperate efforts during this time; they were certainly not enough to do anything in a town, but relying on these coins as start-up capital for a scam seemed barely enough.

Just as he was about to touch the money bag in his chest again, with a "whoosh," he felt his body shake and stumbled.

Stopping, he looked down in confusion at the steel sword tip protruding from his chest, wanting to turn around to see who had killed him.

Why would someone want to kill him? He was clearly the most smiling and sociable person in the Bandit Group.

But a palm wearing a thick Glove pressed onto the back of his head, pushing him face-first into the snow on the ground.

A moment ago.

Zhao Ji bypassed the massive Magic Beast that was crashing into tree branches in the Forest, and relying on his accurate judgment of the surrounding position by sound, found the place where the Magic Beast had previously killed the patrolling bandits.

Actually, it was not hard to find; one just had to follow the flattened snow left behind by the Magic Beast as it crawled along the ground.

Although the light around was poor, the softness of the snow underfoot would not lie.

At the scene where the Magic Beast ate people, he indeed found those human items that the Magic Beast had discarded. Tattered animal skins, don't want. Tattered clothes of civilians that had been robbed, don't want.

Small trinkets on the bandits, want. Bent and broken weapons, want.

Zhao Ji lit a torch and briefly searched the area nearby, finding some valuables on the bandits. Most were bits of loose change, but he was surprised to find a Silver Coin; he wondered which young bandit had been capable of saving up money.

But now, it was all his property.

He also picked through and dismantled some of the bandits' weapons; he only wanted the metal parts of the weapons, while things like handguards, grips, and wooden shafts were all discarded.

Packing everything into a backpack bundled together with tattered animal hides, Zhao Ji once again followed the trail left by the Magic Beast, running toward the bandits' wintering Yingdi, where screams were erupting in bursts.

After the Magic Beast's huge, heavy body had passed over the accumulated snow, the snow had been packed down quite firmly; Zhao Ji ran across it with long, swift strides. This kind of stable "road" was something he had never walked on anywhere else except for the main thoroughfares in towns.

He thought that if someone could subdue and tame this huge man-eating Magic Beast, they could actually let this Magic Beast do the work of road construction.

It wouldn't even require any complicated processes; one would only need to attach a layer of sturdy iron plates under the Magic Beast's body, then let the Magic Beast crawl back and forth on the ground along the road.

Small stones on the road would be knocked to the roadside, uneven ground would be forcibly leveled, and loose soil would be tightly compacted; it would be convenient for people to travel on for at least ten years.

Added to the Magic Beast's wide build, the dirt roads originally built by Kendall County in the wild wilderness could be turned into spacious avenues capable of letting four donkey carts loaded with goods pass side-by-side in less than half a year.

Zhao Ji was having a pleasant daydream, but as he quickly ran near the Bandit Camp, aided by the roaring campfire in the center of the camp, Zhao Ji discovered that there were not many bandits left alive in the entire camp.

He hid in the dark Shulin, not approaching the area illuminated by the camp's firelight.

He hadn't expected this entire Bandit Group to be so pathetic; he had been able to hold his own against the Magic Beast for a long time by himself, yet these bandits, with so many people, couldn't even hold out for a quarter of an hour.

It seemed he had somewhat overestimated the Bandit Group that would hide here to spend the winter.

The level of the Thieves of Luodai Cave he had mainly fought before was likely not low among bandits. Now that he thought about it carefully, a Bandit Group with about a hundred people that would not withdraw from the vicinity of Bingxun Pass to avoid Militia cleanups every winter, and was even bold enough to brawl inside Bingxun Pass, indeed did not seem like an ordinary Bandit Group.

If the bandits near Bingxun Pass were all this daring, then the Shanglu of Bingxun Pass would be impassable.

Zhao Ji saw the Magic Beast knocking over the bandits' Tents, pulling out the men and women inside who weren't wearing much clothing, and then devouring them one by one amidst their screams.

It was somewhat cruel, but Zhao Ji felt angry at those weak bandits who stood by and watched dryly; where was the ferocity they showed when they swung their blades at the common people and merchants?

Where had it gone?

Zhao Ji understood now; these bandits were all guys who only dared to swing their butcher knives at those weaker than them. Expecting them to have the Yongqi to kill the Magic Beast together in a grand, life-risking manner, even at the cost of being killed themselves to inflict some possible damage on the Magic Beast, was absolutely impossible.

Assessing the situation, Zhao Ji felt that the last few bandits would probably be finished soon, and at that time, in the vast Forest surrounding them, only he and the Magic Beast would remain as living creatures.

Thinking of this, he reached his hand into the Backpack on his back, avoided the bent metal weapons he had just put in, felt a small wooden bottle, took it out, and opened it. He put a frozen, hard Sugar Pill he poured out into his mouth to suck on.

After the outer hard shell of Honey was melted by the temperature and saliva in his mouth, Zhao Ji chewed the dried Red-eye Mushroom powder inside the Sugar Pill, mixing it with saliva and swallowing it into his stomach.

He hid himself in a snow nest nearby, lay his body down, and waited for the mysterious medicinal effect of the Mushroom to take hold, his gaze fixed on the situation at the camp.

Returning to the time when Zhao Ji threw his Hunting Longsword, piercing the fleeing bandit.

Zhao Ji pressed his hand on the back of this bandit's head, pressing the person directly into the accumulated snow. Pulling out the Long Sword that had pierced the torso, Zhao Ji used the Long Sword to fiercely swipe across the other's neck, completely destroying any chance of a counterattack from this bandit.

The scalding hot blood sprayed onto the snow on the ground, melting much of the snow into bloody water mixed with blood, which was then frozen hard into solid blood-ice by the surrounding cold temperature.

He had seen how the Magic Beast handled the Humans it killed, so in order to avoid touching the bandit's belongings that had been swallowed and spat out by the Magic Beast, Zhao Ji stripped the killed bandit naked himself, leaving the clothing and other items stripped from the body on the spot.

The gradually cooling corpse of the bandit was dragged by Zhao Ji by one foot to the open ground of the Bandit Camp.

I gave you food, don't come and bother me for no reason.

This was Zhao Ji's meaning; he could feel that the Magic Beast, which had been hunting the fleeing bandits, was actually paying attention to his situation. This was certain; that Magic Beast could accurately follow him in the high mountain areas with strong winds and heavy snow, so in this quiet, uninhabited snowy night in the Forest, discovering and confirming his situation was as simple as could be.

Slowly retreating into the dark Forest, Zhao Ji retracted his Long Sword and took the axe he had been carrying on his back into his hand. If that Magic Beast thought that it could deal with him after losing two and a half legs just because it had killed some stinking, trash-like ordinary bandits, then let that Magic Beast try it itself.

Whether it chooses to "play" with him for a good half of the night and then retreat elsewhere, or chooses to pretend it didn't see him, a tough nut to crack, and go eat some damn, easy-to-prey-on bandits first.

It could make a choice on this multiple-choice question.

Zhao Ji was already prepared for the Magic Beast to choose the former.

He held the axe with the head down and the handle up, propping it against his abdomen. He slowly experienced the magical effect of using this kind of Mushroom in the quiet, snowy night Forest.

His mental thoughts were no longer here; from the small Sugar Pill he had just taken, he thought of the Ointment that Jamula was good at making, remembering that Jamula had once said that he had apprenticed in a large city far outside Kendall and had systematically learned the knowledge of making Herbs, Potions, and Ointments.

Zhao Ji's thoughts drifted; if he left the sparsely populated Kendall County later, should he take some time to learn this Potion knowledge as well? In an otherworldly world where all kinds of magical animals and plants existed, those Potions certainly wouldn't just have the ordinary effects of the potions in his previous life.

After all, if the study of Potions had no magical skills or effects, how could it be passed down in this world? Religious believers could go to the various Priests of the church to receive the magical healing of Divine Art. Even if one was not a religious believer, one could obtain the same healing effect by spending more money.

Therefore, that knowledge and learning, which was only taught and passed down in large cities, must certainly have many special aspects that exceeded imagination.