Chapter 306: The Second Bandit Camp — The Meeting Between Jier and Knight Lanisha

In the Bandit Camp destroyed by the Magic Beast, weapons were dropped everywhere, especially in places where the bandits might have counterattacked the Magic Beast; on the snow, mixed with a large amount of frozen blood, there were even more metal weapons bent and broken by the Magic Beast.

Some of the bent weapons seemed to be mixed with secretions from the Magic Beast's pitch-black giant maw, clearly things that had been spat out after the bandits were swallowed whole along with their weapons.

Zhao Ji curled his lip in disgust, rubbed these weapons against the clean snow nearby, and then used a Dagger to dismantle the cleaner weapons, keeping only the metal and tossing the rest into a nearby campfire.

At the same time, he also collected coins and some valuables from the scattered clothing of the bandits on the ground.

There were quite a few coins, but other valuable items were relatively scarce.

He guessed that ordinary bandits probably didn't have those valuable things; these guys, lacking insight and knowledge, likely only recognized coins as a medium of exchange.

And the valuables obtained from robbing merchants and travelers were certainly with the Bandit Leader.

There were several ruins of wooden houses in this camp; looking at how they were destroyed, Zhao Ji could guess they had been crushed by the Magic Beast jumping on them. If anyone thought hiding inside could avoid a battle with the Magic Beast, they were thinking too simply.

The collapsed wooden house ruins had all been pried open by the Magic Beast to dig out and eat the corpses of the humans hiding inside, which saved Zhao Ji the work of clearing the wooden houses. He carefully entered them, specifically searching for boxes and places where things might be hidden under the wooden floors.

Sure enough, after searching like this, he found a Hardwood Box hidden under the wooden floorboards. It had a Metal Lock on it; since he didn't see a key, Zhao Ji smashed it with the back of an axe, breaking the Metal Lock.

Of course, he didn't let the metal lock go to waste, collecting it into a bag for metal items.

The inside of the box was divided into several small spaces separated by wooden boards; besides coins and small art pieces, there was also a piece of peculiar metal that emitted sparkling glints.

Zhao Ji curiously took out this piece of metal and weighed it in his hand, discovering that this peculiar metal not only looked very different, but its weight even exceeded his expectations.

Even though it was just a metal block slightly smaller than a fist, it weighed nearly thirty kilograms, and he had to support it with both hands.

Putting the metal back into the Hardwood Box, Zhao Ji dug the heavy little box out from the ground and slowly moved it onto his Sled Board.

Besides this, there were some decent clothes in the wooden house, which all looked like the Bandit Leader's own clothing. Zhao Ji took these things away as well and loaded them onto the sled.

The other two wooden houses also had quite a harvest; there were plenty of coins, small Gems, and small art pieces. Zhao Ji didn't refuse anything and loaded them all onto his Sled Board.

By the time Zhao Ji had roughly searched through this Bandit Camp, his Sled Board was too heavy to pull.

Having no choice, Zhao Ji found a spot near the camp, specifically cut down a tree as a marker, dug a deep pit, and hid the things from his sled inside.

Returning to the camp again, Zhao Ji discovered that there were people moving about in the camp.

Knight Lanisha and her party rested for a night outside the high-mountain snow belt, and the next morning, they followed the tracks left by the Magic Beast down the mountain.

Because the Magic Beast had pressed its body close to the ground to avoid rolling down the gentle slopes of the mountain, even though it started snowing again that morning, it could not cover up the tracks of its crawling.

"Sir Knight, we must speed up. Look, it's snowing again in the sky. Although it doesn't look like it can bury the tracks left by the Magic Beast yet, if this snow doesn't stop, in just two days, it will mix with the blowing wind and erase the tracks left by the Magic Beast's crawling," an old Hunter in the team said, approaching Knight Lanisha, who was leading her horse.

Nodding without much consideration, Knight Lanisha loudly gave orders to the team: "Then speed up. Hunters, quicken your pace. No matter who lives in this Forest, they are very likely to become food for the Magic Beast. Let us force it into a dead end and kill it before it can carry out further slaughter. Advance."

The Hunters responded in unison and quickened their pace down the mountain.

Their party soon entered the Forest. The tracks left by the Magic Beast in the Forest were still easy to distinguish, so they just stepped on the snow compacted by the Magic Beast and quickly advanced along this 'Beast Snow Path'.

Knight Lanisha also mounted her beloved horse, and as the leader and strongest member of the team, she rode at the very front of the party.

Soon, they discovered a place with a small amount of bloodstains and scattered clothing.

After a brief look, everyone could confirm that what the Magic Beast had eaten was not some kind of humanoid Monster, but several Humans, though they couldn't tell what these people actually did.

Without any extra clues, they continued to advance quickly in the direction the Magic Beast had gone again. Since humans had already been eaten by the Magic Beast, they had to be faster.

Before long, they arrived at the first Bandit Camp destroyed by the Magic Beast. At first, the Hunters in the team were both shocked and angry that this Magic Beast had destroyed and eaten so many humans.

But as the Hunters who had spread out to check discovered the small dungeon where the bandits had previously imprisoned female civilians, this party realized that this was not some new settlement of migrants that hadn't been reported, but the Yingdi of a Bandit Group that had been ravaging near Bingxun Pass.

Knight Lanisha opened the map she had brought, and after gesturing for a while, she still couldn't accurately find where they were. She could only confirm by crossing two high mountain peaks that they were no longer near Kendall City or Yinyulin Village, but had arrived in the depths of the mountains and forests on the southwest side of Bingxun Pass.

This place was located at the junction of two counties, and it was all deep mountains and old forests, with basically no human activity.

Unexpectedly, such a Bandit Camp had gathered here. Everyone recalled the many bright spots of fire they had seen in the Forest the previous night, and comparing that to this Bandit Camp destroyed by the Magic Beast, they all guessed that quite a few Bandit Groups had probably gathered here.

Knight Lanisha, who had a deep understanding of the Militia training organized by Knight Kela, understood that although the Militia would go out of Bingxun Pass to clear out bandits hiding in the mountains and forests in recent years, they basically would not go very far; after all, the further they were from Bingxun Pass, the more supplies the numerous Militia needed.

The mountain forests in winter were not convenient for resupply; they could only barely manage to have the outgoing Militia carry more logistical supplies, and after setting out, search for and eliminate all bandits discovered in the mountains and forests.

Just as Knight Lanisha was struggling with whether it was a good thing that the Magic Beast had destroyed this camp where dozens of bandits had gathered, her subordinate Hunters reported to her that something was strange here.

"How is it strange?" she asked.

Riding on her horse, she circled the destroyed Bandit Camp twice, but she didn't see anything strange.

A young Hunter stepped forward and said, scratching his forehead in embarrassment: "It's like this, Sir Knight. When the brothers saw that this place had been destroyed by the Magic Beast, we thought we'd check during our search to see if we could pick up some coins or the like that the bandits might have left behind after dying. After all, that Magic Beast doesn't look like it would need our human coins."

Knight Lanisha nodded; she did not stop her subordinates from obtaining spoils of war on their own. They only needed to hand over the Monsters eliminated in each operation, and other things they discovered themselves did not need to be handed over to her.

Although they hadn't fought with Bandit Groups before, the relevant meaning had already been told to them by her Butler when they joined her Hunter team.

"But everyone searched here several times and only found a tiny bit of copper coins scattered in the snow; the bandits' weapons and a large amount of coins have all disappeared."

Knight Lanisha looked around: "Since this is a Bandit Camp, presumably the surrounding camps should all be Bandit Groups. Someone might have come here before us; those greedy and cowardly guys are like old wolves driven out of a Wolf Pack, letting neither prey nor carrion go. Since that's the case, everyone stay alert. Those damned bandits will not show kindness to us, who are not of their kind. Even if we are here to drive away and crusade against the Magic Beast, even if that Magic Beast will kill all these bandits. From now on, keep an eye on anyone you encounter; if they attack us, we will kill them."

"Yes!" The gathered Hunters responded in unison. They had Knight Lanisha, so they weren't worried at all about running into bandits. No matter how ferocious those bandits were in rumors, these bandits had been completely killed by the Magic Beast, and they could chase the Magic Beast all the way.

So everyone had no fear.

The party, having failed to find anything in this Bandit Camp, simply picked up some food that the bandits had left scattered on the ground, rekindled a fire by the campfire that only had embers left, rested and ate a little, and then continued to chase forward along the tracks left by the Magic Beast.

This time, they walked for a while on the road, and then they saw another Bandit Camp that had been destroyed, as expected.

This Bandit Camp was larger in scale, with bloodstains left after the bandits were killed everywhere. Unlike before, the Hunters discovered some strange weapon parts here.

All the metal objects on the weapons were gone, leaving only weapon parts made of wood, bone, and leather. After discussing it for a while without any good explanation, everyone did a simple check here and prepared to set off again to catch up with the Magic Beast.

Knight Lanisha rode her horse casually through the Bandit Camp, observing the tracks left by the Magic Beast everywhere, judging how much strength the Magic Beast had recovered after eating dozens of people.

Just as she was riding her horse and thinking, she felt someone secretly watching them in the snow of the Forest.

"Who is it? Come out yourself!" Knight Lanisha, drawing the Armor-piercing Rapier at her waist, made her horse run while gesturing for the Hunters to hide on the spot and prepare for battle.

On the other side, Jier, who had just been lying in the snow slowly approaching to observe what this party was doing, didn't expect that just by glancing at the person riding the armored horse, he would be keenly perceived by the other party.

But Jier also suddenly remembered who these people were.

He had run into them not long ago on the road from Yinyulin Village back to Kendall City: an armored Knight leading the team, followed by a Hunter team of about ten people.

They were Knight Lanisha and her Hunter Wolf Hunter team.

Thinking of this, Jier felt he shouldn't continue to hide; after all, the Knight opposite had already entered a combat state, and those agile Hunters had also each taken out their bows and arrows, nocking them and guarding the surroundings.

Jier no longer lay in the snow pile. He stood up, raised both hands for the first time to signal that he was not a danger, and then shouted loudly: "Please don't attack! I am not a bad person."

Unexpectedly, this remark of his actually amused the young Hunters who were hiding.

Knight Lanisha, riding her horse, did not approach Jier, who had stood up, but instead trotted in a circle along the boundary between the edge of the Bandit Camp clearing and the Forest; after confirming there were no other hidden people nearby, she then rode over.

From her horse, she saw this young man who claimed not to be a bad person; beneath a thick wolf-fur Cloak, he wore full-coverage cowhide armor with solid defenses, and hanging from his waist and back were quite a few various weapons—Daggers, Long Swords, Long Spears, and axes were all there.

At a glance, he was clearly no ordinary person.

She rode closer to him, snorted, and said, "In a Forest filled with scum and Monsters, if you say you aren't a bad person, please provide some proof, rather than making empty claims without evidence."

Although Jier was still being aimed at by ten bows and Arrows, he had already seen from the Knight's actions that she had no intention of suddenly charging over to kill him. After secretly letting out a sigh of relief, he said loudly, "If I am not mistaken, are you Knight Lanisha, and are you all the famous Kendall Hunter Wolf team?"

Knight Ranisha jumped off her horse and walked toward this person with her left hand resting on the hilt of the sword at her left waist: "That is correct, as you say. I am Knight Jenny Lanisha, and they are my Hunter subordinates. So, who are you?" In fact, Knight Ranisha had already guessed who the young man opposite her was.

The wolf-fur Cloak the young man wore on the outermost layer for wind protection and warmth was exactly the style of cloak recently worn by the city gate guards of Kendall City. Putting it together, this person was surely the somewhat famous hero of the agricultural god, Qiao-Jier.

"I am Qiao-Jier of Kendall City; if you all have heard my name, then that makes things easier." Seeing the female Knight standing still a few meters away from him, Jier hurriedly pushed back the hood of his Cloak, then opened his Helmet Faceplate, revealing his face, which was somewhere between that of a boy and a young man.

Knight Lanisha remembered seeing this face on her way to Yinyulin Village; at that time, one of this person's legs was strangely framed in a wooden square, and later she heard from the Steward of Yinyulin Village that he was the hero Jier. Seeing him face-to-face this time, it must be him.

"I know you; I remember seeing you on the way to Yinyulin Village. Was your leg broken when you were fighting a Magic Beast?" Knight Lanisha made a gesture to the subordinates behind her, and those Hunters who had Arrows nocked on their bows lowered their weapons and stood up from their respective hiding spots.

Jier scratched his nose awkwardly; he hadn't expected the other party to guess that he was the person they had met back then, likely having learned about it through Steward Irupachi.

"Yes, Knight."

"Why are you here? Behind you is a destroyed Bandit Camp; could it be that you have some connection to those Bandits who were destroyed and killed by the Magic Beast?" In fact, Knight Lanisha had already guessed why Jier was here, but she wanted to hear how the other party would answer.

"No, no. I only defeat Bandits; how could I possibly have any connection to them? You can go to Bingxun Pass and ask the Simons Chamber of Commerce; I previously had quite a conflict with the Bandits while saving the Vice President of their Merchant Guild, and I killed many Bandits." Jier hurriedly explained; as for whether the other party believed his explanation, there was nothing he could do about that.

"Hmm-hm. So, how did you get here?"

"It was truly bad luck. Previously, near Yinyulin Village, I ran into the giant Magic Beast you all are said to be dealing with. I had a brief skirmish with that Magic Beast, but one person is simply no match for it, so I could only run. As it turned out, that Magic Beast chased me relentlessly, so I had no choice but to flee south, because in the Forest near Yinyulin Village, I was absolutely no match for that Magic Beast."

"Hmph-hm, continue."

"I ran south, and that Magic Beast kept chasing. It ended up forcibly climbing a high mountain; the strong winds and heavy snow there couldn't make the Magic Beast behind me give up, and it followed me closely through that hellish place. Then came the Valley between two high mountains; the Magic Beast fell in the snow-filled Valley, and even after rolling into a snowball, it didn't intend to let me go, following me through the high mountain region further south until I arrived here." Jier rambled on, venting all the dissatisfaction from his journey in one go.

Those Hunters slowly approached; since the Knight said he was not an enemy, they approached with peace of mind. Upon getting closer and listening to the young man's words, they exchanged glances, wondering if this young man might be the person they had discovered along the way?

So young?

"Originally, when I saw many lights in the Forest here that didn't go out even at night, I thought I had encountered a Monster settlement or a village hidden deep in the mountains. It was only after I came over and discovered in secret that it was the Bandits hiding in the winter Forest to avoid the Militia's winter cleanup." Jier spread his hands, indicating he felt very wronged.

"And then? We found that the Bandits in those camps were all dead, killed by the Magic Beast, so what did you do? Why are you here instead of staying in the Bandit Camp, which had plenty of supplies? Also, where is that Magic Beast?" Knight Lanisha stood with her hands on her hips, her eyes beneath her Helmet Faceplate staring fixedly at Jier opposite her.

Jier swallowed a mouthful of saliva and still honestly told them what he had done.

"It's like this: originally, that Magic Beast was chasing me the whole time. But after arriving in this Forest, it probably smelled the scent of a large number of Humans, and the Magic Beast, which had been frozen quite badly along the way, kept attacking the Bandits on a large scale. I only dared to approach after the Magic Beast finished eating people, and I picked up some valuable things. Um, thinking that these Bandits deserved to die anyway and it was fine that they were killed by the Magic Beast, I thought I would follow behind the Magic Beast and pick up the wealth left behind by the Bandits."

Knight Lanisha snorted coldly; no wonder her Hunter subordinates hadn't found anything of value in the ruined Bandit camps earlier—it turned out they had all been rummaged through by this lucky young man.

She didn't care about those meager amounts of money; she had her own family territory as a Knight, as well as financial support provided by Kendall Baron, so she didn't care about that. She was just amazed by this young man's boldness.

To actually dare to use a ferocious Magic Beast as a tool to clear out Bandits, and then collect the Bandits' wealth himself—heh, he was truly too bold.

And this guy was able to cross the high mountain region that her group had struggled to get through, all while being chased by a Magic Beast.

This person had real ability; he was exactly the kind of person her Hunter team needed.