Chapter 310: Bandits and Hunters — Two Different Sides

For the Bandit Leaders of the other two groups, demonstrating their strength and playing a key role in the incident of exterminating the attacking Magic Beast was indeed an act that could allow their own groups to become the "decision-makers" here.

But the prerequisite was that their own teams could not suffer excessive losses.

Compared to that veteran Bandit Group in the middle of the formation, these two groups, established for no more than ten years, only held an advantage in numbers. As veteran bandits, the leaders of these two groups saw this point clearly.

Therefore, in the subsequent actions, it was appropriate to make a contribution, but the timing of their team's strike had to be mastered well; since that veteran Bandit Group was full of confidence and eager to try, then let them fight first.

If the battle against the Magic Beast went poorly, who knows, they might be able to find another way to determine the strongest Bandit Group in the area.

For example, by joining forces to eliminate the strongest team?

Separated by the Bandit Group in the middle, the leaders of the two Bandit Groups on either side stared at each other from afar for a while. Relying on the understanding gained from years of clashing, they each confirmed through a few distant glances that the other was harboring the same thought as themselves.

What a sinister fellow.

What a sinister thing.

They each thought to themselves, then quietly relayed possible arrangements to their close subordinates, letting them prepare early. They didn't want to be in a situation where, when it was time to strike, their own foolish subordinates were still stupidly trying to defeat the Magic Beast.

Just as these three Bandit Groups were each harboring their own ulterior motives, from the distance of the Forest, in the direction they were advancing, a thick, dark column of smoke rose up. Even in this gloomy, snowy weather, it was very conspicuous; it would be hard for anyone not to notice it.

Can Magic Beasts set fires?

This question is hard to say. Magic Beasts are wild creatures that possess powerful Magic Power; the magic abilities they possess at birth vary, and their strength naturally differs as well. But this logic was not clear to the bandits, who basically lacked any knowledge or culture.

So, after seeing the thick black smoke rising, the various bandits discussed it, saying that the black smoke was either set by the Magic Beast, or it was a means used by the Bandit Group in that direction to resist the Magic Beast by raising flames after being attacked.

Several Bandit Leaders also roughly thought this way. It was just that, unlike the leaders of the other two Bandit Groups who had never fought a Magic Beast, the old leader of the middle Bandit Group, who had the record of personally leading men to drive away a Magic Beast, did not think that the "fish-belly" Bandit Group in that direction had the strength to resist the Magic Beast's attack; most likely, the fire had ignited the entire Yingdi in the panic, and those bandits were likely in grave danger.

He called over his son and whispered for his son to personally take men on horseback to scout the situation and see what the actual circumstances were, and whether the Magic Beast was still there. This information was very important for the subsequent actions.

Of course, the first-hand information obtained by his son leading men to get there first could naturally not be shared with the other Bandit Groups. After all, they had now entered into a competition to deal with the Magic Beast; whoever could defeat the Magic Beast first would naturally become the strongest group here.

A young bandit named Kesilusi, carrying his Changgan Yuanchui on his back, took two subordinates and rode off on horseback to scout the situation first. Seeing this, the other two Bandit Leaders followed suit and each dispatched one capable subordinate on horseback to follow them.

In any case, the situation was unclear now; whatever the middle Bandit Group did, they would learn to do the same.

However, they did not see that the old leader, who was still eating thin strips of dried meat, curled the corners of his mouth, masking his mocking smile with the facial movements of chewing the meat.

Up ahead in the distance, Kesilusi, leading his two subordinates, also revealed a mocking smile just like his old man. With a simple signal to his subordinates, the three of them veered off from the direction they were supposed to be advancing, turned at an angle, and rode off in another unrelated direction.

The two bandits following closely behind were puzzled, but their leaders had previously instructed them to follow and learn; no matter what the other party did, they just had to learn to do the same.

Because they had no experience in facing Magic Beasts, learning the other party's behavior was the way to go; perhaps hidden within those various behaviors were important moves they did not understand.

After traveling for a while, Kesilusi felt they had deviated from the main force's path, so he whistled. The other two bandits, knowing the meaning of the Young Leader's whistle, directly followed Kesilusi in turning their horses' heads and charged rapidly toward the two bandits following closely behind them.

Kesilusi dealt with one himself, while his two subordinates on the other side joined forces to deal with one terrified bandit.

"Damn it! What are you doing?" The two bandits who were being ambushed in return were terrified, but they performed every evasive maneuver they should have; who hadn't engaged in double-crossing before? Everyone was very proficient in this kind of clash, but they hadn't expected the other side to suddenly strike like this?

Kesilusi held his Changgan Yuanchui above his head and spun it, not wasting any words, and directly smashed the hammer head toward the horse the bandit was riding.

To hit a man, first hit the horse; when ambushing each other, the first point is that you cannot let the other party run away.

With a dull thud, the bandit's horse that was struck only let out a mournful cry before falling to the ground, with only enough strength left to gasp for air. The bandit riding the horse had jumped off the horse before it was struck.

If it were normal times, doing this would be a bit too dangerous, with the possibility of breaking an arm or a leg. But now, the ground in the Forest was covered in thick, white snow, and falling into it wouldn't cause any harm.

With a *thump*, he dove into the deep snow and immediately scrambled on all fours toward the trees not far away. That guy was riding a horse, so he couldn't outrun them; he could only use the tree trunks to block the impact and attacks of the other party's horses.

But before he could reach the tree, he was struck in the back by the heavy round hammer thrown from behind.

The heavy round hammer broke his spine and all the organs inside his chest; the bandit's eyes went black, and he knew nothing more.

Kesilusi rode over, jumped off his horse, and slung his weapon onto his back. The round hammer was clean, not a drop of blood on it. That's the good thing about blunt weapons; after killing someone, you can't tell a thing.

He scooped up the snow around the dead bandit with his hands and simply buried the bandit's rapidly cooling corpse under the white snow. It was still snowing in the sky; he only needed to bury it simply, and nature would finish the rest of the traces for him.

By the time this person was discovered later, it would have to wait until early winter next year. Because once spring arrived, the Bandit Groups would all go out, and very few teams would stay until the snow in the Forest melted before leaving. And when they came back in early winter next year, who would be able to tell who this person was from a pile of white bones?

As for the question of whether a dead body would resurrect, he rarely considered it, because even if a dead body resurrected, what could it do? This person was knocked down by him in one blow while alive; what could he do as a corpse?

Wasn't it just the result of being smashed by his hammer?

Kesilusi incidentally hammered the other party's horse to death as well and buried it with snow. After finishing, he mounted his horse and ran toward his subordinates' position. After walking only a few steps, his two subordinates came over; it seemed they were done too.

"How is it? Is it buried?" He rode alongside his subordinates.

One subordinate patted a new weapon at his waist and said triumphantly: "That guy wanted to run, but I shot an arrow right into his horse's butt hole, haha, and it was flipped to the ground by the horse. Nuersi rode his horse over and chopped that guy's head off with an axe. This weapon of his isn't bad; it actually has a few Gems embedded in the hilt. Young Leader, do you want to see? But it's agreed, you can only look; this is something I and Nuersi snatched."

The other subordinate was riding his horse, controlling it with only his legs; he took out a dirty rag and wiped the blood off his axe: "We simply buried the corpses; this snow will help us finish the rest of the work."

Kesilusi was satisfied with their burying of the corpses, but he was quite dissatisfied that his subordinate had kept the weapon of the killed bandit: "You can't keep the weapon, it's too conspicuous; throw it away quickly. Of course, you can just pry those few Gems off and hide them. Gems, ah, when the snow melts next year, you'll have to treat us to a few days of fun at Bingxun Pass."

The subordinate, who had been unhappy when his Young Leader told him to throw the weapon away, immediately became happy upon hearing that his Young Leader allowed him to keep the most valuable Gems from the weapon. He immediately used his Dagger to pry the Gems off, carefully putting them into a small wooden bottle used for storing wine; he didn't feel safe putting these small and valuable Gems with other things on his body. After rummaging for a long time, this thing was much safer.

He just had to be careful when drinking.

After finishing, he threw the weapon far into the snow. As soon as the weapon landed, it was covered by the snow, leaving no trace.

Jier and his party kept chasing behind the injured Magic Beast, in hot pursuit.

Through the traces left by the Magic Beast crawling along the way, they discovered that the Magic Beast's wounds were healing at an astonishing speed.

"Is it really because it ate too many Humans?" Knight Lanisha muttered to herself while sitting on her horse. Unlike Humans, who cannot quickly repair themselves after being injured, Magic Beasts with strong physiques are simply matter-conversion machines; after a large amount of predation, they can rely on food to repair their own bodily damage.

"Therefore." Suddenly, Knight Lanisha's originally muttering voice amplified, making it clear to everyone in the team: "If you want to successfully crusade against a Magic Beast without having the absolute strength to defeat it in one go, the key lies in not giving it the opportunity to feed continuously."

"My Lady, what do you mean?" An old Hunter asked.

Knight Lanisha pointed with her finger to a place some distance ahead, where there was smoke from a campfire emitted by a normal Bandit Camp, and the traces left by the Magic Beast showed that it was trying to head toward this Bandit Camp.

"Ahead is a Bandit Camp, and the Magic Beast wants to go there to prey on Humans right now. It didn't devour many people in the previous Bandit Camp, and the remaining corpses were all burned by us. Now that it is seriously injured, it must rely on sufficient 'food' to recover. We cannot give it this opportunity!" Knight Lanisha said this through gritted teeth.

Although she didn't say it explicitly, the intended meaning was obvious; at least Jier understood.

The meaning that this female Knight found hard to say explicitly was that she would go to block the Magic Beast, letting them—the subordinates who were of little use against the Magic Beast—seize the time to defeat the Bandit Group in the Bandit Camp and burn the corpses of the bandits they killed, not giving the Magic Beast a single source of potential 'food'.

"We understand, My Lady, please take care and be sure to stay safe." Several old Hunters looked at each other and then said.

Knight Lanisha kicked her horse's belly hard with both legs, making her beloved horse accelerate. After the warhorse accelerated, it suddenly broke away from the team. Knight Lanisha turned her head and said loudly to her subordinates: "You all, too, don't die. Warrior Jier, let me see your skills; see if they are as outstanding as people say in the rumors. Giddyap!"

The female Knight quickly chased along the traces left by the Magic Beast. Before long, they heard the Magic Beast's terrified squeaking sounds and the sound of trees in the Forest collapsing.

Jier pulled at the corners of his mouth; he didn't know how it happened, but they had reached this point, but now that the arrow was on the string, it had to be fired. He had no choice but to follow the Hunters' footsteps, and the group headed straight toward the Bandit Camp not far ahead.

Thanks to Knight Lanisha forcing the Magic Beast to another place, the Magic Beast was still barely crawling toward the direction of the Bandit Camp. The time left for them was not much, and what result they could achieve was an unknown.

Everyone in the group quickened their pace, and while nearing the Bandit Camp, they abandoned the small carts they had been pulling and each prepared their weapons.

The Hunters' weapons were naturally mainly bows and arrows, but they also each possessed various melee weapons: small axes, Short Swords, and all sorts of Cleavers. Jier did not feel their weapons were suitable for intense close-quarters combat; those weapons were fine for self-defense, but otherwise, they would be of little use, especially in the battle that was bound to be extremely fierce in a moment.

In fact, Knight Ranisha did not insist on killing all the Bandits in the Bandit Camp ahead; scattering them would also suffice. As long as the Bandits were not given the opportunity to let the Magic Beast devour a large number of Humans, even if they scattered and fled, it would still play an important role in their subsequent handling of the Magic Beast.

Approaching the Bandit Camp rapidly, through the sparse trees, one could already see a large number of startled Bandits gathering in the camp, holding various weapons and looking into the distance at the place where the Knight and the Magic Beast were fighting.

Their attention had all been drawn by the noise generated by the battle there.

The Hunters naturally would not let this good opportunity pass; after getting close, they did not swagger out to attack the Bandits, but instead carefully hid behind the trunks of the trees, preparing to fire their arrows together in a moment to catch the Bandits off guard.

Jier also directly put down the Backpack he was carrying on his back, and while the Hunters were not paying attention, he quickly took out a Red-eye Mushroom Sugar Pill and popped it into his mouth, chewing vigorously.

An axe used to deal with Monsters naturally could not be used to deal with Human Bandits; this was a promise he had made to the blacksmith who gave him the axe, and he did not intend to break it. Moreover, he himself could vaguely feel that this weapon seemed to think the same way.

Tossing aside the wolf-head hood on his head, Jier equipped his new Metal Shield with his left hand and drew his Hunting Longsword with his right.

It was a pity that his previous Long Spear had been taken by Knight Ranisha to deal with the Magic Beast. He had asked about it earlier, and Knight Ranisha said it had already pierced into the Magic Beast's body and could not be returned to Jier for now, but once the Magic Beast was defeated, it would naturally be possible to retrieve the spearhead of that Long Spear and use it again.

Hiding behind a tree trunk, Jier watched the Hunters around him, waiting for them to launch the first wave of attacks.

Seeing that Jier was also ready for battle, and after they had all nocked their Arrow onto their bows, the Hunters began with one of the most experienced old Hunters in the group. The other Hunters followed in turn, drawing their bows, aiming, and releasing; a rain of arrows flew out of the Forest, skimming over the snow-covered clearing dozens of meters away, striking the unsuspecting Bandits one by one.

"Ambush!"

"Damn it, where did the bows and arrows come from? Take cover, take cover!"

"That direction, it's that direction!"

"Which direction? You f***ing make it clear!"

"Uh, the Northwest side, look, they're charging over."

"Where the hell are you from, f***! The people who came aren't in our line of work. Charge up and kill them!"

The last sentence was shouted by a tall, thin Bandit Leader. He held a Single-handed Axe in one hand and a large Round Shield in the other, leading quite a few Bandits who had not been hit in vital spots by the arrows as they charged over.

It was mainly because the Hunters' side was clearly outnumbered; including Jier, there were only eleven of them, while the Bandits, even after subtracting those injured in the first two waves of arrow attacks, still numbered at least forty.

They felt they had the numbers, so naturally, under the leadership of the Bandit Leader, they all pressed forward.

Before the attack, the Hunters had made a simple tactical plan: first, an arrow assault, then lure the Bandits into the Forest, and relying on the Hunters' years of experience in fighting and hunting in the Forest, fight while retreating, circling the outer edge of this Bandit Camp in a semicircle.

Jier's main role was to prevent the Bandits from charging too quickly and catching up to the retreating Hunters while the group fought and withdrew.

After the first two waves of arrow fire, they all came out of the Forest for a moment; this was a tactic to let the Bandits see them, thereby luring the Bandits over.

The other Hunters had already retreated into the Forest in groups of five, but Jier did not retreat. He rested his Long Sword on the edge of his Shield, crouched his body low, and quickened his breathing to provide power to his body. At the same time, the eyes inside Jier's Helmet gradually turned red amidst the rapid breathing.

"Jier! What are you doing? Retreat quickly!" a young Hunter shouted to Jier, who was still remaining in place.

Jier heard him, but he crouched even lower. His eyes were fixed tightly on the one in the middle of the rapidly charging Bandits. Just by seeing that all the other Bandits centered themselves around that person, he could guess that this man was the leader of this group of Bandits.

To defeat these Bandits who held the numerical advantage, one had to defeat their gang leader.

In an instant, Jier exploded from the ground; even wearing a full suit of armor could not stop his footsteps as he accelerated into an all-out charge. The whole person only kicked off the snow on the ground a few times in a short distance to accelerate, then charged straight toward the large group of Bandits with his Shield held in front.

The Bandit Leader was not stupid either; as they charged toward this group of people who had attacked them, he discovered that the person wearing armor was staring at him intently.

Although he could not see the other person's eyes through the full-coverage Helmet, he just knew that the other person was coming for him.

Sure enough, by the time the others had all fled into the woods, this person remained crouched low, still staring at him.

This reminded him of an experience a few years ago when he went out to raid and was once ambushed by a mountain leopard hiding in the grass while he was alone.

That mountain leopard was just like this person, crouching low and staring tightly at its opponent.

Although the burning murderous intent could not be hidden due to hunger, that murderous intent had stunned him on the spot at the time. It was thanks to him throwing a wild rabbit he had hunted toward the mountain leopard, using a rabbit to dispel the possibility of a life-and-death struggle between him and the mountain leopard, that he escaped with his life.

But today is different from the past; he is not alone, but has several dozen of his men following him.

Let alone a mountain leopard, even a black mountain bear two people tall could be taken down by his brothers.