Chapter 345: Transition—The Corpse Burner, the Chess Player, and the Contaminated Sword

A militiaman responsible for burning corpses was dragging a stiff, headless body toward the cremation ground, which was emitting a thick, charred stench. He had a piece of cloth wrapped around his face, though its main purpose was not to ward off the smell of the corpses; after all, in such cold weather, even if the bodies were left on the ground, they would not rot, only freeze stiff.

The cloth on his face was primarily to ward off the nauseating, burnt smell that wafted over when the cremation ground reduced flesh to ash. He muttered to himself, complaining incessantly about something.

"Bernie, what are you mumbling about?" another militiaman dragging a corpse asked unhappily. This militiaman was also in a foul mood, especially since the pile of corpses waiting to be burned only grew larger, no matter how much they worked.

"You say, if I go home later and my family finds out I'm responsible for this job at the militia, will they refuse to eat at the same table as me?" Militiaman Bernie looked at his companion for help, asking in a low voice.

"I don't know! But I do know that if they found out, they certainly wouldn't eat anything I cooked ever again." This companion set down a female corpse covered in soot, spread out his own palms, and stared at his ash-covered hands, muttering to himself.

"If that's the case, that's fine; I don't like cooking anyway. In the future, whoever dares to make me cook—whether it's my older brother, second brother, older sister, or second sister—if anyone orders me to cook, I'll tell them what I'm going through right now over and over again! Haha!" Bernie laughed as he dragged the headless corpse toward the cremation ground.

"You're right, I don't like it either. If only they were disgusted by us farming, too. I'd just lie at home all day, and if anyone made me work, I'd tell them: 'Do you really want to eat the grain grown by these hands of mine?' By then, they'd definitely be disgusted." This militiaman wiped his soot-covered hands on his trousers, then grabbed the legs of the woman who had died of suffocation and caught up to Bernie.

Nearby, a supporting militiaman carrying firewood chimed in: "That's hard to say."

"How so?" the two militiamen dragging corpses asked quickly. They were counting on this for amusement; if they didn't even have this benefit, they would have no motivation left at all.

The militiaman carrying a large bundle of firewood in his arms stated his view: "I'm sure they'll be disgusted by you, that's for sure. But you two not wanting to work the fields? That's impossible. Not eating the grain you grow is probably possible; you can just collect it and sell it to the merchants who come to the Cunzi to collect grain. Or just mix the grain you harvest into the Cunzi's granary; either way, no one will be able to tell."

Seeing that his words had deflated the two militiamen mainly responsible for dragging corpses and lighting the fires to clear the ashes, the militiaman who had come to help quickly brought up something else: "The Knight is truly formidable against the Bandits; so many of them were all choked to death inside the Shandong."

"Yeah, there were many women and children, too," the militiaman dragging the female corpse said, gesturing to the body in his hand.

"Who told them not to surrender and to resist to the end? Have you heard? The supply transport team was at Bingxun Pass before and was almost completely burned by the people sent by these Bandits. I guess they resisted because they thought they could burn our supplies and we wouldn't be able to stay here for two days."

"Who did you hear that from? How come I don't know?"

"You two have been so busy these past two days, where would you find the time to chat with everyone? Let me tell you, I heard it from some of the mercenaries who came over this time, the ones who are especially tough."

"Those mercenaries all look like they aren't to be trifled with, and there are quite a few of them. Which ones are you talking about?"

"The ones who don't stop talking loudly wherever they go. I heard them say that it was because they held back many of the Bandits who launched a surprise attack that Lord Longsuosi was able to save our supplies."

"I, for one, don't believe what those mercenaries say. They look just like the Bards who come to the Cunzi to sing and perform during the Harvest Festival—not a word of truth in their mouths, just false, boastful talk."

"Heh heh, I know why you don't like those Bards. Heh heh heh heh."

"Don't say it!"

"Him, he likes that girl who slept with the Bard who came to perform in the Cunzi during this year's Harvest Festival."

"Watch me smash your mouth!"

"Haha, right in the granary, she was calling out so loudly. Hahahaha."

"Don't run! Stand still!"

"Hey, hey, hey, you two, the corpse! Don't drop the corpse on the ground!"

"That's how it is, Uncle Kela. It's all my fault for failing to see through the Bandits' scheme at a critical moment and being lured away. I'm sorry." Lord Longsuosi and Knight Kela were standing in Knight Kela's tent, speaking in low voices.

Knight Kela stood by the terrain map drawn by Jier, arms crossed, looking at the map without looking at Longsuosi.

Longsuosi stood in the middle of the tent, hands pressed against his legs, head bowed, apologizing for his first time participating in the county's affairs and nearly ruining it.

Knight Kela turned around, looked at the Baron's eldest son, and gave a light laugh, easing the heavy atmosphere in the tent: "Enough, the loss was very minor anyway; you did well. Especially since you were able to make a prompt decision to use your Magic crown, which not only froze the Bandits to death but also saved the team's supplies."

Hearing that Knight Kela was not angry, Longsuosi finally let out the breath he had been holding in his chest, and the tense muscles on his face relaxed.

"When I was your age, the trouble I caused with your father was much worse than your mistake." Seeing that Longsuosi intended to ask, he quickly waved his hand: "Don't ask me what happened; I won't tell you. If you want to know, ask your father. Back to the point, you were afraid the Bandits would continue to attack you on the road and you wouldn't be able to ensure the supplies were delivered, so you brought over twenty mercenaries."

"Yes, at the time, it was thanks to those few mercenaries who blocked the Bandits, preventing them from all going to set fires. Otherwise, by the time I arrived, not only would the supplies have been lost, but the Bandits might have all retreated safely. Considering the danger on the road, I had the Merchants who previously wanted to get involved with the Magic Beast corpses organize some capable mercenaries to escort the supplies together." Speaking of this, Longsuosi lowered his head again, because he knew himself that this meant having to split a portion of the profits with those Merchants who helped, or at least letting those Merchants' people learn the details about the Magic Beast.

"Hmm, good judgment. Compared to the unknown profits of the Magic Beast corpses, ensuring the safety of the visible Militia team's supplies is more important. Enough, I'm not scolding you; this small matter isn't worth you being so nervous. No one can handle everything perfectly, especially when doing something for the first time. Never mind you; when I was in the Kingdom Knight Order, I saw too many situations that were not ideal." Patting Longsuosi on the shoulder, Knight Kela continued: "You must know that the things you are involved in are not like playing Magic Chess, where the enemy and yourself on the board can be seen at a glance. Many times, you can only see your own side's affairs, and even more often, you don't even know how many chess pieces you have, or you have to play while blindfolded."

Seeing Longsuosi open his mouth slightly in surprise, Knight Kela explained: "Look, take what you encountered before. You had no idea that Bandits would be bold enough to ambush the supplies you prepared at the pass, right? And what seemed like an affair unrelated to the transport of supplies—uh, a romantic incident? That was also a plan carefully prepared by the Bandits to lure you and the Militia away."

Longsuosi blushed, awkwardly twisting his hands together.

Knight Kela continued: "This is what I said before; when you are playing chess, you cannot see the opponent's pieces." To this, Longsuosi nodded.

"And as you said, those few mercenaries who seemed useless were the important force that held back those Bandits. Isn't this also what I said—you don't even know your own pieces, right?"

Longsuosi realized something and was stunned for a moment.

After the other party came back to their senses, Knight Kela continued: "So, facing this situation where neither the enemy nor yourself is clear, you actually did nothing wrong. Using interests that seem valuable but are not yet clear to win over the Merchants, letting them voluntarily contribute Refining Qi mercenaries as guards. This means?"

Longsuosi followed Knight Kela's rhythm: "This means I not only figured out one of the pieces in my hand, but also let it go from one to many?"

"Not bad, not bad. That's it. When you can't see clearly what the enemy's pieces are, the more pieces you have in your hand, the lower the risk of the chess game. When you only have one piece in your hand, you must be careful with every step. When you hold many pieces, you can eat the enemy pieces that are close and clear. When you judge that the pieces in your hand have the advantage in the overall game, you can capture cities and seize territory, launching an attack."

"Do you understand?"

"I understand."

Knight Kela tidied up his attire, then moved the lighting lamp next to the terrain map drawn by Jier, making the terrain map look clearer: "So, Longsuosi, please help me invite the mercenary representatives waiting outside in; I have something to discuss with them."

"Yes, my lord." Glancing at the surrounding map illuminated brightly and clearly by the lamp, Longsuosi walked out of the tent with great momentum.

Jier was busy in a shared tent with the Knight's guards, simply processing the various spoils of war he had obtained in the battle before.

The Bandits' weapons had to be hammered with the back of his axe into metal rolls that took up as little space as possible; other large pieces of animal hide that the Bandits had wrapped around their bodies had to be trimmed with a Steel Dagger, keeping only the neat, whole pieces of hide. Other small things that looked valuable were also piled together by him, sorted by category.

Then, he brought over a Wooden Box he had spent money to buy and opened it. First, he placed the whole Bandit axe heads and the long and short weapons hammered into rolls at the bottom, then poured in the various coins searched from the Bandits, mostly Iron Coin and copper coins of low face value.

Clatter, clatter—the coins slid into the gaps in the metal, filling the bottom of the box.

Immediately after, Jier placed the neatly rolled animal hides into the box, placing them neatly one after another.

Finally, he wrapped those valuable little trinkets individually with small scraps of animal hide and placed them on the very top of the box.

Closing the lid of the Wooden Box, Jier then wrapped the box left and right, front and back, with sturdy Rope obtained from the Bandits, shook it, and the contents didn't move much.

"Very good, just need to find a place to bury them later. If I weren't unable to leave, I would have returned to Bingxun Pass first to deal with them," Jier muttered to himself.

"Jier! The Craftsman said your weapons are packed! But there seems to be a small problem, he's calling you over to take a look!" Suddenly, a voice came from outside the tent.

"Got it! I'm coming right over, thanks for the message! Wait a moment." After saying this, Jier hid the Wooden Box in his bedding, piled the messy things on the ground into the middle of a tattered animal hide garment, lifted the bundle, and walked out of the tent.

The person who came to remind him hadn't left; waiting at the door, he asked curiously after seeing Jier come out: "What's wrong? I'm still busy!"

Jier carried the tattered animal hide used as a trash bag in one hand, and took out a few copper coins from his chest clothes with the other; because the battle had temporarily ended and the nearby Bandits had been killed, Jier was not wearing armor at this time.

"Hold out your hand." After saying this, he placed the copper coins into the other person's hand: "This is for you, thank you for running over specifically to remind me."

The young man, an assistant to a scribe, felt a bit embarrassed seeing the coins in his hand.

"You know, for a Warrior, his weapon is about the same as his life, so, thank you. Take it," Jier said.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. By the way, you should hurry over; your Long Sword seems to have a small problem, and the Craftsman looks a bit worried." After taking the money, this assistant gave Jier a reminder, and once finished, he left, quickly stuffing the coins he had just received into his inner clothing pocket.

Jier frowned, guessing roughly what the problem was.

Carrying a Leather Bag of odds and ends, Jier arrived at the place where the Craftsman maintained weapons and equipment in the Yingdi.

Ever since the fighting stopped, the Craftsman Kangkuinaersi had become slightly idle. At this moment, he was standing with his hands on his hips, looking at a fine steel Long Sword placed on a simple wooden table.

After Jier walked over, he saw that it was indeed his own Hunting Longsword on the table. It was quite pitiful; the once shiny Hunting Longsword now had many black-red stains on its surface. These stains could not be wiped off, and Jier had no choice but to hand it to the Craftsman to try.

"Craftsman Kangkuinaersi?" Jier reminded the distracted Craftsman.

"Jier, you're here. Sigh, this Long Sword of yours is not easy to handle." The Craftsman picked up the Long Sword and used a finger covered by a thick Craftsman Glove to wipe at the black-red stains on the blade.

Originally, it was just the blood of the Bandit in the crevices of the blade's nicks, but after Jier used the Long Sword to kill some corpses, the things inside those corpses' heads somehow mixed with the bloodstains, and now they could not be wiped off.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Jier felt that since then, his Long Sword seemed to have lost its vigor; when swung through the air, the whistling sound it made was not right.

Jier honestly told the Craftsman Kangkuinaersi the process of how the Long Sword became like this yesterday.

At the time, the Craftsman had confidently stated it was a piece of cake, but looking at it now, the Craftsman seemed to be at a loss as well.

"Is there any way to deal with it? Uncle, it is very important to me."

Rubbing his chin, the Craftsman flicked the blade of the Long Sword and said, "It's not that there's no way. I have an idea, but it must have your approval."

"What method?" Jier said urgently.

Pointing to a small furnace not far away, the Craftsman said, "Burn it with fire. You know, your sword became like this because it eliminated some moving corpses—hee hee, I didn't expect that in these deep mountains, they would really turn into those terrifying things after death. And fire can eliminate the vast majority of evil things. To expel whatever those things are that are attached to the sword, burning it with fire is best."

Jier was just about to agree, but he remembered: "But once a weapon is finished being forged, if it touches fire again, won't the surface of the weapon soften?"

Nodding, the Craftsman Kangkuinaersi said, "Of course, after touching fire, the hardening of the weapon's surface from quenching will be gone. But there's no other way for this Long Sword of yours, right?"

Resignedly nodding, Jier had no other options, so he accepted the other party's plan. He only looked at the crude Forging Tool Set the Craftsman had here: "However, your equipment here doesn't seem up to the task, does it? Don't your weapon workshops have so many large and hot furnaces and various forging tables?"

"Kid, that's in Kendall City! Out here in the wilderness, having these tools is already not bad. Of course, they are indeed not good enough; they are far from what I usually use. If you aren't in a hurry to use it, I also suggest that after you return to Kendall City, you spend money to find a skilled Craftsman to use fire to expel the evil attached to it."

Jier felt that this was the best method. He really didn't trust the crude Forging Tool Set of the Craftsman Kangkuinaersi here; after all, the Hunting Longsword was his main weapon for killing enemies, and now that he had encountered such a difficult problem, he had to make the best preparations.

His other weapons and equipment had already been repaired by the Craftsman, so Jier hugged the box containing his armor, tucked the Long Sword and Long Spear under his arms, and returned to his tent.

After returning, he checked the Hunting Longsword in its poor state again. In the quiet tent, after he brought his ear close to the Long Sword, he seemed to hear a burst of roaring from the corpses. This gave him a fright, and in the end, he put it into the Sword Sheath and set it aside. It probably shouldn't be used in the following battles, at least not until the abnormal state on the sword was dealt with.

At night, he asked the Knight Kela for a token to enter and exit the Yingdi, then took advantage of the night to carry the heavy Wooden Box out of the Yingdi. After walking a long way, he found a place to hide the Wooden Box under the thick accumulated snow. Then he camouflaged it so that even he himself couldn't tell at a glance that something was hidden there.

The next day, the Militia Yingdi began to be dismantled. After the Militia teams received the second wave of supplies, they spent a day distributing various materials, and then set off a day later.

Jier was required to walk at the very front, leading the team to guide the large group of Militia toward the Forest where the Bandits spent the winter, and to find the corpse of the giant Magic Beast.

As for the Local Guide civilians who had been rescued by Jier, after seeing with their own eyes that all the Thieves of Luodai Cave were dead, they followed the team of Longsuosi and began to return to Bingxun Pass.

Of course, the mercenaries sent by those Merchants would continue to advance with the large group of Militia. And because there were still too many various materials in the lair of the Thieves of Luodai Cave, and there were still many dead bodies, the Knight Kela left behind three units of Spear Militia to be responsible for guarding the empty Shandong of the Thieves' lair and helping to burn the dead bodies of the Bandits.

They also had to wait for the third batch of supplies, and afterwards, coordinate with the Priest of the Church of the God of the Dead who would certainly come, to deal with the Shikeng not far away.