Chapter 477: Inquiry, the Recent Situation of Lanse-Qingting Cunzi

Jier did not understand, so he naturally asked about his confusion.

Upon hearing this, the two young men gave an answer: "Because you just said you would rely on this secret passage to break into the village and take our village in one fell swoop."

"But that is impossible; those damned evil soldiers lurking around the village simply do not have the strength to take our village in one fell swoop," one person said.

The other person continued: "And now that this secret passage has been discovered, the people who just fled back into the village will definitely use dirt to completely seal it off at the first opportunity. We had already prepared to seal the secret passage."

Only then did Jier understand why he had been exposed the moment he opened his mouth while pretending to be a Defeated Soldier; it turned out that the number of Defeated Soldiers around Lanse-Qingting Cunzi was not as high as he had imagined. If they were talking about taking Changmai Cunzi, they might be able to do it in one go, but for Lanse-Qingting Cunzi, which had twice the population of Changmai Cunzi, it was impossible for those people to take it head-on. They had to weaken it first, or use various methods to create panic and divide the fighting spirit and the level of support for resistance versus surrender among the villagers of Lanse-Qingting Cunzi.

"But why did you two want to commit suicide just now? I feel that even being captured is better than suicide; after all, once a person is dead, there is nothing left." Jier still had questions, because the two men's suicide attempt just now had been sincere; if Jier hadn't quickly grabbed the blades of their Daggers with his hands and forcibly stopped the act of suicide, these two young men would already be dead.

At the mention of this, the two young men looked at each other and explained with trembling voices: "Previously, we were deceived by those Defeated Soldiers. Some villagers were tricked out of the village and captured by those bad guys. At the time, everyone didn't know they were truly that evil, so several people surrendered."

"As a result, after being captured, those bad guys tortured them until they were no longer human while escorting them south. One brave person took advantage of the night to escape and run back to the village. He told everyone about the situation after being captured. Only then did we realize that sometimes, being captured alive and suffering that kind of endless torture is worse than just dying."

Jier frowned, his heart feeling heavy, and a bad premonition arose. He asked cautiously: "Could you tell me how those bad guys torture the people they capture?"

With looks of difficulty on their faces, the two young men said, one after the other: "We only heard this from the person who escaped back."

"Those bad soldiers first strip all the captured people, regardless of gender, and make everyone walk naked while tied up with Rope."

Jier frowned.

"Then that same night, the girls and women who were caught were taken turns being tormented by those bad guys all night long, almost dying on the spot."

Jier took a deep breath.

"Immediately after, during the subsequent journey, those bad guys would constantly insult and beat us villagers who were captured at will. Some people had their teeth knocked out, and the fingers on their left hands would be broken off for the bad guys' amusement and bets. Sometimes, because they walked slowly, they would be dragged along the ground by their hair. When staying overnight, they would make the captives kneel on the ground to serve as chairs, and those bad guys would sit on them for amusement and humiliation."

Jier's face turned cold. He dared not imagine the long-term torture the captured Changmai Cunzi villagers had suffered, or rather, after such a long time, could anyone still be alive amidst such escalating humiliation and torture?

Jier's left hand subconsciously grabbed the hilt of the Long Sword at his waist, gripping it tightly, and his Sword also felt its master's emotions, trembling slightly, ready to be drawn to kill the enemy at any moment.

The two young men stopped talking as they spoke; it was not that the torture methods they had heard from the escapee were finished, but that they felt a sensation from the young Warrior in front of them that made them extremely afraid.

They were clearly two sturdy young men older than Jier, yet at this moment, the two of them huddled together, shivering like two little chicks.

Seeing their appearance, Jier realized that they had been terrified by him.

He hurriedly retracted the killing intent he had released due to his anger, looked elsewhere, took a deep breath, and apologized to the two: "Sorry, as soon as I heard what you said, I thought of the situation of the Changmai Cunzi villagers I need to rescue on this trip. If just being captured has caused your village's villagers to suffer such insults, I dare not imagine what the Changmai Cunzi villagers, who were taken away many days ago, look like at this moment, or rather, sigh, are they still alive right now?"

Unexpectedly, after accepting Jier's sincere apology, the two young men said: "Perhaps they are still alive, maybe?"

Jier's eyes lit up, and he immediately turned back to ask: "How so?"

The two young men said hesitantly: "Cunzi Priest and Elders in the village inferred from the account of the person who escaped back that although those damned bad guys constantly insult and beat our captured villagers, they never harm their legs or right hands. This is very likely because they need them to walk and do work, so they dare not injure the legs used for walking and the right hands that can do work."

Jier narrowed his eyes: "So that's how it is. I understand. In that case, I estimate there is still time, there is still time."

He then looked at them: "Let's go, follow me. I will take you two back to my caravan, and we will enter your village together through the main gate. Let me tell you, this time, it is not just me here; Bata'er Jiaoshi and I have also organized a team of twenty Warriors, and plus me, a young Knight, we will definitely be able to rescue all the captured villagers—not just the Changmai Cunzi villagers, but also the villagers of your Lanse-Qingting Cunzi who were taken away earlier."

After speaking, Jier stopped riding his horse; he called over Tianxuecao, led it, and walked with the two young men toward the direction of the caravan.

On the way, he saw the figure of Bata'er Jiaoshi riding a horse out of the Lanse-Qingting Cunzi gate, heading toward the caravan. However, the two were quite far apart; he was on the west side of the village, while Bata'er Jiaoshi went directly from the north gate of the village to the caravan's position further north.

Because the distance was too great, Jier could see the Priest, but his shouts could not be heard by the other side, so he could only watch the Priest return to the caravan, while he could only slowly walk back to the caravan's position with the two Lanse-Qingting Cunzi villagers.

Along the way, Jier asked the two villagers about the recent situation in Lanse-Qingting Cunzi, but these two young men did not say much about the village's situation, instead asking about Jier's situation.

To gain their trust, Jier roughly told them how he met Bata'er Jiaoshi, how he accepted the mission for this trip, and how he accepted a large number of Refugee youths at Baishi Pass. Afterward, he told them how he led the Refugee youths to defeat the Bandit Group blocking the road, how they traveled all the way to Sasi County, and the current situation in the north of Sasi County.

"Ah? Is the north that miserable!" The two young men looked at each other, their faces full of surprise.

"It sounds much more terrifying than here. Yuck—I don't want those vines to drill into my brain. I would rather be captured by those bad soldiers than, ugh, have a ball of moving vines drill into my stomach and eat my Viscera," one young man said, making a vomiting gesture as he spoke; clearly, he was frightened by the imagined scene.

The other young man disliked being tortured even more, so he retorted: "What's that? Anyway, if you are parasitized, you would probably just die directly, which actually saves a lot of torture. I am more afraid of being caught, where you have to be tortured if you want to live, and you can't die even if you want to."

"Then what about you? Jier, which one do you think is more terrifying?" Jier had told them his name, so the two young men could call Jier by name, but they did not take Jier's casually mentioned status as a Knight seriously, so they spoke to Jier in a carefree manner.

Jier shrugged: "I am not afraid of either. It's not that I don't care about those tortures and terrifying experiences, but rather that, with my skills, whether it is the plant vines that parasitize Humans or the Defeated Soldiers who are evil to the core, neither is a match for me."

The two young men looked at Jier's weapons and equipment, as well as the warhorse wearing Armor, and did not think Jier was wrong. But privately, they still felt that if the bonuses from the weapons and equipment were removed, Jier probably wouldn't be able to say what he just said.

The three walked for quite a while before they reached the location of the caravan, and the caravan was indeed still in place, waiting for Jier to rendezvous.

Seeing Jier walking back with two Lanse-Qingting Cunzi villagers, Bata'er Jiaoshi was stunned for a moment, though he didn't say much; instead, his state at this moment greatly surprised Jier.

Because Bata'er Jiaoshi had clearly had a good cry earlier; not only was the collar of his Robe soaked with his tears and snot, but traces of having cried bitterly were still faintly visible on his face, and his eyes were red and bloodshot.

"Priest, what happened to you?" As soon as Jier asked, he understood why Bata'er Jiaoshi had been delayed in returning and why he was in this state.

Clearly, as soon as the Priest entered the village, he had been told by the villagers about the abuse and insults that would be suffered after being captured. Thinking of the villagers of his own village being treated this way by those evil Defeated Soldiers, he would inevitably have had a good cry.

Therefore, being delayed was perfectly normal; it was just human nature.

"Sorry, when I arrived at the village just now, I heard the villagers talk about the recent situation, and only then did I realize how evil those people are. How can people do such abominable things?"

Jier sighed: "Priest, have you forgotten the Bandit Groups we wiped out along the way? In fact, most of those bandits have done similar things. Of course, I have already given those bandits who committed evil deeds the punishment they deserve, which can be considered a comfort to the feelings and emotions of those who were tortured. Do you remember how I did it?"

The Priest sniffed, his tone turning firm as he said: "You killed most of them and sold the remaining small portion to the Merchant Guild in Dorn Town, making them do hard labor for the rest of their lives to repay the wrongdoings they committed."

At this time, Weier in the caravan shrank his neck, feeling that it was better to minimize his presence at this moment. At the same time, he once again felt annoyed at his previous behavior of getting entangled with the Bandit Group. This was like an indelible stain; every time it was mentioned, it made him feel that his behavior of mixing with the Bandit Group was indirectly helping those bandits do evil things.

Even if he himself had not harmed any passing merchants or pedestrians, he had still done something wrong.

Because once he joined the Bandit Group, this identity as a bandit would always affect his subsequent revenge career.

Jier nodded to the Priest: "So don't worry, I will kill all those soldiers who committed wrongdoings one by one, correct them, and give the suffering people a fierce vent."

"Hey, hey, hey, Jier, anyone can talk big, but don't take the bragging you did seriously."

"Yeah, just before you arrived, at noon, those bad guys suddenly appeared and kidnapped two villagers who were out watering the fields!"

The two young men were startled when they first saw Jier's caravan, but after seeing Bata'er Jiaoshi, they recognized this Cunzi Priest from the southern village who was about their age, and knowing that the caravan and Jier were indeed reinforcements found by the Priest, their courage grew, and they interrupted.

Before Jier could ask about the situation at noon, the Warriors on the carriage scolded the two young villagers: "Hey! How are you talking to Lord Jier!"

"Exactly, you must use honorifics when talking to Knight Jier. If you don't know honorifics, then just use the way you talk to your elders!"

"You cannot talk to Knight Jier with 'hey, hey, hey'!"

The Warriors' scolding frightened the two local villagers. Jier hurriedly waved his hand with a smile: "Alright, alright, you've scared them both. They don't know who I am, so it doesn't matter if they speak casually. By the way, I want to ask what happened at noon? And why were you hiding in the trellis of the green eggplants earlier, and why did you run to the secret passage by the big tree after seeing me?"

The two young villagers were stammering at this time, not knowing how to speak to Jier, clearly realizing only now that this young man, who was younger than them but had a warhorse and Armor, was a Knight that the elders had once spoken of.

The kind of terrifying Knight who could fight a hundred people alone.

It was Bata'er Jiaoshi, who had just come out of the village, who knew the situation, so he stood up, comforted the two young men, and then explained to Jier: "I know, I heard from the people in the village just now. At noon, because the weather was hot, the villagers didn't think those Defeated Soldiers would come out in the heat of the day, so they organized some people, took weeding hoes and watering basins, and wanted to come out to take care of the farmland that needed attention."

"But there are those soldiers active outside; aren't they being too bold? It's a bit too risky," Jier judged.

The Priest shook his head: "Everyone is still reluctant to abandon the farmland they've already planted, and those soldiers probably consider the grain in the fields outside the village as their own; they haven't deliberately destroyed the farmland or crops before, so everyone has been taking the risk to go out and weed, and to water some of the remote fields that lack water."

"But something happened anyway!" At this moment, a young Villager still spoke up boldly.

Another also added boldly: "They had people lying in ambush in the farmland the whole time. When we first came out, they didn't move; it wasn't until we were halfway through our work that they jumped out and snatched two of our people. Damn it! How can they be so evil!"

Jier looked up at the sky and discovered that it was already past mid-afternoon; in another hour or two, it would be dark, and it was hard to say whether the Defeated Soldiers who had snatched the people were still around Lanse-Qingting Cunzi.

And would the arrival of his caravan cause those people to hide, or retreat directly?

From the fact that those Defeated Soldiers did not attack Jier's caravan, Jier analyzed that the number of Defeated Soldiers around Lanse-Qingting Cunzi might not be large, and perhaps only a small number of soldiers responsible for Scout duties in the army were active in the area, while the majority of the people had not actually followed them here.

That is why the villagers of Lanse-Qingting Cunzi believed that those Defeated Soldiers could not take this place.

"By the way, in the time since the incident at Changmai Cunzi, have those Defeated Soldiers organized a formal offensive to attack your village?" Jier asked the two villagers.

Hearing Jier's question, the two looked at each other and then shook their heads: "No, they haven't had many people appear at once; mostly it's a few people, or a dozen or so appearing, or they rely on changing their identities to deceive us and abduct people from our village. The most at one time was twenty-some people pretending to be a Caravan from the north, wanting to enter the village, but the Priest of our village had people check their goods and cargo before they entered the village. As a result, they just snatched the three people who went out of the village to check right outside the village gate."

Jier rolled his eyes a few times and pointed out a key point: "The so-called goods and cargo of the Caravan they pretended to be could have been other soldiers hiding inside! If you hadn't insisted on checking and had let them in directly, they might have taken the gate of your village directly, and that would have been disastrous."

"Perhaps there were even more Defeated Soldiers hiding in the Shulin outside the village at that time. Thinking about it this way, they actually did organize a plan to attack the village and implemented it, but it was seen through in advance and failed, so they just simply snatched a few people and retreated."

Hearing Jier's analysis, the two villagers also felt a wave of lingering fear.

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