Chapter 480: Priest Jialade-Ruidekasi

"Hey, young man, I am Jialade-Ruidekasi, an old and useless Priest. I sense powerful Divine Power of the Agricultural God in you. You must be the reinforcements little Luosa found! What should I call you?"

The old man was straightforward, introducing himself directly and asking Jier to introduce himself.

Jier clicked his heels together, stood straight, struck his left chest with his right fist, and responded loudly: "Greetings, Priest. I am Qiao-Jier, an Agricultural God Warrior recognized by the Agricultural God Church in Kendall City, Kendall County, Northwest Province. I once received a Sixth-Rank Protection Badge awarded by the Agricultural God Church, though unfortunately, the badge was destroyed in a battle. I have come with my Warriors and Priest Bataer to defeat these Defeated Soldiers and rescue the Villagers of Changmai Village. However, looking at it now, I must also rescue the Villagers of Lanse-Qingting Village who were recently abducted."

"Northwest Province, that is truly far. I visited there twice when I was young. The population is sparse, and there are far more beasts and monsters than settled people; it is a difficult place. I once led an expedition team to inspect the Boundary Stones set by the gods on the border of the Northwest Province. And another time, let me think, I led a group of migrants there to look for land to settle on. Later, we chose a flat place by a river to establish a settlement. I remember there were many pine trees there. That first winter, thanks to those slow-burning pine trees, our migrants survived the exceptionally heavy snow and the cold of that winter..."

The old Priest went on and on, but Jier did not mind, because he realized from the other's words that it was highly likely that Pine Needle Town, which he had passed through, was actually established by this old Priest decades ago leading migrants?

This was truly hard for him to imagine.

The bustling Pine Needle Town, now populous and full of trade, was actually established by the Village Priest of this remote village that few people had heard of.

Jier asked: "Then do you know a Knight named Gulov?"

"Little Gulov? The name sounds familiar. Was he a tall young man with a shy smile? Oh, about your age, a very lively lad. It's a pity his parents were killed by monsters on the road. He always said he wanted revenge. I don't know if he ever found the monster that killed his parents after all these years." The old Priest rambled on as usual; he seemed to have an endless supply of things to say.

Jier couldn't help but exhale and said in a deep voice: "I once heard from Knight Gulov's son that when the old Knight Gulov was young, he killed all the Magic Beasts and monsters in his territory."

The old Priest was silent for a moment: "Oh, so that's how it is. He kept the promise he made..."

The old man was silent, while Priest Bataer at the side looked anxious, wanting to interrupt but feeling too embarrassed to do so.

The old Priest disliked this look on Priest Bataer the most, so he immediately scolded him: "Little Luosa! Why are you like this again? You are a Village Priest, and everyone in the village is counting on you, so stop showing this timid look! If you have something to say, say it; if you have different opinions, bring them up early! Don't wait until things have passed and then go behind people's backs muttering about how things should have been done."

Priest Bataer couldn't hold it in anymore; his face flushed red, and he said loudly: "I wanted to say that those wicked Defeated Soldiers also abducted villagers from two villages at noon today. It is still afternoon, and if we pursue them now, we might still be able to find them and perhaps rescue them!"

The old Priest took a deep breath and cursed: "Why didn't you say such an important thing earlier? None of them told me about this! It just so happens that this Warrior Jier and his Warriors have arrived, so we can take this opportunity to strike those wicked fellows hard once and for all and cut off their tentacles!"

Seeing that the old Priest was about to ramble on again, Jier immediately interrupted: "So we need your help, Priest Ruiduokasi. Although the terrain around the village is not complex, it is not small either. Do you know of any places in the wild where a safe Temporary Yingdi could be established?"

The old Priest did not feel offended by being interrupted; he naturally understood the urgency of the matter. He turned to one of the boys following him and said: "Little Jimmy, go to the room next to mine. The key is at the head of my bed. Go to the room next door, the second drawer on the right of the desk on the left. There is a sheepskin map inside that I often use. Bring it out; that is the detailed map of our village's surroundings."

The eight-year-old boy named Little Jimmy sniffled, nodded, and ran into the Church. At this moment, Priest Bataer walked up to greet these boys.

They were the remaining children from Changmai Village, ranging from three to ten years old, both boys and girls. After Priest Bataer led them north, he left half of them temporarily in Lanse-Qingting Village and took the other half to Big Tree Village.

Clearly, unlike Big Tree Village where they were meticulously cared for by Priest Feilina, the old Priest of Lanse-Qingting Village did not have the energy to manage them. Therefore, to keep these energetic and unruly children in check, he had to order them to do this and that. The children actually became very accustomed to having things to do, and after staying for a while, they became familiar with the entire Lanse-Qingting Village.

However, the only strict warning the old Priest gave them was not to go into the village Pond to play!

The old Priest knew these boys too well; if you didn't let them go into the water, they would definitely go secretly. So the reason he gave was that the village Pond was for everyone to drink and wash from. If they went swimming and playing, how would others drink if they were seen? How would they drink themselves? Then they would have no choice but to drive the children who went into the water out of the village.

This trick was very effective. The children were not afraid of anything, but they were afraid of being driven away from Lanse-Qingting Village, which had taken them in after they lost their home in Changmai Village. If they were driven away from here, they would truly have nowhere to go.

Back to the present, Priest Bataer greeted the boys, but they didn't pay much attention to the Priest because they were still secretly blaming Priest Bataer for leaving them here instead of taking them along.

They still thought that the other half of the children who had left with the Priest were still by Priest Bataer's side, while they were the half that had been abandoned.

In fact, the other half had also been left by Priest Bataer in Big Tree Village and had not followed him all the way to Montoka City. The road was too far; only an adult male Priest like Priest Bataer, supported by the Divine Power of the Agricultural God, could travel alone, either on foot or by borrowing a ride on a passing Caravan wagon. As for these children, walking all the way from Changmai Village to Big Tree Village was already the limit of their physical endurance.

Small steps cannot travel long distances.

But these boys didn't care about that. They turned their heads away, not looking at Priest Bataer, and some hid behind the old Priest Ruiduokasi, using his aged but solid and reliable body to block Priest Bataer's line of sight.

"This..." Priest Bataer looked embarrassed, not knowing what to say.

The old Priest naturally saw the young Priest's embarrassment and earnestly advised: "Many times, people can endure hardship, no matter how difficult the days are. But they will never accept being abandoned. Do you understand this principle? Little Luosa."

"I don't understand; it shouldn't be like this. Sigh, forget it, they will understand when they grow up." Priest Bataer withdrew his hand, which had wanted to stroke the children's hair, and took a few steps back. The boys triumphantly made faces and stuck out their tongues at Priest Bataer.

Jier watched this scene without saying anything; this was not something he should interfere with. He was actually recalling the Divine Art the Agricultural God had bestowed upon him, as he felt this was likely the time for it to come in handy.

"I'm back! Grandpa, here is the map you wanted, the sheepskin one, I found it in the cabinet on the table." The little boy named Jimmy waved the sheepskin map in his hand, ran over quickly, and handed the rolled-up map to the old Priest.

Priest Bataer wanted to help take it, but Little Jimmy deliberately dodged and handed the map directly to the old Priest.

"Don't offend the children, Little Luosa." The old Priest winked at Priest Bataer with a slight smile, while Priest Bataer shrugged in defeat and suddenly reached out to ruffle Little Jimmy's hair: "Well done, Little Jimmy."

"Hmph." The child seemed to dislike being ruffled by Priest Bataer, crossed his arms, huffed, and retreated back into the group of his friends.

Finding a wooden chair nearby, the old Priest unfolded the map of Lanse-Qingting Village and beckoned Jier and Bataer to come closer.

The map was made very meticulously. Lanse-Qingting Village occupied a quarter of the map's area, and basically all the important buildings in the village were marked on it, while various characteristic places outside the village were also marked.

This was recorded by the old Priest when he went for walks outside the village years ago when his legs were not so bad.

It marked the scale of the fields outside the village, the locations of several main Shulin for firewood, and the locations and flow of the streams and rivers in the Shulin. Not only that, but the rivers where Siege Fish might move and migrate during heavy summer rains were also highlighted.

In addition, places where animals drank water and replenished salt were marked, and even some animal dens dug by beasts that could provide shelter were marked on the map. Therefore, the entire map was densely packed with over a dozen different types of marks, making it very easy for someone seeing the map for the first time to get confused.

Moreover, there were no explanations on the map for what these marks represented. If it weren't for the fact that the map was made by the old Priest himself, others would really find it difficult to identify.

"Look, although this is a map from a few years ago, I guarantee it is still very accurate. Because my Lanse-Qingting Village is not like other places; it has been like my aged self, with no major changes for many years. *Cough, cough*, back to the point, this is the village, and this green area is all the large-scale fields outside the village."

The old Priest's finger slid, circling the largest range of Lanse-Qingting Village; beyond that was the wild.

"They couldn't have set up a Temporary Yingdi in the fields. If they did, as long as they lit a fire, people on the village walls would see it." Jier pointed at the map, ruling out the possibility of an enemy camp within this range.

The others nodded. At this time, some Warriors who had entered the Church to rest also gathered around, and Weier was among them. He said: "Is it possible they are in those beast dens? Something like a bear's den could easily house three or five people."

Clearly, he was drawing on his previous experience of mixing with Bandits.

The old Priest shook his head: "There are no bears in the southern part of Sasi County. Oh, it's not that there are none, but that it's not easy to find food here, so bears live in the mountains and forests. Without bears, there are naturally no bear dens. These beast dens here, here, and here are all dens dug by small beasts, which can accommodate one or two people squeezing in to rest, but no more than that."

"Besides, there are no larger natural caves outside the village, so they clearly wouldn't be staying there."

Jier speculated: "If they aren't in caves and no campfire light has been discovered, they must have established their camp in a place with cover or facing away from the village. Are there any such places nearby?"

"Yes, young man, there are. Here, here, and here are the main Shulin where the village collects firewood. They could hide in the Shulin, or anywhere on the other side of the Shulin that blocks the village's view. And here, and here, there are two small hills near the village. They could completely hide on the other side of the hills, facing away from the village, without worrying about being discovered."

Xueya Site reminded them: "Don't forget, it hasn't rained at all this spring, has it? The Shulin might be very dry. If those soldiers don't want to be burned to death by a forest fire, it's unlikely they would establish a Temporary Yingdi in the Shulin."

Xueya Site's deduction was very important and also reasonable. Everyone nodded, and then Jier said: "Then that's it. For the five possible camping locations, we will split into two groups. I will take one horse and count as one group to check these three places on the west side of the village—the areas behind the two Shulin and the area behind one hill. Priest Bataer, you take all the Warriors and, while it's not dark yet, check both of these places on the east side of the village. Xueya Site, you won't go; stay with the Caravan drivers and make preparations for the night. If anything happens, find this Priest."

"Bataer, if you encounter the enemy, attack them directly; there is nothing to talk about with them. Try your best to rescue the abducted villagers. After I finish checking the three places, if I find nothing, I will pursue them along the road south of the village until midnight. Don't worry about me; I have lighting methods."

Everyone agreed and began to check their weapons and equipment, and Priest Bataer also adjusted the Divine Power on his body.

At this moment, the old Priest tremblingly walked to Priest Bataer's side. He first reached out to touch the Priest's special protective equipment and the very strange Amber Metal Long Staff in his hand.

"Oh, this equipment of yours reminds me of my experiences when I was young. I also wore things similar to yours, fighting against those monsters in various wild places to expand the living space for us Humans. Little Luosa, but you have it harder, because the monsters I fought against had no brains, and their nature wasn't bad; they were just beasts trying to defend their territory. But you are different; your enemies are us Humans ourselves, and those people are sliding into the abyss of human nature in their sins. Be careful of their schemes and traps."

"Besides this map, this is the only thing I can help you with."

After speaking, the old Priest tapped the wooden shoulder guard on Priest Bataer with his hand, and a vast amount of Agricultural God Divine Power was poured into the shoulder guard, causing the entire shoulder guard to emit a faint cyan glow that could be seen even in the daytime, similar to the glow on Jier's sword hilt and Sword Sheath.

The difference was that Jier's sword hilt and Sword Sheath possessed unusual Agricultural God Divine Power because of their special materials, while the glowing of Priest Bataer's wooden shoulder guard was simply because it contained an excessive amount of Agricultural God Divine Power.

"Oh, you don't need to do this; my own Divine Power is already enough for battle. If you give your Divine Power to me, what will happen to your body?" Bata'er Jiaoshi said anxiously.

But the Old Priest smiled slightly, pointed at his own body which hadn't even swayed, and said triumphantly to Bata'er Jiaoshi: "Little Luosa, are you underestimating me too much? The Divine Power I gave you doesn't even amount to one-tenth of what I have. Go fight with peace of mind, wipe out those bad guys affecting agricultural production, and bring back the kidnapped Villagers. Before a major victory, it is only right to accumulate some smaller victories first."

Jier smiled amusedly, found a wooden board, and used his Magic Dagger to simply imitate and carve the Old Priest's map; he kept the wooden board for himself, while Bata'er Jiaoshi and the others used the original map.

Jier set off a step ahead because he was riding a horse, which was faster, and he had more places to cover.

Walking out of the Church, Jier whistled to call his warhorse, then took one last look at the beautiful blue wooden Church behind him, leaped up, and jumped onto the back of Tianxuecao.

"Let's go, let's head north first and go see what's behind that hill up there."

After muttering to himself, Jier made the warhorse start running.

The Villagers passing by saw Jier, a Knight, galloping on horseback along the roads of the Cunzi, and they all looked over with curiosity. When he reached the exit of the Cunzi, the Villagers guarding the gate questioned why Jier was leaving again so soon after having just arrived, as it was already afternoon and the sky was growing dark.

"Why? Didn't you just have two Villagers kidnapped at noon? I am here to rescue them!" Jier said loudly.

The Villagers looked at each other in dismay; they knew how formidable those Soldiers were. Could Jier, all by himself, defeat those bad Soldiers and rescue the kidnapped Villagers?

They felt it was rather doubtful.

But they still opened the two-layered north gate of the Cunzi for Jier, the Warrior of the God of Agriculture, and let him out.

?? Happy Children's Day, everyone! As long as you keep innocence and curiosity about the world in your hearts, every reader is a big child! Wishing everyone to be forever young, forever healthy and happy!

? (End of this chapter)