Chapter 496: Cunzi Wall, Empty Dwellings

This defeated soldier was struck in the body by a short throwing spear thrown by Jier, then sent flying by a Divine Power Impact from Bata'er Jiaoshi, breaking several tree trunks before falling from a height.

Having suffered so many injuries, this soldier naturally could not survive; by the time Jier dragged the man back, the soldier had already breathed his last.

"Dead is fine, it saves me the effort of snapping their necks."

Jier shook his head and quickly stripped the weapons and equipment off the soldier; as for the Soldier Bow the enemy had been using, it was unknown where it had been knocked into the Shulin by the earlier Divine Power Impact.

There was no rush for that; Jier could send someone to look for it later. He threw the enemy's corpse onto the ground and bundled the weapons and equipment together, placing them on a tree branch to prevent them from being stolen by small animals.

"I hope the fight just now didn't attract the attention of the soldiers in the Cunzi," Jier said.

"Probably not, right? The sound of the Divine Power Impact wasn't very loud; rather, I'm afraid the shouting from that soldier's mouth might have been heard by others in the Cunzi. After all, it's only two or three hundred meters from the Cunzi here. And it's night, so such screams are quite conspicuous." Bata'er Jiaoshi was somewhat cautious; he kept peering toward Changmai Village, but it was pitch black in the night, and the farmland and the distant Cunzi were all shadowy, with nothing to be seen.

"Let's go, we should go to the Cunzi to take a look." Jier tidied up for a moment, recovered the short throwing spear from the dead soldier, and after wiping it clean, prepared to set off.

Bata'er Jiaoshi nodded as well, and the two came to the edge of the Shulin, readying themselves once more.

"Damn that tiger-headed eagle!" Jier cursed.

Bata'er Jiaoshi also complained in a low voice: "I will never let the villagers leave the Cunzi at night without torches again."

Subsequently, the two jogged side by side along the path the villagers had previously worn, starting to move rapidly toward Changmai Village.

They were guarding against the tiger-headed eagle that might launch an attack at any moment, but what the two of them did not know was that because of several failed hunts, this tiger-headed eagle had already flown away to try its luck elsewhere and look for other prey.

But Jier and his companion did not know this and were still moving irregularly left and right on the road to guard against a possible attack.

This caused the two of them to consume not only physical strength but also suffer from high mental pressure.

To tell the truth, the two of them were actually brave enough; it wasn't everyone who, after being attacked by a tiger-headed eagle at night, still had the Yongqi to step onto the open ground in the night. Especially without lighting a torch and moving recklessly.

Humans are not naturally suited for nighttime activity, and with such a silent, invisible, and deadly giant man-eating raptor in the air ready to attack at any time, basically, most people would be too scared to leave the safety of the Shulin.

But Jier and Bata'er not only came out boldly, but they had also moved back and forth in the open, pitch-black environment more than once.

"Quick, we're at the Cunzi wall ahead," Jier whispered to encourage the Jiaoshi beside him.

He was doing fine, but Bata'er Jiaoshi's physical strength and energy had been greatly consumed. In fact, Jier was also taking a big risk right now; he was not wearing his Full-body Metal Armor, nor even the full-body armor made of hard cowhide, just to be flexible and more stealthy; he wore only a thin garment with a layer of captured Black Metal Armor Plates over it.

To tell the truth, Jier felt that this set of Black Metal Armor Plates captured from a Bandit would not allow him to survive an attack from a tiger-headed eagle; with the opponent's huge stature and massive claws, let alone what Jier was wearing, even if he were made of Shitou, he would be crushed by a single claw from the tiger-headed eagle.

This behavior violated Jier's usual adventurous fighting style; after all, he used to prioritize his own protection first, and only after gaining an absolute advantage in defense would he dare to risk meeting various challenges.

Whether dealing with goblins, Northland wolves, or Human bandits, he always relied on his superior protective equipment to gain a combat advantage.

But recently, with the strengthening of his Knight Training, the increase in the Life Energy within his body, and the acquisition of some other abilities, the possession of these skills made Jier gradually realize that relying solely on the power of his offense could allow him to gain an incredible advantage in various battles.

This point was vividly reflected in the previous battle against the Dwarfs at Torito Village.

The protective equipment possessed by the Dwarfs was far stronger than his own, but Jier, relying on the high mobility and high strength brought by his Knight skills, was able to beat those Dwarfs, who were as solid as iron blocks, until they cried for their parents and negotiated surrender to him.

If it was like this for Dwarfs, it was naturally even more so for the Human soldiers who were much weaker than the Dwarfs.

If it weren't for the fact that Jier's fighting style was wide-open and not suitable for sneak attacks and assassinations, there would be no need for his subordinate Warriors to join in, nor would he need the help of Bata'er Jiaoshi; Jier alone could kill all the enemy soldiers in the entire Changmai Village in one night.

Thump, sitting down on his bottom under the Cunzi wall, Bata'er Jiaoshi finally let out a sigh of relief; having arrived here, that terrifying tiger-headed eagle shouldn't attack them anymore, right?

"But Warrior, did that tiger-headed eagle not attack us the whole time just now?" Bata'er Jiaoshi was somewhat puzzled, so he asked in a low voice.

Jier cautiously peered into the pitch-black night sky, trying to find where that damn tiger-headed eagle was hiding and watching them: "It didn't attack, which means our method of rapidly changing directions left and right just now was useful, making it hard for that guy in the sky to find an opening to launch an attack, which is why it didn't attack, right? Heh, if you miss the feeling of scrambling to hide and eating dirt, why don't you, Jiaoshi, run out into the empty farmland in front and wave your arms at the sky?"

"I'd be snatched away and eaten, wouldn't I?" Bata'er Jiaoshi waved his hands and complained in a low voice.

"It's just a pity; the farmland of Changmai Village was always carefully tended—fallowed, deep-plowed, weeded, fertilized, and cleared of birds and animals. If it were a normal year, this would be a scene of order and industry, not like now, where there is nothing." Bata'er Jiaoshi sighed, his tone somewhat sorrowful.

It could be heard that he truly loved leading the people to farm and to harvest.

But all of that had been destroyed by these Defeated Soldier troops.

The once carefully managed Changmai Village, after being looted and destroyed by the soldiers, had also had a large part of the Cunzi burned down by a great fire, and it was unknown how that had happened.

And those villagers who had been taken away were likely enduring heavy physical labor at this moment, risking great danger, digging for Mineral Ore in the dark, sunless Mine.

Even if the people were rescued, who knew how many would be able to hold on until they returned to New Hope Town to restart the life they once had?

Of the children he had placed in Big Tree Village and Blue Dragonfly Village, how many of their parents were still alive?

What about the elderly in the Cunzi? They probably couldn't dig much Mineral Ore, right? How would they be treated by these soldiers?

And what would these soldiers, who had accumulated countless pressures, do to the women among the villagers?

Bata'er Jiaoshi was breathing nervously and heavily; his hands, resting on the ground, had clenched into fists at some point, squeezing the dirt in his fists until it was incredibly firm.

Jier patted the Jiaoshi on the shoulder: "How is your rest? We are preparing to find a suitable place to climb into the Cunzi."

Bata'er Jiaoshi came back to his senses and nodded heavily, not caring whether Jier saw it or not: "I'm ready. We'll Scout tonight, and tomorrow morning, I will give them a fierce response."

Jier raised an eyebrow: "Oh, very spirited! That's it, let's go."

After saying this, Jier stood up and gestured toward the Cunzi wall behind him.

The wall of Changmai Village was only three meters high; to be honest, a wall of this height could only block some wild beasts in the forest and scattered bandits; it did not have much defensive capability against some Monsters, or even organized soldiers.

But it was still quite troublesome for an ordinary person to climb up; the wall was made entirely of treated logs set into the dirt, three meters high above ground, and likely one or two meters underground.

Jier pushed one of the logs in the wall and found that when he pushed hard, the log on the wall only swayed slightly; well, it was buried at least two meters deep, and the foundation was very solid.

After testing, Jier jumped lightly, leaping three meters high, and his hands nimbly gripped the top edge of the wall. He looked left and right and found that there was a Corridor for internal patrolling fixed with wood on the inside of the wall, and every few dozen meters, there was a guard post with a roof, each with a soldier leaning against the wall and zoning out.

There were fire basins for lighting in the guard posts, as well as metal plates and Small Iron Hammer for sounding alarms, and there was no cover around the guard posts, and the surroundings were very quiet; basically, unless one was a professional, it was impossible to easily sneak up behind the guard post soldiers and kill them.

Although Jier was powerful, he was not confident that he could kill the sentry soldier in one blow, and using a bow and arrow wouldn't work well either, because those bored, zoning-out soldiers were always watching each other, sometimes even shouting a word to communicate with the soldiers in the other two nearby guard posts.

Jier let go and landed lightly; he told Bata'er Jiaoshi about the situation. Bata'er Jiaoshi also hadn't expected that the guard posts on the wall they had built for Changmai Village not only failed to serve their intended purpose but also blocked him, the Village Priest of Changmai Village, at this time.

"The distance between each of their guard posts is neither far nor near, and they can all see each other, so it's not easy to sneak in. Of course, I could jump over the wall in one go, but what about you?" Jier said to Bata'er Jiaoshi in a low voice.

The Jiaoshi was also in a bit of a bind; he scratched his head, suddenly as if remembering something: "There is another place, I don't know if we can get in."

"Jiaoshi, this is your method?" Jier said speechlessly, pointing to a sewage ditch specifically left under the wall ahead.

The waste from the daily excretions of the villagers of Changmai Village would be dumped every day into this sewage ditch at the edge of the Cunzi wall, and then, following the slope created during construction, it would slide into a large cesspit on the outside of the wall.

"It's a bit dirty, but these feces are good things that can increase grain production! Composting also requires technique; it's not just about pouring feces onto the fields all at once. Many people think it's that simple, so not only can it not have a good effect on the crops, but it will directly cause the perfectly fine crops to wither."

Once on this topic, Bata'er Jiaoshi became triumphant and spoke endlessly about the methods and techniques of composting, but Jier didn't care about this at all and instead pointed to the feces, which were dried and hardened together due to the hot weather and reeked of a foul stench: "Are we going to jump down and crawl in along the sewage ditch?"

Bata'er Jiaoshi reacted; he realized that not everyone could face those feces normally, and even fewer could deal with those feces properly.

"Of course not, Warrior Jier. You can jump over, while I crawl through this drainage ditch that passes through the wall. It's just as well; the weather is hot, and those soldiers likely haven't used this facility properly, so it shouldn't be too dirty inside. The feces will be as dry and hard as mud bricks."

"Alright, alright, since you have such determination, I won't stop you. Brave Bata'er Jiaoshi!" Jier felt a sense of reverence for the priest, and then decided to rendezvous with Bata'er Jiaoshi on the side opposite the inner wall.

After speaking, Jier retreated into the fields, looked from a distance, found a spot furthest from the sentry posts on the left and right, then carefully accelerated in the empty farmland, gathered his strength, and finally leaped with all his might.

He jumped more than ten meters high and dozens of meters across, landing on a village road inside the village wall.

Jier dared not land hard on his feet, as that would make a loud sound upon impact. So he rolled, rubbing against the ground to slow down, and finally slammed hard into the base of a villager's house before climbing up, aching all over.

To avoid being discovered by the people at the sentry posts on the left and right of the wall, he specifically made the highest point of his jump occur right at that section of the wall. This way, whether he was taking off or landing, he was at a distance from the two soldiers on the wall, making it difficult for them to spot him.

"But it really hurts. Rub, rub, rub, I bet quite a few places all over my body are bruised, right?"

Jier carefully climbed up from the ground and found that most of Changmai Village was pitch black and devoid of human presence. If there had been anyone in the house he just bumped into, they surely would have felt it and come out to investigate.

But the windows of this house were dark, smashed to pieces, and the courtyard of the Farmer's house had also been broken open.

Jier walked over carefully and poked his head into the courtyard to observe. By the faint moonlight and starlight, the courtyard was a mess, and the wooden door of the Farmer's house had disappeared.

The family dog and poultry originally kept in the courtyard were also nowhere to be found.

The cages in the chicken coop were all left open, the original doghouse was even emptier, and there were many suspicious dark stains on the doghouse.

The ground in the courtyard was also a mess, with many scattered things lying about: torn pieces of clothing, spilled grain, hoof prints of livestock, and fragments of furniture.

Jier even picked up two rotting Human fingers and a small clump of hair.

It seems that after Changmai Village was captured, this family was plundered; not only were the people taken away, but the family's property was not spared either.

Jier entered the courtyard to check and found that the stains on the doghouse were blood; clearly, the fate of this watchdog was not very good. As for the villager's house, it was as if it had been swept through and plundered by Bandits; not a single good or useful thing was left. The house was in chaos, and the furniture was either missing or had been casually pushed over and smashed.

None of the livestock originally raised by the Farmer remained, and the door to the place where grain was stored had been rudely smashed open. A large amount of grain was scattered inside. When Jier went in, several fat house rats didn't leave at all, baring their teeth and pouncing at Jier; it seemed they intended to protect their treasure.

Jier grabbed these bold little animals one in each hand, pinched them to death, and tossed them out the open window.

"Really, these soldiers don't seem any different from Bandits."

Jier shook his head: "They are even much worse."

He walked out of this house and carefully headed toward the wall, preparing to rendezvous with Bata'er Jiaoshi.

He hoped Bata'er Jiaoshi wouldn't smell too bad, otherwise, for this Scout mission, he, Jier, would have to stay far away from Bata'er Jiaoshi.

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