Chapter 498: The Grain Warehouse of Changmai Cunzi, the Defeated Soldiers in a Frenzy

Jier hummed twice: "The roof needs replacing every few years, but this grain warehouse is so large that to replace the wooden shingles on the roof, one must set aside a dedicated passage for going up and down. Otherwise, in a few years, you'd have to build external scaffolding; it's not impossible, but it would cost more, which isn't worth it."

Priest Bata'er Jiaoshi nodded: "I didn't expect it to be seen through like that? None of the caravans or peddlers who came to the village could tell. That's right, there are a few wooden boards on the rear right of the roof that can be opened to access the interior of the third floor of the grain warehouse. However, they are usually opened from the inside, allowing people to climb up from within."

Jier touched his chin with his hand, his fingers scraping against the soft stubble on his chin. He pondered for a moment, then said: "Since this grain warehouse has so much stored grain, it's impossible to abandon it. Once we launch our attack tomorrow morning, if the Defeated Soldiers in the village can't hold out, it goes without saying that they will definitely set fire to this grain warehouse."

"It's not their own property anyway, so there's a high probability they'll burn it rather than leave it for us. We must take this grain warehouse!"

Priest Bata'er Jiaoshi actually wanted to say that he had already planned to abandon Changmai Cunzi anyway, so it wouldn't matter even if this grain warehouse were burned. But seeing the determined demeanor of Jier, the words remained stuck in his throat.

He had no choice but to nod silently, agreeing with Jier's view.

"Right? You think so too. There are two soldiers guarding the main gate outside the grain warehouse, but I don't know how many more are inside. However, I noticed that the main gate of the grain warehouse hasn't been opened, so if something happens inside, it's unlikely those outside would know, right?"

The Priest added at this moment: "The walls of the grain warehouse are thick; even if people shout inside, it's basically inaudible from the outside."

Jier slammed his right hand into his left: "Then here's the plan: I'll find a way to the top of the grain warehouse, enter the third floor through the roof repair passage, and secretly kill all the enemies inside tonight, leaving only the two enemy soldiers guarding the gate outside. Furthermore, I will secretly block the main gate from the inside so the enemies won't be able to easily set the grain warehouse on fire."

"And with this grain warehouse in Changmai Cunzi, whether you sell it in the future or find a way to transport it to New Xiwang Town as reserve food, both are fine. Since it isn't raining in the Southern Province now, if the grain cultivation in New Xiwang Town doesn't succeed in the future, you'll also have these stored grains as your most important trump card, right?"

Priest Bata'er Jiaoshi had originally thought Jier was doing something unnecessary, but upon hearing these analyses, he realized that Jier had already considered the development of New Xiwang Town for a long time to come, in the event that it didn't rain in the Southern Province.

That was also correct; there were many people in New Xiwang Town now, several hundred of them, and they were all eating the divine food he conjured using the Divine Art of the Agricultural God Church. Although this food could be preserved for a period of time, the total amount was limited, only enough for those refugees to eat sparingly for a while, and it wouldn't last until the harvest next autumn.

Therefore, most of the missing food supplies during that period would likely have to be provided by the villagers of Torito Cunzi.

This was not a good thing.

When the Dwarves were present, these Human villagers were naturally willing to provide the village's stored grain to these newly migrated refugees. But soon those Dwarves would leave with Jier; without the presence of this force, it was hard to say whether the villagers of Torito Cunzi would continue to sell or lend large amounts of grain at low prices in the future, or whether they would incur debts of gratitude that could not be repaid.

But if he could have this batch of grain from Changmai Cunzi, which he would effectively control, this wheat—which could never be finished no matter how much they ate—could even feed hundreds of refugees until the batch went bad.

By then, the newly cultivated farmland in New Xiwang Town would surely produce enough food to eat, right?

"Good! Jier, it all depends on you!"

Having understood this, Priest Bata'er Jiaoshi patted Jier's shoulder heavily with his hand.

Jier just looked at his shoulder that had been patted, and even sniffed it.

"You guy! Wash your hands! It has no smell!!!" Priest Bata'er Jiaoshi complained in a lowered voice.

Jier arrived at the back of the grain warehouse, which was separated from the two Defeated Soldiers at the main gate by the entire building. Plus, the surrounding villagers' houses were pitch black and empty, so Jier wasn't afraid of making any noise that would attract people.

He took out two Steel Daggers and chiseled at the back wall of the grain warehouse, discovering that the timber used for the warehouse was sturdy; not only had it been treated against insects, but the surface had also been hardened and coated with a layer of varnish.

However, although it was difficult, slippery, and hard, as long as he exerted effort to drill with the daggers, he could still dig out pits for his hands and feet to grip and step on.

Thus, Jier climbed up, one hand gripping a dug-out pit, the other using a dagger to drill holes higher up.

He climbed up step by step.

Priest Bata'er Jiaoshi hid in the shadow of a corner of a Farmer's fence not far behind Jier, a tricky position that even in the daytime might not be noticed, and at night, even with a Torch, would be hard to find.

Before long, Jier had climbed several meters high, and the Priest had to look up to see him.

If it were daytime, Jier's position would be particularly obvious, and the sentries on the village fence could easily see him by turning their heads. But now it was night, there was little firelight in the village, and the sentries on the fence could hardly see areas in the village not illuminated by light.

"He's up!" Priest Bata'er Jiaoshi muttered to himself.

That's right, after Jier climbed to the top of the grain warehouse wall, his head was covered by the rain-proof wooden boards.

Generally speaking, it would be very difficult to go any further and reach the roof. But Jier wasn't wearing armor at this time, his own weight wasn't particularly heavy, and his strength was so great that, in the end, he actually used only the power of his arms and hands to flip onto the roof of the grain warehouse with a movement that would be difficult for an ordinary person.

After Jier got up, he didn't need to rest because he had basically consumed no physical strength.

Following the instructions of Priest Bata'er Jiaoshi, he moved the overlapping rain-proof wooden boards on the rear right side of the grain warehouse, one by one, slightly shaking them.

Logically speaking, these boards were pressed one layer over another and reinforced with Iron Nails; unless one started dismantling from the ridge of the roof, it would be very difficult to move these rain-proof boards.

But there were exceptions to these boards: two were movable. They weren't reinforced with Iron Nails and were simply held in place by slots. This was for the purpose of opening them from the inside to allow maintenance personnel to enter and exit.

Jier tried them one by one, and soon found the rain-proof boards that could move slightly, not at the edge.

He lifted the layer above, then pulled the layer below, and this board slid open with some difficulty. The layer below it wasn't reinforced either, so it was also moved aside very smoothly.

But the layer below that wouldn't budge; reinforced by Iron Nails, Jier had to use some force to move it.

Jier carefully avoided making any loud noises, gently placed the two one-meter-square rain-proof boards to the side, and after confirming that neither would slide off, he groped for the access passage where the boards had been moved.

This was a structure similar to a wooden window. Because it was never considered that it might be opened from the outside, and there was no need to consider anti-theft issues, Jier simply inserted a dagger into the gap, gave it a slight pry, and moved the wedge that was stuck behind it.

The passage opened.

It was pitch black inside, and there seemed to be no one there.

Jier supported the two sides of the passage with his hands and extended his legs inside.

Thump.

After his feet landed on the wooden floor inside the grain warehouse, it was inevitable that a faint landing sound was made, along with the sound of the wooden boards slightly deforming.

If it were outside, this sound would never be discovered, but inside the grain warehouse, it was different; it was too quiet here.

There was no sound at all, and even breathing was very clear.

"What was that noise?" someone said.

Immediately, in the pitch-black grain warehouse, a large amount of light turned around from the corner ahead.

Jier's expression tightened; he first closed the passage cover above his head and quickly wedged the fixing pin in place, then put on a smiling face.

"Don't tell me it's another stray cat that slipped in? There are no house mice or Caoshu inside the grain warehouse, so there's nothing to eat even if they slip in! Hmph, don't tell me you little cuties can chew on wheat?"

A middle-aged Soldier with a stubbly beard walked over, carrying an Oil Lamp with a metal cover.

He moved casually, and every step he took caused the sturdy, thick wooden floor to emit a slight creaking sound. He held the Oil Lamp in one hand and a small net in the other. It looked as if he intended to catch something.

But soon after he arrived at the location where the sound had been made, he didn't see the two large eyes of a cat reflecting light.

The bags of grain stacked around were also very neat, with no signs of being clawed by a cat.

"Not here? Not a cat? Could it be that a house mouse from the village slipped in?"

Saying this, he immediately became nervous, because before this middle-aged man was conscripted as a Soldier, he was also a Farmer, and he was often troubled by the rat infestation at home every year.

He lay on the ground, carefully watching for loose wheat grains between the Grain Bags or droppings left by house mice.

But soon, he smiled, shook his head, and stood up again: "Sigh, I'm not a Farmer anymore, why do I care about these things? Eat, eat, eat, let you eat all you want; anyway, this grain obtained through hard labor, no matter how you eat it, no matter how we eat it, no matter how it's wasted, it doesn't matter anymore."

As he spoke, the Soldier kicked a stack of Grain Bags hard, dropped the net in his hand, and casually drew the Dagger at his waist to stab fiercely into those Grain Bags.

Puchi, puchi!

Swish, golden wheat grains poured out; these were high-quality wheat grains that had been husked and carefully dried, and as long as they were sent to a mill, they could be ground into fine wheat flour to make delicious, filling Bread and wheat cakes.

"If I were still a farmer, haha, if I were still a farmer."

"What fine wheat grains! Damn it, damn it! Damn it!"

"Why am I a soldier now! I should be happy seeing these!"

This Defeated Soldier's behavior was strange, and the words he spoke were somewhat manic; he seemed to have accumulated quite a bit of stress. The quiet environment around him seemed to make him even less able to cope, making his behavior even stranger.

"Better if more house mice came, ha, breed more, and eat up all this grain we worked so hard to harvest!"

"Hey, it's not grain I grew anyway, eat as much as you want! My treat today! It's all top-quality wheat grain, eat up, eat up!"

As the Soldier spoke, he frantically punched the Grain Bags and stabbed them with his Dagger, letting the golden wheat grains flow out and pile up into a small 'mound' on the floor.

However, despite his manic behavior, the Soldier still carefully kept a firm grip on the metal Oil Lamp in his left hand, not letting the oil spill or the flame flicker.

Because if he really accidentally set the Grain Warehouse on fire, even if he managed to put it out later, he would have to die.

The Captain would not spare him.

Previously, it was because of the indulgence of the soldiers left in the village that they accidentally burned down about a quarter of the buildings inside Changmai Cunzi. The soldiers had to risk their lives relying on the water in the vats the villagers usually prepared to barely bring the fire under control.

Later, the small squad of soldiers responsible for collecting supplies from that part of the villagers' homes was directly hanged by the Captain on the Church in the center of the village. They used a Rope to tie their necks, then kicked them off from the bell-ringing spot at the top of the Church; the force of the fall, combined with the tightening noose around their necks, directly snapped the necks of the hanged soldiers, letting them be executed quickly and painlessly.

Although the hanged soldiers didn't suffer much, because the Captain ordered these reckless guys to be hung on top of the Church for three days, the other soldiers felt their own necks itch every time they saw the corpses of their hanging companions.

Those who don't want to die should use lighting implements carefully.

Especially in a place like the Grain Warehouse, which is both important and easily ignited.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo..."

After venting, this somewhat manic Defeated Soldier seemed much more normal; he put away the Dagger in his hand and turned to leave without even looking back.

He intended to go down to the second floor of the Grain Warehouse to talk to his companions; even though the few of them had already talked themselves out over these past few days and had nothing fresh to discuss, he still intended to go find his companions to talk.

There were only a few of them here, and not talking to his companions really made him feel miserable.

Snap!

Having only turned and walked a few steps, his left hand holding the metal Oil Lamp was firmly grabbed by something.

Being grabbed by something other than himself, the Defeated Soldier first shuddered, his body trembling, but he soon figured it out—it was probably a companion playing a prank, having fun at his expense!

"You guy! Playing around with your ##?"

But when he turned his head, the person behind him was a strange, young face.

He was stunned; before his brain could react, his mouth blurted out a curse: "@@#@! Give me ##@."

But this was the last sentence he would ever speak.

With a crack, someone's neck was directly twisted and broken.

Jier held a metal Oil Lamp in his left hand and walked forward along the route the Defeated Soldier had appeared from.

Looking from the outside, this Grain Warehouse didn't seem that big, but after entering it, he discovered that the routes inside were complex, the passages narrow and cramped, and it seemed that in front, behind, left, and right, there were Grain Bags stacked from the wooden floor to the ceiling.

Jier circled the third floor of the Grain Warehouse twice before finding the stairs leading up and down on this level. Next to the stairs was a small room containing a bed, a small table, a wooden coat rack, and a well-made chamber pot.

It looked like this was where that soldier usually stayed.

In the cramped room, the soldier's weapons and equipment were also laid out, but they were tossed casually under the small wooden bed, likely having not been used for some time.

And under the stairs nearby, a voice called out from below: "Hey, Bafa, didn't you say there were cats in the Grain Warehouse? Did you catch them or not? Where are there any cats here? Are you hallucinating?"

Jier smiled, rolled his eyes, and then, imitating the calls of Mao Mao, let out a series of cat sounds.

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