Chapter 506: Return, Small River, and Battle Plans

The two of them then snuck back, and as they breached the village wall, Priest Bata'er wanted to use the same method he had used to enter the village earlier.

But this plan was immediately stopped by Jier: "Let's not do that, shall we? If it really doesn't work, how about I throw you over from the air?"

"Then how would I land, Warrior Jier?" Priest Bata'er asked back with a grin. Jier couldn't come up with a solution on the spot, so he could only watch as Priest Bata'er jumped into the sewage trench, stepping on the dehydrated, dried-out feces to reach the outside of the village.

Jier slapped his forehead, speechless.

Afterward, he straightened the bread he was carrying. These loaves had only just been baked and were at their absolute tastiest; Jier couldn't bear to roll on the ground to cushion his landing in a moment, ruining these delicious loaves.

He found a good angle, chose the same route he had taken when he arrived, accelerated his run from the shadows, and then jumped with all his might. His whole body surged forward, leaping over ten meters high, crossing the village wall in an arc, and landing far away in the pitch-black, empty farmland outside the village without being noticed by the Defeated Soldiers standing guard on the wall.

When he landed, he tried his best to ensure both feet touched the ground, and he continuously used a forward sprint to cushion the impact of the landing.

In the still-soft fields outside the village, every step Jier took forward after landing sank deep to his ankles, until he had sprinted over twenty paces and his soles could finally step normally on the ground.

"Phew, landed safely!" Jier muttered, then took a loaf of bread from his person, bit into it, and while chewing, walked reluctantly toward the large pit of feces outside the wall of Changmai Cunzi.

He stopped while still some distance away from that place, because he didn't want to ruin his appetite.

The only lighting outside the village was the moonlight provided by the three moons in the sky at this time. One could vaguely see a human head emerging from the foul-smelling pit, followed by Priest Bata'er digging his hands into the edge of the pit, attempting to climb up.

"Warrior Jier, help me out, please lend a hand!" Priest Bata'er tried once and found he was still a bit short of being able to climb up, so he asked for help from Jier, who was standing still not far away.

"Forget it, haha, I don't want to get too close to that place. Priest Bata'er, please do your best! Also, once you get up, remember to find a water source to wash yourself. I'm begging you, I don't want to return to the camp where the caravan is spending the night with you in this state. Ha, the others might think I pushed you into the pit."

As Jier said this, he stepped back a few more paces, eating his bread while watching the predicament of Priest Bata'er not far away.

After trying several times, Priest Bata'er finally made it up, but as soon as he got close, Jier smelled a rich odor of fermented feces, which made him quickly spit out the bread in his mouth, then look at the half-eaten bread in his hand and throw it far away.

"Wasting food is not okay, Warrior Jier, especially doing so in front of a Priest of the Agriculture God; it is even more inappropriate." Priest Bata'er didn't go over to pick up the bread, but he couldn't help but criticize Jier's behavior.

"If you didn't smell so bad, that would be more convincing, ha, stinky Priest Bata'er! Is it possible that it was the smell on you that caused me to throw this bread away? Enough, hurry and find a place to wash the filth off your body."

Jier pinched his nose, looking at Priest Bata'er speechlessly.

Priest Bata'er sniffed his hands carefully and was also immediately overwhelmed by the stench, showing a look of distress. But he had a way; he reached out and grabbed a handful of dirt from the dry, soft field, scrubbed his hands hard with the dry soil, and simultaneously used the dirt to rub the areas on his body that had become dirty and smelly. He was finished quickly.

"Is it okay now?" Priest Bata'er asked triumphantly. Jier smelled it again after getting closer, and indeed the stench had lessened significantly, but he still didn't dare to shake the hand Priest Bata'er extended; he wasn't stupid.

"What about the soles of your feet? The soles were in direct contact!" Jier said, pointing at the Priest's shoes.

Priest Bata'er rubbed his soles hard and said nonchalantly: "It's fine, they'll be clean after walking for a while."

But Jier still strongly insisted that the Priest find a water source to wash himself. With no other choice, Priest Bata'er had to lead the way to a small river near Changmai Cunzi, which flowed out from the forest in the Southern Mountains and eventually flowed north into a small lake.

Of course, that small lake was naturally occupied by Siege Fish.

It was because of these monsters that most of the villages in the southern part of Sasi County could not be better established near water sources and mostly had to dig wells for water. Only when Old Priest Ruiduokasi was young could he have managed to enclose an entire pond and small lake with a wall, as they did in Blue Dragonfly Cunzi.

The small river near Changmai Cunzi was located to the north-northeast of the village and was still some distance away.

Because they didn't have to worry about hidden sentries in the woods, the two walked with long strides while talking. But because they had to be on guard against the tiger-headed eagles that might appear in the night at any time, the two had to stay very close so that Jier could grab Priest Bata'er and avoid an attack at the first moment.

But this meant the stench on the Priest still reached Jier's nose, making Jier hold the bread in his hand without any desire to eat it.

Even though his stomach was growling with hunger.

"Listen, my stomach is growling from hunger, but now I can't eat anything because of the smell on you," Jier complained loudly.

Priest Bata'er glanced at the bread in Jier's hand and said: "You're not eating, and you're blaming me?"

He then sniffed himself: "There's clearly no smell anymore, Warrior Jier. Is your nose too sensitive? If you can't eat because of all kinds of smells, then you Knights really have it tough."

Jier rolled his eyes: "It's clearly you being stinky that makes it tough for me. Keep walking, I hear the sound of running water; the river is not far ahead."

"Ah, it should be here. This river never had a name before, so I gave it one myself: the Oubu River. Because the jumping frogs that grow in this small river make a sound like 'oubu, oubu' when they jump from the stones into the water puddles."

This small river had likely existed for a very long time; it had a small gully specifically eroded by the river, and it was filled with egg-shaped stones of various sizes.

"Be careful, Warrior. Night is not like day; even during the day, it's easy for villagers to fall and get hurt here."

As he spoke, the Priest used the moonlight to find a small path worn down by the villagers over the years. He soon followed the path to the bottom of the gully, sat on a stone, and scooped up water to wash his hands, feet, and the soles of his shoes, which Jier had criticized the most.

Jier also walked down, but he didn't sit; instead, he stood alertly beside the Priest, keeping an eye on all kinds of movements in the night.

But it was far too noisy here; not only were a large number of jumping frogs croaking in the gaps between the stones, but there were also many flying insects making terrifyingly loud wing-beating sounds, specifically hunting the small flies attracted by the glowing plants along the riverbank.

From time to time, birds would land on the stones by the river, lowering their heads to get water on their bodies to wet themselves; that counted as taking a bath.

The stones along the gully were covered with thick, dry or semi-dry moss. The moss furthest from the water had been baked dry and yellow by the sun, while the moss that could get moisture became a refuge for many small insects. They huddled together, fighting each other to compete for living space, biting and flipping each other over.

The losers eventually had to flap their wings and fly away to find other moist moss to settle in.

The river was clear, and the small fish swimming in the current had silver-white scales that reflected the color of the moonlight, appearing as if they were glowing, still clearly visible in the night.

However, what spoiled the scenery was that these small fish in the water seemed to love the taste of the substances dissolved into the water when Priest Bata'er washed his hands, feet, and shoes, gathering one after another around the stone where the Priest was, pecking and swimming back and forth.

At this moment, Jier finally couldn't smell the stench of feces anymore. At the same time, the plants along the river were quite lush, with many blooming flowers. Even though it was night and they had closed their petals, they still emitted a sweet fragrance, a collection of various floral scents, in this small area along the river.

Jier took a deep breath of the sweet floral scent and suggested to Priest Bata'er: "Compared to the flowers you grow yourself, I think the scent of the flowers by this river is even better! If you want to use tools to extract floral scents, you should try using these; I guarantee everyone will like them."

But Priest Bata'er took a deep breath, carefully distinguishing the floral scents in the air, and shook his head: "It won't work, Warrior Jier. Although the scent of these flowers is rich, it lacks character. You know? A single, purely rich scent only makes people feel abrupt and annoyed. Only a floral scent with character can make people remember it long after they've smelled it, even thinking about it in the middle of the night, and never forgetting it for a long time."

"You've studied this too?" Jier was somewhat surprised.

The Priest sighed, said nothing, walked over, spread his hands, and asked Jier for a piece of bread.

Seeing that the Priest had just washed his hands thoroughly, Jier handed the bread to the Priest and took out one for himself, eating it in large bites.

"Let's go, return to the camp, discuss tomorrow's battle with the Warriors, and then rest. Wake up early tomorrow morning and prepare for battle!" Jier took a fierce bite of the bread in his hand; the soft, wheat-scented bread was like those Defeated Soldiers, fiercely bitten through by Jier.

The two finally circled in an arc to the north, only then reaching the back of the hills far to the north of the village.

Not until he saw the campfire light of the Temporary Yingdi did Jier breathe a sigh of relief; finally, he didn't have to worry about a surprise attack from tiger-headed eagles overhead at any moment.

None of the Warriors were asleep; most of them were sitting around the campfire practicing their martial arts, while a small number kept a constant watch on the surroundings. Therefore, when Jier and Bata'er walked over side-by-side from the distance, they discovered them immediately.

"You're back! Sir Knight! Sir Priest!"

"How was the Scout mission?" Xueya Site pushed aside the wagon blocking the way and asked. He was a bit surprised to see the bread in Jier and the Priest's hands, but thinking that the two had gone to the village to scout, it was perfectly normal to eat a couple of loaves they had picked up while scouting.

"You've already started eating, hey, everyone saved some meat soup for you, it goes perfectly with the bread in your hands."

Jier hadn't had enough to eat at all, so he didn't stand on ceremony. He took his Wooden Bowl directly, ladled a full bowl of meat soup, tore the bread he was eating into pieces, soaked it in, and slurped it into his mouth after it had absorbed the broth.

The meat soup was full of strips of meat that had been roasted and then boiled again; it was all meat from the best parts of a wild boar, and it was incredibly satisfying to eat.

However, Xueya Site always complained that he couldn't eat much of this meat because his teeth weren't very good; his long career as a merchant guard had always forced him to eat overly coarse food, causing no small amount of damage to the teeth in his mouth.

Every time he saw the Warriors in the team eating meat in large mouthfuls, he could only watch with envy while carefully chewing the wheat grains in his mouth.

"Tell us the situation! Everyone has been waiting until now, just waiting for you two to explain the specific situation of the Cunzi." Xueya Site gathered everyone together, and they sat around the campfire, looking at Jier and Bata'er Jiaoshi with burning gazes.

Thus, Jier and Bata'er Jiaoshi, one after another, spoke out most of the situation regarding this Scout mission.

This included the hidden sentries the enemy still had deployed in the two Shulin, as well as the Tiger-headed Eagles that might be active outside the Cunzi at night.

When mentioning the Tiger-headed Eagles, everyone in the caravan finally understood why the Mao Maos, which were always active at night these past two days, had been so well-behaved; it turned out they had encountered their natural predator.

While they were called the natural predators of the Mao Maos, based on Jier's experience, the Tiger-headed Eagle was essentially the natural predator of all large life forms in the open night.

Whether you were as small as a long-eared rabbit or a beast several meters tall like a crown reindeer, you were basically unable to defend yourself when encountering the pounce of a Tiger-headed Eagle. You should know that the sharp claws of a Tiger-headed Eagle are longer than a Dagger and harder than metal.

Afterwards, Jier mocked Bata'er Jiaoshi's "method" of entering the village, which made many Warriors in the team look troubled, truly thinking they would have to copy Bata'er Jiaoshi's route when they launched their attack tomorrow. But fortunately, Jier subsequently extinguished this idea of theirs.

"Tomorrow, you will divide into two groups. I will select one group later, and they will all be Refining Qi personnel. Starting from the ruins in the Xīběi direction of the Cunzi, you will follow the outside of the wall along the north, northeast, and east sides of the Cunzi, clearing out the several Defeated Soldier sentries on the wall along the way."

"The other group will be led by Bata'er Jiaoshi, fighting along the outside of the wall from the ruins of the Cunzi toward the southwest, south, and southeast directions, clearing out the Defeated Soldier sentries on the wall."

Jier said with a serious gaze: "I require you to kill every single enemy sentry without fail, striving to kill as many Defeated Soldiers as possible when the surprise attack is launched, killing them while they are in a scattered state to reduce the difficulty of the subsequent battle inside the Cunzi."

Jier pointed to himself: "As for me, I will ride the Tianxuecao and roam around the farmland outside the Cunzi, intercepting and killing any potential enemy messengers at the first opportunity, so as not to let the enemy inform the main enemy force in the mountains and forests that Changmai Cunzi is under attack."

"Because the wall and houses in the Xīběi direction of the Cunzi were destroyed by a large fire, the situation there is quite complex, and it is very likely that the enemy has treated it as a high-alert area and set up pits and traps. Therefore, we will not attack from that direction. Instead, we will rendezvous outside the east gate of the Cunzi and wait for me to come and break the enemy's defense at the east gate, cross the wall and the gate, and open the village gate from the inside, allowing everyone to enter the Cunzi from there to fight."