Chapter 519: Dangerous Intersection, Optimistic Shield-Bearer

The words spoken by those two soldiers were naturally heard by Jier.

He let out a grunt of dissatisfaction, directly jammed the Dwarf Soldier Spear back into the weapon rack behind him, then jumped off his horse, and with another burst of strength, leaped directly from the ground onto the gate guard platform over five meters high.

Boom—the sound of Jier landing was quite loud; he seized the initiative before the opponent could close the wooden gate from the inside and jumped in right after them.

"Didn't you just say you didn't believe in my strength? So, what about now?"

Jier said this casually to the two stunned enemies, and without caring how they responded, he swung his sword, avoided the Soldier Armor on the enemies' bodies, and severed the two Defeated Soldiers at the neck, killing them directly and decisively.

Letting the two headless corpses spray blood wildly, Jier came to the small wooden gate used for entry and exit, pushed aside the supplies blocking the door, and opened it.

He then jumped to the inside of the perimeter wall and opened the Dongce Damen of the Cunzi.

Whew—

Jier whistled to summon the Tianxuecao wandering outside the gate, then shouted to Bataer Jiaoshi, who was approaching with men: "Follow the plan! You must take the Grain Warehouse; I am going to protect those female villagers now."

After speaking, Jier flipped onto the back of the Tianxuecao that had run over and charged toward the enemy Jiedian on the north side of the Cunzi.

As for the Warriors, Aoni sighed. While entering the Cunzi with the others, he looked at the gate guard platform above their heads—a position they would have had to risk much and find a way to take—and felt quite moved that Knight Jier had taken it in less than thirty seconds.

"Are we dragging Sir Jier down? Why do I feel like he could kill all the enemies here by himself?"

Faced with his lament, many Warriors in the group had the same thought and nodded one after another.

Bataer Jiaoshi hurriedly advised: "Please, everyone, do not think that way. I have actually discussed this issue with the warrior Jier, and the answer he gave was that although he can do many things in terms of martial power, most things in this world cannot be simply completed by one person alone."

"For example?" Weier asked, squinting his eyes.

Bataer Jiaoshi pointed outside the Cunzi: "For instance, it is very difficult for him to attack the Cunzi alone while guarding against people in other parts of the Cunzi escaping or sneaking away to notify other enemies."

At this moment, looking out from the Dongce Damen of the Cunzi, one could just see the drivers in their carriages driving rapidly from the east of the Cunzi toward the south.

These drivers were currently responsible for the task of intercepting and surrounding the entire perimeter of the Cunzi.

At the same time, while leading men toward the Grain Warehouse, Bataer Jiaoshi explained loudly: "Just like now, the Grain Warehouse must be taken immediately, but in the enemy Jiedian on the north side of the Cunzi, there are also innocent female villagers being held and bullied who need their safety guaranteed! If there were only one person, or even just a few people, what should be done? Abandon one side to ensure the other? Or send a small number of people to both sides, only to fail to protect either?"

"So the warrior Jier told me that no matter how strong a single person on our side is, the things he can do in a certain amount of time are limited. Therefore, normally, the more people on our side, the better. The more people, the more things can be accomplished, and a major, complex task requires countless small or large tasks to be completed. This has never been something one or two powerful people can do by waving their hands; it requires gathering many people to handle affairs together to complete great tasks!"

The Warriors all felt this made a lot of sense upon hearing it. Although their strength was nothing compared to Knight Jier, they could do several things at once that even Knight Jier could not; after all, one cannot split a person into eight pieces to use, right?

Everyone present did not know that this was actually the same reason why many Knight Orders of the Empire had superior strength, yet they could conquer a certain region but were unable to rule or manage certain areas.

You can use force to kill and take a certain region, but if you have too few people, you cannot manage it; the people below will feign compliance while constantly rebelling everywhere, and you will have no choice but to use force again to kill and suppress, but the enemies will continue to rebel, and their numbers may even grow due to the accumulation of hatred.

Even for a newly conquered region, conscripting soldiers, grain, and taxes cannot be done by relying solely on the knights of the Knight Order; it requires the large number of logistics personnel, administrators, and even the promotion of local Noble figures subsequently dispatched by the Empire to allow a region conquered by a Knight Order to be normally incorporated into the rule and provide normal tax and material support, rather than conquering a piece of land only to have it become a bottomless pit that consumes vast amounts of funds and supplies.

After Bataer Jiaoshi finished explaining, the morale of the Warriors rose for a while, so he walked at the very front, leading the crowd quickly toward the Grain Warehouse on the south side of the Cunzi.

They hadn't walked far, just as they were nearing the center of the Cunzi, when they heard: Swish—Bang!

Bataer Jiaoshi, walking at the front, shuddered all over as a ripple of cyan Divine Power of the God of Agriculture surged on his body, and he sat down on the ground.

The Priest reached out and grabbed a heavy Heavy Crossbow Bolt from his abdomen; of course, the metal armor-piercing tip of this Heavy Crossbow Bolt was already ruined from the impact. Armed Priests with sufficient Divine Power have strong defensive capabilities, even exceeding those of ordinary knights.

"Quickly hide, everyone hide behind the Fence nearby, watch out for the Crossbow bolts from the direction of the Cunzi center!" Bataer Jiaoshi shouted. He did not expect to be attacked by that enemy on the Church Bell Tower from this position. Fortunately, the enemy's first target was him, the leader, otherwise, they would have lost someone right then and there.

Even if the injured person were to be rescued later, healing the wounds on their body would take a great deal of time, as well as the Divine Power of the God of Agriculture, which was not easy to recover at this moment.

The Warriors scattered one after another, hiding behind the cover of surrounding buildings so as not to expose themselves to the line of sight of the Church Bell Tower in the center of the Cunzi.

Bataer Jiaoshi, having stood back up, identified the surrounding Villager houses; familiar with the environment, he immediately found the safest route, but one section still required exposure to attacks from the direction of the Church.

"Why did I renovate the Church Bell Tower to be so high back then?"

The Priest was speechless. A few years ago, when he took over the Church in Changmai Village, he took the opportunity to renovate the Church according to his wishes, adding several meters to the height of the original Bell Tower. He originally thought it would make the Church look taller and more beautiful, but he didn't expect it to deal him a heavy blow today.

There was no other way, so he had to stand out now and guide the Warriors to a seemingly calm intersection. He grabbed the Captain of the Warriors, Aoni, and said: "The area ahead is right within the enemy's line of sight and attack range. Here is what we'll do: I will cover you, and after you cross this, charge toward the Grain Warehouse as quickly as possible to defeat the enemies there and prevent them from setting fire to the Grain Warehouse!"

Aoni waved his hand and, taking advantage of the Priest not paying attention, slipped across the intersection. He then nodded at the Priest, drew his weapon, and charged toward the Grain Warehouse not far ahead.

Bataer Jiaoshi shrugged helplessly, then grabbed Weier; this time, he had to protect the other person as they crossed the intersection.

But Weier raised an eyebrow, feeling he didn't need such help from the Priest, yet he couldn't rudely refuse like Aoni, as that would be very offensive. Subsequently, Bataer Jiaoshi stood in front of Weier, and the two crossed the intersection in sync.

This time, the Crossbow bolt fired by the enemy was a step behind them, hitting the ground behind them.

The powerful Heavy Crossbow Bolt, even without a metal armor-piercing tip, stuck fiercely into the solid soil, leaving only half of the bolt visible above ground.

If this had hit an ordinary person, it would have pierced right through their body; its power was about the same as a Throwing Spear Jier could toss casually.

"That was close. Weier, hurry! Go quickly to support Aoni." Bataer Jiaoshi turned his head to look at the bolt on the ground and let out a breath. Others only had to walk this way once, but he had to walk back and forth many times.

Weier nodded, specifically thanked the Priest, and then hurried toward the Grain Warehouse. Shouts of battle were already coming from there; although Aoni had good equipment, the enemies numbered two, and he was caught in a bitter struggle.

After sending Weier off, Bataer Jiaoshi turned and rushed toward the opposite side. This time, the enemy specifically left a lead, pulling the trigger mechanism of the Heavy Crossbow the moment they saw Bataer Jiaoshi appear.

Swish—Bang!

Bataer Jiaoshi was hit and fell to the ground again.

"Priest! Are you alright?" The Warriors hiding nearby asked one after another.

Bataer Jiaoshi waved his hand, threw the bolt that had hit his leg to the side, and without caring what the enemy on the Bell Tower thought of him, took advantage of the time the enemy was winding and reloading to quickly grab two Warriors, pulling and dragging them to the other side of the intersection.

"Go quickly, assist the two in front in the battle. If the battle is over, set up a defensive line around the Grain Warehouse with the others!" Bataer Jiaoshi said.

The two Warriors nodded; one drew the two-handed logging axe they had just captured, and the other pulled a Changdao from behind, charging quickly toward the Grain Warehouse ahead.

Afterward, Bataer Jiaoshi didn't care about anything else and rushed toward the intersection, but suddenly paused for a moment. Sure enough, the next moment, a Crossbow bolt shot into the ground in front of him, inserting itself diagonally into the soil.

The Priest triumphantly shook his fist at the direction of the Church Bell Tower and stepped forward quickly, letting four or five Warriors charge across the intersection with him at once: "Quick, quick, quick! Take advantage of the enemy reloading the Crossbow, everyone charge!"

After five Warriors crossed in one go, Bataer Jiaoshi felt it was no longer safe, so he held back the Warriors who still wanted to take the chance, and then personally took only one person, letting them be completely shielded by his own body as they charged across the intersection.

This time, the Priest did not pause halfway, and the enemy did not fire a Crossbow bolt.

Everything looked very normal, as if the enemy had given up on attacking their side.

But this small intersection was not like that; the atmosphere remained tense and serious.

Bataer Jiaoshi, having sent one person across, took a deep breath. Although he would not be injured, he would still be startled involuntarily after being hit, and the Crossbow bolt hitting him consumed the Divine Power of the God of Agriculture stored in his Armed Priest equipment, which was not infinite.

If it were exhausted too early now, either he would be of no great use in the subsequent battle, or he would have to shamelessly return to Lanse-Qingting to have the Old Priest Ruiduokasi replenish some Divine Power of the God of Agriculture for him.

Bataer Jiaoshi was still young and cared about his face; it was impossible for him to throw his face away and shamelessly go back to ask the Old Priest to help him expend precious Divine Power for a recharge.

After slowly exhaling a breath, Bataer Jiaoshi ran forward quickly and crossed this dangerous intersection.

No crossbow bolts were fired; there had been no crossbow fire just now. Had the enemy given up?

But the Priest's own intuition was telling him that the enemy had not only not given up, but was paying even closer attention to this spot.

The Priest grabbed a Warrior, and the two took a deep breath, dashing across to the opposite side in unison.

Whoosh—thwack!

A crossbow bolt had hit!

But it wasn't Bata'er Jiaoshi; it was the Warrior who had been right next to him, moving almost in perfect synchronization.

Fortunately, this Warrior was a Shield-bearer, and even while crossing the intersection, he had held his shield up toward the center of the village. Therefore, after this bolt missed Bata'er Jiaoshi in an instant and before it hit the Warrior, it first passed through the Soldier Shield he had just captured, piercing through the shield before striking the Warrior's arm.

The Warrior's shield was pierced, his arm was struck by the crossbow bolt, and his body was even knocked over by the force. Bata'er Jiaoshi hurriedly dragged this Warrior across the intersection. Not only was he dragging a person, but he also shouted to the other Warriors waiting on the other side of the intersection: "Hurry! Take this opportunity, everyone else come over quickly!"

There weren't many people left; at this moment, the ones with the greatest numbers on the other side were actually the small-statured Mao Mao. As soon as Bata'er Jiaoshi shouted, the whole group rushed across this dangerous intersection in a flurry.

Meanwhile, the heavy-armored Warrior in the church bell tower was reloading his crossbow while looking with annoyance at the many people—and some small, short things that didn't look like humans—rushing across that intersection in a flurry.

"What are those?" he muttered to himself, because those small things looked very much like the lynx Beast who helped those soldiers pass through the Southern Mountains.

With his excellent eyesight, he even saw those long tails, which left him feeling baffled. He didn't know how those lynx Beast, who had all run into the Mine to excitedly dig for ore, had ended up mixed in with the enemy.

"How is it?"

After rushing across the intersection, Bata'er Jiaoshi waved his arms to signal the other Warriors and the Mao Mao to advance toward the Grain Warehouse, while lowering his head to ask about the injured Warrior's condition.

The Warrior grinned and replied nonchalantly: "It's nothing much. My right arm is injured, but it won't affect my ability to continue fighting with a shield in my left arm."

Bata'er Jiaoshi saw that this was indeed the case. Usually, one held a shield with the left arm. Just now, when crossing the intersection, because the enemy's fire came from their right, this Warrior had been holding the shield in reverse with his right arm, which was why his right arm was injured. If it were any other Warrior, an injured right arm would naturally mean they couldn't fight, but this Warrior was a Shield-bearer, so holding the shield with his left arm was not a big problem.

"In that case, I'll stop the bleeding for you first. Let's not remove the crossbow bolt yet; how about we deal with it along with the other injured Warriors after the battle ends?"

The Priest asked, and the Warrior nodded repeatedly.

Then followed a quick Prayer. Bata'er Jiaoshi was already very familiar with this. In normal times, he wouldn't even use a healing Prayer once a month in Changmai Village, but in the previous Refugee Team, he had practiced this skill until he was very proficient.

He didn't even need to think about how to organize the prayer words, and the words he spoke were fast and accurate. Before the injured Warrior could even react, the Priest had already raised his hands high, then quickly pressed them down onto the spot where the crossbow bolt had pierced the Warrior's arm.

"Ha, it itches! How strange, this crossbow bolt feels like it's grown into my arm!" This Warrior was thick-skinned and had dull nerves; he even wanted to scratch the itchy wound, but was swatted away by Bata'er Jiaoshi.

"Remember, no matter how itchy it gets later, you cannot scratch it with your hand. Otherwise, the wound will reopen. As for the crossbow bolt feeling like it's grown into your arm, please just endure it for now. If everything goes well, the battle should be over by noon. At that time, I will have the warrior Jier help you remove the crossbow bolt."

Bata'er Jiaoshi said seriously.

But this thick-skinned Warrior was very happy: "Ha, it itches, but to have Lord Jier personally remove the crossbow bolt for me, this arrow wasn't taken in vain, right? The others don't get this treatment!"

Seeing that this person still had the heart to joke, Bata'er Jiaoshi felt quite helpless: "Ah, yes, yes, yes, this treatment is very rare."

After finishing, Bata'er Jiaoshi was about to support the injured Warrior to move, but the Warrior refused: "Lord Priest, it's my arm that's injured, but my legs are fine. Just let me walk by myself. You go first; the battle ahead still needs you."

The Priest nodded, said nothing more, and immediately hurried toward the front line.

And as soon as he saw Bata'er Jiaoshi walk away, the Shield-bearer couldn't help himself, using his left hand to scratch hard at the injured spot on his right arm: "Ah, that feels much better, so satisfying."

?? Welcome everyone to subscribe to this book and give it recommendation votes, monthly tickets, and tips to support it. Thank you all.