Chapter 526: Assemble, 'Arrow Tower', Counter-sniping

Since arriving in this different world, Jier had already encountered many strange things, so this matter, which seemed exceptionally bizarre to others, was nothing more than a drop in the bucket for him.

He carefully collected a toe from the person he had picked up, preparing to pickle it with salt grains upon returning to see if it might have any great use in the future.

Afterwards, he confirmed that the birds were not interested in the weapons and equipment of the dead Defeated Soldier, so he left the place on horseback.

He circled the outskirts of Changmai Village twice more at a fast pace, looked up at the height of the sun in the sky, and then entered the village through the Dongce Damen.

Looking at the Church in the center of the village from far away, he discovered that the troublesome enemy was still in the Church Bell Tower; noticing Jier, the enemy was aiming at him with a heavy crossbow. But Jier was more than two hundred meters away from the opponent, and at this distance, the accuracy of a single crossbow was basically non-existent; to be a threat, there would have to be a concentrated volley, creating a large-area barrage.

"I'll deal with you in a moment!" Jier muttered, actively avoiding the opponent's effective attack range and arriving at the enemy Jiedian on the north side of the village.

This was no longer an enemy Jiedian, because when Jier arrived, his subordinates, the Warriors and the Mao Maos, were already scattered here, gathering.

Many Warriors were showing off the enemy weapons they had seized in battle to their companions, loudly declaring that they would never use their previous weapons again; those second-hand, or third-hand, or even who-knows-how-many-hand weapons seized from the Bandits could not compare at all to the well-made and rigorous Soldier Armor in the hands of the enemy.

The Shield bearers prioritized switching to the Soldier Shields they had seized; these pieces of defensive gear, which were larger in volume and had a standard shield shape, were far better than the miscellaneous shields they had held before.

And the Warriors who used Long Swords each had a Soldier Single-handed Sword from the enemy, colliding them with their previous weapons to compare the difference between the two. The Warriors' previous Long Swords were also seized from Bandits, and some were even rusted, requiring them to repeatedly rub them against a Stone to remove the rust before they could become sharp.

But the seized weapons had no rust at all. Although those Defeated Soldiers were bastards, their maintenance of weapons and equipment was relatively frequent and quite professional.

Many Warriors were, for the first time, seizing a complete set of tools for cleaning, polishing, and maintenance from enemy corpses; these tools were systematically packed in a small Leather Bag, mostly hung on the cowhide belts of the enemy Soldiers, and some were carefully searched out from the rooms where the enemy Soldiers lived.

Jier himself had a set of tools for maintaining weapons, so he hadn't cared about these from the enemy before; only when he rode over and saw everyone finding this stuff very novel did he remember that he had neglected this preparation for the team.

"It's a good thing we seized them directly this time; I don't need to spend money to buy a dozen more sets of this stuff."

Don't look down on this stuff; even without them, those weapons could still kill, but maintained weapons had better combat efficiency, and the weapons could be used for a longer time. Of course, the price of these little things was not cheap either.

This seizure could be considered saving Jier a sum of money.

Thinking of this, Jier grinned.

The Mao Maos in the courtyard were also grinning; after they had dispersed just now and conducted a careful and quick inspection of every house in the village, they had still found two enemies hiding secretly, so they had made a fortune today.

Yongqi Maomao was being lifted up by the other happy Mao Maos and thrown into the air repeatedly, and every time it was thrown into the air, it would maintain its balance naturally, then elegantly and proudly stroke its whiskers.

It certainly should be proud; the enemies they killed today and the metal they seized were far beyond what they had collected along the way before. Many were top-quality steel. Don't look at the fact that the Mao Maos had no smelting ability, but they also knew that steel was better than iron.

It was harder, sharper, and could bring a multiple increase to their combat power.

They even obtained the Metal Armor Plate from those enemies; even Yongqi Maomao wanted to imitate Jier's metal fur and get a set of sturdy protective Armor for themselves.

But it then thought, was metal Armor equipment too luxurious and showy? After returning to the tribe, would it inevitably be severely reprimanded by the tribe's priests and Wizards?

And on the other side, the atmosphere was very heavy.

The rescued female Villagers had poor physical strength, and after crying for a while, several of them fell asleep from exhaustion. They did not want to return to the house next to them, so after being rescued, even in the farmer's courtyard without beds or chairs, they huddled together in groups of several people, sitting on the ground and leaning against each other, falling into a deep sleep.

There were three others who were forcing themselves to stay awake, saying something to the sorrowful-looking Bata'er Jiaoshi.

The young Priest would clench his fists in excitement one moment, then raise his hand to wipe away the tears flowing down the next, and would even be unable to stand steady from excitement, needing Weier next to him to support him so he could stand.

"How could this be? How could this be? If that's the case, then last night, I was the one who snuck into the village from there to Scout. How could I have been right next to it and not noticed!"

Jier jumped off his horse and walked over quickly.

Seeing Bata'er Jiaoshi in a state of mental agitation and unable to stand steady, he asked Weier next to him: "What happened?"

Weier said simply with a look of regret: "The women who were rescued said that three of their companions were tortured to death by the enemy before. The corpses were cruelly fed to the family dogs kept in the village that were never fed, and in the end, the bones were thrown into the manure pit at the edge of the village."

He put down the equipment of the armed Priest he had been carrying and scratched his cheek: "Bata'er Jiaoshi said he snuck in from the manure pit at the edge of the village last night, but he didn't notice the bones of the poor Villagers. He is blaming himself now."

Seeing Weier staring at him with a strange look, Jier immediately understood the other's thoughts and quickly said: "I didn't sneak in from the manure pit; I jumped over the village wall and jumped right in."

After explaining, Jier said to the Priest: "However, Bata'er Jiaoshi, don't be too sad. Those poor Villagers have already passed away. The best way for you to repay your apologies to them now is revenge. Instead of crying here, hurting your body, and wasting time and energy. Now there is still the enemy's last Jiedian in the village; killing all the enemies in the Jiedian is the best way to avenge them!"

Speaking of this, Jier paused: "Of course, those dogs that have eaten people cannot be kept either. Aoni! Aoni!"

Warrior Captain Aoni arrived immediately; he was holding a set of Soldier Armor stripped from a Defeated Soldier, and was currently gesturing at the set of armor on his own body, imagining how to install it.

"Knight Jier, did you call me?"

Jier nodded and pointed to the Dog Kennel in the corner of the courtyard: "I just found out that the dogs in the courtyard actually ate people, and they cruelly ate the female Villagers in the village; even if it was just the corpses, they cannot be left behind. Take two people, kill them, and bury the corpses on the spot."

"Understood, my lord! I'll do it right away. No wonder I saw those dogs always looking at us and barking at us."

Receiving the order, Aoni called two Warriors, and the three of them first overturned the Dog Kennel, then raised their weapons and swung them down at these family dogs that were constantly barking at them and preparing to bite.

These dogs raised by the Villagers themselves were not any excellent hunting dogs or anything; their size and strength were not great, they just had loud barks. After being hit hard by the weapons a few times, their heads were smashed, and they fell to the ground and stopped moving.

"Find a shovel and bury them on the spot. Of course, bury them separately, and don't bury them too deep."

After giving instructions, Aoni received Jier's new order.

"Form up! Prepare to attack the enemy's last Jiedian—the Nongshen Church in the middle of the village!"

Jier first let the Mao Maos scatter in the village to stop any possible scattered enemy deserters. Then he arranged for the archers to stay here to protect the rescued female Villagers; their bows and arrows would not be of any use in the subsequent battle, so he left them here to defend.

The others were taken by Jier; he did not ride a horse, but led the Priest, Aoni, Weier, and others to walk to the middle of the village.

In order to guard against the enemy's long-range Heavy Crossbow Bolt, Jier specifically had the Warriors using axes break through the walls of the farmers' houses and the courtyard Fence to approach the Church, avoiding the enemy's line of sight.

This trick really worked; although the Defeated Soldier on the Church Bell Tower heard the rumbling sound of wall-breaking from the north, he couldn't see exactly what was happening because of the obstruction of the houses.

At this time, this guy actually already knew that their group's defeat was a foregone conclusion, and this was his last chance to escape.

Now, if he abandoned the weapons and equipment in his hands, slid down the ladder, opened the Church gate from the inside, and ran south without looking back, it was possible to get away.

But this Defeated Soldier did not do so; he kissed the weapon in his hand and muttered to himself: "Soldiers of neighboring countries, Bandits, monsters in the mountains, innocent Villagers, you have already tasted the blood and lives of many people; today, no matter what, I must taste the lives of these people."

He carefully unloaded a normal Heavy Crossbow Bolt that had already been loaded, rummaged through several quivers behind him, and finally found several Pure Metal Crossbow Bolts specifically for armor-piercing.

These Pure Metal Crossbow Bolts had even been blessed by a Priest of the War God Church last year, which gave these few metal Crossbow Bolts the ability to not fear rust and not fear wind deflection.

They were not very good for dealing with Knights; firstly, they couldn't keep up with the movement of a Knight, and secondly, the thick armor on a regular Knight could not be broken even if these specialized armor-piercing metal Crossbow Bolts were used to attack. But when dealing with the enemy's elite Warriors, these Crossbow Bolts were too useful.

They were often even used to hunt Monsters in the mountains and forests, and could exert miraculous effects.

Before, when they passed through the mountains, he had relied on these crossbow bolts to knock down more than one powerful Monster. Because he never moved when fighting and could provide powerful support to others, he was given the nickname 'Arrow Tower' by his comrades.

"Come on, let me take a few more lives today before I die with me, hahahaha..."

This Defeated Soldier even chuckled; clearly, even if he died, he would forcibly take a few people with him.

"Hey! 'Arrow Tower', how is the situation outside?"

Under the Bell Tower, in the hall of the Church, a Defeated Soldier asked about the situation outside.

"Arrow Tower" replied as usual: "Very good! The partners have already pushed the enemy back, and the Grain Warehouse has been retaken by us. Haha, but those people refuse to leave the houses around the Grain Warehouse, and are fighting for them house by house. However, I see a group of people coming from the north side, and they are approaching us."

A Soldier Squad Leader who had fled here earlier shuddered and immediately asked: "Is there an enemy riding a horse, uh, an enemy Cavalryman?"

"Arrow Tower" responded: "No, the enemies are all coming on foot. They are very cautious, relying on the houses for cover, so I cannot aim. I can only wait until they finally approach the open space around the Church to put pressure on them."

"Very good, 'Arrow Tower', blow the Horn, abandon the Grain Warehouse, have Kulike bring the men back, set fire to the Grain Warehouse, and let the enemies to the south go save the fire. The enemies will definitely go to save the fire, otherwise they wouldn't have attacked the Grain Warehouse. Have them retreat back, defend the Church first; we can hold out here for several days, and after nightfall, we can find an opportunity to break out!"

"Arrow Tower" gave a silent sneer. He responded, then picked up a Horn from his belt and, following previous instructions, blew the recall signal of one long and three short blasts.

Toot—toot-toot-toot.

But "Arrow Tower" was just fooling the people below. He certainly knew that those who had gone to the Grain Warehouse had already been routed and were likely scattered throughout the entire Cunzi by now. Many people had long since lost any thought of following orders these days, and basically only considered how to save their own lives.

He knew that even if he blew the horn for an urgent recall, it was impossible for anyone to return; in fact, more people were just waiting for the enemies to start fighting with the Church they were defending, so they could find a chance to sneak away.

"You all better guard my backside well, you two idiots." Muttering a curse under his breath, "Arrow Tower" loaded a metal bolt into the Heavy Crossbow, took a deep breath, and estimated the enemies' positions and their likely direction of approach.

"Don't think these crappy wooden houses can block my Crossbow. Go to hell—"

He roughly calculated the position, then pulled the trigger, and with a bang, released a grey-black, all-metal armor-piercing bolt.

Bang—thud!

The Arrow pierced into a house, actually punching through the Wooden Wall of the house and directly hitting a Warrior on the back side of the house.

"Ah!"

A wail came from there, and "Arrow Tower" triumphantly touched his nose: "Not bad, let's have another!"

He took out another all-metal armor-piercing bolt, cocked the string, loaded the bolt, and raised the weapon.

But the next moment, a Throwing Spear actually flew toward him in an arc.

This thing was moving at high speed. "Arrow Tower" only had time to tilt his head slightly, and the continuously spinning Throwing Spear grazed his head, injured his ear, kicked up a spray of sparks, and slammed into the bell tower's wooden pillar behind him.

Bang—hummm.

"Arrow Tower" stared with cold sweat streaming down at the tail of the Throwing Spear still vibrating on the wooden pillar behind him, unable to say a word.

He no longer had his previous casualness and calmness. His hands and feet trembled as he wanted to retaliate, but his shaking hands could not hold the Heavy Crossbow steady no matter what.

"Steady, be steady! You have to stay steady for me!"

He gritted his teeth, forcibly steadied his hands, and with a bang, fired another shot.

But the next moment, a Metal Spear pierced directly through the entire house and headed straight for him!

It's over, this was his final thought.

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