Chapter 584: In the Jiedian — The Assassination of Framing

Even though it was already the middle of the night, many Defeated Soldiers in the Jiedian were still not resting.

They had been idle for days, so they naturally had plenty of energy; it did not matter if they did not sleep in the middle of the night. Many were in their tents, whispering with familiar fellow soldiers about the conflict that had occurred just as darkness fell today.

Soldiers who favored Yeluba were whispering curses at Knight Hartna and Adjutant Piluo, feeling that these men were not only cowards but were also hindering their business of making money.

Meanwhile, some soldiers worried about the safety of the place were dissatisfied with Yeluba's procrastination; the Metal Ingots had long been smelted in sufficient quantities as promised, but the trading partner they had been waiting for never arrived. With the other party not coming, Yeluba's plan to make a fortune was simply impossible to carry out.

After all, although everyone knew those Metal Ingots were valuable, they also knew that those heavy, hard Metal Ingots had no extra value on the outskirts of these mountains, where there were only wild beasts and animals.

If no one came to spend money to purchase them, they had no value at all.

They could only be stacked neatly in the wooden house to rust.

Although Jier was wrapped in a layer of olive-shaped, pitch-black shadow, his footsteps still made some noise when he lightened them. Every time he walked past an occupied tent, the voices inside would automatically lower, for fear that someone outside the tent might hear something.

After Jier walked far away, the soldiers in the tents would continue to discuss their personal opinions.

Jier relied on his hearing, enhanced by Life Energy, to carefully listen to the whispered conversations of the surrounding soldiers.

"That guy Piluo, does he really think he can do something just because he has a Knight as his backer? Everyone knows our Knight is almost finished. If it weren't for Brother Yeluba remembering the sentiment of everyone traveling through the Southern Mountains together, he would have already led men to rush in and slaughter the two of them. To dare to incite the emotions of other soldiers today, is he really tired of living?" a Defeated Soldier cursed viciously in his tent.

A soldier in the same tent echoed: "That's right, Brother Yeluba is just too kind. He should have taken that Piluo down and sent him to the mine to dig. Anyway, I heard they were actually going to make us soldiers go down to dig in the first place, which is truly hateful! I guarantee that if that were the case, that Adjutant Piluo definitely wouldn't go down to the mine himself, but would stand outside supervising us as we work!"

"You are so right, brother, so I raise both hands in favor of Brother Yeluba catching those Villagers to dig! I even want to cheer for him. Just think, he caught people to replace us in the mine, looted their homes to make money, and now he even has women to take turns with every day. This life is actually not bad, right?" the previous soldier laughed with a chuckle.

"It's not bad, but I don't know what happened today; not a single Villager woman appeared tonight, leaving me with a stiff crotch, I can't stand it."

As the two soldiers spoke, they turned the topic to women.

Jier shook his head, marked the soldiers in this tent as Yeluba's men, and then continued to scout between the various tents.

"Tell me, when can we leave this damn Forest? To be honest, I am truly terrified of these mountains and forests where no one has ever been. These places have nothing—no food from home, no greetings from familiar friends, and even less company from family! All there is are trees as far as the eye can see! Various birds in the sky whose names I can't call out, and those alien Beast people who don't understand our language!" a soldier complained in a low voice, his words carrying a sobbing tone.

Another soldier in the same tent comforted him: "Listen to what that guy Yeluba means; we just need to trade the Metal Ingots to the people coming to get them. We have produced so many extra Metal Ingots, we can exchange them for even more money. Think more about those golden coins; can you endure the current situation now?"

"And after the matter is over, we will slaughter those Villagers. No one will know what happened here. There will be no evidence, and if we keep our mouths shut and return home with the money, no one will know what we have done."

"But... that man Yeluba, will he really share the money with everyone? Can his words be trusted? And why must we kill all those Villagers? Can't we just let them go?" the first soldier asked hesitantly.

"Are you stupid! If we let them go, can they forget how we treated them? If it were you, could you not seek revenge? So, since things have reached this point, the only way is to kill them all. Otherwise, do you want to go home one day and find that your family has been hunted down and slaughtered by these vengeful Villagers, just as we are oppressing them now?"

"Think about it carefully. Once some things are done, you have to harden your heart and see them through to the end. If you kill everyone, naturally no one will avenge them. As long as no one seeks revenge, no one will know what we have done," the comforting soldier said in a cold, hard tone.

"But, brother, do you really think that man Yeluba will share the money with us? Even if he does, with so many of us, how much money will each person get? Won't the lion's share be taken by those above? And for just that little bit of money, to make us soldiers do these things, wouldn't we be no different from the Bandits we wiped out before?"

When the troubled soldier said this, the comforting soldier didn't know what to say.

After all, the other party was right. Even if they made the Villagers dig and smelt an extra batch of Metal Ingots, once those extra ingots were exchanged for money and divided among them, how much would each person get? It would probably only be two or three Gold Coins per person, right?

And for such a small amount of money, to attack an innocent Village, enslave Villagers to dig, and finally kill all the Villagers, committing such heinous acts—not to mention the morality of the behavior, in terms of risk and reward, it was quite not worth it.

As well-equipped soldiers, even if they didn't participate in the war at the front lines, the wealth gained from just one or two raids on Bandit dens would be more than the profit from what they were doing now.

Moreover, the former would earn the praise and commendation of Merchants and travelers on the Shanglu, and they would be respected by the people back home.

But with the latter, once a single Villager survived, their evil deeds were exposed, or if someone among the soldiers went mad and spread the word, all of them would be ruined.

Although there was no evidence to do anything to them as soldiers, as long as relevant rumors appeared, they would never be able to hold their heads high again or face the eyes of their families.

"Forget about that, sleep, sleep. I think you are just too idle; tomorrow your Sword Technique practice will be doubled! Let those above worry about these things. You and I just need to swing our swords. As for the result, let's see how the gods decide. If the gods let us live, those Villagers must die; if the gods want the Villagers to live, we will just close our eyes and wait for the judgment."

"That is true, let the gods judge and evaluate us..."

The two soldiers stopped talking after discussing this. Although they weren't truly asleep, it was clear the topic was finished.

Jier, not far away, heard the two men's words. He stopped paying attention to the discussions in the surrounding tents and deliberately quickened his pace, arriving in front of this tent.

'The judgment has come, but it is not from the gods—it is from me!'

Jier thought silently, then forcibly tore open the tent that had been tied from the inside. Amidst the inexplicable surprise of the two soldiers lying side-by-side on thin mats, he stabbed down directly with his sword, killing the soldier who reacted the fastest with a single strike.

And the other soldier hadn't even reacted to what was happening!

After all, they only heard the sound of the tent being forcibly torn open, but when they opened their eyes to look, they saw nothing but pitch-black darkness.

The sound of a sharp blade piercing a human body came from beside him. This soldier finally reacted, pulled a Steel Dagger directly from his bosom, and just as he was about to counterattack, Jier swiped his hand to knock it away, then took advantage of the momentum to swing his Long Sword and slash at the soldier's neck.

With a forceful pull, the blade sliced open most of the soldier's neck; fresh blood splashed and gushed out, and the smell of blood immediately filled the entire tent.

Jier paused, waiting until the man died while trembling and bleeding, before wiping his sword on the man's clothes. He deliberately walked his feet through the blood flowing from the neck, then, with blood-stained footprints, walked step by step toward the tent of the two soldiers who favored Yeluba.

He deliberately made his remaining blood-stained footprints appear panicked and staggering. When he arrived in front of the corresponding tent, the soldiers inside also heard someone walking over and immediately stopped talking, falling silent.

But Jier just chuckled softly, silently summoned the Spirit Dog, Big Nose, and jumped onto Big Nose's back.

Thus, a trail of bloody footprints leading from the murder scene to this tent was left behind.

And Jier's blood-stained shoes were carried through the air on Big Nose's back, far away from this place.

When dawn came and someone discovered the deaths of those two soldiers who favored Adjutant Piluo, interesting things would happen one after another.

Jier changed out of his blood-stained shoes in an inconspicuous part of the Jiedian, changed back into the clothes he wore in front of the Villagers, and with the help of Big Nose and the Shadow Bird, returned to the Mine.

When he walked into the main tunnel of the Mine, he was seen by patrolling Villagers: "Jier! Where did you run off to just now? Everyone didn't see you and was looking for you!"

Jier smiled: "What is the matter with looking for me? Did something happen?"

An older Villager said embarrassedly: "It's nothing, it's a good thing. It's just that those alien Beast people brought back a large amount of Wild Chicken and birds again. Everyone is too full to eat them. Following your instructions, we exchanged Mineral Ore for these things. But now those things are piled up like a small mountain; how should we handle them?"

What a happy problem. This morning, the Villagers in the Mine were still worrying about food, but after Jier came, by the evening, they had to worry about what to do with the massive amount of Wild Chicken and birds they couldn't finish eating.

"Ha, what else can we do? Eat! Eat it all!" Jier waved his hand, letting the Villagers get busy processing the meat of these Wild Chickens and birds.

But many Villagers were rubbing their round bellies, some with mouths full of grease, burping, looking like they really couldn't eat any more.

"Hey, if you can't eat it, process them first and stew them all in the pots! It just so happens that when dawn comes, everyone will probably be hungry again. And it's not just you who need to work and dig who should be full and well-fed; let the women and children at home eat their fill. The elderly have weaker bodies, so just have them drink more soup with fat, and eat a small amount of meat."

The Villagers looked at each other. There was no other way, so each of them carried an overly happy smile—a rare smile during this period—and went to execute Jier's orders.

Some Villagers who were resting after being full were called up again, but no one complained; after all, the work to be done was related to everyone's next meal, so everyone helped out with excessive enthusiasm.

The children took the initiative to run to the entrance of the Mine to ask for firewood, while the women went to pluck and clean the massive, mountain-like pile of Wild Chickens and birds.

The elderly specifically picked out the Viscera that the alien Beast people liked, planning to use these things to exchange for more Mineral Ore from the alien Beast people.

After all, one cannot just eat meat and not eat grain. Using a portion of the Mineral Ore to exchange for some wheat grains from the stingy Defeated Soldiers outside, so that Wheat Porridge and chicken soup could be eaten together, was clearly better.

Now everyone could see that those Defeated Soldiers were deliberately restricting everyone's food situation; it was very hateful, simply extremely evil!

After Jier showed his face before the villagers, he had them collect and organize the feathers of the wild chickens and birds, as he would need them later. Next, he instructed everyone to use some abandoned mine tunnels as a place for excretion, to save the mine tunnels from smelling foul and to avoid the risk of stepping on excrement while walking.

After washing his face and letting the villagers know he had been in the mine all along, Jier returned to the upper level of the mine, used the Shadow Bird's 【Shadow Veil】 to conceal his figure, mounted the Spirit Dog Big Nose, and rushed out of the Jiedian. He first went to Xueya Site to quietly retrieve three Silver Plates, then headed at full speed toward the direction of Yamila's Magic Power hut.

Upon arriving back at the Forest area that had been razed by the Magic Power hut at noon, Jier felt this place was suitable. He jumped off Big Nose, activated the Agricultural God Church blessing ability 【Grass and Wood Source】 on his body, and used his temporarily near-infinite stamina to enter and exit the lady's dream realm back and forth, burying the large quantity of Metal Ingots he had just put in there a short while ago in four or five locations here in batches.

He did not know how many smelted Metal Ingots the Defeated Soldiers had agreed to get for Yamila, the 【Messenger of Flame】, so he placed the Metal Ingots in the ground in batches, simply covering them with soil and fallen large trees.

If Yamila took away a few piles of Metal Ingots and indicated that the quantity was sufficient, he could then take away the remaining Metal Ingots; these would be his own private spoils of war.

Although these Metal Ingots had only been crudely smelted, as long as they underwent refined forging later, they could be used to craft excellent weapons and equipment.

Jier himself had no use for these things, but with this batch of Metal Ingots, it would be very necessary to have his subordinates' Warriors fully equipped with thick, all-Metal Armor later, or to equip more Kendall Militia with metal protective gear.

Alternatively, he could entirely gift these Metal Ingots to Knight Kela or Kendall Baron in exchange for their favor.

After all, Jier had delayed for too long in this seemingly simple operation, and he had previously felt embarrassed to explain his absence to Knight Kela and Kendall Baron upon rejoining the group. But now, with this batch of Metal Ingots, the two would certainly forgive his tardiness.

After everything was prepared, Jier changed back into the full gear he wore when he previously met Yamila. Once everything was in order, he rode Big Nose and, as if floating through the air, quickly arrived in front of the Magic Power hut.

"Lady Yamila Aosiding, I have retrieved the money."

Jier shouted loudly toward the Magic Power hut. Because the Magic Power hut's door was still closed, Jier did not dare to force his way into this Magic Power hut; he knew he was likely not a match for this thing, especially at such close range.

"Ah! Okay! Wait a moment!! I'm changing clothes, wait for me a moment!"

Yamila's panicked shouting came from a window on the second floor of the house, followed by a clattering sound from inside the house, and the sound of Yamila thumping down the stairs.

Accompanied by a loud crash, something seemed to have hit the ground, and Yamila shrieked: "Why is it so heavy?"

Jier raised an eyebrow and shouted toward the door of the Magic Power hut: "What's wrong? Do you need my help? If you do, please have Mimi open the door for me?"

"No need, no need! Please wait a moment! Mimi, make some more snacks, and add some hot water to the crystal pot!" A burst of Yamila's embarrassed, aimless shouting came from inside the house.

Jier's eyes turned, and he guessed what Yamila was nervous about. He hadn't taken the Dwarf Soldier Spear with him earlier; most likely, while he wasn't there, Yamila had been tinkering with that Dwarf Soldier Spear which could bring her a sum of income.

He wondered what she could have researched in such a short time?

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