Chapter 627: On the Road Back (Part 3)

After resting for roughly half an hour at noon, the entire group continued on their journey.

When they set off, there was no shortage of complaints from the villagers; many were physically weak, and after stumbling along for the whole morning, they were already exhausted. The mere thought of having to reach the Forward Camp, several kilometers away, before the afternoon brought a wave of fatigue.

Fortunately, Jier had previously provided the villagers with several meals rich in oil and fat, ensuring they were not without a reserve of food in their bodies. If the villagers had been rescued while exhausted and then forced to move like this without having eaten a few full meals, it is likely that some would have collapsed and died on the road.

In that situation, the villagers might have understood, and Bata'er Jiaoshi might have understood, but Jier himself certainly would not have been satisfied with such a state of affairs.

When treating his own people, he was not a guy without empathy; he could always examine himself from the status and perspective of others. Therefore, Jier's subordinates did not feel much pressure from him. Even though his strength was terrifying, people were not overly afraid of him or in awe of him.

This was because after everyone had just a few contacts with Jier, they would slowly sense that Jier was not the type of person with a very overbearing personality. He would issue orders, but if you could not complete them, he would not get angry; he would only adjust the difficulty and scale of the tasks and orders next time, ensuring that the orders he issued were within the range that everyone's strength could accomplish.

This can also be seen in the matter of leading the rescued villagers to relocate this time.

Because he had anticipated in advance that the villagers, who had been harshly enslaved, were in poor condition, Jier had supplemented the villagers' physical nutrition ahead of time, before ensuring the distance they could travel from the Defeated Army Soldier Camp to the Forward Camp in one day.

Moreover, with Bata'er Jiaoshi present in the group at this time, villagers who felt unwell could immediately seek the Priest's help, using the simple healing of injuries and illnesses brought by Divine Art prayers to resolve the physical discomfort of some villagers along the way.

Even though it was daytime, the trees in the mountains were dense, and walking in the Forest, the environment was actually quite dark. If it weren't for the fact that everyone around was their own people, one or two ordinary people would definitely not have had the courage to break into such a primitive Forest.

"Come..."

"Who was calling me just now?"

A young villager walking on the edge of the group twisted his head frequently, looking left and right, as if someone familiar was calling his name.

"Kete! Come..."

A not-very-loud call came from the side of the villager group; it was in the dark part of the Shulin, blocked by layers of branches and leaves, and it seemed someone was hiding behind a tree trunk.

This villager saw that familiar half-body and was stunned; because that figure was too familiar—it was the figure of his deceased older brother.

Just as he wanted to walk out to see what was going on, the rope pulled tight around his waist restrained him, and the other family members who were tugged by it looked over because of this.

"Kete, what are you doing?"

The middle-aged man asked unhappily. This thin-bodied man was also carrying half a set of soldier's Plate Armor on his back. Because his body was not strong enough, he had to pant every few steps, and only after recovering a bit of strength would he continue to move.

He had been tugged by the rope around his waist, and upon seeing that the reason for the tug was his second son deviating from the group's marching direction, he immediately asked with dissatisfaction.

The young man was a bit flustered. His mental state was not very good; because he was too excited last night, he had almost not slept. At this moment, hunger, sleepiness, and physical fatigue all struck at once, making his thinking ability not very strong.

"Ah, Father. Brother, I heard Brother calling me? Just now?" The young man explained stammeringly.

The middle-aged man's face immediately darkened, and then he scolded: "What nonsense are you talking about! Your brother died at the hands of those damn—no, those already dead soldiers. How could you possibly hear his call? I told you to sleep early last night, but you only knew how to talk to those Shop Assistants, staying up all night!"

"No, I really saw my brother! He, he is right there! Look, Mother, you look over there too, is that Brother?" The young man began to argue, his voice unconsciously becoming louder.

The middle-aged couple looked in the direction of their son's finger and truly saw half of their eldest son's figure beside a dark tree trunk not far away. At the same time, a call that stole their hearts and minds made them unconsciously move their feet, attempting to lean closer.

"Ah... Father, Mother... I'm here, come... come over."

It seemed the familiar voice of their son also came over, making this family unconsciously break away from the group together and walk toward the Shulin in that direction.

Just at this moment, a loud shout came: "What are you doing? Why did you leave the group? Go back! Hurry back!"

Following the shout, an archer under Jier's command hurried over.

At the same time, because of this shout, the surrounding villagers, who had all been walking with their heads down, also turned their heads one after another to look over, wanting to see what had happened. Although everyone was very tired, once they heard that something had happened, they would unconsciously lift their heads, look over with their eyes, and prick up their ears.

Subconsciously listening to gossip is a human instinct, no matter what one is doing, no matter how tired one is.

While the middle-aged man in this family was moving his feet toward the dark part of the Shulin, he did not forget to reply to the Warrior who had hurried over: "Ah, this Warrior, look over there quickly, my deceased eldest son is right there, he's not dead! He's not dead! Please let me go over and see, Great God of Agriculture above, thank you for your miracle! Thank you for your miracle!"

But this Warrior pursed his lips after looking over; he reached behind him, took out a Soldier Bow, and immediately drew an Arrow to shoot over.

But this Arrow was not shot directly at the figure revealing half its body, but at the tree trunk beside the other party. At this distance, and with a fixed target, this archer would not miss.

He hit this spot on purpose. Although he did not think this thing in front of him could be a truly resurrected villager child, what if it was? So this Arrow was just to intimidate it.

"No matter who you are, don't come closer! Stay where you are! Otherwise, taste my Arrow!"

He shouted, then hurried forward and pulled back the family that had already left the villager group: "Go back! Don't be impulsive! If you leave the group, you will be treated as a Monster by Lord Jier on the spot! You don't want to be punched twice by Lord Jier, do you?"

Although they really wanted to go over and see if it was their deceased son, the middle-aged villager couple also did not want to taste the iron fist of a Knight.

But their youngest son was in a trance; even though he was connected by a rope at his waist, he still kept stepping forward, trying to walk into the depths of the Shulin, his eyes fixed, his mouth even muttering to himself: "Big Brother! Big Brother... I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Big Brother. It was all because of protecting me that you were struck down by those bad seeds, it was all for me!"

After the Warrior using the bow and arrow pulled the people back, he immediately shouted to the villagers behind who were watching the excitement: "Call someone! Get Knight Jier, Bata'er Jiaoshi, and the others here quickly! There is something strange here!"

"Where is there something strange?"

Jier arrived first; his hearing was sharp, and before the sound of calling for people in the middle of the group had clearly come over, Jier had already heard it.

He immediately ended his conversation with Bata'er Jiaoshi at the end of the group, instructed the Priest to guard the end of the group well and not let the villagers fall behind, and then reached his left hand up to his head. Even though it was a place with nothing, Jier seemed to have grabbed something in the air with his left hand, and was carried through the long group quickly by the air, reaching the place where the incident happened directly.

Jier was actually holding onto the mouth of the Spirit Dog, Big Nose, which others could not see or touch, holding onto the huge teeth in its mouth, and letting Big Nose carry him to move quickly.

It was not that Jier's movement speed was not as good as Big Nose's; Jier could actually run faster at full speed, but that was on open flat ground, where he could jump and leap to quickly overtake Big Nose. But in a situation where the terrain was rugged and uneven, the ground was soft, and one would be hit in the face by trees and branches if one jumped even slightly, it was still four-legged Big Nose carrying him that moved faster.

As soon as Jier arrived, he first jumped in front of the young man who wanted to go into the depths of the Shulin and pushed him backward.

He narrowed his eyes and saw at a glance that this young man seemed to have a problem mentally.

But while he had no problem smashing an enemy's head into a flower, he was not good at matters concerning the mind.

Thus, Jier said to the young man's parents and the three nearest subordinate Warriors who had hurried over: "Watch him well, don't let him run around. Also, block his mouth and tie his hands up."

After giving the instructions, Jier turned his head to look into the depths of the Shulin, but he did not see anything.

"It was still there just now! It was that tree trunk with the Arrow stuck in it, someone was hiding behind the tree trunk just now." The Warrior holding the bow and arrow pointed at the dark place in front and said to Jier.

"Leave it to me, don't stop, continue to follow the group forward." After Jier finished speaking, he first put on his Helmet, then pointed his right hand at the surroundings, and issued an instruction to Big Nose, letting Big Nose use its own advantages to look around the situation.

As for himself, he put on his Helmet, lowered his Faceplate, and without even drawing his weapon, he just walked over with large strides.

He easily found the tree trunk that had been hit by the Arrow, and Jier also smelled a foul odor.

When he turned behind the tree trunk, he frowned.

Because there was indeed a 'person' here.

But only half of one.

On the ground behind the tree trunk, a corpse that had been carefully gnawed into half a Human body was just discarded on the ground in a panic.

This corpse emitted a stench of rot and was eerily not completely decomposed.

Because the weather was hot now, if an ordinary Human corpse were thrown into such a Forest, not counting the situation of being eaten by animals, in just four or five days, the corpse should have rotted and bloated, its belly bulging high, and then burst open with a belly full of rotten pus.

Afterward, the larvae of flies and maggots would consume the entire corpse within three to five days. If there were an anthill near the corpse, the flesh would disappear even faster; the ants in the Forest are quite ferocious. Some carnivorous wasps would also quickly gnaw on the corpse, carrying away the flesh to feed their larvae.

In any case, the Villagers of Changmai Village have been enslaved in the Mine for quite some time; even if they were to die, they would only die within the vicinity of the Yingdi, not so far away from it.

Therefore, this corpse could only be someone who died while the Villagers were on their way from Changmai Village earlier.

But the timing does not add up.

After such a long time, the corpse would not be in this state of decay, yet it is impossible for it to have stopped decaying after reaching only this degree.

Moreover, half of this corpse has been gnawed away by something; the flesh is gone, and even half of the bones and teeth—the hardest parts of a Human—are missing, which is somewhat eerie, or even ridiculous.

"Hmph." Jier guessed it was done by a Monster.

Lifting his foot, he stepped down and snapped the neck of the decaying corpse, then Jier gave it a light kick, sending the head—or what was left of it—rolling away.

Such an impolite gesture was like picking up someone's half-eaten bowl of food and throwing it into the trash while they were still eating; it was highly provocative.

Sure enough, Jier suddenly raised his head and looked toward a direction in the Shulin that was growing increasingly dark.

He immediately drew his Hunting Sword, causing the blade to emit a white light for illumination, and strode quickly toward the place where he had just sensed the hostility coming from.

Jier could hear the sound of something fleeing deep within the dark Shulin ahead.

The opponent was panicked.

"Don't run! Stop!" Jier shouted.

But this kind of shouting only served to urge the opponent to run faster.

Jier chased after them with long strides, using the light emitted by the Long Sword in his hand to pursue further and further into this increasingly dense area, where the ground remained pitch black and dark even on a sunny afternoon.

Nevertheless, due to his stamina, Jier caught up after a few minutes of pursuit and lunged forward to knock the opponent down.

It was a humanoid thing; Jier guessed it should be a new Shapeshifting Monster.

But when he raised his Long Sword to look at the target he had knocked down, he raised an eyebrow.

It was actually Bata'er Jiaoshi.

"Jier, what are you doing? Are you trying to kill me? I am a Priest of the Agricultural God Church!!" The Priest lay on the ground, shouting in terror.

Jier found it hard not to laugh; he shook his head, his right hand holding the sword to provide light, while his left hand extended an index finger and wagged it.

"How should I put it? Truly, 'hearing of a name is not as good as meeting, and meeting is not as good as hearing of the name'." Jier sighed, using a language from his previous life.

The Priest did not understand; seeing that Jier had no intention of attacking, the Priest immediately scrambled up, pointing at Jier with great agitation: "Why were you chasing me like that just now?"

Jier could not help but want to tease the other party: "Then why were you running?"

"It was because you were chasing me that I ran. It's so dark here, who knows what kind of Monster or beast was chasing me? Of course I had to run." The Priest panted for a while, and after his stamina recovered, he immediately began to accuse Jier aggressively.

"It's fortunate that there are no Villagers here, otherwise I would have lost all face. How would I manage these Villagers then? You know, there are so many Villagers, and the whole Cunzi relies on me alone to manage it; it is very hard work."

"Ah, yes, yes, you keep talking, I'm listening." Jier said perfunctorily while curiously circling the Priest.

The clothing on the other party was exactly the same as what Bata'er Jiaoshi was wearing at the moment, and even the specialized equipment of the Priests had been disguised as well; Jier was very curious about how they managed to do it.

He used his left hand to poke the Wooden Shoulder Armor on the Priest's shoulder, producing a 'bang-bang' sound of poking solid wood.

"Huh? It really sounds like wood." Jier was somewhat surprised.

The Priest, however, looked panicked and swatted Jier's hand away: "What are you doing? Mind your actions, I am a Priest of the Agricultural God Church, not someone you can touch at will! Our relationship hasn't reached that point yet!"

Hearing this, Jier immediately spat in disgust: "A fake thing is a fake thing. It seems quite similar at a glance, but the more one interacts with it, the rougher it feels. Don't you agree? Respected Prie-st-sir?"

The Priest, who had been looking at him with disdain, saw his expression turn calm after hearing Jier's words. He looked coldly at Jier's metal Faceplate, as if trying to see a hint of panic through the gaps in the steel.

But unfortunately, Jier's gaze was even colder than his: "Not pretending anymore? Think you can take me? When I wasn't around before, you might have been able to eat some stupid, unlucky Humans, but you actually dared to reach out to the group I am looking after. I killed two of your kind before; I suppose that didn't make you afraid, did it?"

"Afraid? Shouldn't it be you Humans who are afraid?"

After speaking, the Priest's body surface writhed, and his stature grew tall.

This was an excellent opportunity to attack, but Jier did not move, only slightly raising his head to look at the other party: "Oh, what is this? Knight Hate! Ha, you have transformed into the appearance of Knight Hate after taking the 【Lizardman Transformation Potion】? Then you should know what my strength was like at that time, right?"

The Shapeshifting Monster in front of Jier had truly turned into a Lizardman over two meters tall. This Lizardman was bare-chested, with only scales on the surface of its body, while its lower body was clad in tight-fitting leg armor and combat boots.

"You might be very powerful, young Human."

"But how many opponents like this can you handle?"

As the words fell, one after another, blurry figures appeared all around. They mimicked the Lizardman form of Knight Hate that the Shapeshifting Monster in front of Jier had taken, and one by one, they transformed into tall Lizardmen over two meters in height.

These guys extended their Lizardman claws and licked them with the slender tongues in their mouths, emitting bursts of excited laughter.

"Hahahaha, truly interesting?" Jier was also laughing, but his laughter carried more of a mocking tone.

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