Chapter 630: Returning to the Forward Camp

Before leaving, Jier and the others extinguished all the still-burning, smoking ashes here to prevent a truly dangerous forest fire.

Although the ground deep in the dark, sunless dense forest was damp and the fallen leaves were wet and rotting, making them not easily ignited, accidents happen; Jier did not want any accidents, so he led the others to carefully and thoroughly extinguish every patch of ash.

For the sake of insurance, Weier and the other two even each took a leak to soak the ashes through.

The shapeshifting monster Ruier'erui, having transformed into a gray fox, watched with an unreadable expression as Jier and his group performed these acts, which were akin to humiliation, upon the remains of its kin, but it did nothing, simply lying honestly on the ground with its tongue lolling out to recover its strength.

After Jier and the others finished, it allowed itself to be led by the vine tied around its neck by Jier, walking along just like a real fox.

Moreover, because of its intelligence and ability to understand human language, it was quieter and more human-like than an ordinary fox or beast.

"Lord Jier, now that you've captured it and are taking it back, what should we say about this later?" Weier asked, his eyes still glancing at the quietly walking shapeshifting monster.

After pondering for a moment, Jier said: "Don't tell the others today; just say that the monsters causing trouble earlier were all burned away by my magic weapon. As for this fellow."

Jier kicked the gray fox with the toe of his boot.

"For this fellow, just say it was an animal accidentally rescued from the jaws of the shapeshifting monster, and that I have tamed it. Weier, I know you won't talk nonsense; Sipulu, you are also a reliable fellow."

Bawei pointed at himself: "Lord Jier, what about me?"

Jier curled his lip: "You loud-mouthed fellow, you'd best watch your own mouth. If I hear anyone in the group speculating or talking about this fox that the shapeshifting monster turned into, I'll come for you first!"

"My lord, I won't say anything! Don't worry! But I don't understand, do we really need to let this monster join the group? I always feel that this kind of non-human monster that can constantly shapeshift is very dangerous," Bawei muttered.

The gray fox shuddered, its walking motion stiffening.

Weier was satisfied with Bawei's vigilance and nodded in agreement.

Jier explained: "This shapeshifting monster is perfect for use as a Scout. We will be participating in the war between the Southern Province and the neighboring country later. I have never participated in a war of this scale before, and I always feel a bit uneasy. With its help, it doesn't need to make any great contribution; it just needs to bring us some key intelligence before some small-scale battles occur."

Jier shook his finger: "Compared to the terror and panic caused by their ability to change their appearance, I think these monsters are simply using their talents in the wrong place."

Jier didn't say much more, only thinking to himself that he couldn't possibly be the only one to see the great utility of this monster's shapeshifting ability; perhaps in many places, many shapeshifting monsters had already cooperated with humans and were widely applied in many areas requiring concealment and espionage.

Perhaps even things like "replacing the peach tree with the plum" were being secretly used by some people and organizations.

This possibility made Jier feel a wave of unease; he recalled that some of the people he had seen might not have been human at all, but shapeshifting monsters taking orders from large organizations.

Because these shapeshifting monsters were quite intelligent, as long as they could communicate, they would inevitably be controlled, utilized, and recruited into some large organizations.

And the fact that shapeshifting monsters liked to eat humans was also very easily satisfied by such large organizations. Human lives were, on one hand, strictly defended, and on the other, quite cheap, inexpensive, and widespread.

Human society always severely strikes down monsters that threaten human survival, yet on the other hand, it views vast amounts of human life as extremely low in many places.

It is truly too contradictory.

"Knight Jier and the others are back!"

Though it was called returning, Jier and his group actually had to speed up and chase for quite a while after heading back along the road before they caught up with the moving group that had never stopped.

It was only when the group was taking their scheduled rest around three in the afternoon that Jier and the others finally caught up; otherwise, with the group walking in front and them chasing from behind, they wouldn't have caught up until after dark.

"Rest assured, everyone, those mountain monsters making trouble in the shadows have all been burned to death by my magic weapon!" Jier patted the shining Magic Dagger at his waist and said loudly to the villagers sitting on the ground resting, while leading the gray fox.

He had replaced the rope around the neck of this surrendered shapeshifting monster, and the shapeshifting monster, seeing so many humans, had eyes that lit up, feeling like a mouse that had fallen into a rice jar.

But Jier glanced at it and tugged on the rope, pulling the gray fox's neck upward.

"Don't get too excited, Ruier'erui," Jier scolded the gray fox at his feet as if disciplining his own pet.

Although the villagers didn't know where Knight Jier had gotten this fox and it appeared he intended to keep it as a pet, this was, after all, Jier's own business, so no one said anything. They just sat on the slightly more spacious forest floor, speculating and discussing what kind of monster Knight Jier and the others had just eliminated.

Some guessed it was a living corpse formed from the remains of the dead; this was the direction of most people's guesses, as in this world, if dead bodies were left unattended, strange things would always happen.

Everyone understood this point.

Others guessed it was some kind of monster that often haunted the mountains and forests; on this point, the speculating villagers had all sorts of ideas.

Xueya Site had previously witnessed the shapeshifting monsters that haunted this area, so he whispered to Jier to verify if it was that kind of monster, but he didn't notice that the gray fox at Jier's feet was sitting upright and watching him.

This fox was quite well-behaved; Xueya Site had even reached out to stroke the fur on the fox earlier. How to put it, the texture of the fur felt a bit off, but he didn't pay much attention to such a small matter.

"You guessed right, it is indeed the shapeshifting monster we encountered before. Heh, they relied on the corpses of villagers killed by the Defeated Soldier to obtain the appearance and voices of the dead villagers, and even wanted to rely on the dead to lure villagers away from the group and into the dense forest."

Jier waved his hand: "Rest assured, they were all burned away by my fire. Not a single one left! Weier and the others who came later also saw it and knew it was a shapeshifting monster, but to put the villagers at ease and prevent panic, I didn't specify the type of monster. You know, so don't spread it to anyone else."

"I understand. After all, it's a terrifying monster used to scare children. Since they've all been dealt with, let's not tell the villagers," Xueya Site breathed a sigh of relief and then walked away.

Jier smiled and said to the gray fox sitting upright at his feet: "A monster used to scare children!"

The gray fox let out a crisp cry: "O-e—"

It was acting quite convincingly.

Although traces of monsters had appeared, the entire group still followed Jier's predetermined plan and arrived safely, without losing a single person, at the Forward Camp located on the edge of the forest before dark.

It was much safer here than in the forest; even shapeshifting monsters rarely appeared in such fringe areas.

Because compared to the rich life in the forest, the forest edge near the hilly plains had fewer products, and consequently, the animals that depended on them for survival were fewer; and with fewer animals, there were even fewer predators and monsters.

Although there was a public water source around the Forward Camp where many nearby animals would go to drink, in the days since, the Forward Camp had still rarely been approached by predators.

Perhaps the circle of earth walls piled up also played a partial role.

Arriving at the rare open space in the forest and stepping on the solid, dry ground, the villagers breathed a sigh of relief one after another. The day's journey had exhausted them; not only that, but the worn-out shoes on their feet were also covered in various filth like rotting leaves and mud. Confirming that they would be resting here today and even tomorrow, everyone in the group took off their shoes one after another to shake off the debris.

Some villagers whose bodies were bitten by mosquitoes and insects in the forest, causing blisters and itching, also gathered around Priest Bata'er, keeping the priest too busy to lead the believers in their pre-darkness Prayer.

"Everyone check your bodies to see if there are any particularly itchy spots, or if there are blood-sucking insects on your exposed skin? If you find anything abnormal, don't handle it yourself; go find Priest Bata'er to deal with it!" Jier shouted loudly, guiding the uncomfortable villagers to see the priest.

Others couldn't stay idle either; everyone had to pile their belongings together first, and then temporarily set up places to rest and sleep.

Fortunately, when Jier and the others arrived, they had already built some large Tents bought from Dorn Town.

With these Tents that could house twenty people at a time, the female villagers who didn't like the Defeated Soldier tents before could finally rest in the Tents with peace of mind. Although these Tents of different sizes, shapes, and origins were all temporary shelters in the wild, the female villagers could accept them psychologically, and after eating, they lay down in the Tents early and fell asleep peacefully.

The food they ate was also prepared in advance by the drivers who stayed at the Forward Camp and the villagers rescued from Changmai Village.

The portions were truly sufficient; everyone had Wheat Porridge with salt to drink until full, and freshly baked Bread to eat.

The Mao Mao, tired from the day, couldn't wait to return to their living area, but instead of resting, they gathered together and discussed the gains of the Mao Mao from other tribes they had encountered this time in their own language.

They didn't know yet that the Magic Apprentice Yamila had set her sights on that batch of Metal Ingot, and after Jier and the others had been gone for half a day, the alien Beast left at the Stronghold Camp had to face the outcome of a wasted effort.

The tall Magic Power hut simply ignored the resistance of the short Mao Mao, using its hands and feet to dismantle the house storing the Metal Ingot and sending the last of the Metal Ingot inside into the house.

Some Mao Mao who fought desperately and pestered it were even grabbed by the Magic Power hut and tossed into the house, where they were crunched and swallowed. But the Magic Power hut Mimi soon lost interest in these alien Beast with little meat, constantly using its huge palms to flip through the large remains of the burned corpses, searching for 'food' that it could 'swallow'.

"Mimi! You fellow! How can you rummage through trash to eat? You are a noble Magic Power cottage, and in the future, you are to become a Magic Tower Spirit! Quickly drop those charred corpses! It stinks to death! Quickly drop them!"

Yamila, who was sitting in the third-floor lounge of the house, had originally let Mimi act on its own, but as she watched, she discovered something was wrong; this poor Magic Power cottage was actually planning to eat the burned corpses, regardless of whether they were meat or vegetable.

This made Yamila anxious, and she kept shouting.

Mimi had no choice but to drop these charred corpses that it considered "edible," and then, following Yamila's wishes, it smashed the Furnace used for smelting metal in the middle of the Yingdi, rummaged out some large metal parts from the Furnace, and took them away.

"This is the real wealth! You big idiot, every single support part and steering metal component in these Furnaces, if taken to be sold and exchanged for pigs and sheep, would be enough for you to eat your fill at once! A noble Magic Power cottage must not rummage through trash to eat, do you understand?"

The scolded Mimi had no choice but to let out a wronged "Mimi" sound. Then, amidst the constant attacks of the surrounding shocked and furious alien Beast, it strolled toward the south; it would follow a safe route, directly crossing the entire Southern Mountains to reach the area actually controlled by the Ophirine Kingdom.

Although a tall Magic Power cottage is more easily seen and discovered by some powerful Magic Beast in the mountains, Yamila's teacher had already marked out the territories of various Magic Beast in the Southern Mountains when exploring the mineral situation there.

Yamila could easily let the Magic Power cottage pass by the edge of the Magic Beast's territory, thereby avoiding any battle with any Magic Beast capable of resisting the Magic Power cottage. As for other dangerous Monster, alien races living in the mountains and forests, etc., these things simply could not keep up with the movement of the Magic Power cottage in the mountains and forests; by the time they discovered the Magic Power cottage and intended to gather strength to drive it away or destroy it, the Magic Power cottage had long since walked far away.

Its long white legs, which could easily step over the treetops of trees, covered a distance of more than ten meters with every step, and with a few swings, it could move over a hundred meters in the rugged mountains and forests.

The undulations of the terrain had even less impact on the Magic Power cottage, and it was far from something that the various Monster and wild beasts that needed to move on the forest floor could catch up with.

Yet Yamila did not realize that the biggest harvest of her trip was not the metal resources brought back to arm a thousand people as required by the mission, but the few unremarkable Elf Silver Plate she held in her own hands, which she treated as pure Silver Brick.

These few plates would bring the most unexpected changes in fate to her and many others.

In the evening, the rescued Villager lay down to rest early, as they were tired from the day.

The male Villager slept in the small tents of the Defeated Soldier that had been brought back, while the female Villager lived in the large tent used by Jier and the others.

As for Jier's Warrior, everyone either stood guard or could temporarily make a floor bed by the campfire to sleep.

Of course, before resting, Jier still had to register and calculate the individual merit of this battle together with Bata'er Jiaoshi and Xueya Site.

As expected, Xueya Site, who had been specially arranged by Jier, became the biggest winner of this combat operation; he harvested a reward of more than six Gold Coin, which made him quite embarrassed.

Even though Jier had told him in advance that this reward was deserved, Xueya Site still felt that this money came too easily.

The other Warrior did not think it was easy; after all, dealing with the sentries of the Defeated Soldier one-on-one without being discovered by the enemy was too difficult. Xueya Site had even killed six enemy sentries in this way, and even Weier did not think he could easily do such a thing.

They ignored the support of the various equipment provided by Jier; if it were up to Xueya Site alone, his combat skills would be about the same as Bawei and Sipulu, and perhaps even inferior to the two of them in terms of the Yongqi to fight to the death.

But Xueya Site was good at using the Crossbow; with the cooperation of weapons and equipment, he could easily do what others could not.

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