Chapter 660: Roadside Yingdi, Digging Pits, and Wood-chopping

The group of several hundred people moved sluggishly toward the roadside clearing that Jier had scouted out earlier.

Once they arrived, the young refugees huddled together with those they were familiar with, then sat on the ground to catch their breath.

Priest Bata'er had heard from Xueya Site that they would be resting here for quite a while, so he took the dozens of Nongshen Believers who barely listened to him and ran to the small stream beside the clearing to fetch water for everyone to drink.

The Nongshen Believers first drank their fill by the stream, then used the small wooden bowls they each carried to fetch fresh water, returning to the clearing to give it to those they knew.

Jier rode over, clattering along, jumped off his horse with a thud, and then led the horse around the clearing for a while, putting on a show of observing how exhausted many of the people were.

"This won't do. Everyone is worn out; they can't walk any further at all."

Jier observed with a feigned air while deliberately making his voice heard by everyone around him.

He then walked to the center of the crowd and clapped his hands forcefully: "Listen up, everyone, listen up."

After capturing the crowd's attention, Jier said loudly: "Look at yourselves, your bottoms are all stuck to the ground as if glued. I think we should do this: since you're too weak to walk anyway..."

Jier looked left and right at the tall mountains to the north and south: "It gets dark early in these mountains, so let's spend the night here!"

No one opposed this decision; after all, many were truly exhausted. Their physical weakness had reduced these once-sturdy young men and women to such a state not long after leaving the White Stone City Wall Guanka.

It was nothing like the rural areas, where children in their early teens would go out to work the fields with their farmer parents.

Many breathed a sigh of relief, and upon hearing this decision, they collapsed completely onto the abrasive gravel ground, not caring that the uneven surface made their backs and bottoms very uncomfortable.

"However," Jier said, only halfway through his sentence, and what followed was not pleasant: "We can't just lie here doing nothing! Is this what a camp for spending the night in the wild looks like? I'm picking twenty people to come with me to the nearby Shulin to chop wood for fuel; no refusals. Priest Bata'er, you and Xueya Site organize the men to roughly tidy up this clearing and make it look like a place to spend the night."

After finishing, Jier added: "What a mess this is! Everyone get moving. You, you, and you—you're strong enough, come with me."

He first picked three young people nearby who looked relatively strong, then mounted his horse and continued to pick the rest from the crowd. They were basically all strong males, though two tall and sturdy women who were involved in gangs were also among them.

Those who were picked had sour faces, not wanting to go straight to work after having rested for so little time.

But having experienced the previous minor conflict, many knew they lacked the strength and thus dared not resist Jier's order, so they had to get up, assemble, and follow behind the mounted Jier, dragging their feet.

Jier did not criticize their sluggish behavior; that slow, dragging pace was exactly what he wanted. He first went to the carriage, stepped inside to put on a show for a while, brought his Two-handed Axe from his dream, and only then took sturdy Rope, several Cleavers, and small wood-chopping axes from the carriage's supplies.

He threw the items to the twenty young people waiting outside, told them to take them, and then led them off to chop wood.

The wood-chopping was not on the side near the river, because the small stream blocked the way and was difficult to cross.

So they crossed the road and reached the Shulin on the opposite side, looking for suitable trees to fell there.

Jier rode in the lead, his tall Tianxuecao forcibly pushing aside the lush roadside weeds and shrubs, while the two young men following behind swung the Cleavers in their hands to thoroughly hack a path through the shrubs that were blocking the way.

They had little stamina, and often after swinging the Cleavers a dozen times without proper technique, they would have no strength left. They could only hand the Cleavers to the others behind them to take over their work.

Except for the few people carrying the Single-handed Axe for wood-chopping and those carrying bundles of sturdy Rope on their backs, all the other young people who came out took turns at the job of clearing the path with the Cleavers.

Each and every one of them was so tired they didn't even have the energy to curse under their breath.

Jier hadn't picked these people at random; he had specifically selected the leaders and the strongest individuals from each village group and gang faction. This way, with these young people who served as the backbone absent, even if he wasn't present at the clearing, Priest Bata'er, surrounded by dozens of Nongshen Believers, could control the overall situation.

He wouldn't let the scene lose control.

Jier was actually overthinking it; the weak, hungry, and exhausted young people were barely willing to get up and walk, so how could they possibly oppose the words of Priest Bata'er, who could provide them with god-given food?

They were too busy welcoming and currying favor with him.

Setting aside the wood-chopping on Jier's side, back at the clearing, Priest Bata'er organized some other people, and the believers were repeatedly fetching water from the small stream for everyone to drink. The priest then had some young people who had regained some energy after drinking water go to the edge of the clearing to dig some long, shallow pits using stone shards they had picked up.

This was a suggestion from Xueya Site, who often guarded the Caravan and had seen how the Kendall Army set up camp: when establishing a camp, first prepare a place for the necessities of life.

Otherwise, if everyone relieved themselves wherever they pleased, not to mention the issue of cleanliness, the incident of someone being attacked at night because they ran outside the camp to relieve themselves was something that played out repeatedly in every Caravan that didn't pay attention to this point.

The attackers included, but were not limited to, Bandits, wild wolves, forest owls, all sorts of Monsters, and unidentifiable strange things.

In the dark and desolate wild, beyond the reach of the camp's firelight, anything could appear.

This was neither a bedtime story to scare children nor a drunkard's boast in a tavern, but various personal experiences Xueya Site had witnessed himself or heard from other Caravan guards during his more than ten years as a guard.

Young men just recruited from rural areas were the most likely to suffer inexplicable casualties while spending the night in a camp in the wild during their first few times traveling with a Caravan.

Most of the reasons for them leaving the area illuminated by the fire were to go outside to relieve themselves.

After a scream came from outside the camp, they could usually only find the corpse or severed limbs of the young Shop Assistant who had been attacked.

The most terrifying thing was only finding a pool of blood right next to the excrement, or finding nothing at all.

Xueya Site instructed the young people digging the long latrine pits on how to work, and he specifically took two of Jier's small metal shovels from the carriage for the young people to use in rotation.

While instructing them on how to work, he told these people about the things mentioned above.

"No wonder, no wonder! Sob sob sob—"

A young man, upon hearing this, suddenly squatted down, covered his face, and began to sob bitterly.

A young man from the same village who knew him saw the gazes of others and immediately explained: "His mother was also in the previous refugee group, but on the way to the White Stone City Wall Guanka, it was one night just a few days after leaving the village. She had to go out to relieve herself, so she squeezed out from among the villagers huddled together and ran to the woods by the pond where they were spending the night, but she didn't come back. His father was furious and went to look for her; the village Elder at the time wouldn't allow it, but his father went anyway, and he didn't come back either. Both of them were just gone like that. They didn't return all night, and everyone went to look for them during the day, but only found some signs of a struggle at the edge of the woods; nothing else was discovered."

Once this person said this, other young people from other villages who were also working began to speak one after another about some villagers from their own villages who had been injured, killed, or gone missing on the way because of spending the night.

They didn't know until they exchanged stories: on the journey from departure to the White Stone City Wall Guanka, which took anywhere from half a month to a month, each village had on average more than ten people killed, injured, or missing.

Most of them were casualties or went missing while spending the night, while a smaller portion died or were injured while resisting or being bullied when robbed by small groups of Bandits during the day.

Because they were fleeing as entire villages, the Bandits, who were far fewer in number than them, didn't dare to really do anything to them beyond demanding some wealth and food as they passed.

They would often fiercely kill or beat one or two people at the start to intimidate the fleeing villagers, and then leave once they got what they wanted.

If they truly angered the hundreds of villagers fleeing together, and everyone gave them a punch or a kick, even iron-willed Bandits would be turned into meat paste.

On Xueya Site's side, they were digging pits and discussing the hardships of the journey, while Priest Bata'er was directing the crowd to level the ground and, based on his observations, having people gather large stones to form several stone circles in preparation for the campfires later.

At the same time, he had people tidy up the uneven ground around the stone circles and campfires so that people could rest there for the night.

The young people didn't carry much luggage, and because the weather wasn't very cold and was gradually getting warmer, the young people who came out this time didn't have many blankets to use. When the priest asked, their answers left him speechless.

"Everyone huddle together at night and it will be warm."

That was how they all answered.

"It's not like we're sheep in a pen," the priest muttered, having to prepare more small campfires outside the large one.

With more campfire stone circles prepared, he worried whether the firewood Jier was chopping would be enough.

Worrying was worrying, but the work still had to be done.

When some young people set out, the elders in their villages had specifically told them to bring the clay pots they used on the way. At this moment, these fragile clay pots were placed on stone supports, and water was added bit by bit with wooden bowls, just waiting for the fuel and the god-given food provided by Priest Bata'er.

After a while, Xueya Site walked over with a serious expression and whispered to Priest Bata'er, "Lord Priest, just now I noticed movement in several patches of forest on the other side of the creek."

"What kind of movement?"

Xueya Site narrowed his eyes: "It could be a pack of wild beasts, but I think it is more likely to be the bandits from nearby. It is still daytime, but I am worried about tonight—"

The two exchanged a look, both thinking of how Jier had specifically let the team rest here, and after resting, specifically decided to spend the night here. Was the Refugee Team really unable to walk any further?

Of course not; there were still two or three hours until dark, so wouldn't setting up camp to spend the night now seem too early?

"How about this: you go keep watch on the roof of the newly reinforced carriage; the view is good there. Keep an eye on the situation in the distant woods. When Jier the warrior returns with people after felling trees, tell him about the situation. He likely has an idea in mind, though I don't know what exactly he is planning."

Priest Bata'er said this.

Watching Xueya Site nod and run toward the carriage, the priest felt uneasy. It wasn't that he was afraid of bandits of unknown numbers—after all, they had over eight hundred people on their side and could surely defeat bandits whose numbers were likely not high—but what about the losses?

The losses would certainly be significant; if the bandits attacked at night, the chaos alone would cause many people to be injured or killed.

But he was more worried about why Jier would do this.

What was his plan?

Could it be that he considered these marginalized young people a nuisance and was specifically inducing a bandit attack to reduce their numbers?

"This big tree will do! Its height, volume, and weight are all suitable; once felled, it will be just right for the horses to pull back."

Jier led the people to the edge of a small forest at the foot of the mountain range and pointed at a tree that was ten meters tall and a little less than a person's waist in thickness.

Once a tree of this height was felled and the top and various branches were removed, the remaining main body would be just right to haul away, and the volume of timber would likely be enough for burning and lighting for one night.

"Come on, everyone step aside first, watch me!"

It had been a while since he had felled trees, and Jier was quite excited. He jumped off his horse, patted Tianxuecao on the rump to let it run to the side by itself, and then waved his hand to drive the twenty young refugees following him toward the direction of the horses.

"You all gather in one direction, don't scatter everywhere. Be careful not to get crushed when the big tree falls in a moment."

Even if one wasn't crushed to death, getting one's face scratched by a branch would be enough to be miserable.

Stepping on the soft ground, Jier took the Yueshui Skull Two-Handed Axe he had been carrying from behind his back.

The blue axe immediately attracted the attention of all the refugees. They discussed it among themselves, not understanding why there was blue metal, and why it was made into a great axe.

Jier ignored those discussions, flicked the metal image of the tree spirit on the axe face with his finger, and whispered to it: "I'm going to cut down a tree. Don't go draining the big tree dry like you did with the vines while I'm cutting. Don't do that, alright? Give me some assistance, don't cause trouble."

The axe immediately glowed with a blue fluorescence.

Discussions rose up behind him again.

Arriving before the big tree, Jier first circled the tree to ensure there were no bird nests or the like at the top, then judged the direction the big tree would fall.

The big tree needed to fall toward the outside of the forest, so that when it was processed later, it would be convenient to haul it out without the trouble of having to turn the big tree around after it had fallen to the ground.

These techniques were all things he had heard others mention; he hadn't felled a tree of this size before.

After finding the right direction, Jier went to the side of the direction it was to fall, then gripped the handle of the Two-handed Axe tightly and swung down with a twist of his waist.

Clang!

The tree spirit on the axe head truly played its part. Jier didn't use much strength, and the axe found the angle itself and swung down, cutting into the trunk of the big tree diagonally from above.

With a pull of his hands, the axe face wasn't stuck by the big tree and slid out smoothly.

He swung the axe down again; this time the axe adjusted itself, landing a bit lower, forming an angle with the mark of the previous swing.

Clang!

After two swings, the part of the wood tissue between the angles fell off when he pulled the axe out.

Jier swung the axe again right against this notch, another diagonal upward swing, Clang!

Then a diagonal downward swing, Clang!

The dislodged notch became even larger.

After six swings, a neat notch was left on a small part of the circle.

Jier went to the opposite side of the direction the tree was to fall and did the same, cutting out a notch on this side.

He then went to the front side where it was to fall and used the notch as a base to cut deeper.

It was effortless, because of the unknown effect of the tree spirit on the Yueshui Skull, the dense trunk tissue of the big tree did not cause much trouble.

After repeating this a few times, when the trunk of the big tree emitted a creaking, unbearable sound, Jier knew the tree was about to fall.

"The tree—is—falling—!"

Jier shouted to let everyone around pay attention and dodge.

The young people all hid far away, so there was no danger of being hit.

Rumble! With a sound, the dead branches and leaves on the soft ground were stirred up by the force of the big tree falling. The clattering sound was the noise of the big tree's branches colliding with and breaking the branches of other trees.

The huge sound startled various birds deep in the mountain forest, and all sorts of different calls rang out instantly, sweeping away the quiet and deep atmosphere of the forest just a moment ago.

In the direction the big tree fell, the dead branches and leaves on the ground were smashed open, revealing the layer of rot underneath, where hidden pupae and chubby beetle larvae crawled about in confusion.

Jier patted his shoulder and brushed off a wriggling white, fat beetle larva; he didn't know if this thing was poisonous or edible.

"Come, all of you, come over! Time to get to work!" Jier shouted, letting those who had dodged come over.

As a result, not only did the people come over, but his horse followed as well.

With a flick and a roll of its tongue, Tianxuecao swallowed the white, fat larvae wriggling among the dead branches and leaves on the ground into its mouth.

"You're even eating bugs? Don't get poisoned!"

Jier patted Tianxuecao's head, but it showed disdain, as if it felt it had been underestimated by Jier.

Among the young people, there were those who had seen how people in the Cunzi felled trees, so there was no need for Jier to direct them. The young people holding single-handed felling axes came up and immediately began to cut off each branch on the trunk from where it connected to the trunk.

Every time a branch was cut off, others nearby would drag the cut branch away to the outside of the forest. These branches were also important fuel, especially since many young people didn't even have a stick in their hands; these branches could be used as temporary wooden sticks after simple processing.

Whether for self-defense or trekking on foot, they could all come in handy.

Even in pairs, they could be used to carry heavy objects.

Jier also helped cut off the treetop part and had people drag it away. Afterward, he also joined in to help, letting two young people start from the treetop, while the thicker and more troublesome branches at the bottom of the trunk were left for him to handle.

Unlike the young refugees who needed to take turns using the single-handed felling axes, Jier cut off the base of the branches with one swing of the axe, then grabbed them with his hand and threw them in front of the others waiting nearby.

Although they were tree branches, they were not light in weight, yet Jier tossed them away as if he were pinching a flower.

Very quickly, the tree trunk was cleared, leaving behind only a bare trunk as thick as a human waist.

Its length was about seven meters, which was the length after removing the part near the roots and the thinner part of the treetop.

Jier estimated that it should weigh several hundred kilograms, and it seemed that it was not impossible for him to carry it alone. But he shifted his gaze to the horse; since he had it, why should he go through all this trouble?

Tianxuecao shuddered and stopped licking the larvae exposed by the tree trunk smashing into the ground; it raised its head, pricked up its nimble ears, and subconsciously stared at the Human master who was looking at it with ill intent.