Chapter 677: The Darkest Moonless Night (Part 13)

Ignoring the figure of the axe-wielding bandit, Priest Bata'er hurriedly spurred his horse and charged into the darkness.

Not far away, the young male and female refugees being dragged on the ground by two bandits had already lost the will to struggle, preparing to tremble and accept the dark fate about to befall them.

But the sound of rapidly approaching hooves 'woke' the two of them up.

"It's the Priest!"

"He's come to save us!"

The two began to twist and struggle again, which annoyed the bandit who was dragging them with a rope: "￥%￥#, stay still for your daddy, if you don't want to suffer, keep quiet."

But they also noticed the steppe horse chasing rapidly, and the Church Priest on the horse.

Yet in the darkness, no one could see that on the faces of these two bandits, there was no panic, but rather the mocking smiles of a plan succeeding.

The two bandits immediately abandoned the heavier, more fiercely struggling male refugee, and instead both dragged the other female refugee, moving quickly toward the agreed-upon location.

Priest Bata'er saw the situation ahead, and as he passed the abandoned male refugee, he asked: "Are you alright? I'm going to chase after them, you hurry back into the crowd!"

But the young man on the ground, whose arms and legs were bound by rope loops, cried out: "My Lord! My Lord! Help me! I'm tied up! Help me untie the rope!"

Gritting his teeth, Priest Bata'er pulled hard on the horse, bringing the steppe horse to a stop, then flipped off, felt around his body, only to find he was not carrying a sharp weapon like a Dagger.

There was no other way, so under the faint light coming from the weak fire not far away, he found the knot of the rope, pulled hard from both sides, and undid the slipknot that was tightening more and more.

After freeing the arms, he left behind a sentence and flipped back onto the horse: "Handle the rest yourself, I'm going to save the others!"

"Thank you, My Lord, thank you, My Lord! Please be careful, and please be sure to save the others!"

The rescued youth sat on the ground, speaking while trying every possible way to untie the rope wrapped around his ankles.

"Go!"

Kicking the horse's belly hard, the steppe horse began to run again.

But this delay meant the figures he had been chasing had run far away once more.

Bataer saw that not only the newly captured female refugee, but even the two people just caught, were being dragged by the bandits toward the Shulin not far away.

He could not let them retreat into the Shulin, otherwise, it would truly be impossible to save them.

Several bandits dragging the captured refugees saw the Priest chasing again, immediately looked at each other, and laughed silently.

While dragging the people, they also kicked hard at the refugees on the ground. This caused them to let out painful wails, which both guided the Priest's direction and placed a Lock on the other's urgent mood that would prevent him from staying calm.

These cunning bandits had always understood and were adept at using Human emotions to break the prey they had set their sights on.

It was so in the past, and it is so today.

From time to time, they turned their heads to look at the horse chasing behind them, intentionally shouting loudly: "Oh no! The troublesome Priest is chasing us!"

"Idiot, let's run first, don't take the captives!"

"No, I want this woman, you two take the others, don't take the man!"

"That's right!"

Immediately, the male refugee who had been caught first was dropped. This young man, who had suffered extreme fright and beatings, now burst forth with a powerful desire to survive, and while still firmly bound, struggled and twisted toward the south.

The Priest approached on horseback, and the young man opened his mouth to shout: "My Lord! My Lord! Don't worry about me! Go save the others!"

But how could the Priest not worry about him? This person was different from the previous one. The previous person only had ropes tied around their arms and ankles, but this guy was tied up tight. It was completely impossible to untie it on his own.

Bataer jumped off the horse, took out the Hushin Statue of the God, knelt down, and said to the bound refugee: "Don't move, I will untie you!"

The young refugee stopped moving, and then he saw the Priest bring a wooden Statue of the God close to the rope on his arm, whispering an unclear sentence, after which the top of the wooden Statue of the God emitted a cluster of cyan Divine Power flames.

Although this thing was small, its heat was astonishing; just a slight contact with the rope set the rope and the Linen Cloth underneath on fire.

Bataer awkwardly used his Robe sleeve to pat at the rising flames, but the young man said: "My Lord, don't worry about me, hurry and save the others! They are about to run far away!"

The Priest turned his head to look, and sure enough, the sounds of struggling and shouting were already approaching the Shulin. He immediately stood up and got on the horse: "Can you untie yourself and go back? Can you do it?"

"I can, I can!"

With that, Priest Bata'er finally spurred his horse to accelerate.

But the bandits, under the arrangement of the Bandit Leader, had already calculated the distance and the plan.

When they neared the edge of the Shulin, it was exactly the moment the Priest caught up on horseback again, so these people again exaggeratedly dropped a captured male refugee, while the others took the captured woman and plunged into the Shulin all at once.

This time, the Priest had already finished the Prayer for the ignition flame of the Hushin Statue of the God while on the horse. As soon as he jumped off the horse, he said loudly to the refugee twisting on the ground: "Don't move! I'll use fire to untie the rope for you!"

Then the Statue of the God rolled over the other's arm, and amidst crackling sounds, the rope and clothing caught fire. This rough action and the high-temperature flames made the refugee wail in pain.

"Don't worry, I'll use Divine Magic Healing on you later. For now, endure the pain, untie the rope yourself, and run back! Do you understand!"

The young man nodded in a panic. Seeing that the other understood, Priest Bata'er flipped onto his horse, picked up the Amber Metal Long Staff hanging on the Muan, and urged the horse to step into the Shulin at a trot.

He breathed heavily, both using the cold, damp air of the night Shulin to try to calm down, and hoping to use this method to bring himself more Yongqi.

Following the direction of the woman's cries for help, the Priest let the horse trot over, while he also held the long staff diagonally, releasing a dim yellow halo that barely illuminated a large area of the Shulin around him.

He had a bad feeling, but the horse trotting in the Shulin was getting closer and closer to the woman's cries.

Finally, he caught up.

The dim yellow light shone over, and three young bandits and one female refugee were blocked by him.

"Let her go! Otherwise, I will show no mercy!"

The young Priest shouted loudly.

But the response he got was the mockery of the bandits: "Mercy? Who, you~~?"

The three bandits laughed loudly. They blocked the female refugee, whose hands and feet were bound, in front of them, and the sharp blades of the Short Sword in their hands were gestured against the woman's slender neck.

"Haha, brothers have always heard that you Priest masters can heal wounds, but we are quite curious, aren't we?" one of them said with a wicked smile.

Another continued: "Then if I make a cut on this soft neck, *pssh*, quite a bit of blood will spray from the severed neck, can you save a person before they die?"

"Brothers are very curious."

The last bandit added triumphantly.

The provocation from these bandits made Priest Bata'er's mouth twitch, because the words of these people indeed asked about the critical point.

As a Church Pastor of the Agricultural God Church, his ability to use Divine Art for healing was actually quite limited.

Even if the supply of Divine Power is sufficient, he cannot treat severe injuries.

If an arm is broken, it can barely be picked up, set, and reattached. But he cannot make a person who has lost an arm grow a new one.

That is not a high-Tier Healing Divine Art that a Pastor can master.

Therefore, he breathes in the air heavily, coldly glaring at the three provocative Bandits not far in front of him, then looks with apologetic eyes at the female Refugee being held hostage.

Some words need not be spoken; everyone present can directly sense what the others are thinking.

The female Refugee being held hostage sheds tears and finally gathers the Yongqi to shout a sentence at the Agricultural God Priest riding on horseback before her: "My Lord! Please avenge me! Even if it means going to Hell, I want to see them accompany me and my companions on the road!!!"

She says the last sentence through gritted teeth.

Bata'er Jiaoshi does not respond, merely raising his left hand to hold up the Hushin Statue of the God, preparing to use a blast of Divine Power to kill all four people in front of him.

He lacks the ability to save the person before the Bandit slashes the female Refugee's throat, so this is all he can do!

But just at this moment, the three Bandits who should have been preparing to dodge or flee do not panic and evade the attack as he expected.

A smile appears on the faces of these three guys.

A smug smile.

Just like the smug smiles of Hunters watching prey fall into a deadly hunting trap.

Because, right at this moment, in this place.

Around Bata'er Jiaoshi, in the low shrubs on the ground, on the surrounding branches, and behind the tree trunks turned away from the dim light, one Bandit after another emerges with a rustling sound.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—the sounds of blades being drawn from their sheaths ring out; click, click, click, click, click—the bowstrings of bows and arrows are pulled back by people.

There are Bandits emerging from behind tree trunks, the Ropes in their hands spinning in circles, preparing to snare the prairie horse the Priest is riding.

There are Bandits hanging upside down from high branches, pulling back their bows and arrows while inverted, aiming at the head of the Priest on horseback.

There are Bandits rising from the shrubs, grinning as they slap their rough palms with the sharp blades in their hands.

Finally, a sturdy, tall, middle-aged Bandit walks out from the shadows behind a tree trunk not far away, clapping his hands with a smile on his face.

"This... um, Agricultural God Priest. Right? Agricultural God Priest, how should I address you?"

Bata'er Jiaoshi's face turns ashen, his breathing stops for a moment, and only then does he carefully look left, right, up, and down, before swallowing a mouthful of saliva and saying in a slightly hoarse voice: "Luosa-Bata'er."

The Bandits maintain their aggressive momentum, and their leader, that middle-aged Bandit, also introduces himself: "Very good, as you can see, my gang is called Mountain Wolf, and I am called Shanlang Bani. It's a good name, isn't it?"

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Bata'er Jiaoshi's palms tremble slightly; he does not respond.

Whether it is the nickname Mountain Wolf or the name Bani, he thinks neither is very good.

"Boss, he's scared stiff! Haha," says a confidant of the Bandit Leader who wields a Curved Saber.

The other Bandits who have surrounded them also laugh along, and the female Refugee who is being held hostage and tied up lowers her head in sorrow, shedding drops of desperate tears. As a savior—whether it is her savior at this moment or the savior of hundreds of thousands of refugees—Bata'er Jiaoshi's performance at this time is far from adequate.

Bandit Leader Bani, as cunning as a Mountain Wolf, snorts through his nose and chuckles disdainfully.

"I don't want to say any more rules. Get off your horse, take off your weapons and equipment, and be obedient; we will let you live and give you a chance to continue working for that god of yours."

He leans against a tree trunk, arms crossed, and says smugly: "Otherwise, the brothers will cut off your head, and we'll still have to cut off the heads of more refugees who resist for the rest of the night. Too many people dying is, in short, a loss for everyone, right?"

Using the dim light from the staff in the Priest's hand, he actually starts picking his nails while speaking.

"Uh—I."

Bata'er Jiaoshi is just about to say something with a dry, hoarse throat, but no one expects that the most insignificant person on the scene would ignite the entire situation.

"Priest, my Lord!"

A shrill cry attracts the attention of everyone in the Shulin at this moment.

Everyone looks toward the sound and discovers it is the female Refugee they had taken hostage, whose name they do not know.

"Don't believe them! Please fight! Avenge those who have died————"

Just as she finishes speaking, the Bandit holding her hostage behind her is about to raise his fist to strike her loudmouthed head hard. Unexpectedly, this female Refugee lowers her head and slams it fiercely into the Short Knife pressed against her neck, twisting it.

Fresh blood splatters and drips, unstoppable.

Only then does the Bandit's fist strike her head heavily, driving the Short Knife even deeper into her neck.

Bata'er Jiaoshi watches with eyes splitting, and the second half of his surrender can no longer be spoken. He grinds his teeth, ignoring everything around him, and directly raises the left hand he had previously lowered, blasting out a wave of Divine Power far exceeding normal strength.

Whoosh—Boom!

The Agricultural God Wooden Statue with its blurred, kind face, amidst the surge of Divine Power, blasts out a diffused wave of energy like a ball of light.

Once released, it expands rapidly, then swells and emits a roaring sound, blasting toward the few people directly in front of the Priest.

The surrounding Bandits also make their move at this moment; the Bandits hanging upside down from the branches release the bowstrings they were hooking, and as the bow limbs snap, they push the Bow and Arrow to shoot toward the Priest one after another.

At least five Arrows fly out at the same time, each aiming for the Priest's head.

But after a short flight, the metal-tipped Bow and Arrow strike a circle of cyan light around the Priest's head one after another.

Then they bounce away.

And the surrounding Bandits curse out loud, raising various weapons as they run forward. Each one aims at the Agricultural God Priest on horseback.

And a little further away, the Bandit spinning the Rope in his hand also throws the loop toward the prairie horse the Priest is riding at the same moment. This Bandit is specifically responsible for this within the gang, so he hits his mark every time and never misses.

And the Bandit Leader, Shanlang Bani, licks his teeth with his tongue, preparing to watch how this guy is chopped into meat paste by his subordinates later.

It's a pity; a living Church Priest might have been able to fetch a better price.

He thinks to himself.

The Divine Power wave takes effect first.

Including the female Refugee who committed suicide, the four people covered within the range of the blast are pushed backward and sent flying in an instant by the powerful force.

Even being blown away by a Divine Power wave on flat ground could result in broken bones and tendons, let alone in a Shulin filled with trees.

The powerful pushing force lifts the few people up like rag dolls, and after hitting sturdy tree trunks, they are smashed into pieces. The shrubs, green grass, moss, soil on the ground, and even several not-so-thick trees on the surface are all scraped away by this roaring wave of energy.

Far away, after the wave dissipates, only the large area of ground that was blown away and several smears of bright red blood stained on the tree trunks remain. Human severed limbs and everything else within the range of the attack are blown far away, scattered across a large area of the pitch-black Shulin.

As for the Priest's side, the thrown loop hooks onto the neck of the prairie horse first, and the Bandit, along with his companions, pulls it, causing the prairie horse to fall to the ground in a panic.

Bata'er Jiaoshi roars with a cry of unknown meaning, and after falling to the ground, he raises his hands to block the weapons hacking toward him. His not-so-sturdy arms and the Priest's Robe made of fine fabric easily withstand the weapon strikes of several strong Bandits.

It turned out it wasn't the Priest himself, but rather every weapon that came slashing down was being forcibly pushed away by a cyan flash that suddenly bloomed at a point extremely close to his body.

The Bandits were somewhat surprised, but their hand movements did not stop, continuously striking hard at the Priest who had fallen to the ground, while arrows also kept hitting the Priest's legs and body.

Bata'er Jiaoshi was surrounded by several people; let alone fighting back, he could not even stand up.

Several heavy weapons kept crashing down onto his body in succession; the more urgent the flashes, the more he knew the limits of the Protective Divine Art within his shoulder armor and Heart Protector.

He suddenly raised his hand and used the Hushin Statue of the God to emit a wave of Divine Power, knocking away an armored Bandit.

But the hurried execution only sent that Bandit flying to hit a tree; after landing, that Bandit spat out blood and cursed as he rushed over again.

"Hahaha, that's it, let's see, how many more breaths can you hold on? Haha, everyone be careful not to break that long staff I've got my eye on! It's worth quite a lot."

The Bandit Leader, Shanlang Bani, was still leaning against a tree trunk; he loved watching the final struggles of prey that had fallen into a trap.

Although he had lost a few young Bandits, he did not care; if it weren't for his group's size being intentionally maintained within a certain range without recruiting many new people, if he had really opened up recruitment to people from other Bandit teams, the people of Desert Snake, Fatty, or even the King of White Wall would have long since run to join his subordinates.

Bandits, there are as many as you want.

Especially after leaving this place, which had no potential for development, to go elsewhere to make a living. Displaced farmers, down-and-out Hunters, or even scattered Soldiers fleeing the battlefield—aren't these people with nowhere to go all potential new recruits for his team?

The middle-aged Bandit Leader did not know that his words of instruction to his subordinates had given the desperate Bata'er Jiaoshi a new inspiration.

The young Priest, curled up while being continuously surrounded and attacked, gripped the Amber Metal Long Staff tightly, telling his intentions and most intense impulses to this borrowed Priest weapon of the church.

The amber Gems on the head of the staff shone brightly, emitting a dim yellow halo that expanded rapidly.

The halo expanded along the ground like a sunset rising as time reversed on the earth; an expanding semicircle rose from the Shulin, expanded, and reached the limit of the halo's coverage.

It was a sphere of light with a radius of fifteen meters, with the dim yellow halo flowing slowly within it.

It was not just the power within that was slow; everything inside the sphere of light had slowed down at this moment.

And the Bandit Leader, Shanlang Bani, who was leaning against a tree trunk further away, was shocked and stunned on the spot.

He kept his mouth open, staring blankly at the huge, expanding dim yellow sphere of light in front of him.

Everything inside was moving slowly, as if everything had been encased in invisible amber.

His subordinates slowly raised their weapons, slowly brought the weapons to the apex, and then let them fall with a slow speed that he found unbelievable.

"Damn it, damn it! ￥%￥, what is going on! What is going on?"

He widened his eyes and shifted his suspicious gaze to the Priest of the Agriculture God who was surrounded on the ground by his subordinates.

With his gaze firmly fixed on the Metal Long Staff that the Priest was gripping on the ground, he was furious!

"That is my treasure! Mine!"

'I hope Jier the warrior can come quickly.'

In the sphere of light shrouded by the dim yellow glow, Bata'er Jiaoshi, who was being struck by the Bandits' weapons, curled up together and hoped for this.

The Bandits surrounding and attacking him noticed the strange change; they were stunned for a moment, then stopped hitting the Priest on the ground and looked around instead.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know, but this circle of yellow light around us is definitely not ordinary."

"Where is the boss? Why isn't he there?"

As soon as this person said this, the others discovered that the leader who had been leaning against the tree trunk was gone.

The Bandits in the tree branches turned and jumped down to the ground, guarding the surroundings; the prairie horse struggled to get up but was calmed down by the Bandit who had roped it.

Subsequently, they noticed that outside the original dim yellow circle of light, at some unknown time, a guy wearing a full-coverage suit of armor and leading a tall warhorse was standing to the south.

That guy was standing outside the range of the dim yellow light, just looking at them coldly.

Especially under the opponent's Metal Faceplate, what was revealed was not eyes, but two bright spots emitting cyan light.

Not like a Human.

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