Chapter 681: The Darkest Moonless Night (17)

Jier felt that these bandits truly embodied greed and blind violence to the fullest extent; facing defenseless young refugees, these bandits saw people as sellable currency and excitedly joined forces to launch a night raid.

Yet, after running into him—a wall of iron—they fled with great speed.

However, this bandit group, after fleeing, did not shrink back to their lair to lick their wounds; instead, taking advantage of the unclear situation, they broke into the lairs of other groups overnight to launch surprise attacks.

It is likely they had long been eyeing these other groups that competed for their livelihood.

That is why they moved so quickly, unexpectedly taking down the bandit lair that had been left with only a skeleton crew.

Jier looked left and right, feeling that there must be a lookout point for the bandits in this Shulin, and perhaps the corpses of the sentries from Fatty's group were still nearby.

But the pitch-black Shulin was hard to search, so Jier gave up the plan to scavenge the bandit lookout point. He only retrieved the weapon of the bandit he had cut in two and the coins hidden in the inner pocket of his clothes.

It wasn't much, just over a dozen copper coins and the same amount of Iron Coin. The weapon was an iron Dagger and four Throwing Spear made by a Caravan.

"What a bunch of poor wretches. Ptooey."

Jier spat, ignoring the corpse, untied and discarded the blood-stained animal skin skirt, and waved to the many nocturnal birds staring at him from the trees with wide eyes.

"This corpse is yours; eat it clean, consider it a gift from me."

Jier shrugged, looked up once more at the gathering nocturnal birds, and let out a breath as he watched pair after pair of eyes reflecting the cold light of Magic.

These pairs of eyes staring at him put him under quite a bit of pressure, always reminding him of the flock of crows he encountered south of Umi Lake last winter. Jier always suspected that the bad luck he had back then was the work of those crows.

Like they had secretly cast a Curse of bad luck on him or something.

As soon as he walked away, the sound of large wings flapping and landing came from behind him, followed by chaotic scrambling and the sound of human flesh being torn.

There was also the sound of nocturnal birds fighting each other to snatch human eyeballs.

Tossing his meager gains into the bag hanging on his horse's back, Jier remounted and headed toward the place with firelight on the distant hillside.

Following the road out of the Shulin, the artificial wooden railings that previously marked the path were gone; the ground only had faint, trampled areas where no grass grew, which could guide Jier along the twisting path leading upward.

The route here was zigzagged; Jier put away the glowing Illumination Magic Pendant at his waist, jumped off his horse, and tried to make his way by the starlight in the sky.

But his luck was bad; he had only walked back and forth along two zigzags when the remaining starlight in the sky was blocked by thin, dark clouds.

A chilly wind began to blow; Jier cursed, had no choice but to tap his Long Sword sheath, and relied on the faint cyan glimmer of the God of Agriculture's Divine Power on the sheath to barely illuminate the road.

Fortunately, the fire at the bandit lair ahead was quite large; it was unclear what was burning, but the smoke and clouds reflecting the firelight acted like a torch, guiding Jier to his final destination.

After walking for quite a while, Jier finally stopped about fifty meters from the bandit lair.

He found a waist-high stone by the side of the road, pushed it hard, placed one end of the horse's Jiansheng under the stone, and then let the weight of the stone press down on the Jiansheng to secure the horse.

"Stay put, don't make a sound, remember, quietly!" Jier muttered instructions into the ear of Tianxuecao, and the horse nodded to show it understood.

Only then did Jier stop following the winding dirt road and walked in a straight line, wading through bushes and sloping wild fields, carefully arriving outside the bandit lair.

This was a camp built of stone and wood using local materials; borrowing the firelight from a three-story wooden watchtower on one side, Jier hid in a corner and saw the situation inside.

Built on a flat area on the slope of a valley, besides the most conspicuous burning wooden tower, there was a pitch-black Shandong entrance that looked like a crack directly opposite the camp gate.

At this moment, a slaughter had just taken place in the center of the camp; the bandits guarding the camp were dead or wounded, while the attackers had suffered few losses, though it was unclear why.

These bandits, mostly bizarre in appearance and shirtless with tattoos meant to intimidate enemies, were dragging corpses out of the Shandong of the bandit lair.

There were men and women inside, but besides the corpses, living people were also being driven out.

Only then did Jier realize how this group of bandits had managed to take this place.

It turned out that several bandits had snakes wrapped around them; these long, fierce Poisonous Snake were climbing on the bandits' bodies, swaying and tail-wagging in a show of force toward the people being driven.

Where the head pointed down, the body spread out to reveal a Skull pattern; ordinary people would be scared limp at a single glance.

This seemed to be a primitive instinct of the Human species.

Originating from ancient evolutionary times, a wariness and fear of venomous animals.

This was originally a survival strategy, meant for humans to avoid potentially venomous snakes out of fear. But fear is a thing that, while effective at making people avoid danger, can, if it goes too far, cause humans who have lost the ability to fight to lose the ability to act when facing such terrifying Poisonous Snake.

Weak limbs, difficulty breathing, pale faces, and cold sweat—these were all manifestations of extreme fear. But these things could actually cost some people their lives.

Jier saw clearly by the firelight that those Poisonous Snake were the very ones he had fought before, though the breeds seemed to vary; some were thicker, making the snake-handlers pant with effort.

Some snakes were too thin and looked non-threatening, although Jier knew that the potency of a Poisonous Snake's venom was not related to its size, but this snake-handler had wrapped more snakes around his body than the others to add to the intimidation.

These different breeds of Poisonous Snake were intimidating the people being driven out while also fighting among themselves.

"Boss! How should we deal with these people?"

A bandit with half a red Poisonous Snake sticking out of a large Leather Bag at his waist asked their leader—Huang She—triumphantly.

The bandit named Huang She, who knows where he had hidden his snake when attacking the refugees earlier, now had a five-meter-long, thick-as-a-man's-thigh, hard-scaled python beside him. Huang She sat on several twisted, bleeding corpses, triumphantly stroking his pet.

"Hmm, they're all soft-skinned and tender; they look like they've been well-enjoyed by Fatty and his lot, I don't want to touch these people. How about we feed them all to my Huang Mang?"

"As you wish, Boss! It'll save some of the venom our treasures worked so hard to secrete. After all, the treasures only fight with Warrior and never waste precious venom on weaklings."

The bandit speaking was also affectionately teasing the Poisonous Snake he kept, and the snake was also swaying and wrapping itself around the snake-handler's neck, gradually tightening its body. The snake-handler's face turned red, yet he seemed quite excited.

Those driven out of the Shandong included men, women, and children, but they didn't look like they were captured for the bandits' pleasure; they were more like hostages kidnapped for ransom.

Jier was all too clear about this; he knew that once a Bandit Group reached a certain scale, they no longer just engaged in looting but conducted various illegal activities together. Besides attacking a Caravan for property, they would mostly kidnap the children of wealthy Merchant or affluent families. Of the several people kidnapped, they would specifically release one to go back, while demanding exorbitant ransoms from the families based on the assets they had tortured out of them.

Besides this, larger numbers of bandits would dominate an area at key points on the Shanglu, establishing their own "earth checkpoints" to collect extra transit taxes and other fees from passing travelers.

Other Bandit Group near a Village would periodically extort food and tools from the Village to supply the group.

In short, there were many ways to make money, basically adjusted on the fly according to the local situation of the Bandit Group.

Jier hid in the shadows outside the open gate of the camp, weighing whether he should intervene to save these people. If he didn't, Jier could scout a bit more quietly, confirm the number of all surviving bandits, and then return the way he came to lead the young refugees in a counter-ambush against the retreating bandits.

But these people would certainly all be dead, and he would likely lose a batch of property he might have received as thanks for saving them.

"Hmm." Jier hesitated.

Because if he went to save them, he would have to act immediately; those bandits' Poisonous Snake could not be underestimated. Although they couldn't bite through his Metal Armor, the sprayed venom was still very troublesome.

"Go, Huang Mang, strangle them!"

The Bandit Leader slapped the giant snake beside him hard, then pointed his finger at the dozen or so hostages who were at a loss.

But at this moment, the giant python did not obey its master's command; instead, it raised its body on the spot and cast its cold eyes toward the camp gate.

Hiss—

A snake tongue, wider than a blacksmith's finger, extended from its mouth and flickered up and down, hissing as it probed the darkness outside the gate that had been knocked open.

"What's wrong? Boss, why isn't your big snake obeying orders? Is it angry because you didn't let it swallow the corpses earlier?"

But before the glib-tongued bandit subordinate could finish, Huang She raised a hand, his expression turning serious: "Be careful, something is wrong! Beasts are much more sensitive than humans."

At his words, the dozen or so bandits present put away their post-victory mood, one after another drawing their Long Swords and Cleavers, turning to face the direction the big snake was guarding.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, those hostages who had been suddenly sentenced to death scrambled to hide in a corner of the Yingdi, shivering together regardless of age or gender.

Whether it was the bandits belonging to Fatty or the snake-handling bandits of today, they were scared to death and had no thoughts of resistance, wanting only to survive.

"Who's there? Come out!"

Huang She questioned loudly, but no one responded; he gave a look to his subordinates, and one of the snake-handlers immediately opened a tightly sealed bag on his person and took out a live, bound mouse.

As soon as this live mouse appeared, the surrounding Poisonous Snakes all turned their heads to stare at the bandit's hand.

This made the bandit shudder, and he then threw the live mouse—which was clutching a pebble in its arms and squeaking while bound tight with thin grass rope—far toward the Yingdi gate.

"Go!"

Afterward, this bandit uncoiled the Poisonous Snake wrapped around his body, coiled it up, and flung it toward the direction of the gate.

Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss—

After the Poisonous Snake landed, it immediately followed the scent of the live mouse and crawled forward rapidly.

But just as the Poisonous Snake disappeared into the dark shadows, the sound of trampling rang out.

Crunch, squelch—

"Ah! My snake! My treasure!" Realizing what this sound meant, the bandit who had just thrown the Poisonous Snake immediately drew a Cleaver from his waist, grabbed a serrated Dagger in his other hand, and charged toward the Yingdi gate in heartbreak.

The other bandits who didn't handle snakes wouldn't let their companion go alone; they also roared and charged toward the Yingdi gate at the same time. The clever ones even took the opportunity to light two Torches from the burning wooden tower, one for themselves to hold and one to throw directly outside the gate.

The spinning Torches flew outside the gate ahead of everyone else.

An armored Warrior with his hands on his hips was standing right there.

Under his combat boots, he was stepping on the flattened head of the Poisonous Snake, while the lower half of the snake's body was twisting and coiling around his calf, attempting to strangle the Warrior with its body even after death.

"We meet again, everyone."

Jier chuckled and waved at the charging bandits.

These bandits, who had originally charged over with great momentum, stopped in their tracks the moment they saw the person in the shadows, leaving the hostages hiding to the side stunned.

"The Knight of the Refugees? Damn it! How could he be here?"

The bandits, knowing Jier was not to be trifled with, were indecisive; they didn't know whether to go up and fight to kill the other party, or to take the coins and valuables looted from Fatty's lair and slip away under the cover of night?

Finally, after a moment of hesitation, Huang She waved his hand and shouted: "All move aside, let my great python snake strangle this guy. If it weren't for the joint raid earlier, we wouldn't have been unable to bring the war snakes into battle; otherwise, why would we need to retreat?"

Just as the Bandit Leader was making his judgment, the bandit who had lost his precious Poisonous Snake didn't stop his pace at all, charging toward Jier while wailing.

Jier didn't even look at this person; his gaze roamed and assessed the Bandit Leader and his big snake. When this guy reached him, Jier dodged the Heavy Cleave of the other party's Cleaver, and then, ignoring the Dagger the other party was stabbing with, he turned sideways and slammed his shoulder into the bandit's body.

Clang, bang—two sounds rang out in succession. The other party's Dagger sparked against Jier's armor at the waist and abdomen and slid off, while Jier slammed his shoulder heavily into the other party's body.

With a crunch, some of the bones in this bandit's arm and torso broke, and the man instantly went from charging at Jier to flying backward two meters, collapsing softly onto the ground and clutching his arm in pain.

Jier picked up the Cleaver the other party had dropped at his feet, judged it in his hand, and then with a snap, broke the overly hard and brittle Cleaver, casually flicking the broken half onto the face of the fallen bandit.

It pierced deeply into him.

Just as Jier killed the bandit who had died shortly after the Poisonous Snake, a thick python twisted its body and attacked him.

The surrounding bandits dodged one after another; they knew the leader's python didn't recognize its own people, and if they were caught in the crossfire during the fight, there would be nowhere to complain.

Facing the incoming giant python, Jier turned and ran.

This scene stunned the bandits, including the hostages hiding to the side. After all, just seconds ago, this Knight had moved sharply to take out a bandit; no one expected that the next moment, he would simply run away.

"Chase! How can a human compare speed with a big snake? Haha, catch him, kill him!"

Huang She was very excited; he couldn't wait to see that young Knight caught and strangled by his war pet. This was far more exciting to him than leading men to raid a peer's lair.

But Jier's running was not really running at all.

He was merely looking for an opportunity to get out of everyone's sight.

Therefore, he had only run a few steps along the Yingdi wall outside the gate when, except for the big snake getting closer and closer behind him, everyone else lost sight of Jier.

This was exactly what he wanted.

Jier summoned the Elf Ring at the location of his heart, calling to enter the dreamscape the lady had lent him.

The ring responded to him.

And it prepared to absorb a portion of his Life Energy as startup fuel for the extra entry opportunity. But at this moment, Jier had activated the "Grass and Wood Source" blessing of infinite energy, and the Divine Power tentacles spread throughout his body immediately replaced Jier's Life Energy, offering the God's Divine Power to the Elf Ring.

The Elf Ring hesitated for a moment, then accepted this power without refusal.

Jier's body, which was being chased by the big snake, disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The python, acting as a predator, bit down at Jier's original position, but dust rose, and the big snake, having eaten a mouthful of pebbles and dirt, missed its target.

Its snake tongue flickered excitedly out of its mouth, and its eyes and other organs on its head also swung left and right to search for the prey's figure, but there was none.

The prey was gone.

Its not-so-clever brain couldn't understand the reason, so it suddenly lowered its head and then reared up, flipping over a stone on the nearby hillside, and its thick tail lashed out, snapping a bush Jier had brushed against when he came up.

The big snake, currently searching, did not know that right behind it, at the place where it had just lunged and bitten, Jier had reappeared, holding a Two-handed Axe glowing with blue light.

"I don't know if you like eating this? Never mind, kill you first and then we'll see."

The blue light on the axe flared brilliantly.

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