Chapter 686: The Darkest Moonless Night (End) — The Burning Cave

Jier briefly explained the situation inside the bandit Shandong, asking those few people to arrange for others to handle the loot and carriages outside, and then he would take people down to remove the goods he had specifically selected from the Shandong.

"There is quite a lot of loot plundered by the bandits inside, but we cannot take it all. We only have so many carriages; remember to make trade-offs based on our transport capacity. Also, keep a close eye on those surrendered and captured bandits outside—do not let a single one escape! Understand?"

The few young men knocked their fists against their chests, murmuring that they understood.

"I hope you truly understand."

Jier muttered a complaint and walked into the Shandong first.

After walking only a few steps, he saw the merchants and wealthy people huddled together, looking helpless, and pointed toward the carriages: "Once the carriages are repaired in a while, you all get on and leave by carriage. Looking at how weak you are, if you had to walk, we wouldn't get anything done tonight; just waiting for you would be enough of a burden."

The sensible merchants immediately expressed their gratitude loudly, while the well-bred wealthy people performed impeccable gestures of thanks amidst their destitution.

Jier waved his hand and walked into the crevice Shandong, grumbling to himself.

Re-entering, he headed straight for the deeper level of the Shandong. He did not take the candlesticks and candles inside the main hall of the Shandong, leaving them specifically for the young Refugee who would come in later.

He now had a glowing Magic Dagger pendant newly seized on his belt, and the illumination this provided was more than enough.

The pale, cold light of the Magic decorated the cave, from which low groans drifted, making it even more terrifying and eerie. If Jier were not bold enough and did not know what he was about to deal with, he feared he might wake up from his dreams at night, terrified by the roars of the living corpses echoing in his sleep.

Patting his Helmet, which emitted a crisp *bang-bang* sound, Jier steadied his nerves and stopped his mind from wandering.

He had dealt with many Monster Magic Beasts over the past year, and his experience was completely different from when he had just arrived in this other world and couldn't sleep after hearing terrifying stories spread in the countryside.

He knew clearly how formidable the Full-body Metal Armor he was wearing was.

Honestly, those living corpses were only disgusting because of their rotting bodies, and the evil power that could corrode weapons and equipment was a bit distressing regarding the cost of repairs.

Any other dangers?

Do you think that with bare hands, they could hurt Jier, who was wearing thick Metal Armor?

Hilarious; his hands would break, and his armor would be fine.

After all, they were resurrected Monster created from the corpses of dead Human; in terms of strength, let alone being like living people, they were actually weaker than before due to muscle decay and mutual cannibalism.

Although the mysterious resurrection power driving them allowed even bodies consisting only of skeletons to move.

But strength was never the strong suit of this kind of Monster.

Stepping back onto the top of the high platform cliff, Jier breathed carefully through his nose, looking down at the many living corpses that had stood up and were baring their teeth and reaching out toward him because of the presence of a living person.

"Do they look like fans at a concert?"

Muttering a complaint, Jier pointed his finger one by one, counting the number of living corpses below.

For those that only had half a body left and were crawling using their rotting arms, Jier counted them as individuals too. After counting, Jier sighed: "What a bunch of dog-shit things."

"Thirty-nine, both male and female, mostly female."

Shaking his head, he knew why there were more females among the living corpses, but one could not dwell on such things; dwelling on them would lead to rage and emotional turmoil.

"Let me give you the final resting place a Human deserves. The Church of the God of the Dead always says that all things return to dust; actually, becoming ashes after death, instead of like you, is really quite good."

Jier drew the Magic Dagger Heart Fire from his waist, examined the luster of the Magic Gemstone embedded in the hilt, and finding it still glowing red, he pointed the Dagger forward and downward.

He aimed at the living corpses, which were also reaching their hands toward him.

"Burn Enemy!"

He recited the command to activate the Magic weapon in a resigned tone.

Immediately, a flash of Magic light appeared on the Magic Dagger, followed by a massive spray of Magic Power sparks erupting along the blade. These Magic Power sparks then rapidly transformed in the air into large clusters of high-temperature Magic flames, which surged outward.

The searing white light completely illuminated the large deep-level cave, and the massive expansion of flames released a loud *boom* and radiated heat in all directions.

Jier used his left hand to block in front of his Faceplate to resist the searing white light and heat wave rushing toward him.

Unlike when he used it in the open field before, the air inside the cave did not circulate as freely as it did outside. Although there was weak ventilation deep in the cave, the release of such a massive amount of heat still heated up the entire cave significantly, which was something Jier hadn't anticipated before using the weapon.

But fortunately, although the surroundings had heated up, it was still within his tolerance.

Or perhaps, within the heat tolerance of him, having become a Knight for the most part. Knight had a high resistance to both cold and heat; general natural weather no longer caused much trouble for them, as they had become fighting machines.

Jier did not realize at this moment that the temperature in the surrounding cave had reached sixty or seventy degrees. A normal person would quickly collapse and die due to the high temperature, but he felt fine.

Although it was hot, it was still within his tolerance.

Having finished with Jier's side, let's look at those living corpses engulfed by the high-temperature Magic flames.

The tattered remains of clothing on their bodies were baked into charcoal in an instant, followed by the hair that had been soaked in rotting mucus for a long time, which turned into foul-smelling smoke the moment the flames touched them, then blew toward the interior of the cave.

There wasn't much flesh to begin with; as soon as the flames touched it, it quickly dehydrated and burned, turning to ash in less than a second. The Human skeletons, which were pale and contained mysterious power, didn't last long either.

The bones were quickly baked dry and dehydrated, then the surface heated up and flaked off, changing from a solid whole into a powder-like structure. The mysterious power hidden inside that drove them to move also had no way to resist the flames; amidst a *crackle-crackle* sound, they dissipated into the massive amount of Magic light and heat without anyone knowing, not even leaving a shadow behind.

When his finger moved away from the Magic Red Gem, the Dagger stopped emitting the Magic Power sparks that produced flames.

There were plumes of smoke all around, but the large amount of smoke and high heat gradually moved toward the direction of the airflow inside the cave. Jier fanned the air in front of him with his hand, took a few small breaths, and suddenly felt that the original stench had also decreased significantly.

He looked down and saw that the entire area under the high platform cliff had been left with gray-white patches that looked like radioactive fallout. There was nothing in the gray-white areas, and the rocks on the ground were even slightly red and glowing, just like lava.

And the ground around where the living corpses had been gathered was left with only piles of gray, caked powder ash.

"Is that bone ash?"

Jier saw half a skull in those dusty clumps, so he judged that the living corpses had all been burned to ashes.

"With such powerful flames, those living corpses shouldn't have anything left. Sigh, dust to dust, earth to earth; those who must go cannot stay."

He muttered a sentence, turned around on the small high platform, and found no remaining living corpses on the ground below.

Even the half-corpses that were a bit further away were now just white bones, motionless.

Even if it was just a slight graze, in the places further away, because the direction the Dagger was pointed was the ground, the flames sprayed onto the ground would extend along the ground, and the range was far larger and wider than Jier had imagined.

Or rather, if you calculate it this way, the high-temperature Magic flames sprayed by the Dagger at one time are fixed; it must release that much heat. If this heat is not released in an open space to burn everything in front, it will hit the obstruction of the ground, which will also cause these high-temperature flames to spread along the ground and burn a larger area.

"If I added a focusing tube, couldn't it spray a longer distance?" He shook his head, not knowing if there was any material that could gather the Magic flames that could even slightly melt stone.

Just as Jier felt that he had finished off all the living corpses in the cave and intended to turn and leave, to get away from this hot and dry place.

The Hunting Sword in the Sword Sheath at his waist buzzed, and with a *clang*, it popped out a little.

"What? There's more?"

Jier was a bit surprised; with such powerful high-temperature flames, could there still be a powerful living corpse that hadn't been killed?

"Could it be that there is some big boss that gathered all the power of the living corpses appearing only now?" He felt it was impossible, but his Spirit weapon told him that there were still living corpses remaining inside the Shandong.

"Hey, then I must see it for myself. As it happens, didn't you want to kill these living corpses with your own hands to take revenge? Shall I leave the rest to you?"

Jier drew his Long Sword, bypassed the hottest area under the high platform, and jumped straight down.

Thump, his combat boots landed, kicking up a circle of bone dust and powder.

"Look, it could all be packed into an urn; could there really be any living corpses left alive?"

He said that, but in reality, his spirit had not relaxed.

Pointing his Long Sword toward the area where there had been the most living corpses before, Jier asked: "Is it this direction?"

The Long Sword vibrated, indicating no.

Jier pointed the Long Sword toward a deeper part of the Shandong: "How about this direction?"

The Long Sword vibrated once, indicating there was.

"Then let's go."

His combat boots swung back and forth cautiously, and Jier also held his Shield in his hand, equipping it.

The deep Shandong was narrow and long, extending downward.

But it did not mean the Shandong was endless; the surrounding rock walls were contracting, and there were gaps in the ceiling, absorbing and drawing in the smoke from the previous burning, though it was unknown where it was sent due to the pressure difference in the Shandong.

The ground ahead was no longer the clean, white expanse scorched by flames, but instead, rotting flesh and broken bones appeared once again on the uneven rocky ground.

Jier walked a straight distance of more than thirty meters, then the Long Sword in his hand tilted slightly to the left, and he turned to look at the rock wall on the left.

Large pieces of rock rubbed and squeezed against the flat rock wall, creating many cracks of various sizes.

Water droplets seeped from these cracks, making the only sound in the depths of the silent Shandong.

No, not the only one.

Jier moved his combat boots closer cautiously, resting the Long Sword on top of the Shield, and advanced slowly in a standard shield-bearing combat stance.

In a gap between a huge rock extending from the ground and a dark crevice as thick as a human waist, a low, dry, and hoarse groaning and roaring sound could be faintly heard.

"Is it here?"

The Long Sword vibrated once, indicating it was here.

Jier struck the Metal Shield with his weapon, making a provocative sound: "Dead corpse, come out, come out and die! No, come out and end this twisted death."

But there was only a small roaring sound in the pitch-black rock crevice; the thing inside would not come out.

"If you won't come out, you'll have to die even if you don't."

Jier approached carefully, but when he reached the opening of the rock crevice, his whole person froze. His eyebrows furrowed, staring tightly at the thing trapped inside the rock crevice.

It was a living corpse, that was correct; after all, no one could survive in a Shandong full of living corpses. Even a Monster could not do it.

But this living corpse was only as tall as his waist to his chest; the thin, small bones could not be fake.

At the same time, on the rotten head, the brown long hair stained with rotting liquid also showed that when the other party was alive, she should have been a young little girl.

On the rotten face, two rows of small, loose teeth rattled, looking as if it also wanted to bite off a piece of his flesh with its mouth. But its human pelvis was stuck in the suddenly narrowing rock crevice, unable to advance or retreat.

The small left arm reached toward Jier, but even so, its palm could not reach out of the rock crevice, let alone scratch Jier's body.

The pair of empty eye sockets, following the swaying of the head in the crevice, did not know if it was longing for Jier's flesh and blood, or curiously sizing up this truly living Human in a place where only active dead corpses usually appeared.

Jier bit his lip and sighed heavily.

"Sigh."

The Long Sword vibrated, as if asking whether to take action, but Jier put the sword away and inserted it into the Sword Sheath.

Hunting Sword seemed to want to act, but Jier withdrew his left hand from the Shield and pressed it heavily onto the hilt, pinning it down.

"What a sin."

He drew his Dagger and whispered a word: "Scorching."

The Dagger released a sword-shaped flame extending over a meter forward; the flame penetrated along the rock crevice, igniting and burning the entire trapped little living corpse to ashes.

The left arm reaching outward was burned off and fell to the ground; on the moving wrist, a metal bracelet knocked out from the rotting flesh.

Jier was attracted by the sound of metal colliding and looked down to see this.

Then his left hand picked up this small metal bracelet with his fingers, and his right hand swept downward, burning and shattering the still-moving left palm.

The bracelet was stained with rotten things; Jier carefully picked up the small bracelet with his fingers, flicked it back and forth over the flame, grabbed it in a different place, flicked it a few more times, and then, looking at the clean bracelet again, he carefully put it away.

The sword-shaped flame swept up and down a few times, and the rotting flesh on the little living corpse turned into ashes; then only the skeleton remained, struggling for a while, before finally turning into shattered, collapsed bone powder and bone fragments.

Taking his fingers off the Gems, Jier's face, which had been cold the whole time, finally revealed a trace of exhaustion.

Putting away the Dagger, Jier stood in place, stunned for a long while.

I don't know when, but the counterweight ball on the hilt of the Hunting Sword—that little ball of Moonlight Iron he bought—also began to emit a gentle light like moonlight.

Unlike the coldness of Magic light, a silvery-white light emerged, and then, beside the rock crevice in front of Jier, an illusory and transparent figure of a little girl appeared.

She squatted quietly beside the rock crevice, with her back to Jier, seemingly looking at the figure of the former little living corpse inside the crevice.

Jier blinked his eyes, looked suspiciously and intently at the illusory image that had appeared here strangely, and then looked at the small counterweight ball at the end of his Long Sword hilt.

He let out a breath.

Jier smelled the scorching and choking smoke around him and spoke softly: "Is there anything you want me to pass on?"

The little girl did not turn her body, and her figure seemed to be dissipating rapidly; after a few breaths, she disappeared. In the silent Shandong, only a light sentence drifted back and forth, soon dissipating as well.

"I'm so uncomfortable, I want revenge."

Jier walked back to the place where he had jumped down, looked up to judge the height, and then took a deep breath and jumped upward with all his might.

The jump height was still a bit short, but Jier finally grabbed the edge of the high platform and climbed up.

He walked silently out of the Shandong he would never visit again and headed toward the top of the Shandong.

Returning to the spacious and bright Shandong hall, Jier saw the young Refugee who were busy moving wooden crates.

They were happily carrying the original Merchant goods, whether valuable or not, out of the Shandong. Jier saw that the things he had selected had already been moved, and at this moment, these young people were beaming as they carried more, but less valuable and useless, other goods.

"Stop moving everything!"

He shouted to stop them.

Everyone stopped the work in their hands, looking at the young Knight with dazed expressions.

"Don't you see how much those few horses and carriages can carry? With this much stuff, do you intend to carry it back on your own arms and legs? Aren't you afraid of being worked to death on the road?"

When Jier said this, many young people lowered their heads, showing expressions of shame.

Waving his hand, Jier shooed them out: "A place like this, and with this foul smell, set it all on fire, burn it!"

The young man in charge looked up at Jier, and after confirming that the young Knight truly meant it, he raised a lighting Torch and went personally to set fire to the wooden crates and the wooden cages that held people nearby.

Jier grabbed the Metal Candlestick and candle that were providing light on the wooden table in the middle: "Take this, it can be sold for some money."

Tossing the candlestick to the young Refugee evacuating the area, Jier looked at the burning Shandong and shook his head, being the last one to walk out.

Arriving outside where voices were clamoring, Jier discovered that the carriages were almost repaired; the young men had dismantled the floorboards of the wooden house and used them as planks to reinforce the cargo beds of the carriages.

At this moment, everyone was busy tying up and loading the items seized from the Bandit, and the weak rescued people had also climbed onto the carriages, sitting among the many miscellaneous items.

Jier found the boy huddled beside the old man, and under the other's gaze, placed a small metal bracelet before his eyes.

And he said a few words into the boy's ear.

That was the final testament of a dissipating Spirit.

Jier did not know what the situation was like after a person died, whether they loathed this world, or something else.

But clearly, the final testament of that girl who had suffered so much had caused a change in this boy.

The boy gripped the bracelet tightly, saying nothing, nor shedding tears, just burying his head into a Grain Bag at his side. No one could see his expression.

"Sir, what did you say?"

The old man asked.

"Nothing."

Jier answered this way.

In the pitch-black, moonless night, a light rain began to fall, though no one knew when it started.