Chapter 697: The Tense Midnight (Part 4)

Jier had the two young men drag the Bandit, whose foot had been pierced through, directly along the ground.

Afterward, the group gathered as closely as possible; they no longer moved with the speed they had when they first arrived, but instead, bit by bit, step by step, they shifted their way out of this area filled with hidden, treacherous traps.

To be honest, during this process, Jier wanted to land a few heavy blows on the Bandit being dragged on the ground, because he hadn't noticed it when they arrived, but it turned out that when they entered the traps, they had walked in an S-shaped arc, weaving back and forth between several large trees, and there was only one, and only one, correct path in and out.

Beside this only safe path lay densely arranged pit traps.

It was easy to be led in by someone else, but wanting to get out was not so easy.

Especially since they knew in their hearts that the surroundings were full of traps, that fear and dread made everyone slow their pace, even if the path was safe.

Especially since it was the middle of the night, and in the pitch-black Shulin, only the glowing Magic Power pendant on Jier was providing light, so they had to be even more cautious on the way back.

The injured Bandit tried hard to identify the traces on the ground and the marks on the tree trunks and surface roots from when they arrived, leading them out the same way they had come in.

Finally, after quite a while, the Bandit on the ground looked carefully to the left and right, confirming that their group had truly walked out of the trap area.

He wore an expression of relief, then fawned over the young Knight to claim credit: "My lord, look, we've walked out just like this! Just as I said, nothing happened!"

But Jier let out a cold snort; although he didn't speak, the meaning of his disdain was clearly conveyed.

The young men under Jier, however, did not tolerate this person's nonsense; they immediately let go of their hands, reached out to cover the man's mouth, and landed a few heavy blows on the top of his head.

After a simple lesson for this guy, Jier kicked the Bandit, who was groaning on the ground: "Point out the correct direction to the lair; if you dare to lead us the wrong way again, I will twist your head off."

The Bandit rubbed his face, dropped his feigned look of pain, looked carefully at the somewhat familiar surroundings, and pointed: "Go this way, we'll be there soon."

Jier picked him up directly in his hand; the male Bandit, weighing several dozen kilograms, didn't look any heavier than a wild rabbit being held in his hand.

"I am walking in front; if there are traps and danger, I will throw you out first. Understand?" Jier did not forget to make the consequences of another 'mistake' clear to the guiding Bandit, and the Bandit, held in his hand, nodded repeatedly to show he understood.

"Follow."

Jier called out, and the several young men behind followed closely in Jier's footsteps. After what happened before, they didn't even step on ground that Jier hadn't stepped on, carefully using their own soles to walk in the indentations left by Jier's boots.

They walked through two turns in the dark Shulin where they couldn't see directions or markers at all, and finally, the ground quickly changed from gentle fallen leaves to steep terrain.

Needless to say, Jier knew the Mountain Wolf gang's lair was right ahead.

Because the guy in his hand had said that their lair was built on a steep, abrupt hill in the Shulin.

"Is it here?"

Facing Jier's inquiry, the Bandit, who had been thrown to the ground, braced himself up with his hands and replied: "Yes, yes, yes, it's right ahead. Can you just leave me here? If the boss sees me surrender, they won't spare me."

"You say that as if you still think they can survive, or can defeat me?"

Jier was a bit puzzled.

"No, no. Of course, no one can defeat the Knight, but they have legs to run."

Saying this, the Bandit crawled on the ground a few times, lay down by the roots of a large tree, and then used his hands to rake the surrounding fallen leaves to cover himself.

Seeing this guy's attempt to hide himself, Jier stopped paying attention to him, gave him a warning, signaled his men to prepare for battle, and then, with everyone holding their weapons, Jier walked at the very front, with the others scattered behind, and they charged toward the high ground ahead.

This time, they didn't walk as gingerly as before; in the quiet Shulin, apart from the occasional cry of nocturnal birds, there were no other sounds.

At this moment, the rustling sound of fallen leaves being kicked up and pushed aside continued, accompanied by the clashing of metal objects and the rapid breathing of the young men; these sounds mixed together, along with the Magic cold light source that continued to sway and shine in the dark Shulin.

It was hard not to be discovered.

But contrary to Jier's expectations, they charged upward, yet did not encounter any vigilant Bandits asking questions or sounding alarms, which made him feel strange.

It wasn't until Jier and his men subconsciously climbed to the top of the hill along a small path worn down by the Bandits over the years that they found, apart from several large trees, there was no sign of any Bandits.

"My lord, were we tricked by that guy again? Damn it! I'll go back and kill him!"

Just as one of the young men said this, Jier grabbed the man's shoulder: "Wait. Look at this."

Jier pointed his Long Sword at a large tree in the middle of the hill's summit; on the tree trunk, one could clearly see climbing indentations specifically dug into the bark for the convenience of climbing up.

Seeing this, one knew that people must frequently be active nearby, and the top of the large tree was clearly a natural watchtower.

"The place is correct, but the hill is round; we might have missed it when we came up. Everyone be careful, the Bandit lair is right in the vicinity."

Jier moved slightly to the side, shining the light from his waist onto the upper part of the large tree at the top of the hill.

He saw the indentations on the trunk going all the way up, using the tree branches as platforms for resting, and at the highest point a person could climb, about two-thirds of the way up the tree, there was a lookout platform made of several wooden boards.

However, at this moment, there was no one on this lookout platform built into the tree. This confirmed to him even more that the Bandit lair was nearby.

"Everyone pay attention, look for footprints or anything on the ground; we should be able to find traces left by the Bandits."

Just as Jier finished speaking, a flash of cold light emerged from behind a tree trunk not far away, and with one sword stroke, it sliced through the neck of the young man closest to that large tree.

"Paya!"

Jier remembered this young man's name; after all, during their chat on the road not long ago, this young man, who was older than him, had just reported his own name and the Village where he used to live. But he didn't expect that, in the time it took to eat a meal, this young man would be beyond saving.

Fresh blood sprayed forward along the wound, but the Bandit who had launched the sneak attack leaned his body sideways and ducked, letting the sprayed blood pass by.

The young man named Paya swung the Cleaver in his hand in his final moment of consciousness, but the weapon was easily brushed aside by the opponent's Long Sword with a tap and a lift.

The young man finally fell; he hadn't even managed to injure the enemy once.

Seeing Jier charging toward him aggressively, the enemy immediately took a few small hops and turned his body to flash behind the large tree.

"He's a tough character; everyone stay where you are, don't move around!"

After a simple arrangement for his men, Jier strode toward the enemy who had killed his man.

The enemy didn't just dodge and retreat blindly; seeing Jier chasing him, he quickly circled out from the other side of the tree trunk and thrust a sword toward Jier's neck.

But Jier didn't dodge, instead using his right hand to counter-slice at the opponent's arm.

The enemy abandoned his offensive, tapped his Long Sword against the Long Sword Jier was slicing with, let out a muffled grunt, and borrowed the force of Jier's swing to jump back several meters away.

"A Knight? Damn it."

The enemy cursed, seemingly surprised by Jier's strength and identity.

"What else? Who are you? Mountain Wolf Bani? Or someone called Weier?"

Hearing Jier's words, the enemy opposite stopped his constant movement, stood firm, and raised his sword toward Jier; a trace of confusion appeared on his young face: "You know me? Where did you hear that from?"

Jier was about to speak, but the other party frowned, then said viciously: "No need to say it, hmph, you must be the people sent by those guys to hunt me down, right? Phew, I knew it; as long as one is still in contact with people, even if they are Bandits plundering in the mountains, a person's existence and information cannot be hidden."

The opponent shook the standard Long Sword in his hand, flicked off the remaining blood droplets, then held the Long Sword upright in front of his chest, performing a Swordsman's pre-battle salute; without waiting for Jier to respond with a salute, he kicked off the ground and charged toward Jier, thrusting rapidly with a low posture.

"Hmm?"

Jier did not know what was wrong with this person; first talking to himself, then launching a preemptive strike after offering a salute, the person's entire demeanor revealed a sense of contradiction.

But the opponent moved quickly, giving Jier no extra time to react, so Jier had no choice but to engage in battle quickly.

The Hunting Sword swept forward and downward, feigning a block against the opponent's thrust, and then the enemy flashed sideways behind a tree trunk, while Jier took the opportunity to take down his shield and hang it on his left hand.

"Come! You killed my men, so you must die too."

The response was a spit, followed by a taunt: "A Warrior should be honest, both to people and to the sword."

Heh, Jier was amused to the point of anger; this Warrior named Weier, who mixed with Bandits, had the nerve to lecture him, when he, Jier, was a clean and upstanding good person.

Go out and ask, among the hundreds of young Refugees, who wouldn't say he is a good person?

Who would dare not say he is a good person?

Jier held his shield in front of him and charged forward, stepping on the sloped ground; the opponent tangled with him using the tree trunk, and an abrupt bird call sounded not far away, which made the person retreat, fighting and withdrawing toward a spot below the hillside.

Jier was focused on the battle and did not notice this.

It had to be said, although the enemy's strength and defense were far inferior to his, the opponent's movements were agile, and Jier's Hunting Sword could never catch up; even when he used movement to create a favorable situation and forced the opponent to clash swords with him, this enemy's martial arts were far superior to Jier's.

Although the enemy's Hunting Sword was less than ten or twenty percent of the weight of his own, when they actually fought, the opponent cleverly used the tip of the swinging sword to clash against the base of Jier's Hunting Sword, often leaving Jier unable to use even a third of his strength, and his Hunting Sword could not be swung properly, forcing him to twist it left and right in a chaotic manner to deal with the enemy's tricky offensive.

Fortunately, Jier's shield technique was relatively proficient.

Every time the opponent's Hunting Sword broke through the interception range of Jier's weapon, he would firmly block it in front of him, leaving the opponent with no choice but to leave sparks flying as they scratched the surface of the Elven Metal Shield, returning empty-handed.

"Annoying sword and shield!"

This guy still had the energy to complain during the fight.

"You shameless Bandit!"

Jier did not show weakness either, staying behind his shield and retorting while chasing the opponent.

"A Bandit is still better than an assassin!"

The enemy jumped on the spot, stepping on the rough tree trunk to dodge the swing of Jier's shield.

The opponent was very wary of the shield's swinging bash, because the weight of a shield was generally far greater than a weapon, a force he could not withstand with a Hunting Sword.

However, the opponent did not know that Jier's shield was very light, weighing no more than an iron Dagger. Therefore, the seemingly aggressive swing and bash did not actually have that much force.

"What nonsense are you spouting? You are the assassin!"

Jier did not know what madness this person was having, or if his brain had gone bad from mixing with Bandits for too long.

Clearly, this enemy was wearing a relatively loose, long-sleeved, exquisite cloth garment, with leather pants and leather boots paired with a studded leather skirt on his lower body, wearing Leather Bracers on his wrists and cowhide fingerless gloves on his hands, looking like a martial arts youth from a wealthy and powerful family, vastly different from the rough Bandits.

The enemy quickly retreated a few steps, arriving at a small clearing on a hillside.

This place was not large, about the size of an ordinary room, and the ground seemed to have been specially cleared; there was only loose soil on the ground, without thick fallen leaves. Under the illumination of Magic light, when Jier's eyes swept across, he also saw crude wooden chairs made of wooden stakes around the clearing.

Jier judged that this was the Bandit lair they had missed or failed to discover when they came up the mountain earlier, but upon closer inspection, it did not look like it, because this was simply a small, flat clearing, and besides the large trees surrounding it, there were only lush wild grass and bushes facing the top of the hillside.

But although Jier thought so, reality was not like that.

Weier, who used the sword, jumped backward across the clearing, and just as Jier was chasing him into the middle of the clearing, the place he previously thought was wild grass and bushes was suddenly lifted by someone, revealing a fine net specially covered with grass and wood.

Subsequently, six or seven Bandits holding weapons rushed out from within.

Jier was just about to break out, but was forcefully blocked by Weier, who used the sword.

The next moment, he was surrounded by the Bandits.

Jier steadied his nerves, lowered his body to face the most threatening Weier, and left the other directions to the surrounding Bandits.

And at this time, from behind the lifted fine net, a sturdy middle-aged man with his arms crossed walked out.

"Well done, Weier. If you hadn't acted, we would have had to abandon this lair today."

Without a doubt, it was the Bandit Leader, Shanlang Bani, who spoke.

But Weier just nodded with a cold face: "This person should be coming for me. Being able to deal with this assassin who sought me out together is also helpful to me. It's not a matter of doing well or not. Bani, be careful, this person is a Knight, and he is wearing Metal Armor."

The Bandit Leader, Shanlang, laughed out loud: "I know. The heavy losses we suffered before were because we didn't calculate that those people from the White Wall were so useless. And we didn't bring any Heavy Weapon that can break armor. Now, young Knight, look around you, open your eyes wide, and take a good look."

Jier's Helmet turned cautiously, followed by a clear, cold snort.

Although the six Bandits surrounding him were still wearing Beast Skin Clothing that was better than nothing, this time the weapons in their hands were no longer the various Hunting Swords, Cleavers, or Single-handed Axes that caused him no harm.

Instead, they were heavy hammers held with both hands, or two-handed logging axes that only the strong could use properly.

However, these things did not look like proper professional weapons; they seemed to have more of a tool function than a combat purpose.

But Jier did not doubt that a heavy metal hammer head smashing into him could dent his armor, causing him serious fractures or internal injuries. Similarly, the blade of a heavy two-handed logging axe, if it struck a weak spot in his armor, could easily breach the armor's protection and severely injure his body.

But that was all.

The corners of Jier's mouth under his Faceplate curled up at some point, revealing an excited expression.

A low, humming laugh came from under the firm, cold, and hard steel Faceplate. This sound, which easily conveyed an excited emotion, made Weier involuntarily break out in cold sweat on his forehead, and his palm, full of hard calluses, subconsciously tightened around the hilt of the Hunting Sword he had personally wrapped with silk.

Shanlang Bani, who was no slouch himself, also felt that something was wrong, although he did not know where this unease came from; after all, he had the upper hand at this moment, didn't he?

"You guys know that down-and-out Noble descendant who calls himself the King of the White Wall, right?"

The atmosphere was tense, but apart from the gradually heavy breathing, no one around dared to move.

"Then you know how many people and how many long-prepared means he had to prepare just to dare to say he could defeat a single Knight? And those things above were all just smoke screens to confuse people."

The young Knight's words made Shanlang Bani frown deeply.

What, if the King of the White Wall could deal with a young Knight, could he—Shanlang Bani, whose fame and wisdom were no less than that person's—not deal with a Knight?

The Bandit Leader glared with his eyes, gritted his teeth, and the flesh on his face trembled along with his angry expression: "You mean to say! We! Cannot! Deal with you?"

But the young voice came from under the Faceplate.

"Ha, if you had a ten-tenths chance of winning, why are you still wasting your breath with me here? However, I am just finding it interesting to waste my breath with you."

The Bandit Leader could not stand the young Knight's arrogant words and shouted loudly to everyone present: "All of you, attack! Kill him!!!!"

As soon as the words fell, the surrounding Bandits all made their moves.

"Ha!"

"Die!"

"Avenge my brother!"

"Die, assassin!"

But the next moment, the various weapons attacking from the front, back, left, and right all struck empty air.

Because the young Knight had jumped into the air right where he stood before the weapons could reach him.

This abrupt leap far exceeded the imagination of a normal Human; after all, those who did not understand Knights found it hard to believe that a Human could jump several meters high from a standstill, so high that one had to tilt their head back to follow the movement of his body.

Jier's continuous movement and combat with the sword-wielding Weier earlier was merely because he was excited by the hunt and wanted to exchange blows for a while longer. He hadn't even used his true ability just now.