Chapter 717: The Gap Between Inside and Outside Duoen Town, 'The Surplus Pod

Jier frowned, not understanding the meaning of this sentence for a moment.

Seeing that the young Knight did not make a sound, Ms. Feiniya, who was sitting behind Jier, guessed that the other party did not understand the underlying meaning of this sentence.

She raised her voice and explained: "Merchants and the large and small Merchant Guilds they form are like flowing water, while Nobles are like soil and stone. Water flows along the trend of the ground, rarely gathering to form puddles and ponds. But soil and stone accumulate higher and higher until they become mounds and mountains."

Jier rolled his eyes and retorted: "But I have heard that the largest thing in the world is the ocean? People also mostly build towns between rivers and lakes. And strong winds will blow away hills made of loose soil, and rainfall will erode mountains into gullies everywhere, right?"

"Your mouth is quite sharp, just as strong as your strength. Oh hehe."

Ms. Feiniya laughed happily, seemingly in a very good mood.

Even though they were currently on the road to settle the wealth of the shops, this lady did not have the slightest bit of worry.

Jier had not thought much about it before, but at this moment, after his brain turned a few times, he understood where this lady's reliance lay.

Mountain Wolf Bani's lair!

Needless to say, it must be piled with a large amount of accumulated merchant goods that were difficult to handle. Some might be difficult to deal with on the black market, while others were left behind because they felt it was too much of a loss to handle at the time, and as a result, they kept accumulating and accumulating.

Considering the reputation of the Bandit Group led by Mountain Wolf Bani, as well as the other party's cunning style of conduct, there must be a large amount of unprocessed materials and goods in the true lair.

This sum of money must exceed the material gains obtained from the Jiedian where Mountain Wolf Bani was captured.

And Jier, who had the strength to go to Mountain Wolf Bani's lair, had inevitably missed this wealth because he had to lead the people to find a place to settle. As for everyone around, Jier thought and thought, and there were only two and a half people who knew the location of Mountain Wolf Bani's lair.

One is Mountain Wolf Bani's old lover, Ms. Feiniya, who wanted to find a way to die with him even before she died. Although she was previously responsible for the work of the Shanglu inn, she must know the specific location of the lair.

The other is the surrendered Bandit whom Jier personally let go before capturing Mountain Wolf Bani. The other party was the one who handled the Caravan horses and vehicles in Mountain Wolf Bani's team and must have participated in every action of the Bandit Group; this person also knew the location of the lair.

It is hard to say, perhaps that person begged Jier to spare his life also harboring the thought of swallowing the entire lair's materials and goods after Mountain Wolf Bani's group collapsed.

Because it was only after Jier killed Mountain Wolf Bani that day that he learned that the narrow Shandong Jiedian was merely a forward Jiedian used by the Bandit Group for plundering.

This news was tightly concealed by the surrendered Bandit, and Jier had been secretly set up by this person.

Finally, the remaining half-person is the now insane Swordsman Weier. This guy is completely crazy, muttering some names repeatedly all day long, cursing one moment and weeping sadly the next. Guiding this madman to move is also very interesting; although he is crazy, he treasures his weapon tightly. As long as you hold the end of the Long Sword's Sword Sheath, this guy will honestly follow along.

Because this young man of about twenty years old is good-looking, clean, and does not dress as roughly as other Bandits, in the past two days, some of the young women in the crowd of people have been surrounding this madman, fighting for the job of leading and managing him.

Then they take the opportunity to touch and pinch this guy, and even secretly kiss his face.

Even though the armed young men under Jier are dissatisfied and go around proclaiming that this person killed one of their own, the others do not care.

After all, the young Refugees come from many Cunzi, and everyone is not very familiar with each other.

It was fine when Jier managed and ordered them, and they looked like a whole, but after Jier and Bata'er Jiaoshi stopped managing them, the young people still gathered together by Cunzi, rested together at night, and ate together in the same pot.

Having said so much, after Jier understood Ms. Feiniya's reliance, he stopped talking and exposing the other party's plans.

After all, this has nothing to do with him anymore; everyone generally has their own destiny, and it is impossible for Jier to take all the benefits, right?

Besides, this wealth in Mountain Wolf Bani's lair may not be so easy to get.

The Bandit that Jier let go, and now Ms. Feiniya, will surely each gather a group of people and risk their lives to fight and snatch that seemingly large amount of plundered goods.

That is a treasure, but it must be a so-called "treasure" that is stained with the lives and blood of countless people from beginning to end.

Jier has no intention of getting involved.

After approaching Duoen Town, Jier's attention was stunned by the chaotic buildings of the town. Amidst Ms. Feiniya's teasing, Jier pointed his finger at one "bizarre" wooden, earthen, and stone building after another, not knowing what to say.

Having been in this different world for more than a year, he has seen local buildings of various styles, but this big lump of buildings in Duoen Town in front of him—if you call them houses and shops for people to live in, even a dung beetle would have to bow down.

There are wooden houses built with planks, supported entirely by a wooden pillar inserted into the soil in the center. The small "houses" around them, like birdcages, have open walls. A poor person wearing only a pair of gray Linen Cloth pants all over his body just puts his feet on the edge of the house, looking at the open space outside the town to the south without caring at all.

Although the total wealth of these people is not as bad as those with negative debts, it is not much. The depressed trade has caused many of them to lose their livelihood, so they have to huddle in their "homes" in boredom, curiously looking at the outsiders who might bring changes to their lives.

The upper and lower "rooms" of the birdcage-like wooden buildings are all connected by a black, shiny knotted hemp rope. Under the warm spring sun, some half-grown naked children are dangling on these ropes, playing with each other.

Next to this building is another alternative earthen "house," shaped like a grave mound, with several chimneys on the top, puffing out black smoke from burning firewood. Under the "grave mound," which is as high as a two-story wooden building, there is a huge hole-like gate. Some people are going in and out of this dark, deep gate like insects at their feet.

Some people are joyous, some are dejected, and others are grabbed by their limbs by a few brawny thugs and thrown out, tossed heavily outside the door. The people who were thrown out still curse something foul-mouthed, pat the blood, dust, and dirt off their bodies, and walk to another "grave mound" not far away without caring.

Besides this, there are tall rock buildings like the beacon towers of his past life, and buildings like low, small castles standing abruptly in the midst of messy wooden buildings. Vaguely, Jier seems to be able to hear melodious zither music and the high-pitched singing of a Bard from the open-air opening at the top of the stone building.

In addition, the originally spacious road outside the town shrinks rapidly after entering the town, and the original gravel ground is replaced by foul-smelling ground full of sewage and stinking mud.

Tianxuecao seems to dislike the soft, stinking mud ground very much, and only after Jier's urging did it bravely step into it after hesitating several times.

Listening to the sound of the Horseshoe contacting the ground, it seems that there are also a large number of stones mixed in this stinking mud.

No, it should be said that the town was originally a gravel ground, but as filth and dirty water were poured onto it, it would mix with the gravel road over time, becoming a "complex" situation where you have me and I have you.

At least Jier is certain that no one handles the feces excreted by passing horses and other livestock.

Is it estimated that they rely on natural rainwater to "degrade" it?

On both sides of the narrow road are rows of shop doors arranged closely together. With sturdy, thick solid wood doors and brawny thugs at the entrance chewing on something unknown while hugging their arms, every shop looks very suspicious.

Even though each shop has its own sign hanging on the door.

Flies fly around the butcher's meat stall to drive away the filth. The butcher, who is as big as two people, not only holds two tools in his hands but also looks at every passerby with the eyes of looking at meat. A palm-sized lizard with glowing sharp horns lies on the butcher's shoulder, flicking its tongue from time to time to stick the flying flies and pull them back into its open mouth.

The shop selling clothing is crowded with women who want to sell the coarse cloth they made in exchange for a small amount of money, but the thin tailor boss often only stares at the youngest women, making meaningless laughter in his mouth.

And on the walls of the shop hang sets of clean, worn-out clothes; it is unknown where these clothes were collected from, or what they were stained with before being cleaned.

In the shop selling wooden goods, the thugs and the Carpenter apprentices stare closely at every customer who comes in to buy things. The more ragged the person is dressed, the tighter they stare, for fear that the other party will grab a small piece of furniture and run out the door.

In the corner of the street, dirty and smelly half-grown boys are squatting. It would be terrible if one ignored these people because of this. These boys are dirty, but their eyes are cleverly looking at the waist of every passerby walking on the muddy ground. Occasionally they whistle, and it is estimated that only the accomplices of these guys can understand the hidden meaning in the seemingly irregular, playful whistling.

There are always people queuing and crowding at the door of the Bread bakery. Some are buying food for the future, while others are pestering passersby to beg for their kindness and reward them with a little food to eat.

These beggars dare not go to the fields outside the town to steal crops. Not only do the debtors work hard in the fields during the day, but these debtors in the wild also have no chance to live in the town, and mostly just huddle in semi-sunken earthen pits by the fields, living right by the fields.

Moreover, these debtors will also carefully prick up their ears, hoping to catch one or two poor wretches stealing crops, so as to exchange for a significant reduction in their labor time.

Walking along the street towards the center of the town, the storefronts facing the street become larger and larger, the decoration becomes more and more luxurious, and the overall buildings become more and more formal.

They are no longer the alternative buildings that are messed up like those outside the town, but all are shop houses built according to traditional styles.

"Lady, where is your shop? We are about to walk to the center of the town."

Jier turned his head and asked. At this time, they were passing by a three-story wooden and brick building. In and out of the door were some local Security Guards, who were vigilantly looking at Jier, who was riding a tall grassland horse.

Riding a horse is of course not against the law, but Jier's thick Metal Armor and the Long Sword at his waist are very eye-catching.

When walking all the way here before, wherever Jier went, it would be quiet for a while, and only after he and Xueya Site walked away would whispers start on the original street.

They were all discussing whether he, this warrior clad in heavy armor, had any connection to the warning bell sounds issued by the watchtower earlier.

Ms. Feiniya rested her hands on the shoulder plates of Jier's armor to steady herself, then pointed straight ahead: "Go through the center of the town, pass through the plaza fountain in the middle, and there is a shop selling all kinds of beans on the north side of the town; that is my property. It's perfect—you can clear out all the beans in the entire shop; the grain inside will certainly be enough for your people to eat for half a month."

"Then the whole troop will be full of farting sounds! Spare me, how about trading the shop for money? Or, use your influence to exchange those things for some cheap and useful tools and supplies?"

Jier suggested this; he didn't really care whether he owned a shop in Duoen Town, as it had no meaning to him.

Trading the shop and its contents for useful supplies was what he valued, and besides, truthfully, after settling those refugees and rescuing the people of Changmai Village, these matters would no longer have much to do with him; he would eventually head to the Southern Province Capital to rendezvous with Kendall Baron and Kela Knight and the others.

A dangerous and exciting war was beckoning to him right before his eyes; these days of playing house-like combat were truly boring.

The combat effectiveness of the armed refugees under his command was truly worrying; they weren't even qualified as targets for unarmed combat training, far less interesting than the Baron's personal guards, from whom one could learn various combat techniques and martial arts.

Ms. Feiniya smiled upon hearing the suggestion from Jier Knight: "I usually manage inns on the trade routes and rarely come here to manage my shop; it's all managed by a friend I entrusted it to. Of course, the reliability and loyalty of this friend are entirely for the sake of that dog Shanlang Bani, so, young knight, don't let anything slip later."

Jier raised his eyebrows: "It will be exposed sooner or later; how long can you hide it by lying?"

"It doesn't need to be hidden for long; the staff underneath are my people. Once I clarify the recent business situation of the shop, I can kick him out."

Jier nodded, agreeing to this matter, and he also mentioned it to Xueya Site, who was following behind.

Soon, as the two riders and four people arrived near the middle of the town, the ground here was clearly cleaned frequently.

The grayish-white stone ground was exposed, and the pedestrians and carriages coming and going on the street gradually became much more formal; not to mention how the passersby were dressed, at least there was no longer the lost and miserable look of the people on the outer side of the town.

From time to time, elderly or fat merchants, surrounded by sturdy thugs and young stewards, would come out of one shop and then walk into another.

Of course, they would all stop when Jier passed by, carefully sizing up this young foreign knight with curious eyes.

Some people were well-informed; not long after Mr. Aolier the 'Dried' returned to the town to lift the alarm crisis, these big merchants received the news.

Seeing Jier riding into town now, some old-school merchants tipped their hats to the young knight from afar, and Jier hurriedly returned the gesture to those who saluted him.

But more people secretly curled their lips, acting as if this knight didn't exist, and went about their own business.

In the plaza at the center of the town, large strips of stone were extravagantly inserted vertically into the ground to form an open central plaza. This place was simply two different worlds from outside the town; not only were there Security Guards patrolling in pairs without interruption, but there was also a fountain glowing with golden light in the center of the plaza.

The fountain was extravagantly decorated with gold and Gems; in the middle of the three-tiered circular pool was a statue spraying water while holding a gorgeous treasure vase. The rippling water was cool and pleasant, directly diluting the restlessness brought by the warm spring sun.

Around the fountain were wealthy ladies with servants and small, cute pets, chatting; it seemed as if the hard work, poverty, hunger, and pain of countless people had nothing to do with these ladies fanning themselves with scented fans, even though the straight-line distance between the two was only a few hundred meters.

"Simply absurd."

Jier shook his head; the town's central plaza even had pure white marble pillars with large glass spheres installed on top, and the Sun God Church's prayers were carved onto the pillars; it looked like once the sky turned dark, these things could emit light to provide public illumination.

In the center of the plaza, there were also Church Priests of unknown churches holding display wooden signs, whispering softly to introduce their gods and churches to passing pedestrians.

Speaking of churches, Jier also saw churches of various churches mixed in next to the Jiedian of big Merchant Guilds among the low and solemn buildings around the plaza.

The largest was, of course, the Church of the God of Wealth, and there was even a small squad of the town's Security Guards standing guard at the entrance.

Other buildings of several large Merchant Guilds were the most conspicuous and occupied the largest area.

Jier saw the 'Burning Furnace' Merchant Guild at a glance, as well as the 'Wealth Fruit' Merchant Guild he had just seen earlier.

Saying nothing, he was bound to be just a passerby in this place; Jier looked briefly and then rode toward the main street on the north side of the town.

"Straight ahead, turn left at the first intersection, and you won't have to walk far before you see my shop. 'Abundant Pods' is the name of the shop."

Ms. Feiniya pointed out the route simply and introduced the situation of her shop.

"'Abundant Pods'? What does that mean?"

"Just hearing the name makes people feel that the shop has an endless supply of beans to eat and buy, right? That's what it means."

Jier shrugged and asked casually: "Has the beans in the shop ever been bought out?"

"Of course not; various dried beans can be stored for a long time, and as long as they don't get damp, they won't sprout for a long time."

Seeming to have heard the word 'beans' which it liked, Tianxuecao pricked up its ears, and at the same time, its pace quickened a little.

Soon, after making a turn and turning left from the main street on the north side of the town into a secondary street, among the shops selling everything categorized, they saw a shop where poor people were constantly entering and exiting carrying small bags of beans.

"Ma'am, we have arrived."

Jier turned around and supported Ms. Feiniya with a steady, solid palm to help her jump off the horse's back, which was high off the ground, and then jumped off the horse heavily himself.

Thump—his combat boots sent several pebbles flying, drawing many people in the surrounding shops to look over.