Chapter 72

Jier slept from the afternoon until just after nightfall. The sky outside the window was already a beautiful, deep blue night curtain.

The stars in the sky twinkled, eternally witnessing this complex and strange world.

By the time he pushed the door open to go out, the farming family he was staying with had already finished their dinner before dark and had gone to sleep early.

"My Lord? We still have some food here; would you like to have a little?"

Sensing Jier had woken up, the middle-aged farmer who headed the household immediately walked over, humbly holding an intact loaf of bread. Jier tapped the bread and found it wasn't very hard; it must have been baked fresh today, so he took it and nodded in acceptance.

Fishing a copper coin out of his pocket, Jier flicked it to the man.

"Thank you for the reward, Knight!"

The middle-aged man's face blossomed with a smile; after all, Sasi County was a major grain-producing region, and agricultural products were not valuable. No matter how one sold a loaf of bread, it wouldn't fetch a single copper coin locally.

It might sell for two iron coins in Yemei Town, but in the surrounding villages, it wouldn't fetch any price at all. After all, every household had enough stored grain; as long as they ground some wheat flour at the village's animal-drawn mill or the windmill, they could bake various types of bread in the village's bread oven.

However, after eating a few bites of the bread in his hand, Jier walked along while silently complaining to himself that, just as he had expected, it didn't taste good.

Not only was it dry and astringent, but many of the husks on the wheat grains hadn't been specially removed, and the farmers had included them when grinding the flour just to count as more edible food.

But Jier was not a person who was picky about food. With his teeth grinding, he swallowed the large piece of bread in a dozen bites. Relying on a Knight's digestive ability, as long as he wanted to eat, he could eat non-stop, obtaining nutrients from the food to let his body produce more Life Energy than an ordinary person. But generally speaking, the normal method of relying on eating to replenish Life Energy was not very efficient; if one wanted to increase the body's Life Energy in a short time, one had to eat Monster meat.

Jier had heard that most Nobles and family-inherited Knights with connections used highly nutritious Magic Potions for their Knight Training. That stuff was said to be the essence extracted from Monster meat and Magic Beast meat, delivered into the human body by drinking the Potion. One didn't need to struggle to eat a lot of things; just by simply taking a few bottles of Potion, the body could produce a large amount of Life Energy in a short time.

But one couldn't get this stuff without connections; at least Jier had never seen it in the shops of various sizes in the towns. And it was said that the price was expensive, such that even some local Knight Lords had to save money for several years to prepare it for their Heir.

Jier's way of obtaining Life Energy by eating Monster meat was, conversely, an alternative method he had almost never heard anyone mention.

However, Jier himself felt this method was quite good; as long as he hunted some Monsters from time to time, he could carry out his Knight Training spontaneously at a low cost. He estimated that when Kela originally agreed to let him become a Knight Rank Warrior, he hadn't intended to spend a large sum of money either.

That was why he had chosen this cheap method.

Walking out of the house where he was staying, the Warriors in the courtyard outside were already eating dinner. Jier didn't join them; he would eat at Bell's place later. He checked the number and status of his men, and seeing that everyone had washed up in the afternoon and their spirits were much better, he told them to stop their martial arts training tonight and let their bodies rest well, as tomorrow they would officially launch a counterattack on the Monster's lair.

"My Lord, in this counterattack process, is there any extra bounty for killing the Parasitic Monsters?"

Someone asked urgently while holding their rice bowl.

Jier waved his hand casually: "No more. Before, time was tight and the task was heavy, which is why I temporarily proposed the bounty. Starting from the third phase of the counterattack tomorrow, we will set out and act together with the teams of Bell and others; in short, we need to follow orders to fight. Looking at everyone's strength as a whole, there is no need for extra bounty to drive everyone to fight hard."

The crowd was discouraged and demanded that the bounty for killing enemies over the past few days be settled for everyone right now.

Jier raised a notebook in his hand, which recorded the number of Parasitic Monsters killed each time they attacked a village, as well as the number of monsters each person had killed: "I have it all recorded in the notebook. I don't have that many Silver Coins on hand right now; wait for me to go find someone to exchange money in a while, and when I come back, I'll pay out the bounty to you all."

"Oh, oh, oh!" Everyone cheered, their faces beaming with joy.

After all, coming out to risk their lives was mainly for making money. Since the money would be paid out in a while, everyone was naturally happy. Moreover, there was no need to train today; if it weren't for the fact that Celebration Cunzi didn't sell alcohol, everyone would have really wanted to celebrate properly.

Especially those guys who had spent all the money in their pockets in Yemei Town a few days ago. These originally simple farm youths had now fallen in love with the wonderful feeling of squandering money.

Jier called Weier and Zhongtusi to follow him. He didn't call Aoni because someone with weight and from his own side was still needed here to manage the group. If he called both Aoni and Weier, who had management abilities, away, there would likely be no one to manage things here, which would inevitably cause some extra trouble.

Jier didn't like trouble, so he told everyone to stay put until he returned from the meeting and to wait obediently for him to come back and pay them.

Among Jier's subordinates, only the four he often ordered around, plus two of the three newly joined Tusi Brothers, were familiar and easy to use. The others were either lacking in ability and couldn't be brought out, or were clumsy with their words and would lose face for him if brought along.

Only Weier had a good image, a good background, and a sharp mind, while Zhongtusi had seen a lot and was a local of Sasi County, having dealt with local Knights before.

Besides, the third phase of the subsequent counterattack involved entering the mountains and forests in the northwest of Sasi County to find the Monster lair, and the Tusi Brothers, who often hunted in the mountains and forests of Sasi County, should have some relevant experience and help.

Walking on the road toward the center of the village, Jier brought up the counterattack plan. As soon as Zhongtusi heard it, he said: "Lord Jier. If that's the case, the location where those Parasitic Vine Monsters appeared should be near Banbo Wood Cunzi or Momona Cunzi."

Speaking of things over there, Jier remembered the infighting among the Bandits he saw when he led the Refugee Team toward Sasi County, so he spoke about what he had seen at that time.

"New Clear Spring Cunzi? It was a perfectly good village; I suppose under the control of the Bandits, it will have to go through a very miserable time." Zhongtusi sighed with regret.

"As for that 'Iron Barrel' and 'Ken the Cutter', I have heard of both of them. The former is a well-known hoodlum in Yemei Town who organized a small gang, but because he was too arrogant when talking about money with shops, he offended the businesses of big figures in the town and was driven out directly. Later, I heard he was doing odd jobs with people on the nearby Shanglu; I didn't expect him to have become a Bandit Group."

"As for 'Ken the Cutter', my big brother and I have dealt with this person before. He is a capable person, a decent man to whom some nearby Bandit Groups will give face. When some small Caravans want to travel on the Shanglu to Sasi County, in order to avoid being disturbed by Bandits, they often specifically invite him to join the team. Even if they run into Bandits, the Bandits will give face to this guy Ken and let the Caravan go."

"However, this 'Hanging Ghost' Bandit Group..."

Zhongtusi had a weird look on his face, and he said in a low voice: "My Lord, this name sounds like the way the Parasitic Monsters hang in houses to parasitize humans. Could it be?"

Jier nodded: "That's what I think too. They might have dealt with Bandits when their scale wasn't up yet, and even when facing people from outside the county, they appeared as a strange-acting Bandit Group. But that was just some cover-up they did when they hadn't developed in the early stages. Once their strength grew and their numbers increased, it was clear that this set of tricks didn't need to be played anymore."

Pointing at his head with his finger, Jier said: "Looking at it this way, the opponent's lair might be near the Momona Cunzi you mentioned, or even in Momona Cunzi itself. This is good news, because the three villages adjacent to the Shanglu entering and leaving Sasi County are all not far from the Shanglu. If possible, the logistical supplies needed for the large group of people can be replenished through the existing Shanglu. If so many of us go into the mountains to search, it would be very troublesome instead. The difficulty of supply would be very great, and the overall size of the team wouldn't be able to go up."

"Yes, my Lord. The mountains and forests beside the northwest Shanglu of Sasi County have relatively dense trees. Although there are no powerful Magic Beasts there, there are some steep cliffs. But you don't have to worry; our brothers have operated there and know several paths that can be taken." Zhongtusi patted his chest and said.

Jier nodded: "Then I'll rely on you two. I guess this hard work will definitely fall on our heads. No doubt about it..."

A while later, inside a village house in Celebration Cunzi.

"We must enter the mountains and forests to search for them!" Bell-Sasi said in front of everyone.

He pointed to the large map on the long table in the middle of the room and said: "Everyone, look. Although the intelligence just obtained from Knight Jier shows that their lair is most likely in Momona Cunzi, we cannot go directly along the Shanglu to Momona Cunzi to attack; at least not everyone can go that way."

The Shanglu from Yemei Town to the northwest enters and exits along a narrow passage in and out of Sasi County, while the three villages of Momona Cunzi, Banbo Wood Cunzi, and New Clear Spring Cunzi are all on the northeast side of the Shanglu, which is the north side of the Shanglu.

Bell pointed to the route from Momona Cunzi to Blue Well Cunzi and Celebration Cunzi; it was a straight line, while the main Shanglu for entering and exiting had to bend a bit, so one could pass through a mountain and forest area from Momona Cunzi to reach the broad plain river valley area in the north of Sasi County.

"We must have a team start from Blue Well Cunzi, following this straight line on the map, and head northwest, passing through these mountains and forests in a straight line to approach Momona Cunzi. This is a necessary task to cut off their continuous dispatch of people to attack Sasi County. As for the larger team, they can follow the easy-to-travel Shanglu to reach outside Momona Cunzi and the nearby Banbo Wood Cunzi, surrounding Momona Cunzi and the surrounding area on three sides!"

Bell said so.

This was not quite the same as the previously planned counterattack scheme. Before, Bell and others had discussed leaving a team that was not good at attacking but had enough defensive capability in Blue Well Cunzi outside Celebration Cunzi to intercept all the Monsters entering Sasi County. The others would surround and explore the northern mountains, forests, and several villages along the Shanglu, and after finding the area where the Monsters were dense, they would gather their strength to strike with all their might and defeat the Monster lair in one fell swoop.

But Jier provided the news he received when he entered Sasi County, so everyone understood that the Monster lair was approximately in the vicinity of Momona Cunzi.

"I just didn't expect the location where they first appeared to be so close to Sasi County! I've been to that place; although the village was a bit closed off, the girls there were quite good."

A youth from a Knight's family joked.

"But looking at it now, there was indeed something wrong there."

Another young woman from a Knight's family who had been to Momona Cunzi added: "When I followed my father there to train for hunting, I discovered that they didn't worship any of the various True Gods in that village. They didn't worship the God of Agriculture, the Sun God, or the God of Wealth; there were no traces of the God of Hunting or the God of Nature, which are commonly worshipped in ordinary mountain villages. At that time, I discovered that they worshipped some ancient vine ancient tree deity in their village. Looking at it now, it must have been the thing disguised by the Evil God behind those Parasitic Monsters, right?"

Women were still delicate in their thinking; relying on the impression of having been there before, she pointed out the abnormality of that Momona Cunzi in the past.

"Then why didn't you tell your father or Bell when you were there? Or report it to the Baron?"

Someone complained, and the young woman hit the other person with her elbow: "There are so many gods and churches, who knew if that was an Evil God or a True God? Our county doesn't even have a Pantheon; we couldn't even verify it if we wanted to."

Bell coughed twice, interrupting the two's fooling around: "I will explain the matter of building a Pantheon to my father later. After this incident is settled, this matter will be immediately raised to the highest priority."

He then supported the table with both hands and looked at everyone present: "So, who will serve as the leader of the team entering the mountains and forests? To lead all the Refining Qi forces, while clearing out the incoming Parasitic Monsters in the mountains and forests, and searching for the Monster lair?"

Everyone looked at one another; the Priests lowered their heads in silence, and the young men and women of the Knight Family looked left and right, but in the end, everyone looked at Jier, the powerful outsider.

Bell also looked at Jier, and Jier looked at everyone, discovering that they were all watching him, so he had no choice but to shrug: "It seems it has to be me?"

The attending Sun God Priest immediately supported Jier: "Such an arduous task can obviously only be completed by our Sun Child."

Jier pointed a finger at this person: "I'll settle the score with you later."

"I am terribly sorry." This Sun God Priest immediately realized he had spoken out of turn and apologized in a hurry.

Jier looked at Bell-Sasi, who let out a breath: "I had originally intended to take charge of this task myself, but Knight Jier, are you capable of handling this task?"

"I certainly can, but can no one else be found?" Jier looked left and right, discovering that the youths of the Knight Family who had been boasting of their skills before the meeting were now one by one silent, and the Church Priests present had clearly learned from the experience of the Sun God Church and did not intend to lead a group of people on their own to do anything. These Priests would just honestly follow along in the large groups, responsible for battlefield support and post-battle healing.

If they were to act alone, they would very easily be targeted by the parasitic Monsters.

After all, except for the Church of the God of the Dead which had not come, which of the other three Churches present did not have an indelible hatred for this Evil God from back in the day?

After all, when the alien nation where the other party was located was wiped out, their three Churches of the gods had all contributed a great deal.

"Fine, fine, then I shall take on this job. However, I need everyone to give me what was promised beforehand, what should be given to me, tonight."

Jier added: "After all, this is a dangerous task, and I need to improve my own skills."

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