Chapter 755: Hiring Long-Haired Lynx Beast-men, no, it's Mao Mao!

Jier had this group of long-haired lynx Beast-men form a line to follow him, only then asking what the reward metal was.

"Mao Mao, want, metal. High, dense, forest, no, metal. Enemy, skin, long hair, thick. Mao Mao, want, metal. So, Mao Mao, join, strong, Human. Reward, metal!"

This string of words gave Jier a headache, but he managed to understand the general meaning.

"The wild beasts in the mountain forest have thick fur, so you need metal to fight them, right? However, to get reward metal, you must perform meritorious service for me. There is no such thing as getting a reward the moment you join. You understand that logic, don't you?"

Jier's words made the long-haired lynx Beast-men following behind the horse quite dejected, their tails dragging on the ground. Jier noticed that among the ten or so long-haired lynx Beast-men present, two walking in the center were carrying small leather Backpacks. They seemed to be filled with heavy items, weighing down the bodies of these two long-haired lynx Beast-men carrying the primitive Backpacks until they were hunched over.

He didn't know what they had packed inside.

But as Jier thought about it, he guessed it might be some metal supplies they had acquired in human society these past few days.

The leading long-haired lynx Beast-man followed at the right side of Jier's horse, trying its best to tilt its head up to look at Knight Jier; its eyes were reflected shiny and bright by the Torch on the horse's back, indeed looking at first glance like two mysterious glowing points floating in the air.

"Mao Mao, be, deceived. Give, weak, Human, labor, no, reward. So, first, reward, Mao Mao, metal. Mao Mao, give, strong, Human, labor. Fight, fight! Fight!"

Speaking to the end, it jumped up excitedly, shouting "fight" in Human Common Language with a sharp cry, and the long-haired lynx Beast-men following behind it all shouted along.

Jier patted his Steel Face Mask, feeling quite speechless, thinking that in his dream Yingdi there were still some scraps left over from previous adventures, so he might as well bestow those upon them first.

"Fine, fine, fine, I'll reward you with metal in a moment. Mao Mao, is it? Heh, I didn't expect that's what you call yourselves. It's actually quite interesting."

Jier shook his head, then looked up and shouted to the twenty-some Armed Civilians by the fence ahead: "Relax, I'm back, haha, and I've brought our team a batch of new 'little friends'."

Knight Jier's words left everyone behind the fence confused; what did he mean by 'little friends'?

Because the range of the Torch on Jier's horse was limited, and the long-haired lynx Beast-men were truly small—they were slightly shorter than the crops in the fields—plus their mottled fur provided excellent camouflage, it was no wonder Jier's subordinates hadn't seen the Mao Maos returning by Jier's side.

However, when Jier rode his horse closer to the fence, the illumination from the increasing number of Torches in the crowd revealed the long-haired lynx Beast-men as they struggled to push aside the crops to reveal their figures.

"Mon, Monster!"

Someone screamed.

"Lord Knight, there's a monster by your feet!"

The startled crowd immediately waved their Torches forward, causing the long-haired lynx Beast-men to squint their eyes in fright and crouch down.

"Everyone stop! These are the new friends I just mentioned. Of course, they are a bit small, but they are not monsters. Calm down everyone, step back a little, clear the fence, I'm coming through."

People did listen to Jier's words; although everyone was suspicious of these 'little monsters' covered in long hair, since Lord Knight had spoken saying they were new friends and not monsters, they obediently retreated a short distance.

Jier pulled the Jiansheng and tapped the horse's belly; Tianxuecao understood naturally and jumped forward on the spot, leaping directly over the wooden fence that was over a meter high.

The long-haired lynx Beast-men behind him also wanted to follow the 'strong Human', so they cautiously gathered into a group and approached the fence.

Unexpectedly, the wooden fence that even small children couldn't pass through was no obstacle for these long-haired lynx Beast-men; they simply turned their bodies sideways and squeezed through the gaps in the fence, which were only slightly larger than a fist.

They acted as if the wooden fence didn't exist.

Only the two guys carrying the primitive animal-hide Backpacks had some trouble and had to climb over the fence themselves to reunite with their companions.

Once they arrived in the open space, illuminated by the surrounding firelight, the Armed Civilians finally saw clearly what their new friends looked like.

"This..."

One person didn't know how to describe them and froze as soon as they opened their mouth.

"What 'this'? Aren't these guys just some upright cats? My Lord? Are they really not monsters? Like, turned into this by an evil Mage?"

Another Armed Civilian asked in confusion.

Jier lifted his Steel Face Mask and laughed, scolding: "You have quite the imagination, 'evil Mage' indeed. These aren't monsters, they are a different race, they can speak and have a civilization. They are said to be a different race living in the remote mountain forests of your Southern Province, called long-haired lynx Beast-men; they were discovered decades ago."

Jumping off the horse, Jier patted Tianxuecao's rump, letting it return on its own.

Resting his Full Metal Double-Edged Spear on the ground, Jier pointed to the long-haired lynx Beast-men near him and said: "They call themselves Mao Mao, they can understand our Human Common Language, and one of them can even speak our tongue. Come, say hello to everyone."

Surrounded by dozens of Humans with swords and blades, the long-haired lynx Beast-men were a bit nervous, but more so excited. The leader jumped once and said: "Metal! Metal! So many, metal! Human, rich, reward, Mao Mao, now."

Seeing the surprise of the people around, Jier found it amusing. Just then, Priest Bata'er and Xueya Siter heard the news and brought people over.

Thus, Jier introduced these ten or so long-haired lynx Beast-men to the newcomers.

Priest Bata'er was thoughtful; he glanced at Jier, and the two nodded at each other in tacit understanding.

Xueya Siter said triumphantly to the people around: "I know them; I heard they were quite capable at the Fighting Arena in town before. I didn't expect them to come and join us. Jier, how do you plan to arrange them?"

Jier said loudly: "As a different race from the mountain forest, they will help find the Changmai Village Villagers in future operations. And these different races have joined us as mercenaries, haha, they only want some metal as payment, which is quite cheap. As for where to arrange their living quarters, let them live near my Tent."

Speaking of this, Jier thought of something and turned to the long-haired lynx Beast-men: "By the way, what are your living conditions like? Tree houses or haystacks?"

Unexpectedly, the other party's answer was surprising: "Mao Mao, live, Shandong, or, huge, stone, cracks! Here, flat land, no, Shandong."

Then the leading long-haired lynx Beast-man puffed out its chest and said: "So, please give, Mao Mao, wood, box. Mao Mao, live, box, inside! Box, must have, lid!"

"Boxes, is it?" Jier had a strange expression on his face. He turned and shouted: "Mr. Bafute? Mr. Bafute?"

The middle-aged Merchant Long-Bafute, who was responsible for the team's logistics, immediately walked out from the crowd of onlookers in the distance: "Lord Knight, what are your orders?"

Jier pointed at the long-haired lynx Beast-men and, after considering their size, said: "Prepare five empty wooden boxes with lids for our new friends. Put the items near my Tent. That will be their 'Tent'."

"Understood, I will prepare them now."

After saying this, Mr. Bafute immediately pointed to a few curious Villagers and walked away to clear out some boxes.

"Priest Bata'er, although it is the middle of the night, please trouble yourself to proclaim these different-race long-haired lynx Beast-men to all the people in the team, so that everyone doesn't cause trouble tomorrow morning."

"Very well, Warrior Jier."

The Priest nodded, took another look at the long-haired lynx Beast-men who looked like upright cats, and pulled Xueya Siter along as they walked toward the crowd of people.

Finally, Jier shouted to the surrounding Armed Civilians and the onlookers further away: "Alright, everyone go back to what you were doing; those who need to sleep and rest, go sleep and rest; those who need to patrol, go patrol."

Then Jier took these little followers and returned to the vicinity of his Tent.

He first arranged for the different-race beings to stay by a campfire under the surprised gazes of the Armed Civilians guarding the Tent, then returned to his own Tent and slipped into the lady's dream.

After picking and choosing, he took off his armor and selected four lightweight iron Daggers from a pile of weapon scraps left over from his adventures.

Returning to the real world, Jier walked out of the Tent and came to the long-haired lynx Beast-men who were comfortably lying by the campfire warming themselves: "Here, this is the metal reward for joining the team, four iron Daggers."

Jier placed the four iron Daggers he was holding on the ground and pushed them with his hand.

The Mao Maos' eyes lit up. Without waiting for the leader to give the command, the four Mao Maos responsible for melee combat immediately scrambled to their feet and nimbly trotted on their short legs toward the reward given to them.

The iron Daggers, which normal Humans could only use for eating or simple self-defense, looked like Long Swords in the arms of the long-haired lynx Beast-men who were less than a meter tall.

The only fly in the ointment was that the dagger handles, designed for human palms, were too large and thick for the long-haired lynx Beast, making them inconvenient to use right away.

"Oh, you can try removing the anti-slip leather straps from the dagger handles and just hold the handles themselves."

Without needing Jier's extra explanation, as the long-haired lynx Beasts responsible for melee combat, they naturally knew what to do. Right in front of Jier, they used their sharp little claws to pry off the tightly wrapped leather straps from the dagger handles. Afterward, they gripped the daggers, which were now several times thinner, and began waving them around with "whoosh" and "ha" sounds, imitating the way humans wielded Long Swords.

The removed straps didn't go to waste either; the other four Mao Mao responsible for ranged attacks picked up the straps, measured them against themselves, and then wrapped them around their waists, tying a knot at the front to make a belt that fit their size.

"If you think it works, then it works." Jier shrugged and squatted down.

He said to the leading long-haired lynx Beast, who was feeling quite pleased: "Since I have fulfilled what I promised you, you can be considered officially joined to my team."

"Strong, Human, also, Mao Mao, definitely, victory, enemy."

"Ah, yes, yes, but there are some things I still need to make clear in advance. First, if my people don't actively harm you, you cannot harm any Human in the team. This includes those women who don't have weapons in their hands; they are also a part of my team. You cannot harm them, no one can. Of course, if someone harms you, you naturally have the right to fight back; I am not a 'Human Supremacist'."

"Mao Mao, will not, attack, not, enemy, Human. Mao Mao, will, protect, good, Mao Mao."

Jier pursed his lips and thought for a while, finally managing to understand the other party's response from the individual words.

"As long as you understand."

"Secondly, you like metal, and I assume your tribe needs metal too. Although my team is not as wealthy as Dorn Town, there is quite a lot of metal in the team." He stared intently into the other's eyes and said solemnly.

"The metal items in the team either belong to me personally or belong to all the people in the team. I don't want to hear Mr. Bafute report to me that there are missing metal supplies in the team. Understand? My team does not welcome thieving demi-humans with sticky fingers!"

"Mao Mao, not, thief! Mao Mao, only, want, reward, metal!"

The leading long-haired lynx Beast cried out in grievance, and the other Mao Mao also meowed in a wronged manner, jumping up on the spot in emotional agitation.

Unlike their previous small hops, with the addition of their tails during this emotional outburst, they jumped two meters high, more than twice their own height—quite impressive.

"Alright, alright, Mao Mao are not thieves, not thieves. I was just saying I don't want to see such a situation."

Jier felt like he was communicating with children; these long-haired lynx Beasts had some wits, but not many, which was no wonder he had heard they were previously led around by the nose by several groups of humans.

"How about this: help me do things, and I will give you rewards. At the same time, every once in a while, I will also reward you with metal as payment for hiring you. The former requires you to complete the tasks I assign before you get the reward. As for the latter, it will be rewarded in advance before a period of hiring you, as payment for your service, just like today. How about that?"

"Good, Mao Mao, like, metal. Quickly, assign, task, Mao Mao, complete, reward, metal!"

Jier smiled: "There are no tasks tonight. If there are tasks, I will take the initiative to call you."

At this moment, Mr. Bafute brought several people over, carrying five empty Wooden Boxes, the kind with lids.

"My lord, the things have been brought. Should I just leave them on the ground like this, or what?"

Jier did not answer; he looked at the leading long-haired lynx Beast and pointed at the empty boxes in his subordinates' hands: "So, how do the Mao Mao want to rest?"

"Near the fire! Near the fire! Warm! Comfortable! Purr-purr!"

The leader hopped slightly and answered Jier happily.

Jier shrugged and said to Mr. Bafute and the other curious people observing the demi-humans: "You heard it? Just open the boxes and place them near the campfire. They are demi-humans; they will take care of themselves."

"Yes, my lord."

The curious people carefully placed the empty boxes in their hands at a suitable distance near the campfire, then opened the lids and set them at an offset angle.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they finished, one long-haired lynx Beast after another could no longer hold back; they slid right through the opening of the box lids and burrowed into the Wooden Boxes.

Afterward, heads with long whiskers poked out from the gaps, emitting satisfied purring sounds.

The people watched in amazement, wanting to reach out and touch them, but not daring to.

"It's best not to do that."

Jier stopped his subordinates' actions: "Long-haired lynx Beasts are not docile and harmless pets. Look at the gear in their hands; that is the metal weapon I just rewarded them with. Believe me, the combat power of these little guys is far stronger than you imagine."

Jier turned his head left and right: "In the camp team, the number of people who could win one-on-one against one of them can be counted on one hand."

"Is it really that exaggerated?" a person muttered in a low voice.

Jier chuckled: "Believe me, you will understand later."

Getting up and standing straight, Jier finally asked the leading long-haired lynx Beast: "You all should rest well here tonight. By the way, before I leave, I want to know, since you can speak Human Common Language, what is your name?"

The leading long-haired lynx Beast did not rush to burrow into the empty Wooden Box like its subordinates, although it was clearly visible that it was once again suppressing that impulse.

"Mao Mao, my, name, have, many. Human, want, know, which?"

Jier crossed his arms: "Keep it simple. A name is just a form of address, just like my people usually call me Knight, or simply 'my lord'. And my companions and friends call me Jier, or something like 'Jier the warrior'. Close elders call me Joe. A name is just a form of address."

The leading long-haired lynx Beast thought for a moment, pointed at itself with a small finger, and said: "Then, my, name, Human, language, is, Yongqi. Yongqi, Mao Mao."

"Yongqi? So, you are a brave Mao Mao?"

Jier rubbed his chin with his fingers.

Yongqi Maomao nodded and puffed out its chest, looking like a very brave creature.

Indeed, daring to take a small number of companions to leave home and run into the strange and dangerous human society to adventure and obtain the metal the tribe lacked. It was truly a brave Mao Mao.

Jier nodded and asked: "What about the others? What are they called?"

As the leader, Yongqi Maomao used its long tail to point at the Mao Mao poking their heads out of the nearby Wooden Boxes and said: "This one, Blue Eye."

This long-haired lynx Beast blinked; sure enough, its large eyes were blue, quite distinctive.

"This one, Short Whiskers."

Jier looked over; sure enough, its whiskers were a section shorter than the other Mao Mao. He didn't know if they were born short or if it had made them short by being rowdy.

"This one, Short Legs."

This one was the funniest; it was poking its head out of the box gap with another, and because its legs were a section shorter, it was a head shorter than its companion.

"This one, Spotted."

This was the long-haired lynx Beast that had pounced on Jier earlier and was then dangled in Jier's hand. As Jier looked over, it was still baring its teeth at him, but a broken tooth in its mouth made its snarling completely devoid of intimidation.

It was a bit funny.

"This one, Long Ears."

This long-haired lynx Beast had long hair on its ears, and sure enough, its ears looked longer than the others.

"This one, Sharp Claws!"

This Mao Mao was the tallest and strongest, seemingly the leader among the Mao Mao responsible for melee combat. Of course, on the whole, this small team of theirs still had to take orders from Yongqi Maomao.

"This one, Kuaitui."

It was estimated that this fellow's short legs were naturally fast at scurrying.

"This one, this one, Yellow Goose, and also, Dunang."

These were two Mao Mao responsible for carrying things who hadn't appeared at the gambling Fighting Arena before, and their names were quite unusual too.

Jier nodded: "With this, I can say I've met everyone. So, I am Qiao-Jier, an ordinary Human Knight."