Chapter 761: The Mao Mao's New Task, Nighttime Placement of the Statues of the God, Hunter

Jier carried the large cloth bag and returned to the clearing, sneaking about.

The civilians, having nothing to do after dark, were now singing and dancing around the campfires. The Armed Civilians who weren't working were especially popular with the women in the group; they stood openly in the center of the crowd, singing at the top of their lungs and showing themselves off with the most unrestrained dance moves.

As he walked past these residents, some civilians—whether he knew them or not, whether their faces were familiar or not—invited Jier to join in. To this, Jier could only smile, wave his hand, and decline the invitation.

Jier pretended that the large bag in his hand was nothing special, carrying it openly as he wove through the crowd and returned to the vicinity of his tent.

Once there, he faced a dilemma, because outside his tent, the guards protecting him had secured the perimeter tightly, and several lit campfires were burning vigorously, illuminating the tent they surrounded.

This made it difficult for the Great Bird Spirit to secretly take the Statue of the God he was carrying.

Yet, he felt bad about asking the guards to intentionally lower their vigilance, extinguish the campfires, and reduce the protection of his property.

With a roll of his eyes, Jier came up with a plan. He had spotted the small squad of Long-haired Lynx Beast-men not far away. Although they looked fluffy and cute, they were, after all, sharp-toothed and sharp-clawed aliens, which naturally made the inexperienced young people subconsciously keep their distance.

Of course, these aliens didn't want to be stared at all day either; that made them very uncomfortable. Last night, they had been very uneasy. Fortunately, by today, after the hundreds of civilians in the group had finished their curiosity-seeking, most people no longer felt curious about them. This made these Mao Mao feel much more at ease.

"Mao Mao, come, come!"

Jier whispered to the aliens while walking toward them with the large bag.

"Strong, Human! Have, task, need, Mao Mao,?"

Their ears were sharp; the moment they heard Jier's voice, they immediately poked their heads out of the empty Wooden Boxes they lived in. The leader jumped out of its Wooden Box, face full of excitement, its long tail behind it constantly slapping the surrounding Wooden Boxes, waking up the other Mao Mao who hadn't come out yet.

Actually, there was no need for it to wake them; Long-haired Lynx Beast-men are nocturnal creatures. Their usual hunting and traveling are done after dark. During the day, they have to force themselves to stay alert, but at night, they are full of energy and exceptionally spirited.

"Yes, yes. I do indeed have a task that requires you. You little guys are actually very suitable for this task."

Jier smiled, shaking the large bag he held in his right hand.

"Task! Mao Mao, reward, metal! Reward!"

Hearing there was indeed a task, the leader Yongqi immediately shouted, and the other Mao Mao imitated their Captain's pronunciation, repeatedly chanting the words "reward" and "metal."

Jier gave a bitter smile and had to rummage through his belongings, finally fishing out a few copper coins to give them: "How about this? Don't look down on it; this is worth much more than scrap iron."

Afterward, Jier muttered to himself: "I wonder if they even understand the concept of monetary value."

Unexpectedly, Yongqi Maomao jumped over excitedly, snatched the few copper coins from Jier's hand, and excitedly sniffed them with its fluffy nose: "Mao Mao, know, copper coins! Value, very good, very good!"

Jier shrugged: "Since you've received the metal reward for the task, then come over."

Yongqi Maomao let out a soft cry, and immediately the other Mao Mao gathered around, imitating the humans by standing in a line to accept the task from Jier, the strong Human.

"Like this, ahem, each of you take one of these things."

Jier looked left and right, and finding that no one was coming to disturb the aliens after dark, he reached into the large bag and rummaged around, pulling out a wooden Statue of the God that was a bit larger than a fist. He quickly shoved it into Yongqi Maomao's arms, telling it to hold it.

"The task is, you ten, each Mao Mao carries two of these things, avoid everyone's sight in the group, and go outside the clearing."

"Clearing? Outside?"

Yongqi Maomao examined the wooden Statue of the God, which was somewhat large for it, then suddenly opened its mouth and bared its teeth at the statue, a low growl rumbling in its throat: "This! Have! Dirty thing!"

Jier rolled his eyes: "It's not a dirty thing. Hey, even if it is, it has nothing to do with you. Have your Mao Mao take it, go outside and find some lush trees in the fields, and secretly hide these wooden carvings at the tops of the branches. That's it, that's your task. How about it? Not hard, right!"

Although the sensitive Yongqi Maomao didn't like the Bird-headed Wooden Idol in its hands, it had already received the reward of copper coins from the strong Human, so after some deliberation, it nodded: "Leave it, to, Mao Mao!"

"Blue-eyes! Short-beard! Short-legs!"

The Mao Mao called by Yongqi Maomao flicked its tail and walked out, and then Yongqi Maomao handed the Bird-headed Wooden Idol in its hand to the Mao Mao with a pair of beautiful blue eyes.

Seeing that Blue-eyes Mao Mao still wanted to fiddle with the new thing in its hands, Yongqi Maomao angrily swatted the top of Blue-eyes Mao Mao's head with its long tail, which made Blue-eyes Mao Mao shrink its neck and squint, not daring to fiddle with it anymore.

"Meow! Meow meow meow! Awoo awoo meow!"

After scolding it in the internal language of the Long-haired Lynx Beast-men that Jier couldn't understand, Yongqi Maomao tucked the wooden carving under Blue-eyes Mao Mao's armpits, so that through the obstruction of the arms and fur, the tucked Bird-headed Wooden Idol could no longer be seen.

Afterward, Jier stuffed another Bird-headed Wooden Idol to Yongqi Maomao, and Yongqi Maomao stuffed this one into the other armpit of Blue-eyes Mao Mao to hold it.

Yongqi Maomao then had Blue-eyes walk back and forth a couple of times, found no issues, and then had it try climbing onto a Wooden Box.

If it were a human, having things tucked under their armpits would make it inconvenient to use their arms, and it would indeed be difficult to climb anything. But the Mao Mao were different; they had a long, sturdy, and powerful tail. With the help of this limb, even if their arms were restricted, they could still climb.

"Very good, Blue-eyes, Mao Mao, set off!"

"Meow!"

The Mao Mao named Blue-eyes stood its tail up behind it, and the next moment, it scrambled with its short legs and scurried into the darkness of the clearing not illuminated by the campfires.

Jier's gaze followed this Mao Mao, and soon he lost track of the little guy. This surprised him; these little guys not only had combat power exceeding that of average humans, but their ability to hide and move silently at night was something humans couldn't hope to match.

"Wooden carving!"

A call brought Jier back to his senses; it was Yongqi Maomao calling him, and it reached out its hand to ask for the task items.

Jier smiled, reached in and rummaged around, and took out two Bird-headed Wooden Idols.

Then Short-beard Mao Mao, just like the previous one, tucked the items under its armpits and scurried into the darkness in a flash.

Then came Short-legs Mao Mao; these three were Yongqi Maomao's closest companions, and they were all members of this small squad specifically responsible for ranged attacks.

"Stripes! Long-ears! Sharp-claws! Kuaitui!"

Following that, the four Mao Mao, who were responsible for close-quarters combat in the squad, were even more agile. After receiving the Bird-headed Wooden Idols, which were not small for them, they held them directly in their arms and hopped into the surrounding shadows and darkness. With the rustling sound of light footsteps, they quickly and easily left the clearing, staying in the blind spots of the Armed Civilians under Jier's command.

At the very end were the two Mao Mao originally responsible for carrying supplies. Yongqi Maomao did not send both of them out, but instead held four Bird-headed Wooden Idols itself and had one Mao Mao called Joyful-song carry two.

Yongqi Maomao also personally gave some instructions to the remaining Mao Mao in their own language, then slipped into the shadows holding the wooden carvings.

Jier carried the half-empty large bag and locked eyes with the only remaining Mao Mao on the field. Just as he was about to say something, this Mao Mao, called Mumble, flicked its tail, jumped directly from where it stood, and hopped back onto the empty Wooden Box it had originally been staying on.

It didn't go back into the Wooden Box to rest, but instead sat alertly on the half-open lid of the box, its bright, large eyes reflecting the light of the surrounding campfires, its gaze sharp and vigilant.

Vigilant against what?

Jier guessed it must be guarding against anyone coming to steal the metal materials they had accumulated along the way.

Smiling and shaking his head, Jier waved at this Mao Mao and then returned to his tent.

Putting down the large bag that still contained some Bird-headed Wooden Idols, Jier lay on his side on his sleeping bag.

"How was it?"

He was the only one in the tent, but Jier still spoke as if he were talking to someone.

"Is there any possibility of developing these aliens as well? Not possible? Then forget it."

Jier was silent for a moment, then said: "I will try to develop some people among the guards who take orders directly from me. You should also try to find a way to make some effort on your side, right? After all, I have already done so much work; the public opinion and rumors in the town must surely bring some convenience to the spread of your Faith, right?"

"So, regarding the transaction, my work here is almost finished. What do you say on your side?"

A moment of silence followed, and it was unknown what Jier had heard, but his expression was clearly not very good.

"Fine, I'll wait a bit longer. I hope I can have a good sleep tonight. Don't be like yesterday or the day before, being chased around all night by those dead ghosts. Pfft, they were defeated by me in a few moves while alive, but after dying, they chase me in my dreams instead. I was really stupid in the dream, completely forgetting to fight, only knowing how to run away."

Another silence, and Jier seemed to hear something.

"I am weak? No, I am weak? Oh, weak in the soul, I see. Then is there any way to train the soul? Lifting iron? Running? Swinging a sword?"

"None of those work, huh? That's right, heh, the soul isn't a real body that can train muscles and accumulate Life Energy. What did you say? The soul mostly relies on talent? Will? I think my will should be pretty good, right?"

Another silence, and Jier, seemingly having finished listening to someone's words, lay directly onto his sleeping bag, without even taking off his Cloak or Boots, just lying stiffly on the sleeping bag like that.

His two eyes were wide open like copper bells, staring straight at the top of the tent.

The well-sealed tent fabric greatly blocked the light of the campfire outside, leaving the interior of the tent almost in pitch darkness.

Jier just lay there, not knowing what he was thinking about.

For the first time, he did not want to fall asleep so quickly.

The Mao Maos traveled in twos and threes through the continuous fields outside the clearing.

They carefully bypassed the indebted Humans living in semi-underground shacks beside the fields, although they did not know why, despite all being Humans, other Humans lived well in the town while these people had to live pitifully in the wilderness.

Do not think that just because the Mao Mao tribe lives as a primitive tribal civilization in the deep mountains, they do not know that solid houses, or houses with walls and gardens, are good places.

Even though they are relatively primitive in civilization, they know that living in the wilderness fields is far inferior to living in a settlement where a large number of Humans gather together.

Not to mention, the Earth Pit shacks temporarily provided for the debtors along the field ridges leaked rain severely; whenever it rained in the sky and poured in the fields, it would drizzle inside the shacks. Not to mention whether one could sleep in such damp, cold places, just the fact that many poisonous Mushrooms would sprout inside and outside the shacks after every rain made them very unsuitable for Human habitation.

Even the Mao Maos know that a place where one lives for a long time should at least be dry and sanitary, right?

Bypassing these scattered places where people existed, the Mao Maos, carrying the mission items, followed the instructions of the powerful Human and searched for the large trees among the fields, hiding these wooden statues that made them feel uncomfortable inside them.

There was the sound of wings flapping in the darkness overhead.

Fearing it was a nocturnal predatory raptor, the Mao Maos quickly burrowed into the crops, carefully lying flat and no longer moving.

After the sound of flapping wings flew far away, the Mao Maos still did not move, because they knew that predatory raptors were cunning and fierce; sometimes a mated pair of raptors would specifically set traps.

They would let one of them, who was not strong enough, deliberately make a loud flapping sound, then fly away to let the animals on the ground relax their vigilance. And when the animals on the ground carelessly began to move, the other strong raptor, which had been gliding silently in the air, would fold its wings and dive straight down, capturing the largest and fattest animal in one go.

Do not say that the Mao Maos are one meter tall and are intelligent beings, so they won't be attacked. Those raptors active at night come in all sizes; the small ones mostly can only catch Jumping Mice, field mice, or lizards, large insects, and so on.

But larger nocturnal raptors will even attack animals of average size, including domestic dogs and foxes.

Even larger nocturnal raptors, let alone one-meter-tall Mao Maos, have ponies, goats, tortoises, wild wolves, Humans, and so on, all on the menu of these dangerous predators.

If nocturnal Humans do not light bright Torches, it is very easy for them to have their heads clawed open by raptors gliding past, silently losing their lives, and then being inexplicably carried back to the nest by the raptor.

And the Mao Maos living in the mountain Forest naturally have excellent nocturnal skills trained from a young age.

Not only can each of them easily avoid dangers in the air, but some powerful ones can even use the momentum to hunt those predatory raptors.

Humans are very fond of the feathers of those raptors, and the Mao Maos know that they can take those light, fluffy feathers to the Humans to exchange for things.

As for the light bones of the birds, they are important production materials in the Mao Mao tribe.

Avoiding Humans and nocturnal birds along the way, the Mao Maos scattered, then found the large trees specifically planted in the fields, which were responsible for attracting dangerous lightning during days of drastic weather changes.

It is not that the town lacks more effective ways to remove lightning hazards, but for the owners of the fields, simply planting a large tree is a simpler and cheaper method of lightning protection, isn't it?

Many large trees have more or less charred parts, which are evidence of having been struck by lightning. Dorn Town is located on a rare plain in the mountainous Southern Province, so it is very easy to be struck by lightning during the spring and summer.

Compared to those in the Forest or town, the debtors working in the open fields are often the most likely to be struck dead by sudden, flashing lightning. But what can they do? As debtors, whether it is windy or raining, they must go to the fields to work.

If they don't go, they will inevitably be whipped.

Compared to definitely being whipped, many people would rather go to the fields to work in windy and rainy weather, even if there is a possibility of being struck dead by lightning.

At this moment, on the edge of the fields at the very outskirts of the town, two Hunters wearing Concealment Cloaks were carefully lying on one side of a field ridge, each cautiously poking out half a head, observing the several long-haired lynx Beast-men organizing activities in the distance in the dim night.

"Why are these guys here again? Didn't they join that young Knight's team?"

The young Hunter muttered in a low voice, and beside him, another older, seasoned Hunter squinted his eyes, carefully observing those aliens with vision unaffected by the darkness.

He deliberated for a moment and also spoke in a low voice: "Perhaps a conflict occurred, or perhaps they were assigned a task? Don't forget, that young Knight saw us this evening. Hmph, he must not be at ease with two people of unknown origin, so he sent the newly absorbed aliens to scout us two after dark. Look, they are searching for us tree by tree."

Hearing this analysis, the young Hunter reached under the Cloak behind him, where his Hunting Bow was, along with ten Arrows that had been blessed with power.

For a Refining Qi Hunter, ten arrows are often enough.

Even powerful Monsters often cannot withstand ten lethal Arrows.

"How about it? Shall we deal with these aliens? Otherwise, if we let them keep searching like this, they will definitely find us."

The young Hunter had his hand behind his back, already nocking an arrow; as long as his companion agreed, he would immediately draw the bow. They were just a few small aliens; before they even heard the sound of his Bowstring vibrating, they would be killed one by one.

But the old Hunter hesitated for a moment, then reached out and pressed down on his young companion's shoulder: "Forget it, our mission is only to keep an eye on that existence; after all, too many people in the church are idle all day with nothing to do. A noisy existence that can stir up trouble is still quite needed. Let's tidy up first and avoid them. I feel that those little cats might have done something to those large trees in the fields besides looking for us?"

"Did you discover something?"

"Not yet, but intuition and the revelation of the gods tell me that something must have happened. Let's retreat, take a detour, and see what tricks those little cats have played."

Subsequently, the two Hunters lying on the side of the field ridge cleared away the traces of their presence and retreated silently into a sparse patch of farmland.