Chapter 762: The Hunter's Investigation, Setting Off Again

The two Hunters hid themselves, and only after the non-humans that had been moving up and down the large trees in the dark night had gone far away did these two fellows lower their bodies and pass through the neat fields without making a sound.

The mottled Cloaks on their bodies were effective even in the dark night; let alone the Mao Mao that had walked far away, even the small animals in the fields could not notice these two living humans moving in small steps.

Arriving under a large tree randomly planted in the fields, the two Hunters looked at each other, and the veteran Hunter gestured toward the large tree, signaling the young man to go up and take a look.

This made the young Hunter pull the corners of his mouth in dissatisfaction, and he made a contemptuous gesture where the veteran Hunter could not see.

But he still obediently climbed up along the tree.

The young Hunter's movements were even more agile than an ape; with a hook and a pull of one hand, his whole body was like a Stone in a sling, drawing a half-arc as he swung up.

On a branch in the middle of the large tree, the young Hunter crouched and jumped, then leaped up another section. Afterward, he clamped the trunk of the large tree with his legs, and with a stretch and contraction of his body, he quickly climbed to the upper part of the large tree.

Seeming to possess the ability of night vision, the young Hunter scanned the upper part of the large tree back and forth, and discovered something that should not have appeared here—a small wooden Statue of the God with a bird's head and a human body.

He gasped, immediately lowered his head to cover the direction of his voice with his hand, and explained his discovery to the veteran Hunter on the ground below: "Hell! There is an extra statue of a god on the tree! It has the appearance of a bird's head and a human body..."

Before he could finish speaking, the veteran Hunter under the tree frowned and hurriedly interrupted the young Hunter's words: "Stop! Stop! Don't describe that thing! Especially don't do it in front of that kind of thing! Come down, come down quickly!"

The young man also hurriedly shut his mouth, looked down to check the height, then relaxed his legs, kicked against the trunk, and jumped to the ground sideways, borrowing the force.

Bang!

The sound of this young Hunter landing was even lighter than a cat's; not only did his legs land one after the other to cushion the impact, but his arms also touched the ground as his body landed, helping his whole body dissipate the force of the fall.

There was no need to roll to cushion the impact; just like jumping down from a height of one meter, the young Hunter rubbed his wrists and stood straight up, and even took the opportunity to rub his feet left and right over the footprints he had made on the ground, smoothing them out.

"What's going on? Is there a problem with that thing?"

The veteran Hunter made a gesture for silence, then pulled his young companion and retreated lightly. He also vigilantly scanned the pitch-black night sky with his eyes, as if there were something in the dark sky.

They did not go far, but settled down in a simple shack where a debtor lived not far away.

Of course, the debtors who were originally sleeping in the shack had all been knocked unconscious by a Fragrance Pill that the veteran Hunter had thrown in beforehand. At this moment, the two of them lay on the edge of the shack where they could see the large tree, observing the place through the gaps in the crude wall boards.

The veteran Hunter put away the Fragrance Pill that had volatilized a little and placed it in a well-sealed small wooden box at his waist.

"Do you still remember what kind of power the existence we are tracking possesses?"

Once reminded, the young Hunter understood: "Primitive Human worship of birds? Right, it's controlling birds, and protection after dark, right?"

"Similar, close enough. I remember before we set off, the Priest told me that in the pictorial records of that existence in ancient documents, there was an appearance of a bird's head and a human body, but that was the final description of His image by the tribal Humans who had Faith in Him before He was sealed. The ancient host objects stored in the church are images of primitive black birds."

The veteran Hunter reached out and pointed vaguely at the pitch-black sky: "He is making trouble again; perhaps at this moment, there is an envoy of that one wandering in the sky. Although He is not our match, our mission is not to fight."

"I know, I know, tracking and observing, and reporting all situations. Then, does the discovery just now need to be reported immediately?"

"Of course. You report first, I'll keep an eye on that place to see what else happens. Hmm, it seems that young Knight has indeed gotten mixed up with that existence. What a pity, a pretty good young man, just walking onto the wrong path like this."

The veteran Hunter shook his head with regret, which made the young Hunter beside him quite unhappy; what's the matter, that young Knight is amazing, and I'm just very ordinary, is that it?

Complaining with dissatisfaction in his heart, the young Hunter did not stop his hands; he took out a small Fluorescent Snake Sculpture carved from a fluorescent Stone from the inner pocket of his clothes on his chest, held it in his hand, and carefully stroked the fine scales of the Fluorescent Snake Sculpture in a certain order a few times.

Soon, this item made of fluorescent Stone actually began to tremble and move directly.

Just like a real little snake, this Fluorescent Snake Sculpture even opened its mouth and stuck out a snake tongue that also emitted a faint light, though no hissing sound was emitted.

The young Hunter was not surprised by all this; he lay down, placed his head on the ground, aligned his line of sight with the mouth and the raised body of the Fluorescent Snake Sculpture, and then whispered the discovery just now to report it in detail.

The Fluorescent Snake Sculpture nodded while flicking its tongue, as if it had understood the young Hunter's words. After the young Hunter finished speaking, it waited for a while, and after confirming that this Human indeed had no more messages for it to convey, it lowered its body, slithered across the floor of the dilapidated shack, crawled past the snoring debtors one by one, and finally, as expected, found a small, hidden hole of a Jumping Mouse in a corner of the shack and drilled directly into it.

Seeing the Fluorescent Snake Sculpture that delivered the message drill into the hole and crawl away, the young Hunter then whispered to the veteran Hunter: "Alright, the message has been taken away by the Messenger Snake, the Priest should be able to see it when dawn breaks."

The veteran Hunter suddenly shushed at this moment, beckoned to the young Hunter, and pointed to the pitch-black sky outside.

The young Hunter understood, and lightly came to the side of the shack wall full of gaps and drafts, his line of sight looking through the gaps at the large tree he had climbed before.

A sound of loud wing flapping approached, and then the two Hunters with night vision ability saw a large raven fly down onto that large tree.

You know, birds also have various territories; an area with an infestation of insects and mice is naturally a good place for birds to forage. Although there are also differences in time territories between diurnal and nocturnal birds, the farmland outside Duoen Town is clearly not the territory of ravens.

Whether it is day or night, it does not belong to birds like ravens, but to two other more ferocious types of birds.

"It's here. Is it an envoy of that one?"

The young Hunter asked in a low voice.

The veteran Hunter narrowed his eyes, as if wanting to let his line of sight pass through the obstruction of the large tree's branches and leaves at night to see what that raven was doing inside: "Of course. However, that one still has envoys that can be dispatched even now; it seems that our Hunter partners behind us did not do a good job in this Hunting activity."

Regarding this, the young Hunter was also a bit angry; if it were him, he would have neatly killed every target on the Hunting list as soon as he received the Hunting mission.

After waiting for a while, the two then saw that large raven fly out from the canopy of the large tree again. Only this time, its movements were not as nimble, because its pair of claws were clutching a wooden sculpture about the size of a Human fist.

Because of the burden, this large raven had to fly higher to avoid the nocturnal birds of prey patrolling and hunting at low altitudes at night.

"Where is it going?"

The young Hunter could not hold back, having an urge to track it.

But before his body could stand up, he was pressed down on the shoulder by his companion, who suppressed him: "Wait, think clearly, a large tree that a non-human visited tonight had a wooden statue, and it was also taken away by an envoy dispatched by that one."

"Hmm, I know, what do you mean?"

The veteran Hunter was helpless; his young companion looked clear-headed, but actually acted faster than he thought: "The meaning is, several non-humans went out together tonight, one of them's situation is like this, so what about the others? Is it the same, or are there other actions? We must figure it all out. As for where that envoy takes the wooden statue, we will find out later. Hmph, isn't there only three forces in Duoen Town at this time."

"The town."

"The refugees."

"The Bandit Group in the wild."

The veteran Hunter finally said: "The statue can only be used by that one for people; it won't go far."

The morning breeze brought fresh air, and also stirred the spring morning mist, uneasily changing into many shapes, and finally dissipated unwillingly in the light of the dawn.

Outside Jier's camp, a young guard responsible for guarding from the second half of the night to the early morning rubbed his eyes; he seemed to have just seen the morning mist on the Knight's camp change into a strange, baring-fangs-and-brandishing-claws shape.

But when he finished rubbing his eyes and looked up again, the morning mist had already dissipated rapidly under the illumination of the first ray of morning sunlight.

"Maybe I'm just a bit tired."

He muttered. As soon as the sound fell, the sound of Jier getting up came from the Knight's camp.

Low, vague complaints, and a slightly tired yawn, followed by the splashing sound of clear water being poured into a Wooden Basin. Before long, the cloth curtain on the camp entrance was pushed aside, and Jier walked out with an unhappy expression on his face.

"Good morning, Knight!"

The young guard immediately stood up and forcefully struck his chest with his fist.

However, Jier, who usually returned the gesture, merely waved his hand casually and said to the guard with a lack of interest: "Tell everyone to get up. It is time to follow the plan and set off on the road!"

"Yes, my lord."

The young guard responded immediately, then excitedly ran around the area, telling everyone to get up.

In fact, the commoners responsible for cooking had already risen early, and as the hundreds of people walked out of their respective tents, the fragrance of wheat porridge was already wafting from the large iron pots.

A commoner in charge of cooking tapped the rim of the iron pot filled with wheat porridge with a large wooden spoon, producing a crisp clanging sound, and said loudly: "Hey! Come quickly, if you come late, you won't get anything to eat!"

Actually, there was enough food for everyone; every day after dinner, Bata'er Jiaoshi would bestow the day's god-given rations, but this did not stop the commoners in charge of cooking from urging everyone to eat early, so that after they finished, those who did the cooking could finally eat themselves.

While everyone was eating, Jier soon rode his Tianxuecao around the open space, directing everyone to bring along everything that needed to be taken when they set off later.

Xueya Site finished his meal in a few gulps and then hurriedly directed the commoners to dismantle the simple tents they were living in. The supporting pillars from those tents all had to be placed on the sturdiest wagon in their group.

Meanwhile, Bata'er Jiaoshi was leading the believers of the Agricultural God in a short prayer activity in the morning. After leading the believers in praying according to the basic prayers, he briefly told a story about the faith of a well-known priest.

However, most of the believers were absent-minded; some secretly touched their stomachs with their hands, urging the priest in their hearts to end the activity quickly so they could make it in time for breakfast.

It was not that they were afraid of not having food, but the Cook who ladled the food could only be generous with the wheat porridge at the beginning; by the time it got to the end, those fellows, in order to eat more themselves, would often ladle less for the commoners who came to get their food.

Everyone did not want to suffer this loss.

But at this moment, Bata'er Jiaoshi, who was the first to kneel facing the Hushin Statue of the God atop the Amber Metal Long Staff, spoke in a slow and unhurried manner, making the hungry believers feel truly anxious while they waited.

There were also some who were simply not interested in the story of the well-known priest that the priest was telling. They clearly understood: what was the status of the priest? And what was their own status? What did listening to these great stories of faith about well-known priests every day have to do with them, these farmers—who now didn't even have land to farm?

Mr. Bafute, the Merchant responsible for managing the group's supplies, was currently beaming with a face full of color, holding a bowl full of wheat porridge, and telling the few young commoners beside him who followed his orders about the various necessary matters for when the group set off after eating.

Who was responsible for what—although he had already discussed it with his subordinates last night, he had to reiterate the process and each person's responsibilities once again at this moment.

This was his chance to be reborn after hitting rock bottom, and he would grasp it well, and had already grasped it.

Back when other merchants were captured and tortured by Bandits in a Shandong and were despairing, living one day at a time, he had already climbed out of the trap of failure. Although it was a bit different, if he could use these opportunities to become the supply manager for these hundreds of commoners, or directly climb the path of the Agricultural God Church's Priest and the young Knight, he would definitely be able to achieve something.

His previous losses, perhaps, did not count for much after all.

He drank the slightly hot wheat porridge in large gulps, his eyes full of drive and spirit.

In a remote corner of the open space, the old Merchant Nobi-Fentijia was feeding two people. The boy under the old man's care was sitting obediently to the side, opening his mouth to ask for the wheat porridge he had cooked himself.

A dull-witted youth nearby also imitated the boy, opening his mouth and waiting for the old man to feed him.

Several rescued merchants nearby were eating while whispering and mocking the fool who had just joined their group. They all already knew that this crazed young man was actually a formidable character among the Bandits. It was just that in the previous battle, he had been beaten directly into a fool by Knight Jier.

Originally, he should have been sold off like the other Bandits before. Of course, everyone understood that the Saint Hors Kingdom prohibited the slave trade, but as for debtors, everyone understood what that meant; drawing up a debt document that the Bandits could never pay off in a lifetime of work was the same thing.

For this reason, yesterday, these few people had even beaten this foolish young Bandit. If the old Merchant hadn't stopped them, they likely would have inflicted all the various abuses and pain they had suffered in the Bandit's lair onto this madman.

"Hmm, little one, tell me, what method could possibly cure this person's madness?"

The old Merchant fed Weier a mouthful of wheat porridge, and the crazed Weier hugged his Long Sword tightly with delight, chewing the food in his mouth. He was mad, but his various instincts were still there.

He knew to put on a good face for the person feeding him, rather than treating them as if they didn't exist.

The boy counted on his hands, which were missing fingers, and thought carefully: "Grandpa, do you think he might be faking madness?"

"Faking madness?" The old Merchant laughed happily: "The experiences he's had these past few days are not something someone faking madness could endure. Haha, you are still young; when you get older, you will know."

"But if he isn't faking madness, wouldn't he have been split in two by Lord Jier's sword? He definitely doesn't want to die, so he can only fake madness to survive."

When the boy said this, the old Merchant touched the boy's head with pity: "Sigh, are you thinking of your sister again?"

The boy subconsciously touched a bracelet on his wrist, neither saying yes nor no.

"Sigh, grow up quickly. Once you grow up and develop some skills, then you can go take revenge." The old man comforted the boy this way.

But the boy looked aggrieved: "But the Bandits who killed my sister were all killed by Lord Jier long ago. Let alone mine, hasn't everyone's revenge been avenged by Lord Jier that night?"

The old Merchant rolled his eyes, thought for a moment, and said: "Then think of it this way: the world is very big, and Bandits in other places are also doing harmful things. When you grow up, you can go sanction them and give them a painful punishment. How about that?"

"But I can't even lift an Iron Sword! At the very least, at the very least I have to be like Lord Jier, holding a Shield and Long Sword, wearing thick armor, and riding a tall horse; only then can I defeat the evil Bandits, right?"

The boy became more aggrieved as he spoke: "That prairie horse of the Knight, last time I wanted to touch it, it even bit me!"

The old Merchant laughed out loud: "That's because it thought your hair was grass to eat! You are still a bit too small; you aren't even as tall as a wagon wheel when you stand. However, if you grow up and aren't tall, or aren't good at fighting, you could learn to be a Merchant. There isn't only one way to deal with Bandits."

The old man blinked and said mischievously: "When the time comes, you can be a Merchant and earn a huge amount of money, then find Knight Jier and hire him with the bright yellow gold that everyone loves to defeat all the Bandits."

The boy was a bit puzzled; was it really like that?

Beside him, the foolish Weier also had some confusion in his eyes; could it be like that?