Chapter 763: Leaving Duoen Town, Contracts, and the Troubles of Traveling

Seeing the commoners in the group preparing for departure in an orderly fashion, Jier felt slightly relieved and rode his horse in circles along the edge of the open ground's fence.

Warhorses like the Tianxuecao cannot be tied to a carriage or a hitching post on the ground every single day. They require sufficient exercise to maintain their excellent capabilities daily.

Riding on horseback, Jier saw the commoners preparing to set off on the road all scrambling for a chance to relieve themselves before the journey. There were only a few latrine pits dug previously, so outside the mounds of dirt from the pits, several commoners fighting over the order were cursing at each other. At this moment, taking advantage of the chaos of these people arguing, others secretly cut in line and slipped inside when they weren't paying attention.

This scene made Jier laugh, slightly easing the morning grumpiness he felt when he woke up today.

That's right, he had another nightmare last night.

"Damn it."

Jier muttered; in his dream last night, he had run away once again, facing a large group of bandit wraiths.

A few days ago, he didn't know what running away in a dream represented, and he could still explain his behavior in the dream during the day: "I was just confused in the dream, I didn't realize I was dreaming, so I ran away instead of fighting."

But yesterday, the Great Bird Deity gave him an explanation; it turned out that Jier constantly running away in his dreams and not fighting those wraiths wasn't because he was dreaming, but simply because his own soul and will were too weak.

"How could that be?"

Jier looked at his palms in confusion. A pair of cowhide gloves he bought last year made his large hands look quite sturdy; taking off the gloves, underneath were also a pair of powerful palms covered in thick calluses.

As long as he used a little of the Life Energy currently stored in his palms, let alone a piece of solid wood, he was confident he could crush a stone directly in his hand.

"To think I can't do anything to those guys, sigh."

He sighed, feeling somewhat helpless, only then realizing that there were still too many shortcomings in himself at this moment; any random matter he hadn't encountered before could leave him at a loss and unable to cope.

While riding his horse around the fence of the open ground, he pondered whether there were any other ways to resolve these shortcomings.

After all, although the Great Bird Deity said it had ways to help him solve his troubles and could bring him new, useful abilities, these were, after all, "gifts" from a deity, not his own power. They were fundamentally different from the Life Energy in his own body that he could use at any time and over which he had ultimate control.

After all, what belongs to a deity is the deity's. It is merely borrowed power.

Jier at least believed so; he didn't know what people in this other world thought. Perhaps believing in deities and praying to them for power was just common sense to them?

After all, those Priests were truly formidable.

Jier still remembered how formidable the two high-ranking Priests of the ancient nature deities in Kendall County were. Yet, he still felt that these were not his own powers, and it felt somewhat hollow.

No, it was a very hollow kind of power.

Although they were tangibly real and powerful and useful—he even had two such powerful blessing abilities given to him by the Agricultural God and the Agricultural God Church on his own body right now.

Thinking about matters he couldn't sort out for the moment, Jier arrived at the gate of the open ground.

Here, he unexpectedly saw Mr. Dunde'er-Aolierjia-Deripari, known as "the gaunt Aolier," whom he hadn't seen for two days.

"Good morning, Mr. Deripari, are you here to see me off?"

Jier called out from afar, causing Mr. Deripari, who had seen him early, to reveal a merchant's standard business smile: "Of course, our noble Knight Jier is worth me coming personally to see you off."

Jier jumped off his horse and walked over with large strides. Mr. Deripari pushed aside his subordinates and the Merchant Guild shop assistants beside him, taking the initiative to step forward and pat Jier's arms.

"I wish our good Knight a smooth journey, and I also truly hope these poor commoners can find a stable place to hide from the chaotic situation caused by this war."

After speaking, Mr. Deripari, using his own body as cover, along with the head of the Tianxuecao horse that had actively come up to lick Jier's face, took out a scroll made of pure white lambskin from his bosom.

"This is a full-authority agency contract I had someone draw up. It states the fact that Knight Jier previously suppressed well-known bandits, and fully entrusts the affairs of verifying and collecting the various bounties to me personally. I will take a portion of the final total bounty as my remuneration, while your earnings, Knight Jier, will always be kept in the Kingdom Treasury under your own name. I assume there isn't another Knight Jier in Kendall County of the Northwest Province, right?"

Mr. Deripari said in a low voice, signaling Jier to open it, read it carefully, and leave his Knight Tier Life Energy imprint on it.

A signature is useless because it can be forged.

The two spoke in low voices, discussing the matter while using the Tianxuecao as cover.

After opening the scroll, Jier read the contract carefully and confirmed there were no problems. At the same time, he noticed that on this scroll-style agency contract, whether it was the decorations on both sides of the main text on the front or the back, there were patterns and designs of the Church of the God of Wealth.

Furthermore, beneath the deity emblem of the God of Wealth on the back, there was a line of fancy text written in molten gold that had cooled; this sentence was concise, meaning that the content of this scroll had been certified by the Church and was protected and constrained for both parties.

With the Church's endorsement, even if Mr. Deripari had a good relationship with certain Priests of the local Church of the God of Wealth, Jier would not be at a disadvantage. After all, compared to the Church Priests of a godless world, the Church Priests of this other world, who possess deities, have deities truly watching over them at all times.

It cannot be said that there is no filth or corruption in the Church, but at least for a well-developed deity church, its internal and external affairs are relatively fair. After all, the other world does not raise idle deities; if this church doesn't work out, I can completely switch to another one and seek the protection of another deity.

"Sorry to trouble you."

After Jier finished reading the content on the scroll, he left his Life Energy at the end of the contract. When both parties to the contract had performed the act of leaving a mark similar to a signature, the contract scroll as a whole glowed slightly, and then all the text on it was covered by a thin layer of Divine Power, completely cutting off the possibility of alteration.

Jier handed the item to Mr. Deripari and asked: "Then, in a few days, how should I withdraw this money?"

Mr. Deripari explained: "I will use this established contract to create an account in your name at the Kingdom Treasury for you. As soon as I receive a portion of the bounty, I will send someone to a nearby large city to deposit the money. Although it won't work during these days, at least we have to wait until the chaotic situation brought by the war ends. By then, in any large city with a Kingdom Treasury, you can withdraw the deposited money in your own name. Of course, any large sum of money requires a certain number of days for verification and preparation."

Mr. Deripari said with a smile: "After all, every large withdrawal of money must be notified by the local Kingdom Treasury to a higher-level treasury to confirm that there is still money in your account. But if you withdraw the money directly in the city where I deposit it later, it won't be so complicated."

Jier easily understood that this was an ancient banking system, but he didn't know who in the upper echelons of the Kingdom had started this Kingdom Treasury. Was it the Noble Council, or the Royal Family?

He guessed it was the Noble Council, because the power of the King—no, the Regent—certainly could not be spread across the entire Kingdom, but the Noble Council, in which almost all nobles participated, could spread its power and influence throughout the entire Kingdom.

"Actually, it would be better if you were a local, Knight Jier. It wouldn't be so troublesome for me; I could just deposit this money directly into our Merchant Guild, and you could easily withdraw this money as long as you find our Merchant Guild in the Southern Province."

Jier shrugged: "But I am from the Northwest Province after all. The Kingdom is so big, perhaps after this war, I will never come to this land again in my life."

"That is true, what a pity. Then finally, on behalf of the Merchant Union of Duoen Town—the 'Wealth Fruit' Merchant Guild, the 'Treasure House' Merchant Guild, the 'Golden Sickle' Merchant Guild, and the 'Burning Furnace' Merchant Guild—I wish you a smooth journey, Knight Jier; may your sword win victory whenever it is drawn. I also wish you brilliant battle results in the upcoming border war alongside the Kendall army. May the God of Wealth bless you."

"Thank you, I also wish for Duoen Town to return to prosperity soon; your wish will surely be fulfilled."

Jier blinked, and Mr. "the gaunt Aolier" also laughed at himself; he knew it must have been that guy Scott who had gossiped about him behind his back to the outsider Knight.

But it didn't matter; as a successful merchant, reaching out to the nobles for the future was something others envied and wanted to do, but most lacked the ability to do.

After the two finished discussing the matter and exchanged pleasantries for a while, Mr. Deripari took his people and retreated outside the gate of the open ground, waiting and watching Jier's group depart, but he did not return directly to the town.

Jier didn't have more time to pay attention to this person. After being stationed for several days, the group had gained many things and lost many spoils of war seized from the bandit lair; all in all, the scale of the group had expanded.

This could be seen from the increased number of horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts in the group. The thickest and heaviest tent poles were loaded onto the sturdiest carriage in Jier's group.

As for the other heavy tent Fayu Bu, they couldn't really rely on the commoners to carry them on their shoulders and hands, so they were also loaded onto another carriage.

The newly joined donkeys were not idle either; they pulled shallow small trailers piled high with various sundries. As for the most precious food, according to the advice of Bata'er Jiaoshi, the believers of the Agricultural God were specifically assigned to push the handcarts they had bought, which were filled with various beans gifted by Feiniya, as well as the plump grain seeds of divine grace that Bata'er Jiaoshi bestowed more of every day.

The bags of grain made everyone in the group feel secure, and this scene also surprised Mr. Deripari outside the gate of the open ground.

"These beans? The shop mark on the sacks looks a bit familiar?"

Mr. Deripari gently stroked the neatly groomed short beard on his chin, his face full of confusion. He hadn't heard of any large-scale grain transactions in the town recently, and it was strange in itself that Knight Jier's group possessed so much grain.

He had his subordinates call over the few guards he had arranged to keep watch and monitor, and asked them about the news regarding the grain, but the answer he received surprised him even more.

"Grain was transported over the day they arrived?"

This answer struck him as bizarre; could it be that this Knight Jier's group actually had support within the town? Who was it? No, it should be asked, which of the other few large Merchant Guilds was it?

So, he immediately sent men to investigate the matter.

But when noon arrived that day, the news brought back by his trusted subordinates was also very strange.

Following the shop markings on the bags they had noted down, the subordinates found a shop in town that sold beans, but that shop had already closed its doors. Not only was it closed, but even the people inside the shop had vanished.

Upon questioning the surrounding shops, they had clearly seen people entering and exiting the shop that very morning; yet, early in the day, the shop that still had people moving about had closed.

Mr. Deripari also felt it strange upon hearing the news, but he had no way to deal with it. After all, the power of the Merchant Union could only reach as far as the borders of Duoen Town. Clearly, the people from the shop had already fled, and there was no way to get to the bottom of this matter now.

The rumbling wheels ground against the overgrown, deserted Shanglu; all around was a desolate wilderness. Aside from the shrubs and wildflowers everywhere, everything outside the Shanglu seemed to have nothing to do with Humans.

By this time, Jier's group had been walking for an entire morning. They could no longer see the appearance of Duoen Town, only vaguely turning back to see the smoke emitted from the lives of the Humans in Duoen Town drifting in the distance behind them.

The sun hung high in the sky; it was a fine spring day, only the warm breeze made the traveling commoners drowsy.

Having no choice, Jier had to let everyone stop where they were and rest for a while.

Drink some water, fan themselves, and rub their legs and feet.

Once the group stopped, the commoners who had been walking quietly before became lively. There were always those who couldn't sit still, plopping down in the wild fields by the side of the road to chat with friends and brag.

There were also women in the group who, upon seeing the various wildflowers on both sides of the road, could not hold back; they set down the supplies they were carrying one after another, invited two or three female friends, and ran out together to pick flowers and adorn themselves.

"Armed Squad, split up and patrol! Do not rest, everyone get moving!"

Jier shouted, having the four squads—who had Iron Swords and Cleavers at their waists—line up into long columns to patrol around the resting group of commoners.

This was not just for the commoners in the group to see, to demonstrate their role and existence, but even more so for the bad guys who might be hiding in the shadows of the Shulin in the distance.

As for "might be," Jier felt this phrase could be omitted. Riding on horseback, his line of sight was naturally superior to those walking, not to mention that after the accumulation of Life Energy enhancement, his eyesight had been growing stronger with each passing day.

This was a physical change that was not obvious at ordinary times, but very apparent when looking back.

Jier rested his hand on his brow to shield his eyes from the warm sunlight overhead, gazing into the distance at the far end of the Shanglu. At the same time, he looked left and right, his gaze sweeping over the wild grass and shrubs in the distance that looked as if they were being swayed by the wind, as well as the indistinct, flickering places under the tree shade further away.

"Let me see."

He muttered to himself, then whispered a phrase, and a magical power flashed across his eyes.

Lifting his eyes to look into the distance again, everything became clear.

"%%￥, I'm exhausted. %!"

A short figure plopped down under the shade of a tree. While cursing, this person untied the bindings on his lower legs, then undid the thin Rope binding his wooden-soled cloth shoes, releasing his pair of feet into the air.

A Squirrel in the tree nearby disgustedly covered its nose with its little hands, its large tail swaying behind it.

"Ah, comfortable. These farmers' legs and feet are really fast. If it weren't for my own quick feet, I really would have been left behind by these guys." After finishing, the short man pursed his lips and imitated a bird call.

This was not a bird call native to this area; it was chosen specifically so that information could be passed without confusion.

After waiting for a while, there was no response from the rustling Shulin. The short man then cursed again in disgust: "Is there no one here either? Those guys, they're usually everywhere; why have they all shrunk into their holes at a good time like this?"

The unwilling fellow rubbed his feet again, lifted his body to take a distant look at the group of several hundred people still resting during their journey, then put his shoes back on, tied the Rope on his shoes, and began to jog forward again along the wasteland and wild fields on one side of the Shanglu.

Jier naturally saw every move of that strange person. He guessed that the person was coming for his group, but the problem was, that person wasn't following his group either? Instead, he had overtaken the group and was passing the commoners' group from the side without stopping.

So, what was that person doing?

He was completely baffled.

In the evening, Jier's group found an open space by the side of the Shanglu, so the group set up their Yingdi directly there.

Xueya Site led men to move the Tent supplies off the carts, striving to use the speed they had trained beforehand to set up the simple Tents used by everyone before it became completely dark.

This work required a high degree of professionalism; the other people in the group could not easily intervene to help, otherwise, the more people there were, the more chaotic it would become. By then, if this Tent was missing a wooden pole or that Tent was missing a few fixing stakes, everyone wouldn't be able to stay in the Tents tonight, and it would be bad if someone were crushed or injured by a collapsing Tent in the middle of the night.

So, except for the group led by Xueya Site, the others had to busy themselves with other matters.

Mr. Bafute was busy as a bee. A group of several hundred commoners was like a complex Dwarf forging machine; it was fine when it was lying still, but once it started operating, the complexity involved made Mr. Bafute, who had led Caravans before, feel like he was challenging one limit after another.

The commoners in the group were almost all young Farmer folk from various Cunzi. Everyone was used to being lax; it was fine while walking on the road, at least everyone knew not to wander off the Shanglu. But now, camping for the night, many people just threw the supplies they were carrying onto the ground, then took out their Wooden Bowls and wooden spoons, found familiar companions, and just waited for dinner to be served.

Seeing that the brave warrior Jier had selected the overnight spot, Priest Bata'er called upon his followers to conduct the day's collective Prayer. Outside the noisy group, he led dozens of followers, first trampling out an open space in the wild grass, then everyone sat in a circle with Priest Bata'er at the center. The Priest, becoming increasingly proficient, brought out the Hushin Statue of the God of the Agricultural God Church in front of the dozens of people, using it as a symbol of the great Agricultural God to pray.

He selected a passage from the church knowledge he had studied in the past; he would recite a segment, and the followers would recite a segment.

Because the old Merchant could not walk, he had received permission from Knight Jier, so he could sit on a lightly loaded cart during the day's journey. Of course, the youth under his care was also spared the fatigue of walking and luckily sat beside the old Merchant.

But the simple-minded Weier did not have this right; he was tied to the back of the cart with a thin Rope and could only walk along behind the cart incessantly.

After a whole day, he was only slightly panting, and the whole person looked fine?

This made the youth sitting on the cart quite envious. If he had such a robust body, surely no one could bully him. Perhaps when they were attacked by the Bandit before, he could have protected everyone, thereby repelling the Bandit and saving his sister.

Jier left behind the Tianxuecao he had ridden all day, took off his coat, shouted while carrying a blue axe, and led the logging team toward a Shulin not far away.

"Off to log wood!"

Jier shouted, and the logging team members following behind also shouted loudly: "Off to log wood!!!"

Each of them had an extra item on them: a small, open cloth bag hanging from their waist. Inside was a type of insect-repellent Herb that Priest Bata'er had found in the wild while the group was resting during the day.

So Jier had everyone pick more of it in the wildflower and shrub bushes, following the appearance of that Herb.

Then he had the female commoners in the group, during the gaps in their journey, take time to prepare a small bag for each of the logging team members who were going out, fill them with crushed insect-repellent Herb, and hang them at their waists with a Rope.

There were exceptionally many mosquitoes and insects in the wild during the spring, and there seemed to be a small stream not far away. Jier would have to go over and check it during a break in the logging; if the water source was safe, he would have to bring the team back again to refill the water buckets for the group.

Only after leading the group did Jier realize that for a group of several hundred people, not to mention how much food they ate, the amount of water they drank alone was very large. He had to arrange for several people to push the Handcart loaded with water and deliver water to the thirsty crowd back and forth while the group was resting on the road.

Even though every commoner carried some personal water storage container.