Chapter 767: Hostages? Rescue? And Teasing with Spells

After all, what the three of them had done in this Shuiche Cunzi previously, to put it seriously, could be considered coercing others and stealing the villagers' property.

In some remote villages, if outsiders did this, it would be justified for the villagers to beat them to death on the spot.

Of course, regarding this behavior of theirs, their own explanation was—excavating unclaimed lost items in an abandoned village. As for the five old people barely surviving in the "abandoned village," these three young men did not take them into account at all.

If things went smoothly, these old people might even live until the war ended and the displaced villagers returned home. But encountering this kind of sudden incident, these old people would likely be secretly murdered because they could testify to the crimes of the three young men.

In fact, if it weren't for Yongqi Maomao taking action, things would have really developed that way.

The bald young man was no longer guarding under the skylight of the house; he knew that facing the dozens of people outside, their resistance was meaningless. But he didn't want to die either; the other party claimed to be a Knight, and if he went out to surrender, he might be executed directly by that Knight.

His cunning eyes darted around, and the bald man saw the several old people still blocking the wooden door of the house, arguing about whether to open it.

Perhaps, this could be an opportunity to escape?

Time did not wait for him to think more; the bald young man strode toward the arguing old people, grabbed one of them by the clothes, and easily lifted the thin, short old man up with one hand.

A sharp Dagger was pressed by the bald man against the old man's withered neck, and in the unbelievable shock of the other four old people, the bald man roared toward the outside of the door: "Listen, people outside, I don't care who you are! I have five old people from this Shuiche Cunzi in my hands now; they will serve as my hostages. If you don't care about these people, then I will kill them and then commit suicide. If you and your men want to talk, then there is a chance to obtain a fortune left behind by the villagers before they fled!"

The other young man in the house was stunned at this moment; he didn't expect his companion to do this. How dared he?

And was this companion of his crazy? Did the people outside have anything to do with this place?

"You're crazy, this will get us killed! Surrender! I surrender! I want to go out and surrender!"

The young man shouted loudly; the guilt of accidentally 'killing' his other companion made him unable to accept everything at this moment. He didn't care if it was a 'Monster' or what outside; as long as he could get rid of all this, he was willing to do anything.

The old people looked terrified; they didn't expect that the most dangerous ones were not the strangers outside, but these young men who had gone astray. These days, these young men had come to the village to dig up various items buried by the villagers before they left. The old people had advised them at the time, but these people had long been blinded in their eyes and minds by the various furniture and valuable ornaments they had dug up.

Now, making one mistake after another, they had previously discovered a large group of people coming from the other side of the village and were about to kill the old folks to avoid being accused of crimes. But they were interrupted by the suddenly appearing 'Monster'.

The old people had thought at the time that with the pressure from the 'Monsters', the two young men might still turn back and everyone could unite. Just like decades ago when they, as young people, united from the Empire, crossed long trials, and came to this new Human Kingdom.

But to their disappointment, under the heavy pressure of an unknown situation, the two remaining young men in the house not only failed to unite, but one became even more unscrupulous and revealed his fierce nature, while the other collapsed directly and shouted to surrender.

All the above thoughts were realized subconsciously in an instant; the four old people blocking the door looked at each other and sighed.

Under the glare of the bald young man, they helped each other stand up, then moved away from the wooden door and opened it.

Leaving their fate to the strangers outside whose intentions were unknown.

Jier didn't take the so-called hostages inside the house seriously at all; he was just about to lift his foot to kick open the closed door when the fire-scorched wooden door opened by itself.

"Oh, let me see what the situation is inside."

Jier smiled under his Faceplate, pressed his hand toward the Armed Civilians behind him, and then strode in himself.

This house had not been completely burned down in the fire that destroyed the entire village, but it was severely damaged, and the roof was black. However, it was estimated that the things in the house that could burn had been buried in the courtyard by the family before they fled, so when the fire raged, this house located in the center of the village did not burn down completely.

As soon as Jier entered the door, he saw a young man shouting to surrender and accept punishment, lying limp on the ground.

As soon as the door opened, this young man wanted to crawl out of the house.

Jier lifted his foot and stepped on the young man, pinning him firmly to the ground: "Where do you want to go?"

The young man struggled a bit, found the force on his back was heavier, and gave up crawling out of the house. Instead, he licked a face dirtied and blackened by charcoal and said ingratiatingly: "I surrender, I surrender, I'll do whatever you want, just don't kill me, I beg you!"

Jier snorted coldly, did not answer the man's words, and scanned the room.

The four old people stood aside, supporting each other, looking at Jier who walked in with a dazed expression, and after seeing Jier's equipment clearly, they looked at each other with confusion and embarrassment.

Then there was the bald man holding an old person hostage; this guy was quite flustered. After Jier entered the room, he retreated away from the doorway while holding the old person hostage.

His Dagger was pressed tightly against the old person's neck, and a pair of eyes full of anger and helplessness kept looking back and forth between the old people who had moved away from the door and Jier who had walked into the room.

The hostage old person didn't dare to make any moves, nor did he dare to say any extra words, so he just showed a smile on his face and looked at the strange Knight who had entered the door.

"You just said you have five hostages? And you want to use the hostages to talk to me?"

Jier crossed his arms, kicked his left foot backward, and kicked the young man he was stepping on out of the room.

"Catch this man, tie him up!"

Jier gave the order coldly, and then several Armed Civilians outside went up to suppress and capture the young man who had been kicked out of the house.

This scene made the bald man swallow a mouthful of saliva in fear. The old person he was holding hostage chuckled slightly.

Jier then waved to the other four old people in the room: "You guys go out too, tie your hands first."

"My Lord? We are villagers of Shuiche Cunzi!"

One old person wanted to argue, but Jier snorted coldly: "Someone seemed to be badmouthing me just now, and I heard it."

Once these words were said, the four old people had to look regretfully at their old companion who was being held hostage, and then carefully walked out from Jier's side. As soon as they went out, their arms were tied up by the Armed Civilians under Jier.

After everyone had left, Jier walked around the house that hadn't been burned by the fire.

He acted as if the person holding the hostage and the person being held hostage didn't exist.

Flicking the nice, beautiful new cloak behind him, Jier asked the other two people in the room who were nervous: "How is this cloak of mine? Does it look good?"

The bald man was too nervous to speak, his teeth chattering, but his lips were tightly closed; this was the guy's last bit of stubbornness. Although he was bad, he wouldn't beg others like his other companion.

"No answer? Then I'll just kill you two directly? You don't respect me very much."

"Ah?" The hostage old person was shocked; he thought this young Knight had come to save him, but it turned out he was going to kill them both just because they didn't answer whether this damn cloak looked good or not?

The bald man was also frightened; he felt a sense of helplessness that his life was no longer in his own hands.

Although he was stubborn, he didn't want to die.

"It... it looks good."

The bald man replied stutteringly.

Jier looked at the hostage old person: "Old man, what do you think? Does this cloak of mine look good?"

The old person didn't know the ways of this young Knight, whether he was kind or evil, good or bad, so he had to follow up with an answer: "It looks quite good, better than, uh, better than the cloak of the village lord."

"Is that so? That's not bad. I just bought it at a high-end shop in Duoen Town. It's the work of a well-known Craftsman."

Jier spun around in place, then casually lifted his Steel Face Mask, revealing his face: "So, this village, and you people, what exactly are you all doing?"

"Hmm?"

"Ah?"

Both of them were stunned.

"I was passing through here with the commoners and intended to resupply along the village, but I didn't expect that a village so close to Duoen Town would be burned to ashes. Who did this? Was it you?"

The bald man questioned by the Knight was startled; he could not afford the grave crime of burning down a village. Under the Kingdom's laws, those who committed such a grave crime would be trampled to death by a herd of horses.

In places without horses, they would be trampled back and forth by the commoners until they were crushed into a pulp of flesh.

"It wasn't me! When we arrived, this broken Cunzi was already like this! We, we just came to make a fortune, we didn't dare do anything."

The bald man hurriedly replied, terrified that if he spoke a second too slowly, he would be killed by the Knight before him.

Although this Knight had not revealed a single bit of skill at this moment.

Yet that feeling of being able to take a life at any moment was not fake.

Jier looked at the held-hostage elder: "Was it you old folks who did it? Old and slow in movement, so you started a fire to cook and burned the Cunzi down?"

The elder wore a mournful face: "How could that be! It wasn't us either. Some time ago, over ten Priest lords came. Before they left, they simply set the Cunzi on fire. We tried to reason with them as they left, but those people completely ignored us. And we old folks had even diligently made food to entertain them."

Jier clicked his tongue: "Over ten Priests? From which god's church?"

The elder's answer gave him a great shock: "It was the Agricultural God Church. Damn it, they weren't the local church; I know, their accents sounded strange! Did the Villagers fleeing and leaving the fields fallow annoy those lords?"

Jier frowned, walking around the room on his own, completely treating the other two people in the room as air.

The bald man had originally been completely confused, but seeing this young Knight already lost in thought because of the elder's words, his breathing grew rapid. He moved his legs, which were leaning against the other side of the room, in small increments, secretly inching toward the room's main entrance.

The elder realized something and just wanted to speak, but the bald man pressed the metal side of his Dagger against the elder's neck. The cold metal made the elder wisely shut his mouth.

The bald man moved his soles inch by inch, his breathing growing more rapid the closer he got to the main entrance where light spilled into the room.

Just a little bit more, just a little bit more; as long as he reached that spot, he could cast aside the held-hostage elder and dash away.

Even if there were Soldiers outside the door, it wouldn't matter; he could easily shout a lie to attract those Soldiers' attention to the Knight thinking inside the room.

It would work, a method like this would definitely work!

Just the last little bit.

The last—!!!

As a result, a hand reached over silently and directly grabbed the bald man's Dagger, gripping it tightly in its palm.

The bald man froze, then fiercely tried to pull the Dagger away to give the elder and the young Knight who had walked over at some unknown time a couple of stabs. It was perfect; this Knight's face was not covered by armor, so if he attacked there, the Knight would surely have to block.

But when he pulled the Dagger, the Dagger in his hand did not budge in the slightest; no matter how hard he tried, the Dagger would not move at all.

"K-Knight lord, I-I'm sorry, spare me..."

A moment ago the bald man was still fiercely pulling the Dagger, wanting to give someone a couple of stabs, but the next moment, this guy was full of tears, begging Jier for mercy.

Jier remained unmoved, his left hand moving slightly to keep the Dagger away from the held-hostage elder, while his right hand gave the elder a push, shoving him away.

"You, what am I supposed to say about you."

Jier shook his head, but taking advantage of Jier shaking his head and speaking, the bald man, who had just been begging with tears and snot, changed his expression in the next instant. He arrogantly let go of the Dagger he was being controlled with and grabbed with both hands at the Luminous Longsword on the Knight's left waist.

"Hahahaha... ha, ah???"

Before he could finish his arrogant laugh, his whole person was left embarrassed.

Because he used both hands and all his strength, yet he couldn't pull the Long Sword at the Knight's waist out even a tiny bit.

"Is it fun?"

The bald man was dumbfounded; realizing something, his whole body trembled.

"Never played with it before, have you?"

Jier tossed the iron Dagger in his hand aside and, with a sincere face, grabbed the bald man's hands.

"Look, this sword is used like this; you can't just pull it. You see it glowing, it's clearly a very powerful weapon, so, there are tricks and methods to using this kind of weapon. You have to chant a spell."

The bald man's crotch was already wet, and his whole body trembled, not knowing what to do, so he had to follow the Knight's words: "Y-yes, Knight lord."

"Come, chant with me: 'Akuna Matata'. This is a magical spell, very ancient."

The bald young man stuttered, struggling to learn: "A-Akuna, woo woo..."

"Don't cry, let's do it again, listen carefully: 'Akuna Matata'."

The bald young man sniffled, tears streaming down, and followed along: "Akuna, Matata."

Jier held his hands and pulled the Hunting Sword outward; sure enough, the Long Sword emitting white light left its sheath. However, the weight of this Long Sword still shocked the bald man greatly; he was only able to pull the Long Sword halfway out because the Knight was holding his hands.

As a result, before it could be fully drawn, Jier loosened his hand, and the Long Sword slid back into the Sword Sheath.

"Oops, a mistake. But it doesn't matter, I've already taught you the spell; how about you try to pull it out and play with it on your own?"

Jier still had a sincere face, but even having mastered the so-called 'spell', the bald man now dared not pull the sword at all; he was completely frozen in place.

"Are you timid? Sigh, what a pity. I originally intended that if you could pull out this heavy Long Sword of mine and lift it over your head with all your might, I would spare you. Regardless of the previous matter, or the matter just now."

The bald man's eyes lit up; he looked up abruptly at Jier's face, and Jier blinked and nodded affirmatively.

It didn't seem like he was joking.

Taking a deep breath, the bald man seemed to have found a chance to live. He forced his body not to tremble, gripped the handle of the Long Sword again with both hands, and then stood there blankly.

"What's wrong? Forgot the spell?"

The bald man nodded slightly; at this moment, he dared not say anything extra at all.

"I'll give you a start, Akuna..."

The bald man's eyes lit up, and he roared: "AKUNA MATATA!!!!"

He then pulled the sword with all his might, whether to lift the Knight's Sword over his head to beg the Knight to spare his life, or to just pull the sword and stab out to give this hateful Knight who humiliated him a good look.

But all the thoughts in this instant were just bubbles.

The bald man's roar was loud, but the Long Sword remained motionless in the Sword Sheath.

He seemed to have held a breath in his chest, making the guy's whole face and head turn bright red. He wanted to say something, but couldn't say anything at all, so he could only look at the Knight's face, which wore a wicked smile.

Jier used force to pry open the bald man's hands gripping the sword, stepped back twice, and then, without chanting any bullshit spell to tease others, pulled out the Long Sword with light-entwined blade with one hand smoothly.

Then he thrust the sword, aiming straight between the bald man's eyes.

But it was just a feint to scare him, yet it seemed to have caused the bald man great damage; the guy let out a muffled groan and fell straight backward onto the floor of the room, which was covered in black ash.

The eyes were still open, but the person had fainted from fright.

"Hahahaha."

Jier was dying of laughter, while the Hunting Sword in his hand hummed and vibrated with dissatisfaction, as if it did not like its master using it to tease people like this; it was a bloodthirsty weapon that wanted to fight and see blood, not provide amusement for its master's boring days.

"Just playing around, don't take it seriously."

Sheathing his sword, Jier glanced at the bald man who had collapsed in a faint, curled his lip, and kicked him out of the room.

"Tie him up, bind his hands and feet for me. This is a real bad guy, after all."

"Yes, my lord."

The Armed Civilians outside the door replied in unison; they had all been dying of laughter just now, and having witnessed Knight Jier fight, they all knew that the Knight's weapon did not require any incantations to be used.

What the Armed Civilians did not know was that Jier did indeed possess Magic weapons that required incantations and passwords to be used.

It was just that during the battle that night, in the chaotic and noisy environment, no one had really listened clearly to every low word Jier spoke.