Chapter 768: An 'Agricultural God Church Priest' Who Sets Fires?

After rescuing the hostages, Jier walked out of the house, finally able to properly inquire about what had happened in this Shuiche Cunzi, as well as the situation regarding those so-called "Agricultural God Church Priests" who had set fire to the place.

He had a premonition that those people might not be so simple, and were not merely some Agricultural God Church Priests passing through the area.

Because for over a year, Jier had never seen Agricultural God Priests acting in such a manner; these people were more accustomed to relying on the vast numbers of farmers and their wives to expand their faith and influence among the grassroots, as even the various Noble Lords had to deal carefully with these farmers who made up the majority of the population.

Therefore, burning down an entire deserted village seemed strange no matter how one looked at it.

After casting his eyes around, Jier felt that this matter still needed to be communicated with Bata'er Jiaoshi. But the Priest was sitting in command of the civilian group and could not leave the group while Jier was away; relying on Xueya Site alone would not be enough to suppress any problems that might arise.

After all, in this group of several hundred people, initially and in terms of capability, only Jier and Bata'er Jiaoshi were able to maintain control.

"Like this, there is nothing to stay here for; bring the two unconscious guys on the ground, as well as these old and young people, back to the group. It just so happens that I have matters to inquire of these few elders in front of Bata'er Jiaoshi."

Jier made the arrangements, and regardless of whether the five elders were willing or not, he directly had the Armed Civilians under his command haul them out of the village to return. As for the two unconscious guys, they were grabbed by their hands and feet and carried out of the village, swaying all the way.

Fearing that the bald one who was unconscious might suddenly wake up and attack his men, Jier did not have anyone carry him on their back, even though that person's hands and feet were already tied.

The Yongqi Maomao, summoned by Jier, also ran back from the ruins of the houses one by one; they were all covered in wood ash, but even a blind person could see that they had gained some benefit, as each one was squinting their eyes in joy.

From the metallic reflections revealed by the furtive movements of the Yongqi Maomao, Jier estimated that these guys had scavenged quite a bit of metal material in the ruins.

By the way, as for the Iron Shovel on the ground in the courtyard, after obtaining Jier's permission, Yongqi Maomao forcibly dragged it away by itself.

That thing was probably nearly half its weight; it was fortunate that this guy's strength had greatly increased for the sake of metal.

It was hard to tell if it was just putting on a brave front.

The young man who had surrendered and been captured, who had previously wielded the shovel, tried to bribe Jier with the valuable items they had dug up in the village while being escorted out. But Jier simply rolled his eyes and let the two young men watching the prisoner "simply" exert some force, which immediately made the young man honestly confess where they had hidden the wealth they had dug up.

"Let this be a lesson to you: when you cannot control the situation, it is best not to try to use your own things to negotiate or anything else, because you yourself are a constrained prisoner. There are simply too many ways to make someone speak honestly."

Jier wagged his finger at him: "Do not try to overestimate your own endurance; people are always far weaker than they imagine themselves to be."

The young man, with a swollen face, hung his head in dejection and hummed a few times, not daring to say anything more.

Consequently, Jier sent a few more Armed Civilians back to the village to find and bring back this so-called "wealth."

The group on the other side of the bridge was still gathered in a cluster on the Shanglu, remaining cautious and alert to their surroundings. But as Jier led the team back, the news that everything was safe and sound spread through the group faster than the wind.

The moment the news was delivered, the entire group relaxed.

The crowd, which had previously been huddled together, quickly dispersed, each returning to their own families. Shouts and arguments rose one after another; many people had forgotten where they had left the supplies they were responsible for, and now had to rack their brains to search for them in a hurry.

Meanwhile, the three squads of Armed Civilians guarding the perimeter of the civilian group shouted to recall the Hunters they had sent out with bows and arrows. Everyone's weapons were stowed back at their waists or behind their backs, and they discussed in low voices what could have happened in the village across the river to cause such a severe fire.

Some speculated that it had been set by passing Bandits, and some even insisted that the village must be full of corpses burned to white bones.

But this speculation was quickly debunked; the Armed Civilians who had gone with Jier immediately stated that they had not found any corpses in the village. In reality, the village was an empty one, almost devoid of people.

The Villagers had fled to take refuge as soon as spring began, leaving only a few elders in the village who refused to leave.

Thus, some immediately guessed: could it be that the elders were living in the empty village and accidentally set fire to the houses while cooking? Since the able-bodied men who could have extinguished the fire had fled, the fire could not be put out, and that was why the entire village burned down?

Regarding this, the Armed Civilians of the first Armed Squad who had just returned from Shuiche Cunzi did not know what to say, and simply turned their heads to look in the direction of Knight Jier.

There, Jier was bringing the five rescued elders from Shuiche Cunzi to meet with Bata'er Jiaoshi, discussing the group of people who had truly set the village on fire.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! We of the Agricultural God Church would never set fire to a village!"

Luosa-Bata'er Jiaoshi looked shocked, but after hearing the simple account from the elders, he loudly refuted it.

"The Agricultural God teaches us to stand with those who toil in the fields; such an evil act cannot have been done by our people! I say again, it is im-pos-si-ble!"

The Priest reacted fiercely, glaring angrily at the few elders who, in his view, were making slanderous accusations.

But the few elders were adamant and articulate; they were the ones involved, having truly experienced this event before. How could their own eyes deceive them? Right?

"Priest, you can just believe those pretty words you say yourself. The world isn't the same for everyone. We have met all kinds of different people in our lives; some say pretty words but never do a single good deed with their hands. Others say unpleasant things but are truly good people. And some, they are just wearing a human skin; who knows what kind of strange thing is underneath that skin."

Facing such sharp sarcasm from one of the elders, Bata'er Jiaoshi wanted to refute, but before he could speak, another elder continued.

"That's right, that's right. The Tax Officer sent by the Noble Lord to collect rent always has that look of 'I'm doing this for your own good, I'm doing you a favor, don't be ungrateful,' but who in the vicinity doesn't know that person's true colors? Never mind the officials under the Noble Lords, aren't you Priest lords the same? Full of hypocritical faces." The elder became more agitated as he spoke, almost pointing his finger at Bata'er Jiaoshi's nose to curse him.

These elders had lived a lifetime, and the village they had spent their lives building had been burned down, so they were not afraid of death at all. At this moment, their full-throttle verbal assault on the Priest left even Jier stunned.

"You Agricultural God Church Priests, you talk nicely, saying things like 'we must be with the farmers,' but in the end, you are with them, but you end up riding on everyone's heads? The village has asked the diocese church several times to send a Priest to be stationed in the village, even if the village provided all the expenses, but you didn't send half a Priest. Every year during the Harvest Festival, you lick your faces and run here to demand a portion of the harvest grain as an offering. Hmmph! And you say the harvest is all the work of the great Agricultural God, and this grain must be sacrificed to the gods. Bullshit!! The harvested grain is all grown by our hard work. Has the Agricultural God ever helped us swing a hoe? Have you helped sow a single seed in the fields? Has the Agricultural God brought an extra rain here? Oh, rain is the business of the Lord of the Sky, the 'great' Agricultural God can't manage that, right?"

Bata'er Jiaoshi could not hold it together anymore; he clenched his fists, his breathing quickened, and he argued: "But the farmers who believe in the Agricultural God can get treatment at the church whenever they get sick. You can't say that doesn't happen, right?"

But these words only made the few elders look at each other in silence, finally looking at the young Priest Bata'er with pitying eyes.

"But we paid money for it," the few elders said in unison.

"What?"

Bata'er Jiaoshi seemed not to have heard clearly, or rather, he heard the words clearly but did not understand their meaning.

"What what? We go to the church to get treated when we are sick, but every time we offer money to the Agricultural God. In this regard, how is the Agricultural God Church any different from other churches? When we go to the churches of other gods in Duoen Town for treatment, they even give us an extra smile."

Bata'er Jiaoshi was stunned. Jier saw the Priest's lips trembling slightly, as if he wanted to say something but could not.

His face was full of shock and confusion, along with a large amount of pent-up resentment.

He could not understand why believers under the same faith also had to pay money.

At this moment, Jier stepped out and stopped the two sides from continuing: "May I say a few words? Elders?"

The elders bowed slightly to Jier: "Please, Knight."

They still understood who had just rescued them from the hands of the few young men with such poor character.

"Bata'er?"

Jier asked the young Priest.

Bata'er Jiaoshi covered his chest with his hand and waved it powerlessly, signaling Jier to do whatever he wanted; he did not want to say anything at this moment. Or perhaps, there was so much he wanted to say, curse, and complain about that he did not know how to start.

Jier coughed twice and said: "I heard everything you just said. Actually, you have all deviated from the initial topic. The key is not whether the local Agricultural God Church Priests are qualified or doing well enough, but who exactly were those Priests who set fire to Shuiche Cunzi?"

"Who? Who else could it be? It was just those Priest lords from the Agricultural God Church."

The elders were a bit dissatisfied with this, feeling that Knight Jier was discussing some obvious surface-level matters.

But Bata'er Jiaoshi looked at Jier with surprise, seemingly touched by this question.

Jier nodded: "Elders, why do you say those people were Agricultural God Church Priests?"

"What else could it be? Only us few old folks were left in the village. When those Priest lords passed through Shuiche Cunzi, we naturally had to host them—lodging, full meals, and so on. When we asked them during the meal, they answered it themselves."

Jier understood: "Oh, they answered that themselves. Then the question arises, if—and I mean if—if those people were not Priests of the Agricultural God Church?"

"How is that possible! How could it be? The clothes they wore, the robes, were the same as the ones this young Priest is wearing!"

An old man finished speaking and pointed at the slightly reddish militant Priest robe on Bata'er Jiaoshi; the redness was because it had seen blood, and without deep cleaning, the originally pale robe had become this reddish color.

But as soon as these words were out, another old man tugged at his companion's sleeve and whispered: "Wait, it looks a bit different to me."

Jier heard everyone's words clearly, so he asked: "Different? Where is it different?"

This old man wanted to speak, but was secretly tugged by his companion, so he found it hard to open his mouth.

Jier gestured with his hand: "Say whatever you want to say, no need to worry about anything."

The companion behind him still wanted to pull the old man's clothes, but the old man shook off his companion's hand, stepped forward, rubbed his eyes to clear away the eye discharge that was hindering his vision, and carefully looked at the style and patterns of the robe on Bata'er Jiaoshi.

"It is indeed different. The robes on those people were not as fine as the one on this young Priest, as if they were using linen cloth to imitate cotton cloth; the material itself was different, much inferior. And the patterns were much simpler, with only a large Divine Emblem of the Agricultural God on the chest, as if they were afraid others wouldn't see it. It didn't have the various patterns and decorations on this young Priest's robe."

Once he said this, the other old men crowded over, and this time, after carefully distinguishing, they indeed had new discoveries.

"And the appearance of the Divine Emblem of the Agricultural God is also a bit different, um, slightly different."

"I have a good memory; I remember there were some differences between the robes those people wore. When I asked them at the time, they said they were Priests of different levels within the Church, and that they wore different things. I don't know, is that how it is?"

Bata'er Jiaoshi looked at Jier in surprise, his eyes wide, and then explained to the old men: "There is such a saying, but the style of the Pastors' clothing doesn't have much difference; only the clothing of the Priestesses has a big difference from the Pastors. But the problem is, Priestesses are all big figures in various places, and there aren't many in one diocese. A group of more than ten Priests shouldn't have a Priestess leading them..."

Bata'er Jiaoshi's words were hard for everyone to understand, but everyone grasped the general meaning.

For a group of more than ten people, generally speaking, the style of the robes cannot be different; if the level isn't there, they are all standard Church robes, it's impossible for them to be different.

"And, the Divine Emblem of the Agricultural God is also different? That's even more impossible. The Divine Emblem of the Agricultural God represents the Great Agricultural God and cannot be changed in the slightest!"

Speaking of this, Bata'er Jiaoshi became serious, as if pushing aside a layer of Mist; his eyes were also different from before, bright and shining at this moment.

"Those people are definitely not from the Agricultural God Church! I'm sure of it! Other things might be debatable, but if even the Divine Emblem of the Agricultural God is different, they are definitely not Priests of the Agricultural God Church! I knew it, I knew it! No one would go and set fire to a village, no one would do that!"

The Priest spoke louder and louder, almost jumping up to shout.

The few old men looked at each other in dismay; could it be that they really got it wrong? It wasn't done by the Priests of the Agricultural God Church? But by people from another church impersonating the Agricultural God Church?

Thinking about it this way, it wasn't impossible. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation, impersonating Agricultural God Priests, then committing evil everywhere, arson, and not killing them—the few people they had interacted with—after committing the evil; looking at it this way, it was clear they wanted these few people to be survivors to point the finger at the Agricultural God Church in the future.

Realizing this, the few old men shuddered; what an insidious thing, they had almost become accomplices.

They had become the mouthpiece for harming the Agricultural God Church.

But the few old men thought again, the Agricultural God Church wasn't very good usually anyway, so it was fine to curse them.

Bata'er Jiaoshi let out a heavy sigh of relief, and the hands he had been clenching tightly finally loosened slowly. Due to the long time of clenching with force, his fingers had turned a bit white.

Jier hummed softly on the side, a thoughtful look on his face. After considering for a while, he raised another question: "Then, where did those people go afterwards?"

This question pulled the thoughts of the few people present back.

The few old men discussed in low voices for a while, then said: "They finally crossed the bridge at the entrance of the village and walked towards the southeast. Before, they had followed the riverbank on this side of the village to get to the village. It seems that besides burning our village, they wanted more to use the village's Wooden Bridge to cross the river. Actually, this river isn't that deep; the young men in the village go into the water every day to catch things from the river."

Jier and Bata'er Jiaoshi looked at each other and said in unison: "Borisfa City!"

"It's very likely they went there. Let me see, what about the time? The time! Right, when did those fake Priests arrive at the village? And when did they set fire to the village and leave?"

Jier asked the old men.

The few old men replied: "It was shortly after the people in the village fled in early spring. When the village was still there, we old guys could barely get by, but now we can only live under the trees outside the village. The little food the children left for us was also burned, and the food buried in the village is too deep for us old guys to dig out. These days we can only eat some wild vegetables and animals from the river."

With the time, Jier said to Bata'er Jiaoshi: "The timing also fits perfectly. If those people left here, first headed southeast, then followed the Shanglu south, it matches exactly when the incident happened in Borisfa City. Bataer, tell me, is it those people?"

Bata'er Jiaoshi took a deep breath: "I know, it's very possible, very possible. Impersonating Priests of the Agricultural God Church to mislead the villages around Borisfa City to oppose Borisfa City. If the diocese in the city is breached, no matter how we explain it later, others won't believe that this wasn't done by us."

"Why did they do this? And who are they?"

Jier rolled his eyes: "Need you ask? They could be anyone, any organization. Why? That's too many reasons. But Bataer, this is not something you or I can get involved in. Remember the matter in Mengtuoka City; you and I have received a mission, and for what reason. After all, the people of Changmai Cunzi still don't know where they are or how they are suffering."

But Bata'er Jiaoshi's eyes dodged; the young Priest turned his head and left without looking back: "I need to calm down and communicate with the gods about this matter."

Jier frowned; he didn't remember Bata'er Jiaoshi being such an awkward and insincere person. It seems that the incident in his hometown, Borisfa City, still had a great impact on the Priest himself.

He hoped he could think it over carefully; what was most important to the two of them at this moment.