Chapter 781: The Bandits of New Clear Spring Village

Just behind the small hill in front of Jier's team, an ordinary village named New Clear Spring Village appeared to have signs of human activity from afar.

The dozen or so farmer houses in the village all had wisps of smoke rising from their brick chimneys.

It was currently noon, and logically, the farmers in the village would not eat much for lunch; the farmers and their wives would usually eat their fill in the morning, work in their own fields for the whole day, and wait until dusk to return home to eat.

Therefore, the people lighting fires to cook and eating at this midday hour were basically not the original farmer villagers of this village.

"All of you #￥# eat more for me! Eat your fill so you can fight with all your might in a while! Your roars must be powerful! Stomp the ground to cheer yourselves on with strength! If I see anyone trying to save energy by slacking off or running away, don't blame me, your Bandit Leader, for greeting you with this great axe in my hand!"

In the center of New Clear Spring Village, a burly man was standing on a large rock, shouting at the people around him. The rock he was standing on was the very origin of the village's name—a protruding mountain rock tip that continuously seeped refreshing spring water every day. Surrounding the man and listening to his shouts were over a hundred bandit rascals who were constantly lining up to receive their food.

This group had long since received news—which the Bandit Leader had bought for one Gold Coin from a person who specialized in delivering such intelligence—that a Refugee Team of several hundred people would soon pass by on the Shanglu next to this village.

This team was composed of villagers who had fled from nearby villages, and their goal was to return to their hometowns to find a place where they could safely settle down.

But how could the bandits let them return? This was the first thing these bandit rascals thought of after occupying many deserted villages.

The deserted houses and courtyards in these deserted villages, the furniture and items the villagers couldn't take with them and had buried, and most importantly, the fields the village had already cultivated, had all become the property of these bandits who did not engage in production.

If you were to ask what use these bandits who didn't work or engage in production had for uncultivated fields? Then you would be underestimating them; since they didn't work themselves, couldn't they just capture others to do the work?

In any case, for some time now, the local Knight Lords had taken their soldiers away, and no one cared at all what they did.

These bandits were indiscriminate; not to mention the stubborn villagers who were reluctant to leave the village, even the refugees they could catch near the village, the shop assistants or Merchants from passing small Caravans, small groups of defeated bandits, and even deserters who had lost battles and wanted to flee home, all had to obediently farm for these bandits who had occupied the village.

In some remote places where they really couldn't capture people or labor, the bandits even broke up Goblin tribes in the mountain forests, captured the population, and tied them up with ropes to make them farm.

Poor Goblin laborers had only ever grown Mushrooms and gathered wild fruits in their tribes; how could they possibly handle the crops that humans wanted to plant in fields, water, and fertilize?

Anyway, these bandits didn't farm a single bit of land; they risked their lives to be bandits precisely so they wouldn't have to farm or pay taxes to the various lords.

How could they farm?

At this midday hour, these hundred-plus village-occupying bandits were eating their fill before the upcoming battle, listening to their leader standing on the rock with his various threats and encouragements. Things like whoever captured a prisoner would have the right to control and toy with them, and that only one-third of the looted wealth needed to be handed over to the entire group, with the rest being their own.

These things made their hearts burn with fire, as they were in constant conflict and skirmishes with the other two bandit groups occupying adjacent villages not far away; some of them even wore cruel smiles on their faces.

Everyone was not afraid of fighting and bleeding, or losing hands and feet; they were only afraid of having no work to do, having to eat their own, and the team internally engaging in cruel oppression and exploitation of their own people.

They weren't even afraid of skirmishing with armed Caravans of large Merchant Guilds, or fighting other village-occupying bandits who were equally cruel and needed labor. Every bandit felt that their own skills were not bad, and the guy who fell injured in battle would definitely not be himself; and once the battle was won, the bandit group that collected the spoils could live a carefree life for a long time again.

And when their leader finally mentioned that there were at least three hundred female refugees in that Refugee Team, the bandits who were eating all began to howl with excitement.

"Hahahaha, so brothers, you must give me your full strength in the battle later, so you can capture more women before the others do. I, your leader, am not one to slack off either; whoever captures someone, I will personally use a paint brush to write their respective master's name on the person they captured. I guarantee everyone's interests will be protected."

Speaking of this, the burly guy gave a chuckle and patted his crotch with his free hand: "But brothers also have to support me; you have to let me pick first from the people and wealth captured. Otherwise, if the most beautiful woman isn't allowed to sleep with the leader of the group, and the other two gangs nearby find out, won't they laugh at us? Right?"

The eating bandits burst into laughter. Some of the fast eaters threw their wooden bowls and wooden spoons into the nearby houses, letting the slaves hiding inside kneel on the ground to clean up the eating utensils, then patted their full bellies and put on their self-made thick leather Armor.

Calling it Armor, it was actually just a crude and ugly thing made by pressing several layers of animal hide clothes together and sewing them with needle and thread.

However, although this thing was crude, heavy, and uncomfortable, its defensive power was quite good; a strong young man stabbing it hard with a Dagger would have to stab it several times to pierce through.

And some of the guys with status in the bandit team were wearing the territory Soldier Armor they had intimidated and demanded from deserters.

The original iron helmets wrapped in animal hide were painted by them with the terrifying faces of Monsters and fierce beasts from the mountains and forests using plant juices. The occasional Plate Armor worn over their heads was painted with scarlet Skulls on the chest and back using human blood.

Not to mention that the people they captured to work were terrified looking at it, even these bandits themselves would be startled by these things.

And their burly leader not only wore an iron Helmet, but his own burly body was also fitted with a set of wide and thick Armor clothing forcibly modified from two pieces of Soldier Armor to fit his stature.

He also had a Shield made of hardwood, which he held in his left hand, and at this moment, he collided it a few times with the one-handed Great Axe in his right hand, making a loud clanging sound: "All of you #￥# hurry up! We must take them down before that group gets close to here, otherwise those other two rotten gangs will snatch what was supposed to be ours."

"Those who want to have fun tonight, hurry up, pick up your weapons, put on your Armor, and follow me!"

"Roar—"

Dozens of fast-moving bandits responded to the leader's shout, and after shouting in unison, they paired up with their familiar companions and walked quickly toward the village gate.

Every one of them had a smile on their face, as if this trip was not to fight, plunder, and enslave others, but as easy and relaxed as harvesting vegetables in a field. After all, the battles they had experienced before were all like this. Those they could beat were all very weak, and those they couldn't beat, they couldn't beat no matter what, so they could only run into the mountains and forests to hide.

There were also roughly an equal number of poor slaves in the village as there were bandits, and the Bandit Leader didn't take all his men with him, arranging for at least twenty people to guard these people they had captured so they couldn't escape.

"Also, be careful when I take people out, don't let the other two groups snatch our territory and slaves. You and I both know that those people are just like us—rotten people and scoundrels; they are capable of doing such things."

Before leaving, the Bandit Leader specifically gave instructions to the leader left behind: "If it's really hard to manage, just lock everyone's slaves in the houses, have all the remaining men guard the high places inside and outside the village, and light fires in every room so the other two gangs can't tell how many people we still have here."

The leader left behind scratched his bald head and asked their leader: "Boss, when will you be back?"

The burly leader saw through this leader's little thoughts at a glance, and immediately slapped him on his bald head: "You dog thing, the thing in your pants is itching, right? Hold it in; if everything goes smoothly, everyone will be back tonight. If it doesn't go smoothly, we'll be back by tomorrow morning at the latest. Guard our village well; when I get back, you can pick whatever you want from my share of the harvest—women, treasures, you can pick a few, they're yours."

The bald leader licked his lips and gave a lewd chuckle.

The burly leader pointed at him with his finger, his face full of helplessness, and then, carrying his weapon and Shield, he strode out of the village gate surrounded by other bandits.

Outside the village gate was a small path winding down the mountain, and outside the village, on both sides of the path, were the village fields where some crops were barely planted. However, at this moment, not a single farmer or farmer's wife who should have been tending the crops was to be seen, not even the slaves captured by the bandits who were barely farming.

There was a big operation today; all the people captured to work were in the houses in the village. They had been fed earlier, and after that, they had to be locked in the houses.

And the wooden wall built around the village to defend against beasts and bad people had become a trouble that the people captured in the village could never escape from.

However, what the burly leader didn't know was that when he led his men out of the village to plunder, the bald leader who had been laughing and touching his head earlier no longer showed a smile, but instead had a face full of sarcasm.

This guy whispered mockingly: "Idiot, I don't need your charity or favors at all; as long as tonight passes, won't all your things be mine?"

His eyes rolled, and he called over his confidant: "Have you finally discussed and prepared everything with the 'good neighbors' next door? This opportunity has been waited for a long time."

His confidant looked left and right, his eyes fixed on the dozen or so remaining bandits who were not on his side, and whispered in a voice that only he and the bald leader could hear: "Everything is arranged. A small hole that a person can pass through has been quietly dug in the wall behind the village, and in a while, all the slaves in the village will be kept in the houses, and those who are not our people will all be arranged at the village gate. Hehe, Boss, they said the ambush outside the village is also prepared."

Only then did the bald leader comfortably rub his bald head, hummed a few times, and reminded: "Remember, when things happen tonight, don't wear tops; don't wear them even if the spring wind is cold, otherwise the neighbors next door won't be able to distinguish our people."

His confidant also had his own worries, and at this moment, he had to bring it up before the matter was really about to happen: "Boss, what if that group next door turns on us and cleans us up too? I don't trust them; even the pigs in the pen have more credibility than them."

The bald man spat and whispered: "What doesn't have risks? Are you a man? If the matter succeeds, two of the three connected villages will be managed by one group. By then, won't the third family have to honestly withdraw or join if they want to survive? When all three villages become one family, think about it, won't we, who have made contributions, live better than now? Maybe by then, we can gather hundreds of people; Dorn Town might not be possible, but we could take down the other few small towns nearby. By then, we can also be Nobles ourselves. We won't have to step on mud anymore, we'll sleep with the most beautiful women in the village and town every day, and we'll be able to live in clean, multi-story houses. That life is beyond beautiful; can it be the same as now? Have some ideals; compared to the one next door, our current leader is just this."

The bald man gestured with his little finger.

His strange action made the other bandit companions left in the village who were driving the slaves feel baffled, and they didn't know what this guy was muttering to his confidant.

And the hundred-plus bandits who had left the village to prepare to attack Jier's team were now walking noisily along the path outside the village toward the Shanglu south of the village.

The leading Bandit Leader looked up at the position of the sun, feeling that his men had delayed too long in the village and might miss the chance to be the first to attack the passing Refugee Team.

This wouldn't do; if they missed it, they would have to share the "spoils" with the other two bandit groups that also occupied nearby villages.

Who would be willing to do that? So, after thinking this through, the burly leader shouted: "Move it, move it, hurry up, lift those stinking feet of yours; I want to reach the Shanglu in one hundred breaths and intercept those people!"

Some bandits who listened to him and had been with him for a long time quickened their pace, but more of the "newcomers" who had joined the bandit group last year were still moving slowly.

"Do you want the whip? Move! Start running."

Having said that, the Bandit Leader kicked out, knocking over a young man who was walking slowly nearby.

But after the young man got up, he merely glared fiercely at their leader, and several other young men from the same Cunzi who had come to join them drew their knives and gathered around.

"Ungrateful wolf cubs, ptooey. Forget about you lot. Brothers, pick up the pace! First to arrive, first to loot; first to loot, first to pick the good stuff!"

With a shout, the Bandit Leader took the familiar Bandits from his own group and trotted ahead down the path along the mountain. Meanwhile, the dozens of other Bandits who had only recently joined walked along while mocking those who had run off.

"A bunch of idiots, what can that few people do? They'll still have to wait for us to get there before there are enough hands to take the other side down."

"Exactly, the ones who get there first have to fight the people guarding the Refugee Team. Only fools would rush up to throw their lives away. Haha, perfect—once they're dead, we can just take over."

"Hehehe, maybe we can even grab the slaves under these people's control while we're at it. There are a few I've been eyeing for a long time."

"Haha."

As these people walked, they deliberately slowed their pace, calculating the Bandit Leader's intentions; they did not want other Bandit Groups to interfere in this battle, so they had to intercept the Refugees before they entered the nearby Shanglu.

And they, being a large number of Bandits, could let the leader and the Bandits under him fight first to weaken their strength.

Don't be fooled by them all being one group of Bandits; in reality, they were vaguely divided into the Bandits originally led by the leader and the "newcomers" who had been joining intermittently since last year. With different compositions came different interests.

Since the end of winter, they had been doing many jobs on and off, and the various interests and benefits from these jobs had mostly been divided among the veterans the leader originally led. Although those Bandits who had been working for several years fought very hard every time and deserved to get that many benefits.

Yet the newly joined Bandits could only watch as the others ate meat while they drank soup; dissatisfaction and resentment had always existed, and it was accumulating more and more.

From occasional provocations and brawls to now deliberately slowing their pace when time was of the essence, the same group of Bandits was now clearly split into two factions.

Passing through a Shulin at the foot of the small hill where the Cunzi was located, the lush tree shade blocked the increasingly restless spring sun. The Bandits, with their messy footsteps, trotted quickly along the overgrown path that no one had traveled for a long time, running toward the Shanglu at the end of the path.

The Bandit Leader glared fiercely at the "subordinates" behind him who were now only small dots of figures, feeling that if he didn't deal with this bunch, he wouldn't be able to carry out any future operations.

He told his trusted companions around him his thoughts while running, and the others immediately agreed.

Many of them didn't even spend a second thinking about it.

"Boss, you should have dealt with them as soon as they joined."

"That's right! Every time, this bunch eats the most, but they are the slowest when it comes to robbing. Ptooey, they even want to ask for more spoils after the battle is over? Do they have any shame?"

"Exactly, and this bunch is of no use. It would be better to take their weapons and drive them to farm for us. Honestly, most of these people are just lazy young farmers from nearby villages; they've probably only held hoes before, never a knife! Haha!"

Once one person started, the complaints from the other trusted followers wouldn't stop.

Although the burly Bandit Leader looked crude and overbearing, to be a leader of a Bandit Group, he actually needed brains in addition to being able to fight.

He reluctantly defended his previous behavior: "Brothers, listen to me. It's not that I didn't see that this bunch was useless; it's just that the other two groups nearby are all absorbing new people and expanding their team size, so I have to learn from them. Otherwise, if we didn't absorb that bunch of trash, our team size would only be a few dozen people right now. Compared to the other two groups whose numbers have doubled several times, we wouldn't be able to handle it."

"They're all soft-legged shrimp, Boss. I can take on four by myself! No bragging!"

A sturdy Bandit raised the Cleaver in his hand and said loudly.

Others chimed in, saying they could each handle two or three, and were not afraid of other Bandit Groups having more people.

But the burly Bandit Leader just smiled and retorted: "Taking on four, impressive! But what if five of them jump you? Six? Although they are all trash who haven't even held a knife or killed anyone, if seven or eight of them pounce on you and pin you down, hehe, your backside probably wouldn't be safe that night, right?"

Upon hearing this, the sturdy Bandit quickly covered his own backside. These guys who had been Bandits for a long time didn't have women to ravage when they were in the mountain forests before. Some hot-headed and irritable guys would often sleep with their own brothers, which was a hardship for many of the normal guys in the group.

Although everyone was bad, there was a direction to their badness.

The other Bandits laughed for a while and reluctantly understood their leader.

Thus, in less than a hundred breaths, this group had already passed through the Shulin and saw a large group of people gradually walking over on the Xīběi side of the Shanglu, outside the forest path.

"So many people! Boss, there are guys on horses too!"

The one who ran the fastest saw the situation of the target first and immediately turned back to report to the Bandit Leader.

The burly Bandit Leader cupped his hand over his brow and squinted into the distance: "I see them. Damn it, the guy only told half the truth! And I spent one Gold Coin to buy this intelligence!"

"Boss, should we rush over to intercept them now, or wait for our people?"

The Bandit Leader hesitated.