Chapter 782: The Situation of All Parties and the Afternoon Battle

The Bandit Leader was naturally hesitant. Although his subordinates were quite fierce, no matter how much he had previously despised the Refugee Team he was about to intercept, seeing them now, the other side was not unarmed. From a distance, the formation did not look chaotic, and there were even extra small armed squads protecting them as they traveled.

He was somewhat hesitant. If he were to rush out to intercept them so rashly at this moment, would he fail to intimidate them because his own side had fewer people?

Moreover, once he could not rely on his fierce subordinates to intimidate these refugees who had come from who knows where, a fight would likely be a high-probability event. But that would be troublesome; his few dozen men might not necessarily win in the middle of the day.

Thinking of this, the Bandit Leader still said: "Like this, we will rush out first to let them see us, slow down the speed of their team, or even make them stop. And we will wait a bit longer for the rest who haven't arrived yet. 'Fake Hand'? 'Fake Hand'! Where are you?"

A bandit nicknamed Fake Hand hurried over: "Boss, you called me?"

The fingers on this guy's left hand had been cut off by someone, though the wounds had healed, the palm of his left hand was bare. This guy had no choice but to wear a beast-hide glove, and where his fingers used to be, he had installed five polished, sharp beast claws. Although he couldn't use them for daily tasks, they could barely be used to intimidate others and for combat.

He was considered a trusted follower who had been with the burly Bandit Leader for a long time.

"Like this, you go back and urge those %￥. This time the target caravan is huge, with plenty of people and wealth. If you want to eat and want things, you have to come and take them yourself. Just tell them that."

After the Bandit Leader arranged this, he watched 'Fake Hand' turn and run back along the village path. Then he slammed the great axe in his hand against his shield and shouted: "Brothers, you all heard it, go out first and intercept this group, try to make sure this group is eaten up on our turf. Let's go!"

He shouted one last time, taking the lead and striding out, arriving at the Shanglu below the village mountain.

And the other dozens of bandits followed closely behind the Bandit Leader, putting on the fierce appearance they usually deliberately adopted when robbing or brawling.

Some bandits took off their thick beast-hide clothing, revealing strange green tattoos on their upper bodies; some bandits hung a sun-dried human skull on the front of their shields, preparing to use this thing as psychological intimidation during battle; others, on their Soldier Armor that was already dressed up like a beast, draped the colorful furs of several kinds of wild beasts over their shoulders like a cloak.

Most long-time bandits had mastered one or two unique methods of psychological intimidation they had come up with themselves. This thing was a bit funny when one person did it, but after everyone did it, the effect of the psychological intimidation was greatly strengthened. People with little experience were very easily frightened by these 'costumes' into losing their will to fight and their determination to resist, and then they would give up resistance and obediently let them be robbed and ravaged.

There were also some differences in style between each Bandit Group. At this time, the team led by this burly Bandit Leader, because they had often been active in the nearby mountains and forests to avoid the suppression of soldiers led by Knights, had prepared many costumes and materials of wild beasts from the mountains and forests.

And another village behind the mountain, right next to New Clear Spring Cunzi, had a Bandit Group occupying it that particularly liked to hang people on trees and keep the corpses from rotting completely for a long time.

Large armed Caravans passing through their territory would often have their spirits constantly tortured by the corpses on both sides of the Shanglu, thereby creating opportunities for the bandits to attack.

As for the bandits in Zhan Cun behind a mountain further to the southeast, those people also had vicious intimidation tactics, but I won't mention them here first.

After occupying the Shanglu, the Bandit Leader led his subordinates to spread out, occupying the Shanglu and both sides of the Shanglu. Every few steps they took toward the Refugee Team, they would shout together loudly: "Ha!"

Walk a few steps: "Hu!"

Walk a few steps: "Ha!"

Walk a few more steps: "Hu!"

Every shout was quite loud, not only firmly attracting the attention of the Refugee Team hundreds of meters away, but also boosting the morale and momentum of the bandits through the rhythmic shouting.

Even though there were only a few dozen people, it seemed as if they were the side with hundreds.

The subsequent situation was indeed as the Bandit Leader had expected. After the Refugee Team in the distance discovered these bandits who had suddenly rushed out, there was a moment of panic, but this panic quickly disappeared, and visibly, the crowd of hundreds of people carrying things on their shoulders and in their hands quickly gathered into a ball after the team stopped.

And the guard team seen from afar was not just one group, but four groups, with at least over a hundred people.

"% of it, next time I see that guy who reported the news, I'll have to twist his head off."

The Bandit Leader cursed, feeling it was a bit troublesome.

It seemed that this Refugee Team had some confidence to dare to leave the town and migrate under the current situation.

With at least a hundred armed forces, it was hard to say whether the other side would be afraid of his team of dozens.

But thinking that there were dozens more people coming over later, and they would also have over a hundred people, the Bandit Leader breathed a sigh of relief.

Amidst the rhythmic shouting of his subordinates, he shouted left and right: "All of you walk slower for me, and step harder with your feet! Bring out your momentum."

Walking slower was because he didn't want to run into the other side's guard force so early. Although he didn't think his side would lose, being at a disadvantage in numbers was still not good, so he had to try to avoid a head-on collision. In robbery, he had always relied on the strategy of having more people to rob fewer people. If the number of people was less than the other side, then he had to overwhelm the other side in momentum, forcing the other side to submit or flee.

This was also the experience and skill that had allowed him to avoid the suppression of the lord's soldiers over the past few years and now achieve such status and manpower.

On the side of the 'Fake Hand' bandit, hearing the intimidating shouts of his companions coming from the Shanglu behind him, 'Fake Hand' quickened his pace.

After he ran back a distance along the village path he had jogged down earlier, those guys who had joined the group for less than a year were walking lazily along the path as if they were taking a stroll.

What made 'Fake Hand' angry was that these people had clearly heard the shouts of the leader and his men on the Shanglu not far away, yet they were still chatting and laughing, pointing in the direction the sound came from. Some people had mocking expressions on their faces, not knowing what they were whispering about.

Vaguely, 'Fake Hand' only heard words like "idiots" and "music."

This made his face flush red, and he strode up to meet them, roaring: "What are you talking about! The leader has already started to block and intimidate the Refugee Team in front, why are you still moving so slowly!"

The few young bandits he roared at looked at him mockingly but did not reply. Other new bandits walking by in twos and threes also looked at him mockingly.

I don't know which one had itchy hands and feet, but while 'Fake Hand's' attention was on the group, he secretly circled behind 'Fake Hand' and kicked him, knocking him to the ground.

"Who? Who kicked me!"

Just as he roared, someone around him grabbed a handful of dirt from the village path and threw it at 'Fake Hand's' head and face, blurring his eyes.

Then the people around swarmed up and kicked him together.

This really angered 'Fake Hand'. Even though this guy was disabled in one hand and was being surrounded and kicked, he was, after all, a bad seed who had been a bandit for a long time, and the number of innocent lives on his hands was not just one or two.

Before, it was because he considered them his own people under the leader that he was successfully ambushed and besieged. He understood that if he didn't fight back or escape now, just taking this beating would result in him being beaten to death by these young people.

Even if the leader avenged him later, it would be hard to trade his life for the lives of the dozen people beating him now.

Most likely, it would just be left unsettled.

Thinking of this, 'Fake Hand' roared fiercely, then swung and swiped his left fake hand. Swish, swish, swish—after this half-circle swipe, the legs and pants of several people were torn, ordinary Linen Cloth pants had no defensive power, and the legs wrapped inside were also scratched and torn.

Once these people were injured, they all squatted down wailing. 'Fake Hand' then endured the pain and leaped, flipping out of the crowd's encirclement from his fallen position. Before he could stand up, he rolled all the way down the steep grassy slope on the side of the path.

Just as he flipped out, some of the people who had been kicking him pulled out their weapons. If it weren't for 'Fake Hand's' quick movements, he would probably have been hacked to the ground by now, and then most likely chopped into a pile of rotten meat.

"￥￥#! When I go back, I'll have the leader make you pay!"

After 'Fake Hand' rolled out, he climbed up from the ground quickly and immediately cursed at the young bandits not far away. His cursing actually caused the dozens of bandits to chase after him.

'Fake Hand' turned and ran, heading toward the Shanglu at the end of the village path. While running, he also raised his left hand toward the back, the beast claws on the fake hand were dotted with bright red, not knowing whose blood of the unlucky ones had stained it.

Provoked by this scene, the young bandits chased even faster.

Not only were they cursing, but they also pulled out their weapons one by one, holding them in their hands or lifting them over their heads, and chased down along the path one after another.

Seeing this, 'Fake Hand' ran even faster, muttering to himself: "Does this count as completing the task the boss gave me? Whatever! Run first."

Jier rode on horseback, his gaze scanning everything in the distance.

The experienced bandits, who looked very intimidating but were actually mostly marking time in place, were seen by him.

On the side of the Shanglu near the mountain, the people sent back by the bandits had a conflict with other bandits still on the way, and after a beating, they led the people to quickly approach the Shanglu at the foot of the mountain. These were also seen by Jier.

Looking further to the left at the mountain, one could see smoke from burning firewood behind the cover of the small mountain and the forest on the mountain. That must be a Cunzi on the mountain. But it was likely already occupied by the bandits, and had been for a long time. This was also seen by Jier. He estimated the scale of the number of people represented by the smoke, and the final number calculated based on experience put his mind at ease.

Everything above occurred in the center and to the left of the line of sight, while on the steep hillside and grassy slope to the right, it was not as if there was no one.

Near the Shanglu, there was a small patch of Shulin, and Jier saw a few faint glints of sunlight reflecting off blades; he estimated that there were likely several people here who were not in the same group as the bandits blocking the road at this moment.

And in a higher place, at the top of the small hill on the right, faintly, Jier estimated that there were still people there relying on superior concealment techniques, hiding in that spot.

Although he could not discover the other party when looking over, the feeling of being watched from that direction was similar to the feeling brought by the Hunters of the Hunting God Church before.

This gave Jier a bit of a headache.

The bandits in front were not what he considered real trouble; it was those elite Hunters hiding in the shadows and watching that made him feel completely uncomfortable.

The former's target was him and the entire Refugee Team he was with; although the target was large, the power Jier could utilize was not small. But the latter's target was not the Refugee Team, only Jier himself and the Da Niao Mujiao on his own chest.

Perhaps because Jier stayed in the team all day, the Church Hunters found it difficult to make a move, or perhaps these people had some concerns, fearing that launching an attack on Jier would cause this group of hundreds of refugees to suffer. So they only watched and followed him from afar.

These people's pace was certainly faster than Jier's side, and all the way here, Jier could feel that the other party was always watching him from afar in places with good visibility ahead of time.

However, if Jier took the initiative to come out of the team and go to provoke and contact these Hunters of the Hunting God Church, these guys seemed willing to have a go with him.

"Great Bird God, it's been how many days now? Can you actually finish what you promised?"

While waving his fingers to direct the Armed Squad to form a trapezoidal formation to deal with the bandits in front, Jier had the alien Mao Mao scatter toward the direction of the Refugee Team—that is, to the rear of the team—to scout and guard against a bandit group flanking and attacking from behind.

He muttered the question in a voice that only he and the god could hear, and the Great Bird God, who had not said a word since Jier entered the dream secret realm to avoid the Demon Flame and returned, finally replied at this moment.

"Caw, soon, soon. Human, you must be understanding of me. Although I finally managed to spread out my Statue of the God these past few days to absorb new believers, you also know that the two of us have been watched by those little hunting dogs of the Hunting God all along! Caw caw... these guys have very sharp noses; they have been constantly sniffing and searching for my Statue of the God and the newly developed believers."

"Heh, so things aren't going smoothly? And you still think it's soon?"

Jier muttered in a low voice while jumping off his horse, letting a team of Grooms and civilians carrying new Horse Armor made of Tianxuecao come over to urgently equip the warhorses with combat armor.

Jier also lent a hand to speed up the armoring of the warhorses.

Fortunately, thanks to the armor-fitting training of the Grooms who had been taking care of the horses for the past few days, although the situation was urgent, the speed of fitting the armor was actually faster than in normal training.

"Caw, this is a promise of a god; I will complete it, I just need a little more time. If it weren't for the interference of those little hunting dogs, what I promised you should have been completed by now! Those things that have been troubling you these days will all be defeated one by one in the dream by my Shadow Bird! Caw caw caw caw!"

Jier helped one last time, lifting the heavy metal Horse Armor and assisting the Grooms standing on empty wooden crates to hang the metal armor onto Tianxuecao with leather straps and locks.

Seeming to have a premonition of the coming battle, Tianxuecao excitedly licked Jier with its tongue, and Jier, who had not yet lowered his Helmet Faceplate, was covered in Tianxuecao's saliva.

Jier was not annoyed; he wiped his face and patted Tianxuecao's forehead to ease the horse's nervous mood.

Shrugging his shoulders, Jier somewhat regretted getting involved in this Great Bird God's business, and if he had known in advance that protecting this group of refugees would be so troublesome, he would not have been so kind-hearted at the Baishi Chengqiang Guanka and brought these people along.

If it were just him, Xueya Site, and Bata'er Jiaoshi, with each person riding a horse and driving a cart, the travel speed would naturally be very different, and by now they would likely have reached Changmai Cunzi and started their real business.

But such is the way of the world; it is hard to predict.

"Lord Knight Jier, your warhorse has been equipped with armor! Huff—huff—"

Several Grooms were panting, and the civilians helping on the side were also gasping for air; it was unclear whether they were tired or if they were scared after seeing the bandits not far away.

"Very good, you all go back. It's daytime now, those bandits won't do anything to everyone. Rest assured, as long as I am here, they won't be able to pull off any tricks."

Waving his hand, Jier let them retreat back into the tightly clustered group of civilians.

Although there were many people on their side, those who could fight and dared to fight were, after all, few; that everyone gathered together and did not cause trouble when encountering things was already enough to satisfy Jier.

"I hope these bandits will voluntarily retreat after seeing me."

Jier said casually, then turned and waved to Xueya Site and Bata'er Jiaoshi, who were standing on the roof of his carriage, signaling that he was about to move out.

"Maintain the team formation and stay alert. Of course, don't be overly nervous; keep your minds alert, but don't tense your bodies, as that will only waste your stamina for nothing. I'll be back shortly."

Jier called out to the four squads of Armed Civilians arranged in a trapezoidal formation beside him, then squeezed his warhorse hard, letting Tianxuecao start running forward on the Shanglu with a thumping sound.

A fully armed warhorse and Knight looked extraordinary, capable of smashing through any enemy blocking the Knight's path.

"Boss?"

A bandit called out in a strange voice to remind him.

"I see it, I'm not blind!"

The burly Bandit Leader replied irritably to his subordinate's tactless question. Of course he saw the person riding a horse in the Refugee Team in the distance; not only was he wearing iron-gray Metal Armor and had a black-red cloak behind him, but just while he was waiting for his men here, that Knight had also, with the help of his subordinates, equipped his horse with a full set of Horse Armor.

The speed was lightning fast.

"Damn it, I must burn that guy who sold the information to death! Burn him to death!"

The Bandit Leader gritted his teeth and roared in a low voice. He had never expected that a group of hundreds of refugees would actually have a Knight leading them. Weren't these 'thugs' under the various lords supposed to have gone to the Province Capital with their respective lords to participate in the border war with neighboring countries?

How was there still one who hadn't left?

When they came out of the Shulin to do something big, they had inquired repeatedly and spent quite a bit of effort and money to confirm that almost all the Knight Lords and Noble Lords had left before they dared to come out of the remote Shulin to rob Caravans on the Shanglu and remote Cunzi.

He didn't expect to run into the Knight who had repeatedly chased them before again today.

"Hmph! It's just one Knight! Everyone saw it, besides this Knight, everyone else can only huddle together; they are no match for us at all! Charge up, all together, take down this Knight, and the rest is wealth and slaves for the taking!"

The Bandit Leader shouted loudly, saying things that even he himself did not believe, and that his veteran Bandit subordinates did not believe.

But these words were heard by the new Bandit recruits who followed, and these young people, who felt that they could conquer the world if there were many of them, did not take any enemy seriously at all. Now, hearing the Bandit Leader's morale-boosting shout, many of them actually believed it.

Believing it, they naturally began to shout all sorts of slogans, mostly robbery declarations, coarse language, and slang, cursing at the Knight who was slowly riding closer.

The Bandit Leader protected his trusted subordinate 'Fake Hand' who was sent to call for people, stretched out his arms generously, and pointed his one-handed Great Axe at the Knight slowly approaching not far away: "Whoever can lead a team to take down that Knight, I will make him the deputy leader of our group!! Did you hear me? Whoever can help me take this man down, he is the deputy leader of the group! And even in the future, after we take the nearby Cunzi, he will be a group leader managing a piece of territory!"

His voice was loud, even reaching Jier as he approached.

Jier shook his head and laughed. After laughing, he lowered his steel face mask and then adjusted the position of his cloak fluttering in the wind behind him.

Combat is important, but a handsome personal image is also very important.

A good image could help Jier lead his team with half the effort; Jier had gradually understood and grasped this point.

And on the bandit side, many young people who had joined the Bandit Group not long ago had their eyes light up. A deputy leader—this was a jump over the level of a chief to become the number two figure in the group. It made sense; the scale of the team was gradually expanding, and it was time to add a deputy leader to the group.

And why couldn't this person be me?

Seeing that the atmosphere was right, the Bandit Leader gave a wink to several of his trusted aides beside him. Immediately, these trusted aides understood, walked away slightly to mix into the crowd, and then pinched their throats and covered their faces, shouting: "It's just one person! Watch me take him down!"

Then they made a gesture to charge forward.

If only one person in the team shouted and did this, then most of the others would likely stay in place and watch this person go up to challenge and perform.

But when several people said it and acted like this together, it immediately incited the young people to unconsciously follow and shout: "Let me! Let me! I'll take him down!"

"This person is mine! Brothers, charge with me!"

"Kill!!!!"

In an instant, dozens of young Bandits charged out in twos and threes, following their familiar companions.

As these people charged out, the burly Bandit Leader did not lead his men in a retreat—that would be too obvious; he waved his hand with a cold face, and leading his subordinates, he strode forward, stomping on the ground, shouting and yelling as he slowly advanced step by step to build momentum.