Chapter 785: Corpses, Spoils, and Internal Problems of the Bandits

Jier waited on the Shanglu outside the Shulin at the foot of the mountain; he waited and waited, but the Bandits who had previously been aggressive and determined to teach him and his team a lesson had retreated.

Oh, they hadn't exactly retreated; these people were shouting and yelling in the dense Shulin, trying to boost their own morale.

"Haha, it's hilarious. Wanting to make money, loot, and capture people? The slogans are shouted loudly, yet they shrink into the Shulin like turtles, not daring to show their heads."

Jier shook his head with a chuckle, urged his warhorse to circle outside the Shulin once more, and after confirming that the Bandits had retreated a long distance further up the mountain, he turned his horse around to head back.

He first returned to the place where he had previously trampled people with his horse, letting Tianxuecao trample to death all the Bandits who had fainted or were too severely injured to move, then arrived at the spot where the Bandits had thrown their Flying Axes.

The number of Flying Axes was not small, scattered over a large area; although they glinted as they reflected the sun in the sky, it was, after all, a bit troublesome for one person to pick up dozens of weapons one by one.

Jier rode his horse in a circle, confirmed the general landing spots of these thrown Flying Axes, and then rode toward the Refugee Team.

"The Knight is returning victorious!"

"The Knight is back! You fought truly beautifully!"

"Wow, Tianxuecao is really amazing. Now that it has this set of horse Armor, it won't be afraid of those Bandits anymore, right? My Lord?"

After Jier rode his horse closer to the team, squads of Armed Civilians cheered excitedly; although the distance was far and everyone couldn't see very clearly, everyone had seen Knight Jier give those blocking Bandits a sound beating.

The sharp-eyed ones even realized that Jier hadn't personally taken action; relying solely on the warhorse's charging and trampling, he had dispersed that group of Bandits, who were quite numerous.

Jier lifted his Faceplate, patted Tianxuecao's neck and head vigorously with both hands, and responded loudly: "Of course! Those Bandits are nothing special. If you are fierce and dare to fight, they are like bats in the daytime, all hiding in the Shulin and caves. Therefore, everyone must fight bravely, and these people will no longer be a problem."

That is what he said, and while battle does not rely solely on bravery, saying it every time would surely allow the Armed Civilians in the team to exert more strength.

After congratulating Knight Jier on his victorious return, Jier immediately notified Priest Bataer, who was commanding the team, to let the entire team move slowly along the Shanglu. They couldn't possibly eliminate every Bandit they encountered; they still had to travel, and if they met Bandits provoking them, just giving them a sound beating was enough.

"Also, bring another small squad to collect the Bandits' equipment with me. Bring all the firewood stored in the team; those Bandit corpses must also be burned and disposed of."

Jier ordered thus.

Some people were not very willing to collect the corpses of the Bandits who had caused them trouble or to dispose of them, feeling that leaving them in the wild for beasts to eat was best; the bellies of beasts were the final destination for Bandits.

"You cannot think that way."

Jier shook his head, pointed his finger at the seemingly endless Shanglu beneath everyone's feet, and said: "This Shanglu is, after all, one of the main arteries of the Southern Province. Although most of the corpses of the dead will enter the bellies of scavenging beasts, if they are not all disposed of, you don't know this, but the dead can crawl back up, and they will wander the Shanglu, causing trouble for people in the future."

"Besides, the Bandits probably won't properly deal with those wandering living corpses. Over time, this road will become impassable; after all, no one knows how long it will take for this area to return to normal. Therefore, let's burn all the dead."

Since Jier had said so, the civilians were no longer dissatisfied. Soon, almost all the firewood collected by the Lumberjacks on the road earlier was brought over. The quantity was not small, generally enough for the entire team of several hundred people to camp for the night. After gathering it together, the twenty-plus members of the Armed Squad each had to carry a large bundle.

However, the Armed Civilians were mostly young people from Farmer families; this kind of pure manual labor was not difficult. Although the firewood on their shoulders was heavy, they could get through it by gritting their teeth.

"Let's go, I'll take people to deal with the Bandit corpses. Bataer, you and Siter lead the team to move forward slowly, pay attention to the surroundings, and also the warnings sent by the alien Mao Mao at any time."

After Jier loudly notified the Priest and his companions, he took people and set off first, heading toward the place where the Bandit corpses lay. The entire team, after a period of chaos, also arranged themselves into a slightly tighter formation, gathering into a long, crowded line, and continued to move forward along the deserted Shanglu.

"It's right here. A lot of Flying Axes thrown by the Bandits fell on the ground nearby. Ha, these are good things; whether you use them or I use them, they are powerful weapons capable of killing with a single blow."

After Jier brought people to the place where the Bandit corpses were dense, he first let the squad of civilians put down the large amount of firewood they were carrying, and then went to find the large number of thrown axes on the ground.

Pushing aside the dense grass in the wild, one could find the shining Flying Axes stuck into the mud and plant stems beneath.

These weapons were well-maintained by the Bandits, their surfaces polished smooth and reflective; naturally, the blades of the axes were also very sharp. However, because this thing had a short wooden handle for one to grip and exert force for throwing, finding them was just a matter of picking them up.

The Flying Axes were not heavy, and an ordinary person could carry several in one hand. Seeing such fine weapons, the members of the Armed Squad were extremely excited; after all, according to Knight Jier, they could also use such good weapons.

Although the number of these collected Flying Axes did not seem very large, only about fifty or so, it was not enough for their one hundred-plus people to share; it was estimated that only those who could fight would be able to receive one.

However, the members of the Armed Squad were still very excited. Everyone was reluctant to let go of these good weapons, but they didn't have the Leather Bags that the Bandits used specifically to store sharp Flying Axes. Holding them in their hands prevented them from working, and hanging them on their bodies made it easy to hurt themselves, which was very frustrating.

Jier watched with amusement, barely able to understand the idea that everyone was reluctant to put down the newly acquired good weapons, but they couldn't just delay here, could they?

"What are you struggling with? Find a place to put them down first; there is still a lot of work to do. Collecting spoils, moving Bandit corpses, setting fires to burn the corpses—time waits for no one. Get moving, get moving!"

With Jier's urging, the Armed Civilians finally let the Deputy Captain of the squad guard these weapons, and of course, the various spoils on the Bandits that followed.

While his subordinates were disposing of the corpses, Jier also rode Tianxuecao to wander around, driving away some jackals and scavenging eagles that had flown over to eat the human corpses, and when he heard movement in the Shulin, he quickly rode his horse over, scaring the sneaky, unwilling Bandits in the Shulin back into the depths of the Shulin once again.

"Come out and fight! Come out!"

Jier didn't even take his weapon, just holding the Jiansheng of Tianxuecao as he galloped on the grass outside the Shulin.

"Cowardly Bandits, you are truly less brave than even the most timid fox. You bunch of guys are like pig bladders blown full of air; you look puffed up and full of volume and power, but as soon as you untie the opening and let the air inside out, haha, you immediately go limp!"

Jier raised his voice to shout and curse toward the Shulin. Although his insults were not harsh, they were quite apt for the current situation.

The Armed Civilians disposing of the corpses not far away didn't think much of it, but the Bandits in the Shulin were all furious!

"Boss! That guy is insulting us too much! Let's rush out and fight him to the death! I don't believe that if so many of us rush up, he can handle it?"

A veteran Bandit leader gritted his teeth, clutched his Long Sword tightly, and shouted at the fat Bandit Leader.

The Bandit Leader also had anger in his heart. After coming out of the mountains during the chaos, where had he ever suffered such humiliation? However, as the leader, reason still prevailed, and he did not, like his subordinates, let anger cloud his mind and rush out to fight regardless of the consequences.

How could they fight?

"Sit down, all sit down. Have you forgotten the plan we just discussed? Avoid this Knight and deal with the opponent's large team! This Knight has a warhorse, four legs! Did your mother give you two extra legs or what? Do you think you can outrun a warhorse, including the legs in your crotch?"

The Bandit Leader slapped his thigh heavily: "You %%% can't even catch up! So, sit tight, listen clearly to the opponent's insults, accumulate the hatred in your hearts, and then, after the Refugee Team gets closer, vent all the anger in your hearts onto those people at once."

Once said like this, many Bandits who considered themselves to have some skills sat on the roots of large trees in the Shulin or on the ground full of dead leaves, each thrusting their weapons hard into the ground beside them, as if the ground were that hateful Knight.

After seeing them calm down slightly, the Bandit Leader glanced at the young Bandits who had newly joined, but frowned. These guys had heard the insults of the Knight outside the Shulin, but few of them were angry. Could it be that these people had been beaten into fear?

This would not do.

The Bandit Leader summoned a lackey and told him to go to those young Bandits to inquire and see what these people were thinking at this moment.

After a while, the Bandits, through the cover of the trees, saw that on the wasteland outside the Shulin, the Knight's subordinates had disposed of the corpses of the dead Bandits. One by one, the Bandits, stripped down to just corpses, were piled together with a large amount of firewood, stacked into a small hill.

"This is disposing of corpses? Truly sick."

The Bandit Leader spat. These guys who licked blood from the edge of a knife never cared much about the preaching and intimidation issued by the Priests of the God of the Dead. They were just a few dead people; they had captured, played with, and slashed living people, so were they afraid that those people would move and take revenge after death?

Besides, if corpses in the wild were left alone, they would mostly be eaten by beasts. He himself hadn't seen many moving corpses; the few times he had seen them before, it was a few days after a brutal looting, when the dead Shop Assistants of the Merchant Guild crawled out of the grass again, wanting to eat people.

But what power did a few dead people have? They were just scary to look at. A Cleaver to chop off their limbs and a Torch to burn them was all it took.

Jier actually didn't know what was so scary about these living corpses, other than their ability to use the death Qi on their bodies to corrode weapons. It was just that the Church of the God of the Dead had always said so, and he had seen many poor people turn into living corpses and wander after death, so whenever he encountered corpses in the wild, he would burn them as much as possible.

This matter didn't seem like much, it wasn't very troublesome, and he could gain the favor of the Church of the God of the Dead, so why not do it?

And unlike most people in the local area who had no knowledge, after Zhao Ji came to this other world, he did not think that the various stories sung by Bards about the fierce and terrifying waves of the undead were fake, or myths and legends made up by the Church and Bards to scare the public.

After all, just last year, he had met a female Gryphon Knight riding a Gryphon at Rock Mountain. The other party was said to come from the Southern Province of the Empire, and because her hometown had been occupied by the undead, she had gathered various Knights and personnel, preparing to counterattack when her strength was sufficient in the future.

The other party did, however, get to know the father of Lanisha the Knight because of this, and they made a pact to go exterminate the undead in the future.

As it turned out, Lanisha the Knight's father lost control of the bloodline power from his own hometown, transforming into a wicked Magic Beast wolf king, and fought his own daughter—who had inherited the family legacy and become a Knight—until the very last moment of his life.

Although it was still a long way off, the story and words of that female Gryphon Knight had always been kept in Jier's heart. At the time, he did not possess his current strength and felt that traveling ten thousand miles to the south of the Empire to crusade against the undead was a legendary tale that likely had nothing to do with his life.

But now that he already possessed the foundational strength of a Knight, this matter had quietly weighed on his mind.

No, in his mind; Jier had no heart, this must not be forgotten.

The firewood on the corpses was ignited by tinder grass. The Bandits watched as that Knight rode his horse around the pile of corpses a few times, and only after confirming that the fire was indeed burning did he lead his men away, carrying the "spoils of war."

"Shit! That black smoke from the fire! With it burning like this, won't the other two Bandit groups find out? Boss, we can't take these people down on our own, can we?"

A trusted Bandit leaned in toward the Bandit Leader and reminded him, full of worry.

The Bandit Leader shot a sidelong glance at this person and said irritably: "I know, I know. My eyes aren't blind, and my brain isn't broken. After being driven back into the Shulin by that Knight earlier, I knew we couldn't eat this wave alone. Bah, it's just as well; this Refugee Team is like a crab in the river, the Knight is the crab shell, and the refugees are the meat inside the pincers. As long as we time it right, it shouldn't be hard to let the other two groups bite the hard crab shell while we eat the meat."

The surrounding Bandits who heard this became interested and crowded over, intending to hear how the leader planned to make them eat the meat while the others bit the hard shell.

However, at this moment, the Bandit Leader's lackey who had gone to gather information returned. This person leaned into the leader's ear and whispered a few words, which made the leader unhappy.

"What? That bunch saw someone more powerful and decided there's no future in being a Bandit? I spit on that. They think their hands are clean so they want to stop being Bandits, right? It's not that easy. Someone, come here!"

The Bandit Leader called out. Although the surrounding subordinates and underlings didn't know exactly what had happened to make the leader so angry, they all responded immediately: "Boss, what's wrong?"

"What happened? Boss."

The Bandit Leader didn't go into detail; he pointed to a ruthless subordinate leader and ordered: "You, take a few men, go back to the Cunzi, and find a few captured Villagers—no, bring me those few people I have working under me, I have something to do."

The Bandit Leader's lackey guessed what his boss was about to do and shuddered all over, quietly retreating to the side; he didn't want to get involved in such nasty business. Although he himself was a Bandit and had been for several years, and had a few lives on his hands, this lackey had never laid a hand on innocent people; they were always Caravan Shop Assistants, guards, and the like who held weapons.

He himself held Faith in the Goddess of Luck. Although he was a Bandit, whenever he had the chance, he would go to the nearby town to donate property to the church of the Goddess of Luck, seeking the Goddess's blessing and protection.

According to the teachings of the church, those who commit such evil deeds will not receive the Goddess's lucky blessing.

The subordinate leader didn't know what the Bandit Leader wanted to do either, but he didn't ask further; with a wave of his hand, he took his familiar companions and headed toward the Cunzi on the mountain.

The burly Bandit Leader had a profound look in his eyes. His gaze flickered between the Knight outside the Shulin, the listless young new Bandits nearby, and the subordinate leader who had walked away with orders. He muttered under his breath: "Joining the Bandit trade isn't something you can just quit whenever you want. Go home and farm? Ha, you can only do that in your dreams in this lifetime. Soon, I'll have you do something you'll never forget for the rest of your lives."

Jier felt someone watching him; in fact, someone had been peeking at him from the Shulin the whole time, and occasionally he could hear the Bandits' curses. But this gaze contained malice, and although it wasn't aimed at Jier—he could sense that—it was still quite uncomfortable.

Thinking of this, Jier jumped off his horse and came to the pile of corpses and the gradually burning fire. He reached into the fire to grab a burning piece of firewood; the flames and temperature on the wood didn't burn his hand so quickly, as he was protected by his steel Gauntlet.

Jier carried this burning piece of firewood, mounted his horse, and galloped to the edge of the Shulin, throwing the burning wood inside toward where the Bandits might be numerous.

Whoosh—

The immense force carried a whistling wind, blowing the flames on the firewood out in an instant.

But when the firewood landed on the trees and the leaf-covered ground in the Shulin, the seemingly extinguished flames instantly flared up again, igniting the dead branches and fallen leaves around the landing spot.

Listening to the shouting and panicked fire-extinguishing sounds of the Bandits in the Shulin, Jier laughed out loud and made several insulting gestures toward the Shulin before preparing to leave and return to guard the team.

Some Bandits had Hunting Bows and shot Arrow after Arrow at Jier from the Shulin, but these Hunting Bows used by ordinary people were only good for Hunting small beasts with fur. Facing a Knight in armor and an armored warhorse like Jier, aside from the Arrows that missed and landed in the grass, the Arrows that hit him only made a few crisp clanging sounds.

Courtesy demands reciprocity; Jier reached back to take the Hunting Bow from the Weapon Rack on his horse's back, nocked an Arrow, pulled the Bowstring taut, and returned the favor.

However, his archery skills were very poor. Although he had talent in this area, he had never practiced properly. Standing on the ground shooting at a fixed target was fine, but while riding on a bumpy horse and shooting at Bandits hidden in the Shulin, he shot a few Arrows and returned empty-handed.

But the Bandits couldn't do anything to him either; the two sides could be considered to have fought to a draw.

"Tch, let's go back."

Jier put away his Hunting Bow and rode his horse back toward the Refugee Team in frustration. Meanwhile, the Bandits in the Shulin breathed a sigh of relief. A Bandit carrying two bags of homemade Bow and Arrow released the hand he had been holding over his companion's mouth, and only then did this Bandit, who held a weapon similar to a Hunting Bow, let out a suppressed wail from his mouth.

Looking down, it turned out that an Arrow had struck his right shoulder blade. The force of the Arrow was heavy, piercing straight through his shoulder and even shattering the bone inside.

Needless to say, this Bandit would never be able to pull a bow and shoot an arrow again in this lifetime.

Seeing this scene, the Bandit Leader's brow furrowed even tighter: "These Knights, they really don't leave a way for ordinary people to live."