Chapter 792: The Powerless Priest Bata'er, the Old Merchant on the Carriage

"What do you mean you've struck it rich? If you'd really found valuable treasure, would you be able to shout so loudly, you guy? Haha."

The Bandit Leader pushed aside the bandits blocking his path, arrived before his subordinate, reached out and scooped into the wooden barrel the bandit was excitedly pointing at with his finger, and then pulled out a large handful of plump wheat grains that were still emitting a faint, dim glow in the daylight.

"This..."

The Bandit Leader's breathing hitched; he didn't recognize what this thing was, but looking at its appearance, he reckoned it was quite extraordinary.

"What about the other barrels? Open all the other barrels and take a look! Quickly!"

Realizing something, the Bandit Leader hurriedly ordered the bandits who were looting and killing nearby to drop what they were doing and immediately check if all the other sealed containers held these things.

Soon, the bandits under the leader's command pried open wooden barrels or wooden crates one by one, discovering that some of the wooden containers inside were filled with quite a lot of this glowing grain.

"Struck it rich, this time we've really struck it rich. Grain that can glow, %%￥, I've never eaten this in my life. Is it that those nobles and Priests eat these things all day? As expected, they're different from us common folk."

The Bandit Leader slapped the bandit subordinate beside him hard and shouted excitedly: "Quickly grab these things, forget about those ragged clothes and torn pants, everyone carry a barrel and leave first, the others continue the attack! Disrupt this group's formation!"

The bandits had also never seen such things, so they speculated one after another that this glowing grain was worth a lot of money; at first, they used their hands or the leather caps on their heads to scoop up the grain, but later, after hearing the Bandit Leader's words, they all directly hoisted the God-given grain that the people had saved up through frugality, and ran off excitedly.

This was because at this moment, Bata'er Jiaoshi had arrived with people from the middle of the Refugee Team.

Although there weren't many believers who came to fight, these dozen or so believers were quite brave; they raised the knives and Daggers in their hands and charged directly past the fleeing people toward the bandits.

Bata'er Jiaoshi, for his part, held the Hushin Statue of the God in one hand and raised the Amber Metal Long Staff high in the other, charging straight at the Bandit Leader on horseback with imposing momentum.

On the left and right sides, bandits swung knives and axes to hack at the prairie horse the Priest was riding, but Bata'er Jiaoshi reached out and thrust the Hushin Statue of the God he was gripping tightly in his left hand toward the bandits; the next instant, a violent Divine Power Impact erupted from the statue, and three or four bandits on the left side of the prairie horse were blown away in an instant.

However, because the Shanglu was open, the bandits blown far away by the Divine Power rolled a few times in the soft wild grass by the road, then immediately crawled up while painfully rubbing their limbs. Although they were all shouting about the pain, it didn't have the same great power as when the Priest used this thing in the Shulin before, which could directly kill bandits.

When the bandits on the left were blown away by the Divine Power and the bandits on the right attacked, the Priest chanted a phrase and swung the Metal Long Staff hard at the bandits.

Although he had practiced the staff techniques specialized for Priests, in the eyes of the bandits, this strike had no force or threat, and they roared as they swung their weapons heavily, determined to knock the glowing staff out of the Priest's hand.

"Be careful not to break that thing, I've got my eye on it!"

The Bandit Leader roared, fearing his subordinates would be ignorant and hack apart something that looked valuable; although that thing was still held in the Priest's hand, the Bandit Leader already regarded the Amber Metal Long Staff as his own property, his eyes full of distress.

But things are often so incredible; Bata'er Jiaoshi's seemingly powerless swing of the staff, once it collided with the bandits' weapons, caused the amber on the staff to emit a dim yellow light, and all at once, like resin secreted by a pine tree, it spread from the point of weapon collision, slowly yet quickly wrapping around the entire bandit.

The three bandits on the Priest's right were instantly frozen in place by that light, with no further movement, as if they were truly encased in amber.

This turn of events terrified the Bandit Leader, whom the Priest was charging directly; although this guy felt he could hack to death two or three such frail Church Priests with one axe, facing this kind of bizarre ability, he was still like a small child, with no power to resist at all.

"Hoo—hoo—come on, come on!"

But the bandits had their own crude methods for dealing with this mysterious power; the Bandit Leader suddenly cast aside the Ganlanying Muto Shield he had been holding in his left hand, grabbed a dead person from the ground with one hand, and rammed it toward the head of the staff that was charging straight at his face.

This scene made Bata'er Jiaoshi heartbroken and furious, but he had no choice; the timing for the horse to charge and attack was only this once, and since the enemy used this method of insulting a corpse to block the attack, he was helpless.

The Bandit Leader instantly dodged the prairie horse and then took the opportunity to raise his axe and hook it at the side of the horse, right where the Priest's right leg was, but this strike only sparked a burst of Divine Power and did not, as he had expected, sever the Priest's right leg or pull him off the horse.

Although the counterattack didn't succeed, the Bandit Leader glanced at the corpse he had grabbed on the fly, watching as this body, like his few subordinates before, was shrouded in a mass of dim yellow light, its body motionless and extremely stiff.

"Ha, useless! You damn Priest master, these things can only be used to fool farmers and their wives who dig in the dirt, you've got no real skills!"

Just as the Bandit Leader finished mocking, Bata'er Jiaoshi turned on the horse's back and raised the Hushin Statue of the God in his left hand at him, followed immediately by a strong impact.

But this fat and strong Bandit Leader was not only capable, his body weight was more than that of two adult men; the Divine Power Impact that could normally blow a person away directly could only blow this Bandit Leader, who had half-crouched down, staggering back a few steps as it rushed toward his face.

"How can this be..."

This was the first time Bata'er Jiaoshi had encountered someone who could block a Divine Power Impact purely by body weight and crouching; however, surprised as he was, after quickly judging that his two moves were ineffective against this person, he immediately shifted his attack target, choosing to strike at other bandits who were either looting or killing nearby.

The horse he was riding didn't slow down, charging and ramming straight through this wave of bandits, while the Amber Metal Long Staff in his hand, emitting a dim yellow light, chased and poked at the bandits, even as these bandits abandoned the unconscious female refugees they were carrying and the barrels containing the God-given grain, turning and running away.

But how could people on two legs outrun a prairie horse running like the wind?

Although the Priest didn't know how to fight on horseback, simply chasing the bandits and poking them with the staff was easy. Often, once he caught someone and poked them in the back, that person would immediately fall to the ground while maintaining a running posture. And facing the Flying Axes or weapons attacking from around him, Bata'er Jiaoshi also used his body to take the hits, then blasted a Divine Power Impact toward the area where the bandits were thickest.

However, even though he was this active, the power was ultimately insufficient; the bandits covered in the dim yellow light looked like they had been frozen and controlled by mysterious power, but if one looked closely, one could see those people were still moving, just dozens of times slower than normal.

And because of the experience from the previous night battle, this time Bata'er Jiaoshi didn't release too much power at once when using the Amber Metal Long Staff. Although the power was insufficient, the number of uses was greatly increased.

But correspondingly, after the bandits discovered in the initial panic that those shrouded in the mysterious light were only slowed down and didn't die directly, these people became bold. Moreover, they could also use the innocent refugees they held hostage or the corpses everywhere to block the Priest's mysterious attacks for them.

As for the Priest's Divine Power Impact, the bandits had no way to block this move like their leader, and could only helplessly be blown away by this huge force. Fortunately, the place where they were fighting was open ground along the Shanglu, so after being blown away, rolling a few times on the soft ground wasn't a big problem.

Even when the bandits kept a distance from the Priest, these huge impacts issued by the Priest had their power greatly reduced because the bandits were too far away, and they couldn't even blow people away, only knock them down.

If Bata'er Jiaoshi was like this, the brave religious people he brought were even worse.

These brave ones who charged fast rushed forward when facing the bandits, fighting these cruel bandits in a chaotic manner using methods they deemed appropriate.

At first, the bandits were taken aback, but having often seen such desperate resistors from the caravans they looted, these people also had many tricks. Although these religious people were brave, they had almost no combat skills or experience; facing the retreating bandits, they didn't think twice and directly pursued them.

"Don't pursue! Everyone gather together to fight!"

Bata'er Jiaoshi saw it clearly from the horse's back; those brave religious people who followed him were chasing the seemingly retreating bandits, but the bandits split into two, and these pursuing people also split up to pursue. The bandits split again, and the people, without much thought, split their formation to pursue.

These brave religious people thought it was their own Yongqi that moved the great God of Agriculture, which was why everyone could force back these seemingly cruel bandits.

But while a group of people swarming together was hard to deal with, once they dispersed into groups of only one or two, they lost their threat, and the bandits' counterattack came immediately.

Bandits with some combat ability were no match for two people; without having to guard against people rushing to kill from other directions, if they only fought head-on, the two people were often hacked to the ground by the experienced bandits in a few strokes.

"No!!!"

Bata'er Jiaoshi shouted out loud, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words to retreat, because once they retreated, these bandits would inevitably continue to pursue the people, which would then cause even greater chaos and casualties.

"Sorry! The Armed Squad in the back, hurry up!!!"

Bata'er Jiaoshi could only hope that the Armed Civilians of the Armed Squad running over from the front of the team would move faster and arrive as soon as possible.

He himself didn't feel he was in danger, because the surrounding bandits, having judged that they couldn't hurt him, had all turned their heads to attack the people.

The dozen or so young religious people brought by Bata'er Jiaoshi were ultimately separated by the bandits' schemes in just one encounter, and then finished off in a few strokes. And the Armed Civilians that Bata'er Jiaoshi was anxiously hoping for were blocked in the middle of the team by the large number of ordinary refugees fleeing from the back, forced to bypass the Shanglu and the grass near the Shanglu, and detour from the left and right sides.

Because of this delay, the bandits who didn't have loot in their hands continued to catch up to the people who were reluctant to part with the supplies in their hands.

A carriage at the back of the team was also caught up to by the bandits.

Logically speaking, the carriage only needed the driver to crack the whip a few times, and the carriage could overtake the crowd and escape early. But when the people in front of the carriage threw away various supplies and Handcarts out of fear, the carriage was completely blocked on the Shanglu and couldn't escape at all.

Therefore, when the bandits chased to this point, the driver directly jumped off the carriage and ran forward; as for the others on the carriage, he naturally couldn't care about them.

"Grandpa, run, get off the carriage quickly!"

The little boy pushed aside the large bags of supplies blocking the way, hoping that he and the old Merchant who took care of him could both escape.

In truth, they should have long since abandoned the carriage to flee, but when they had previously encountered bandits, this same group of bandits had been beaten back by Knight Jier before they could even get close to the caravan. This led many in the caravan, including them, to believe there was no need for excessive nervousness when facing bandits.

But once the Knight charged into the Shulin to deal with the bandits, everything changed. The bandits, who suddenly burst out from the Shulin near the caravan, only then truly revealed their cruel side.

And because the Armed Civilian at the front of the caravan were too far from the rear, it gave these bandits an opportunity to exploit.

The supplies that were being discarded one after another also completely blocked the movement of the carriages; the carriages that could once bring people comfort had now become cages for those inside them.

"Don't worry about me, you get off the carriage and run! Those with combat ability in the front will be here soon, hurry and get off to run forward!"

The old Merchant himself was not nimble on his feet and knew he could not escape in time, so he forcibly pushed this little child, letting him jump off the carriage to flee.

But the child, whose life had been saved by the old Merchant in a Bandit Jianlao, did not abandon the old Merchant to flee alone; he stubbornly held onto the other cargo boxes on both sides with his hands, struggling not to be pushed off the carriage by the old Merchant.

"I'm not leaving! I'm not leaving! I want to stay with Grandpa, if we're going to die, then let's die together." The child had a stubborn look on his face, even lying down entirely among the cargo on the carriage, acting as if he didn't care about anything.

The old Merchant wanted to give this little one a hard slap on the head, but in the end, he couldn't bear to do it. Having no other choice, he laboriously covered the child with some lighter supply bundles from the side, attempting to conceal him.

"If you're not leaving, then don't speak, and breathe more lightly! With the things blocking you, they might not see you. Hold on a little longer, and the people from the front will come."

The old Merchant was panting heavily after moving a few bundles and had no strength left, so he had to lean to one side.

"Then what about you, Grandpa? You should also find something to hide yourself!"

Hearing this, the old Merchant tapped his aching back and waist, saying regretfully: "Grandpa can't make it, I'll just sit here like this. Anyway, these brutal guys... sigh, I reckon they won't even have the interest to take a second look at an old guy like me whose bones are already hollow. Stay hidden, don't speak again, rest assured, Grandpa is fine, it's fine."

The old man, while soothing the child pressed beneath the bundles, looked worriedly at a young man tied to the back of the carriage.

That young man stood in place with a blank expression, holding a Long Sword in his hands, but his waist was bound by a thin Rope and tethered to the back of the carriage.

The people around had all abandoned their supplies and luggage and run away, and he watched with a blank expression, and he listened with a blank expression to the continuous shouts of killing coming from behind.

Only whenever someone was struck by a weapon and let out a painful scream, the young man's blank face would twitch, as if recalling some memories he did not wish to echo.

Wailing.

Pain.

Blood.

Flames.

And of course, corpses and the grinning faces of those who created the corpses one by one.

At this moment, the young man no longer muttered the names of individuals he knew at the academy, but began to unconsciously recite the names of his own family's relatives and friends.

"Sigh, although you were also once a Bandit, I reckon this bunch won't let you go either. Come, you should flee too!"

The old man moved strenuously among the supplies in the carriage box; he took out the personal Dagger he had been issued and forcefully cut a Rope tied to the end of the carriage.

"Grandpa?"

The child's puzzled voice had just sounded when he was sternly criticized by the old Merchant: "How did you promise me? Hide quietly, don't speak again, until it is completely safe."

"Okay..."

"Hmm?"

After hearing the old Merchant's questioning, the child beneath the supply bundles finally stopped making sound this time, becoming completely quiet.

Because his body was small, with a few light bundles pressed on top, one could not see that a person existed here at all.

Snap, a section of Rope fell to the ground. Finally, the old Merchant cut the Rope, and he waved his hand at the young man with the blank expression: "Run quickly! Run toward the sides of the Shanglu; if it's just you alone, those bandits shouldn't have any interest in chasing!"

But the young man only stared blankly at the old Merchant who was speaking to him, his eyes still filled with a blank expression.

"Sigh, I'm telling you to run! If you don't leave now, it'll be too late! Run! Run!"

The old Merchant saw that this person was still dazed, and behind this young man, the dozen or so people brought by the Bata'er Jiaoshi had all been killed by the bandits by this time.

Turning his head to look again at the chaotic and crowded state of the middle of the caravan, many of the civilians who had fled there were excitedly grabbing the hands and arms of the Armed Civilian, as if by firmly grasping people, they themselves would be completely safe.

But the actions of these people disrupted the movement and organization of the Armed Squad.

The Armed Civilian who ran fast had already rushed past the middle of the caravan and were running further, but those who ran slowly were completely tripped up by the people fleeing past.

"Really, why is it always like this."

The old Merchant watched with an anxious face; if the Armed Civilian who rushed over like this arrived in twos and threes, wouldn't that just be delivering corpses to the bandits! Although he didn't understand combat very well, he at least knew that Warrior could only exert combat power when gathered together; combat, generally speaking, was about having more people fight fewer people.

The old Merchant looked again at the Bata'er Jiaoshi who was still attempting to fight on the bandit side, and also sighed. He could see that although the Jiaoshi was already trying very hard to fight, once these bandits saw through the Jiaoshi's own limitations in ability, it would be very difficult for the Bata'er Jiaoshi to make any effective response.

"You shouldn't have charged up, Bataer! Sigh, you should have walked at the back, commanding and leading more Armed Civilian, rather than having those brave young men come over to fight. Sigh..."

The old Merchant sighed heavily, while trying to drive the dazed young man behind the carriage to flee for his life, he placed his final hope on the edge of the Shulin in the distance.

There, Jier's warhorse was standing at the edge of the Shulin, waiting for its master, and was also the greatest guarantee for the safety of the entire caravan.

How the old Merchant wished that in the next second, Knight Jier would charge out of the Shulin, either alone or leading the dozens of Armed Civilian he had called away earlier, to fiercely beat these bandits who were slaughtering and looting wantonly.

But when those bandits rushed to the side of the carriage, there was still no movement from the direction of the Shulin.