Chapter 796: Minced Meat and Bean Soup, News Obtained from Interrogation

The sun does not slow down or speed up according to the joys and sorrows of the living beings on the earth; after the Refugee Team was attacked, the entire team came to a complete stop.

Jier rode his warhorse, shouting to get everyone to gather together, temporarily staying in place to defend against the bandits who might appear again. He actually wished those bandits would come out and attack the team again, so that he would have the chance to execute those cruel and greedy bandits one by one.

But the bandits did not do as he wished.

Just as the Refugee Team, under Jier's command, was chopping firewood, burning the corpses of the victims by the side of the Shanglu, and the Priest was treating the wounded from the attack, those bandits seemed to have retreated into the depths of the Shulin on both sides not far from the Shanglu, and not a single attack occurred.

However, Jier, who had a good view from horseback, could be certain that apart from the Hunter keeping watch on the top of the small hill not far away, there was more than one pair of eyes in the mountains and forests on the left and right sides of the Refugee Team watching him, and his team.

In places with many mountains, the sky gets dark early.

Even though Jier himself felt there should still be some time before dark in late spring, the Cook ran over to remind him: if he didn't intend to let the entire team walk for a while longer today, then they had to start preparing tonight's dinner now.

Considering the previous attack and the deaths and injuries of the people, Jier gave instructions to the cooks: "Take out some of the dried meat made on the road, boil a few large pots of bean and meat soup with the dried beans obtained at Dorn Town, and let everyone have something good to eat tonight with the Wheat Porridge."

The dried meat Jier spoke of was from small animals hunted along the way by him and some of the people in the team who used to be village hunters; for the fattier parts, everyone rubbed in some Coarse Salt and pickled them in wooden barrels, while the leaner animal meat had the blood drained and was roasted over a fire into dry, hard, cooked dried meat.

The former could be kept for a long time but could not be eaten alone, while the latter could be used to reward people who performed well along the way.

"As you command, Knight. But if we want everyone in the team to be able to eat a few mouthfuls, we'll have to use up about half of the meat at once. What do you think?" the Cook asked cautiously.

Jier waved his hand casually, telling him to just go ahead and do it.

Seeing that the young Knight insisted on doing so, the Cook didn't mind, and trotted off to find Mr. Bafute, who managed the team's supplies, to ask for the items.

"Three villages, three large-scale Bandit Groups."

Jier looked at the sun, which was about to approach the mountains and forests in the distance, then lowered his gaze to follow the Shanglu stretching out beneath his feet, and let out a frustrated breath.

The Shanglu turned a corner a few kilometers away, following the direction of the mountains and forests on the left and right, and disappeared into the distance. If, according to Bata'er Jiaoshi, they continued along this road, they would be able to walk out of this mountain forest with few villages in three days. In the southeast direction they were currently traveling, in a relatively wide river valley area, a large town, larger than a town but smaller than a city, was located there.

However, when Bata'er Jiaoshi had passed through there before, the town no longer received outsiders or allowed teams to approach. Only a small number of farmers could leave the town gates every day to tend to some farmland belonging to the Nobles near the town, growing some fast-growing vegetables and root crops to provide for the town.

As for the villages near the town and more open land, they were completely unmanaged and untended. The people there only hurriedly sowed crop seeds in early spring, and had no other actions besides that. No one did the watering, weeding, bird scaring, fertilizing, etc. It seemed that as for how much grain could be harvested by autumn, the people there were also leaving it to the will of the gods.

"Boss, you're hurt! Someone come quickly, bring out the clean water and the Ointment!"

A bandit who had followed the Bandit Leader for several years shouted to the others nearby, while the Bandit Leader, with a look of bad luck on his face, hissed through his teeth, enduring the pain caused by the crossbow bolt that had pierced his entire arm.

This was their Temporary Yingdi in the Shulin on the other side of the Shanglu. Usually, people were left here, so various supplies and tools that could or could not be used were basically all here.

A subordinate brought a pair of small iron pliers, wanting to help the Bandit Leader cut the crossbow bolt on his arm, but the Bandit Leader pushed the subordinate away, looked around, and asked the people nearby: "Where is my lackey? Where the hell did he die?"

Everyone looked at each other, and no one knew where that guy had run off to.

"Leader, I know!" a newly joined bandit who had not been in for long shouted weakly.

"If you know, then call him here for me!" the Bandit Leader waved his hand, signaling the man to go call his lackey.

This made the newly joined bandit look troubled: "Leader, when we rushed out of the Shulin to attack the Refugee Team, that guy wanted to go steal the warhorse that damn Knight left outside the forest."

"Did that guy succeed and run off?"

The Bandit Leader asked suspiciously.

"No, he died. He was trampled to death by that warhorse, I saw it with my own eyes!"

The newly joined bandit who was speaking patted his chest, guaranteeing that what he said was the truth.

"Pah! Stupid dog! Let him be dead then." The Bandit Leader cursed, and then didn't care; after all, that guy had only just helped him with a swindling job, and for someone who knew everything, it was fine if he died, saving him from having to send that guy off himself.

"You, come over and cut the crossbow bolt for me." The Bandit Leader reached out and pointed at the newly joined bandit who had just spoken to him, not letting the circle of veteran bandits nearby help treat the wound on his arm.

He had been in this business for seven or eight years and had heard too many stories and news of bandit bosses being poisoned or killed by their own trusted subordinates. Don't look at how these seemingly loyal guys were willing to block blades and die for him in looting operations; if there was a real opportunity to kill him and take his place, the Bandit Leader believed these guys who looked 'loyal' would definitely do it without hesitation.

They were all in this line of work; everyone knew what the others were thinking.

While the Bandit Leader was treating his wound, the other bandits nearby were excitedly counting the spoils of this looting in the Temporary Yingdi.

Although this Refugee Team of several hundred people was very hard to crack, the harvest from this looting was very rich. Not to mention anything else, just the seven or eight wooden barrels filled with magical glowing grain made these uncultured bandits feel it was worth a lot of money.

These guys gathered together in familiar groups, surrounding the opened grain barrels, carefully taking the glowing grain from the barrels to examine it.

"It's so beautiful, this grain. I guarantee, if my old man saw these things, he would definitely go crazy with joy."

A short, stocky bandit fiddled with a small pinch of glowing grain in his palm, muttering to himself.

"You haven't been home for years, what, still thinking about going home to farm?"

A bandit companion nearby asked curiously. He himself picked up a grain of the glowing grain, wanting to put it in his mouth to taste it, but didn't dare.

"Farm? Farm my ass! I just can't farm, I don't want to work hard all year round, only to have half the harvest taken away by others to pay taxes, that's why I came out to do this. But my old man thinks it's okay. I heard him say that when he was a boy in the Empire, the harvest in the village, besides the grain left for everyone to eat for the year according to the number of people, all had to be handed over to the lord's grain collector. That was the bitter life, no one was ever full."

After the short, stocky bandit finished speaking, he grabbed a handful of glowing grain, let it slip through his fingertips, and looked at the plump glowing grain in his hand with infatuation: "This thing must be what those Nobles eat, that's why those Nobles are always glowing all day long."

"Makes sense."

The bandits discussed it heatedly.

Someone suggested boiling a pot of this glowing grain to let everyone taste the food that Nobles eat.

This proposal was immediately agreed to by almost all the bandits. The Bandit Leader, who was applying thick, pungent Ointment to the wound on his arm, also shouted loudly: "That's right, we lost so many brothers, today we also have a chance to taste what those damn Nobles eat. Whoever thinks they are good at cooking, set up the iron pots in the camp and light the fire in the ground stoves! There are dozens of brothers, boil three big pots! Let everyone eat their fill!"

"The Leader is right!"

"Long live the Leader!"

The sun fell into the mountains, and the night covered the entire sky like a pitch-black Cloak.

The Refugee Team on the Shanglu ate their meal. Following Knight Jier's request, the cooks brought out their best skills today, making enough minced meat and bean soup for everyone to have a bowl, as well as unlimited thick Wheat Porridge.

The people who had not been directly attacked by the bandits during the day ate happily. Although the team had a fierce fight with the bandits today and suffered some losses and casualties, the people who had not faced the bandits directly didn't care about this at all; filling their stomachs and eating well was what they really valued.

Everyone, regardless of gender, showed off that the minced meat in their bowls was more than that in their companions' bowls. If anyone could scoop up a piece of fatty meat with white fat, they would proudly turn their noses up to the sky. The beans, soaked with meat juice, were filling and delicious. The cooks had put all kinds of beans into the iron pots, so the colorful beans of various flavors in the people's bowls were also quite good.

As for the people at the back of the team who had been attacked by the bandits earlier, they ate this food, which they usually couldn't eat, with uneasy minds.

Since everyone left their hometowns to flee as refugees, many people hadn't eaten this well for more than half a year. The last time they ate like this was during the Harvest Festival celebration last year.

But no matter how delicious the food in their mouths was, compared to the fact that they could lose their lives at any time, even a fool knew which was more important.

Jier was in no mood to eat. He was currently feeding a large amount of beans to the Tianxuecao, which had not yet been unarmored; there might be more fighting tonight.

Therefore, the people did not remove their armor, and neither did the horses.

Xueya Site walked over carrying a leather whip used for driving horses. The leather whip in his hand was still dripping with blood and even carried suspicious human skin tissue.

"Jier, I interrogated the few bandits we captured. The bandit leader who led the team to attack us today goes by the nickname 'Iron Barrel', and this entire area is his territory. The two mountains on the left side of the camp, including a village on the mountain, as well as the Shulin on the right, his territory extends to a river opposite this mountain. As for the front and back, half a day in the direction we came from, and continuing along the Shanglu for a short half-day, are all his territory."

Xueya Site said this while pulling out a clean cloth to wipe the carriage whip in his hand. Horses have very keen noses; if the carriage whip smells strongly of blood, it easily makes the horses pulling the carriage feel uneasy and nervous.

Jier patted the Tianxuecao and let his warhorse, having released its bit, eat the Beans from the small bucket.

He walked over and said to his companion, "A village? Territory? Hah, these Bandits really think of themselves as someone. What is the situation with the Cunzi?"

"Cunzi is called New Clear Spring Cunzi, a village of moderate size. Although it is in the mountains, it is actually not far from the Shanglu beneath our feet, as long as you know the way. Because it relies on the Shanglu, it is not one of those extraterritorial villages that do not pay taxes to the Noble Lord. It always paid taxes on time in the past, so before the various Noble Lords led their troops away last winter, the public order here could not be called good, but it wasn't bad either."

"Regarding the situation in the Cunzi, according to the interrogated Bandit, there are more than ten large houses, which can probably house over two hundred people. Of course, when that Bandit Group occupied the Cunzi, the entire village had fewer than fifty elderly and young Villagers who refused to flee. Just like other Bandits, those Bandits enslaved the original Villagers, and subsequently captured many people from various places who fell into their hands to serve the Bandits with status and strength in the Bandit Group, or to replace the Bandits in cultivating the original Cunzi's farmland. Relying on the looting by this Bandit Group, the number of people in that village grew more and more."

Jier snorted: "So this Bandit Group called 'Iron Barrel' is quite busy, isn't it? Any news on the other two Bandit groups?"

"The few Bandits I interrogated didn't know much, and the information is quite chaotic. You know, the Bandit community is always full of rumors and stories they make up at will."

"Tell me the believable ones."

Xueya Site nodded: "There are three Bandit groups nearby, each occupying three villages along this Shanglu. The one we fought today is the 'Iron Barrel' group, and the boss is 'Iron Barrel'. The other group ahead is a Bandit group organized by a middle-aged mercenary nicknamed 'Ken the Slasher', and the group's public name is 'Dead Spot'. They occupy a village called Banbo Wood Cunzi, which was originally a village that produced a type of timber called Banbo Slippery Wood. It was almost just a camp for Lumberjacks."

"However, those Lumberjacks fled to the vicinity of the town ahead with their families in the spring, and that 'Ken the Slasher' gathered a group of people to occupy it. According to the guy I interrogated, the relationship between the two groups is not good, and they often have conflicts these days over which group gets to loot the Caravans and pedestrians on the road."

Jier felt a bit amused: "Then how did they resolve it? By having a fierce fight?"

Xueya Site shook his head: "'Iron Barrel' took a step back and focused more on the Caravans and pedestrians coming from the direction we came from. As for 'Dead Spot', they can only eat the scraps that leak through from both ends of the Shanglu."

Jier rubbed his gums, feeling that this might be a direction for a breakthrough.

After all, if it were him, he would naturally know that if there were Bandit groups at both ends of the Shanglu eating all the fat meat, it would be almost impossible to leave enough resources for the one in the middle. In such a position, it is basically a slow wait for death.

Not only is it difficult for the Bandits in the group to get reinforcements from outsiders, but as long as they cannot make money for a long time, the good hands within their own team will flee or betray them to join the other two.

If it were him, he would definitely not sit and wait for death.

And at this time, since a large-scale confrontation battle has not yet occurred, it can only be said that the middle-aged mercenary nicknamed 'Ken the Slasher' has not had the opportunity to make a move, rather than not wanting to. The situation is just like this; it is not up to whether he wants to or not.

If he does not want to give up his status as a mercenary, after becoming a Bandit, if he cannot seize the current opportunity for Bandits to grow, he must find a way to grow bigger and stronger to create glory.

After all, even if the war ends later and the various Noble Lords and Knight Lords return with their troops, if the Bandit Group can occupy several villages with hundreds or thousands of subordinates, they might even be able to get to the negotiating table and trade for a legal status through negotiations.

After thinking about this, Jier asked Xueya Site again: "Then do you know how these Bandits knew in advance that our group was going to pass through the Shanglu?"

After all, as it looks now, unless the Bandits have been deploying long-term, uninterrupted scouts on the Shanglu, it is difficult for them to bring all their men out to loot from their village lair in the mountains.

One must know that the Refugee Team under Jier does not move slowly; during the day, except for short breaks while traveling, they are basically moving the whole time. By the time these Bandits discovered them, gathered their men, and chased after the Refugee Team, they should basically have been about to cross this group's territory.

As a result, the moment the Refugee Team stepped into the territory of this Bandit group, these people had already organized their men and launched an attack first.

"This interrogated person does know. I heard that there are people who specialize in delivering and selling information about Caravans. About half a day before us, they sold the information about our team to that 'Iron Barrel' for the price of one Gold Coin."

Speaking of this, Xueya Site smiled: "However, this information is also half true and half false. The information about the size and scale of the team is mostly true, but the seller of the information specifically exaggerated the value of the supplies and items we are carrying. In addition, there was no intelligence about you, Jier, in the message. That is why that 'Iron Barrel' suffered a big loss when they launched the first wave of attacks on us at noon."

"So that's how it is."

Jier punched his palm, first suspecting in his heart whether it was someone from the Hunting God Church, doing this to cause trouble for him and his team and to avenge the Hunter companions who died before?

But Jier thought again that it was unlikely. This method and style really did not fit with the Hunters he had fought before. That group of people was powerful and had a strong background; it was basically impossible for them to look down on these Bandit groups that had only emerged and grown on the Shanglu for less than a year.

As for the two Hunters Jier fought before, they could basically kill seven or eight out of a hundred Bandits in a single night.

The Hunting God Church would not bother to use such a low-class method to cause trouble for him. After all, the other party is a Hunter, and what they hunt is an ancient, primitive god on the verge of extinction.

In this way, the ones causing trouble for him are simply information Merchants who have been in this business for years, are well-informed, usually entrenched in towns at trade nodes, and sell Caravan information to Bandits whenever they see a profitable opportunity.

These people are truly harming others to benefit themselves, Jier cursed.