Chapter 821: Arguments and Disagreements

"Those bandit scum must have colluded with the monsters harassing the town! Once this year's war is over, I will force my father to lead troops to wipe them all out and hang every single one of them on the execution platform!"

The Baron Heir was extremely displeased. He had thought the town only faced the danger of parasitic Flesh Demon monsters; who could have imagined that outside the main commercial road leading from Sasi County to the outside world, there were actually two sizable Bandit Groups?

Because of this, not only was the connection from their Yemei Town to the outside world blocked by monsters, but external forces trying to reach them were also intercepted by those bandits.

How preposterous!

The young man threw a tantrum on the main seat of the hall, then calmed down and began to ask Jier, the visiting Knight, for the detailed sequence of events regarding this matter.

There was nothing that couldn't be said. To save face, Jier slightly modified the story of how he had been lured away by the bandits. As for the other information about the Bandit Groups—including what he and his men had seen and experienced firsthand, as well as what had been tortured out of the captured bandits—he recounted it all with appropriate detail.

After listening, the old man sitting opposite Jier pondered and said, "The problem is not that serious."

"How so?" the young man asked.

The old man explained: "Those parasitic monsters don't have simple origins; they are Flesh Demons..."

He shook his head: "If it weren't for the lack of military strength in the territory, the family would have long since led the local Soldiers and Church Priests to launch a campaign against those guys the moment we discovered the bandits harassing the territory were these parasitic monsters."

"I know that. With insufficient troops, even if the Priests had the intention, I didn't agree to let them leave the town to fight." The young man nodded; he had known this all along. The Church Priests were very powerful and were extremely hostile toward the Flesh Demons behind the parasitic monsters, but large-scale combat could not be achieved by relying solely on the Church Priests in the territory.

Other Kingdoms with powerful Church forces might be able to, but the Saint Hors Kingdom had been established for less than a hundred years, and the Church's power was limited; it clearly wouldn't work. They had to rely on the powerful strength of the Nobles.

But that was precisely the problem. Most of the Soldiers in Sasi County and the wave of Militia that had been conscripted had been taken away by the young man's father—the Sasi Baron—to fight in the war.

That was why Yemei Town had fully contracted its population and forces after discovering the parasitic monsters.

Parasitic monsters, parasitic monsters—if the villages outside the town were allowed to remain as they had been, then in a month or two, there might not be a single living person left in Sasi County.

Returning to the topic, the old man continued: "The parasitic monsters couldn't possibly just let those foolish bandits outside the commercial road be. In my opinion, the cunning monsters are utilizing those bandits, hmm, turning those bandits into a layer of masking barrier."

Jier's eyes lit up; he understood what the old man meant!

After fighting the parasitic monsters before, he had been puzzled as to why they would pretend to be some damn 'Hanging Ghost' Bandit Group. So that was the intention.

The old man continued to explain his view: "The terrain of Sasi County is very enclosed. Except for the main commercial road passage to the northwest of the town, other directions are almost entirely blocked and separated by continuous mountain ranges. It is unlikely one could cross the dangerous mountain forests to reach neighboring Noble territories."

The middle-aged lady opposite also understood. The small fan she was waving stopped, and she said in surprise: "So as long as those monsters seal off the road, it will be very difficult for the outside world to know, or even if they do know, it will be hard to mobilize forces to support us?"

After saying this, she rolled her eyes angrily and 'whispered' a curse: "Big brother should have listened to my husband's suggestion back then and specifically built a checkpoint on the northwest commercial road. If this checkpoint were still in the family's hands right now, things wouldn't have turned out like this."

The young man understood. He took a deep breath and covered half his face with his hand: "Aunt, it's no use saying these things now. If we can hold out until father returns, I will support Bailiet Knight's suggestion in the future."

Seeing that they were no longer speaking, the old man continued to state his view: "And those monsters, I don't know where they found a batch of bandits and deployed them on the road leading to the outside world to intercept Caravans and people coming from the outside to Yemei Town."

Speaking to the end, he plucked out one of his whiskers and stared at the gray hair: "The commercial road has been cut off for a long time since spring..."

"And none of us noticed," the young man added.

The few people in the hall stopped talking and exchanged glances.

Jier leaned back, feeling that the atmosphere was somewhat ominous.

Sure enough, a moment later, the old man looked at Jier: "Young Knight from the north, I heard you say just now that those parasitic monsters are no match for you? And that defeating them is very easy?"

Jier quickly waved his hands, refusing to accept the flattery: "Not at all, not at all. I was just speaking casually. My ability to lead the team through the blockade of bandits and monsters relies mainly on the bravery of the commoners under my command! You must know, those who were willing to take the risk to depart with me from the safe Baishi Chengqiang Guanka are all young people from various Refugee Teams. There are many of them, they have some strength, and they have no way back, so they fight very fiercely."

Jier smiled: "I'm not much; after all, I'm just an Apprentice Knight with limited strength. Along the way, I mostly commanded them to victory."

Jier spoke very modestly, but the old man opposite was no fool. His words took a turn: "So that's how it is. That's not bad either."

"What's not bad?" Jier and the Baron Heir on the main seat said in unison.

The old man glanced at the Baron Heir and then said to Jier: "The town lacks enough Warriors to fight those monsters. Although the Church's power is relatively sufficient and those Priests belonging to various gods have the motivation to deal with Flesh Demons, you must know that because Yemei Town has gathered too many commoners from the vicinity, the town's guards are already severely insufficient just maintaining order."

"That's right. Theft, robbery, brawls, riots—these things happen incessantly inside and outside the town every day. Many of them my guards can handle, but more they cannot, or don't even know about, and most can only rely on the original personnel within each Village to handle them themselves."

The young man waved his hand unhappily, speaking of these troublesome matters.

"So, sirs, what does this have to do with me and my people? I am only passing through Yemei Town this time to replenish some necessary supplies. Afterward, I will lead my team to continue south to Changmai Village to fight those villains and rescue the captured and imprisoned Villagers."

Upon hearing Jier say this, the old man immediately followed up: "Young Knight Jier, it has everything to do with it. Just as I said, the territory is facing a predicament. Every day, the number of parasitic monsters wandering outside the town is increasing. We need to eliminate them; we must eliminate them. We cannot wait for the Church in other regions to slowly prepare manpower and strength; after all, everyone understands that other regions have their own troubles."

"Perhaps this activity of the Flesh Demons will be extinguished in the future, but Sasi County will surely suffer heavy losses." The old man's gaze was burning: "You say you want to rescue the southern Villagers abducted by the defeated army; you say you want to give the Refugee youths who have nowhere to go a safe place to avoid disaster. Hmph, if you ask me, don't even think about it until these parasitic monsters are resolved."

Jier met the old man's eyes: "Do you think I must station my men in Sasi County? I can bring them in, and I can lead them out! It's not like I haven't found a few safe places along the way."

The young man sitting on the main seat was a bit nervous, not knowing why his family's second grandfather was suddenly so tough. He wanted to speak up to ease the atmosphere, but was stopped by his aunt's gaze.

Thus, he held his breath and watched the situation develop.

Facing Jier's previous rhetoric, the old man sneered: "The territory needs the strength of you and your people. You say you need to replenish supplies for your team—easy. Lead your troops to help us deal with these monsters, and the Sasi Family will organize all the power in the town to give you all the supplies you want. You say you want to lead people to rescue the abducted commoners, and that too after defeating a defeated army that crossed heavy mountain ranges—that surely isn't so easy, is it? Look at these strong and brave Soldiers in the hall; if you can clean up the monsters plaguing the territory, the Sasi Family will send troops to help you."

The old man added: "You must know, that so-called Changmai Village is, after all, a tax-paying Village within the territory, and the family has an obligation to handle this matter."

Seeing Jier wanting to say something, he immediately interrupted: "Obligation is obligation, but the family can assist in sending troops immediately to defeat the defeated army, and of course, we can also deal with this matter next year. But everyone knows that captured people rarely survive for half a year. Hunger, beatings, abuse, disease, and cold will all cause the abducted commoners to lose their lives one by one."

Jier gnashed his teeth, looking at the old man a few meters away with an unfriendly gaze: "You've said it all..."

Although on the surface it appeared he had been rendered speechless, Jier didn't actually care much about what the old man said. After all, he wasn't without his own trump cards; he was confident that he and Bata'er Jiaoshi alone could rescue the people of Changmai Village.

But his eyes rolled, and he fell silent.

Just then, the hall door was opened from the outside, and the Sasi Family's Second Butler, who had gone to invite people earlier, led Bata'er Jiaoshi inside.

After the Priest entered and looked at the situation, not understanding what was going on, the Butler immediately arranged for two servants to carry in a chair from another side door of the hall.

It was placed right next to Jier's side.

Thus, Bata'er Jiaoshi walked over, first introduced himself, and then bowed to the three members of the Sasi Family present. The Second Butler immediately announced the identities of the three Sasi Family members in a loud voice.

Just as Bata'er Jiaoshi sat down, the middle-aged lady opposite fanned herself and spoke in a light tone about the predicament currently facing Yemei Town in Sasi County.

"For this reason, every Church in the town has dispatched personnel capable of dealing with Flesh Demon parasitic monsters, under my temporary management, right here in this mansion. Bata'er Jiaoshi, is it? I think you understand the difficulties Sasi County faces today. We must organize sufficient strength to guard our commoners, resist the minions of the evil demons, and eliminate them."

"I understand." The Priest stood up and nodded solemnly.

The old man opposite struck while the iron was hot, speaking to Bata'er Jiaoshi while keeping his eyes fixed on Jier: "The problem lies right here. The organized Church strength is sufficient, and the Sasi Family also has some Refining Qi armored Soldiers, but the problem is that these people are too few, far from enough! Although those monsters haven't attacked the town these days, the harassment has never stopped. Reported or unreported, there are missing refugee Villagers outside the town every day."

The young man on the main seat took over: "The number of those monsters is constantly growing. No one knows how many monsters are entrenched in their lair, or what evil plans they are hatching, but we all know that blind defense is not the way. We must counterattack! Hurt them! Reduce their numbers and make them shrink back so that everyone in Sasi County can survive—either waiting for my father's army to return or waiting for the Church forces from various regions to organize and eradicate the Flesh Demon influence."

Bata'er Jiaoshi nodded, feeling that all of this was correct. He looked at the Jier Warrior to his side. Jier pursed his lips, shrugged, leaned over, and whispered in his ear: "The logic is sound, but the problem is whether it's as serious as these people say. You've seen those parasitic monsters; they're actually just like that. But I don't want to delay any longer regarding Changmai Village. There are countless things in the world that need people to solve; it's impossible for the two of us to have to run around for everything. Are other people useless?"

The Priest also felt there was logic in that.

So, where did the stalemate lie at this moment?

"The power of the parasitic monsters is increasing every day!"

"I am confident that I can rescue the captured Changmai Village villagers with only a small number of people."

"The Sasi Family has an obligation to send people to save these people."

"Forget it, I see that Yemei Town also seems to be in great need of manpower."

"Then how about we work together to clear out the parasitic Monster first? After all, this is a major problem that can affect the entire county!"

"On the way here, I saw quite a few guards on the town walls, so there is no need for the Refugee Team under my command, right? After all, the vast majority of them were Farmer who grew crops before. They are a mess when they fight; how could they compare to the Town Guard who have undergone long-term training?"

"But Yemei Town has gathered several times the original population of the town. In order to keep the situation from becoming chaotic, there must be enough guards in the town to maintain security!"

"But I saved two young people who escaped from the town outside the town. They were locked up in the Security Office in the town before. Those guards still had the time and energy to squeeze money from their families, didn't they?"

"That is not the case, and even if it were, that was before. Now, if you just walk around the town and observe a little, you can see that the current Yemei Town is like boiling hot water, relying entirely on the pot lid to press it down."

"Whether the hot water in the pot is rolling or not is not a problem with the pot lid, nor is it the hot water itself. Everyone knows the problem is the flame at the bottom of the pot! In the current situation of the town, most people are living in agony, but some people seem quite happy."

"Hmph, the flame is not inside the town, it is entirely those parasitic Monster outside the town! Without those parasitic Monster, all problems would not be problems."

"I don't think so, old man. Although I am young, I understand that once the Monster's fire is gone, some other fire will inevitably ignite again, just to keep the water in the pot boiling! Some people who are full will not voluntarily give up."

The old man was furious and waved his hand heavily, saying: "Stop talking about these irrelevant things. Sasi County needs your soldiers to participate in the crusade. They have faced those parasitic Monster, have experience, and have battle results. Although they will not be the main force, they are indispensable manpower."

"Not necessarily, right? If you don't have my people, you have no way at all? Just stay in the town and do nothing?"

"The problem is that now there is a Knight like you, plus a hundred experienced soldiers, and the Church Priest of various churches that have been organized and assembled in the town, we have the opportunity and the strength to solve the current problem. Young man, there is an opportunity in front of you, won't you try it?"

"Problem, problem, problem, you just have to drag my people who have nothing to do with this into it..." Jier exhaled and said no more.

The old man looked at Bata'er Jiaoshi on the side: "I suppose this young Priest also wants to make some contributions to the local people, right? You should know that parasitic Monster are a big problem, and we now have the opportunity to solve it! Will you join in?"

Bata'er Jiaoshi thought for a while. He had no objections, so he looked at Jier.

Jier pointed to Changmai Village on the map in the center of the hall, which made Bata'er Jiaoshi quite embarrassed. On one side were the familiar religious people in the village where he was stationed, and on the other side were the more numerous suffering Farmer, as well as other Church Priest of the local Agricultural God Church.

Bata'er Jiaoshi could not make a decision himself. He decided to leave the choice to Jier, the warrior assigned to him by the guidance of the Agricultural God. The two exchanged glances, and Jier knew that the final decision was in his hands.

So he leaned back in his chair and shook his head.

The three members of the Sasi Family present all frowned, not expecting that even after saying so much, this young Knight was still so stubborn and refused to lend the power in his hands.

Jier paused for a moment, and seeing that the situation was stable, he spoke softly: "Please don't make things difficult for me, everyone. Although so much has been said, Bata'er Jiaoshi and I are burdened with the mission entrusted by the Agricultural God. We have been delayed for a long time on the way and must complete the mission as soon as possible. If possible, I can certainly assist the local area in dealing with this troublesome matter on the way back later."

"If everyone can, please wait a little longer."

The middle-aged lady opposite crossed her legs, leaned back in her chair, and fanned herself casually: "But every day, the situation is deteriorating."

The old man closed his eyes and snorted: "Even the food for daily relief to the people is difficult to distribute."

"How is that possible?" The young man in the main seat did not believe it: "There is so much food at home, I go to see it every two days!"

Jier also felt that the old man was talking nonsense. Everything he saw in the town square earlier was normal.

The old man opened his eyes: "What, didn't little Bell realize where the problem lies?"

The others looked over, and the old man then said: "The food stored by the family is indeed a lot, enough for everyone to eat for several years at this time. But the problem is, that is calculated based on the degree of boiling it into Wheat Porridge. In the town, there is no longer enough firewood to burn. In fact, it has been gone for a long time. Nowadays, all the fuel in the town comes from the southern part of the town that was burned down a few days ago. All buildings within the fire range were demolished, and only then was the fuel collected to last until these two days."

The scene was quite quiet for a while. The old man snorted and looked at Jier: "If no changes are made next, we will have to continue to demolish the civilian buildings in the eastern part of the town and use the wood in the buildings to maintain enough fuel for the whole town."

"But it goes without saying that none of the civilians in the eastern town are willing to voluntarily offer their own houses. Riots and resistance are bound to happen. This is the main reason why guards in the town cannot be lacking."

The young man in the main seat organized his words several times before saying: "I don't know much about this. If there is really no other way, can we first cut down the trees in the family mansion and supply them to everyone in the town?"

"That's a way, but the problem is, even if you add the shrubs in the labyrinth garden, how many days can it last for everyone in the town? Do you understand, little Bell?"

Jier stood up at this time. He coughed twice to attract everyone's attention, and then said: "It is not easy to let my people fight for you, but there is a group of Lumberjack in my team who specialize in logging. Perhaps they can get enough firewood for the town."

"Help you solve some of the urgent problems."