Chapter 842: Leaving Yemei Town

"Get up! Get up! Hurry up and get up to cook!"

Early in the morning, the first to crawl out of their tents were always the cooks, who had to prepare the meal ahead of time.

Before the sky had even brightened, they woke from their sleep right on schedule every day, then roused the other young men who helped in the kitchen.

A dozen or so people used the same wooden basin to fetch some icy water, rubbed their hands, then rubbed their faces, and afterwards, many of them shared a single linen cloth to wipe their hands and faces dry. The early morning of late spring was not particularly cold; everyone exchanged greetings and set to work one after another.

The young kitchen helpers moved in pairs to carry the precious large iron pots, then set them onto the campfires designated by the cooks. They added a couple of half-dry logs, then used thin iron signs to poke at the embers of the campfire that had burned all night, coaxing the fire to blaze up again.

Afterwards, young men came over carrying small wooden buckets filled with clear water, splashing the crisp, clear water into the iron pots to heat.

The cooks got busy, using their personal daggers—which had wider blades—to chop all the common ingredients they could find on small cutting boards. *Dodo-do, dodo-do*, fresh fruits and vegetables traded from Yemei Town were chopped into small bits and poured into the iron pots where the water was gradually coming to a boil. Then, depending on the size of the iron pot, the cooks poured in an appropriate amount of god-given grain.

These grains, which glowed faintly in the darkness, were always beloved, because no matter how you looked at it, these plump grains were not the kind of good things that ordinary people could eat in the past!

Finally, under the expectant gazes of many people around the iron pots, the cooks lifted their chins and proudly stirred all the food in the pots with the large wooden spoons that represented their small measure of authority.

As the water heated up, the ingredients also began to release their respective original aromas.

The fresh, slightly sour scent of the fruits and vegetables and the food-scent of the wheat grains drifted out. Then, the cooks took a handful of crushed salt grains from the leather pouches they kept close at their waists and sprinkled them into the iron pots with a flourish.

Once the food was salted, the aroma became even stronger, and so, accompanied by the sparse crowing of poultry from within the walls of Yemei Town not far away, more people got up.

It was hard to say whether they woke up on time after sleeping, or if they were lured awake by the breakfast stewing in the iron pots.

Or perhaps, it was a bit of both.

"Ooh-wah! Slept so well—"

Jier let out a satisfied sigh from inside his tent.

Last night's sleep could be said to be the most sound sleep he had had in a recent period of time. The last time he slept like this might have been at the inn inside the Baishi Chengqiang Guanka.

Lifting his sleeping bag, Jier crawled up with stiff limbs; there was no helping it, he had been so impatient to sleep last night that he hadn't had time to take off the armor he was wearing, and this was the result.

But it wasn't a big problem. After Jier got up, he took two deep breaths of the cool morning air, then lifted the curtain of his tent, and while stretching his limbs, walked outside.

"Good morning!"

Jier greeted the two guards who had been on duty outside his tent for half the night, which actually left the two young men at a loss.

"Uh, go, good morning, Knight!"

"Lord Jier, hello!"

The two young men responded stumblingly; it seemed that Jier greeting them like this for the first time left them feeling very flustered.

There was no helping it; they hadn't known each other long, and ever since Jier took on the heavy burden of the Refugee Team, he hadn't had a good night's sleep, so naturally, he hadn't been in the mood to greet anyone every morning.

Seeing the state of these two, Jier laughed out loud, stretched his body in the open space outside the tent, and then straightened out the wrinkles that had formed on his new cape after being pressed for a night.

After his body was warmed up, his stomach began to growl. Jier said to the guards: "We'll be setting off in a moment; pack up my tent and load it onto my carriage."

"Yes, my lord!"

"We'll get right on it."

It seemed that only after being given orders did the two young men become fluent in their speech and actions; they quickly dismantled Jier's brand-new single-person tent, skillfully bundled it up tightly, and finally hung it on the back of Jier's carriage, tying it down with rope.

As for Jier, he swayed over to a less crowded eating spot, cut in line, and asked for two large bowls of the vegetable wheat porridge that had just come out of the pot.

The cook in charge of the ladle specially scooped him a few extra vegetable leaves and some red and green sweet-and-sour berries. Jier blew on the wheat porridge in big gulps, not bothering with a spoon, and sent the two bowls of vegetable wheat porridge into his stomach.

"Full! Not bad!"

After Jier finished eating, he complimented the cook, then went to find his warhorse.

Two young grooms had prepared enough beans and clear water for Tianxuecao early in the morning. While Tianxuecao was busy eating, the two of them also squatted to one side, holding wooden bowls and wooden spoons, happily eating the breakfast they had just queued up for.

"You two go ahead and eat; I'll brush my warhorse!"

Jier took the brush and walked over to Tianxuecao. After stroking the long horse head for a while, he flipped Tianxuecao's ears to check if any bugs had flown into the horse's long ears. Then he picked up the large brush and brushed Tianxuecao's coat bit by bit.

This was both to clear out tangled hair and to incidentally clean off dust and small bugs from the fur. As it was brushed smoothly, Tianxuecao also felt comfortable, shaking its head and wagging its tail while eating.

Finally, Jier fetched a basin of water and picked up a smaller brush to clean the dirt off Tianxuecao's four hooves.

Yesterday had been a long period of movement, and in the battle, it had trampled parasitic monsters one after another. Although horseshoes were nailed to its hooves, some unidentifiable suspicious things were still stuck in the crevices.

After a nice wash and brush, Jier, together with the two grooms who had finished their meal, put the full set of horse armor on Tianxuecao.

Tianxuecao was originally a tall, sturdy prairie horse with an excellent bloodline; now, after being draped in the full set of horse armor, it looked even more imposing. Jier estimated that the naturally combative Tianxuecao could even defeat a smaller armed squad.

After the armor was put on, the saddle and reins for riding were fitted, and the weapon rack was fixed behind the saddle. The two grooms lifted Jier's full-metal long spear together and fixed it onto the weapon rack.

Afterwards, they asked Xueya Site for the unstrung bow and two large bags of arrows from Jier's carriage.

With that, Jier mounted the horse with one hand, unfolding the cape behind him as he did so. The horse's hooves clattered, and the cape slowly fluttered against the wind created by the movement.

"Prepare to set off!"

Jier shouted loudly, his voice resounding throughout the place where the Refugee Team was temporarily stationed.

On the town wall to the north not far away, some town guards gathered at the edge of the wall, looking over curiously and pointing.

While Jier was grooming his warhorse, all the people in the team had finished their breakfast and had all taken the time to relieve themselves. Afterwards, everyone got busy; although everyone was bustling about, there was not a hint of chaos, and everyone knew what they should be doing at this moment.

For the pits where feces and urine had accumulated, young men took iron shovels to shovel dirt and fill them in.

More young men and women dismantled the simple tents that had been set up for two or three days. The girls rolled up the whole pieces of waterproof cloth and tied them with hemp rope. The young men pulled the support poles of the tents out of the soft ground, wiped the bottoms of the poles casually with linen cloth, and then several people carried them together, placing the sturdy poles onto the largest and sturdiest carriage in the team.

The cooks seized the time to wash the iron pots they had used clean—though in reality, there was no need; an iron pot used for cooking was cleaner than one licked by a dog. The cooks then tied the iron pots up with rope and carried them on their backs; these were their livelihoods, and every cook had to protect the pot they were responsible for.

More young men and women loaded the team's massive supplies onto carriages and donkey carts. Some handcarts were also filled with supplies of appropriate size and weight, and finally, the remaining small items were tied up with rope and carried on everyone's backs.

Among the busy crowd, some of the newly joined people stood together awkwardly. These people wanted to help, but everyone around them seemed not to need help, so they found Bata'er Jiaoshi, who was leading the morning prayers, hoping to help the team do something so that they, who had just joined, wouldn't seem useless.

Bata'er Jiaoshi, who had risen from the ground, comforted them with a smile: "Don't be too nervous, everyone. Everyone will always find their place in the team. No need to be anxious; try to keep up with the team first! You know, our team's walking speed is not slow. While the team hasn't set off yet, hurry and eat something and drink some water to ensure everyone has sufficient energy."

The people from outside the town who had just joined looked at each other, but since the matter of joining the Refugee Team had been arranged by Bata'er Jiaoshi, they naturally could only follow the young priest's suggestion at this time, hurriedly eating the scarce food they could find on their persons, then taking wooden bowls to ask the person in charge of distributing water for some, and after eating and drinking, prepared to set off with the Refugee Team.

Leaving this place that had disappointed them.

These people from outside the town who followed the priest had already sold their house deeds and land deeds for their homes and fields in the villages outside the town at low prices yesterday. At this moment, they had no way back and could only follow the Refugee Team to try their luck.

The older ones among these people had some confidence in this; after all, many of these people were the first generation of migrants themselves, having settled in the villages near Yemei Town in Sasi County for ten or twenty years, and these people had not forgotten how they had set out to migrate and how they had started from scratch back then.

On the contrary, the young people from outside the town who had fought with the town guards and whose wounds had not yet fully healed felt waves of confusion about leaving their hometown for the first time. But at this point, they couldn't bring themselves to turn back and kneel to curry favor with the unfriendly people of Yemei Town.

Therefore, these young people, having been simply healed by the Priest, stubbornly raised their heads and, without turning back even once, followed the team and set off toward the south.

Jier was riding on horseback; he did not leave with the departing team, but instead turned around, waved toward the southern wall of the town, and held up a glittering object in his hand.

He shouted loudly: "Goodbye! According to our agreement, once I finish my business here, I will return to assist in the counterattack!"

On the southern wall of the town, the town guards who had gathered to watch the excitement had already been dispersed, and Refining Qi soldiers stood by to guard the area; the Sasi Family Heir, the Baron's eldest son—Bell-Sasi—stood there in casual noble attire.

He watched the reflective object Jier was waving with a look of regret in his eyes, and he also shouted in response: "As a Knight, one must fulfill what one has agreed to! This is the most basic rule for a Knight; do not forget what you promised!"

Jier laughed a few times, turned his horse around, and led the team away from there.

At the very end, he had the Armed Squad at the rear of the guard team each take a shovel, and while leaving the open space on the south side of the town, they re-dug the trenches originally excavated by the townspeople, ensuring that parasitic monsters could not sneak in here.

After finishing this, Jier finally led his men to catch up with the Refugee Team that had already walked far away.

On the wall, Bell-Sasi grumbled with dissatisfaction: "What a redundant action; they dug up the path for entering and exiting, making it difficult for me to let people in and out."

He had originally wanted to replicate yesterday's carriage tactics, having Refining Qi soldiers and the town Priests ride together in sturdy carriages, and this time, having learned from experience, prepare more long-range weapons to clear out the parasitic monsters in the villages outside the town batch by batch using mobile combat.

As a result, Jier had gone and cut off the trench passage for entering and exiting, which actually left him quite annoyed.

"Forget it, the south side of the town was not the main direction for the counterattack anyway. Butler!"

Bell called out.

The family Second Butler who was serving him immediately stepped forward from the side: "Young Master."

"Notify the officials at the town Government Office, have them readjust the residential area for the residents outside the south side of the town, and fill in the vacancy left after the refugee team departed for me. Additionally, when adjusting the residential area for the people outside the town, leave the position toward the main road in the northwest of the town vacant for me, and dispatch four squads of town guards to build guard posts and entry-exit passages on the inner side of the trenches outside the town."

He brushed his hands over the edge of the wall and said heavily: "The northwest direction will be the main direction for the family and the town's counterattack later. Facts have proven that those enemies are not impossible to deal with; as long as one masters the composition of the newly organized team and gathers the best Refining Qi strength in the town, one can use the strong to suppress the weak and solve those troubles in a small area, just like smashing an egg with a stone."

The Butler agreed and quickly recorded these instructions in his notebook.

"The territory must look the same as it did when my father left, and look the same when he returns! We cannot simply wait for the expeditionary army to return to solve the trouble. I will prove it to everyone in the territory."

After speaking, he drew the Sword at his waist, and the slender Noble Ceremonial Sword shone brightly against the rising sun.

After Jier's Refugee Team had walked a distance to the south, they stopped according to the wishes of Bata'er Jiaoshi.

At this distance, it was no longer easy to see Yemei Town in the distance, so the team stopping would naturally not cause the people in the town to have other thoughts.

Of course, Jier did not have any thoughts about Yemei Town; on the contrary, he wished that everyone in the team could ride the wind and travel a thousand miles a day to reach Changmai Village as quickly as possible. At this moment, the team was staying in place mainly because humans walking naturally needed to walk for a while and rest for a while.

Drink some water, rest their feet, and those with upset stomachs could also have time to deal with it quickly.

The secondary reason was to wait for some wealthy religious people from Yemei Town who believed in the God of Agriculture, as previously agreed, to let them join the team and follow the team—no, mainly to follow Bata'er Jiaoshi, the Priest of the God of Agriculture in the team.

One should not put all one's eggs in one basket; this principle was clearly understood by many people. Jier had no objections either; herding one sheep is herding, and herding two sheep is also herding; herding a hundred sheep is the same.

Anyway, in the team, he was mainly responsible for force and deciding major matters; he did not need to intervene personally in general team management.

Things that could be arranged were arranged, and for things that required help to manage, Jier also entrusted capable and reliable people in the team to help him manage them together.

"Are they here?"

Jier rode his Tianxuecao to his carriage; Xueya Site was driving the carriage, and sitting on the side was none other than Bata'er Jiaoshi.

The Priest was a bit embarrassed; after hearing Jier's inquiry, he hurriedly responded: "They should be here soon; we agreed yesterday that they would climb over the eastern trench of the town as soon as the sky brightened. There are few of them, so their speed should be faster than our team."

After speaking, he climbed from the carriage rack to the roof of the carriage, stood on the specially reinforced roof, cupped his hands to shade his eyes, and looked toward the north and northeast.

"Will they run into parasitic monsters on the road?"

Xueya Site picked at the beard on his chin and guessed randomly.

"Better not! It was relatively safe staying in the town; don't leave the town for safety only to be delivered to the monster's mouth; that would be truly terrible."

Jier rolled his eyes at Xueya Site: "If they run into monsters and are all finished, that's fine; if half of them run out and meet up with us, I don't even dare to imagine how much resentment these people will have toward the church, and how difficult it will be to appease and manage them on the road later."

Upon hearing Jier say this, Xueya Site chuckled: "That's right; actually, we shouldn't have cared about the town's thoughts; we should have left with our team this morning. It would have saved time and been safe. Separating and meeting up like this adds a lot of risk for no reason."

Bata'er Jiaoshi on the carriage roof turned red and then white; he had mentioned this to his fellow Priests in the town last night, but the Priests of the God of Agriculture who had fought against the parasitic monsters all day yesterday felt that the Flesh Demon parasitic monsters they had always worried about were nothing much after all; plus, their firewood-collecting team had already lured away and killed a large number of parasitic monsters outside the town yesterday, so they insisted on considering the Sasi Family's face and the town's views while letting a portion of the religious people leave the town separately to meet up in a distant place outside the town where they could not be seen.

Fortunately, things were not that unlucky; Bata'er Jiaoshi shouted excitedly: "I see them! The number of people doesn't look like it's missing any, uh, it's just that everyone is carrying a bit too much."

Jier rolled his eyes: "I actually know why they are so slow."

Xueya Site teased: "I guess these people must have each brought all their household belongings, right? And in order to cross the trenches blocking the town, they didn't bring their livestock? Ha, without livestock to help carry things, it's hard for those people."

Jier winked at Xueya Site, then spurred his horse and left: "I'll go over and guard them for a stretch; Priest, you had better be able to persuade them not to bring too many things on the road. They won't be able to walk very far."

Bata'er Jiaoshi awkwardly climbed down from the carriage roof: "I'll try, I'll try."

After leaving the team, Jier rode his Tianxuecao happily toward the slowly moving religious people; he took off his Helmet, shook his head, and let his hair spread out naturally with the wind.

After thinking for a moment, he took out that glittering object from the leather pocket at his waist and observed it carefully in front of his eyes.

Mwah—

Jier gave this thing a hard kiss; there was no help for it, this thing was not only a valuable card truly made of gold, but it was said that this thing could be directly exchanged for up to three hundred Kingdom Gold Coin in cash at a bank-like vault opened by the local Earl in the Province Capital of the Southern Province!

That's right, this thing was what Jier had exchanged for by promising Bell yesterday to fight hard against the parasitic monsters. This thing was originally prepared by that young Baron Heir as wealth to arm himself in the Province Capital, and now, it was Jier's gain.

"Haha! So much money! Made a fortune! This person is actually quite generous, and very rich too!"

Jier kissed the Huangjin Qia again and again, and only then did he observe it carefully.

The Huangjin Qia was half the size of a palm, with three edges neat, but one side had large and small irregular rectangular tooth marks; clearly, this thing was a design similar to a password.

The Huangjin Qia itself could not possibly be worth three hundred Kingdom Gold Coin; judging by the weight, it was worth at most four or five Gold Coin; clearly, to take this thing to the vault to exchange for money, it had to be perfectly interlocked with the other half stored in the vault.

Additionally, there was a serial number on the front of the Huangjin Qia; manufacturing such cards at will was meaningless; it had to match the other half corresponding to the number. And since the other half was in the hands of the vault, it was almost impossible for anyone to successfully forge this thing without an inside job.

The front of the card also had patterns and text, which were nothing more than content explaining what it was for and how much it was worth.

The back was engraved with the emblem of a god, as well as a short article seeking the god's supervision.

Whoever could manage this was clearly under the jurisdiction of the God of Wealth.

With the god's endorsement and supervision, Jier felt that no one would dare to risk messing around with forgery and the consequences after forgery, right?

Probably not, right?