Chapter 855: After the Forest

From the large trees behind him, the sound of the Dwarves' hearty cursing came incessantly. Although Jier could not understand those muffled Dwarven words, he could easily tell from their tone that the Dwarves were not complimenting him.

"Seriously, you were the ones who attacked me, yet now you all act as if you're in the right. Pfft—absurd."

Jier led the Tianxuecao and ran quickly along the path in the Shulin, attempting to use his height and long legs to shake off the Dwarves pursuing him. This had some effect; the Dwarves continued to curse, but as the distance between them grew, their voices gradually faded, muffled by the Shulin.

Just as Jier breathed a sigh of relief, the path beneath his feet made a sharp U-turn following the sparse distribution of the trees. Originally, the distance between him and the Dwarves had been increasing, but as he walked, the straight-line distance between him and the Dwarves actually began to shrink.

Through the distance where no road could be built but where they could see each other with the naked eye, Jier and the three Dwarves chasing him stared at each other.

"￥￥%%~!"

The Dwarves let out a cry of surprise, drew the Heavy Throwing Spears they carried, and threw them across a row of relatively dense trees.

Jier was startled, but these Dwarves had poor aim; all three spears went *thwack, thwack, thwack* into the tree trunks, drilling deep inside. He quickly moved to avoid becoming an easy, stationary target.

The Dwarves cursed in unison, annoyed, realizing that with the trees in the way, they could not hit the Human Knight. Thus, they did not follow the path in the Shulin, but instead crossed the row of trees and took a shortcut to pursue Jier.

This caused the distance between Jier and the Dwarves to close in an instant.

"Damn it!"

The path in the Shulin ahead was still one bend after another. Jier hadn't thought this was much of a problem before—after all, it just meant walking a few more steps—but now that there were pursuers behind him, Jier felt the winding road built by the Dwarves was abominably twisty.

"They must have built it this way on purpose! I guarantee they did it on purpose!"

Jier muttered to himself, realizing that things could not go on like this; if there were just one more big turn, those Dwarves would definitely catch up to him.

Since he would be caught sooner or later, he might as well take control of this unfavorable situation himself.

Thinking of this, Jier gave the neck of the Tianxuecao a hard pat and whispered a command: "Wait for me behind the big tree ahead, watch out for their throwing spears!"

After speaking, he turned and stood his ground, holding his Long Spear with both hands, facing the three pursuing Dwarves.

The warhorse neighed, then trotted forward to behind the tree, secretly poking out its massive head to peek at the battle between its master and the enemies.

"Come on, Dwarves, fight me!"

Jier shouted, and the three Dwarves on the opposite side did not hesitate, starting off with a volley of Heavy Throwing Spears.

Whoosh—

The sound of the three spears piercing the air merged together, tearing through the air between the two sides, flying straight toward Jier's current position.

Jier stood straight, his legs shifting and stepping to the right the moment the Dwarves released their weapons. His eyes were locked on the three flying spears, using his intuition and experience to discern their approximate flight paths and landing points.

Immediately, he swung his hands, the tip of his steel Long Spear breaking through the air, carrying immense force as it swung to intercept and deflect the Heavy Throwing Spear with the most dangerous trajectory.

Clang—

The sound of metal colliding exploded in the air, and sparks along with tiny metal fragments scattered.

His body sank, and Jier's feet were pushed back several centimeters on the solid ground by the impact, but he kept his body steady in a fighting stance.

The other two spears missed, grazing the spot where Jier had just been standing, and after hitting the ground, they sparked and spun off to who knows where.

The three Dwarves gasped, not expecting that even their powerful throwing spears could not hit this Human enemy. The lead Dwarf touched the last Heavy Throwing Spear on his body, hesitated for a moment, and asked his companions behind him: "Where are the others? Didn't they follow?"

One companion turned to look back, while the other sighed: "Just the three of us. What? Scared? Long-tail."

"Pfft, watch me chop off this Human's foot with one axe, to avenge 'Iron Fist'!"

"Hey, hey, hey, 'Iron Fist' probably isn't dead, right? About that revenge thing..."

Despite saying that, the three Dwarves automatically formed a cleanup squad like they used when dealing with underground cave creatures while mining, lining up in an inverted triangle formation, and walked toward Jier with cautious steps.

Jier took a deep breath. He saw the two Dwarves in the front row, spaced a meter and a half apart, walking slowly while holding their shields in one hand, their dangerous Metal Single-Handed Axes held in their right hands, hidden behind the shields.

The shields were large and wide; he didn't know their weight, but Jier had already witnessed the defensive capability of the same type. They could actually block a spear thrust from his horse head-on; although they were ruined after blocking just one, that was already absurd enough.

Because of their height, most of these two Dwarves' bodies were hidden behind the round shields, revealing only half of their heads wearing Metal Helmets. The only place that could possibly be struck was the pair of small eyes visible just above the upper edge of the shields.

Truly troublesome.

He somewhat understood the tricky feeling his previous enemies had when fighting him, Jier.

Could it be that all these Dwarves had a full set of Metal Armor? If he didn't have a good method, it wouldn't be easy to deal with even one of them.

But his intuition told Jier that compared to the two shield-bearing Dwarves in the front, the Dwarf walking behind them was the truly dangerous one. After all, he was also protected by Metal Armor, and it wouldn't be easy to hurt him with just a Single-handed Weapon.

And the Dwarf walking in the back was currently holding a Heavy Throwing Spear in each hand given to him by his companions, with another one in the Leather Bag on his back; this was the truly dangerous guy. If hit by a heavy throwing spear at this weight and distance, Jier estimated he would likely be pierced straight through; if it hit his torso, his life would be gone instantly.

So, what should he do?

There was no time for Jier to come up with a solution; the two front Dwarves quickly approached.

When there was still some distance, these two Dwarves were quite cautious. But when the distance between the two sides was only a few meters, they suddenly accelerated, moving their short Dwarven legs, scurrying and rushing forward.

"%%!"

Shouting in the Dwarven Language that Jier could not understand, the two Dwarves coordinated, one charging straight with a shield, the other holding a sharp axe high in his right hand, rushing straight to hack at Jier's knees.

"Ha, don't even think about it!"

Jier said in a low voice, thrusting his spear, aiming straight at the neck of the attacking Dwarf.

Although the Dwarf's armor was thick, the neck area was, after all, a flexible part, so its defense was much weaker than other areas and could not be fitted with large, thick Metal Armor Plates. The upper edge of the Chest Armor also lacked any extra neck-guard protrusions.

But Jier's movements were not slow, and the Dwarf with the shield on the side reacted quickly, shifting his feet to block in front of his companion.

The tip of the slightly damaged Long Spear poked through a protrusion on the Dwarf's shield, and amidst the harsh sound of metal deforming, fragments of crystal scattered.

Only then did Jier realize that the Dwarves had embedded hard crystal minerals on the surface of their shields, like chrysanthemums.

Although these things were gray and looked unremarkable, their hardness was indeed outstanding.

The Long Spear was intercepted by the shield, and the Dwarf holding the sharp axe immediately seized the opportunity to rush up. Before the axe could even hit Jier, Jier could hear the excited laughter coming from under the opponent's helmet.

"Laughing?"

With a swing and a parry, Jier used the shaft of his Long Spear to block the axe the Dwarf was hacking down. One had to know that the shaft of Jier's Long Spear was made entirely of metal; usually seen as a burden, useless, and mostly just a piece of fitness equipment, the Double-edged Metal Long Spear finally came in handy at this moment.

The Dwarf's axe only left a dent on the shaft, and a small piece of the blade of the axe in the Dwarf's hand even chipped off.

This caused the laughter in the Dwarf's mouth to immediately change its tune.

"I'm the one who should be laughing!"

Saying this, Jier kicked out with a low strike.

There was no help for it; the Dwarves were simply too short.

Bang! A solid kick landed on the upper part of this Dwarf's chest.

Jier's foot went numb from the recoil, as if he had kicked a solid block of iron. The Dwarf didn't fare well either, flying backward for a meter and landing flat on his back on the soft, leaf-covered forest floor.

Before he could even let out a groan, his vision went black and his chest felt stifled, as if he had been struck head-on by a mine-supporting pillar; he could only emit a faint hissing sound from his mouth.

It was impossible to tell if he was exhaling or inhaling.

But before Jier could feel smug, a dangerous Heavy Throwing Spear came insidiously toward him.

Close, just a hair's breadth away!

The throwing spear grazed past Jier's left shoulder pauldron, sparking as it flew off and whistled into the Shulin behind him.

Covered in cold sweat, Jier put away his contempt and hurriedly retreated a few steps, adjusting his position relative to the Dwarf who had used the throwing spear.

The Dwarf who was holding a Shield and primarily responsible for defense happened to become his tool. Jier adjusted his steps, keeping this Shield-bearing Dwarf between himself and the spear-throwing Dwarf; when the opponent moved left, he moved right, and when the opponent moved right, he moved left.

This caused the Dwarf holding the throwing spear to curse loudly.

Jier couldn't understand it and didn't know what the Dwarf was cursing about, but the Shield-bearing Dwarf he was using as a shield couldn't take it anymore and turned his head to curse at his companion behind him.

Now was the time; Jier really hadn't expected such a good opportunity to arise during the battle. He instinctively seized this chance for a counterattack, unexpectedly stabbing his Long Spear into the ground to use as a pole-vaulting pole, exerting force with both legs to leap up, and then exerting force with his arms while in mid-air to vault over the head of the Shield-bearing Dwarf.

The Shield-bearing Dwarf felt his vision go dark overhead, and immediately saw the Human Knight behind him.

"￥￥#!"

He shrieked in surprise, but it was too late. While still in mid-air, Jier let go of the Long Spear and drew his sword to slash directly at the Dwarf at the very back.

This Dwarf was also too startled to fight, watching the Human swing his sword down from mid-air. He wanted to draw the shield strapped to his back, but it was too late. He could only hold the Heavy Throwing Spear he was gripping horizontally in front of him, hoping to block the blow.

Clang—Snap!

The Long Sword made of enchanted materials did not let Jier down; the slash directly severed the Heavy Throwing Spear the Dwarf was holding as a defensive object.

But that was as far as it went.

After snapping the weapon in the opponent's hand, Jier's Long Sword continued to slash downward, from the front of the helmet, the front of the Chest Armor, down to the abdominal plates and the short Skirt Armor, sparking and screeching all the way, cutting and shattering the plates and metal connectors on the opponent's armor, and carving centimeter-deep gouges into the thick, solid metal plates.

This sword strike finally landed on the ground, the soft, rotting leaves absorbing the last of the force and being sparked into a foul-smelling blue smoke by the heat generated from the friction of the blade.

"Hoo!"

Jier exhaled the air from his chest in a large gulp and looked up at the Dwarf before him.

Unexpectedly, the Dwarf retreated two steps and sat down on the ground. At close range, Jier saw the Dwarf's eyes through the visor of the helmet.

Those were a pair of terrified eyes; even now, the Dwarf had not recovered from the near-fatal killing intent. His eyes were wide open, his breathing rapid, and he was trembling, unable to utter a single word.

Jier felt a bit of regret; these Dwarves were truly iron cans. If they had been Human Bandits, that last sword strike would have split the bandit, along with their weapon, in two.

He was just about to step forward and raise his sword to stab the opponent through a gap in the armor when he heard the sound of heavy, forceful footsteps approaching rapidly from behind.

Jier didn't turn to look; at such close range, there was no time. He leaped sideways, rolled simply on the ground for half a turn, and only then looked over while half-crouched.

It turned out to be the Dwarf he had just vaulted over, who had charged over with his whole body behind his shield.

Having missed Jier, the opponent didn't slow down, charging directly to the side of his companion who was still stunned and had not yet recovered. Presumably knowing that he alone was no match for this Human Knight, Jier, the Dwarf let out a loud cry after a moment of thought.

"@@#! @@#! ￥￥@@#!"

Jier was confused; he didn't know what this guy was shouting about.

Soon, shouts and responses from other Dwarves rang out from one direction in the Forest, and they began to approach this location.

"Damn it! How shameless. They thought they could easily take me down with three people, so they didn't call for help. Now that they realize they can't win, they start calling for reinforcements, right?"

Jier was furious, his nose even crooked with rage. He wanted to kill these Dwarves, but each of them was like an iron can; without a heavy two-handed weapon or armor-piercing weapon, fighting them was quite troublesome.

Every second delayed here meant the supporting Dwarves were getting closer.

After thinking it over, Jier gestured at the Dwarf in front of him, made a mock throat-slitting motion with his hand, cursed him as a bastard, and then turned and ran.

The Shield-bearing Dwarf was clearly frightened; faced with Jier's curses, he didn't curse back in the Human language, but only signaled for the supporting Dwarves to come over.

Pulling up the Metal Spear he had stabbed into the ground, Jier whistled to summon Tianxuecao while running along the forest path, and pulling on the Jiansheng, he ran quickly along the winding, crooked forest path.

For some reason, the Dwarves did not continue to pursue him.

Jier couldn't guess their thoughts and could only maliciously speculate whether the Dwarves were gathering their strength elsewhere.

To block him outside the Huitou Forest? Or was there something dangerous in the Valley outside the forest? Or perhaps...

Jier narrowed his eyes and steeled himself.

Since he had left the Dwarves who were obstructing him behind, Jier ran fully along the road, his entire suit of armor clattering with a clanking sound, while Tianxuecao moved its legs easily and happily, following nimbly behind its master.

It was also wondering why its master was running on the ground instead of riding it for fast movement as usual.

Could it be that its master finally realized he was heavy, knowing that it was very hard work to carry him usually? The warhorse thought this, shaking its head and tail in delight.

The large trees in the forest began to thin out. It was now noon, and the sunlight from above passed through the obstruction of the large trees, casting slanted beams of light into the Shulin.

Jier also passed two bridges on the forest road built by the Dwarves. The small river under the bridges began to carry a foul, bitter smell, and even the large trees near the black-gray river were thinner and shorter than the other trees in the forest, growing in a withered, listless state.

Bright light gradually shone through where his line of sight had been blocked by tree trunks ahead. Without anyone needing to explain, Jier guessed that he was about to break through this perilous forest.

"Fast! Haha, fast, fast!"

Jier shouted happily.

"Let me see what exactly is in the Valley protected by the Dwarves!"

The light grew closer and brighter.

The silent forest, devoid of bird calls or insect chirps, also seemed to be becoming noisy. These sounds belonging to nature were like a pair of hands waving at Jier, constantly beckoning him over.

It had been less than a day and a night, yet Jier already missed the noisy sounds of nature immensely.

Ah, even the insects chirping under the grass, the buzzing of bees flying over wildflowers, the noisy squabbling of birds, and the roars of beasts demonstrating on distant mountains—he longed to hear them, longed to let these things fill his ears.

He was about to be driven mad by this forest full of dangers.

It had been better after the battle with the Dwarves; once he knew where the danger was coming from, his mind had actually relaxed quite a bit. What had terrified him most was the suffocating sense of silence after stepping into this forest, which was filled with thick White Mist every midnight, last night.

A bizarre environment where there wasn't a single extra sound besides himself and his warhorse.

At that time, he even wished that the large trees in this forest could speak to him, if only just a little.

Uh, that might not be possible; the last time he encountered a moving tree, it really left Jier with memories he was very reluctant to recall.

"Almost there, almost there!"

"Ha, my partner, keep up! There might be fresh, tender grass you like in the Valley!"

Amidst the clanking and banging sounds of his armor, Jier led his warhorse and trotted all the way out of the Huitou Forest.

Appearing before Jier's eyes was an open, vast valley situated amidst the Mountains.

The forest looked as if it had been sliced by an invisible blade, stopping its spread right at Jier's feet. Behind him was the tall, deep, and silent forest; before him was a vast stretch of open, wild grassland.

No, it could not be called a wilderness; the ground here was covered in clusters of wildflowers and dense, emerald-green grass. Not far to the left, on the ground backed by a high mountain, there was a small mound of rock and soil that looked like a grave. Far to the right, there was a small Pond, from one end of which a small river flowed out, winding its way across this wild grassland to the front of him, and then flowing into the forest.

Further away, there were patches of neat farmland, and there seemed to be people working on them. Behind the farmland was a village with scattered buildings. Jier noticed that there seemed to be two different types of houses in the village.

And further away at the other end of the village, a wall built of wood and stone rose abruptly, firmly blocking off another forest connected to the other side of the Valley.