Chapter 873: Oil and the Night in Torito Village

The Dwarves' Zhenbao Mine is less than a kilometer away from Torito Village. In the past, this distance was nothing more than the time it took for a Dwarf to drink a mouthful of ale. But today, a group of Dwarves, all suffering from various injuries, are being assisted by some of the Dwarves who had stayed behind to guard the mine, moving toward Torito Village firmly, slowly, whimpering softly, and limping along.

Before, many people only felt the violent tremors coming from the village, and other than fear, they didn't think much of it.

But as they drew closer to the village step by step, from hundreds of meters away, they all saw the center of the village in ruins after the dust and smoke had cleared.

"Ah? Ah? My... my house!"

"My Luminous Vine! The Luminous Vine I've been growing for twenty years!"

"Damn it! If I find out who ruined it, I'll fight them to the death!"

All the Dwarves began to howl, and it seemed that at this moment, they were far more agitated than they had been about avenging old Tie Quan.

The old Dwarf's head began to ache faintly again.

Many Dwarves had never seen it, but he knew clearly that such destruction must have been caused by the Dwarf Warrior who had broken through earlier.

When he was young, he had seen more than once in war those Dwarf Warriors who shone with brilliant light and were impervious to blades and swords; the most numerous among them were the Divine Power Warriors favored by the gods.

"Shishou? Hmm, I hope this young man still remembers that he received my protection and favor when he first came here."

The old Dwarf shook his head. Having a powerful Dwarf Warrior in the mine again after several decades was both a good thing and an unexpected event with an unpredictable outcome.

The group walked slowly along the clean dirt road until they reached the outside of the village; by this time, the battle inside the village had been over for a while.

"Who won?" someone asked worriedly.

"Nonsense! It must be us! This is the Dwarves' Zhenbao Mine; it was in the past, it is now, and it will be in the future!" a Dwarf shouted loudly.

The old Dwarf frowned and remained silent. The injured Dwarves supporting him on either side were those close to him; they had heard the old Dwarf say in private more than once that the Dwarves in the mine must find a way out in the future, and that their current life and days were nothing but a false sense of peace.

They hadn't taken it to heart before; after all, besides being unable to contact the Dwarf Kingdom, the year-after-year work provided no wages, and although the precious Mineral Ore dug out of the mine was highly valuable, it had no direct value if it couldn't be used.

But regardless, ordinary Dwarf Miners like them, who lacked specialized skills, could live in spacious houses in their current life—not just one house, but one in the mine and another in the village on the surface. They could eat their fill every day, and at this point, digging in the mine was like a post-meal hobby. Not to mention there was plenty of Dwarf ale to drink; after drinking, singing, and bragging, they were happy and satisfied with this life even if it remained unchanged year after year.

However, today, the pain in their wounds was numb and itchy, with a faint, lingering agony. This clear and direct sensation finally made these two fellows understand what the crisis the old man kept rambling about was.

The clear and obvious crisis had arrived.

The Dwarf supporting Tie Quan on the left lowered his voice and whispered to the manager of the mine: "Is this what you often talk about?"

The old Dwarf glanced unexpectedly at the middle-aged Dwarf supporting him, paused, and then said affirmatively: "That is it, and it is not just that."

"Not just that?" the Dwarf supporting his right arm interjected.

"Yes, not just that. To be honest, I am surprised that the life we had before could last for nearly a hundred years!"

The old Dwarf shook his head and continued: "Back then..."

He then lowered his voice: "Back then, when I sent Xiaoxuezi's father out, I already felt that our life in the mine could end at any moment."

Hearing the old Dwarf mention Xiaoxuezi's father, the former captain of the Zhenbao Mine's guard soldiers, the two middle-aged Dwarves supporting him both changed their expressions slightly.

The old Dwarf saw everything, and he comforted them: "Don't blame him. Although he was very capable, I had long since learned from Humans who stumbled in here that the outside is no longer the territory of us Dwarves. Sigh, starting from here, heading west to the Grass Sea, north across the Swamp, and the Mountains further north, all of it is under Human control."

The elderly Dwarf's eyes revealed some fear: "Not only has a vast expanse of land fallen under Human control, but I have also heard that on the borders, there are Elite Knight Orders from the Human Empire patrolling and stationed there. The gods who betrayed our Dwarf interests even personally cast a massive barrier that restricts our Dwarf powerhouses."

The old Dwarf sighed: "That operation was an extremely dangerous one from the start. I once hesitated whether to support his departure, but he personally entrusted his child to me and then resolutely walked out of the mine."

The old man said leisurely: "Think about it, put yourself in his shoes; he didn't come back, so how much danger did he encounter, and where did he finally sacrifice himself?"

The two middle-aged Dwarves lowered their heads in shame. Tie Quan had said these things before, but at that time, everyone's life was peaceful, and they couldn't see the crisis that hadn't yet arrived, so naturally, they couldn't listen to the old Dwarf's words at all.

Thinking about it now, the old man was, after all, a high-level person who came from a noble family, possessing the foresight and wisdom that they, as miners, lacked.

"Then what should we do now?" another Dwarf suddenly interrupted the conversation.

The old Dwarf looked left and right; it turned out that everyone had quietly stopped walking, pricked up their ears, and were staring at him without blinking.

Their previous conversation had not been secret; everyone had heard it and was listening quietly.

Xiaoxuezi looked blank. The young Dwarf was held tightly in his mother's arms; he was uncomfortable from being squeezed, but his mother was quietly shedding a large amount of tears from her eyes, which made Xiaoxuezi stop struggling and just press his lips together tightly.

He knew his father was not a deserter, nor a coward, and his mother thought so too. But the other Dwarves didn't believe it. Over the years, everyone seemed to have poured all their life's frustrations and all the dissatisfaction in the mine onto his father.

How despicable.

The departed hero could not defend himself. The hero's son could not clear his father's name either.

Until today's crisis arrived, everyone had started off with high spirits, rushing to avenge Tie Quan. But as one after another they were defeated, exhausted until they panted like dogs by the cunning and powerful Human Knight, stabbed, slashed, knocked unconscious, and drained of strength.

Only then did everyone realize some things.

Things that Tie Quan had seen decades ago, leading him to send the most powerful warrior among them to set out and find an opportunity and possibility for them, the Dwarves, to survive.

They had failed back then, and people were dissatisfied and didn't take it seriously.

Until today, decades later.

"What should we do..." the old Dwarf repeated the question softly, then gave a bitter smile.

"I don't know either."

Hearing this answer, everyone deflated. Some fellows who usually bragged to the heavens and considered themselves to have immense courage and Yongqi were even more timid, clutching their respective wounds and making faint sounds like injured little deer.

The old Dwarf, however, smiled. "I haven't finished speaking yet."

Everyone glared at the old man.

The old Dwarf touched his big nose and said calmly: "Let's first see the result of the battle in the village. I hope we won, and that the young Human Knight did not die."

Jier had eaten something at the Farmer's house where he had been persuaded; it must be said, although this place was isolated, the food was unique.

It seemed to have absorbed the dietary habits and flavors of the alien Dwarves; even a simple fried egg tasted different from the usual.

"What's with this fried egg? It's surprisingly delicious."

Jier wiped his mouth. He had eaten a basket of more than twenty poultry eggs in one go before he was barely full. To be honest, he didn't feel weak in terms of physical strength; it was just that it was already mid-afternoon, and he was hungry.

The Grass and Wood Source Divine Art was still active on him, and since his consumption wasn't high, the Divine Art hadn't ended prematurely.

Compared to that, the powerful Divine Power brought by the God of Strength on the Dwarves' side, while strong and direct, had a stamina that was far worse.

The middle-aged Farmer had thought the Knight felt his wife's cooking wasn't good; it turned out it was delicious.

"It's just a regular fried egg, but the oil and spices used are the kind the Dwarves often eat."

The middle-aged Farmer gestured: "The oil is a type of oil produced from an underground plant that cannot see much light but also cannot be without light. Although the yield isn't high, the good thing is that this plant can bear fruit and produce oil all year round."

Jier found this interesting, so he signaled for the other party to say more.

Seeing the Knight was interested, the middle-aged farmer ran downstairs to a cellar beside the house in his yard, plucked a handful of that plant, and returned: "Look, Knight. It's this."

This was a plant similar to a vine, but it was blue all over.

But with this color, is it really a plant?

Jier took it and fiddled with it twice, discovering that it really was a plant. The blue vine was rich in juice; one look told him it was a plant with high water requirements.

"This thing requires quite a lot of water to grow, right?" Jier guessed.

"That's right! You are truly knowledgeable! This thing needs to be watered every day. If you don't want to water it daily, just plant it next to a water bucket, and it will stretch its own branches into the bucket to drink! But it still needs to be planted in well-ventilated soil."

Jier looked at the blue plant and asked: "How do you extract oil from it?"

"Just cut off some vines, put them in a stone trough and smash them into a paste, then use a filter to strain out the residue, leaving the juice! Filter it a few more times, and after there are no impurities, let it sit for a while, and a layer of oil will float on top!"

"Collect this oil, put it in a clean container, and you can use it for cooking!"

Jier smiled: "What about spices? What is different about Dwarf spices?"

The middle-aged farmer's wife took over the conversation: "They use a kind of Mushroom from the caves as a spice. That Mushroom is delicious to begin with; after it's dried and ground into a fine powder, you sprinkle it on food while cooking, and it becomes very savory."

"It's just that the rotten soil for growing the Mushrooms is hard to prepare. Wood, damp mud, Suishi from the mountains, and even human and animal feces all have to be mixed together in a precise ratio, wrapped in tree leaves, and watered in small amounts continuously to let it ferment and rot for a period of time. When the time comes, take a Mushroom with its cap spread open and shake it over the flattened rotten soil. Very soon, in just a few days, these delicious Mushrooms will grow out of the soil!"

Jier found it interesting, but he looked at the light outside through the small window of the farmer's house to judge the time.

"Alright, let's stop the small talk here."

Jier clapped his hands and stood up: "Just follow my previous arrangements, please take action. I hope you can find more people you consider reliable and inform everyone of the future of this Valley and this Village. I don't ask you to convince them to support me; that isn't realistic."

Jier shook his head with a smile: "The sun is about to set. Tonight, I will continuously find trouble for the Dwarfs, making them huddle together or retreat to places they consider safe. And inside the Village, there will inevitably be panic and unease."

"Tell your friends and relatives that the Human Knight who broke in during the day does not just represent that single individual; behind him is an entire Human civilization. Tell them that this land is no longer the Dwarfs'; legally and naturally, it belongs to Humans. After all, this is something everyone can see: land bestowed upon us Humans by the gods in the heavens! If there is any objection, please appeal to those gods hanging high in the sky!"

"Don't think I'm boasting, and don't think that the current days can continue forever. That is impossible. I have come, and I can leave. Even if I cannot defeat the local Dwarfs this time, those Dwarfs will not be able to stay here in the future! Tell the friends you know that my arrival means others can come too. It will no longer be ordinary citizens and migrants who can be defeated and subdued by Dwarfs, but Human Knights that even Dwarfs cannot handle, and Human armies numbering in the hundreds and thousands."

"Let all the villagers who know this news stand tall and imagine the future! This Jianlao has been broken since I arrived! Every Human trapped in this Jianlao now possesses a freedom they never had before! In the future, you can come and go as you please, walk out of here along the road I came from, and go outside! Meet more people, do business with Merchants who have countless interesting goods, you can cultivate all the land in the Valley on a large scale, sell your specialties and grain to the outside world, and you can protect yourselves, pick up real weapons, put on reliable Armor, learn to fight, and enjoy it!"

"Don't think that picking up weapons to fight is dangerous or scary, hahahaha, power cannot be relied upon through charity, but is fought for with the blades in your hands! When you pick up weapons, you have the power to control your own destiny! Instead of being arranged by Dwarfs and confined to this small Valley, never seeing the real world outside the Valley for your whole life."

Jier said excitedly, waving his arms.

And the farmer's family, listening to him, all became excited. Even the elderly grandfather and grandmother indicated they would look for some old migrants still alive in the Village later. The middle-aged farmer excitedly said he would contact his close friends and brothers, the middle-aged farmer's wife said she would look for other friends, and the twenty-something-year-old girl, the middle-aged farmer's unmarried sister, excitedly said she had long wanted to leave this place and see the outside, especially after hearing Hunters who had accidentally wandered in here a few years ago talk about Yemei Town to the north.

She had imagined the prosperity of Yemei Town more than once: the bustling trade market, the exquisite lord's mansion, the high walls of the town, and the vast plains outside the town that stretched as far as the eye could see.

This poor girl had never seen what a horizon looked like in her entire life, and her brother and sister-in-law were the same.

As for the middle-aged farmer's four children, they were told to stay honestly at home with their aunt and, if possible, tidy up the wooden bed on the third floor of the house that was smashed when the Knight fell through.

After all, no matter how good the future is, one still has to sleep after dark, right?

Of course, the wooden roof that Jier smashed a hole through didn't need to be repaired by these little ones; that wasn't work for children who hadn't grown up yet.

Jier organized his equipment and looked at the sky outside the window.

"Knight, it will be dark soon. Don't look at the sun still hanging in the sky; this is a Valley after all, with tall mountain peaks on both sides. Once the sunlight is blocked, it will be dark in the Valley. Even if the sky is still bright."

The old man reminded Jier.

Jier nodded: "Since that's the case, I'll set off now. Remember, contact those who are dissatisfied with the Dwarf rule and tell them my words. Welcome them to resist the Dwarfs, but even if they just don't support the Dwarfs, that is also correct. As for those who lean toward the Dwarfs, be careful of them."

The middle-aged farmer gave a wry smile: "Everyone lived in confusion before, like a chick that had its eyes covered after breaking out of its shell, naturally feeling that there was no light in the world. If they could get out, no one would choose to stay here forever."

Jier snorted: "It seems you don't understand the diversity of Humans very well. Remember my words: if you are going to do something, don't call on the villagers who lean toward the Dwarfs, and keep news away from them. Guard against them causing trouble. As for the Dwarfs, leave them to me. Ah, it's just less than fifty Dwarfs, sigh."

Jier shook his head, which made the middle-aged farmer blush with shame.

But the Dwarfs are really powerful. Even though the Dwarfs are not as tall as a Human's chest, three or four ordinary citizens cannot beat one Dwarf.

Those guys all have arms as thick as a Human's thigh, and on top of that, they wear Dwarf Armor. Villagers without organization or weapons are simply no match for these Dwarfs.

Jier came out from the back door of the farmer's house and, with a light leap, jumped onto the small path in the Village behind the house.

Jier was wrapped in a large piece of gray Linen Cloth borrowed from the farmer's house. Don't think of it as just a very ordinary piece of Linen Cloth; it would take years to save up for one in the Village.

This was originally the material the middle-aged farmer's sister was going to use to make new clothes for her wedding. For this piece of cloth, the farmer's family used the family's surplus grain to trade with a farmer who grew hemp grass for a lot of hemp grass. Then, the sister-in-law and sister spent several years turning the hemp grass into loose, fine hemp fibers, then twisting them into thin hemp threads, and finally spinning the large bundles of hemp threads into the piece of Linen Cloth that looked rough to Jier.

Jier borrowed it to use as a simple Cloak to cover himself. Although he felt that the villagers would know at a glance that Jier was definitely a Knight from outside the Valley, the Dwarfs couldn't possibly recognize the hundreds of Humans in the Village.

If he ran into them, he would just move away; those Dwarfs might not recognize him.

Jier walked on the small path in the Village, surrounded by the Fences of various farmers' houses. Many people were afraid to stay in their houses, so they sat in their own yards huddling together, but there were also bold guys who climbed onto their own roofs, peeking at the ruins in the center of the Village, shouting and calling out what they saw, making the surrounding neighbors both fearful and pleasantly surprised.

It wasn't that there weren't others walking around the Village like Jier, but these villagers, once they saw the suspicious-looking Jier, especially after getting close and hearing the sound of Jier's combat boots hitting the ground, which was different from their own bare feet or wooden shoes.

They were all scared and ran away quickly.

Jier didn't care. While circling the Village in a circular path, he whistled to call his horse. The whistle didn't need to be very loud, just audible. The long ears on the horse's head weren't just for show; in fact, a horse's hearing is very sensitive, which is an important skill for wild horses to live freely on the grasslands.

"Neigh!"

Before he had even walked a small part of the way around the Village, Tianxuecao heard Jier's call and ran over along the small path in the Village.

The surrounding farmers looked at Jier, who had reunited with his warhorse, with suspicion and uncertainty. Some even covered their children's mouths, for fear that a scream would lead Jier over.

"Really, I'm not some Monster. Do you have to be like this?" Jier shook his head. He didn't mount the horse, but pointed in a direction outside the Village and whispered something into Tianxuecao's ear.

The large, armored horse head nodded vigorously, and reluctantly bumped its head against Jier's body before trotting off toward the outside of the Village according to Jier's instructions.

Jier took the Hunting Bow off the horse's back in advance. He didn't bring many quivers, just took two bags and hung them on his metal belt.

Seeing the surrounding farmers looking at him with curiosity or fear from behind the Fences and whispering, Jier walked away quickly.

Most people didn't dare to follow and stayed honestly in their homes, but there were bold ones who followed behind Jier. However, Jier quickened his pace and soon shook them off.

Jier dared to walk with big strides in the Village, but those who followed him for some reason didn't dare to walk like that.

After a while, just as the people in the farmer's house said, even though the sky was still a clear white, the sun hanging in the sky was blocked by the tall mountain body on one side of the Valley. In just a few minutes, Torito Village went from day to night.

Although it was night, the sky could still provide limited illumination, so it wasn't that dark in the Valley. Jier no longer walked in the area where the Human villagers lived and turned directly to carefully walk toward the area in the center of the Village where a large number of Dwarfs lived.

The surrounding houses also quickly changed from Human houses built of wood to half-collapsed Dwarf Residences. Jier lightly jumped onto the second floor of a relatively intact Dwarf Residence and looked toward the noisy center of the Village.

Quite a few Dwarfs were gathered next to a large pit newly blasted out in the center of the Village. There was barely a large piece of clean open space here; although there were many cracks in the ground, it wasn't much of an obstacle.

A type of lighting item with a delicate metal flowerpot at the top was dug out by the Dwarfs from the surrounding ruins of the residences and inserted directly into the cracks on the open ground. The metal flowerpots crookedly held some glowing plants that hadn't been destroyed yet. These poor things barely provided bright white illumination; although their appearance was far from the illumination provided when they were intact, at least there were enough of them.

Jier saw that in the center of the illuminated area, many injured Dwarves were gathered; those who had received treatment and those currently being treated were all lying on door panels or wooden tables salvaged from the ruins.

Some female Dwarves, whom Jier was seeing for the first time, walked back and forth between boiling pots and several wooden crates; they washed some fabric they had scavenged, and after boiling it for disinfection, they wrung it out with their bare hands without fear of the heat, shook it in the air to cool it down, and then used an Ointment taken from the wooden crates, mixing it together to help treat the injured Dwarves.

Some injured Dwarves who had previously received treatment were also helping each other reorganize their bandages; the atmosphere among them was very gloomy, whereas the uninjured Dwarves were currently full of energy, sitting in a circle around a newly lit fire, eating something while loudly discussing something in the Dwarven Language.

Many uninjured Dwarves looked angry, not just because they had been led around by Jier outside the Cunzi for most of the day without engaging in battle, but also because upon returning to the Cunzi, they saw that many people's houses had suffered severe damage.

While scouting, Jier silently counted the number of Dwarves present, and after finishing the count, it was surprisingly about the same as the number of Dwarves provided by the Farmer earlier.

"So, does that mean almost all the Dwarves are present?"

The corners of Jier's mouth curled up, then he became serious again.

He silently recited a Prayer of Divine Art taught to him by the Great Bird deity, and his vision quickly improved.

However, Jier frowned, because his eyes felt somewhat uncomfortable and were aching faintly; clearly, using the Red-eye Mushroom was not without aftereffects. Activating this Divine Art ability to enhance vision was clearly irritating his eyes, which had been damaged by the Red-eye Mushroom.

It seems this ability cannot be used together with the Red-eye Mushroom Sugar Pill, as it would place a very heavy burden on the eyes.

He was still young and had a bright future ahead of him; Jier did not want to become a blind person.

Although he felt that this strange world with divine Magic surely had many ways to solve his problem, he knew without even thinking that he would either have to pay a large amount of wealth or lean toward a certain faction.

The latter was not something just anyone could do; the value provided by an ordinary person was too low, and one had to be a capable person to have the capital to lean toward or defect to someone.

After all, Jier saw churches everywhere, but he had seen no shortage of ordinary religious believers who suffered from illness and disability.

No matter where one is, the ability to heal is an indispensable and scarce resource.

That said, after Jier enhanced his vision this time and looked toward the center of the Cunzi, the actions of the Dwarves there were seen by him with perfect clarity.

Don't blame him for seeing it too clearly; it was really because the Dwarves themselves had set up too many lighting tools there.

The cooking fire, glowing plants stuck everywhere, and a group of young Humans at the edge holding Torches.

Oh?

Jier looked carefully at those young people in the Cunzi and found that the expressions on their faces were not very good; three Human archers who used Large Bows, whom he had seen during the day, were currently standing in front of the crowd, saying something to some Dwarves.

Looking at their positioning, their waving arms, and their serious or angry expressions, one could tell that these people were not getting along well with the Dwarves.

"Oh, why are they arguing?"

Jier's gaze scanned slowly, and he soon saw a young man behind the three archers who had been beaten quite badly.

Hmm, Jier felt this person looked familiar; recalling the day's battle carefully, he realized that this young man was the very same young villager who had mounted his Tianxuecao during the day and attempted to hijack his warhorse.

But he had knocked him off the horse with a single blow at the time; clearly, the signs of beating on this person now were not caused by Jier.

"Was it the Dwarves who beat him? Or other young villagers? Because of what? Failing to complete the mission? Heh, to be honest, this person already did quite well, but a warhorse with a master is not so easily ridden away. Especially since my Tianxuecao doesn't have a very good temper; if you want to ride it away, you have to prove you are stronger than it first."

Jier laughed while whispering to himself.

Clearly, the young people in the Cunzi who were dedicated to fighting for the Dwarves had not received the Dwarves' recognition for their efforts during the day; in fact, it was quite the opposite!

Jier thought for a moment and felt it was nothing more than the Dwarves believing that the Humans who helped them hadn't really put in their best effort, perhaps only going through the motions to curry favor with the Dwarves. If the Dwarves had defeated him during the day, this kind of half-hearted behavior wouldn't have mattered.

But heh heh, the Dwarves failed to defeat him, and they suffered heavy losses.

Not only the loss of manpower due to injuries but also actual losses in wealth.

The former made the Dwarves feel mentally weak, while the latter was more likely to enrage some of the Dwarves who had suffered heavy losses. For example, the Dwarves whose houses had all collapsed into ruins.

Jier understood that because he himself was a Human, these Dwarves who had suffered losses would inevitably harbor negative associations when they saw the other Human Villagers present. Even if these young Human Villagers were there to help them.

Although these young people hadn't helped at all, perhaps that was another aspect that enraged the Dwarves?

In any case, Jier soon saw the two sides in the standoff arguing for quite a while; due to the distance, Jier couldn't really hear the content of the argument, but it was nothing more than trash talk.

Perhaps these local young people could even creatively mix some of the Dwarves' profanities into the Human shouting match, adding some extra combat power to the verbal battle?

Jier thought to himself.

After a while, Jier saw the three archers stop paying attention to the bickering Dwarves, turn around to say something loudly to the young Villagers they were protecting behind them, and then retreat with the people.

"That is a good change; the other villagers are one thing, but these three guys who use Large Bows are a bit troublesome. Of course, only just a little bit. In a surprise attack, using the Sun God Divine Power of the hunt to cause Blinding, I could finish them off in two or three moves. No more than that; one person, one sword, and it would be solved."

Muttering to himself, Jier didn't actually have the intention of finishing these three off; he actually hoped that these three could be gathered under his command to help him fight.

After all, not counting the lackeys of the Knight and the Hunting God Church, these three people's skills were actually quite good. Unlike the Kendall Hunter whom Jier had once partnered with, the Large Bows used by these three had a longer shooting range and stronger armor-piercing capabilities; ordinary Armor could potentially be pierced by the Large Arrows shot by the Large Bows.

If they could be brought under his command, that would be great; not only for the subsequent rescue operation but also for future wars, there would be places for these three to play a role.