Chapter 899: Terms Agreed, A Surprise, and the Intrusion of a Refugee Team

Jier shrugged: "It's the Baishi Pass that you Dwarves built yourselves! You can't possibly not know about that, right?"

The old Dwarf slapped his thigh hard: "I actually forgot about the White Castle! When we evacuated back then, did the others really not tear it down? That's troublesome, but a small group of people should be able to go around it from the surroundings, right?"

Jier recalled the mountains on both sides of the pass he had seen when passing by Baishi Pass and felt that a small group could indeed go around it, but he didn't want to run back to the Western Province at this time, so he had to find an excuse: "That is possible, but that's only a minor problem. Have you considered the safety issue of you Dwarves traveling through the Western Province, which is hostile to Dwarves?"

The old Dwarf pondered for a moment and said nothing.

"There won't be any supplies. You don't think the villages there would provide food and water to a group of Dwarves who look suspicious no matter how you view them, do you?" Jier continued: "They might even think you are a Dwarf Scout unit that has infiltrated the area, launch an active attack, and even quickly report it to the local Noble and Knight—all of that is to be expected."

"This is tricky..." The old Dwarf's hand, which had been stroking his beard, stopped as he pondered a way to handle this problem.

But soon, Jier twisted the knife again: "And, the further we advance toward the border of the Western Province, I think the danger and resistance we encounter will only grow. In places far from the border, I might be able to use my status as a Human to cover for you, and it might be effective. But once we reach the border area, I have never been there, and it is impossible for me to truly protect all of you."

The old Dwarf's eyes widened, his beard bristled, and he complained to Jier: "Then tell me, what solution do you have? Sigh, those guys are truly useless. If they had attacked earlier, we wouldn't have such troublesome matters. Young man, you say, is taking a detour feasible? Just like bypassing the White Castle, bypass those regions that are hostile to us."

"Detour where? How far? Bypass the Western Province that is hostile to Dwarves, and then walk through the neighboring country to the south? But of the two nearest neighboring countries here, one is currently at war with the Southern Province, and the other requires entering the Western Province to reach it, so isn't that still not going to work?" Jier analyzed.

"Tell me your solution then? Since you've said so much, I assume you have an idea?" the old Dwarf urged.

Jier coughed lightly, his face turning slightly red, though it was impossible to tell without careful observation: "My idea is this: although going west looks like a shorter distance, it is actually completely impassable. Not to mention whether the Baishi Pass can be bypassed, the problem that the Western Province has been at war with Dwarves for years, resulting in the local hostility and vigilance toward Dwarves, is something that cannot be solved."

"You've already said that, tell me something fresh." The old Dwarf continued to urge.

"Then we might as well do the opposite." Jier held up a finger, smiling to reveal a few teeth, wearing a feigned look of confidence.

"Do the opposite? You mean, not go west, but go east? Go north? Or go south? Let me state first, going south won't work. A branch of the Southern Mountains lies horizontally across the path ten days' journey to the south. Mountains connect to mountains there, forests connect to forests, and Magic Beasts and Monsters have occupied it since ancient times. We Dwarves haven't been able to open a road through it for hundreds of years, and you..." The old Dwarf glanced at Jier and the Human Villagers behind Jier with a look of disdain; the implication was self-evident.

Things their Dwarves couldn't accomplish in hundreds of years, you Humans are even less likely to have accomplished in less than a hundred years.

Jier curled his lips: "I didn't say to go south either. Yes, yes, we Humans admit we aren't as good as you Dwarves at construction, right. My meaning is, let's do the opposite, go east."

"East? Wouldn't that mean entering the densely populated areas of your Human Southern Province?"

"Correct! And not only go east, but we won't go to sparsely populated villages; instead, we are going to the big cities!" Jier said loudly.

The Villagers and Dwarves not far away had been watching the two talking. At this moment, hearing the young Knight's snippets of conversation, although they didn't know the specific meaning, everyone began to discuss in low voices, whispering to each other.

The old Dwarf widened his eyes in disbelief, subconsciously wanting to pick his ears, but he was wearing a Glove and his finger couldn't reach into his ear canal, so he had to give up. He immediately questioned Jier's words: "This group of Dwarves of ours, not only are we not bypassing Human towns, but we must specifically go to Human big cities? Are you crazy, or have my ears gone bad and I heard wrong?"

Jier looked confident: "That's right, you heard correctly, and my head isn't crazy. That is exactly what I said: go east, go to the big cities."

"Aren't you afraid of being caught? Although we Dwarves have decent strength, to be honest, a Human Knight like you is already so difficult to deal with; I really can't imagine that if we provoke multiple guys like you at once, the outcome of our journey will look very good."

After finishing, the old Dwarf self-deprecatingly added: "Perhaps we would be locked in some Human Noble Lord's private mine, doing work similar to what we have here. But the status and the resources we could command would be vastly different. If that's the case, then I would rather take my subordinate Miners and live here for the rest of my life, even if we lose the management rights to the Valley and the Cunzi, living peacefully until I die of old age, until everyone gradually dies of old age, and we are completely forgotten by our Kingdom and our respective families. Actually, that wouldn't be so bad, right?"

Jier hummed twice: "You're overthinking it, old sir. You are treating the Eastern Province as the Western Province we discussed earlier. If you appeared in the Western Province, perhaps the final outcome would be as you said, but please remember, this is the Southern Province. There has never been a war with the Dwarf Kingdom here, and the vast majority of the people here have only heard of the Dwarf race in the stories of a Bard."

Jier gestured with his hands: "When the people here meet you, they will be curious, worried, and perhaps have a tiny bit of fear, but they won't truly treat you as enemies. The ignorant hostility of a few people won't hurt you, right? You can protect yourselves, and you have me. And the Noble Lord here, they might even treat you Dwarves as guests."

"Oh?" The old Dwarf sounded puzzled.

"Because your race is ancient, powerful, long-lived, possesses great strength, and masters various excellent techniques. In the eyes of those lords, every Dwarf is a new possibility that can bring them much wealth." Jier added at the end: "I once stayed in a tall building of a Merchant Guild in our area. Do you know that the design of that building, which looked impressive, came from a Dwarf Architect who was living in a nearby big city."

"A Dwarf Architect, oh, a Dwarf Architect who was active in Human society for years!" Jier emphasized and repeated it, the implication of which was self-evident.

The old Dwarf's eyes immediately lit up, and his beard was even trembling slightly: "You mean, your meaning is, uh, yes, in your Human big cities, there are still Dwarves living and working?"

Jier shrugged: "Although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I estimate it's about the same. It's hard to say about small places, but I think in some big cities, there are definitely some capable Dwarves with a natural love for adventure living and working. Go east, go to the big cities, and then find them. When you meet your own kind, you will naturally be able to find a reliable road to safely return to the Dwarf lands based on their connections."

After hearing this, the old Dwarf's breathing became rapid with excitement, and Jier was even afraid this old guy would pass out from the excitement. But fortunately, the old Dwarf, who likely still had several decades of life left, was still in good health and soon calmed his excitement with his many years of life experience and perspective.

But the way his large feet subconsciously scraped on the ground still exposed that the old Dwarf hadn't truly calmed his excitement as he appeared to have.

"Hmm, truly, truly a good idea... Sigh, why didn't I think of this before? Not to mention anything else, it's hard to say about an Architect, but as long as it's a Dwarf Craftsman who has come out to travel and lives in your Human cities, they must be quite famous. As long as we ask around, we should be able to find them. Damn it, how many years of time have we wasted? My family, the families of the other Miners—after so many years without news of us, they must have long thought we were dead, right?"

The old Dwarf rambled on about his wife and children. It had been over a hundred years since he had been home. The young Dwarf he once was had likely become an excellent middle-aged Dwarf under the cultivation of his family, perhaps even managing some production facility delivered by the Kingdom or his family just like him. Or perhaps he had already started a family and had many clever children. And he didn't know if his wife was still alive today; if she were, he didn't know if her hair was now as gray and aged as his.

Jier hurriedly stopped the Dwarf's rambling and wandering thoughts, bent over to pat the other's shoulder in a way specifically meant to close the distance, and earnestly encouraged: "Look, the method is right there, isn't it? So shouldn't we hurry up and prepare to take action? The first step is to first eliminate the current confrontation, let both sides put down their weapons, and tell everyone that this negotiation was a success, right?"

"You're right, you're right. Since there is a reliable method, then things must be solved one by one." The old Dwarf calmed his mood. This time, he truly calmed his mood; his movements were much more stable and powerful, and even, not wanting to be outdone, he forcefully patted Jier's left forearm with his hand.

But just as the two were about to turn and return to their respective teams, on the west side of the village square, on top of a Human wooden house outside the Dwarf Residence, Xiao Tusi, who had been lying prone, suddenly stood up on the roof, blowing a whistle hard while continuously waving his arms, trying to attract Jier's attention as quickly as possible.

Jier naturally noticed it immediately. He stood still and looked at Xiao Tusi, carefully paying attention to the faint words called over after the whistle ended.

The old Dwarf had also been about to return, to immediately return to the Dwarf team; he couldn't wait to share the results of this negotiation with all the Dwarf Miners, but the young Human Knight's sudden standing still and dazed state also made him stop his steps at the first moment, looking at the other and guessing what had suddenly happened.

The old Dwarf also turned in the direction the young Knight was looking and immediately discovered the young Human standing on the distant roof, shouting something and waving his arms. He immediately realized through the Large Bow carried on this Human's back that this was one of the Tusi Brothers who had only entered Torito Village in the last few years. As for which of the three brothers this was, because the distance was too far, he couldn't tell.

But the problem is, a Human powerful hunter using a Large Bow running to a high, open-view roof—is it hard to guess what this represents?

This discovery made the old Dwarf's heart tighten, and he then subconsciously looked at the other few directions of the square, specifically paying attention to the roofs of the Human houses. Sure enough, he discovered the other two Tusi Brothers who had also stood up on the north and east sides of the square.

It was mainly because these other two Tusi Brothers had both stood up from their original prone state, which was why they could be discovered all of a sudden; otherwise, if someone were lying on a wooden roof made of Wheat Straw, once the distance was far, the naked eye really wouldn't be able to discover them.

Suddenly confirming that all three directions had been surrounded by Humans in advance, the old Dwarf was about to turn and question the young Knight, but he didn't expect that before he could even open his mouth to question, Jier, this young Knight, squatted down and gathered strength with a look of confusion, then jumped upward violently, using a jumping power more than ten times that of a normal person, jumping directly into the air more than ten meters high in one breath.

"What's going on? What are you doing?" The old Dwarf didn't understand what had happened and looked surprised. The Dwarves and Villagers at both ends of the square were also confused by Jier's behavior. Some of the more cautious Dwarves, fearing a change, immediately shouted for their companions to be on high alert. As for the Human Villagers, most couldn't understand what had happened either, but suddenly seeing Jier the Knight able to jump so high all at once still made many people happy and amazed.

It was as if Jier had 'performed' some amazing juggling act for them on the spot.

And Jier, relying on the short time before the jump, whispered a 'spell' given to him by the Great Bird Deity. When he jumped violently into the air, his line of sight crossed the village buildings on the west side of Torito Village, as well as the large tracts of farmland and wilderness outside the village, and he saw a 'huge' Human Refugee Team with a large number of vehicles but a messy formation.

"What's going on? Why did they come?"

Jier was extremely astonished.

Jier couldn't help but be surprised, because wasn't that Human Refugee Team in his line of sight the very Refugee Team he was currently leading?

But the problem is, weren't these people all resting at Shichui Village, a day or two's journey outside Huitou Forest, waiting for him to return from his trip and set foot on the journey again?

How could they have come here? Who led them here? Could it be that after he left, the team was forced to chase after him due to external forces? Or did these people chase after him on their own?

But the problem is the timing isn't right? Jier only crossed Huitou Forest yesterday morning and arrived at Torito Village. For what reason did the Refugee Team follow him today, which was only one day later than him?

Too many questions made Jier a bit confused, but before he could think of a one-two-three-four, the momentum from his jump was exhausted, and the planet's gravity pulled him back toward the ground.

Boom—

Jier landed on his feet, his metal Boot directly smashing a small cloud of dust and flying dirt on the ground of the square.

"You actually arranged for the Human Tusi Brothers using Large Bows to be in other directions of the square!" The old Dwarf rushed over as soon as Jier landed and asked sternly.

Jier didn't respond to the old Dwarf's accusation and directly stated his discovery: "Xiao Tusi on the west roof reminded me, and that's why I jumped into the air to scout. A team with quite a few people has come outside the village."

The old Dwarf immediately showed a surprised expression and was just about to speak, but was interrupted by Jier: "The good news is that the team is the one I just mentioned, the team under my command. But the bad news is, I originally had them resting and waiting for me in a village a few days' journey from here."

The old Dwarf was still experienced and immediately understood the meaning of the bad news in the young Knight's words: "So you also don't know why your team followed you all the way here without your orders?"

The old Dwarf immediately began to guess: "Did someone seize your leadership? Did they bring men to kill you?"

Seeing Jier's expression, he knew this guess was wrong: "Then do they have something important to find you for? And it's not a small matter, requiring the whole team to find you together? Or, were they forced to retreat in the direction you left?"

"I cannot say what it is."

Jier's face was full of confusion, because he truly could not say which situation the Refugee Team was in. Bata'er Jiaoshi was in the team; logically speaking, if he was not there, the team should listen directly to the Priest, as that was how it had been done the previous few times, and there was no reason for problems to arise now when there were none before.

"Then you..." Before the old Dwarf finished speaking, Jier said directly: "But no matter what, we must put aside our conflicts for now; dry wood left for too long will naturally ignite. This is a proverb of us Humans."

Hearing Jier say this, the old Dwarf steadied his mind and replied unceremoniously: "Once a sword is forged, it must drink blood. This is a proverb of us Dwarves!"

Jier smiled; although he could still hear a hint of opposition from the old Dwarf, this exchange of words added a sense of tacit understanding out of thin air.

Sensing this bit of tacit understanding, Jier unbuckled the Hunting Sword at his waist, threw it, scabbard and all, toward the large pit not far away, and shouted to Hunting Sword: "My Sword, please set the example for me!"

The Long Sword spun, then paused in mid-air, falling straight toward the center of the large pit in the clearing.

"How is that?" Seeing his Long Sword land straight in the lowest point at the center of the large pit, Jier asked the old Dwarf.

"I suppose you are an honest man, hmm, an honest young man." The old Dwarf stroked his beard: "It seems I cannot let the young people of today look down on me either; I will go back now and have the Warriors throw their weapons into the large pit. What about you? I believe I can represent my people in making a decision, and they will execute it, but you, you only arrived here yesterday; will they be convinced by you?"

Jier looked confident, though it was hard to tell if it was feigned: "Rest assured, this is the best outcome."

"And the new situation outside?" Before the negotiation ended and they parted ways, the old Dwarf still felt uneasy and began to ask Jier.

By this time, Jier had already begun to think and judge; although he still could not know the real reason the Refugee Team had followed him before making contact and asking, he judged from the brief glance he had caught from the air earlier that although the team was gathered in a messy cluster, the number of people did not seem to have increased or decreased much at a rough glance.

Moreover, an important point was that the carriages captured from the Bandits in the team were still there; if the Refugee Team had fled toward him because of the pressure of an external enemy, then the carriages, which carried the most usable supplies, could not possibly still be intact and brought along by the Refugee Team.

Therefore, although Jier still did not understand why the team had followed him, at least the situation was not the worst kind.

Since there was no strong enemy lurking on the side, the negotiation he led and the laying down of weapons by both sides should continue to be implemented.

"No problem, rest assured."

After Jier finished speaking, he turned and strode toward the Villagers. The old Dwarf watched Jier's back for a few moments, then gave a self-deprecating chuckle and also turned to walk toward the nervous Dwarf team.