Chapter 9: Big Tree Cunzi, Dashu Bi'ao under the [Eye of Yamila]

"Ignore those gossiping fellows. They weren't willing to come over and help train you, yet they love to flap their tongues at a time like this!" Jier shook his head, waved his hand at the Warriors watching from the sidelines, and told them to get lost.

Only then did he continue speaking to the nine new Warriors who were focused on him: "But those two were right; the first problem is the grip. Look, the handle of a Dagger is only this big. It's fine for a one-handed grip, but if you want to use two hands, it's not impossible, just unnecessary."

Jier gripped the Dagger handle with both hands and performed a few combat motions, finding it not as effective as imagined: "Although the force is increased, it greatly restricts the weapon's flexibility. For short-range weapons like Daggers, fighting with them is already somewhat dangerous. If you can, choosing a weapon with a longer reach is the normal choice."

"And if you only have a Dagger on hand, I recommend you use a one-handed grip and face the enemy sideways."

Jier held the Steel Dagger in a reverse grip and, with a *whoosh, whoosh, whoosh*, slashed back and forth at the wrists, neck, armpits, and abdomen of an imaginary enemy; his movements were flexible, fluid, and extremely fast.

This set of movements left the new Warriors dazzled and unable to keep up.

They then imitated Jier's movements to learn.

"Secondly, stabbing is the most lethal method. While a two-handed grip strengthens the force of the stab, the act of pulling it back to your abdomen before lunging forward not only completely exposes your intent but also limits your own attack range."

Jier hopped sideways: "What if I dodge? Have you thought about that? In combat, although many times we rely on instinct during fast-paced fighting, the side that uses more intelligence wins the battle in advance."

Jier finally said: "So the correct way to use it is to face the enemy sideways, leaving your left hand free—you can hold something, or not, it doesn't matter. Meanwhile, keep your right hand at a distance, hold the Dagger in a reverse grip, and rely on the blade of the reverse-held Dagger to slash the enemy's body. When the conditions are right, quickly switch to a forward grip to deliver a fast and fierce forward stab."

"Not only that, in battle, your feet must move flexibly, your eyes must be fixed on every move the enemy makes, and you must coordinate your body to dodge or parry the enemy's counterattacks."

"Unless both sides are tangled together, I do not recommend using a Dagger with both hands."

The new Warriors nodded repeatedly as they listened; they could roughly understand some of the principles Jier spoke of, but as for how to do it specifically, they were still confused.

So Jier had no choice but to demonstrate it to them personally: how to face the enemy sideways, how to keep their eyes fixed on the enemy, and how to move their feet and legs flexibly so they could attack, retreat, or dodge left and right at any time.

At the same time, he showed what a forward grip and a reverse grip were, the respective advantages and disadvantages of each, and in what situations one should use a forward stab to kill, or a reverse grip to wound.

He covered how to move when attacking, how to maintain deterrence while retreating to ensure a successful withdrawal, and how to quickly dodge left and right and follow up with a counterattack after dodging.

By the time this set of instructions was finished, the moon had risen twice over, and it was already the second half of the night.

Seeing that everyone was still in good spirits but knowing tomorrow would surely be another hot day, Jier waved his hand and told everyone to rest as early as possible; they would have to get up and set off before dawn.

The entire next day, nothing happened to the caravan. The high-hanging sun, the scorching sunlight, and the ground-hugging heat waves without a hint of moisture—every one of these things tested the travelers on the road and made everyone on the carriages drowsy.

While those sitting inside the carriages had the chance to lean against the carriage walls for a short nap, the drivers could not.

Fortunately, they did not need to undergo martial arts training, so they had rested early last night, which allowed them to barely keep their consciousness clear even in such heat today.

They had to stay clear-headed; they were the ones driving. Although the horses pulling the carriages would watch the caravan ahead and follow automatically, if no one was watching, the caravan could very easily turn off into who-knows-where when encountering a Chalu.

Every time they encountered a Chalu, Jier would dismount to carefully check the tracks on the ground.

If there was a road sign, that was best; if not, he had to judge which road led north and which was a fish path arched out by the local Siege Fish.

"I tell you, this southern Sasi County will have to eliminate those Siege Fish sooner or later, otherwise it delays too much time on the road, and the risk is not small."

Jier rode his horse and talked to Xueya Site at the head of the caravan: "Once you go the wrong way, you have to endure the stone attacks from the Siege Fish; it's too risky. If they aren't dealt with, the commerce here won't develop."

Xueya Site was also dazed; he wore a Wheat Straw hat he had casually asked for from the farmers of Lanse-Qingting; this thing barely managed to block the scorching sun and keep it from shining directly on his head and face.

He pondered for a while, or perhaps he was just muddled from the heat, and then responded to Jier: "But why don't the villages solve them? After all, the villages have been established for at least decades. With so many generations, even if each village saved a little money every year, they could have saved enough coins over all these years to hire capable people to hunt those Siege Fish, right?"

"After all, unless it's during a heavy rainstorm in summer, they stay honestly in their own Ponds at other times; they can't run, and there's nowhere to run."

Hearing this, Jier was somewhat surprised. That's right, why don't the local Villagers organize manpower to take back the water sources of the Ponds where the Siege Fish are entrenched?

Could it be because they can't take them back? They must do as Lanse-Qingting did—spend a huge sum to build a village wall that surrounds the entire Pond and small lake.

Or perhaps, this unresolved trouble is actually something left behind on purpose? Because it can block the movement of merchants, the power of the Sasi Baron Family cannot easily extend from the north all the way to the south.

The more Jier thought about it, the more possibilities appeared in his mind, so he simply scratched his head and ignored these things that didn't have much to do with him.

Before dusk, after a full day of stopping and going, the caravan finally arrived safely at Big Tree Cunzi before dark.

This time, the villagers recognized Jier's caravan, and it seemed they had learned of the victory of Jier and his people from Priest Feilina. And Feilina had clearly learned of it in advance from Dashu Bi'ao.

"Oh, oh, well done!"

"Cheers for you! Warrior Jier!"

Jier smiled and waved to the Villagers in the guard post atop the village gate, organizing the caravan to enter the village.

He even teased the curious Villagers who gathered around: "I have some surrendered enemies in my caravan; does anyone want to beat them up? It's allowed, you know? Anyone?"

But the Big Tree Cunzi villagers, who had no grudges or hatred toward the enemies, had no interest in this at all.

Thus, the caravan entered the village and, under the prior arrangement of Priest Feilina, entered the backyard of the Church through the back door of the Nongshen Church in the center of the village.

In the courtyard, Priest Feilina was already waiting there.

"Was the trip smooth? How is the situation with Luosa?" As soon as Jier dismounted, Priest Feilina walked over to ask.

"I thought that through the communication of Dashu Bi'ao, you were very clear about our situation," Jier said with a grin.

Priest Feilina shook her head: "How could that be? Bio is not a talkative existence. I only simply knew that you successfully rescued the villagers, and at noon, I learned that you and your people would arrive at the village before tonight."

"I see." Jier looked up at the massive ancient tree that remained lush in this weather. The individual trees he had occasionally seen standing in the wilderness were all wilted; their leaves were not only small, but their color was also withered yellow.

And Dashu Bi'ao was a forest unto itself in the village, standing lonely on this land. But its state was excellent; not only were its leaves growing lushly, but its leaves looked full of power at a glance, and its huge Shadow Concealment covered most of the Nongshen Church, making the Church not as hot as imagined.

He didn't know if it was because its roots were buried very deep, or because some Human was watering and fertilizing it.

Perhaps it was willing to help Humans and answer some of their questions because it needed Humans to help it do some things it couldn't easily do itself.

Such as pest control, bird scaring, watering, fertilizing, and so on.

"Forget it, never mind that. Is there plenty of water in the well? Everyone in our caravan is burning up; we need to use water to rinse everyone off."

Jier came to the well in the backyard and looked down; there were ripples in the dark bottom of the well, and a cool vapor rose from the well mouth, making Jier's face feel very comfortable.

Priest Feilina was very knowledgeable about many taboos in daily life, and she stopped Jier from drawing water: "The well water is too cold; it cannot be used directly for bathing. It is very easy to cause physical illness and sudden death."

"If one does not pay attention to these things, people often get sick and die in very strange ways."

Priest Feilina snatched the bucket from Jier's hand—she had quite a bit of strength—and pointed to a stone water vat in the corner of the backyard: "There is reserve water there to prevent fires; it has been sitting outside for a few days. If you want to clean your bodies, you can use the water in the vat. Although it has some smell, the water is safe and can be used."

Jier walked over and tested the water in the stone vat, finding some moss on the side of the vat, and the surface of the water was slightly green. However, the temperature was lukewarm and did not feel cold or irritating when in contact with the human body.

"Alright, this will do. Thank you, Priest Feilina!"

Jier watched everyone disembark one by one, looking wilted, so he shouted to them: "Hey, the water in the vat here, the Priest says we can use it. Anyone who feels too hot, come over and wash up."

As soon as Jier said this, everyone, including the surrendered Soldiers, flocked over.

"Stop, stop, why is everyone coming over? Drivers, park the carriages first and unhitch the horses. Surrendered Soldiers, squat down in the corner of the courtyard and don't leave the Church backyard! Warriors, light the campfire. The bucket for the backyard well was taken by Priest Feilina; you go find other courtyards to see if there are buckets, bring them over—we need well water to feed the horses and cook dinner."

Speaking of this, Jier began to take off his weapons and equipment: "As for me, I'll test the water temperature first to see if it's suitable for bathing."

After saying this, Jier took a cloth towel by himself, wetted it, and began to scrub his body.

Everyone watched Jier bathing ahead of time and felt very envious, but having no other choice, they had to follow Jier's arrangements and began to act accordingly.

While Jier was bathing, he heard Priest Feilina leading the devout believers in evening Prayer at the front of the Church. He paused for a moment, then said to the people in the caravan: "Anyone in the team who has Faith in the God of Agriculture can go to the front Church now to participate in the Prayer."

But whether they were too embarrassed to step forward or no one in the team had a devout Faith in the God of Agriculture, no one stepped forward to indicate anything after Jier said this.

Everyone continued with their own work; those tending to the horses tended to the horses, and those starting campfires started campfires. Because the weather was still hot, they only needed to lay the tent cloth on the ground near the campfire to spend the night. When everyone went to sleep at night, they didn't need to cover themselves with anything; they just took off their shoes, lay down on the tent cloth, and that was it.

Jier used the wet cloth towel to scrub the sweat off his body in a few quick motions, then simply wetted his hair again.

The wet hair didn't feel cold at all; instead, it felt quite comfortable while drying in the warm evening breeze.

"Come on, it's your turn to come and wash. Line up, don't crowd together."

After saying this, Jier dressed neatly, did not put on his Helmet, and after identifying the direction, he arrived at the center of the Church.

This was the middle courtyard where the main body of the Great Tree Bio was located. As soon as he arrived, Jier felt as if the Great Tree Bio was quietly 'watching' him.

"Hello."

Jier gave a greeting, then fumbled in the pocket on his belt and took out a pendant ornament that looked like an eyeball.

Taking a deep breath, Jier kept his mind steady, then held the ornament in his right hand and gripped it tightly.

The next moment, the whole world became a little different.

"Let me see your true appearance!" Jier muttered to himself.

At this moment, the surrounding world became bright and vivid, especially the Great Tree Bio before him. Previously, it had seemed like a quiet, large tree, but at this moment in Jier's eyes, not only did its presence become extremely strong, but the entire tree was visibly swaying.

Furthermore, some rustling sounds of leaves that he couldn't quite understand before now clearly carried some special meaning.

Just by listening, Jier seemed to be able to understand what the Great Tree Bio wanted to express.

What was even more surprising was that a human face made of tree bark gradually emerged on the trunk of the Great Tree, which had originally been bare.

This scene surprised Jier a little. He looked around; the stone walls of the Church were still walls, but Jier seemed to be able to see the traces left on them by countless years. The ground under his feet was still the original ground, but it seemed as if Jier could see the long root system of the Great Tree Bio beneath the soil layer, even though the soil was not very thick.

"In... cred... i... ble..."

The Great Tree Bio seemed to be saying something, but Jier wasn't sure if this was the rustling sound he heard with his ears being translated, or if the human face that had emerged before him was speaking in Human Common Language?

"What is incredible?"

Jier looked up. His movement of looking up was very careful, because the existence of the various gods in the sky was truly too shocking and had left a deep impression on Jier. But fortunately, this was beside the Great Tree Bio; after Jier looked up, all he saw were the branches and lush leaves of the Great Tree Bio.

But these parts of the Great Tree Bio's body were far from as simple as they appeared to the naked eye.

Every branch and every leaf carried a mysterious and heavy power.

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