Mercenaries and Adventurers

Counting the sentry in the vine hanging basket at the gate, and the two who were brought down by the gate and killed by Kiel with a bow and arrow, the young man just swarmed up and killed four bandits.

There were a total of six bandits staying in the lair, and they were all killed at once.

"Very good, everyone has been killed. Don't let your guard down. These bandits are very evil and they like to deal with poisonous snakes. Please be careful during the next search."

Keir jumped off his horse and explained to the young people around him.

Although they had just killed four bandits at once and everyone was very excited, they quickly forced themselves to calm down. Then they formed a group of five and spread out to search the surrounding treehouses, wooden houses, and cellars.

Kil raised his head and looked at some dry vine cages hanging on the trees in the camp. They contained everything, including but not limited to humans, goblins, wild dogs, wolves, half-human spiders, and pelvic fin statues. Big head fish with the same legs.

Fortunately, except for the two rotting human male corpses, most of the things in the vine cage were completely rotten except for skeletons, or had been specially dried and smoked.

The effect of intimidation is greater than the effect of confinement in the cage itself.

"The surrendered robbers said that there are several women imprisoned in the cellar. Be careful to save them and don't get hurt by the mechanism that imprisons them."

Gil put his hands on his waist and warned a group of people who were about to go to the cellar next to the leader's house.

The young people were all confused, with excited expressions on their faces.

Kil curled his lips, casually used his feet to gather together the six dead bodies on the ground around him, and then simply piled the clothes and weapons and equipment that could still be used aside.

Most of the weapons used by these bandits are not very good, even compared to the bandits near Kendall County. Although he was richer because he controlled and robbed the main trade routes, there was no large-scale forging workshop nearby, so he couldn't go into the city under his name and spend money to buy weapons.

In other words, most of the bandits' weapons were seized from the caravan guards of the small-scale caravans they robbed.

If you think about it, you will know that the quality of the caravan guards who go out to protect them varies greatly, and capable people rarely participate in such risky work, so the guys they have are not very good.

They are not very good, and the guys in the hands of the bandits are not very good either.

Although there are some steel weapons, it is possible that this camp is surrounded by woods and has a stream that runs through the woods, causing the humidity here to be high. The bandits' weapons are not very smooth, there are always rust stains on them.

There were constantly young refugee men going back and forth between the house they were searching and the open space outside. They happily threw various things in their hands away, and then happily returned to the house to search.

At first, everyone moved out some daily utensils and items, such as iron pots, metal bowls, half-eaten roast rabbits, wheat grains in clay pots, and rats and poisonous snakes also raised in clay pots.

Interestingly, the wooden lid of the jar where the rats were kept had small holes for ventilation. When Kiel looked closely, he could hear the frightened screams coming from inside the jar.

The jars in which venomous snakes are kept are completely sealed, and the mouth of the jar is tied tightly with a rope, for fear that the venomous snakes inside will escape.

During the search, the young people carefully opened the jar, first smelled, then listened, and finally looked inside carefully by the light of the fire.

When you smell the jars containing the grains, you can smell the slightly moldy smell of the grains. Although it is a pity that they were not properly stored, the young people do not think that the grains are inedible.

Some are good to eat.

The rat jar not only smells bad, but its chirping sound is very easy to spot. As for the well-preserved poisonous snake jar, at first the young people thought it was a treasure. After shaking it, there was something in the jar but not much.

They opened a small crack and smelled it. There was smell inside but not much, and they were not sure what was inside.

After the disturbed venomous snake took the initiative to make a hair-raising hissing sound, the young people carefully resealed the jar.

Keir was not interested in letting snakes kill people. He was only interested in the deadly venom of poisonous snakes. When he captured the gang of snake-playing thieves, he planned to ask them to provide him with some snake venom to poison the weapons.

Originally, he planned to kill the snake and collect its venom.

But after questioning the robbers, I learned that snake venom cannot be kept for a long time. After it is very troublesome to remove it from the venomous snake's teeth, it must be used as soon as possible.

You can keep it for a few more days when it's cold, but you have to use it as soon as possible when it's hot, otherwise it will smell bad and won't work.

Therefore, Kil told his men to collect these venomous snakes that had been raised carefully. He later planned to let the captured wild snake bandits serve these venomous snakes.

They won't be released in the short term, at least until the evil-doing defeated army that captured the villagers of Changmai Village are dealt with, they have to prepare snake venom for Keir.

In addition to these large and small jars, some personal belongings of the thieves were also confiscated.

There were bundles of animal skin clothing, exquisite small wooden boxes filled with intact snake sloughs, some scattered valuables, etc.

A young man brought some gold teeth over, and Keir took them directly.

As I said before, they search by themselves, and the coins they find belong to themselves. As for other valuables, as long as they can fit them on their bodies, they belong to themselves.

But some particularly valuable items, such as gold coins or gold ornaments, gems, etc., must be handed over.

Kiel did not send anyone to supervise or search his own people. After all, cleaning up the bandits' lair was just a matter of hunting down rabbits.

The bandits in ordinary gangs actually don't have much wealth, and their own lives are not guaranteed. They are the kind of people who spend whatever money they have. Generally, the plundered wealth is exchanged for money from merchants who collect illegal goods in various hotels on the trade road, and is distributed to them through the leader. Then they take the money and go to those outdoor hotels where all kinds of religions hang out and spend it all.

Most of the time, he would make a fortune, spend the money in less than ten days, and then return to his hometown naked to wait for the next job.

After asking the bandits on the way, they found out that the burned-down hotels they saw during the day were actually used for everything.

What usually seems normal is to run accommodation and meals for traveling merchants; apart from that, you can either do it yourself or contact the merchants who collect dirty goods to eat the black goods looted by bandits; or you can find red houses in nearby towns. Cooperate with gangsters, or find women who have no way to make money to run night businesses, using this to harvest bandits who are looking for fun during the day and merchants who stay overnight at night;

In addition, some powerful people will organize gambling rooms to squeeze out every bandit who comes to 'spend', and even let bandits who come with blood-stained coins happily come. The robber, who was completely naked and still owed a lot of debt, rolled away in despair.

Kiir was very happy when he heard it, but the young refugee people around him were red-faced and dumbfounded.

He didn't understand. If the bandits were wiped out of their money, wouldn't it be hard for them to attack these hotels?

The robber's answer made him think deeply, not knowing what to say.

"I heard that those hotels have cooperative relationships with us or the bosses of other gangs. It's not like we can just go to other trade road hotels. We, the people of Huangshe, are just like the previous small gangs, we can only go to Lide Go to the nearest 'Enchanting Snake' hotel, the girls there are the most energetic, as soft as the snakes I raise, Sihasha. (Licking lips) Others who look like fat people can only go to the one closest to the White Stone Wall Checkpoint Go to the 'Big Barbecue' hotel, the meat there is the cheapest, but I heard people say that the meat there is not very clean and has suspicious origins!"

Keir rolled his eyes. This kind of gossip is just the most basic business information.

But he really didn't expect that the hotel that originally served passing merchants in an uninhabited area on the trade road would have such a close connection with the bandit gangs who were robbing the trade road.

"There are no good people. In a place where public security management is lost, over time, there will really be no good people left." Keir felt that good people should either be buried in the ground, or be smart and run away in advance, which is not suitable for such barbaric society. place to live.

The root cause of everything actually stems from the deliberate lack of management of this place by the Viscount of Montauca and the Earl of the Southern Province. Everyone wanted this place, but everyone was afraid that the other would get it, so they secretly compromised and turned this originally prosperous place into a no-man's land sandwiched between mountains.

-

Noises came from the cellar next to the bandit leader's wooden house, and soon, four girls wrapped in body-clothes were carried out by the young refugees under Kiel.

Only when you get closer can you see that several girls were tortured so much that they almost lost their human appearance.

The whole body was dirty, swollen and bruised, and it was obvious that he had endured a lot of torture after being caught by the bandits.

Their voices were hoarse and they were dying, but they still held on to their energy and looked at their surroundings. His eyes were like a frightened rabbit, afraid of being taken from one hell to another.

But the corpses of several bandits who had stayed behind in their lairs on the ground in the middle of the bandit camp, as well as the red-faced young refugees who were carefully carrying people on their backs and mumbling something, made them realize that things might not be as bad as they thought.

Keir noticed that the rescued girl's limbs had areas that were inflamed and eroded due to moisture. So he immediately asked the young man who was watching curiously to prepare food, water and clean cloth.

"Go and get ready. The injuries they suffered will have to be handed over to Priest Batar for treatment later, but now we need to clean them up and feed them so that they can get better mentally and physically."

As soon as Keir said this, the young people watching around him started to get busy.

The wooden chairs in the robber's house were chopped up with axes and used as firewood to light the fire. An iron pot with a matching iron shelf was also propped on the fire. Water was poured in, and several fires were raised together. Some of them heated hot water. Cleaning, some cooked wheat porridge.

Young people from farmers' families are not as messy as those who were rescued before. They simply cooked the wheat porridge, and soon afterwards, the aroma of grain wafting from the pot diluted the smell of blood and the smell of decaying domestic garbage that filled the bandit camp.

"Thank you, thank you."

Several girls were carefully placed on the ground covered with animal skin quilts. They leaned on each other and carefully looked at these unidentified young men.

The oldest one wrapped her body tightly in the messy animal skin, set her sights on Kil, who was the leader at first glance, and used her best voice to utter a hoarse and weak thank you.

Kil's ears were strengthened by the energy of life, so he did not miss the words of thanks that the other party would not hear without paying attention.

He waved his hand: "It's okay, please rest assured, eat something to fill your stomach later, and then scrub your body. After all, this is not your solution. When we go back, our Saturn priest will come to help You do the treatment.”

Perhaps it was the name of the Saturn Priest that appeared, or perhaps it was the expensive equipment that Kil wore, which made him look like a bandit. These girls finally put aside their worries and shrinking postures, huddled together, and fell asleep clinging to each other.

Keir lifted up his visor and raised his chin: "Speak softer and move softer."

The young people who looked curiously nodded and quietly continued to search the supplies and things in the bandit camp.

After a while, Kil asked a few people to follow the blood-licking grass back to the outside of the camp, and took his ax to let everyone outside in. He had seen it on the way here. Although it was incredible, the bandits had indeed chosen a place where carriages could pass to build their camp.

This camp was established in the center of the woods and should have been surrounded by layers of trees. However, in the direction facing the camp gate, there was indeed a route for carriages to enter and exit.

If you think about it carefully, you will know that although the protection and confidentiality of the camp are important, for the bandits who actually do not have many fixed assets, the most important thing is to keep the goods stolen from killing the guards in the caravan. one thing.

Regardless of Fatty's group, the lair is built on a hillside. Outside the cave, they have to find a way to build a dirt road that can allow carriages to wind up the mountain.

I don’t know how much time and energy the bandits spent on building such a winding mountain climbing road.

In comparison, finding a camp location in the forest where the carriage could drive deep into the woods was not a troublesome task for the Wild Snake group.

"Lord Knight, this is what we found in the wooden house where the bandit leader lives. Take a look."

Two young men wearing leather armor came over, carrying several large wooden boxes and placing them in front of Keir.

When he opened it, he found that the things inside were quite complicated, but he could only tell at a general glance that most of the valuable things of the bandit gang were inside.

Interestingly, one of the wooden boxes contained more than half of the box of animal scales.

Most of the scales are three centimeters long and inverted fan-shaped, but there are also some that are slightly smaller and larger. Obviously these things are the scales of the wild pythons that the bandit leader collected.

I don’t know how these scales were collected.

Kil picked up an ordinary-sized scale, held it between his right index finger and thumb, and observed it.

It was found that the scales were basically opaque and had some thickness. Pinch it a little and it will become slightly elastic under squeezing. The fingers exerted more force, and the scales broke into two parts, upper and lower, without any fragments flying out.

"Yes, it's a pretty good material. It's a little less strong than iron, but it's a lot lighter in weight."

Throwing away the broken scales, Kil nodded with satisfaction and closed the wooden box.

He did not go to check the valuables, but asked the two men in front of him: "What about the gains in weapons and equipment? This is more important to everyone. As for money, you can't spend it in the deserted wilderness. Travel to the South In provincial towns, I guess it’s not easy to buy supplies now if you have money, and even if you can buy them, the price is hard to say.”

The two young men looked at each other and showed each other the weapons they were carrying to Kil.

Kil took a look and found that they were all ordinary stainless steel swords. These were already the best swords in the hands of bandits. This made him quite disappointed and he had no desire to collect them.

"Why are you carrying weapons on your back? It seems like you can grow a few more arms to use them, right? Distribute them all, and give the best weapons to those you think are reliable, so as to increase everyone's combat effectiveness in time. They will still be available tonight, and they will be again in the future. Clean up a bandit's lair again."

After a pause, Kil saw that the two of them had some understanding, and then continued: "When we fought against those bandits before, we suffered such a big loss and suffered such heavy casualties. Why? The number of people was not as good as the opponent's? Or was it courage? Martial arts? No, the biggest problem is that the bandits have deadly weapons in their hands, but you don't. It is difficult to defeat enemies with sharp blades with bare hands. When you go back, not only long weapons but also weapons must be distributed as widely as possible to everyone Our own people who can and dare to fight, and I require a team of several hundred people, and everyone must have at least one dagger, dagger, or dagger for self-defense!"

Kil lightly bumped the chests of the two men with his fists: "The road ahead will not be peaceful, and the battles will be wave after wave. Be armed. This is my lowest requirement for all of you."

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, my lord!"

"Shh, keep your voice down." Keir raised a finger to make a sounding gesture.

The two men immediately shut their mouths. Keir waved his hands and told them to go about their business.

-

There are not as many unprocessed caravan goods in this bandit camp as in the cave of Fatty's gang. Perhaps it is because it is not far from the commercial road and the entry and exit are not difficult and difficult, so the goods that are easy to be processed have been processed early.

Therefore, in the wooden houses dedicated to storing looted goods in this wave of bandit camps, what is left are some goods that are neither valuable nor difficult to handle and sell.

Kil went over to check it out and found that the items inside, except for a box of bottles and cans of unknown use, were all ordinary goods that were useless and difficult to sell.

He carefully inspected these things of different sizes, with small pieces of writing wood tied with ropes to the bottles and jars. Cooked poison frog pate, bat claw powder, snowflake honey, strangler vine juice, etc.

They are all weird names and items.

He cautiously opened a non-dangerous looking ice and snow honey. After a slight sniff, before he could smell the honey he expected, he felt as if his nose had been punched hard. It was numb and cold. No more feeling.

He quickly closed the bottle and carefully placed it in the crowded wooden box.

He touched his nose and found that it was stiff and cold. After gathering the life energy in a small scale, the numbness slowly turned into pain, and then quickly improved, and there was no longer a problem.

"What the hell! What the hell?"

He waved his hands and asked people to carefully carry these things away, and specifically told him not to bump the box.

Walking out of the wooden house, Kil saw the young men running up to the tree house in the bandit camp. At this time, they were using ropes to lift and carry useful things in the tree house.

But from another tree house, a young man ran out in a panic, waving his palms and screaming, attracting everyone's attention at once.

"Help, help! There are bees in the house! So many bees!"

The guy shouted loudly, and Keir immediately shouted: "Jump down the rope and run towards me!"

At the same time, he quickly ran over to respond.

As soon as the young man listened to the order, he jumped directly from the wooden ladder connecting the tree house and grabbed a rope hanging down. His palms were so painful that they slipped down, while Keir took off the water-crossing rope from his right hand. Hold the head sideways for the first time and wave it sideways.

But instead of hitting the poor young man, he waved it above his head.

There was a crackling, continuous popping sound, and dozens of frightened bees as big as knuckles were beaten to death.

Then Keir carefully waved the weapon around the young man, making sure not to hit anyone but to hit the flying bees, and then swatted each bee to death.

"How are you? Are you injured?"

Faced with Keer's question, the young man's face was swollen and he tried to answer: "Mao Yudu, what's going on with Jiajia? Oh, Tatou, what's wrong with Tatou?"

The young man's tongue and mouth were swollen.

Of course, it wasn't just the swelling here, his head and face were also enlarged.