Mercenaries and Adventurers

Kiel and his party headed south by west. Not only did they run a little faster to prevent the pursuing bandit team from catching up, but they also had to work hard to create traces of more than 20 people walking on the road.

Fortunately, the chasing bandits didn't check very carefully, they just followed the traces they found, but they didn't carefully observe whether those traces were really caused by people walking by.

In the evening, Keir let his companions who were walking with him lean against the tree to rest, while he continued to create traces energetically, adding some more distance for tomorrow morning.

After waiting for midnight, he returned along the traces he had made to find his companions who were leaning against each other for warmth, and led them in the dark to the end of the traces he had made.

Several people huddled together for warmth, and Keel wondered how far away he was from storing his backpack and weapons.

"Kill, how far are we from the place you said?" One of the companions asked in a low voice.

Forget it, Keir replied: "We have few people, and the surrounding terrain is also convenient to move forward. After the speed is increased, it is estimated that we will be able to reach the vicinity tomorrow afternoon. When we get the weapons tomorrow, let's give those bandits a little color." !"

Another person asked curiously: "How? Those bandits are so cruel. I told you that this team of bandits is not the bandits you usually see."

Kiel said confidently: "You don't have to think about defeating them all. As long as you kill a few of them, those bandits will spare their lives and flee back to rescue soldiers, and find a more powerful boss to bring people to catch us."

"Hmph, by the time they come back, we'll be back at Icestorm Pass long ago, and they won't be able to catch up. After all, we have legs, and we're not big trees, so we can't move." Keel told each companion Shake hands and encourage them. After all, they were very tired after walking and working this afternoon.

Tomorrow he has to go forward for a long time, and he has to persist until he counterattacks.

---

The next day's situation was as planned by Kiel. Because they went a little further last night, they distanced themselves from the bandits they were chasing.

It's not as urgent as it was yesterday. So although everyone only ate a little food and water, they still gritted their teeth and persisted to the place.

Keel looked at the environment with some impressions around him, and there were some sporadic marks carved on the bark that he had left before. I found a small crypt under a tree root, which is semi-concealed and can be used for a person to rest.

He got in all at once, and took out the backpack and long guns and other weapons he had put in it before. Several companions looked at this very hidden small crypt in amazement. If Keir hadn't said that things were hidden here, they would never have discovered that there is such a place where one can hide.

When Kiel came out, he gave the food and water in the backpack to his companions, so that everyone could replenish their strength quickly. He also ate the frozen bacon himself. After taking two bites, he realized that the food prepared in his backpack was not something that could be eaten directly. What they had been eating before was the jerky brought from the bandit's lair, and they all subconsciously thought that this food could also be eaten.

Keel took the bacon out of his mouth in embarrassment. After thinking for a while, he lit a fire on the spot and called his companions to roast the bacon together. The frozen ice water in the kettle does not need to be hidden in your arms to warm it up. Just put it close to the raised fire for a while to melt the ice and drink it.

"I haven't eaten meat for many days, ha, ha, ha. It's so hot, so delicious." Several companions ignored the freshly baked bacon on the branch, and said it was hot, while biting it with their teeth This is because of the seasoning, the fragrant cooked meat.

"Kiel, is it okay to start a fire now? Don't you have to worry about the robbers seeing the smoke?" a more cautious companion asked.

Blowing on the roasted meat in small mouthfuls, Kiel nodded: "No need, I'm afraid they won't come.

After everyone eats, find a place to hide carefully. After a while, I will give these bandits a good look, and look for opportunities to attack them more tonight. "

After eating the meat and drinking warm water, Kiel arranged his companions in a safe place nearby. Everyone was careful not to leave any traces, just because they were afraid that after a while, those bandits who found out that they had been cheated would search around and find them.

Returning to the place where the fire was made, right next to the fire, Zhao Ji hid in the small crypt where he had put his things before, to hide the surface of the crypt, ready his weapons, and waited for the next battle.

He took out a wooden box from the backpack on his back, opened it carefully, and took out a small dried mushroom from it. Zhao Ji thought for a while, put the dried mushrooms in his mouth, and put away the wooden box.

--

Seeing the fire rising in front of them, they guessed that those fleeing people finally had no food to eat directly, and could only roast the scattered food they found in the mountains and forests.

This made the gang of bandits who were chasing them quite excited.

When they found the traces of this group of people a few days ago, they felt that they had hit a big luck. In the four directions of south, east, north and west, their team still found the traces.

It's just that they have been chasing for the past few days, but they have not been able to catch up with the fleeing people. This made these bandits quite depressed. They also gradually let go of their relaxed attitude, kept accelerating, and kept chasing the traces they found, trying to catch up with them. those people.

However, it is estimated that the fire at night exposed their pursuit team, and those people turned around boldly.

Although this also surprised the bandits who were chasing after them, those old, weak, sick and disabled people still left too many traces along the way. Just simply looking with their eyes, they all know where those people are going.

Therefore, the bandits were not fooled at all, and followed the fleeing people to pursue them.

From the point of view of a bandit leading the team, this is the last struggle of these people, and they will soon be able to catch up with these people who are like trapped animals.

Although there were many fleeing people, it was impossible for them to be their opponents. After all, these people were originally captured by them. When they attacked, those who dared to fight were killed, and those who remained were those who did not dare to fight, but were still useful to them.

Speeding up their pace again, the ten bandits drew their weapons and spread out, quickly approaching the place where the fire was rising in front of them.

What they found after approaching was beyond their expectations.

There were no more than 20 people who resisted desperately as expected, and there were no more than 20 people who knelt down and begged for mercy. There was no one at all where the fire was rising!

No one!

"Let's spread out and look for them. They must be nearby. In groups of two, if you find something, just shout it out. Be careful, don't be bitten by these prey." The bandit leading the team yelled loudly and directed the other bandits From the fire as the starting point, scout around.

He himself brought a man to the fire to check how it was burning.

For these bandits who often light fires in the wild, they only need to look at the burning of the wood in the fire to know when the fire started and how long ago it was last added wood.

The bandit looked at the fire, and was a little puzzled. The marks left by someone sitting by the fire were normal, but the number was too small. The opponent's team had at least 20 people, and it wasn't long before the fire started, but the surrounding traces showed that only a few people had sat down by the fire.

Another bandit on the side stood by the fire to keep warm: "Popper, did you find anything? I think you are a little nervous."

The bandit named Pope shook his head: "It's not right, not right, not right."

"What's wrong, they can escape scattered in this place? If you really dare to do that, let alone those who escaped, you let me walk from here to Bingxun Pass alone, I dare not." Another A bandit took out a piece of potato from his bosom, picked up a roasting branch on the ground, skewered it and roasted something on his own.

"Hey, I don't dare. After all, those little gangsters hiding in the woods, no matter where we come from, they will kill everyone when they see it. Anyway, just bury it anywhere. Well, I'm not right Why did those who escaped run away after lighting the fire and eating?" Just when the bandit Pope was puzzled, from a slightly raised ground under the tree roots on the other side of the fire, a sound came out. An answer that horrified him.

"Let me tell you, because the counterattack has begun!" With this abrupt answer, a sharp spear suddenly emerged from the root of the tree.

As soon as the spear rushed out from the ground, it went straight to the nearest bandit who was baking potatoes.

However, although the bandit was baking potatoes with a branch in one hand, he never let go of the long sword he was holding in the other hand.

Seeing the sudden attack of the spear, the bandit threw a branch with one hand, slashed a sword with the other hand, and at the same time tried to dodge the stabbing of the spear with his feet sideways.

Zhao Ji didn't expect that the randomly selected bandits had such excellent on-the-spot reaction ability. Facing his sudden attack, they knew how to counterattack, defend, and dodge.

But Zhao Ji is not stupid. Although he regrets having to talk to the other party just now, he is not without skills.

The whole person rushed out of the small crypt, stabbing forward, and at the same time swept the spear held in both hands sideways in the direction where the bandits dodged.

The old Professor Duomu's technique came in handy before. Zhao Ji didn't use all his strength when stabbing, and reserved two parts of his strength to deal with the opponent's possible reaction.

With a clang, the long sword obliquely blocked the stabbing spear, but in an emergency, the long sword with one hand was no match for the spear.

This sword doesn't have much effect, it can only be attached to the blade of the spear.

Zhao Ji paused, stopped rushing forward, and planted his legs apart on the ground. His waist rotated to drive the spear to sweep. Against the bandit's resistance, he smashed the sharp spear and the opponent's long sword on the opponent's waist.

The thick fur clothes on the other bandit's body saved the other's life, but Zhao Ji lifted the spear against the waist and clothes of the other party, and the blade of the long spear cut the other party's armpit upwards along the other party's body.

As Zhao Ji yelled, an arm flew out of the bandit and fell.

At this time, another bandit, Pope, on the opposite side of the fire, walked around the fire, and chopped down from the top with the sharp machete in his hand.

Zhao Ji didn't use the spear to resist, and rushed towards the bandit whose arm had been cut off directly along the direction of the spear. Putting the spear on the opponent's shoulder, Zhao Ji and the bandit crossed each other.

When Pope, the bandit who had cut through the air, turned his head to look, he found that his accomplice's neck had been cut open by the blade of the spear placed on his shoulder.

The wound opened the large blood vessels in the neck, and large streams of blood left from the bandit's neck. The bandit covered his neck with his hands, but he knew that the injury was hopeless. Before he collapsed, the bandit gasped and reminded Pope, "Call someone to avenge me."

The bandit Pope stood still and confronted the man on the opposite side. He took a deep breath and shouted: "Here! There are people here! Come and help!"

Soon, there was a response from all around, and the bandits who had been scattered before began to come here.

--

Zhao Ji stared at the bandit opposite him coldly, and he stood aside with his spear. The whites of his eyes gradually became bloodshot, and he felt a little uncomfortable, his body was hot, and his mind was also hot.

Pulling out the long sword, Zhao Ji took a deep breath, raised the sword and charged forward.

Before other bandits came to surround him, he wanted to kill the confronting bandits with his most proficient long sword.

With no shield around him, he chose a one-handed sword posture, attacked first, and ran to the opponent's side, forcing the opponent to lean against the fire, compressing the opponent's movement space.

The swords collided with each other and intersected several times.

Zhao Ji found that the opponent was just trying to defend, and dragged the battle until other bandits came and took his life with the superiority in numbers.

Seeing through the opponent's plan from the collision of the sword, Zhao Ji's sword was as powerful as a sword, opening and closing, forcing the bandit to his back.

The opponent backed up a little in the first two strokes, but the bandit didn't realize anything until he felt a burning sensation from the back of his head.

Without giving the opponent time to react, Zhao Ji slashed a few more times, quickly closing the distance between the two, and then suddenly swung the long sword, slightly opening the opponent's machete.

Looking at the neutral position, Zhao Ji raised his knee and slammed into the opponent's chest with one knee, knocking the bandit backwards.

If it is normal, the bandit still has a chance to resist, as long as he rolls around on the ground as a lazy donkey. But there was a fire behind him, and as the opponent's upper body fell on the scorching firewood, the opponent's hair and shiny animal skin clothes burned up.

"Ah, ah, hot! So hot! So hot! Aahhhh!" Although the bandit Pope rolled over as fast as he could, the knee bump from the man just now still made his chest tight. By God, his entire upper body was on fire.

The bandit kept rolling on the ground, trying to turn himself to extinguish the flames on his body.

Zhao Ji originally wanted to make up a sword, but the scattered bandits had already rushed over. They saw their accomplices were on fire, and another one had already fallen on the ground, surrounded by scattered flames. They ran with all their strength, Shouting and cursing.

Zhao Ji quickly pulled out his spear, and rushed towards a place where there were few bandits, regardless of the bandits rolling on the ground beside him.

-

Seeing that the murderer of their accomplice was about to run, the four bandits closest to Zhao Ji hurried over to intercept him, but as the redness in Zhao Ji's eyes increased, he ran hot and hot.

Zhao Ji felt as if his whole body was equipped with a bunch of small stoves, and the shouts around him were a bit different from the four bandits trying to intercept him. Compared with everything before, it was a little uncoordinated. Those bandits ran vigorously, as if deliberately letting him play with him.

Zhao Ji just ran as hard as he could, and threw them away all at once.

Those bandits didn't give up yet, one bandit pulled out a short throwing spear from behind and threw it at him from a distance.

While running, Zhao Ji looked back and saw that the throwing spear broke away from the opponent's full swinging hand, and then flew towards him shaking back and forth. Zhao Ji felt that his direction would never be hit by the opponent, what were the opponent's bandits doing?

Weapons are not toys for play, they are fighting now, so be more serious.

Instead, Zhao Ji changed his footsteps a little to get closer to the flight path of the spear throwing. He stretched out his hand and waited for the spear throwing to fly along an arc.

In fact, the flying speed of the throwing spear was not slow, and Zhao Ji himself had only one chance to catch the flying throwing spear.

But although there is only one chance, the spear-throwing is like a flying bird returning home. Students who return to school every day are firmly and surely caught by Zhao Ji's right hand.

The palm of the hand firmly grasped the middle of the spear, and the string bound on the spear rubbed violently with the palm, and the entire spear also vibrated continuously with the contact of his palm.

It's like a cat who doesn't want to be petted, always trying to escape from his palm.

Zhao Ji knew that to deal with this cat, he couldn't directly touch it. He waved his arm along an arc, changing the direction of the spear's forward flight a little bit.

The arm drew a semi-curved shape, and the spear was subduedly held in his palm.

While running, Zhao Ji twirled himself half-jumping. Two strokes later, while spinning in the air, he unleashed the spear-throwing cat he had just tamed behind him.

The cat screamed and screamed sharper than when it came. While the four bandits were stunned, it plunged into the chest of its original owner.

"Hey, how is that possible!" The bandit looked at the spear that passed through his chest, and watched with the last of his strength that the man who jumped and countered the spear ran away.

His heart was directly shattered by the spear, and the spear that passed through his chest even pierced into a tree trunk not far behind him, shaking and shaking the flesh and blood on it.

The other three bandits stopped with their hands and feet limp, and they dared not pursue anymore, after all, none of them wanted to die.

Seeing his companion a few seconds ago, he confidently declared that this blow could hurt the opponent, but the opponent directly caught the attacking spear in the air, jumped twice, and directly spun in the air to throw the spear back return.

Kill the bandit who attacked him.

The three looked at each other, and finally had to pull out the corpse of the accomplice and the spear nailed to the tree, and return to the fire just now.

They felt as if they had encountered those weird stories told by bards, and such a thing that no one would believe happened happened by accident.

"Stupid? Is that person a knight in the city?" A bandit said worriedly.

Another bandit retorted immediately: "Impossible! If so, how can we still be alive now? The other party must have done it by accident! Well, or the other party had practiced throwing spears before, so Dunrk did it." died."

The other two robbers also felt that this was the case, otherwise they would not be able to explain what happened just now.