Mercenaries and Adventurers

Keir felt that these bandits really embodied greed and blind violence. Facing unarmed young refugees, these bandits regarded people as money that could be sold, and excitedly joined forces to attack at night.

And after encountering his iron plate, he ran away quickly.

But after escaping, this team of bandits did not retreat to their lair to lick their wounds. Instead, they took advantage of the uncertainty of the situation to break into the lairs of other gangs overnight and conduct sneak attacks.

I guess I usually have a lot of thoughts on these other gangs competing for jobs.

That's why he moved quickly and unexpectedly captured the bandits' lair where manpower had been left behind.

Kil looked around and felt that there must be a foothold of the sentinel bandits in this forest, and even the body of the fat man's gang must still be nearby.

But it was difficult to find in the dark woods, so Kil gave up his plan to search the stronghold of the sentinel bandits. They only found the bandit's weapon that had been chopped into two pieces and the coins hidden in the inner pocket of his clothes.

Not much, just a dozen copper coins and the same number of iron coins. The weapons are an iron dagger and four caravan homemade throwing guns.

"What a bunch of poor people. Bah."

Kil spat and ignored the man's body. He took off the blood-stained animal skin skirt and threw it away. Kil beckoned to the many nocturnal birds on the tree who were looking at it with wide eyes.

"I leave this body to you. Eat it cleanly. It's a gift from me."

Kil shrugged and looked up again at the gathering of nocturnal birds. Looking at the eyes reflecting the cold light of magic, he exhaled.

These pairs of eyes staring at him made him quite stressed, and they always reminded him of the crows he encountered on the south side of Wumi Lake last winter. Keel always wondered if it was the crows that were responsible for his bad luck at that time.

Secretly gave him a curse that lowered his luck or something.

As soon as they walked away, there was the sound of large wings flapping and landing behind them, followed by a messy fight and the sound of human skin being torn apart.

There are also the sounds of nocturnal birds fighting each other for human eyeballs.

-

Putting the little harvest into the pocket hanging on the horse's back, Kil remounted the horse and walked towards the place where there was a bright light halfway up the mountain in the distance.

Following the road out of the woods, the artificial wooden railings that originally marked the road were gone, and there was only a vaguely trampled grassless surface on the ground, which could guide Keir to the twisted path going upwards.

The route here is similar to a zigzag. Kil put away the glowing lighting magic pendant around his waist, jumped off the horse, and tried to rely on the starlight in the sky to barely know the way forward.

But he was unlucky. As soon as he turned back two zigzags along the road, the only remaining starlight in the sky was blocked by thin clouds.

A cool wind blew around him. Kil cursed and had no choice but to slap the scabbard of his long sword and rely on the thin green light of the god of agriculture on the scabbard to barely illuminate the road.

Fortunately, the fire in the bandit's lair ahead was not small, and no one knew what was burning. The smoke and clouds reflecting the fire were like a torch, guiding Keir to his final destination.

After Kil walked repeatedly for a while, he finally stopped fifty meters away from the bandit's lair.

He found a stone half a man's height on the side of the road. After pushing it hard, he put one end of the horse's rein under the stone, and then tightened his strength to let the stone press on the reins and secure the horse.

"Be patient, don't make a sound, remember, quietly!" Kil muttered into Licker's ear, and the horse nodded to show his understanding.

Instead of taking the winding dirt road, Keir walked directly in a straight line, lying through the bushes and sloping fields, and carefully arrived outside the bandit's lair.

This was a stone and wood construction camp built with local materials. With the burning firelight of a three-story wooden tower on one side, Keir hid in the corner and saw clearly what was going on inside.

It was built on a gentle area on one side of the valley bottom. Apart from the burning wooden tower that was the most conspicuous at the moment, there was a dark cave entrance like a crack right opposite the gate of the camp.

At this moment, there was a fighting in the center of the camp. The bandits guarding the camp were all killed and injured, but the attackers did not lose much, and they didn't know why.

These bandits, most of them strange-looking, with tattoos on their bare upper bodies to intimidate their enemies, were dragging corpses out of the cave in the bandit's lair.

There were men and women inside, but in addition to corpses, living people were also driven out.

Only then did Kil know what the gang of bandits who attacked their colleagues relied on to win this place.

It turned out that several bandits had snakes wrapped around them. These long and vicious snakes were clinging to the bandits' bodies and wagging their tails towards the people being driven away in a demonstrative manner.

Where the head is downward, the body stretches out, revealing a skull pattern. At a glance, ordinary people will be frightened to the point where their hands and feet become weak.

This seems to be a primitive instinct from human beings.

Originating from ancient evolutionary times, the fear of venomous animals.

This is a survival strategy that requires humans to avoid potentially venomous snakes out of fear. But some of the things about fear are very effective in letting people avoid danger, but once it is excessive, fear will actually make humans who have lost the ability to fight lose the ability to move when facing such a terrifying poisonous snake.

Weakness of hands and feet, difficulty breathing, pale face and cold sweat are all symptoms of extreme fear. But these things will actually kill some people.

Keir could see clearly by the light of the fire that those poisonous snakes were the same ones he had fought with before. However, the poisonous snakes seemed to be of different varieties, some were thicker, and the snake handler was panting under the pressure.

Some snakes are too slender and do not look threatening. Although Kil knows that the venom power of venomous snakes is not related to their size, this snake handler has a few more venomous snakes wrapped around his body than others in order to increase their deterrence. .

These different species of venomous snakes terrorized the evicted people and fought with each other.

"Boss! How to deal with these people?"

There was a bandit with half a red venomous snake sticking out of a large leather bag on his waist. He proudly asked their leader, the wild snake.

The bandit named Wild Snake didn't know where he hid his snake when he attacked the refugees. At this time, next to this guy was a five-meter-long, hard-scaled python that was as thick as an average person's thigh. The wild snake was sitting on several twisted and bleeding corpses, stroking his pets proudly.

"Hmm, they are all guys with thin skin and tender meat. They are usually eaten by Fatty and others at first glance. I don't want to touch these people. How about feeding them to my wild python?"

"Whatever you want, boss! It just saves some of the venom that the babies secrete with great difficulty. After all, the babies only fight with warriors and will never use their cherished venom on weak guys."

The bandit who spoke was teasing the venomous snake he raised with a cherished expression, and the venomous snake was also wrapping its head and tail around the snake handler's neck, gradually tightening its body. The snake operator's face turned red, but he seemed very excited.

Those who were driven out of the cave were men, women, old and young, but they did not look like they were caught by bandits to enjoy, but more like they were kidnapped and exchanged for money.

Kil knew this all too well. He knew that the scale of the bandit gang had reached a certain level. They had already engaged in more than just robbery, but also engaged in a variety of illegal activities. In addition to attacking caravans or property, most of them would also kidnap wealthy businessmen. Or if the children of a wealthy family were kidnapped, one person would be let go, while the others would ask for ransom from their family members based on the family property that was revealed during torture.

In addition, bandits with larger numbers will also dominate an area at key points on the trade routes, build their own "local checkpoints", and charge additional customs duties and other fees for business travelers.

There are also bandit gangs that are close to the village and will regularly extort food, tools and supplies from the village for the gang to enjoy.

In short, there are many ways to get money, and they are basically adjusted temporarily according to the local conditions of the bandit gang.

Kil hid in the shadows outside the open gate of the camp, wondering whether he should save the gang. If he doesn't save him, Kil can conduct some more stealthy reconnaissance to confirm the number of surviving bandits, then return to the way he came from, and lead his young refugees to set up an ambush to attack the retreating bandits.

But these people must have all died, and there will probably be less money to thank them for saving them.

"Hmm." Kil hesitated.

Because if he went to save people, he had to do it now. The venomous snakes of those bandits should not be underestimated. Although they could not bite through his metal armor, the venom they sprayed was still very troublesome.

"Go, wild python, hang them!"

The bandit leader slapped the big snake next to him, and then pointed his finger at the dozen or so meatheads who were at a loss.

But at this time, the huge python did not obey its owner's order. Instead, it raised its body on the spot and cast its cold eyes in the direction of the camp's gate.

Hissssss——

The snake letter, wider than a blacksmith's finger, stretched out from its mouth and moved up and down, making a hissing sound while exploring the darkness outside the opened door.

"What's wrong? Boss, why doesn't your big snake obey the command? Is it angry because you weren't allowed to eat the body before?"

But before his trusted bandit could finish his words, Desolate Snake raised a hand and his face became serious: "Be careful, something is wrong! Beasts are much more sensitive than humans."

When he said this, the dozen bandits present put away their mood after the great victory, drew out their long swords and machetes, and turned to face the vigilant direction of the big snake.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, those who had been suddenly sentenced to death hurriedly rolled and crawled to a corner of the camp, where men, women, old and young all gathered together and shivered.

Whether it was the bandits that Fatty belonged to or today's group of bandits who were playing snake games, they were all scared to death and had no intention of resisting at all. They just wanted to survive.

-

"Who's there? Come out!"

The wild snake asked loudly, but no one responded. He winked at his men, and one of the snake-handling men immediately opened a tightly sealed bag on his body and took out a tied live rat from it.

As soon as the live rat appeared, the surrounding poisonous snakes turned to stare at the bandit's hand.

This made the bandit tremble all over, and then he held a stone in his arms and a strong, squeaking live rat tied up with a thin straw rope, and threw it far towards the camp gate.

"go!"

Then the bandit took off the venomous snake wrapped around his body, swung it around, and threw it in the direction of the gate.

Hiss, hiss—

After the venomous snake landed, it crawled forward quickly following the scent of the live mouse.

But just after the poisonous snake submerged into the dark shadow, there was a trampling sound.

Crunch, plop——

"Ah! My snake! My baby!" Realizing what this voice meant, the bandit who just threw the poisonous snake immediately pulled out a machete from his waist, grabbed a sawed dagger in one hand, and rushed towards him heartbroken. Camp gate.

The other bandits who didn't play with snakes wouldn't let their companions go up alone. They also roared and rushed towards the camp gate at the same time. The clever guy also took the opportunity to light two torches from the burning wooden tower, hold one by himself, and throw the other directly towards the gate.

The rotating torch flew out of the gate ahead of everyone else.

An armored warrior with his waist pierced was standing there.

He was stepping on the crushed head of a poisonous snake under his boots, and the lower body of the poisonous snake was twisted around his calf, trying to strangle the warrior with his body after death.

"We meet again, everyone."

Kil chuckled lightly and waved to the bandits who came to kill him.

The bandits who had been attacking with great force, now that they saw clearly the person in the dark, stopped and stared blankly at the butchers hiding aside.

"The knights of the refugees? Damn it! Why are you here?"

The bandits, who knew that Kiel was not easy to mess with, were hesitant. They didn't know whether to go up and kill each other, or to sneak away at night with the coins and valuables looted from the fat man's lair.

Finally, after a moment of hesitation, the wild snake waved his hand and shouted: "Get out of the way, let my wild python strangle this guy. If it weren't for the joint attack before, we couldn't bring the war snake to fight, otherwise there would be no need to retreat. .”

Just when the bandit leader was making judgments and speaking, the bandit who killed the precious viper did not stop at all and rushed towards Kil with a scream.

Kil didn't even look at this man. His eyes roamed around the bandit leader and his big snake to judge. When this guy came in front of him, Kil directly dodged and let go of the opponent's machete, and then didn't take precautions. The dagger stabbed by the other party turned sideways and hit the bandit with his shoulder.

Clang, bang, two sounds in a row. The opponent's dagger rubbed sparks on the waist and abdomen of Kil's armor and slid over, and Kil hit the opponent hard with his shoulder.

With a crunch, one of the bandit's arms was broken and connected to some bones in the torso. In an instant, the man went from charging towards Kil to flying backwards two meters, falling to the ground, holding his arms and screaming in pain.

Kil picked up the machete that the other party dropped at his feet, held it in his hand to judge, then broke the strong but lack of toughness of the machete with a bang, flicked it, and threw half of the machete into the face of the fallen bandit. .

Plunged deep into it.

-

As soon as Kil killed the bandit who was dead with the snake's front and rear legs, a thick python twisted its body and attacked him.

The surrounding bandits evaded one after another. They knew that the leader's wild python did not recognize their own people at all. They were affected during the battle and had nothing to say.

Facing the attack of the huge python, Kil turned around and ran away.

This scene shocked the bandits, including the meat bankers who were hiding aside. After all, a few seconds ago, this knight had killed a bandit with swift movements, but unexpectedly, he ran away the next moment.

"Chase! How can a person compete with a big snake in speed? Haha, catch up with him and kill him!"

Wild Snake was very excited. He couldn't wait to see the young knight caught and hanged by his pet. This was far more exciting for him than leading people to sneak attack on his peers' lair.

But Kil's escape was not really an escape.

He was just looking for an opportunity to hide from other people's eyes.

So he just ran a few steps along the camp wall outside the camp gate. Except for the big snake that was getting closer and closer behind him, everyone else's sight temporarily lost sight of Kil's figure.

That's all it takes.

Kil called the elf ring that was originally in his heart, calling to enter the dream that the lady lent him.

The ring answered him.

And be prepared to absorb part of his life energy as starting energy to open up additional opportunities to enter. But at this moment, Kil was activating the infinite energy blessing of the 'source of vegetation'. The divine tentacles all over his body immediately replaced Kil's life energy and offered the power of the God of Agriculture to the elf ring.

The elf ring hesitated for a moment, and then accepted the power without rejecting anyone who came.

Kil's body, which was being chased by a big snake, disappeared in the blink of an eye.

As a predator, the wild python bit down on Keir's original position, but the smoke and dust rose up, and the snake, which had eaten a mouthful of stones and soil, jumped away.

Snake Xin stretched out his mouth and swung it excitedly, and his eyes and other organs on his head were also swinging from side to side, looking for prey, but there was none.

The prey is gone.

Its not-so-smart head couldn't figure out the reason, so it lowered its head suddenly and raised it again, knocking off a rock on the hillside next to it. Its thick tail swung and broke a bush that Kil had rubbed against when he came up.

The big snake that was looking for didn't know that right behind it, at the place where it had just pounced and bitten, Kil reappeared, holding a two-handed ax with a blue light in his hand.

"I don't know if you like to eat this? No matter, kill me first."

Ax Blu-ray is a big hit.