Mercenaries and Adventurers

Kil walked to the place where he had cleaned his armor before. The hunting sword was still inserted here.

He poured some clean water on the sword, and the remaining blood stains flowed down. He drew his sword and shook off the wet water. Kil was not in a hurry to maintain his weapon. It was still fresh tonight. After questioning the captured bandits on the road, he knew that he would have to penetrate two more bandits' nests after a while. .

"The God of Wealth bless you, I hope you can gain more tonight."

Kil was talking nonsense, holding his long sword and walking towards the cave that looked like a crack in the mountain.

He can hope to gain more from bandits tonight, which means that in the past, bandits gained more from businessmen doing business. And those businessmen are the true believers and believers of the God of Wealth. They don’t know who Geir is protecting when he asks God to bless him at this time.

When the gods heard this, they would probably give him a thunderbolt.

-

The entrance to the Bandit Cave is a long crack extending along the mountain from the upper right to the lower left.

It's like a wound on the mountain in front of you.

Kil didn't need to light a torch, so he reluctantly walked inside with the help of the blue light from the ax behind his back and the green light from the long sword's scabbard.

The bottom of the sloping gap was actively filled with stones, and then sprinkled with soil. It was very stable to walk up, but the ground under your feet was uneven, and it was easy to trip and fall if you were not careful.

Inside the cave is an inclined passage in the same direction as the crack, with lower left and higher right. Fortunately, this crack passage is relatively spacious, so walking will not be so awkward.

The bandits also cut holes in the steeply sloping smooth rock wall on the right and inserted wooden sticks. The sticks were connected with rough fluffy hemp ropes for people to hold on to while walking.

Tick ​​tock, tick tock.

Above the head, there are water droplets seeping from the mountain rocks, constantly flowing down to the left along the sloping stone wall.

With the support of life energy, Kil keenly saw that on the low rock wall on the left, someone had dug a downward groove against the rock wall. The water drops gathered into a shallow reflective surface and flowed downward little by little.

Kil guessed where the water in the cave came from.

When you first entered the cave passage, you could barely smell the smell, but the further you went down and inside, the smell gradually became foul.

Soon, the passage came to the end, and there was a relatively large space in front of it, where the sound of Kiel's boots colliding with the rocks on the ground echoed repeatedly.

Walking out of the passage, what was in front of Kiel was a three-dimensional space with a tilted triangular cube. The space is relatively large, with about half a basketball court. There is firewood burning in a stone basin to provide heat and lighting, which is much brighter than the sloping passage.

There was a mess in front of me. A large number of wooden boxes stacked under the dry rock wall on the right side were opened and toppled indiscriminately. Apparently it was done when Huang She and the others were rummaging for useful things to take away after they captured this place.

On the left are wooden cages less than one meter high. The stench inside the cave comes from here.

Keir could tell at a glance that those meatheads had been imprisoned in such a place and suffered.

These rough wooden cages stacked two or three levels in a row are better said to be for keeping people than for raising dogs. Humans who need to stand up are kept in low-rise cages that can only sit for long periods of time. In the short wooden cage, there was no telling how much those people had suffered.

How many people could not bear it and died silently.

Along the left side of the incoming passage, the previously flowing water was directed into a huge low wooden barrel. The water in the barrel was crystal clear, and if this wasn't such a bad smelling place, Keir would have tasted the mineral water from the rock formations in the barrel.

He rinsed the tip of the long sword in his hand in a barrel, then dipped the ax in water and scrubbed it. The two weapons shook back and forth with satisfaction.

There was nothing interesting about the wooden cage in which people were kept. Kil glanced at it and walked towards the wooden box at the other end.

In the middle of the cave, there are several wooden tables and chairs where the guards rest. A metal candlestick is luxuriously placed on it. There is also a white candle that feels very delicate to the touch.

He put away the beautiful candlestick and lit the candle to provide light.

Keir held a candle lit by flint and carefully began to examine the overturned boxes of merchant goods next to the wall.

Half a box of clean old clothes were scattered on the floor. Keir took a few glances and found that although there was a musty smell, the fabrics were clean and had probably been washed when they were put away.

Very good, can be worn by young refugees.

A long, half-opened long box that had been untouched for a long time, Kiel opened the lid and found rolls of neatly stacked flags inside.

He curiously took out a roll of flags and touched it. It was made of quite high-end waterproof fabric, but when he unfolded it, he didn't recognize the noble family emblem on it.

It was probably a flag made by a noble family for the territory, but the caravan transporting the goods was intercepted by bandits.

He chuckled twice, knowing the result of the thieves making trouble with this thing.

The fabric of this box of flags itself is valuable and should be worth a lot of money. But it was embroidered with noble lords that the bandits could not afford to offend, so there was no possibility of them taking action.

Because this thing was lost, people couldn't find out which bandit took it. But once it was taken, it is estimated that even in the underground black market, the nobles could find someone to follow the direction of the flow of goods and trace the fat man's bandit gang in reverse. On hand. Then there will be no way to ask for it.

So these chess pieces probably have to be smashed into hands.

But the bandits couldn't handle it, but he could. Later, if you find an opportunity, you can give it to Baron Kendall, and let the Baron return the things to their original owners. After all, these flags were "captured" by his "crusade" against the bandits.

There were several long boxes stacked next to them. Keir opened them and found a set of disassembled carriage axles.

The axle stacked in the sawdust was thickly coated with grease. Although the grease had given off a smell, when Keir wiped the sawdust on the grease, he found that the metal carriage axle underneath was not rusty.

"I don't know if this thing is worth anything?"

He grumbled, then rummaged through other boxes.

All the boxes had been opened and looked at, and they had all been opened recently. It was obviously done by the people from the Wild Snake before, but it facilitated Kil's actions at this time.

"Iron tools? Yes, they can be of great use."

"What are all these bottles and jars? Well, I'd better not touch them."

"What the hell? Put more wood in the wooden box? What do you mean? Let me guess, these pieces of wood are so light, they feel quite soft to the touch. So that's it, they are the cork used on wine bottles! Damn it, there are only bottles What’s the use of plugs, there’s no wine in this shabby ghost place!”

"Iron ingots, as expected, how could the southern province, which is rich in iron ore, be missing this thing? The quality just doesn't look good. They should all be crude goods and primary products."

"Hey, the people from Huangshe missed this thing. Let me take a look. It's a box of dry ink powder. I remember that this thing is worth a lot of money, but it's not easy to sell because there are not many people buying it."

Keir was picking through boxes of merchandise and appraising them casually.

At this time, a voice came: "Uh-huh-uh-huh."

A low and hoarse roar came from behind Kil. He stopped what he was doing, raised his sword, and pointed in the direction of the low roar.

Unexpectedly, the intermittent sound came from behind the wooden cage where the butchers were previously held.

But it's obvious that that direction is already against the rock wall?

Kil held the shield in his left hand, stretched out the sword in his right hand, and leaned forward in small steps.

Behind the smelly wooden cage, there is a low passage less than two meters wide. It is blocked by the wooden cages stacked in front and cannot be seen. You have to walk to the edge of the rock wall to see clearly. There is such a place.

The low roar came faintly from the passage. If it weren't for the fact that there was only Kil in the cave and it was very quiet, it would probably not be easy to find this place.

He swallowed and remembered what others had said before about the death cave in the bandit's lair.

"Is this here? The Death Cave, the place where dead bodies are disposed of?"

Keir was a little hesitant, not sure whether to go down and take a look.

But I don't know what I sensed. The hunting sword in my hand felt like it was pulling inwards.

Keir raised his eyebrows, understanding something.

"Do you want revenge? Okay, let's go."

Kil held the lighted candle in his left hand, with his shield in front, and used the candle in his left hand to illuminate it, while the long sword was placed on his right shoulder, ready to fight with the moving corpses in the darkness at any time.

-

"Turn me around! Turn me around!"

The middle-aged businessman Patsy Edwin was being carried by a horse and galloping through the woods. At this time, he was pulling hard on the leather reins in his hands, trying to change the direction of the horse's movement.

But no matter how hard he tried, the strong horse still trotted along the forest road, cantering in one direction.

There was a fork in the road ahead, and the horses had long ago determined which direction to move in, so they changed directions faintly with the clatter of their hooves.

"Not that direction! You stupid horse! Listen to me and go to the left!"

But no matter how much Patsy Edwin pulled the reins, the horse's direction of movement did not change.

He even heard a snort of ridicule from the horse beneath him. It seemed as if the prairie horse, which the knight called the blood-licking grass ghost, was laughing at him.

"You damn animal!"

The middle-aged businessman angrily stabbed the horse with the dagger in his hand, and the next moment, he was thrown off the saddle.

What's even more unfortunate is that his right foot took off the metal stirrup, but his left foot was still hanging on it when it was turned down.

So he was dragged to the ground screaming, twisting left and right trying to avoid the horse's left hind hoof.

If such a strong and heavy horse were stepped on by a metal horseshoe, he would probably be dead!

"Begging for mercy, I beg for mercy! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stabbed you with something! Just go around me!"

He screamed, this situation of man begging for mercy from the horse was obviously very satisfying to the proud blood-licking grass. It shook its body and completely shook the person whose feet were hanging in the stirrups off the ground.

After being dragged for dozens of meters, Patsy Edwin cried softly. He lay prone on the ground, annoyed that he couldn't even handle a horse and had to beg for mercy to survive.

"Xi Lu Lu Lu——"

There was a neighing sound similar to ridicule. The middle-aged businessman looked up and found that the horse turned back towards the way it came. He picked up the luminous magic pendant that fell on the ground with his lips first. He raised his head and flicked the magic pendant away. The pendant was thrown directly to the ears on the top of the head.

The long and flexible horse ears moved to hang the luminous pendant securely. Then it lowered its head again and took the ornate red gemstone dagger that also fell to the ground into its mouth, biting it with its white and healthy teeth.

The sharp dagger pointed outward, pointing directly at the middle-aged businessman.

The middle-aged businessman was stunned for a moment when he saw this scene. When he came to his senses, he realized that the knight's horse actually stretched its head towards him with a dagger in its mouth.

The dagger, which was as sharp as blood and flames, was pointed directly at his head.

This made Patsy Edwin subconsciously raise his hands to express surrender.

After he reacted, he put his hand down in embarrassment.

An embarrassed smile appeared on his face: "Hello, do you want to return this thing to me?"

Unexpectedly, the horse shook its head, lowered its head, and lightly pricked his shoulder with a whir of the dagger.

"ah!"

Patsy Edwin jumped up immediately and was about to run away, but as soon as he took half a step, the horse's huge head pushed him behind him, knocking him down.

"Ouch! Surrender! I surrender!"

He had to shout like this.

As expected, the attack did not continue.

After getting up again, the middle-aged businessman realized what this overly smart horse wanted him to do.

The animal actually wanted to guard him and move in the direction it had chosen.

The road was still the same as when he was riding a horse, but the difference now was that the rider was walking on the ground. Behind him was a tall prairie horse with a dagger in its mouth and a luminous magic pendant hanging from its ear.

Fortunately, no one saw this scene, otherwise it would have been as weird as it was.

Just like that, out of the forest, the middle-aged businessman Patsy Edwin touched his face that was soaked with tears with his dirty sleeves. He raised his head and looked forward, and found that not far ahead, there was the faint sound of many people talking.

But it was pitch black and he couldn't see anything clearly.

"Is it the Knight of Kiel?"

A young voice sounded from the darkness in front, which startled Patsy Edwin, but he quickly reacted, first waved in a friendly manner, and then replied: "Sorry, I'm not."

Before the other party could reply out of surprise, he quickly continued: "But I was indeed sent out by a young knight. He asked me to ride, no, take his horse, and come down to seek assistance from his men."

Regarding his statement, there were whispers in the darkness, and then a young voice asked urgently: "What's wrong, Lord Knight? Who are you, and what happened?"

But as soon as the man finished speaking, the voice from the previous question sounded again: "You come here first."

The middle-aged businessman's experience in traveling around the country gave him a warning, and he had a hunch that the past might not be good.

But he was hit hard by the horse's head in the back. He staggered twice and had to move forward.

-

Keir continued to walk along the gentle slope of the downward cave passage. It was illuminated by candles and the narrow passage was clearly exposed. It was impossible for him to find any traps or hiding places.

He thought too much, and realized that there were no branches or hiding places in the ramp here. Apart from the increasingly clear roar in front of him, there was nothing else worth noting here.

Soon, he stopped.

The face under the visor wrinkled up because the smell here was so unpleasant. Although there is still a slight cave wind flowing here, the stench in the dark depths in front of us is strong and lingers. Inhaling it is harmful to health, and smelling it makes you unable to eat.

As soon as the candle was illuminated, a relatively open and deep cave was revealed in front of Keir.

Kil frowned and looked in front of him. He had always thought that he had seen a lot before, but the scene in front of him still made him feel sick and shocked.

As if he sensed the presence of a living person, at the bottom of the wide cave under the several-meter-high fault in front of Kil, dead bones and rotten flesh were slowly rising up.

Arms with only palms still slightly covered with rotten flesh slowly stretched out towards Keir.

Most of the soles of the feet, which were missing phalanges, rubbed new traces of rot on the dark, stinking floor, and slowly swung their legs without much rotten flesh.

The pelvic crotches that made the sound of twisting and stirring flesh and blood were holding the swollen and writhing internal organs, as well as the dripping dark brown flesh. They were stirring, rubbing, and squeezing together with the movement of the living corpses. Press.

The swollen intestines were filled with unknown contents and were bulging. A living corpse accidentally revealed most of its abdominal cavity and a section of intestine fell out. It was entangled in its own paws and then pulled.

Puff--Puff--

Yellow-green gas spurted out from the torn intestine, making a suspicious sound.

The living corpse lowered its arm reaching for Keir, slowly grabbed its fallen intestines, and then held it in its hand, spraying out yellow-green gas and thick mucus as it moved slowly.

Such an impactful scene, even though Kil had dealt with some living corpses last winter, still made him take two steps back unconsciously.

"Damn, it seems that the right time to deal with these guys is when it freezes in winter."

Keir lowered his head and looked down at the living corpses surrounding the fault wall, reaching towards him, a living person.

The long sword in his hand buzzed and vibrated, and he couldn't help but want to get into the scabbard.

"You useless thing, you know how to run away when you see this!"

Kil's temper suddenly rose. Just now, the hunter wanted to come over and deal with these moaning living corpses. As a result, when I came here, I saw such a disgusting scene and the number of weapons, but I wanted to retreat.

"I'm telling you, I've been here since I came! I didn't even back down!"

It seemed that the voice of Keir's words stimulated the living corpses gathering towards him below. Those guys with a few pieces of rotten flesh hanging on their faces were bumping up and down against the exposed teeth with missing lips, and there were clicks, clicks, clicks in the holed mouths. A clicking sound.

It seemed as if he wanted to say something, or perhaps he wanted to use his teeth, whose gums and roots were yellow and shriveled, to bite a living person like Kil.

Kil swallowed, the clicking sound of a large number of living corpses was simply the scratching sound that kept hitting his heart.

It made him feel dizzy.

What? He has no heart?

Oh, now that Kil reacted, his chest no longer felt tight.

But the bad smell is still a big difficulty that stands in front of him before he wants to fight.

For him to jump down and fight these rotting and stinking zombies would be no less of a challenge than swimming in a cesspool.

It's not that he can't defeat these slow-moving zombies, but it's a matter of whether he can avoid being disgusted to death by these guys. It seems that the previous battle with the bandit leader of Luokpocket Hole in the pit of living corpses in winter was really a good time!