Mercenaries and Adventurers

By the evening of that day, they had moved away from the logging forest they encountered at noon and arrived at this strange place.

The mountains and forests here become gentle, and before the sun's afterglow sinks into the horizon, Kiel, who has the best eyesight, can even see the gentle valley area at the far end from the gentle mountains and forests winding in front.

However, people do not have the ability to travel at night on a large scale, so when the sun is about to set, everyone has to prepare for today's camp.

But in the past, the overnight camp, which basically did not require the intervention of Commander Kiel, got stuck at a very important step. The loggers equipped with felling axes just got a little closer to the woods next to the trade road, and they were struck by the terror on the edge of the woods. The sight scared me back.

"Wow wow wow..."

All of them are strong young men. They usually talk and eat and drink loudly in the team. They look like a group of guys who would dare to pick up an ax and go up to do it. At this moment, they are all in a panic, with faces full of horror. They are a neat logging team. Unable to complete the formation, they all fled back to the camp from the edge of the woods.

The panic of these guys even made the people in the team think that they were attacked by a new group of bandits, so everyone put down what they were doing and gathered together for safety.

Some smart people even loudly shouted the names of their friends and companions in the armed squad, calling them to come over and protect everyone. More people were inspired and based on their own judgment, began to shout Kiir's name or the name of Priest Batal.

Amidst the sound of horse hooves, Kil, who was riding a war horse and licking the blood grass, rushed over first.

"What's going on? What's going on?"

Kil asked loudly. When they saw him coming, the people here quickly shouted: "Sir Knight! The group of people who cut the wood fled back in panic. Look, are the bandits coming?"

Kiel, who was riding on horseback, had the best view. He first saw the loggers carrying axes hiding in the unfinished simple tent, and then rode over.

"What's going on? There are no bandits coming, why are you so panicked? Come out with all the ￥￥%, what does it look like! Even if someone attacks, what you are holding in your hands and carrying on your shoulders are all Toy? Assemble! Assemble the lumberjacks! Those who are timid and hide themselves, I want them to look good!"

Following Kiel's loud shouting, especially after hearing his voice, I don't know if they felt relieved or if they had a backbone again. The group of loggers who caused chaos in some camps still ran out.

Everyone gathered in front of Kiel's horse rather awkwardly.

Many of these guys still had scared expressions on their faces, and they kept turning their heads to look in the direction of the woods where they had planned to cut down trees for firewood.

Kil noticed the small movements of these people, so he stretched his neck on the horse and looked there.

But nothing more was discovered.

It was getting dark, and Kil, who had no night vision, could not see anything more even if he used magic to enhance his vision.

"Tell me, what's going on? I need an explanation, otherwise all the lumberjacks' food will be halved tonight!"

Keir said the above words of punishment with a cold face.

The loggers who had been eating every day during this period certainly didn't want to go hungry, so as soon as the knight asked, the group of people started talking in all directions. The scene was very chaotic, because some people were still covered in cold sweat, and after being frightened The words were confused.

"Stop! What nonsense are you talking about? Choose someone who understands to come out and say it alone!"

When Keir said this, the lumberjacks looked at each other, and finally selected a lumberjack who was literate and could barely be considered a half-literate person.

This man took a few steps forward and was about to kneel on the ground to speak, but Keir jumped off his horse and helped him up: "You don't have to kneel, just speak normally. I am not a noble man, I am one of our own."

The man was stunned for a moment. It was probably the first time in his life that he had seen a knight who said this. However, he usually saw other people in the team speaking like this to Knight Kiel from a distance, so he understood. Especially before, Kil also liked to help cut down trees, and it was the same way at that time.

"Okay, sir, you have the final say."

Keir waved his hand and asked him to explain the matter quickly.

"It's like this. We just planned to go there and cut down some firewood for burning at night in the forest along the road closest to the camp. As a result, we didn't notice it when we were far away. When we got closer to the woods, we discovered the trunks of those trees. All, all red.”

Kil frowned: "What's the matter? The Kingdom of Saint Holes was founded less than a hundred years ago, and some special types of trees are common in this area. Not to mention the forest with red trunks, I have seen big trees that can get angry and attack humans. Well. You won’t be frightened just now, will you?”

Faced with Kiel's look of disdain, the lumberjacks next to him gave up: "No sir, it's not just that!"

"Yes, it's so scary!"

"What's red, Tick, what are you talking about? It's not red, it's all red flesh and blood covering the trunks of trees!"

When Kil heard this, he realized that these loggers were not fledglings who had never fought head-on with the bandits. Normally, they would not be frightened at all. So Kil looked at Tick who was talking to him, raised his chin, and motioned for the man to continue talking.

"Yes, yes, sir. Just like the brothers said, from a distance, they were just red trees. After everyone walked over and took a look, they realized that there was red bark, and there were large pieces of flesh and blood growing on the trunks. , and there are internal organs! Every tree is like that, every tree on the edge of the forest is like that! It’s very scary. Everyone was scared to begin with, but suddenly several guys covered in flesh and blood suddenly appeared from behind the trees. , yelled at everyone, and everyone fled towards the camp."

As the man spoke, he danced and imitated the movements of the monster that roared at them. Several woodcutters around him were so frightened that they dropped their axes and squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands.

Kil sneered a few times, reached out and tapped the woodcutter hands, and took a few steps confidently: "What are you afraid of? It's just a few monsters. I've killed many monsters, so it's nothing. Besides, there are still weird things here. It’s not necessarily caused by monsters.”

After kicking a few times the coward who was squatting on the ground with his head in his arms, Kil then rode on the blood-licking grass and said to the people gathered around him: "Don't be afraid, they are just a few monsters, I will kill them right now. Everyone should Eat, eat, and those who need to cut wood, come with me! This time, I will lead the team there."

-

Soon, except for some cowards who really didn't dare to come out again, the other loggers all lit up torches and followed the armed Knight Kiel, walking quickly towards the previously selected logging area.

Kil did not put the horse armor on the Blood Licker, but he was fully armed. When he put down the steel visor, the world was divided into two parts, and people became different from usual.

Everyone was walking very fast, and Keir was riding a horse, so in a short time they arrived at the edge of the woods closest to the trade road.

Before he even got close, he smelled a faint smell of blood, mixed with the disgusting smell of rotting organs.

"Sir, sir, it's in front."

The lumberjacks pointed tremblingly at the increasingly gloomy stretches of woods ahead in the dark night. When everyone smelled the smell of blood and approached the woods, the woods illuminated by torches finally appeared in front of Kiel's eyes.

In the bright firelight, there was indeed something very strange about the woods ahead. The first thing that caught the eye was the red tree trunk. As the lumberjacks said, it was covered with flesh and blood and viscera stuck on it.

At first glance, it is very visually shocking.

People who have not done any psychological training may vomit on the spot when they suddenly see this thing.

However, when Keir took a closer look, he found that only the outermost layer of the forest was smeared with red plasma and flesh. The other trees further inside were just broad-leaved trees common in local forests.

Even among the scary trees on the outside, only the trunks have been carefully painted with flesh, blood and internal organs. The branches and leaves of the trees at slightly higher places are still the same as before.

Looking around, Keir even laughed.

It turns out that even the outermost tree trunks, not every one can be coated with fresh blood, flesh and plasma. It is probably because the nearby woods are closest to the trade road, so this forest has been artificially processed. 'After a while.

The unimportant places that are a little further away are still the same.

"What are you afraid of? It's just some crude means of scaring people. Come on, who can give me an axe?"

Kil jumped down and licked the blood grass, turned around and stretched out his hand to the lumberjacks behind him.

The next moment, several axes were handed over. Kil chose the one that looked the strongest, put it directly on his shoulders and strode forward: "Look, there is nothing to be afraid of. These are just some local bandits." It’s just a scary thing.”

Kil fearlessly walked into the edge of the woods. Under the light of many torches behind him, he stood sideways. He didn't care about the logging position that needed to be considered when logging. He just raised the ax and swung it sideways.

"Roar--"

Suddenly, from the shadow of a blood-red tree trunk not far away, a man covered in blood and flesh rushed out. Not only did this man have a horse head on his head, but he also had several human faces on his chest, which was even more weird. Yes, these human faces, like the horse's head on this man's head, all roared loudly at the same time.

The blood-licking grass was startled, and immediately raised its front hooves and ran to the side. It seemed that the sudden appearance of strange things in front of it scared it, especially the roaring horse head.

The loggers were even more panicked. Although Kil himself was present and none of them turned around and ran away, they still shouted randomly, and then a group of men gathered together.

However, Kil snorted coldly, and the ax that was originally used to chop down the trees turned around and swung it towards the roaring guy's head.

"What's the ghost's name?"

The roar of the ax seemed to be beyond the guy's expectation, and the original words in his mouth were swallowed up.

Poof——

The whirling ax hit the guy in the front of the horse's head, but except for the strange cry from the blood-licking grass next to him, the guy didn't appear to be injured.

However, Kil had already expected it. He touched the left side of his waist with his right hand, and then threw out his long sword to hunt.

The white light on the sword was like a white light strip connecting Keir and that weird guy. It only left a scene in everyone's eyes for a moment, and then it stabbed a face on the opponent's chest.

Different from the previous ax attack, the long sword seemed to carry huge force, directly connected with this strange guy who suddenly appeared, and slammed into the blood-red tree trunk that the opponent had just avoided.

Duo, the long sword seemed to have penetrated part of the tree trunk, directly nailing this guy to the trunk through his chest.

"Uh wow——"

"Tu Tu Tu Tu..."

"Hoo ho, ho ho, ho ho."

To Kil's expectation, the other human faces on the chest of the guy who was nailed to the tree trunk were still making gibberish screams, which made Kil feel strange.

Because during the previous interrogation of the prisoners by the 'Iron Bucket' bandits, those guys actually told some various information about the last local bandit gang - the 'Hanged Ghosts'.

Among the three gangs of bandits, the members of the 'Iron Bucket' bandit group are the most normal and most similar to bandits found in other places. The 'Death Spot' group, because the leader is a well-known mercenary, so although they have the smallest number, they are more capable. Hit some.

Only people like the 'Hanged Ghosts' behaved strangely. Although they also robbed pedestrians and caravans on the trade routes, their purpose seemed to be more to rob the population. Not only that, according to the interrogated bandits, they heard that the people who had recently been 'hanging ghosts' had put their manpower and most of their energy into the town of Yemei on the valley plain ahead along the trade route.

Even though the Yemei Town in front has absorbed the population of nearby villages into the town and is very powerful, people like the 'Hanged Ghosts' still peeked in there and launched several attacks that turned into robbing the population.

However, Kil also noticed that according to the interrogated bandits, although the "Hanged Ghosts" group behaved strangely, they were still ordinary human beings, but the guy in front of him was quite weird.

A long sword was pierced through the chest and nailed to a tree trunk. Most people would have been severely injured and endangered, but the faces on the torso of this weird guy were quite active, not like normal humans at all.

"call."

Kil exhaled, calmed his thoughts, turned around and whistled to call the Blood Licker over.

Then it waved to the huddled lumberjacks behind it: "Whatever you are afraid of, come and see what's going on with this guy."

After saying that, he strode towards the strange guy.

The lumberjacks looked at each other, then cautiously huddled together and moved forward. It would be a lie to say that they are not afraid, but the curiosity in these people's hearts cannot be suppressed. After all, the Kiel Knights have gone up, so they have no reason not to dare to approach.

-

Kil strode forward and took a step in front of this guy. After looking this strange guy up and down, after confirming that the loggers behind him were approaching, he raised his hand and slapped the huge horse's head on the guy's head.

As a result, Keir's blow knocked the horse's head off this weird guy's shoulder.

A human face covered in blood-red flesh and blood was revealed underneath.

"Huh, it's true. It's just a fake head. Did you see it? Although this thing is a real horse head, it's just a scary thing to put on your head."

Kil kicked the horse's head that fell to the ground. This thing was not a fake made of cloth or a wooden frame, but the severed head of a real horse. No wonder Li Xuecao was startled just now.

Kiel said these reassuring words to the loggers, but he had doubts in his heart, because although the man in front of him just put a horse head on his head to scare people, there was no such thing as a horse head on the neck of the horse head. There are gaps and holes that allow one to observe the outside world.

This man was wearing a real horse head. How did he see things outside?

Then he raised his head and looked at the man in front of him. Although this man's face was covered with bright red flesh and blood, through the stained blood, he could see underneath that he was actually an old guy in his forties or fifties.

At this moment, this man was staring at Keir angrily. The teeth in his mouth were quite white and strong, and they were biting loudly. It looked like the sword pierced the chest. Although the guy was seriously injured, it was not fatal.

Keir immediately realized that this man was no longer an ordinary person.

This guy, no, this monster has none of the pain and weakness that ordinary people experience after being injured.

Especially the front of the opponent's bare upper body, chest and abdomen. Except for the face in the middle that had been penetrated through the chest, it became quiet. The other four faces on the left and right breasts, left and right abdomen were still quite intense at this moment. The spirit let out some random roars of unknown meaning.

"Be quiet!"

With four snaps in a row, Kil raised his hand and slapped the faces of these strange roaring people one after another.

I don't know if it was because Keir had exerted enough strength or because it was the first time he was treated like this. The four faces were all stunned. They became quiet for a while and did not dare to yell anymore.

"Very good." Kil looked at the face of the real master, stretched out his left hand to grasp the opponent's chin, and lifted him up hard, so that his eyes were facing Kil's steel mask.

"Tell me, was it you who was scaring my logging team just now?"

The other party grinned and seemed to smile, then mixed the spit in his mouth with the vomited blood, wanting to spit on Kil's face.

But Keir grabbed his chin to prevent this guy from making a move. With a strong force, his mouth changed shape, and the saliva and blood brewing in it actually choked his trachea.

If this person still has the original human trachea.

"Huh, be honest!"

Kiel made a fist with his right hand and punched the man on the left side of the face so hard that the face on the left side was deformed. The blood flowing out of the wound was abnormally purple.

The other three faces that were originally quiet all screamed, but when Kil raised his hand again, they became quiet again. He seemed to be well aware of current affairs, but he was much smarter than most people Keir had ever seen.

The face on the left side of the abdomen was hit, and this guy who was originally stubborn and refused to communicate seemed to be in pain. At least from the frown he showed for the first time, it can be seen that this guy is not afraid of pain.

"You...just ask..."

He spoke intermittently, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time.

Keir grabbed the other person's head, pulled him over to look him in the eye, and asked, "Are you a member of the 'Hanged Ghosts' bandit gang?"

"Damn... dead ghost? That... is... an outsider, a person from... outside the village... is called..."

The man spoke slowly and in fits and starts.

But Kil listened attentively, and seeing that he was much more honest, Kil continued to ask: "That's it. What do you call yourselves? And you did it like this? Are you happy? Uh, are you happy?"

Kiel clamped the opponent's chin and neck with his left hand, and stretched out two fingers with his right hand, clamped the nose of a human face on the opponent's left chest, and twisted it left and right, causing the face to open its mouth and scream in pain.

This 'hanged ghost' bandit also had a slightly painful look on his face.

The lumberjacks behind Kil had their eyes widened. They never expected that the weird human bandit who looked scary and weird in their eyes would be bullied like this by the knight Kil.

They looked at each other and thought that they should hurry up and cut down the wood. If they delayed the cutting, they didn't know whether Knight Kiel would punish them in this way.

After all, the knight's fist looked heavy, and when he twisted his nose, the nose on his face was about to be twisted off by the fingers protected by steel armor.

It looked strangely painful.