Under the sky

Chapter 278: Godless

Maier and Monduk galloped, with twenty riders chasing after them.

Why does Hillidegg know he is here?Obviously not many people in the Prison Department and Arien Palace knew about this matter.

"Who did you tell me that you wanted to go on a mission with me?" Maier shouted.

"I haven't told anyone!" Monduk replied.

The sound of wind breaking from behind was strong.

"Get down!" Mel yelled.

Monduk lowered his body, and a sharp arrow passed over his head.Maier leaned over and took out an arrow from the quiver on the side of the horse, turned around and shot it, but missed.In order to win the trust of the refugees, they were equipped with crude bows and arrows, but their range and accuracy were somewhat poor.

"Fuck!" Miles cursed.Seeing arrows raining down like rain, Maier galloped to a small mound and said: "Dismount!" Munduk turned over and dismounted, and followed Maier to hide behind the mound.The two sat on the ground. Maier pulled the horse and hid together. Munduk wanted to take an arrow to fight back. Although his swordsmanship was excellent, his bow and arrow were not good at it. There was a long way to go.

"Be careful, don't stick your head out." Maier looked at the arrows that landed at his feet, "Help me block the arrows." After saying that, he took off the bow and arrow, turned his head to look for gaps in the mound, and stood up suddenly. An arrow shot out and hit one person.

The counterattack came like a torrential rain. Munduk hurriedly swung his sword to cover Maier. Maier squatted down and looked at the gap again, and shot another person with an arrow.

"Good archery skills!" Monduk couldn't help but praise.A sharp arrow passed by Maier's ear, leaving a bloody mark on his face. Maier crouched down.

"There are eighteen more." Seeing the pursuers approaching, Meyer said, "Before we start fighting, think about your wife and children."

Monduk suddenly felt courageous, turned around, jumped out of the mound at the right time, and threw one person down at the oncoming cavalry.

A fierce battle ensues.

Mengduuk's sword skills were inherited from the Kannai Ming Cult. He himself did not know the details of the origin, but this set of Great Heavenly King's sword skills was first-rate. He was older, resolute and steady. Although this was his first life-and-death fight, his heart beat faster. , his blood was brimming with blood, but he was still fearless, wielding a knife to block the flow of water.

Two or three long knives were waved in front of him, but he blocked them one by one. Looking at the opponent's flaw, he kicked one person in the crotch. At this moment, all he had to do was show mercy and leave the orphans and widows behind. The knife struck down without hesitation.

This knife hit the opponent's chest, and suddenly there was a pain in the back. He also received a knife on the back. Monduk roared and waved the knife wildly, forcing the opponent back. At a glance, Maier was surrounded by people.

Among the people surrounding Maier was the leader, who wielded a spear, and his martial arts skills were obviously higher than those of the others.Maier's steps were erratic, darting left and right to avoid being surrounded.

The way he uses his scimitar is very strange. His scimitar is very curved. An ordinary person's scimitar is like a crescent moon at most, but his sword is like a full moon with a gap missing.When he fights with people, he often does not use the blade to resist, but uses the inside to grab the enemy's weapon, disrupting the opponent's figure with hooks and cuts, and then swings the knife to cut the opponent's throat.His martial arts skills were extremely high. He killed two people and injured three people in a row.

Monduk also imitated Maier and jumped forward and backward continuously. The two of them faced the enemy back to back, and Maier killed two more people.When everyone saw that the two of them were highly skilled in martial arts, they stopped attacking for a while and could not stop disturbing them with their long swords.

The leader who was carrying the spear suddenly took a step forward, and the tip of the spear was like lightning and stabbed at Monduque's face. Monduque was about to resist, but the tip of the spear suddenly sank and stabbed his chest. Monduque was shocked and turned sideways to dodge. With a swish, a cut was made on his chest, which scared him so much that he took a few steps away.Maier took a step forward and used his machete to hook the opponent's spear. He sheathed the spear with a click. Maier stepped back with his left foot, pulled the opponent forward, and pulled the opponent towards him. Then he raised a knife and almost cut the leader's throat.

The leader was startled. He held the gun with both hands and pulled it back. Maier lassoed the opponent's spear again. The leader was already prepared and stepped steadily. Maier took advantage of the situation and slashed his face with the scimitar. The leader hurriedly ducked to avoid it. , but the spear is still sheathed in the mael's scimitar.

After a few attacks, the leader realized that his martial arts skills were far inferior to Maier's. Fortunately, the others took advantage of this opportunity to kill him, and then they escaped and shouted loudly: "Be careful, this old man is powerful!"

Monduk shouted: "Catch the leader first!"

Of course Maier understood, and took a step forward to pursue the leader. Monduk followed behind him, waving his knife to stop the people around him.These 20 people are obviously not warriors like the Guardsmen, but more like desperadoes in a sheep dung pile. The people who sent these assassins obviously don't know Maier well enough. As a close confidant of Tucker, his martial arts skills are far better than the mastermind expected. high.

Maybe it wasn't Maier they underestimated, but Monduk.Twenty assassins may be enough to deal with Maier, but with the addition of Monduk, although he lacks combat experience, his sword skills are superb and he is more than capable of dealing with three or four assassins, which is far beyond the opponent's estimate.

Still, it was a tough fight.Maier was stabbed twice and shot once, and Monduk was stabbed five times. One of them was in the chest, and another cut off a piece of skin on his forehead, bleeding profusely.

Maier killed four more, Munduk killed two, and finally Maier killed the leader. The remaining men were more or less wounded, and they began to feel afraid.

"Get out!" Monduk shouted, blood dripping from his forehead, and his face was covered with blood.The remaining people turned and fled.

Maier was panting and sat down on the ground. Monduk was already dead and fell to the ground. He was seriously injured.

"Mount!" Maier shouted, covering his wound, "Go back as soon as possible before they call for help!"

"I...can't move..." Monduque gasped, "You can go back alone."

Maier tore open his coat and bandaged the wound, stood up and walked to the horse, but instead of getting on the horse, he took a water bag and poured it on Munduk's head, which made Munduk tremble with the cold.

"We have to go back!" Maier said. "You have an amazing daughter, and you have to be an amazing father!" He grabbed Monduk and said, "Mount!"

No matter how much Maier urged, Monduk had no energy to mount his horse.He had lost too much blood and was holding on to the horse's neck. He had no strength left in his body and it hurt whenever he moved.Maier pushed him onto the horse. He didn't even have the strength to sit up, so he could only lie on the horse's back. Maier rode the horse, holding his horse rope with one hand, and pulled him towards Batu.

"Hold on, go back to Batu now, and you can eat roast lamb tomorrow night." Maier said.

"I don't like the roast lamb at Arien Palace. They always put a lot of cumin in it." Monduk groaned weakly.

"You don't like cumin?" Maier asked. "That's an expensive spice."

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I put too much cumin in everything they bake, including beef, mutton, and chicken. Arien likes cumin. Arien Palace should be renamed Cumin Palace." Monduk laughed. , couldn't help but cough.

The horses walked very slowly, with their four hooves raised lightly, stepping on the mounds of earth and yellow sand.

"I also don't like how much cumin they put in it," Maier said. "Every meat smells like cumin."

"They should have put the cumin on the side and added as much as needed instead of adding it all the way into the meat," Monduk said, his tone growing weaker.

"Yes!" Maier replied: "I will take you to a restaurant next time, just near the grocery street. The beef there does not add cumin."

Monduk made a low hum, as if agreeing to the invitation, and asked, "Why do you still have the strength?" He groaned, "You were shot."

"The wound is not deep," Maier said. "I'm used to it."

"You are very good at kung fu." Monduk said, "Do you have children?"

"A daughter, only ten years old, and my wife is taking care of her."

"My daughter is older than your daughter." Monduk laughed.

"To shut up!"

"Am I going to die?" Monduk asked. "I feel dizzy and cold."

"This is far from Batu."

"It's obviously far away. We walked all day to get here." Monduk said, "I have to take a rest."

"I can't die. If I die, no one will take care of my daughter." Maier said. "I want to buy her a house in Nabu Batu and leave enough money for her to be happy and worry-free for a lifetime, so that she doesn't have to look at her husband. , she will not be beaten and bullied by her husband, so that she can choose an honest man. Does your daughter have a man she likes? "

"Nadia...I wonder which man she will fall in love with..."

"A father is a daughter's supporter," Maier said. "If you die and your daughter is bullied by her husband in the future, who will help her?"

"My daughter will not be bullied." Monduk said, "She is Nadia. She saved all the slaves when she was a child."

"No matter how powerful a woman is, she can be bullied by her husband if she doesn't have a good father." Maier said, "Buck up, your daughter is going to be beaten by her husband."

Monduque cheered up and cursed: "Who dares to bully my daughter!"

"There is a village nearby...we..." Maier suddenly stopped.

Monduk noticed something strange and followed Maier's gaze. There was dust and sand flying in the direction where the assassins left. He was startled and he didn't know where he got the strength to sit up straight.

"They... found helpers and chased them?" Monduke said.

Mel nodded.

Monduk reluctantly raised the knife: "I'll lure them away. You run away."

Maier nodded: "Sorry, I also have a daughter."

"I understand." Monduke smiled heartily, his whole body aching, "Take care of your daughter, and help me take care of my daughter."

Maier was about to ride away when he suddenly saw smoke and dust on the other side of the road.Is there an ambush on the other side?He was startled.Just as he was thinking about how to escape, he found that there was a lot of smoke and dust on the other side, and there were far more people than he thought. Maybe there were nearly a hundred people?

Monduk said: "Aren't you leaving yet?"

Maier shook his head: "We can't leave."

He raised his scimitar and was about to respond to the enemy. When the men and horses on both sides gradually approached, Maier couldn't help but feel suspicious.The side with the smaller number of people seemed to sense something was wrong. Before the two sides could get closer, they stopped their horses, then turned around and ran away.

what happened?Maier immediately understood that the two sides were not the same group of people. Was the large group of people chasing him friends or enemies?There were too many people, and they were destined to be unable to escape. If these nearly a hundred people were enemies, there was really no need for the assassin to fight desperately, and he only had to wait for reinforcements.

A group of refugees came, about 80 people.The refugees with eighty horses were no small group.When one of the refugees saw someone injured, he got off his horse and took a look. The leading refugee saw the mark on Monduke's face and asked, "Which team are you from?"

Monduk's face was covered with blood. The blood flowed through the ink marks and faded immediately. The refugees who were checking shouted: "They are fake, they are not refugees!"

The leader of the refugees swung a riding crop at Maier's face, causing him a sharp pain: "Catch him!"

Maier did not resist: "My friend is injured and needs medicine, please save him! Whatever you want to know, I will answer!"

■

Even if I have heard of it, I have never heard of such a large gathering of refugees.There are hundreds of tents here, more than 1000, maybe close to 2000 people.

Refugees need to gather in groups to be safe, but with such a large number of refugees gathering in groups, it is difficult to move, which is tantamount to being a target for the nobles. Even if the nobles of Naib are not as willing to hunt the homeless as Atulie, they are not far away from Naibuba. It is unreasonable for so many refugees to gather at such a distance in one day's journey. What on earth is the leader of this team thinking?
Maier quickly guessed who this person was. He had just heard that there was a Han named Wang Qile who gathered thousands of refugees. He didn't expect to see him so soon.

The person sitting in the seat in the main hall has a messy beard, a sinewy face, and droopy cheeks. He has Han Chinese black hair and pupils, wrinkles on his face, and his hair and beard are pitch black except for white spots stained by dust. No one can tell his age, generally speaking, he is between thirty and fifty.He was very tall, and you could tell even from the chair. Maier estimated that he was nearly nine feet tall. He had broad shoulders and was almost fat, but he was all muscle under his clothes.

Leaning next to him was a girl with messy hair and no makeup on her face, but her beauty was visible.Among the refugees, only strong men can have women, and this beautiful woman is a symbol of his strength.

"Who are you and why are you pretending to be refugees?" Wang Qile asked, his voice full of energy, loud but not harsh.

"My name is Maier, and I am the guard captain of Arien Palace. I hope you can save my companion first. He needs wound medicine."

"Injury medicine is very precious to refugees." Wang Qile said.

"I will pay you accordingly." Maier promised.

"What reward? Silver? Golden balls?" Wang Qile laughed.

"A cart of grain, ten good knives, or something else." Meyer said, "Whatever you want."

"People who are about to die don't need any medicine." Wang Qile said, "First explain why you pretend to be a refugee. If it's a bad answer, you don't need any medicine."

"I came here on the order of the Son of God. Some people are blaming the refugees, saying that the refugees have taken away food from Batu, causing the price of food to rise in Batu."

He did not say that he was sent by Arien Palace. He judged that the name of Son of God was more useful than Arien Palace at this time.

"Son of God? He pardoned Huck's crimes, why not forgive ours?" Wang Qile asked, "Huck is not even a warrior."

"Have you seen Huck?" Mel asked.

"He came here, looking for a black knife." Wang Qile patted the armrest of the chair and said dissatisfied, "Does the Son of God want us to kill each other over a knife?"

"The Son of God has absolutely no such intention." Maier touched his heart with his left hand and bowed his head in greeting, "The Son of God just wants to find his sword. Leader, we should focus on the original topic. The one who really wants to frame you is the person who spreads rumors and robs the food of the refugees. This It will lead to the siege of Arien Palace. We found out the truth and were about to go back to report, but someone wanted to silence them. I promised to clear the grievances of the refugees when I went back, but you must heal my friends first. I can even tell the Son of God Pray for mercy and ask Him to forgive your sins.”

"You are talking nonsense! We have 2000 people, a thousand soldiers and a thousand family members. Do you have the ability to ask the Son of God to forgive so many people?"

Maier was speechless and could only say: "I need to discuss with the Son of God, but if my friend dies..."

"I suggest you not threaten me!" Wang Qile said, "Wang Qile does not accept threats!"

Maier immediately changed the subject: "If we die here, everyone will think that it was the refugees who did it. Arien Palace will send people to surround the refugees, which will benefit the people who really did bad things. Your enemies should have wronged you. people."

"Who said the refugees robbed the grain truck? Who?!" Wang Qile asked again.

"Princes of Nabu Batu." Maier answered truthfully.

"It's not enough for those nobles to hunt us as animals, and they want to accuse us unjustly?" Wang Qile said, "But I don't know whether your words are true or false. You are pretending to be a refugee, and I can't believe you."

Monduk's injury was very serious, and he would die if he delayed treatment. Maier didn't want to get entangled with Wang Qile here, so he just asked: "How can I gain trust and let you treat my friend?"

"I'll let you go back, but the injured person will stay."

Mel frowned.

"Don't frown, his injury is very serious and he will die on the way back to Batu. He must stay here." Wang Qile said, "If you want to redeem him, let the Son of God come to see me. He is not allowed to lead troops or surround us. "

"The Son of God also does not accept threats." Maier said.

"But you must accept the threat." Wang Qile said decisively, "I will give you ten days. If you don't see the Son of God within ten days, I will hang that person's head on the flag!"

Arrogant and unreasonable, it is indeed the behavior of refugees.Maier didn't know what this leader who could gather thousands of people had in mind. He had to rush back to Batu immediately to report the news to Tucker.

■

Gao Leqi pondered: "The refugees said they did not rob food..." He realized that the situation might be more troublesome than he thought.

"The refugees didn't rob food, why is the price of food so high!" Tucker was furious. He immediately understood that he had been deceived by those brothers, "Those greedy pigs, I want to punish them!"

Meyer said: "There are also those refugees, Monduk was captured."

With so many things coming at the same time, Gao Leqi was extremely agitated.

Tucker roared again: "Replace all my brothers!"

It was exhausting.

Gao Leqi said to Tucker: "Dear Arien, you cannot remove all princes."

"Why!" Tucker was furious, "They are all traitors and moths! What's shameful is that I bleed the same blood as them!"

"Tak Yarian, you need the support of the princes to compete with the Priesthood. Part of the palace guards are stationed in the princes' palaces. Without these princes, you will be isolated and helpless."

"Then what are you going to do?" Tucker asked.

"Let me think about it," Gollach said.There were too many things and they were too annoying. He just wanted to go back and take a hot bath, take a nap, and wake up to find that all the problems were solved.Or maybe it's just a dream now, and everything since Yang Yan appeared is a dream...

Tucker kept pacing back and forth in the room, and Collegiate lay back on his chair and tasted the wine.What also made him uneasy was the sound of insects. Why did Hilidegg know where Maier was going after leaving the priesthood?Is Monduk's mouth loose, or is Maier being followed?
"Why don't you kill the chicken to scare the monkeys!" Tucker said, "Catch one of the princes and accuse him of manipulating food prices. Kill him and let someone else take charge of the food. Then the others will restrain themselves!"

"The problem is that we need monkeys and chickens, otherwise the tigers will eat us, and killing a chicken may not be useful." Gao Leqi pondered, "There must be a leader among them, and he must be caught and killed to really kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. "

"Who?" Tucker asked, and then realized that he was asking nonsense, "Not many princes can have such appeal, right?"

"I'm worried that if I kill them wrongly, they will collectively defect to the Priesthood." Gao Leqi said, "They really will."

Tucker suddenly said: "I won't argue with them about what happened before. Since there is no shortage of food, then force them to sell food at the original price. Arien Palace can control the price of food."

Although Gao Leqi felt that the matter would not be solved so easily, there was no better way for the time being.

After leaving Tucker's room, Gao Leqi summoned the second consul Yu Zhengping and the chief financial officer Jati.

"What I'm worried about is, will the princes be obedient?" Yu Zhengping said, "If they are unwilling to sell food at normal prices, how can we force them?"

"We directly set the price for the food and ask them to comply." Gao Leqi said, "I'll leave it to you."

“We need to reduce people’s burdens to quell public dissatisfaction,” Jiati suggested. “Reducing taxes is the most direct and effective way.”

"Do we have enough financial support?" Gao Leqi asked.

Welcoming the Son of God, crowning Tucker for the second time, and other celebrations had already cost Arien Palace a lot of money.

"It's not enough," Jia Ti said. "We can borrow money from princes and businessmen."

Borrowing money from princes and businessmen is a way to get the wool out of the sheep, but unfortunately... "Will they be willing?" Gao Leqi asked.

"Prince Hu Gen is very rich. He used to be responsible for transporting highland barley. Although he has stepped down now, he still has two sons who are responsible for pickling mutton and grapes," Jati said.

Highland barley is definitely the largest grain import business in Batu, and is usually handled by two to three princes. This shows that Hu Gen's family is quite rich.

"We cannot allow food prices to continue to rise." Gao Leqi said.

After dealing with the food, there is still the matter of Monduk.Gao Leqi felt that he was gradually falling into a disadvantage, and there must be a deeper abyss waiting for him.

(End of this chapter)