Volume 4: The Winds and Clouds of the Western Blue Sky Chapter 16: Real Witch Hunting
In fact, without the threat of the fourth-level big demon, the subsequent demon attacks that scared the entire caravan to death were not as terrible as imagined.
Even in the midst of a sandstorm, nearly a hundred ordinary people surrounded by dozens of tall herbivorous dragons kneeling on the ground remained as steady as a rock.
And outside the encirclement of the herbivorous dragon.
All capable people, including Lancelot and Gawain, joined forces with the Eagle's mercenaries and guarded four directions under the leadership of four second-level cadres.
With the help of spiked fences that resembled the "chevaux-de-lis" defensive fortifications used in ancient Daxia wars, each defense team, with the cooperation of experienced mercenaries, ruthlessly strangled the wave after wave of demon attacks that surrounded them.
Qi Ji, with his strength surpassing the conventional third level, serves as the mainstay of the entire defensive force.
He did not go forward to deal with the groups of "soldiers", but stood on the top of the carriage on the back of his herbivorous dragon, observing the entire scene from a high vantage point. Once he found a second-level or even higher-level extraordinary demon such as a furious demon, he would jump immediately and use wolf swordsmanship to burst out and kill it.
And after killing such a high-level target, there will also be a few large-scale rotating slashes to clear the area directly.
It can only be said that after he obtained the blessing power brought by the term "aloofness", his lethality against this kind of abyss demon increased by a huge degree, and he wished he only needed to spend half the effort to achieve ten times the effect.
Repeating this cycle hardly put much physical strain on Qi Ji.
Each wave of demon attacks became weaker and weaker.
The battle lasted until the first ray of sunlight shone on the yellow sand of the desert.
The demonic figures that swarmed like a tide finally retreated, leaving only corpses on the ground.
The battle is over.
Qi Ji killed a total of fourteen second-level extraordinary demons.
What made him a little regretful was that he remembered that just before coming to Xicang Continent, the blood baron he killed was also a second-level one, and he also gave him a reward of 100 points of transcendence.
But now, when killing these second-level small fish, the transcendence degree given by each one has actually decreased to fifty points.
As for the first-level extraordinary demon, he was not even given a bit of transcendence.
The total gain from the night was 520 points of transcendence.
The bewildered Eagle Corps warriors didn't know where to go, and they involuntarily dragged their injured and exhausted bodies and silently gathered around Qi Ji.
It has become their habit to rely on the strong and obey their orders.
Now that Femont is missing and his life or death is unknown, they need a leader.
Qi Ji was different from these people. Even after a whole night of fierce fighting, he had killed more than a dozen second-level extraordinary demons with the wolf sword in his hand. Now, with the blessing of the transcendence degree and the incredible recovery power of the meridian nourishing method, he was still in excellent condition.
He looked helplessly at the four second-level captains of the Eagle Group who were standing in front of him and asked, "What do you mean by this?"
There are four captains, three men and one woman in total.
A tall, strong, broad-shouldered and big-bellied little giant - Bibin.
Casca is a dashing female swordsman with short dark hair and dark skin.
A short man who is brave and valiant in battle and skilled in darts - Jiedu.
Rickett, the agile and nimble crossbowman.
Among the few people, the one who looked at the least powerful short man, Jiedu, stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Qi Ji, we mainly want to confirm with you, Captain Femont... is he really not dead?"
Qi Ji nodded and said, "At least when that monster left, he was still alive when I saw him."
He glanced at them and asked with a strange look on his face, "Are you planning to go find him?"
Several captains looked at each other, then turned to look at Qi Ji.
The female swordsman Casca took a step forward: "Could you please, Mr. Qi Ji..."
"Stop." Qi Ji interrupted her directly: "Don't think about it, I'm not going."
Then, without waiting for the others to dissuade him, he said directly: "That big demon is at least a fourth-level terrifying monster. If I go, I will die. If you persuade me, you are persuading me to seek death."
Just one sentence stopped Casca.
Finally, Qi Ji said, "If you still have some sense and know how to weigh the pros and cons, you should honestly complete the escort mission of this merchant group, then go back to organize people, spend money or anything else, and hire a stronger fourth-level master to go with you to rescue the leader, instead of stupidly going to die on your own."
When the four heard this, they suddenly woke up as if from a dream. They suppressed their sadness and anxiety, thanked Qi Ji, and returned to their posts with their men.
Qi Ji frowned speechlessly and returned to his carriage.
Inside, Melina was holding a bell and shaking it gently. With her focused expression, a faint white light could be seen flashing on the bell. Star-like points of light floated on the injured part of Lancelot's arm, and the cut caused by the devil's scratches began to heal visibly.
Qi Ji waited for her to finish her work, and couldn't help but laugh: "Melina, you have so many little things on you. Is this bell sealed with magic similar to healing?"
Gawain and Lancelot's wounds had basically healed, and now they were just exhausted and could only sit on the carriage to rest.
Melina wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled, "Yes, I asked the seniors of the Witch Association to help seal a few "miracle" spells of "small recovery" in this bell. Although the effect is far different from that of a fourth-level healing master who directly manipulates magic power to heal, it can still help heal some minor injuries that are in the way."
She looked at Qi Ji again: "Mr. Qi Ji, do you have any injuries that need treatment? I still have a few spells left."
Qi Ji smiled and shook his head: "I'm not injured, just keep an eye on them two, they've been fighting all night, they must be exhausted."
After saying that, Qi Ji went out to work as a coachman very consciously.
At dawn, with the collective agreement of many caravan members who were grateful for having escaped death, the caravan's marching speed increased significantly.
The remaining three days of the journey were now compressed into less than two days.
Two days later in the afternoon, the Shande City Merchants' convoy finally arrived safely at the border city of the Papal States ruled by the Holy See , a city in a large valley.
The name of the valley was Chillvale, and the name of the city was Irithyll.
The terrain here is special and it is frozen all year round, so you won’t feel hot even in midsummer.
It is now late autumn, and the entire city is covered with snow, forming a sharp contrast with the desert not far from this valley that the caravan just passed through.
According to Melina, Irithyll is a small border town, but due to its special geographical location, the Holy See sent an archbishop-level (fourth-order) master to guard it.
As for what is special about it, one of the reasons is that this place is an important hub connecting the Witch Forest to the outside world.
Although the witch hunting campaign of the mayor of Frye City was carried out in the name of the Holy See.
But the Holy See has indeed been conducting a real "witch hunt".
They believe that the "magic" used by witches is a challenge to the existing supernatural system and is a cursed evil forbidden technique.
…
“If the guards of Iruthyr find out that I’m a witch, we’ll be in trouble.” After explaining the situation of Iruthyr and the Holy See to Qi Ji, Melina smiled embarrassedly and said, “So I can only trouble Mr. Qi Ji to temporarily act as my guard and wait with me outside the city.”
At Melina's request, Qi Ji and she left the caravan first, leaving only Lancelot and Gawain to follow the caravan into the city to return the herbivorous dragon and the carriage.
Then he would exchange a few horses, go out of the city and come back to pick them up.
That's right, according to Melina, they didn't plan to stay in Irithyll overnight, but to enter the Witch Forest before it got dark.
The Witch Forest is the territory of the Witch Guild. Under the leadership of Melina, they don't have to worry about being attacked by demons even if they spend the night in the forest.
Not long after, two knights, each riding a horse and holding the reins of another horse, came to Qi Ji and Melina.
Although Melina was small, she was able to jump onto the horse's back very easily and skillfully with just one flip.
She turned around and smiled at Qi Ji and asked, "Mr. Qi Ji, can you ride a horse? If not, you can ride with me."
"Don't underestimate me!"
Qi Ji snorted and climbed onto his horse with great proficiency - his riding skills on the battlefield were inherited from a horse-riding general in the Wolf World View. Although he had not practiced or improved on them, they were completely sufficient.
Melina choked, smiled helplessly and shook her head.
Or you can say that a man is a pure straight man.
If it wasn't for Qin Zijin's direct attack, but Melina's vague expression of affection, our Lao Qi would never have noticed it.
After everything was ready, they headed straight west.
Just after they set off, the two gray pigeons that had been following Lancelot and Gawain also flew up from the forest and quickly returned towards Irithyll.
About ten minutes later, a team of knights in silver-white armor, led by a middle-aged man in gorgeous priest robes, arrived at the place where Qi Ji and others had just met.
The priest said calmly, "According to the pigeon whisperer's feedback, the two knights who bought four horses met up with a man and a suspicious woman here and headed west."
"Bishop Charles, what do you mean?" the leader of the knights asked hesitantly.
Bishop Charlie nodded. "It's obvious that this woman is being secretive, and her destination is the west. There is only the Witch Forest on that side, so it's very likely that she is a witch."
Then he waved his hand fiercely: "Follow and track, seize this opportunity to find out the secret of the Witch Forest. It would be best if we can find the base of the Witch Association. If necessary, kill the three men, capture the witch, and then have the people from the Inquisition pry the secret out of her mouth."
The silver-armored knights responded in unison immediately, and soon, a dozen second-level knights, led by a third-level knight captain, rode fast towards the west.
Qi Ji and his companions didn't know yet that they were being targeted by the Holy See just because of such a minor negligence as "two people buying four horses".
