Chapter 671 - 425: Only a Storm Can Knock Down a Great Tree

Chapter 671: Chapter 425: Only a Storm Can Knock Down a Great Tree

The village was in shambles. A few houses at the entrance had been blown to rubble, and flames raged as the acrid smell of smoke filled the air.

The road was covered in blood, with eight or nine bodies lying scattered about. Four of them were bandits.

Zhou Chen galloped through the village on his horse, passing the bodies of several more villagers along the way. It looked as though they had fought back against the bandits while retreating.

The village wasn’t large, so he soon saw Miso locked in a fierce battle with the bandits... no, to be more accurate, Miso was being ganged up on. His armor was pierced in its weaker spots, dripping with blood. A gash on his face was carved so deep the bone was visible. If his Light Chaser armor hadn’t been so sturdy, he would have been hacked to pieces by now.

Zhou Chen swung his Magic Staff. Several thorn spikes shot out, striking the bandits’ skulls with the precision of sniper bullets. They pierced through the hard bone and shattered their brains, instantly emptying their health bars.

"Hah... hah..." Miso gasped for air, his Physical Strength failing him. He fell to his knees before collapsing weakly to the ground.

Zhou Chen dismounted and hurried to his side.

"Leave me... The village chief and the others... they’re still being hunted... Go save them..." Miso pleaded weakly. "Please, go save them..."

Then, he went still.

Zhou Chen took a Blood Bottle from his Player Backpack, uncorked it, and poured the contents into Miso’s mouth. He then summoned Spirit Horse Bao Li and galloped toward the sound of fighting.

「Ten seconds later.」

The frantic thundering of hooves drew near. With a piercing whistle, thorn spikes shot through the air and penetrated the heads of the last six bandits. Blood sprayed forth like blooming crimson flowers. The bodies toppled almost simultaneously, and the blood they shed quickly formed pools on the ground.

Watching the bandits fall and the blood spread, the few able-bodied villagers who were still fighting back with weapons stared in shock and uncertainty, instinctively raising their weapons toward Zhou Chen.

"It’s alright now," Zhou Chen told them. "I’ve killed all the bandits."

The able-bodied villagers exchanged uncertain glances. Just then, the village chief shakily pushed his way through them, walked forward, and dropped to his knees before the mounted Zhou Chen, kowtowing.

"Thank you for saving our village."

With a collective rustle, the villagers all dropped to their knees as one.

[Wish Value +20, +20, +20, +20...]

The sixty-odd villagers provided a total of 1,450 Wish Value points. Their will to survive was exceptionally strong.

"Get up," Zhou Chen said, "and go see if any of the wounded need tending to." With that, he wheeled his horse around and spurred it into a gallop.

He returned to Miso’s side, who was still unconscious from his severe injuries. Under the effects of the Blood Bottle, Miso’s wounds were slowly recovering. The gash on his face had already mostly healed.

Zhou Chen lifted him onto Spirit Horse Bao Li and headed for Miso’s dwelling.

An unknown amount of time passed before Miso woke from the darkness. The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was the ceiling of his own room.

He shot bolt upright and frantically patted himself down. After a long moment, he exclaimed in joyful disbelief, "I’m alive?!"

"If I had been any later, you really would be dead."

Zhou Chen’s voice came from the side. Miso turned his head to see him sitting at a table, on his phone, apparently messaging someone.

"...You saved me..." Miso suddenly remembered something and asked, his voice tight with anxiety, "What about the others?"

"Don’t worry. I’ve killed all the bandits; everyone is safe now. I provided some medicine, so the wounded should recover quickly."

Zhou Chen sent one last message to Tang Ling, then put his phone away and turned to question Miso. "You’re not really a Light Chaser, are you? A Light Chaser could never be so pathetic they can’t even handle a few bandits. So who are you?"

It all clicked for Zhou Chen now. He finally understood why Miso had been acting so strangely. He wasn’t a Light Chaser from the Holy Hall Church at all; he was an impostor, terrified of being exposed.

Miso knew he could no longer hide the truth. He hung his head and said bitterly, "You’re right, I’m not a Light Chaser. I’m just a miner boy who makes a living in the mines.

I wasn’t part of the crusade against the Magma Giant Beast a few years ago. I just saw it raging from a distance.

Half a month ago, I was mining when I felt an earthquake and heard the Magma Giant Beast roar. I knew that another death-defying expedition must have fallen to it. So, afterward, I carefully snuck over, thinking I could loot some valuables from the corpses... I have a friend who made his fortune that way.

Near the battlefield, I found two corpses that looked like they’d been killed by the tremors. This suit of armor was still in one piece, so I stripped it off and put it on. I also found a map and a notebook on the bodies.

But on my way down the mountain, the armor was so heavy that my foot slipped. I fell down a slope and knocked myself out. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the village. A few villagers who were out mining had found me and brought me back.

Because I was wearing the armor, they mistook me for a Light Chaser. They treated me to the most delicious food... I’d never eaten anything that good, and I’d never been treated with so much respect. So... a bold idea popped into my head..."

"And so you decided to pose as a Light Chaser and stay in the village?" Zhou Chen finished for him.

"Yes..."

’No wonder a supposedly great Light Chaser didn’t even dare to clear out a bandit camp...’ Zhou Chen thought, understanding now. ’But at least Miso wasn’t a bad person. If nothing else, he had stepped up to fight the bandits to the death when the village was in peril.’

Just then, Miso pulled an old notebook from under his pillow and handed it to Zhou Chen. "This is the notebook and map I took from the body. I’m illiterate, though, so I have no idea what it says."