"Missions in the Spiritual Realm generally follow the principle of equivalent exchange. Depending on the degree of completion of the mission, the rewards will definitely be different."
Bai Xiaowen muttered, "I've guessed a possibility, but I can't confirm it, so I won't say it for the time being. No matter what, we have to complete this main mission well... If my guess turns out to be true, the benefits we can get will be amazing. "
Li Shuyi nodded. Then, she raised another question, "But that fatty just said that we have no income and are poor. How are we going to recruit soldiers?"
"Let's take one step at a time," Bai Xiaowen said, "This young Lord is not good at government affairs. Although I inherited some of his memories, I still have no idea about the situation in the territory. Let's go out and take a look. "
The two of them opened the door and a cold wind from the North blew in.
There was only one word that entered their eyes: desolate.
In front of them was a mud road less than two meters wide. It was frozen hard by the cold wind, but it was spared from the pain of being muddy — if there were any travelers here.
Not far from the Lord's house, there were a few thatched huts scattered randomly and looked very dilapidated. One by one, people in tattered clothes walked past with numb faces.
On the side of the road not far away, there were a few people wrapped in straw, lying on their backs behind a stone block to avoid the cold wind.
Bai Xiaowen frowned and walked over. When he got closer, he found that there were old and young people, but they were not wearing any clothes. Most of them only had a piece of black linen wrapped around their crotch area. No wonder they had to use straw to keep out the cold.
"What are your names? Are you refugees passing through here? "
After the few people wrapped in straw panicked, one of them, who looked like the leader, spoke in a muffled voice.
"Lord, my name is Anton... This is my wife, Molly, and the others are my neighbors..."
Bai Xiaowen sized up the man named Anton. He was obviously different from the average citizen. Although he was not tall, he was very sturdy. His knuckles were thick and there were calluses on them. He was used to doing manual labor.
"Anton, why did you and your neighbors end up here?"
A skinny old man pulled Anton aside and said in fear and trepidation, "I'm sorry, my Lord. We shouldn't appear in your noble sight. We'll leave immediately …"
Bai Xiaowen felt a little helpless. This old man had obviously misunderstood. He could only wave his hand and say a few words of comfort to calm these panicked refugees down.
Anton sighed and said, "My Lord, we were not refugees, but miners who mined silver in the mines in the west. We did not live a rich life, but we could barely eat and wear. However, the Black Wind Bandits raided the mine last week and killed the guards. They looted the mine along with us and even burned down our house … We could only leave the mine and wander about … "
"Wait, silver mine?" Bai Xiaowen's eyes lit up. "Is there a silver mine in White Stone Town?"
Anton looked at Bai Xiaowen strangely. "Isn't Sir Lord the owner of the mine? White Stone Hill is famous for its silver production. Although White Stone Town is relatively remote, there is still a small silver mine … "
"I'm the owner of the mine?"
Bai Xiaowen was a little speechless as he lowered his head to look at the hidden patches on his noble attire. He shook his head and said, "Who do you give the silver you usually mine to?"
"Of course it's to Job. He's the Lord's most trusted butler … "
Bai Xiaowen's face darkened.
Job did not mention anything about the silver mine just now.
"You're too cold here. Come to my house. At least you can block the cold wind. "Bai Xiaowen sighed as he looked at the miners who were wrapped in straw and shivering in the cold.
They hesitated and did not dare to agree.
"This is an order from the Lord." Bai Xiaowen emphasized.
It was obvious that these miners' families, including Anton, were more used to a commanding tone. They helped each other stand up, thanked Bai Xiaowen, and followed him to the Lord's house.
Li Shuyi originally wanted to light the fire in the fireplace, but he had not done it before and was momentarily in a dilemma. Fortunately, Anton's wife, Molly, was better at this. She quickly lit the fire and dispelled some of the cold air.
After Li Shuyi thanked her, he took out two tattered clothes from the cabinet on the second floor according to his inherited memory and handed them to Molly.
This kind gesture quickly calmed the hearts of the refugees.
"Now, tell me about the Black Wind Bandits," Bai Xiaowen said.
The other refugees still did not dare to speak in front of Bai Xiaowen. With Anton's narration as the main point and others adding in a few sentences, the situation of the bandits in White Stone Town was gradually presented to Bai Xiaowen.
There were more than ten bandit groups in White Stone Town. Most of them were just a few bandits gathered together and could not even be considered a "mob". They barely survived by robbing and hunting. There were three medium-sized bandit groups, each with more than ten or even dozens of people. They used White Stone Town as their nest and roamed around to commit crimes, mainly plundering the surrounding territories.
This also caused White Stone Town to be criticized because Bai Xiaowen did not suppress the bandits — the lords of the surrounding territories had no right to send troops into White Stone Town.
The largest bandit group in White Stone Town was called "Black Wind" and was well-known for its ferocity. It was said that this bandit group had more than a hundred people. Note that this "hundred people" referred to the elite bandits who could kill people with swords, not including the auxiliary soldiers and servants who were there to make up the numbers.
Moreover, the Black Wind Bandits were different from other bandit groups. They had a wide range of targets and did not even let go of the poor White Stone Town. They often killed and set fires. There were originally a few thousand people in White Stone Town, but most of them fled to other territories.
After listening to the story, Bai Xiaowen asked, "What is the name of the leader of the Black Wind Bandits? How many strong people are there among them? "
Anton was stunned and shook his head to show that he did not know. As soon as Bai Xiaowen said this, he knew that he had asked the wrong person. Anton was only a small miner and had limited information.
With a bang, the door of the lord's mansion was pushed open.
"My Lord, why did you let a group of lowly people in? This is your mansion hall! My God, you will bring shame to the entire Kail Bloom family! Don't you always hate these lowly people? "
Fatty Job squeezed his way in and said hurriedly. He then chased Anton and the others away with a look of disgust. "You lowly commoners, get out of the lord's mansion, or I'll hang you under the eaves to dry!"
Bai Xiaowen lightly knocked on the table.
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
