Mobilization

Another ten-plus days passed.

The weather grew colder and colder. After officially entering winter, the heavens had already unleashed three heavy snowfalls, and the outdoor temperature was so low that dripping water would instantly turn to ice.

Despite the freezing weather, Zhou Ming didn't stay home recuperating from his injuries. Instead, he appeared in a small woods ten miles west of the Glan Territory.

In the center of the path in the small woods, a large pit had appeared.

The pit was about three meters in diameter, and its bottom was unfathomably deep. The eggshell-shaped walls at the bottom of the pit had been dug very smooth and flat. After water was sprinkled on them and froze into ice, one would involuntarily slide towards the center of the large pit.

"Ryan, according to your design, we've finished digging the pit. How is it? Not bad, right?"

Standing at the edge of the large pit, Great Thief Jero said to Zhou Ming, who was wrapped tightly in a sheepskin coat.

Zhou Ming walked forward, leaned his head down to look, and shook his head, saying, "The pit isn't deep enough. It needs to be at least as deep as the combined height of two adults to ensure that the person inside can't jump out. This pit is still a bit short. To be safe, dig it a bit deeper."

"I've been digging for three days! Digging even deeper? It's freezing like this, who can still dig? It's good enough!" A burly man holding a pickaxe stood at the bottom of the pit, complaining bitterly.

"Dig when I tell you to dig, what are you complaining about?"

Dwarf Dom, who was also swinging a pickaxe at the bottom of the pit, kicked the burly man. The burly man shut his mouth and continued to bury his head in swinging the pickaxe.

"Jero, are the other things that need to be prepared also ready?" Zhou Ming asked.

"They're all ready, can be used anytime."

"Good! Hurry up and finish digging this large pit. In a few days, it will come in handy."

Three more days passed.

On the streets of Rose Town, a person appeared whom all the townspeople had not expected.

Little Ryan hadn't died. Instead, supported by Young Master Donny and his sister Alice, he appeared at the town's small market.

Not only that, Little Ryan also bought many gifts from the traveling merchant and went door-to-door, giving them to the close neighbors he was familiar with. He also told these neighbors that in three days, they would be leaving the Glan Territory to study in the Royal Capital, and might never return to the Glan Territory again. This farewell would likely be their last meeting.

The neighbors were all very reluctant to see him go, saying that the weather outside was so cold, and the snow was falling so heavily, it would be better to wait until spring to leave. Moreover, his injuries hadn't fully healed yet, and such a long journey, traveling all the way, would not be good for his recovery.

Zhou Ming thanked them one by one for their advice, and urged these neighbors and fellow villagers to take good care of themselves. His luggage was already packed, and he would definitely leave the Glan Territory in three days, hoping they would take good care of themselves.

Inside a room in Butler Brunode's home.

"Three days from now, are you sure you didn't mishear?"

"Absolutely not, Young Master Baum. I heard Ryan say those words with my own ears. Moreover, recently he sold all the cattle and sheep in his house, and also transferred the house to someone else. In three days, it's impossible for him not to leave!" the servant said.

Bang!

A fist heavily struck the table. Baum said with a voice that almost ground his teeth to dust, "Ryan! This time, I'll make sure you die without a burial place!"

Three days later.

At the entrance of the Glan Territory castle.

"My poor son, if things aren't going well outside, you must come back to the Glan Territory. Even if your mother has nothing, she doesn't want anything to happen to you."

Madam Madeline was in tears, clinging to Donny reluctantly, wishing only to see him one more time.

"Mom, I'll be fine, goodbye Mom!"

Donny, his eyes red-rimmed, bit his lower lip, cracked the whip, and drove the carriage away from the castle without looking back.

On the small road outside Rose Town, Donny met up with Zhou Ming and Alice, who were waiting by the roadside with their bags. The two got into the carriage, and the three of them drove together towards the main road heading west.

The carriage drove across the flat farmland and had just entered a dense forest when a sudden small pit appeared on the road surface, trapping the carriage axle.

"Gee up, gee up, gee up!"

Donny whipped the horse several times, but the carriage didn't budge. He was so anxious he was about to get out and check the situation.

"Young Master Donny, stop wasting your time. You won't be able to pass this road today!"

A cold voice came from the woods nearby. More than a dozen servants holding swords and wooden clubs, led by a fat man, gathered around with sinister smiles, surrounding the carriage.

"Baum, what do you want? I am still the second young master of Glan Territory, it's not your place to act wild in front of me!"

Seeing the ill-intentioned Baum, Donny sternly rebuked him.

Baum wagged an index finger and smiled, "Young Master Donny, Baum certainly won't do anything to you, but the two people in the carriage..." His expression suddenly became extremely ferocious, and he clenched his fists tightly, saying, "They are both mine, Baum's! I'm going to drag these two bugs out and torture them with the cruelest methods in the world. I'm going to make their lives worse than death, I'm going to..."

"What are you going to do, Mr. Baum?"

A voice from the carriage interrupted Baum.

"I'm going to kill you!" Seeing Zhou Ming in the carriage, the fat Baum's eyes instantly turned red. He raised his short sword and charged towards him with a ferocious face.

Puff, puff, puff, puff, puff, puff!

Before he could even get close to the carriage, a series of sharp sounds rang out. The fat Baum discovered that the dozen or so servants he had brought with him were all screaming and falling in the snow, and even his own chest had an arrow embedded in it.

An unprecedented intense pain began to occupy Baum's mind, but the deep-seated hatred in his heart kept him standing, watching his enemy get closer and closer.

"Mr. Baum, the best way to repay an enemy is to kill them immediately, not to talk so much nonsense."

Zhou Ming whispered in Baum's ear, his left hand gripping the broken arrow shaft. With a forceful push, he plunged it into Baum's heart.

"Ah!"

With a roar of unwillingness, Baum fell to the ground just like that.

"Clap, clap, clap!"

A round of applause sounded, and Jero, wearing a snow camouflage suit, walked over, clapping his hands and saying, "Wonderful, truly wonderful! Little fellow, it's exactly as you guessed. This guy really couldn't wait to come and die. A total of fourteen people, we took care of all of them."

"Aren't you going to clean this up quickly and move to the next place? We have to get everything done today!" Zhou Ming said to Great Thief Jero with a displeased look.

"Yes, yes, yes, Johnson, you and a few others come over and move this body..." Great Thief Jero quickly ordered.

On the other side, Donny also unhitched the horse pulling the carriage. He exchanged glances with Zhou Ming, nodded, mounted the horse, and galloped towards the castle.

At the castle gate.

A fast horse galloped up.

"Brother Edward, something's wrong! A group of bandits has come to the west of the territory. They killed Baum, stripped him naked, and hung his body on a tree!"

"What?"

Inside, where a fireplace was burning, Edward, who was drinking ale with two knights, was shocked to hear the news. He immediately put on his heavy armor, took two subordinates, mounted his warhorse, and followed Donny to the small woods where Baum's body was found.

"Brother Edward, look, Baum's body is on this tree."

After dismounting, Donny pointed to a thick tree.

On a branch of the large tree hung a naked body, frozen like a dead pig. The body swung back and forth, as if mocking something.

Edward and the other two knights dismounted and walked closer to the body. After identifying it as Baum's body, Edward's veins bulged even more.

"Damn bandits, I'll grind your wretched bones into dust!"

"Attack!"

A voice suddenly rang out. The ground beneath Edward's feet suddenly caved in. Caught off guard, he and the other two knights fell into a large pit.

"Oh no, it's a trap!" someone in the pit exclaimed.

"The prey is hooked, everyone attack!"

With a command, more than twenty bandits who had been lying in ambush rushed out from the nearby woods. Some held thick Wolf Tooth Clubs, some carried bags filled with lime, and several burly men worked together to carry a thick log.

"Throw the lime!"

Countless white powders were thrown into the large pit. The three people in the pit looked up, and a burning sensation came from their eyes. Their vision instantly became blurred.

"This guy is trying to climb out of the pit, smash him with the Wolf Tooth Clubs!"

Agile Edward stepped on Knight Vincent's back and was about to leap out of the large pit when several large Wolf Tooth Clubs heavily struck the helmet on his head. A sharp pain and dizziness sent him tumbling back into the large pit.

"Is the log ready? Hurry and lift the log!" the Great Thief Jero, who was in charge of commanding, said anxiously.

"It's ready, it's ready, the log is ready, we can pull!"

It turned out that the rope used to hang Baum's body, after the body was lowered, was immediately attached to a thick log weighing over five hundred catties. This log was directly above the center of the large pit. After being pulled up by more than ten strong men to a height of over three meters, it was then dropped in a free fall.

"Ah!"

A scream came from the pit. It was unclear which unlucky soul was smashed into a pile of flesh by the log.

"Ready, drop!"

"Ah!"

"Ready, drop!" The log was lifted high again.

"Donny, you bastard... Ah!" Edward's scream also came from the pit.

Donny, standing not far away, trembled violently when he heard the sound, muttering repeatedly, "It's not my fault, you forced me, you forced me..."

The log was lifted and dropped dozens of times until no sound came from the pit. When the bandits saw that only a mass of indistinguishable bones and flesh remained in the pit, they began to cheer and celebrate.