Work Prophet
Chapter 468 - 86: The Most Devout Missionary

Chapter 468: Chapter 86: The Most Devout Missionary

Li Yu quickly gathered his people; besides Jude and Ferdinand, there was the Wandering Knight Orwell, and Miss Rabbit insisted on pushing her Guard Captain Thomas onto Li Yu.

In addition to them, Wild and Treger volunteered to accompany Li Yu, but were politely declined by him; in the end, he picked another from the Black Dog Guards.

Although their numbers were few, each one of them was an elite.

With Li Yu himself possessing [Reborn] and not being too afraid of dying, they set off.

Soon, the group arrived at White Stone Beach.

Li Yu took out a telescope from his bosom and scanned the area roughly. He didn’t see any signs of a large army lying in ambush; apparently, the opposition didn’t have many people either.

However, Li Yu didn’t let his guard down and stopped at the edge of the river beach without going too far in.

After all, the other side had only arranged to meet him on this river beach, without specifying an exact location.

After waiting for a while, Li Yu saw two figures emerge from behind two giant stones—one carrying a nail head hammer and the other with a bow and arrows—walking towards them.

The one with the nail head hammer shouted as he walked, "Which one of you is Merlin?"

His companion looked on with a speechless expression, "Giant Stone, you’ve heard the minstrels sing. The man in black and unusual attire is the Prophet of the Double Rest Sect."

"What do you know? That guy might have switched clothes with his subordinates before coming. If I were him, that’s what I’d do. That way, if there’s an ambush, I could sneak away in the confusion."

Giant Stone felt he had a rare moment of intellectual superiority over Hawkeye and spoke proudly.

"..."

Hawkeye didn’t know what to say anymore and, not bothering to deal further with Giant Stone, stopped about fifty paces away from Li Yu.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" asked Li Yu.

"Hehe, we’re not like those folks who came to you before; we’ve caught..."

"Ahem." Hawkeye coughed loudly twice, interrupting his companion, "Actually, we’re a group of mercenaries from the Eagle Wings Mercenary Group. I am the Commander Hawkeye, and he is Deputy Commander Giant Stone."

"Why is it the Eagle Wings Mercenary Group? And why are you the Commander while I’m the Deputy Commander?" Giant Stone grumbled dissatisfied.

But since they had agreed before coming that Hawkeye would handle the negotiations, Giant Stone only muttered his complaints quietly.

"Mercenary Group?" Li Yu raised an eyebrow, "Then why choose this manner to meet me?"

"As the saying goes, only those who are careful enough live long enough," said Hawkeye. "In short, we encountered your poet on the road."

"He was being robbed by a band of thieves at the time, and we intervened to save him. Then, after a great deal of hardship, we escorted him and caught up with your entourage."

"My poet?"

"That’s right," Giant Stone shouted, "The guy’s name is Kieren, fairly good-looking, and he was writing poems on your behalf for that what’s-it-called Friday. You must remember him."

"It’s Saturday, you idiot," Hawkeye cursed. "Don’t go around changing the names of people’s Gods; do you want to get us killed? These people are crazy about their faith."

At this point, Jude also leaned into Li Yu’s ear, "These two are full of lies and don’t seem like any genuine mercenaries. At this distance, the infrared Divine Crossbow can target them already.

"How about I capture them first and interrogate them slowly? I can shoot them in the leg and keep them alive."

"Hold on, let’s wait a bit longer."

Li Yu finished speaking and then asked the giant stone and Hawkeye, "Where is the Saturday’s minstrel?"

Upon hearing this, Hawkeye let out a sigh of relief. Just a moment ago, he even suspected that he had been deceived by Kieren, thinking the latter had nothing to do with the Double Rest Sect.

In fact, Hawkeye had always harbored such doubts, but based on his observations along the way, Kieren’s behavior could be said to be flawless.

When they first plundered a village, the minstrel suddenly stood up, willing to risk his own life to protect the followers of the Double Rest Sect, a scene that moved all onlookers.

Afterward, Kieren led the homeless villagers in pursuit of Li Yu.

He spent most of his days preaching the doctrines of the Double Rest Sect, comforting and encouraging the believers and potential converts in the troop to continue forward, sharing meals and sleeping quarters with them, and using his songs to drive away their despair and sorrow.

Kieren’s series of actions soon brought him the trust and adoration of those villagers.

Hawkeye had lived a long life and had never seen such a devout and benevolent missionary.

Sometimes when he looked at Kieren, he felt as if there was a golden aura emanating from him.

If the minstrel hadn’t suddenly approached him in the middle of the night, hinting subtly if they could rob a few more villages, Hawkeye might have been converted by Kieren himself after a few more days.

At first, Hawkeye was somewhat astonished, but he later realized that Kieren might want to gather more believers, which from a missionary’s perspective was not incomprehensible.

However, with Kieren bringing a hundred and eighty people, the bandits could still maintain control. Any more, and Hawkeye would become somewhat unwilling.

But Kieren then guaranteed that he would keep these followers in line.

He also suggested that later on, they could split up to act separately, the bandits raiding freely in the front while Kieren gathered people in the back, each benefiting from the arrangement.

Hawkeye was still hesitant, but the other bandits were already tempted.

Although giant dragon blood was valuable, it had yet to be obtained, whereas the Emperor was currently holding a martial arts tournament in the Royal Capital. Nobles confident in their martial arts had set out with their family’s best hands.

The various territories were vulnerable at this time. They dared not think about those castles and towns, but robbing the lightly guarded villages below to scoop up some money was not a problem.

The bandits had just tasted the sweetness of success and naturally did not want to stop now. After all, they did not know when they would next come across such a good opportunity.

Thus, Kieren’s proposal was eventually passed, which was also why the minstrel was able to gather so many refugees in a short time.

Hawkeye felt that if Kieren was working so hard to recruit for Saturday, it made no sense for him not to be from the Double Rest Sect. Otherwise, what would he be after?

It wasn’t until just now, with Li Yu’s personal affirmation, that Hawkeye dispelled his last bit of doubt.

"With those refugees, oh no, I mean the followers of the Double Rest Sect," replied Hawkeye with a chuckle, and then he added, "We’ve also arranged for someone to secretly protect him."

"Is that so? Thank you for your hard work."

"You know how tough this journey has been for us. Since that’s the case, why don’t you give us some compensation?" the giant stone interjected, and this time Hawkeye did not stop him.

"Sure, how much do you want?" asked Li Yu.

"We don’t want money, talking about money just spoils the fun," said the Giant Stone, rubbing his hands together. "I heard that your sect has a kind of... divine medicine that can make men become more courageous."

"Giant dragon blood, how much do you want."

"Not much, not much, how about you give each of us three pieces?"