"In short, prepare and await the bandits' counterattack at any time."
Under Niu Zida's arrangements, the villagers tried their best to transfer all their food into the church, and many Goblins were hidden in the houses of the village. As Niu Zida expected, about a day later, hundreds of bandits came in a mighty horde to attack the village. This time, several hundred people were dispatched, even more than last time. This should have been an all-out effort, indicating that Niu Zida's previous sneak attack to rescue the children had truly enraged this group of bandits.
The Goblin outposts set up earlier quickly relayed the message to the village. Niu Zida, along with Yor and Misato Shizuku, lay in ambush outside the village. Inside the village houses, the Goblins had prepared incendiary materials and hidden themselves.
The bandits saw that this time the villagers were not resisting outside but had retreated into the village, and they thought the villagers were afraid of them. So, they simply stormed into the village. However, having suffered two losses in a row, they had learned their lesson and did not carelessly rush into the village to loot again. After discovering that the villagers were all gathered in the church, they began to surround the church and shout out a plea for surrender, telling the villagers that if they handed over the hostages, food, and valuables, their previous sneak attack would be forgiven.
The villagers naturally wouldn't believe such words. Moreover, under Aponia's Precepts, everyone had already prepared to resist to the end. Seeing that persuasion was futile, the bandits simply began to attack the church. However, this time the villagers all relied on the church's sturdy stone architecture for defense. The bandits attacked for a day but couldn't break in. As night fell with no breakthrough, they could only surround it, even threatening to set the church on fire.
Originally, because they wanted to seize the money, food, and a few remaining young women and girls in the village, the bandits didn't want to burn down the village church. Niu Zida had seen through this, which was why he dared to let the villagers hold out in the church to exhaust the bandits. Otherwise, if they just passively stayed in the church, it would indeed be easy for the other side to set it on fire. Seeing that the bandits had attacked for a day without success and were becoming enraged, threatening to burn down the church, and with night falling, which was convenient for Goblin operations, Niu Zida began to blow the Goblin Bone Whistle, giving the command to set fire to the Goblins already hidden in the houses.
The bandits had attacked the village for a day. Although casualties were not great, there was no progress and their stamina was depleted. They planned to rest for a night and then demolish houses and burn the church tomorrow to force the villagers to surrender. Suddenly, they heard a piercing bone whistle sound from outside. At first, they just found it strange, thinking it was some animal's cry, but then some bandits from nearby villages recognized it as the sound of a Goblin whistle.
The Goblin Bone Whistle was something Goblin Shamans often used to command Goblins in battle. This was why Goblins, despite being weak in intellect and strength, could move in formation at night without scattering or fighting haphazardly, maintaining their organization. However, the Goblin Shaman's bone whistle did not have the special effect of a mandatory command that Niu Zida's whistle possessed, as Niu Zida's was a special treasure bestowed by Huan Long.
Some of the bandits began to spread this news among the crowd. As the piercing sound of the Goblin Bone Whistle spread, the bandits also became a little panicked. Although individual Goblins were very weak, everyone knew that once a Goblin Bone Whistle sounded, it meant that a Goblin tribe was on the move. And if Goblins dared to actively attack humans, their numbers would be in the hundreds at least, possibly thousands or tens of thousands. At night, humans couldn't fully utilize their physical advantages, and encountering elite Goblins would also be very troublesome.
As the bandits began to fall into chaos, the Goblins, hearing the command from the Goblin Bone Whistle, seized the opportunity to set fires. Because they had prepared plenty of incendiary materials in advance, the village quickly became a sea of flames. The bandits fell into further chaos. Niu Zida, naturally familiar with the situation, took advantage of this disarray, leading Yor and Misato Shizuku to charge into the village, engaging in another round of chaotic hacking and slashing.
The nightmare of being ambushed twice before returned. The thieves still didn't know what kind of combat power the village had. As soon as night fell, they could launch a sneak attack, and some were even killed without seeing a single person. However, this time it wasn't as simple as the previous two ambushes by Niu Zida with his maid. According to the previous plan, the Goblins also charged out to ambush. Meanwhile, in the church, Aponia led a few strong men from the village to charge out and cooperate. Under this three-pronged attack, the casualties of the thieves this time were far greater than before.
The thieves were once again thrown into chaos and began to flee in all directions. This time, Niu Zida couldn't give them a chance. After all, he had gathered all his resources to fight the thieves and had to annihilate them in one fell swoop, or at least inflict heavy casualties, to eliminate the hidden danger to the village. So, he commanded his maids to lead the Goblins in a relentless pursuit, while sending the villagers back to protect the church, to prevent scattered thieves from returning to attack the village in the chaos.
Along the way, the thieves, in the darkness of night, didn't know how many people were chasing them. They scattered and fled, with the screams of their companions constantly echoing from behind. Those were caused by Yor and Misato Shizuku catching up and slaying them, while Goblins seemed to be everywhere, like shadows, following the fleeing thieves.
In fact, these Goblins were just a ruse, to mislead the thieves and give them the false impression that they were surrounded by a large Goblin army. Niu Zida didn't let them participate too much in the battle. If they encountered a few scattered thieves, they could consider a combined attack. If there were many, he let Yor and Misato Shizuku deal with them directly. For those who couldn't be controlled, he let the Goblins follow and scare them for a while, hoping to drive them into mountain ravines where they would fall off cliffs in their panic. Those who couldn't be caught were simply left alone.
After chasing for about ten kilometers, there were scattered thieves everywhere, and many thief bodies lay by the roadside. The thieves retreated in disarray. Niu Zida saw that Yor and Misato Shizuku were already a bit tired, so he ordered the Goblins to stop the pursuit. He used a Goblin bone whistle to gather them and quickly counted the casualties. Eight Goblins had died on his side. It seemed that even in such an annihilation pursuit battle, the individual combat power gap on his side was still significant, as several still died.
"Master, are we returning to the village now?"
"No, next we go to the farmhouse. We'll rest there and continue attacking the thieves' lair tomorrow night."
Niu Zida was truly determined to solve the thief problem this time. Yor and Misato Shizuku could only follow.
💎 Power Stone Bonus: Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter
🌟 5-Star Review Bonus: Every 5 (5-Star) Reviews = +2 Extra Chapters
💬 Comment Speed-Up: If any chapter reaches +10 Comments = The Next Chapter Will Be Released Faster!
🔥 Want to Read Ahead? If you want to read advanced chapters, check out my buymeacoffee(.)com/02netnovel