"Quests in the spirit world generally follow the principle of equal exchange. Different tasks will result in different benefits."
Bai Xiaowen pondered and said, "I have guessed a possibility, but I can't confirm it yet, so I won't talk about it for now. No matter what, we have to complete this main task... If the possibility I guessed becomes a reality, what will we do?
The benefits can be astonishing.”
Li Shuyi nodded, and then asked another question: "But the big fat man just said that we have no income and are broke, how can we recruit soldiers?"
"Take a step and see," Bai Xiaowen said. "This young lord is not familiar with government affairs. Although I have inherited some of his memories, I am still blind to the situation in the territory. Let's go out for a walk first."
The two of them opened the door, and a cold wind from the north blew in.
There are only two words that catch my eye: desolate.
Ahead is a mud road less than two meters wide, which is frozen hard by the cold wind, but it saves travelers from the pain of mud if they come to this place.
In the distance from the lord's house, there were several thatched huts, scattered at random and very dilapidated. The people in ragged clothes walked past with numb expressions on their faces.
On the roadside not far away, there were several people wrapped in straw, lying on their backs behind a stone pier to avoid the cold wind.
Bai Xiaowen frowned and walked over. When he got closer, he realized that these people were old and young, and they had no clothes on their bodies. Most of them only had a piece of dark linen wrapped around their crotches. No wonder they used straw to keep out the cold.
"What are your names? Are you the refugees passing through here?"
After the few people wrapped in straw panicked for a while, one of them, who looked like the leader, spoke in a low voice:
"Lord, my name is Anton...this is my wife Molly, and the others are my neighbors..."
Bai Xiaowen looked at the man named Anton. He was obviously different from the ordinary citizens. Although he was not tall, he was very strong. His fingers were thick and calloused. He was a laborer who was used to doing heavy work.
"Anton, why do you and your neighbors live here?"
A skinny old man next to him pulled Anton and said in a panic: "I'm sorry, Lord, we shouldn't appear in your noble sight. We will leave immediately..."
Bai Xiaowen was a little helpless. This old man was obviously wrong. He could only wave his hands and say a few words of comfort before calming down the panicked refugees.
Anton sighed and said: "Lord, we are not refugees originally, but miners digging silver in the mines to the west... We are not rich in life, but we can barely have enough food and clothing. However, last week, the Black Wind bandits raided the mine.
farm, killed the guards, looted the mine and us, and burned down our home... We could only leave there and wander around..."
"Wait, silver mine?" Bai Xiaowen's eyes lit up slightly, "Is there a silver mine in Baishi Town?"
Anton glanced at Bai Xiaowen strangely: "Isn't the Lord the owner of the mine? Baishi Territory is famous for its rich production of silver. Although Baishi Town is relatively remote, there is also a small silver mine..."
"Am I the owner of the mine?"
Bai Xiaowen looked down at the hidden patch of his aristocratic dress with some speechlessness, shook his head and said, "Who do you give the silver you usually mine to?"
"Of course I leave it to Job. He is the lord's most trusted butler..."
Bai Xiaowen's face turned dark.
Job just said nothing about the silver mines.
"It's too cold for you here. Come to my house and at least you can block the cold wind." Bai Xiaowen sighed as he looked at a few miners wrapped in straw and shivering from the cold.
Several people hesitated to agree.
"This is an order from the lord." Bai Xiaowen emphasized his tone.
It was obvious that these miner families, including Anton, were more accustomed to the commanding tone. They helped each other stand up, thanked each other, and then followed Bai Xiaowen to the lord's house.
Li Shuyi originally wanted to light the fire in the fireplace, but she had never actually done it before, so she had difficulty for a while. Fortunately, Anton's wife Molly was better at doing this, and the flame was quickly lit and dissipated some of the cold air.
After thanking her, Li Shuyi took out two shabby clothes from the closet on the second floor according to the memory she inherited, and handed them to Molly to cover up her shame.
This kind act quickly calmed down the minds of several refugees.
"Now, tell me about the Black Wind Bandit." Bai Xiaowen said.
Several other refugees were still a little afraid to speak in front of the lord Bai Xiaowen. Based on Anton's narrative, others added a few sentences to add, and the bandit situation in the Baishi Town territory was gradually and completely presented to Bai Xiaowen.
There are more than a dozen bandit forces of various sizes in Baishi Town. Most of them are just a few bandits who get together, not even a mob, and barely survive by part-robbing and part-hunting. There are three medium-sized bandit forces.
Each branch has a dozen or even dozens of people. They use Baishi Town as their base and move around to commit crimes. They mainly plunder other surrounding territories.
This also caused the Baishi Town territory to be criticized because Bai Xiaowen failed to suppress the bandits. The lords of the surrounding territories had no right to send troops into the Baishi Town territory.
The largest bandit gang in Baishi Town is called "Black Wind" and has a terrible reputation. It is said that this bandit force has more than a hundred people. Note that these hundreds of people refer to elite bandits who can kill people with knives, and do not include
A small number of auxiliary servants.
Moreover, the Black Wind Bandits are different from other bandit gangs. They plunder a wide range of targets, including the poor local Baishi Town, killing people and setting fires at every turn. There were originally several thousand people in the Baishi Town territory, and most of them were
Fleeed 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 men are there among them?"
Anton stared blankly and shook his head to express his ignorance. As soon as Bai Xiaowen spoke, he knew that he had asked the wrong person. Anton was just a small miner and his information was limited.
With a bang, the door of the lord's mansion was pushed open.
"Lord, why did you let a group of untouchables in? This is your mansion hall! My God, you will bring shame to the entire Skelboom family! Don't you always hate these mud-legged untouchables the most?
?”
The fat man Qiaobu squeezed in and said hurriedly, and then drove away Anton and others with a look of disgust: "You untouchables, get out of the lord's mansion quickly, or I will hang you under the eaves to dry!"
Bai Xiaowen lightly knocked on the table.
"Don't worry, Qiaobu..." Bai Xiaowen said with a smile, "I just happened to hear some interesting things. Let's talk about the silver mines in the territory... I am very curious. The silver ore handed over by the miners is all