Fearsome Farmer c1-60
Page 8
However, he was very confident about what he was going to do next, the reason being those big fishes.
The heavy rain last night would leave enough rainwater in the big puddle to keep the big fishes alive. This was very filling food. If handled properly, there was no need to worry about the food in the next few days.
As for those gray wolves.
Haha, Li Siwen didn’t believe that the militiaman and the other four loggers would still insist on returning to the territory after seeing those big fishes. As long as they didn’t return to the territory, the chances of encountering the gray wolves who had already eaten their fill was very small.
As long as the number of gray wolves does not exceed ten, they wouldn’t dare to actively provoke six armed people, having already filled their stomachs.
Of course, there were no absolutes in the world. Li Siwen didn’t expect everything to go smoothly. Precisely for that reason, he had to increase his Strength to 7. Higher Strength meant higher damage.
With Spirit Vision, he was able to guarantee one-hit kills.
As for the recovery of Stamina, he was indeed a bit hungry now. He turned his head and looked at the black snake in the grass that was at least seven or eight pounds.
He would barbecue it!
chapter 15
Fire blazed and wood crackled.
A strange fragrance permeated the logging hut. Joyous atmosphere +1.
Li Siwen remained sitting in the corner, smiling shyly. Sense of presence -1.
“This is an Iron Ring Black Snake. Look at the patterns on its skin, doesn’t it look like a chain of iron rings? This kind of snake was common in the forest. It was very poisonous. If one was bitten, they would lose half their lives.”
The bulky logger Old Zhao bragged. But his snake-skinning skills were not bad.
“Old Zhao, stop bragging. You didn’t catch this Iron Ring Black Snake.” Old Chen, the more modest logger smiled. At this moment, with food available, the four of them and the militiaman Song Hu’s perception of Li Siwen had finally improved from a little chicken to a little cock. Li Siwen had officially joined as part of the group.
The militiaman Song Hu was to roast the snake meat. He was the only one who was still worried. It was a major thing that the Feudal Lord did not return last night.
But no matter how worried he was, he couldn’t resist the smell of roasted snake meat. He took the axe. After leaving the largest piece for himself, he split the remaining snake meat into four parts and one small part.
No one objected to the size of meat they were distributed. Neither did Li Siwen. After all, he was a humble farmer. Under normal circumstances, if he was not the one who caught the snake, he wouldn’t even be given a bit of meat.
In addition, he wished that he could still remain unnoticed. He was now in the developmental period. What kind of limelight or honor would he need? Among the five people, the average Strength of the four loggers were above 8 points. The Strength of the militiaman was at least 12 points, and the Overseer Sun Tieshi should have at least 20 points. The Strength of the Feudal Lord must be at least 30 points.
With such data comparison, who was he to feel that he was treated unfairly?
He chewed this small portion of about half a catty of snake meat carefully. Li Siwen ate it very slowly. He waited until everyone else had eaten it up before he finished it. The snake meat was delicious, but it didn’t have any magical effect. When he set off, his Stamina had barely recovered to 3 points.
The militiaman Song Hu took a spear and walked in front, followed by four loggers, then Li Siwen.
However, they didn’t walk fast and kept their guard. It took them almost an hour to reach the brook when it was just three miles away. So far, they have seen no gray wolf.
The water in the brook was long gone. Landslides had washed away many places, including the route they usually took.
“Where did you see those gray wolves yesterday?”
Expectedly, Militiaman Song Hu asked carefully.
“It came from that direction. I think we can take a detour.” Li Siwen pointed to the west. There were many puddles and big fishes.
“Okay, detour!” Militiaman Song Hu was apprehensive. It was best not to encounter those gray wolves. Of course, if the Feudal Lord could return quickly, it would be the best. With him around, the grey wolves wouldn’t even dare to enter within five miles of his territory.
The six of them quickly changed directions. With an unspoken mutual understanding, everyone ran more than a mile toward the west. Only then did they cross to the other side of the brook. It was not long before the young logger Liu Er pointed to a large puddle in the front of them.
“Fishes, there are big fishes!”
“Shut up, keep your voice down!” The old logger Old Zhao turned around and glared at him. Soon, even he couldn’t remain calm.
It was a big puddle of water, fifty to sixty square meters. There were five big one-meter-long fishes inside. Although they were loggers, it didn’t mean they didn’t know about fishes or had never eaten them.
Before Militiaman Song Hu could say anything, loggers Old Zhao, Cao Da, Liu Er, and Old Chen grabbed their axes and swung downwards. In the blink of an eye, they killed five big fishes, dragged up their corpses.
After all, the Strength of these four was by no means comparable to Li Siwen yesterday.
“Hahaha! These are at least four hundred catties. It should be enough to feed us for five or six days!” Logger Old Zhao laughed particularly unrestrained.
But Cao Da and Liu Er sneered. They held one fish each. Their meaning was obvious.
Seeing that an internal fight was about to break out, Li Siwen, who hardly had much sense of existence, whispered, “There seems to be another puddle ahead.”
“Heck, whoever dares to snatch with me, I’ll cut him up alive!”
This time, even the militiaman Song Hu couldn’t help but begin killing the fishes. This area was close to the brook and there were many big puddles. The few of them swept the area and got 20 to 30 big fishes, and even more medium-sized fishes.
Li Siwen did nothing; he just hid secretly. First, he went to the brook to fill up his water gourd. Then, he picked up the most lively big fish and began eating. His Stamina was now 15. The need for food was more than the four loggers, but a full meal would last a long time. For example, after he ate the big fish yesterday, he traveled, then cut down four gigantic trees, which consumed 20 points of Stamina. The cost performance was very high.
When he finished a whole big fish, the fish-snatching finally stopped. They didn’t stop voluntarily. Two gray wolves had appeared in the distance and caught the attention amongst the fish frenzy.
“Don’t panic, don’t be alarmed, and don’t think about running first. Whoever runs first will die first! Gather, gather! Retreat slowly.”
The militiaman Song Hu yelled.
“But our fish!” Liu Er shouted unwillingly
“Damn, do you want the fishes or do you want your life? There are so many more fishes behind us! It’ll be enough even if we only bring half of them back!”
That improved the morale of the four loggers. But they only retreated halfway when another two gray wolves appeared along the brook in the northeast. Their unhurried appearance made them look more like soldiers in formation rather than beasts.
Li Siwen suddenly threw the big fishes into the brook, leaving only two behind.
His actions attracted scoldings from the loggers, even his ancestors were not spared.
Li Siwen was unaffected. There were too many fishes and people were easily distracted and overwhelmed. Some people would want to run away.
And since these gray wolves didn’t charge at them, it shows that their numbers were not advantageous. Hence, keeping two big fishes would prevent them from leaving empty-handed, but also maintain the maximum combat effectiveness and cohesion.
This was the best way!
Of course, there was another reason. Somehow, Li S
iwen felt that these gray wolves were very intelligent. It seemed they were almost capable of becoming spirits and had come prepared.
Perhaps, the two militiamen and fat cooking aunties in the territory already got eaten up.
Thinking of this, Li Siwen activated his Spirit Vision immediately, covering a radius of ten meters. At the same time, he quickly guessed, if the gray wolves ambushed them, where would they come from, and who would they kill first?
“Careful, behind you!”
The militiaman Song Hu suddenly roared in front of him, but Li Siwen was at a loss and didn’t seem to have heard him. The four loggers also shouted. Yet, he still seemed like he didn’t hear them. But in the next moment, he took a step back suddenly, lowered his body, lunged, and swung the iron axe with both hands. It was as if he had eyes on his back!
One strike!
Blood spurted from the top of the head. At the same time, a robust gray shadow crashed to the ground. Its internal organs and intestines were thrown all over the floor. A gray wolf that suddenly sprang out of the brook was sliced open by Li Siwen’s axe!
Such sneak attacks usually resulted in death. With a distance less than 10 meters away, with the wolf’s speed, even if Li Siwen reacted in time, it would be hard for him to escape death.
But with the assistance of Spirit Vision, he knew what was happening within 10 meters.
The surrounding wolves howled. Li Siwen pretended not to hear them. With another step forward, he slashed his axe and cut off the head of the wolf.
In an instant, he absorbed a yellow light richer than that of a big fish, turning it into the yellow orb. It was worth 4 Spirit Points! This was definitely an elite gray wolf!
“Retreat, quick retreat!” The militiaman and the others quickly moved backwards to Li Siwen’s front. The logger Old Zhao gave Li Siwen the thumbs up and pulled the gray wolf’s corpse, which was nearly 200 KG. Cao Da and Liu Er each picked up two big fishes and the group sped across the brook. The howling of at least a dozen wolves continued.
Somehow, the few wolves that appeared earlier on didn’t cross the brook to chase them.
chapter 16
“The territory is done for!”
They ran all the way back to the logging hut. Other than the inconspicuous Li Siwen, everyone was scared out of their wits. Perhaps they didn’t notice the situation at the territory at first. But with the continuous howling of the wolves, when the last person turned back to look, it frightened even militiaman Song Hu at the sight of at least ten gray wolves looking at them from across the brook.
This was definitely a pack of wolves.
Unless the Feudal Lord returned, the territory and the people would be completely annihilated.
But would the Feudal Lord return in time today?
Panting, everyone felt the rope of despair tightening around their necks.
“Let’s air-dry the meat. Air dried wolf meat is tasty.”
Li Siwen whispered in an untimely manner. He too was afraid, but he knew that fear would not solve the problem.
The militiaman Song Hu looked at Li Siwen. “You did a good job with the axe just now. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to escape.”
“Uh, yes. It’s a coincidence.”
Li Siwen smiled shyly. At this moment, no one would probe further to find out if it was a coincidence. They faced a more important issue.
“The gray wolves will catch up. The leader of the pack may even be with them. I think we should continue deeper into the forest.” Logger Old Zhao spoke. He had just regulated his breathing and made himself calmed down.
“That’s right. There are too many gray wolves, at least twenty of them. We are no match for them.” Logger Liu Er immediately said. His hands were still trembling from running with the big fish.
“The Lord will come back!” Militiaman Song Hu suddenly said, “We must wait here! We’ll ration the two big fishes and the wolf meat. If we air dry it, it will feed us for five to six days. We’ll wait for the Lord to return before exterminating those wolves!”
“What if the Lord doesn’t return?” Logger Old Zhao argued. “What is here? Can a simple logging cabin guard against the wolves’ attack?”
“Do you want to rebel?” The militiaman Song Hu yelled.
Logger Old Zhao seemed to have remembered something, or perhaps the boorish Feudal Lord’s prowess was felt. Logger Old Zhao said nothing. At this moment, the militiaman Song Hu still held the highest power and had the ability to kill everyone unless they cooperated.
“Bring all the logs here, make a fence, and reinforce the logging hut!” The militiaman Song Hu gave a fierce order.
As the four loggers hesitated, Li Siwen picked up his axe and began chopping down trees. He had eaten his fill and was in good spirits. It was the best time to earn Vitality Points.
Old Zhao and the other loggers looked at Song Hu, perplexed. However, they didn’t have the courage to go against him, and began working.
They had already cut down a lot of trees, about 20 of them. These trees were placed around the logging hut and secured with straw ropes. They placed the branches on top to form a simple fence four to five meters high.
As soon as they got busy, the fear in their hearts lessened. The four loggers displayed their skills as amateur carpenters as they worked to survive. In one morning, they built a simple fence and reinforced the logging hut with logs.
Li Siwen also made significant progress.
The weather was not hot in the morning. With his Stamina almost full, he was in excellent condition. He cut down five gigantic trees at one go and gained 2.5 Vitality Point, of which he added two points to his Strength.
The effect was obvious.
When his Strength was 7, he needed 3 points of Stamina to chop down a tree.
When his Strength was 8, he needed 2 points of Stamina to chop down a tree.
When his Strength reached 9, he only needed 1 point of Stamina to chop down a tree.
He consumed 13 points of Stamina throughout the morning. 11 points went to chopping trees, 3 points were consumed from running three miles, and 1 point was consumed because of the hot weather.
Of course, he took breaks in between. His Stamina constantly recovered with his stomach filled. Even now, it was still recovering. If he took a nap at noon, he could recover his Stamina to 14 points. Food high in protein was much better than dry rations.
However, the good times of being able to fill his stomach had come to an end. The wolf and two big fishes were cut into small pieces and air dried by militiaman Song Hu.
At noon, each of them had only half a catty of grilled fish meat.
“Old Song, this is not right. This is not enough to fill our stomachs. You held your stick and did nothing all morning. We worked so hard we stink of sweat.”
Perhaps there was too much pressure to survive. After confronting him a few times, the logger Old Zhao’s tone changed.
The militiaman Song Hu didn’t take it seriously. He continued eating his grilled fish. “It’s good enough there’s food. It’s better to eat less now than chew on tree bark later on. Those beasts want to trap us. I patrolled the area, but I didn’t see even their shadows. I can guarantee that if I stay a little further away from you, those wolves will tear me apart.”
“What about our water source? My water gourd is empty.” Liu Er shook his water gourd.
Cao Da sighed. “We shouldn’t have wasted time here. We could have run miles away during this period.”
“What’s the use of saying this? Try going out yourself. I’ll call you Bragger Cao if the wolves don’t ambush you on your escape route!” Logger Old Zhao shouted irritably, and everyone became silent.
Some time after the logger Old Chen intoned, “Bear with the lack of water. We can drink dew in the morning. It should rain today and tomorrow. We’ll bear with it and wait until the Lord comes back. But yes, Old Song, you’re right. Before the Lord returns, we have to think of a way.”
The militiaman Song Hu appear
ed gloomy and didn’t say a word. His solution was to stand by and wait for help. But he also knew he could not put too much pressure on these four loggers.
Seeing the militiaman Song Hu’s defeated expression, Old Chen and Old Zhao looked at each other secretly. The Lord was not here, and there was a possibility he might not return. If the lord is not there, he may not even be able to return. Who wouldn’t calculate their moves in their minds?
At this moment, Old Chen continued to speak slowly. His posture was on point, and he had the temperament of an inept adviser.
“As far as I know, if the gray wolves are not led by the leader, they rarely hunt during the day. Especially in this hot weather. Even they wouldn’t be able to take it. Hence, it is most dangerous during the night. We need someone to keep watch at night. Otherwise, we won’t even know if the wolves surround us and block the door. We might get bitten to death once we step out of the hut.”
“I must conserve my energy. I have to kill the wolves if they come!” Militiaman Song Hu mumbled. He had more to say, but he kept quiet. He had to be in his best condition to suppress these loggers.
“I want to reinforce the fence and the hut, and I have to make a solid wooden door. Well, if the wolves come, I can kill one too.” Logger Old Zhao snorted. He didn’t want to keep watch at night. He could bear with the hunger and tiredness during the day. But it was uncomfortable to have to fight and not be able to sleep when one was sleepy. In addition, visibility was low at night. If one got bitten by an Iron Ring Black Snake, there was no way they could live.
“Just you doing that will not be enough. I have to chop down a few trees and twist some grass rope too.” Logger Cao Da said. He was quick-witted as well.
“I have to create a few traps. Although I might not be better than the hunters, but it should be able to injure a few wolves.” Old Chen said casually.
That leaves Liu Er and Li Siwen.
“I’ll keep watch the first half of the night.” Liu Er said reluctantly.
“I’ll keep watch the second half, then.” Li Siwen said nonchalantly. Then he continued to sharpen his axe. He had to sharpen his axe if he wanted to chop more trees in the afternoon.