by Lazy Bird
“Now, put him down for me.”
Overseer Sun Tieshi might have suffered from too much excitement and excessive shock. That was why he appeared sad and angry at the same time. He even said so much in one breath.
Li Siwen thought with some malice in his heart, while he hurriedly put Old Zhao on the ground.
At this moment, he was also very curious. Was it possible that Overseer Sun Tieshi was a druid or something like that? If so, why didn’t he save the logger who suddenly fell sick and the two farmers who had heatstroke?
Oh, probably they were not worth saving.
However, there were only a few of them left in the territory. Was that why the boorish Feudal Lord would rather delay his own treatment and treat Old Zhao first? Even he, the recognized sluggard, had been forgiven. Was this not a matter worth celebrating?
While thinking about it, Li Siwen suddenly felt a gentle power being generated, similar to his secondary Spirit field, but with essential differences.
Then, he saw a white light being formed between Overseer Sun Tieshi’s hands, which were then slowly infused into the wound on Old Zhao’s body. The wound soon disappeared.
Then, Overseer Sun Tieshi suddenly sagged. Song Hu and another soldier hurriedly came forward to support him.
“I’m okay, is there any food?”
“Yes, we have some wolf meat and fish meat, but there’s no water.” Song Hu blurted out.
“Wolf meat? Not bad. I have water here. Bring it quickly. No, send it to Lord first.”
Soon, Song Hu brought in some dried wolf meat and dried fish. The Overseer Sun Tieshi and the other two soldiers instantly turned into gluttons and ate them with gusto.
As for the boorish Feudal Lord, Song Hu sent him all the remaining dried wolf meat and fish meat, about a hundred catties in total.
For this reason, the boorish Feudal Lord praised Song Hu, and that made him feel like he had succeeded in life.
Li Siwen gulped. There was no dissatisfaction in his heart. In fact, there was nothing to be dissatisfied with. After all, the boorish Feudal Lord saved his life this time.
However, these guys could really eat.
Li Siwen inferred something by referring to his own food intake.
The Stamina of the two senior soldiers was at least 20 points.
He had originally thought Overseer Sun Tieshi was a melee fighter. Unexpectedly, he turned out to be someone who could both heal and engage in melee. His Stamina must be at least 15.
As for the boorish Feudal Lord, his Stamina was probably at least 50. He also had the ability to conjure flames all over his body and was exceptionally powerful at melee attack.
He could not afford to offend them.
—
Nothing happened overnight, and the expected heavy rain didn’t fall.
As soon as the sky lightened, the oppressive humidity and heat rose again.
Li Siwen took two tree leaves and was busy in the grass for a while before getting three mouthfuls of dew. It finally made his burning throat more comfortable, but it was immediately followed by thunderous protests in his belly.
At this time, there were no fat cooking aunties preparing breakfast. Fortunately, he was not the only one starving. Song Hu and Old Zhao were also starving.
Overseer Sun Tieshi had entered the logging hut to heal the boorish Feudal Lord. Those outside didn’t know exactly how it was going.
After a while, Overseer Sun Tieshi walked out and had the two senior soldiers guard the logging hut. Then he summoned Song Hu, Old Zhao, and Li Siwen.
“The territory is flooded. We have too few people and cannot regain the territory immediately. Therefore, the Lord has ordered us to rest here temporarily. Song Hu, work harder. Take people to get some water and food. Forget about the gray wolf meat. The big fish from last night was not bad though.”
Song Hu was taken aback. He glanced at Old Zhao and Li Siwen, and asked timidly, “Sir, only the three of us?”
“Are you three of you not enough?”
“No, no, sir. Didn’t you ask Wang Er to go weeding yesterday? Then that leaves only the two of us. How about you send one senior with us?” Song Hu had gotten clever out of anxious necessity. After the battle last night, Song Hu had been badly frightened by the green wolf, Old Zhao too. Without the Lord protecting them, it terrified them.
“When did I say that?” Overseer Tieshi was a ruthless person. He said with his expression unchanged, “Just the three of you, do I have to do such lowly tasks myself? Go quickly and hurry back!”
After being reprimanded, Song Hu, Old Zhao, and Li Siwen had no choice but to set out. Each of them carried several water gourds. With an axe and a spear, they turned to look back every couple of steps. It really scared them.
“Wang Er, are you familiar with the terrain over where the wheat field is? Do you think there are any big fishes there that can be caught with just an axe?”
Song Hu suddenly asked after they had walked for a distance.
“I don’t think so. After all, those gray wolves also eat fishes.” Li Siwen replied after thinking about it. However, he was thinking about the wolves bringing all the corpses with them when they retreated last night. There were two probable explanations for that.
First, the pack of gray wolves direly needed food, but judging by the intelligent glint in the eyes of the green wolf, would the gray wolves eat the bodies of their companions? This was not logical, especially when a lot of big fishes could be caught yesterday. Therefore, it must be for another reason, which was a bold assumption.
That was, did the green wolf require some bodies as an offering?
Much like how the boorish Feudal Lord offered copious amounts of his conquests to the Gods.
This idea was too terrifying, and Li Siwen himself was not sure. As there were a lot of big fishes here yesterday, if they were all sacrificed by the green wolf, it would be equivalent to them gaining an immense advantage in resources.
Thinking again about the gaze of the green wolf when it left last night, Li Siwen was anxious for this territory.
chapter 20
At around 6:30 AM, the expedition trio arrived at the brook, trembling. They didn’t encounter any danger along the way and didn’t see a single gray wolf.
This was under the assumption that the gray wolves didn’t go into hiding. After all, this place was full of thick weeds that were knee deep. If the gray wolves laid among the grass, they couldn’t be seen.
“Wang Er, go down and fill the water. Old Zhao, both of us will stand guard.”
Song Hu stood by the brook. From his expression, he seemed like he would rather die than cross the brook.
Li Siwen pretended to hesitate, then jumped into the brook nervously. His legs were a little unstable.
There were flaws in his acting skills. But both Song Hu and Old Zhao were tense. The mere rustle of the grass in the wind would scare them. Hence, they didn’t notice.
However, there was a reason Li Siwen insisted on doing this. It made little sense for him to appear so calmed and relaxed when two people next to him were trembling with fear.
“Wang Er, you fool. Hurry, don’t drag your feet!”
Seeing Li Siwen cautiously looking around while in the brook, looking terrified, Song Hu’s tension lessened a little for some reason. He even thought of the gray wolf that Li Siwen hacked to death yesterday morning. Perhaps it was a coincidence.
Li Siwen carried twelve water gourds as he stumbled to the side of the brook. In a moment of carelessness, he missed his footing and fell into the brook, resulting in a scolding from Song Hu.
When Li Siwen finally filled up the water gourds, the surrounding was still calm. There were no gray wolves. Song Hu and Old Zhao’s expressions were strange. In the next second, the boorish Feudal Lord appeared by the brook. Overseer Sun Tieshi and two other soldiers were with him.
What situation was this?
“Let’s go. Let’s return to the territory. That green wolf is cunning. It d
idn’t get tricked.”
The boorish Feudal Lord’s voice sounded like a great bell. There was no hint of yesterday’s fatigue and weakness.
When Li Siwen finally reacted, the boorish Feudal Lord and the others had already crossed the brook and were headed toward the territory.
At this moment, Song Hu and Old Zhao thumped their chests and stomped their feet in regret. They were just baits. They regretted their weak selves along the way. It could have been a good chance to impress the Feudal Lord.
As for Li Siwen, he was drenched in cold sweat. Heck. The Lord was supposed to be a reckless and unyielding man. Where was the trust between people? Why did he suddenly practice the thirty-six strategies?
“Indeed, a simple man would not have been able to become a Lord.”
Li Siwen sighed in his heart. At the same time, he was secretly glad that he put up an act along the way. Song Hu and Old Zhao wouldn’t talk to the boorish Feudal Lord about what happened the day before. As for the green wolf who already knew about his abilities, he was thankful they were on opposite sides and that it couldn’t talk.
Next, Li Siwen originally thought that he would stay in the wheat field to weed. But then he thought it might be too deliberate to do so. It might attract more attention. Hence, he chased in the footsteps of the boorish Feudal Lord with Song Hu and Old Zhao, returning to the territory that they had left three days ago. The situation was so different it was as if a generation had passed. The two cooking ladies became haggard and their beauty had diminished. It was regrettable. Sigh.
Well, the above were Song Hu and Old Zhao’s thoughts.
The territory was completely destroyed.
First, it was flooded by the river, and then tormented by the wolves. Even the only stone house was overturned. Rocks were strewn everywhere, it seemed to have been ransacked.
But the boorish Feudal Lord didn’t seem to mind. He mumbled in front of the overturned stone house. A beam of light rose from the ruins of the stone house and it became a half-foot tall statue in the blink of an eye.
The statue was shrouded in white light and was not visible to the naked eye.
The boorish Feudal Lord pulled out a living heart from somewhere, and the statue instantly swallowed and absorbed it.
Then, two eyeballs the size of two chicken eggs, a pair of black horns, the skull of a one-eyed creature, and over ten other items were all absorbed by the statue.
At this moment, the boorish Feudal Lord seemed to have let out a breath of relief. He even seemed bigger. Next, a ray of light shrouded on the boorish Feudal Lord. There were several odd flaming symbols in the light.
After three whole minutes, the light disappeared. The boorish Feudal Lord growled in a deep voice and breathed fire. Various flaming symbols appeared on his face, neck, and arms, then disappeared.
There was no doubt that the boorish Feudal Lord had leveled up. He had gained more power from the statue’s village building order.
At this moment, the boorish Feudal Lord pointed above the statue, as if he was controlling some operation panel. After a while, five balls of flames shot out from the white light.
Li Siwen watched intently from afar.
At first, the white light from the statue was hazy and thin. It seemed like it would disperse with the wind.
After the boorish Feudal Lord had offered so many items to it, the white light was dense like white jade.
When the boorish Feudal Lord leveled up, the white light became half as dense.
When the five balls of flames were obtained, the white light became half as dense again.
At this moment, the boorish Feudal Lord exclaimed, “Our territory has encountered a great calamity. It’s hard to come by that all of you didn’t abandon the territory and fought bravely. There are five fire amulets which contain the power of fire, which can be activated three times. It can be cast on your weapon to injure the enemy, it can also form a fire shield around the body to block out damage caused by the enemy’s attack.”
“Sun Tieshi!”
“Thank you for your graciousness, my Lord. I will repay you with my life!” Overseer Sun Tieshi knelt with tears and he allowed a ball of flame to be absorbed to his forehead.
“Qin Fen!”
“Zhang Ye!”
“Song Hu!”
“Zhao Da!”
Five people, five fire amulets. It was just right.
Li Siwen, who huddled in the corner like a quail, was regrettably disregarded.
Next, the boorish Feudal Lord placed his hands in the statue’s white light again. He summoned two cooking aunties with a whoosh.
With another whoosh, eight axe-wielding loggers were summoned.
The whooshing continued. He summoned eight hunters carrying hunting bows and forks.
Lastly, nine farmers carrying hoes appeared stonily. Heck, why were there nine?
At this moment, the white light disappeared completely and the statue turned into nothingness. Where did it go?
chapter 21
The territory which he had thought was beyond saving returned to normal in a short time.
This caused Li Siwen to realize deeply the importance of having resources in his own hands so that he wouldn’t have to worry about anything. Also, he didn’t dare to belittle anyone anymore, especially the boorish Feudal Lord.
Although he was rash, his actions this time were impressive. In total, he used four mercenaries, two high-level soldiers, four hunters, and five militiamen to exchange for an increase of his own power. The deterrence power of such a high-level of power was not something that just tens of militiamen could be compared to.
Li Siwen had calculated before that when an elite grey wolf fought solo against a militiaman equipped with a spear, the militiaman would definitely win. Song Hu was an example of this.
10 militiamen could probably win against 15 grey wolves.
But now, the boorish Feudal didn’t even recruit any militiaman, he just walked along the borders of the territory, and the result was that the insects in the bushes all fled away in a panic.
This might be because of the invisible aura that the Feudal Lord possesses, like the green wolf which could scare a person still from tens of meters away.
Keeping his thoughts, Li Siwen stood in the wheat field and watched the nine new farmers working diligently. After all that happened, it was still the same as before.
That was right, he was the legendary tenth farmer.
“Wang Er, why are you dazing there? Do you want to get beaten? Sir Sun had specially instructed me not to let you laze about.”
The Feudal Lord’s new trusted aide, Zhao Da, was biting a stalk of grass in his mouth and sitting in the tree’s shade. The fire amulet on his forehead could be faintly seen. He was a Fire Guard now and was sent by Sun Tieshi to supervise the 10 farmers. At the same time, he was to protect them.
This was actually a kind of ostracizing and oppression. Everyone in the territory could tell that to the Feudal Lord, the wheat fields were of the least importance. This could be seen from his attitude towards the hunters, lumberjacks, cooks, and farmers.
Yet, this Old Zhao was still thrilled to be sent here. Well, maybe he was indeed very satisfied. After all, compared to being a lumberjack, he was already doing very well now.
Li Siwen just looked at Old Zhao and pondered over stuff in his mind.
Now, in the territory, the boorish Feudal Lord didn’t take care of the daily affairs anymore. It was Sun Tieshi who was in charge of such stuff now.
Belong Sun Tieshi was Qin Fen and Zhang Ye, who were more powerful now because of the fire amulet. These two were to protect and supervise the hunters. This was also the area the Feudal Lord placed the most emphasis on. After all, the wild beasts there were hunted by them could be sacrificed to the statue, and also be eaten as food!
It could be foreseen that the Feudal Lord was planning to take the hunting path. If not, he wouldn’t have recruited eight hunters.
Below the hunter team,
the lumberjack team was being highly regarded too, recruiting as many as eight lumberjacks, being supervised by the Fire Guard, Song Hu. The lumbers there were being cut every day would be sacrificed at night in exchange for other resources.
Basically, the lumberjacks were very important too.
However, Old Zhao’s relationship with Song Hu was very poor. This was because of the various times that Old Zhao spoke against Song Hu yesterday, and also because of Old Zhao’s attempts to overpower Song Hu.
On the other hand, Song Hu’s relationship with Sun Tieshi was good. Maybe this wouldn’t be of relevance in the short term, but once the time gets longer, who knows what would happen?
Thinking of this, Li Siwen carried his hoe, walked to Old Zhao’s side, and sat down. He softly asked, “How many wolves did you actually kill yesterday?”
“What are you asking this for?” Old Zhao’s face was full of cautiousness.
“I killed two wolves yesterday.” Li Siwen very seriously said, “The Feudal Lord didn’t see the process, he only saw that you were hurt and covered in blood, and therefore thought that you were the one who killed the wolves. You should be well aware if you have killed any wolf or not. But do you know why I didn’t expose you?”
“It’s because I think that you are quite a good person, very righteous. When I went over the day before, you were the only one who reminded and took care of me. This was why I was willing to give you the credit. Yup, don’t stare. If I don’t say and you don’t say, who will know of this? Also, don’t think of killing me to cover this up. Since I can kill two wolves, do you think you can secretly kill me just because of the fire amulet?”
“What do you really want?” Old Zhao gritted his teeth and softly asked. Indeed, he didn’t dare to mention this to anyone. This was also why he was so satisfied, even though he was ostracized by the others. It was because he gained this reward by practically dropping onto him from heaven.
“Very simple. First, I want to build a small farmer hut. I don’t want to be drenched again the next time a rainstorm comes. Yup, you don’t wish for this to happen too, right? After all, you can’t return to the territory for no reason now. Of course, I will cut the wood, you are to build the but. How does this sound?” Li Siwen smiled and said.