Chapter 63: The Seven Wolves

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The two sides remained locked in a stalemate for a while. The bandit lieutenant, seeing that the enemy’s defenses were tight and his own men dwindling, had no choice but to retreat toward the mountain stronghold, taking with him four bandits whose wounds varied in severity. During the withdrawal, the bandit leader stayed at the front, directing his men to shield his back; he had no intention of letting Zhang Feng land any more arrows in his spine.

Watching the bandits disappear into the distance, Li Zhan and Crooked Carrot led their militia quickly back along the same path, wary of the bandits returning with reinforcements once they reached their stronghold.

Crooked Carrot happily gripped the ordinary iron sword dropped by the bandit lieutenant, occasionally swinging it with exaggerated flourish. This mission had yielded for him an iron sword and a long fork; the militia suffered injuries but no casualties, and he felt quite accomplished, his mood buoyant on the journey home.

Ordinary Iron Sword:
Attack: 6
Accuracy: +0
Durability: 10
Bonus: None
Weight: 7
Requirement: Level 6

Li Zhan and the others had retreated about a thousand meters when they encountered Pig Is Thoughts, who had come with two villagers driving a wagon to meet them. Everyone boarded the wagon, and after a short journey, arrived at Old Tang the leatherworker’s fenced courtyard.

Relieved of his worries, Old Tang’s face shone, the usual shadow of anxiety gone. With the help of Li Zhan and the others, he packed his belongings, mainly his leatherworking tools, and then joined them on the wagon headed for Danyang County.

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Craftsman [Male]
Name: Tang Feng
Civilization: China [Yanhuang Tribe]
Title/Position: Leatherworker
Level: 20
Attributes—Potential: +6, Constitution: 127, Strength: 125, Intelligence: 132, Agility: 11, Loyalty: 94, Support: 55
Leadership: 7
Attack: 4+0
Defense: Armor 3+0 / Shield 0+0
Speed: 2
HP: 252
MP: 264
Skills—Advanced Research 67% [Main], Advanced Leatherworking [Secondary]

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Upon arriving in Danyang County, Pig Is Thoughts bade farewell to Li Zhan and the others, leading the two villagers to the market to sell clothing. Born in Danyang County, Pig Is Thoughts had switched professions to merchant, spending most of his time in Danyang, where he rented a small courtyard and owned a permanent shop in the market. Though not large, his business thrived, especially since becoming an honorary merchant of the Yanhuang Tribe, which made his clothing sell even faster, filling his coffers.

Thus, when he agreed to help Li Zhan with the task, Pig Is Thoughts immediately spent a hefty sum to buy two wagons—useful both to lure bandits and as transport, serving dual purposes.

Li Zhan noticed as they walked through Danyang’s busy streets that among the passersby, there were always players or well-dressed NPCs strutting in new clothes, their faces proud against the backdrop of the local earth-colored attire.

After leaving the official appraisal center, Li Zhan shook his head helplessly. The appraisal fee for his “blurry blueprint” was fifty gold; he only carried twenty gold, and after paying for Crooked Carrot’s injured militia at the clinic, he had even less. Crooked Carrot was even poorer; the entire tribe’s gold combined barely reached thirty, and none was at hand. It seemed he would have to wait until his next visit to Danyang to identify the blueprint.

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Passing by the joint workshop, Old Tang advised Li Zhan that, given the Yanhuang Tribe’s current architectural capacity in this dark age, it was impossible to build such a facility. Without a joint workshop, there would be no way to craft leather goods, let alone leather armor. Old Tang suggested that if Li Zhan wanted to develop leather armor quickly, the best method was for Old Tang to stay in Danyang’s official workshop as a self-funded “apprentice,” using the ready-made tools there for research.

Li Zhan found Old Tang’s reasoning sound and took him to consult Master Wang Hui’s mentor. At first, Master Liu was surprised that Old Tang, after returning to work, followed a player clan leader. Upon learning Li Zhan wanted Old Tang to apprentice there, Master Liu seemed to guess the real motive, smiling knowingly and neither probing nor revealing it. He simply told Li Zhan the tuition was three gold per month. Additionally, since Old Tang was a self-funded apprentice, no one would monitor his daily work, and he could freely use the workshop’s tools.

Li Zhan and Old Tang exchanged a knowing smile at Master Liu’s words.

It was around three in the afternoon when they bid Master Liu farewell and left the joint workshop. Li Zhan had initially planned to visit Crooked Carrot’s tribe, but remembering Ruoyan was waiting at “home” for him to log off and rest, he politely declined Crooked Carrot’s invitation and hurried to the shipyard with Old Tang, Zhang Feng, Zhao Ming, and the militia to hire a boat back to the Yanhuang Tribe.

As soon as their boat docked, the excited Old Tang was the first to leap onto the pier, eager to see what the Yanhuang Tribe would look like. Suddenly, he turned pale and stumbled back to the boat, crying out, “Wolves! Wolves… Battle wolves!”

Li Zhan, hearing Old Tang, remembered the issue of the battle wolves and quickly gripped his iron sword, carefully boarding the dock with Zhang Feng, Zhao Ming, and the others. They tiptoed silently, wanting to see what those seven battle wolves were up to.

The scene left Li Zhan astonished. The seven battle wolves were frolicking at the edge of the dense forest, over a hundred meters away. The two previously wounded wolves had fully recovered, and were rolling and embracing with the other four, visibly excited. The smallest wolf acted playfully, wriggling free from its companions to throw its forepaws around the stern-faced alpha, gently biting its neck. The alpha let the little wolf twist him about, never resisting or pushing it away. On the alpha’s nose was a small scar—where Li Zhan had once poked him with a stick.

But what surprised Li Zhan most was that Ruoyan was sitting among the seven battle wolves, stroking one, scratching another. The wolves treated Ruoyan as one of their own, allowing her to pet and tickle them, and even circling her during their play, as if engaged in a game of hide-and-seek.

After watching for a while, Li Zhan closed his mouth, which had been open and catching river wind for some time, and awkwardly touched his nose. He instructed Zhang Feng and Zhao Ming to escort Old Tang back to the tribe and have Zheng Jun arrange accommodation for him. Old Tang, needing quiet for leather armor research, should have his own small cabin, like the missionaries, rather than squeezing in with the villagers.

Watching Zhang Feng and Zhao Ming escort Old Tang away, Li Zhan turned back to look at Ruoyan among the wolves, steeling himself several times before walking toward her and the seven battle wolves.

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