Chapter 84: 84. Attacking the Ziguo Tribe

On the morning of the second day, Luoning and the others ate a brunch, then, led by Wodun and Dandi, they set off along the small path toward the Ziguo Tribe.

The reason he chose this time to depart, rather than leaving before dawn like yesterday, was partly to let the Guards on this expedition get some extra rest;

On the other hand, it was also out of consideration for arriving at the Ziguo Tribe as dusk fell, when the people working would be returning home one after another, making it convenient for him to surround them.

Because the number of people brought along this time was relatively small, the team looked much more mobile, and since this road was frequently traveled, although it was no grand thoroughfare, it was much better than the wild forest between Shanlin Town and the Qingzhu Tribe.

Consequently, the marching speed this time was much faster and much easier than yesterday.

However, Luoning was not in a hurry.

To keep the team's stamina up, he deliberately slowed the pace of the march. At the same time, he had Wodun and the other man find a relatively secluded spot not far from the Ziguo Tribe to stop and rest, waiting for the best time to attack.

Looking at the rolling hills before him, Luoning could not help but worry about future development.

Although he sat upon this endless forest and possessed massive amounts of various timber resources, transportation remained a problem.

Let alone processing this wood into products to ship to other cities for sale, even transporting it from the Qingzhu Tribe to Shanlin Town was a major issue—horse-drawn carriages could not make the trip.

"If you want to get rich, build roads first"—this holds true in any world.

"The Ziguo Tribe has the smallest population, so they shouldn't have much land under cultivation. When the time comes, we can relocate them all to live in Shanlin Town; those with strong physiques can form a road-building squad to first open up the road connecting Shanlin Town and the Qingzhu Tribe."

This was Luoning's preliminary plan.

He did not intend to relocate all the people of the Qingzhu Tribe to Shanlin Town; after all, nearly a thousand mu of land had already been cultivated there, and he did not want to give that up lightly, not to mention that the vast stretch of green bamboo forest was also a resource that could be used in many places.

Besides the road between Shanlin Town and the Qingzhu Tribe, he would also need to open a path to the Huitu Tribe in the future; this was a massive project.

Moreover, this was not Earth; having workers build roads through the mountains required considering factors like wild beasts and Magic Beasts, and the risks the environment posed to ordinary people had to be reduced.

"After this war against the savage tribes is over, I plan to form a Hunter Squad."

Luoning looked at his left and right hands, Ruidar and Maiken, "The primary mission of this Hunter Squad will be to sweep the mountain forests between Shanlin Town and the Qingzhu Tribe, the Ziguo Tribe, and even the Heiling Tribe in the future, killing or driving away particularly dangerous Magic Beasts and wild beasts."

Wild beasts, especially Magic Beasts, have strong awareness and a certain level of intelligence.

As such clearing operations continue, they will realize that this area is a danger zone and will not dare to approach easily. In this way, the lives of the workers in the road-building squad will be better guaranteed.

Ruidar agreed, "My Lord, after this war ends, the number of our Knights will increase significantly. If we still have them perform only standard training and sparring every day, the improvement won't be very great. Truly powerful Knights must experience the thrill of slaughter and temper themselves on the edge of life and death."

"Yes, My Lord!"

Maiken also agreed; in fact, Luoning had mentioned this back during their first trip into the mountains, and he had kept it in mind.

"I think we could have three Transcendents per group to form multiple squads; one part would be responsible for sweeping the wild beasts in the vicinity, and the other part would enter the Wushan Magical Beast Mountain Range from the Heitie Forest side to hunt Magic Beasts."

Listening to the two men, Luoning nodded slowly.

Forming a Hunter Squad would not only solve the safety problem for the road workers but also allow the Transcendents under his command to be tempered. At the same time, the hunted wild beasts and Magic Beasts could be sold, which would allow the Knights to earn some extra money, and Luoning, as the lord, could also profit from it.

This was a move that achieved multiple goals.

"Then I will leave this matter to the two of you to handle. However, you must be careful: although the Hunter Squad is important, do not let your guard down regarding the territory's defense."

A glimmer of expansion shone in Luoning's eyes, "After all, there is still the Sain Territory in the southeast of our territory, watching us like a tiger eyeing its prey."

The Sain Territory—it is said that there is a swamp there, which is why the town is named "Zhaoze Town."

Come to think of it, a swamp is also a very precious resource; it is a pity that Baron Leisen does not know how to utilize it.

Ruidar and Maiken kept Luoning's instructions firmly in their hearts; as Shanlin Town was their base of operations, the defense indeed had to be done well.

The reason Luoning had brought everyone out this time was that, on the surface, he had not yet had a falling out with Baron Leisen, so the possibility of the other party attacking directly was very small.

After all, with the incident involving Weijinsi having just occurred, Wushan Castle was currently in a period where it needed to establish its authority; if Baron Leisen were to launch an attack on Shanlin Town, it would be too risky.

Once word of that got out, even if he had connections, he would be made an example of to warn others.

However, it was hard to say whether Baron Leisen would take the initiative to attack once Lulansi passed away in the future.

The group rested for two hours, and when the sky gradually grew dim, they set off again.

After crossing two small hills in succession, they finally saw the mountain stronghold located in the valley of this ring-shaped mountain from the top of the second hill.

The scale of this stronghold was slightly smaller than that of the Qingzhu Tribe, but not by much.

The various houses of the stronghold were situated without any order, and their appearance looked similar to those of the Qingzhu Tribe—very crude.

After all, for small wild tribes like this, the thing they worried about every day when they opened their eyes was the food problem; they did not have much time to spend their energy on building houses.

To them, as long as there was a place that could slightly shelter them from the wind and rain so they wouldn't freeze to death, that was enough.

Luoning observed for himself and discovered that there were no watchtowers or patrol personnel in the vicinity of the Ziguo Tribe; he feared that if he walked over there openly, no one would be able to discover him in time.

"What is that yellow forest?" Luoning asked, pointing to the yellow woods on the eastern hillside.

Originally, there should have been more pine or arbor trees here, but the direction Luoning pointed to was a low-lying, reddish-looking forest.

Wodun and Dandi gazed into the distance and then replied: "My Lord, that should be the 'Ziguo Tree' that grows the Purple Fruit."

Dandi added: "The Ziguo Tree had green leaves before, but it's just that in the shedding season of September, the color of the leaves turns yellow."

So that was it; this Ziguo Tree was a deciduous tree. He would have to go take a good look at it later.

"We won't attack this time," Luoning said.

Ruidar and Maiken were both stunned for a moment, especially Maiken, who had already prepared himself for the charge and was determined to be the one to defeat the enemy leader.

Yet the Lord actually said not to attack?

"My Lord, what is your strategy?" Ruidar asked.

"With only two Intermediate Transcendents, they have no way to resist us. A full-scale attack is likely to cause unnecessary casualties; after all, for every person who survives, there is one more laborer to serve me."

Luoning stated the plan he had thought of along the way.

"When it gets dark later, Maiken, you lead ten Guards and twenty militiamen to guard the hillside; if anyone runs up, drive them back or capture them. The rest will follow me to circle around to the front of the valley and block the gate."

"At that time, Wodun and Dandi will come forward to demand the surrender of the Ziguo Tribe's leader. If the other party is willing to surrender, then we save time and effort. If the other party is as ignorant of current affairs as Wili, then it won't be too late for us to take action."

Luoning looked at Maiken, "If you hear fighting start down the mountain, then you lead your men to charge down from the hill."

(End of chapter)