Chapter 33: Horse Pasture Village

【The largest town you need to pass through on your journey is Tulga, where you can replenish many of the supplies needed for the migration.】

【And now, you are in the castle of Tulga, standing before the Nayans Azugang, who has extended an olive branch to you.】

【You only need to pay one-quarter of your wealth, and he can grant you a pasture and the status of a Nayans.】

【In the Khergit Kingdom, where plunder and extortion are the norm, this price is truly conscientious.】

【Even though Azugang has a reputation for integrity, this condition is enough to show that he appreciates you very much.】

【But you politely declined; Azugang did not make things difficult for you, but instead told you that in the east, there is indeed a pasture that is not within the current territory of the Khergit Kingdom.】

【The water and grass there are not lush, one could even say it is barren, and it is inhabited by a large number of traditional nomadic peoples.】

【Their temperaments are fierce and cruel, unwilling to submit to the existing laws of the Khergit Kingdom, and they were driven there by the nobles.】

【Azugang told you that settling there is not a simple matter; there are no rules of the game there, it is truly the law of the jungle.】

【You thanked Azugang, and as you left, Azugang told you that his door would always be open to you, but the price remains the same.】

【Azugang seems certain that you will return.】

【In Tulga, you exchanged most of the money in your hands for supplies for the migration.】

【When a portion of the supplies was distributed, you saw an expression of disbelief on the faces of most of the herdsmen.】

【The entire team rested in Dasbeifa for a week. Before leaving, you made a special trip to find Tuluge and told him to let the remaining days be a debt, and that you would return at any time.】

【Tuluge cursed you out of his tent with the words, "Fine, fine, fine, get the hell out of here," and you left with a smile.】

【Soon your team entered the territory of Distabao. The local Nayans had clearly heard of your reputation; he symbolically collected some money from you and told you that you must leave his territory within a week.】

【Your team continued to move forward through the territory of Distabao, and finally, on a morning one week later, you arrived at your planned destination.】

【The water and grass here are not lush, but there is a river that the herdsmen need, and you ordered your subordinates to start setting up camp.】

【However, the locals truly lived up to their reputation for being fierce and cruel.】

【That same night, the locals near your camp sent you a grand welcoming gift.】

【At dawn, hundreds of riders carrying torches charged toward your camp.】

【The night-watch Riders, under your organization, intercepted them, but did not stop them completely, and in the chaos, you suffered a minor injury.】

【The fire burned most of your supplies, one-third of the horses ran off into the flames, and hundreds of herdsmen were burned or trampled to death, with countless others injured.】

【You suffered heavy losses, but it was not without gains; they did not expect your combat strength to be so strong and your reaction so fast.】

【Therefore, in the counterattack you organized, you left behind a few captives.】

【At first, these captives were very tough; not only did they say nothing, but they also cursed you and begged for a quick death.】

【You were "forced" to use some of the torture methods you knew, and finally, one person could not hold out and told the truth.】

【This sneak attack was jointly organized by four nomadic tribes living in the vicinity.】

【You and your herdsmen had just arrived here when they discovered you. Due to years of fighting, the leaders of the four sides had already divided this pasture completely, and your arrival made you their common enemy.】

【Yesterday afternoon they organized a meeting, by evening they had agreed on a plan, and they dispatched troops overnight, arriving at your camp at dawn.】

【They each sent the most powerful warriors from their tribes to form a hundred-man unit, preparing to break through your camp directly in this sneak attack and then divide up your property.】

【But the powerful combat strength of you and your men was something they had not expected. After losing a certain percentage of their warriors, they retreated to preserve their own strength.】

【After obtaining this information, you hurriedly bandaged your wounds, gathered your soldiers overnight, and killed your way toward the enemy's gathering place.】

【In the sky filled with smoke and dust, only the echoes of "If this grudge is not avenged, I swear I am not a man" drifted, spreading further and further.】

【That night, you led more than four hundred Cavalry, and in a surprise attack, you trampled the so-called "Royal Tents" of the two nomadic tribes and launched a massacre.】

【Your order was that those who surrendered would be spared, yet even so, at least one-third of the population died under your blades.】

【Subsequently, you led your own herdsmen to occupy the pastures and water sources owned by these two tribes.】

【The matter did not end there; you simply settled the captives and your own herdsmen, and then set off again with the Cavalry.】

【You each had three horses, following the tracks to hunt down the two fleeing tribes.】

【The pursuit lasted for three days and three nights, and finally, all the survivors of the two tribes surrendered, and their leaders' heads were personally cut off by you.】

【You spent some effort burying the dead enemies one by one around your territory. Those burial mounds stretched for more than two miles; they will remain here forever as a story, warning other tribes on this grassland.】

【After this battle, not only were your herdsmen both respectful and fearful of you, but most of the tribal leaders on this grassland sent you their gifts.】

【After the battle, your men suffered many casualties, leaving only four hundred tents, and those who could mount a horse to fight were reduced to just under three hundred.】

【But it was not without gains; there were many captives, nearly a thousand people, as well as thousands of Warhorses, and countless cattle and sheep.】

【For a long time to come, you began to lead your herdsmen to rebuild a village here, which you named Horse Pasture Village.】

【This simulation has ended and has been saved.】

【Retain the status of Lord of Horse Pasture Village; abandoning this status allows for the permanent summoning of all herdsmen of Horse Pasture Village, including over four hundred Cavalry, over nine hundred villagers, nearly a thousand captives, over two thousand Warhorses, over three hundred cattle, and over four thousand sheep; after months of hard work and several cruel battles, you have proven your strength to these "assets," and they do not mind following you on another migration.】

【Obtained reward: 1 point of Honor, 50 points of Prestige, 5000 Dinar.】

【Can continue the simulation, Yes/No?】

【No】

Allen, who returned to reality from the simulation, immediately made up his mind to abandon the status of leader of Horse Pasture Village.

Admittedly, continuing to use this status for simulation might yield greater gains.

But Allen, who had bought funds for many years in his previous life, also understood one truth: grasp what you have, and do not overly covet the unknown.

If he were to die in the next simulation, Allen would lose everything; after all, this harvest was the largest Allen had had in these few years.

Of course, there are problems, namely that to summon these herdsmen, he must find them a new pasture.

There is no shortage of space in the Anduin Valley, but the problem is that Allen only knows a little about management, and he is completely ignorant about raising horses.

Although Allen does not understand, Allen's subordinate Fatis, a former Cavalry officer, should know how to raise horses; Allen thought of this very quickly.

The next morning, Allen sought out Fatis, who had not yet had time to go out, and discussed this problem with his deputy.

Fatis told Allen that he did indeed know some techniques for raising horses, and he had been considering this problem for a long time.

So, when he was patrolling, he had deliberately observed the surrounding environment.

This stretch of River Valley truly has many places suitable for raising horses.

For example, north of Wilderness Village, there are vast grasslands growing forage very suitable for livestock, and there are also several small rivers branching off from the Anduin River, which simply satisfies all the needs for horse raising.

A small herd of wild horses originally lived there, and Fatis had always wanted to domesticate them, but was held back by a lack of relevant talent, so it had been shelved.

Now that Allen asked, Fatis indicated that if there was a need, they could occupy that place; raising a few thousand horses would be a mere trifle, and if asked how many could be raised, the more the better.

It was just that Fatis asked Allen with confusion, since the total number of horses in the entire town was less than two hundred, why look for a horse pasture?

Allen smiled mysteriously and said nothing more, instead asking Fatis to take him there to see.

Because Fatis said it was quite far, Allen took Alayen and his personal guards, made some brief preparations, and rode out of Wilderness Town.

The place Fatis mentioned was indeed very far; it was already quite close to the Elf Path, and in other words, even closer to the Orcish lair, Gundabad.

So this place was actually somewhat dangerous and would definitely be harassed by Orcish Wolf Riders.

But the environment here was truly too good; a plain dozens of miles wide with yellowish grasslands stretching to the edge of sight.

The east side of this region was Mirkwood, the west side was the Anduin River, and several rivers meandered through the middle.

Although Allen did not know much about this, when galloping on the grasslands here on an Elf Horse, there was indeed a feeling of wind blowing through the grass to reveal cattle and sheep.

He decided that even if it meant taking some risks, he would build a semi-nomadic, semi-settled village here.

Allen's time was indeed running short; he did not know when Gandalf would arrive.

He needed to complete a large amount of preparatory work before then, especially for these grassland Cavalry; if he could possess several hundred cavalrymen by the time of the Battle of the Five Armies, that would truly be excellent.

【Do you wish to abandon the status of Lord of Horse Pasture Village?】

【Yes.】

【Current cooldown time: 2152 days.】

As the Simulator's prompt ended, large swaths of white light appeared before Allen and his group.

Soon, the villagers, captives, Warhorses, cattle, and sheep of Horse Pasture Village all appeared on this grassland.

Suddenly losing their constraints, those livestock ran everywhere, causing a large-scale chaos for a time.

But very quickly, they were brought under control by the herdsmen who reacted; they were experienced and dealt with these livestock year-round, so they naturally knew how to quickly quell the chaos.

And the reaction of these herdsmen was very different from the Rodok villagers; they were not confused, nor did any riots occur.

Instead, they stood quietly in place according to their family relationships, carrying their own and Allen's property, looking at Allen who stood on a high slope.

It was unknown under whose lead, but the herdsmen near Allen actually began to kneel down in large numbers, kowtowing toward Allen, shouting words like "Heavenly God" and "Tengri" loudly.

And this situation spread to the distance where Allen could no longer see clearly.

Seeing all this, the expression on Fatis's face turned from shock to confusion, doubt, and finally, determination.

He looked at his friend standing beside him, who was both familiar and strange, with an awkward expression on his face.

He opened his mouth and said: "Allen, my friend, although I have often seen you do amazing things since I met you, but this is too...?"

Speaking to this point, Fatis took a deep breath, did not continue along this topic, but said with a sorrowful face: "If you are truly their Heavenly God, then is my path to redemption also in your hands?"

In order to obtain redemption back then, Fatis had traveled to almost all the countries in Calradia and had some understanding of the religious knowledge of the Khergit Kingdom.

Although this was different from his own faith, if he were truly a god, could he give him enough revelation?

Hearing these words, Allen felt even more awkward; he knew where Fatis's heart-knot lay.

He hurriedly opened his mouth to reply to Fatis: "I am not any Heavenly God, Fatis. Your path to redemption has always been within yourself, and up to now, I think you have done very well."

Allen patted Fatis on the shoulder and comforted him: "Do you not raise the Longsword in your hand so that kind people can have a better life? Do you not toil and run about wholeheartedly for the sake of our friendship? Do you not carry out a life of hardship and simplicity to seek solace for your soul? If these are not redemption, then what is? The affirmation of a god? That is truly too absurd."

Hearing Allen's comfort, Fatis fell into deep thought and did not ask any further questions.

Allen looked at the calmed Fatis and let out a deep sigh of relief.

He knew that compared to the Rodok people, the Kujit were more ignorant, barbaric, and superstitious.

Otherwise, they could not have helped that group of man-eating nobles build a great kingdom under such a system.

But he had never thought that one day he would be treated as some Heavenly God; this was truly somewhat hard to accept.

This mood forced Allen to keep looking around on the slope for Tuoju.

Soon Allen discovered his figure; this guy was kowtowing very vigorously on the ground at this moment, muttering something in his mouth.

Allen went over and pulled him up, saying in a serious tone: "Get up for me immediately. I order you to lead the villagers to rebuild Horse Pasture Village at once, and I do not want to see anyone treat me as a Heavenly God and kowtow to me in the future. Remember, I only migrated you here, understand?"

At this time, Tuoju looked at Allen in front of him with fanatical eyes; he felt this was a miracle. Everyone suddenly arrived at this fertile grassland—who else could do this besides a Heavenly God?

Therefore, facing the order Allen gave, Tuoju was even more enthusiastic than before. Soon he gathered the more prestigious people in the village together and began to discuss the matters of rebuilding Horse Pasture Village.

Allen did not leave, but asked Fatis to bring Artimenner over as well, while he himself would stay here to accompany his new subjects in building the village.

Allen knew some of the living habits of nomadic peoples; their survival level was very poor—for example, their resistance to disasters was lower than that of farming peoples, and most did not have fixed residences.

Their living environment often lacked sound medical and educational systems, which led to their short average life expectancy, and their civilization could not develop effectively.

But there were also many benefits; for example, right now, their property often included tents.

Tents were their homes, and these people had a very strong ability to adapt to the environment.

Unlike farming peoples, who would become homeless and have no land to till once they left their original places, and might even have to sell themselves into slavery—from this perspective, Allen's new subjects were truly very worry-free.

Soon, under the management of the herdsmen, all kinds of tents stood on the grassland, and a large number of villagers had already ridden their horses to divide the pastures.

This was only after just over half a day had passed.

At this time, Allen sat in his tent, looking helpless as he exhorted Tuoju again and again: "You must understand, I am not any Heavenly God, I am your Lord. You must change the villagers' view of me; it is absolutely, absolutely forbidden for the phenomenon of worshipping me to appear, understand?"

Tuoju just nodded on the side, indicating he understood.

But Allen could tell from Tuoju's fanatical eyes that he might need a very long time to reverse the villagers' thinking.

Thinking of this, Allen felt a wave of annoyance; he waved his hand to drive Tuoju out of the tent, his mind conceiving the construction of Horse Pasture Village.

Allen wanted to build a semi-nomadic, semi-farming village here.

It would be best to arrange for specialized personnel to raise horses, while other villagers would engage in farming with the help of the original subjects to subsidize their household expenses.

In fact, most of the horses here belonged to Allen; they would certainly be used to build a Cavalry unit and might be managed centrally. It was impossible for every household to raise a few like before—that was not realistic—and a portion of the cattle and sheep would also be handed over to the residents of Wilderness Town to manage, increasing their income.

Furthermore, Allen also hoped that these villagers could have a stable way of life, as they were now his subjects.

He felt responsible for them and should provide them with a better living environment.

Currently, the medical situation in Wilderness Town is still acceptable; many of James's apprentices are already capable of working independently.

A few could be dispatched here to oversee the medical work in this area.

The construction of the village still requires Artimenner to manage it, and Allen had not expected that this elderly engineer would have more and more work to do.

Allen recalled that ever since arriving, Artimenner seemed to have never been idle; he is getting on in years now, perhaps over fifty, nearing sixty?

Putting it that way, this old brother's health is truly excellent; he can still ride a horse everywhere even now.

Allen thought about Artimenner's importance and his hard work over these years, deciding that if he could draw a Dragon Tear this time, he would get an Elixir of Life for Artimenner.

Of course, if this old companion is unwilling to accept a long life, Allen will not force him.