At last, he had leveled up. Zhao Fu was delighted. After returning to Great Qin Village with his people, he handed Deng Li and the 36 suits of iron armor stripped from the bandits of Tiger Village to Wang Dawu, asking him to make some simple repairs.
The Blacksmith Shop and Tailor Shop were seriously understaffed. The various weapons Zhao Fu had previously given them to repair, which had been obtained from the Great Rift, were still unfinished. Now there was even more iron armor, so he had no choice but to assign them some extra hands.
Afterward, Zhao Fu rebuilt Tiger Village west of Great Qin Village and sent a few people to manage it. Then he returned to the Great Qin Village Chief's Hall to check the attributes of the intermediate village.
Village Name: Great Qin Village (Legendary) Level: Intermediate (24/30000) Village Area: 5 square kilometers Village Territory: 250 square kilometers Residents: 465/6000; Soldiers: 216/2400 Public Sentiment: 80 Special Attributes: Territory crop yield +40%; territory crop growth time -40%; population and troop-type limits +20%; residents' attributes randomly +2; soldiers' attributes +2%; population attraction rate +30%; high aptitude attraction rate +30%. Available Affiliated Villages: 8 Villages Owned: Rogge Village, Jie'en Village, Duolun Village, Li Family Village, Dire Wolf Village, Tiger Village.
Most of the attributes had increased by 10%, which was more or less what Zhao Fu had expected, so he wasn't particularly surprised. The number of affiliated villages, however, did surprise him a little. He had suddenly gained eight slots.
But population was always the biggest shortcoming. There were only 465 people so far, yet Great Qin Village alone had a population limit of 6,000. None of the other villages had reached their capacity either. Dire Wolf Village and Tiger Village were especially empty; Zhao Fu had transferred their previous residents to Great Qin Village, leaving fewer than twenty people between the two villages.
Li Family Village had previously been at capacity, but Zhao Fu had brought two-thirds of its population to Great Qin Village, leaving it short of residents as well.
Zhao Fu couldn't help sighing. But no one could become fat in a single bite. A village's development depended on steady, cumulative growth; only then would it gradually grow stronger. At least, with all the villages combined and the attribute bonuses from Great Qin Village, they could produce more than forty new residents a day.
As for the bottom of the Great Rift, Zhao Fu didn't plan to explore it any further for the time being. Instead, he intended to put together two specialized teams before venturing back down to explore.
His first plan was to form a mage corps. Because magic skills were scarce, they could become a powerful means of attack. So Zhao Fu planned to take people out to hunt magical beasts, and also tame some large animals, such as cattle, pigs, and horses. Great Qin Village had no horses, so Zhao Fu still hadn't been able to form a cavalry unit.
Cavalry was the most mobile troop type of the cold weapon era; they were indispensable. With horses, there'd be no need to run everywhere on foot.
After spending some coins to obtain the Taming skill without undergoing a class transfer, Zhao Fu set out once more, bringing Bai Qi, Old Luo, ten Spear-Shield Soldiers, ten sword-wielding Infantry, and ten Archers. Liu Mei insisted on coming too, and after a moment's thought, Zhao Fu agreed.
Great Qin Village was now at the outermost edge of the Terror Forest. The deeper they went into the forest, the more magical beasts they would likely encounter. So Zhao Fu led his group westward.
Along the way, the trees grew taller and taller, their crowns seeming to pierce the clouds. The light around them was dim, and the trees had strange shapes. Now and then, a few rabbits darted past, making a rustling sound.
Zhao Fu paid them no mind and led his people onward. Before long, they spotted a wild sow with eight piglets, out foraging.
Adult wild boars lived alone, so they were difficult to catch, unlike other animals that lived in groups, where one could catch a whole bunch at once. It would be great if they could find a lair.
A lair functioned much like a village that produced new residents: it also spawned more of the same kind of beast. But unlike villages, lairs were rare and guarded by beasts. Some held only a few hundred, while others contained tens of thousands.
They were already quite far from Great Qin Village. It wasn't worth turning back for one sow and a few piglets, so Zhao Fu let her go.
They continued onward!
Just then, Zhao Fu stopped. Beside a small stream, he spotted more than a dozen Green Oxen. Their hides were pale green, and their two horns gleamed like metal.
If they could capture these oxen, they could use them to plow fields and transport iron ore, saving people a lot of time and effort. Zhao Fu immediately focused on the herd.
But these large beasts wouldn't be easy to catch. If Zhao Fu and his people charged in and the oxen went berserk, he would have to avoid their horns. His ten Shield Bearers certainly couldn't withstand a charge from more than a dozen oxen.
They couldn't use the Archers to attack, either. They could shoot a few arrows into the oxen, but unless an arrow hit a vital spot, the animals would run away. How could anyone catch up with a startled ox? And if the herd panicked and scattered in all directions, they would have even less chance.
Perhaps the Archers could shoot the oxen in the legs to injure them and stop them from running. But that could cripple them. Plowing fields and transporting ore with a dozen lame oxen wouldn't be much use.
A trap was the best option. Zhao Fu turned and explained his idea to Bai Qi and the others. They agreed, then began setting one up north of the herd.
Zhao Fu, Bai Qi, and Liu Mei split into three teams, each leading several people. Because of his age—and because he was a Goblin—Old Luo couldn't run very fast, so he stayed behind to direct things. He would use Fireball to make sure the herd ran into the trap.
Then they began. Zhao Fu, Bai Qi, and Liu Mei approached the herd from the east, south, and west. As they drew closer, the oxen sensed danger. They stopped grazing, lowered their heads, then raised them again to watch their surroundings.
At that moment, the three groups charged out. They didn't attack; they just shouted or struck their swords against their shields, making a piercing noise to show their strength and frighten the oxen into fleeing without turning to attack.
Of the three groups, Liu Mei was undoubtedly the most excited. Laughing loudly, she brandished her whip and charged forward. The oxen panicked as all three directions were blocked, leaving them no choice but to flee north.
The three groups joined together and chased after them. Whenever an ox strayed from the path leading to the trap, Zhao Fu ordered an Archer to shoot an arrow and steer it back on course.
Soon, the oxen charged into the trap, and ropes looped around their legs.
"Thud, thud, thud..."
One ox after another tripped and fell, hitting the ground with a series of dull thuds and kicking up clouds of dust. The herd quickly got back to its feet and tried to flee, but the ropes around their legs kept them from breaking free.
The ropes were nearly as thick as two fingers put together, and they had been tied to trees a meter thick. No matter how hard the oxen struggled, they couldn't break loose.
Once the oxen were exhausted, Zhao Fu and his group approached and began using Taming. Before long, they had easily tamed all sixteen Green Oxen.