Preparing for Battle

The pit where Feng Xu lived was fairly spacious, not too crowded for four people.

Feng Xi and Tie Song stayed on either side, with Feng Xu and Feng Yuqi in the middle.

Feng Xu took cooked meat from the snakeskin sack and divided it among them, then asked the two about what had happened during this time. There was not much cooked meat, only enough for the four of them, so he did not give any to the people here.

After eating cooked food, he could no longer stomach raw meat.

From what Yuqi had said, it could be determined that the Eagle King had been the one who rescued them that day.

The hairpin he had casually given Yuqi had unexpectedly brought the Eagle King to her rescue. Feng Xu had not anticipated that.

"You arrived here yesterday. How did your talks with them go?"

After finishing his meal, Feng Xu casually wiped the grease from his lips.

"I told them we were from a nearby tribe and wanted to join forces with them to wipe out the wolf pack. Their chief refused, saying the warriors could not fight on empty stomachs."

Tie Song gestured with his hands as he spoke.

It was not dark yet. Feng Xu found the pit too stuffy, and the roof above had not been covered.

"I also said they could come to our place first, where there would be plenty of food. The chief still refused, saying they might encounter the wolf pack on the way."

It had been nearly dark then. Unable to persuade them, the two could only find an empty pit to rest in.

Feng Xu nodded. It was clear that the people here had long suffered under the wolf pack, though the wolves had not found this place.

Otherwise, these pits alone could not mask their scent. The wolves would still discover them.

Perhaps that was something he could exploit.

He could stir up their fear of the wolves, make them realize the crisis they were about to face, and push them to join him in surrounding and exterminating the wolf pack.

It was admittedly a slight exaggeration.

Before coming here, he had noticed that many wild grasses with special scents grew in this area, capable of interfering with the wolf pack's scent tracking.

That was also why this place had not been discovered.

Little White had been able to find it because its bloodline was stronger.

So the risk still existed, and Feng Xu felt no psychological burden about bluffing the chief.

Figuring the others had nearly finished eating, Feng Xu and Feng Xi headed once more to the chief's pit.

When he brought up surrounding and exterminating the wolf pack again, the chief did not immediately refuse. Instead, after pondering for a long time, he asked about their chances of victory.

"We already have some equipment. When facing the wolf pack head-on, we can suffer almost no casualties. We arrived here safely this time because we had severely wounded them just a few days ago. We simply lack the manpower to wipe out the wolf pack completely."

Though all of that was true, it also contained some exaggeration.

That day, they had had multiple layers of defenses, and the wolf pack had not attacked for long. That was why the spear formation had suffered almost no losses.

If they actively went looking for the wolf pack, casualties would definitely rise sharply.

"How do I know you're not lying?"

The chief seemed moved, but he still did not agree.

"You should be able to sense that the wolf pack has rarely been active these past few days. That is because they suffered heavy losses not long ago and have been feeding on their dead companions, so they have been quiet for now. In a few days, once their food runs out, they will come out hunting again."

Now was the best time to travel. Aside from the wolf pack, there were no other large carnivores nearby.

Seeing that the chief was still hesitating, Feng Xu continued bluffing.

The wolf pack had suffered a setback at the Red Iron Tribe. When they went searching for food again, they would certainly change locations, and there was a high chance this place would be discovered.

Once the wolf pack found this place, its people would be stuck in the pits, unable to defend themselves effectively.

If they came out in scattered groups, they would only be picked off one by one.

As the chief imagined the scene Feng Xu described, a chill ran down his spine.

"Then can you give us enough food?"

The chief slowly exhaled and began negotiating terms.

"As long as you are willing to fight alongside us, there will be more food than you can eat during this period. After the battle, we can give you half the wild wolves. It will be enough to last you until next winter."

Seeing that the chief was still thinking, Feng Xu added another sentence.

"If you are unwilling to fight with us, then today's meal will be your last full meal for many days. The wolf pack lost a battle, so they will definitely become even more savage afterward."

He tempted them with benefits while cutting off their path of retreat.

Under the double pressure, the chief ultimately agreed to join the battle. The tribe had a little over eighty people in total, yet even if every warrior was sent out, there were only twenty.

This was a tribe with no elderly people, yet the proportion of adult men was still so low. It was clear how many had died outside.

Do not ask why there were so few elderly people. In an era like this, people would do anything to survive.

Feng Xu did not investigate further. Every tragedy stemmed from the Human Race being too weak.

At dawn, Feng Xu and the others prepared to depart.

For ease of address, he gave this tribe a name as well.

This place was a plain surrounded by mountains, with fertile land. He named it the Lukun Tribe. The tribe took Kun as its surname, and the chief was named Kun Tai. The other warriors were given names as well, written on wooden tags and hung around their necks.

Feng Xu left the Lukun Tribe roughly ten days' worth of food. If they ate sparingly, it would not be a problem for them to last twenty days.

There were no obstacles on the way back, and they arrived in two days.

Upon reaching the Red Iron Tribe, Feng Xu began assigning work.

First came armaments, which the tribe had been making all along. Now that more than twenty people had arrived, they began helping as well.

Feng Xu was rather strict with them. After all, they were not his own people and were not as obedient. They also could not be allowed to face the wolf pack directly in the later tactical arrangements.

The tribe had too much to do and no time to train soldiers.

While making weapons and equipment, Feng Xu enforced strict discipline, doing his best to improve their obedience. Disobedience brought punishment, while those who behaved and followed orders could eat their fill every day without limit.

During the previous night raid, Feng Xu's Dragon Serpent Arrow had been formidable, but against wolf demons over a dozen to more than thirty zhang long, it had been difficult to inflict fatal wounds.

Spears had enough killing power, but their range was too short.

So he had the tribe make javelins for long-range throwing. Their construction was similar to spears, except the shafts were shorter.

Then came the catapults.

He had once seen roughly how they were made while scrolling through short videos in his previous life, though he had originally forgotten. But as his Spirit Sense grew stronger, memories of the past became clearer and clearer. Many things he had forgotten could now be recalled, as though they had happened yesterday.

He drew blueprints on the stone walls, then broke them down into individual components for the tribespeople to make.

At their current level, they could not understand blueprints. Asking them to build catapults directly from the drawings would have been sheer fantasy.

Feng Xu divided them into groups, with each group responsible for making the appropriate components.

At the same time, he arranged for people to make larger carts to transport the catapult components, which would be assembled only after they reached the vicinity of the battlefield.

He also took out scale powder for processing, mixed it with charcoal powder and resin, and made it into projectiles. He wrapped them in vine and inserted thin cords twisted from bark fibers soaked in grease.

After repeated experiments and adjustments, he finally produced suitable catapults and projectiles.

These were powerful weapons to be used at critical moments.

Feng Xu had people make a large number of stone shot, which would be their primary means of fighting the enemy.

On the third day, the scouts returned. They had found the wolf pack.

The journey was quite far, requiring them to cross two mountain ridges.

The wolf pack numbered over five hundred. Around a hundred were more than ten zhang long, while the rest ranged from young wolves to wild wolves six or seven zhang long.

A wolf over ten zhang long required at least a hundred years to grow. The remaining adult members who lacked sufficient strength were assigned to hunt smaller prey.

After transforming into giants, Human Race warriors were roughly as strong barehanded as a century-old wolf demon. With spears in hand, they could fight two at once.

If they also wore armor and formed spear formations, they would not fear confronting any wolves except the Wolf King head-on, though their stamina had to be considered.

The wolf pack had suffered heavy losses in the previous night raid and likely would not actively hunt large prey for the next decade or so.

Feng Xu studied the beast-hide map and arranged for the Lukun Tribe to set an ambush in a valley.

Once they had enough weapons and equipment, they would attack the wolf pack head-on, drive it into the valley, and surround and eliminate it there.

"Tie Song, you will command the Lukun Tribe in this battle. They have feared the wolf pack for too long. If we do not assign our own people to them, I will not be at ease."