Chapter 18

 

This boss who only gives information without explaining, Lu Yu has already become accustomed to it from being angry to being used to it.

[Ideal Homeland]

Lu Yu guessed it should be something like utopia, various fields, grazing cattle, hand in hand towards a well-off life, a utopian-style development.

Or maybe there’s some deeper meaning, but it’s not known for now.

[War Fortress]

There’s no need to guess, you can tell from the name what it means.

If it weren’t for encountering those people a few days ago, Lu Yu might have chosen the Ideal Homeland. After all, making sure everyone is well-fed, clothed, and happy is the most important thing. But now, it seems that surviving is the top priority.

After a slight consideration, Lu Yu still chose [War Fortress]

A few lines popped up on the panel.

[First village’s first upgrade direction chosen]

[Basic war fortress upgrading]

[Upgrade completed]

Lu Yu stood up and ran outside.

“Ah, witch, you’re here, I was just about to find you!” Seeing Lu Yu coming out, a Matai person rushed up excitedly.

Lu Yu didn’t ask what he wanted, he had already seen the changes in the village.

The originally short and useless wooden fences had turned into stone walls about one and a half meters high, and wooden watchtowers had been erected at the four corners of the village.

“Witch, Witch, what’s that?” Xiao Shui tugged at Lu Yu’s deerskin skirt, pointing to the tower, her eyes shining.

Lu Yu said, “I will take you to see.”

Because the tower couldn’t accommodate too many people at once, Lu Yu took a few children up first to have a look.

Perhaps because it was the first upgrade, this was as basic as it could get for a basic fortress. The tower was probably only about ten meters high, with four or five floors, slightly higher than the nearby trees.

“Wow!!!”

Several children couldn’t help but exclaim when they stood up there.

Because not only was it novel, but the surrounding scenery was also too beautiful.

Lush forests, distant mountains, clear blue sky…

Even Lu Yu couldn’t help but feel emotional.

The scenery is so picturesque… no, too charming.

“Witch, why is this cauldron so big?” Xiao Shui pointed to something placed in the corner of the tower, curious.

Lu Yu looked over and thought for a moment, saying, “This should be something for sending smoke signals.”

“Smoke signals?”

Lu Yu explained, “Smoke signals are made by burning dry branches or fur, making thick smoke to inform people from afar that enemies are coming.”

“Oh.”

Lu Yu patted her head, “Let’s go down first, shall we? We’ll come back later, okay? There are other people from the tribe who want to come up and see.”

“Okay!” Little Radish Head replied loudly.

—

Blackwater Tribe.

Hearing Jiao Feng agree to go and kill that small tribe, Li Yue’s expression changed, and she tearfully told him about the what happened to Yu Shui.

In this era, marriage, divorce, and having children with ex-wives are all normal things.

Jiao Feng knew about Li Yue’s favoritism towards her son, and he didn’t care much, and besides, Li Yue’s deceased husband was once his capable subordinate.

Giving a little more to her was no big deal.

But similarly, he didn’t have much affection for Yu Shui either, but he wouldn’t show it in front of Li Yue.

Jiao Feng put his arm around Li Yue’s shoulder, and his rough big hand touched her tear-stained face, “Alright, alright, when we catch those people, I’ll let you kill a couple of irrelevant ones first to vent.”

One or two wouldn’t be enough to make up for her son’s life.

But even if she couldn’t kill them, she had plenty of ways to torture them.

Li Yue’s thoughts turned, showing gratitude on her face, “Thank you, Chief~”

After Li Yue left, Jiao Feng called Qing Mu over and asked about the specific situation that day.

Qing Mu recalled that night, his face full of fear, “Chief, those people not only are tall and strong, but each one is incredibly powerful. They could easily lift people up. And some of them not only had great strength but also were very fast, impossible to catch.”

Jiao Feng asked, “In your opinion, how many warriors of my tribe each one of them can defeat?”

Qing Mu pondered for a moment, “At least, they can fight 5 or 6 each”

Jiao Feng frowned, “What if they have stone spears and wooden shields?”

Qing Mu paused. Yeah, they went there bare-handed that night, but the Blackwater Tribe was different; they had weapons and had been using them for a long time, very skilled.

A warrior with a weapon was much more powerful than an ordinary person in battle.

Qing Mu said, “Then I think, at most, two of them can deal with one of ours.”

Jiao Feng pondered for a moment and waved his hand to let him go.

In fact, according to Jiao Feng’s idea, he should send someone to investigate the situation, but he was afraid that the people of that small tribe, after last time’s incident, would be on guard and run away when they saw the situation wasn’t right.

Jiao Feng called someone in and ordered, “Transfer three hundred people from the hunting team, after lunch tomorrow, come out with me.”

The person respectfully agreed and left.

Li Yue’s son is such a fool, insisting on being clever and going to rob and kill at night. The best time to attack is when the hunting team is out hunting during the day.

Jiao Feng patted his big belly and laughed contentedly.

—

“Witch, aren’t you going hunting with us today?” a Matai person from the Tai Lie team asked.

Lu Yu glanced at the nearby Matai Chief, who stood motionless like a statue, and smiled, “Every time I go, you guys end up with the least amount of prey, and you have to clean up the food scraps at night. Do you still want me to go?”

“Of course we do!” The Matai person scratched his head, laughing straightforwardly, “With Witch going together, hunting feels more energetic.”

What he didn’t say was that every time they went hunting with the Chief, the atmosphere was particularly solemn all the way, but with the Witch, they would chat with him and feel much better.

Thinking of the coldness of Tai Lie these days for no reason, Lu Yu suddenly felt a sense of resentment.

He complained to several Matai people with a look of grievance, “It’s not that I don’t want to go, it’s that the Chief doesn’t want me to go. Haven’t you noticed that the Chief has been avoiding me lately?”

The Matai people thought about it and realized it seemed to be true!

They had clearly seen Witch feeding the Chief meat and chatting together before. Now it’s gone.

The Matai man with a somewhat simple appearance walked up to Tai Lie and whispered, “Chief, you can’t do this. Witch has helped us so much, you can’t treat him badly.”

Tai Lie didn’t speak, just his eyes darkened a bit, picked up a wooden stick and walked away, casually throwing out a sentence, “If you want to go, then go.”

Lu Yu grinned and turned to leave, “Not going.”

Lu Yu left gracefully, while Tai Lie stiffened imperceptibly for a moment.

—

After Tai Lie and the others went hunting, Lu Yu was approached by the little Matai again.

Shi Tou eagerly said, “Witch, let’s go up to the tower and play again.”

Because the tower was too high, Lu Yu didn’t allow them to go up alone.

Lu Yu sighed, “Alright.”

They went up a tower.

Lu Yu patted Cheng Ping, who was standing guard on top, “You can go down first, we’ll help you watch for a while.”

Cheng Ping looked at the string of radishes behind him and smiled, “Okay.”

The little Matai cheered and dispersed, lying on the wooden railing, constantly scanning around.

“Witch, it seems like there are people over there!”

Shi Tou suddenly exclaimed.

Lu Yu quickly walked over to him, following his finger. They could only see some dense trees.

Lu Yu hesitated, “Are you sure?”

Shi Tou’s face was tense as he looked for a while, and said firmly, “Yes, there are people, many people, probably hundreds, coming towards our village, and it looks like they’re holding something in their hands…”

Lu Yu was shocked, “Can you see what they’re holding?”

Shi Tou squinted his eyes and suddenly widened them, “It looks like stone spears and wooden shields! They have weapons!”

Lu Yu had asked Tai Lie and the others before why they didn’t tie sharp stones to wooden sticks as weapons.

Tai Lie told him what he knew.

It turned out that making stone spears was not as easy as he thought. Ordinary stones couldn’t be sharpened so sharply, and they were easy to break and dull. Even if suitable stones were found, they had to be manually processed for a long time, which took a long time to be useful. For Tai Lie and the others, it was more convenient to use sturdy wooden sticks.

But for ordinary people, if they had well-made stone spears, their lethality would be greatly increased.

A group of people with stone spears and wooden shields were coming straight towards them, their intentions clear.

Lu Yu was anxious.

Was their small village such a bloody big piece of fat? Why are there so many flies smelling it? Or are these people the trouble caused by killing those people last time?

Lu Yu didn’t think about it anymore. He grabbed Shi Tou and told him to quickly take Xiao Shui and the others to hide and not to let them be discovered.

“Witch,” Xiao Shui suddenly sobbed, “But Xia Cao and the others went to pick flax in the woods over there…”

Lu Yu’s mind went blank.

Xiao Shui rubbed her eyes and choked up, “They said maybe you’ll need it in the future, so they want to store more.”

At this moment, Shi Tou, who had been staring at the woods, also exclaimed, “I see! They’ve caught Xia Cao and the others!”

At the words, several little Matai panicked.

Xiao Shui cried, “Witch, what should we do?”

Lu Yu’s original idea was to let everyone hide, maybe these people would leave when they saw that there was no one in the village, or even if they didn’t leave, they could secretly go to Tai Lie and the others to discuss whether to flee or fight.

But now Xia Cao and the others have been caught.

They had to call Tai Lie and the others back!

Only by fighting could they possibly save Xia Cao and the others.

Lu Yu grabbed Shi Tou’s shoulder and said in a deep voice, “Shi Tou, you take Xiao Shui and the others to hide, don’t let them be discovered, understand?”

Shi Tou nodded heavily, “Okay, what about you, Witch…?”

Lu Yu smiled, “Remember what I told you this morning about the smoke signal? Use the smoke signal to call back Tai Lie and the others first. When they come back, everything will be fine. Alright, there’s no time, hurry.”

“Okay!” Shi Tou grabbed Xiao Shui and ran with the little Matai.

Lu Yu took out fur and some flammable branches from his ring, threw them into a large stone basin, poured some water, ignited them with flint, and vigorously fanned them to produce thick smoke.

After doing all this, he descended from the tower.

At this time, there were already some Matai people standing in the village, tightly holding wooden sticks, with resolute faces.

If Xia Cao and the others hadn’t been caught, they might still hide, but now, they couldn’t retreat.

Lu Yu had already guessed it would be like this, and he didn’t persuade them. He just said, “I’m with you guys.”

Just a moment ago, the determined Matai people suddenly panicked. “Witch, quickly hide. We can manage here. We’ll rescue Xia Cao and the others.”

“Stop talking,” Lu Yu interrupted, “Wait and don’t act rashly. Let me deal with them first. When Tai Lie and the others return, we’ll fight.”

Unable to defy him, the Matai people reluctantly agreed.

Just as they emerged from the woods, someone from the Blackwater Tribe spotted the tower emitting smoke. Squinting, Jiao Feng asked Qing Mu, “Did this small tribe have such a thing before?”

“No,” Qing Mu replied after a moment of confusion, “Their tribe’s houses are well-built, probably by skilled craftsmen. This might be their new construction, used for… cooking?”

Upon hearing this, Jiao Feng furrowed his brow but didn’t pay much attention to the smoke.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” the Matai people confronting the newcomers angrily shouted.

Glancing at the sturdy stone walls and the people behind them wielding sticks, Jiao Feng smirked, “You’ve built this tribe nicely. I fancy it. If you leave now and give up this place, I might spare your lives.”

“You’re dreaming!”

“Dreaming? Hahaha,” Jiao Feng laughed heartily, then gestured for someone to bring forward the women they had just captured.

Seeing Xia Cao and the others bound and gagged, the Matai people were filled with rage.

“Release them!”

“Or I’ll kill you all!”

“Still dare to speak to me like that,” Jiao Feng chuckled, “Is your small tribe strong but lacking in brains?”

His face, which was smiling moments ago, suddenly turned serious, “I advise you to drop those sticks in your hands and leave obediently, or I’ll kill one by one.”

After saying that, he ordered someone to bring a Matai woman forward, kicked her to the ground, and held a spear to her.

The Matai people were anxious, their eyes red, and their hands trembling slightly.

They wanted to rush out now, but the Witch said it wasn’t the right time…

Jiao Feng waited confidently for a while, but nothing happened.

“Then don’t blame me for not giving you a chance,” Jiao Feng gritted his teeth, “Kill.”

“Yes!”

The person holding the spear against the Matai woman heard the command and immediately moved to stab her in the back.

“Wait!”

A clear voice rang out.

The person with the spear couldn’t help but stop, and everyone from the Blackwater Tribe turned their heads to where the voice came from.

They saw a man with a handsome face, fair skin, and a slender but not skinny figure, opening the wooden door of the village and stepping out.

Jiao Feng frowned, “Who are you? Just you coming out is not enough.”

“One is enough,” Lu Yu said arrogantly.

“I am the Witch.”

As soon as he said this, the three hundred or so members of the Blackwater Tribe, who had been relatively quiet, erupted into a commotion.

“He actually said he’s the Witch!”

“How is that possible? Our Blackwater Tribe can’t even hire a Witch. How can this small tribe have one?”

“He must be lying to us!”

“But what if what he says is true…”

“Hahaha, then we’ve hit the jackpot this time. We’ve actually captured a Witch!”

—

“Shut up, all of you!” Jiao Feng roared angrily.

The Blackwater Tribe fell silent as if silenced by a spell.

Jiao Feng stared at Lu Yu intently, “Are you really a Witch?”

“Yes.”

“What can you do?”

Lu Yu crossed his arms, arrogantly saying, “I can make healing pills!”

“Is that so? Then I want to see your skill,” Jiao Feng grinned, pointing at the Matai woman lying on the ground, “Let’s use this woman as a test subject. Bring her to me—”

“No!” Lu Yu decisively interrupted him.

“Hmm?” Jiao Feng furrowed his brow, “Why not?”

Did this person deceive him?

Lu Yu looked down disdainfully at the woman lying on the ground, “Their blood is the raw material for pill. Are you sure you want to waste it like this?”

Jiao Feng hadn’t expected this reason and hesitated for a moment, “Is that true?”

With a hint of impatience, Lu Yu said, “Otherwise, do you think a distinguished Witch like me would be serving in this small tribe?”

Hearing this, Jiao Feng believed him somewhat.

Witches were rare and precious individuals. If this person really was a Witch, he would have long gone to one of the large tribes on the Beasts Plains and enjoyed the treatment of being above one person and below ten thousand. There really was no need to endure in this small tribe.

Jiao Feng casually pulled over someone beside him and drew a line on his body with the spear.

“Heal him.”

Lu Yu watched him use his own people as test subjects without hesitation, and the disgust in his heart almost made it difficult for him to maintain the expression he had put on his face.

Lu Yu said his healing pills were in the wooden house and went to get them.

When he couldn’t delay any longer, he finally took out the red pills and let the injured person take them. After a while, the wounds on his body healed.

The Blackwater Tribe was in turmoil.

Lu Yu swept his gaze over them.

All he saw was greed and ecstasy in their eyes. The way they looked at him was like seeing a tool or a piece of meat, wanting to take a bite.

Jiao Feng gestured, and immediately someone stepped forward, grabbing Lu Yu’s arm and restraining his hands.

The Matai people couldn’t hold back, “Witch!”

“Is this how you treat a Witch?” Lu Yu scolded angrily, but his eyes betrayed a hint of concern.

Didn’t he discuss the use of smoke signals with Tai Lie and the others this morning?

Why haven’t they returned yet?

Didn’t they see the smoke? It didn’t make sense. The smoke was billowing up into the sky.

Just as Lu Yu began to worry, he caught sight of dozens of figures rushing towards them at breakneck speed!

They were back!

Tai Lie was back!

Lu Yu was overjoyed and quickly signaled to the Matai people still in the village, then gestured to Xia Cao and the others who were tied up with grass.

“Leader, someone’s coming!” The Blackwater Tribe also noticed the situation.

Dozens of sturdy warriors, ignoring the thorny bushes, charged through the jungle with an overwhelming rage, as if a rain of fire stones were descending from the sky, terrifying enough to chill one’s heart.

Some in the Blackwater Tribe shivered.

Jiao Feng frowned. Were these hunters planning to fight to the death?

Before, he could have used the people he had captured to threaten them into submission, but after hearing the words of the Witch just now, that tactic was no longer viable.

But even if he couldn’t threaten them, with his hundreds of men, could he not capture these people?

Once he had captured them all, he would break their hands and feet, imprison them as blood slaves, and make the Witch constantly produce pill for him. Soon, their Blackwater Tribe would be able to join the Plains of Ten Thousand Beasts and become one of the top tribes!

With this thought, Jiao Feng’s spirits soared, and he raised his leader’s spear, shouting, “Capture them alive for me! Don’t kill them!”

“Yes!” Hearing the leader’s command, the people of the Blackwater Tribe reluctantly steadied their minds, gripping their spears and wooden shields tightly.

In a hundred meters, almost in the blink of an eye, the Matai people charged forward.

Just at this moment, Xia Cao, pretending to be bound, suddenly broke free from the ropes and roared, “Fight!!!”

Her words were like a fire igniting a cauldron.

The pent-up Matai people suddenly erupted.

The battle began with a roar.

The hundreds of people from the Blackwater Tribe were their elite troops. Before they came, Jiao Feng had specially organized them into teams, with three people dealing with one, and the rest filling in as needed.

He thought it was foolproof, but he didn’t expect these Matai people to be even more savage than Qing Mu had described…

Especially one of them, who seemed to see something and suddenly surged with momentum, rushing towards him with bloodshot eyes…

Jiao Feng’s expression tightened, and he ordered the person holding Lu Yu to retreat with him.

Lu Yu should have obediently complied and waited for the Matai people to settle the battlefield before rescuing him. However, he was afraid that the leader would realize the Matai people’s regard for him and use him to threaten them. He decided not to wait passively for his death.

Lu Yu forcefully broke free from the grasp, reached into his ring, and took out a thin stone chip he usually used for fishing, fiercely slashing it backwards.

The person holding him jumped back in fright.

Seeing this, Lu Yu hurriedly fled, but before he could take a step, he was blocked by a spear.

“Trying to escape?” Jiao Feng’s face was fierce as he slowly lowered the spear, “I think even a lame Witch can still make pill.”

Lu Yu’s heart sank, but he wasn’t too panicked. As long as his leg wasn’t directly chopped off, a big red pill would solve the problem.

Jiao Feng viciously stabbed the spear towards Lu Yu’s leg…

Lu Yu was prepared for the pain of a broken leg, but suddenly, an anomaly occurred!

A dark figure emerged from nowhere, immediately tackling him to the ground and using his back to block the spear.

Lu Yu’s vision blurred, but when he saw the person clearly, he was shocked.

It was Cha Zhe!

Cha Zhe propped up his arm, “I…”

“Don’t move!” Lu Yu didn’t have time to ask him how he appeared here. He pressed his head down and quickly looked behind him.

Although the big healing pill was powerful, it wasn’t a miracle drug. A fatal blow couldn’t be saved.

When he took a look, his heart first relaxed, then rose high again.

Cha Zhe was fine, but Tai Lie, who rushed over, grabbed the incredibly sharp spear with his left hand.

Blood stained his palm, dripping down.

Lu Yu hadn’t had time to reassure himself that he had the big red pill and that Tai Lie wouldn’t lose his hand. The next moment, he saw someone standing behind Tai Lie, raising the spear high as he used his hand to block the spear…

All the blood veins in Lu Yu’s body rushed to his head.

“Tai Lie!!!”