Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 149: Li Wei's Plan (Bonus: for Alliance Chief lanruoruo)

It was currently early August.

The mountains were high and the forests dense, the wild grass growing deep. A single glance revealed nothing but monotonous dark green.

Looking from afar was very comfortable, but getting close meant only suffering.

Especially when the sun rose, unsparingly shining its sunlight, evaporating the moisture in the air until it was stiflingly hot. Taking a single breath would cause a body full of sweat to flow; exhaling a single breath made one feel they were already medium-well done.

Especially since Li Wei and the other five were all wearing Leather Armor and still had to push wheelbarrows. This was truly 'good heavens, turning up the intensity.'

However, they were, after all, existences with Level 1 Awakenings in Life and Stamina; they were not something ordinary people could compare to.

Even if they rapidly marched thirty li in a single morning, they only felt that the intense heat was somewhat hard to bear.

Surprisingly, no one suffered heatstroke, nor did anyone collapse from exhaustion. Upon reaching the shade of the trees, they could turn around and be alive and kicking in the blink of an eye.

When the group of six arrived at the top of a relatively flat hill, the intense heat instantly weakened by two parts (twenty percent), and even the mountain breeze blowing over was a tiny bit cooler.

"Halt! We will set up camp here today. Clyde, Collas, you two take the waterskins and fetch water from the stream below. Liu Zhongyuan will be responsible for setting up camp and installing the cooking stove. Charles, Pang Wu, go pick up some firewood. Be careful not to get bitten by venomous snakes, and at the same time, pay careful attention to the sky. The Witch's large crow sometimes haunts this area."While speaking, Li Wei suddenly drew a dagger with lightning speed and threw it out, stabbing and killing a venomous snake that was silently slithering in the grass over ten meters away.

"My Lord is mighty!"

Liu Zhongyuan trotted over and picked up the venomous snake, which was still twisting its body despite its head having a large hole stabbed through it. At least two or three catties (1-1.5 kg); they were in for a treat.

Everyone wasn't surprised by this either. Collas even smiled silently; this Lord truly understood how to couple grace with might (use the carrot and the stick).

However, wasn't he going to arrange for someone to hunt?

Also, why do they have to cross this mountain? It was clearly much safer to just walk down along the banks of the Creek. Even in this kind of weather, rapidly marching forty li in a single morning should be absolutely no problem.

Of course, no one dared to voice these doubts or offer reminders. Unless the Lord asked, or a Conspiracy Card was used under appropriate conditions, otherwise it was best not to question the Lord's commands. Just honestly obeying orders and taking action was enough. Anyway, if something went wrong, prioritizing self-preservation was the key. As for the rest, naturally the Lord would bear all responsibility.

At this time, everyone immediately took action. Those fetching water fetched water, and those picking up firewood picked up firewood.

Li Wei took back the dagger Liu Zhongyuan returned, left him the short-handled shovel hanging on his backpack, and continued walking toward the top of the mountain. The route he was leading the team on this time had long since deviated from the previous route.

From the 'spoils sharing gathering' location, he had consistently veered west, traveling entirely through wilderness and mountains.

His intention was precisely to cross the continuous mountain peaks to the west.

Of course, the price for this was not small.

The six of them set off at 5:30 this morning. In just over an hour, they had covered twenty li of distance. Everyone was relaxed and happy, having not even consumed a tenth of their Stamina values.

But after the spoils sharing ended, their group took three hours just to travel about ten li. Along the way, they took turns using machetes at the front to clear a path, preparing at all times to build a road. If it truly didn't work, they would lift the wheelbarrows to cross over cliffs and steep slopes.

By the time they arrived at this small hillock, aside from Li Wei, the Stamina of the other five had actually dropped to only about fifty points remaining.

And the reason Li Wei did this was also with a purpose.

Firstly, heading all the way south along the banks of the Creek was an inherently simple route with flat roads, convenient for marching. But there was also an extremely high possibility of being discovered by the black-robed Witch's crow.

It had already been a month since the last fierce battle.

During this time, Li Wei had also been taking precautions. Otherwise, he wouldn't have arranged for Ron, the seemingly strongest knight, to forge iron. Wasn't it just so that if anything happened, this knight could react the fastest?

Adding the on-duty blacksmith Clyde, the two of them could at least hold the City Wall.

As a result, last month, let alone the Snow Mountain Witches' revenge, they couldn't even see the shadow of a crow.

Was this reasonable?

Additionally, only one of the three Snow Mountain Witches had come. This obvious piecemeal reinforcement tactic (adding oil to the fire) was undoubtedly very stupid.

Therefore, Li Wei guessed that this might be the black-robed Witch Mixi acting alone. She had been restlessly running around everywhere, from Kakh City to the family Camp, like an immature little girl easily swayed by emotions.

If blood-wolves and large crows were combat units that could be replenished at any time, then the three-star fallen Garrison Knights absolutely belonged to the category of non-renewable resources.

So, putting oneself in the perspective of that aunt Luna, wouldn't she catch Mixi and beat her up?

At the very least, she had to educate her, right?

Of course, if this aunt Luna was also a strategic idiot, then there was no way to deduce anything.

But regardless, they had to try to avoid that area as much as possible, because the black-robed Witch Mixi's behavior was unpredictable.

What if she discovered their tracks, and then they had to face off against her?

Of course Li Wei wasn't afraid of her, but he had to first go purchase Table Salt!

Take the family's materials and act like nothing happened? When time is up, just throw up your hands and say 'whatever'?

That wouldn't do.

He had to prioritize purchasing Table Salt.

But where was the Table Salt?

Even if Kakh City still had stock, it would be extremely expensive, and there were too many entanglements.

But that merchant caravan that came from the north last time had secret compartments in its covered wagons filled with Table Salt—at least three hundred catties (150kg).

What did this explain? It explained that the merchant caravans all knew smuggling salt to Kakh City would be very profitable, and the further north one went, the more convenient it would be to purchase Table Salt.

So this was Li Wei's plan. What 'suppressing bandits,' what 'going to Kakh City to participate in the Witch's dance of burning'—they were all unreliable. Once you plunged headfirst into them, it would be very difficult to extract yourself.

The task had to be settled first before he could go over there to mess around (have fun/take risks).

And right now, what Li Wei had to do was judge via a general direction and find that road leading north.

This was the reason why, even knowing he had to cross mountains and ridges, he still brought wheelbarrows. Because as long as they crossed these few mountains, there would be a road—not a good one, but at the very least one that could be normally traversed, and one that carried an extremely high probability of avoiding the search of the Witch's crows.

It should be around 11:00 AM right now. The sky was cloudless for ten thousand li (clear), yet the temperature had to be over thirty degrees (Celsius). The large trees on the mountains couldn't connect into unified stretches to form a shady canopy, but as long as they were careful, it was enough to evade aerial reconnaissance units.

Li Wei walked at an unhurried pace, his breathing steady. Although there was quite a lot of sweat on his forehead and body, it actually wasn't as severe as imagined because he was only responsible for leading the way on this trip. Pushing the wheelbarrows and lifting the wheelbarrows were handled by Clyde and the other four taking turns.

He, a dignified Lord, the heir of the Kakh Family, push wheelbarrows and carry things with you guys? What are you thinking?

"Caw, caw, caw!"

A flock of pheasants suddenly flew up from the grass ahead. Li Wei couldn't even be bothered to draw his bow and arrow; he drew his daggers with lightning speed and made two consecutive lightning throws. Instantly, the two largest and fattest pheasants plummeted down.

Hunting was necessary; otherwise, the food they carried wouldn't be nearly enough to eat.

Retrieving the pheasants and wiping the bloodstains off the two daggers, Li Wei continued walking forward. He climbed all the way to the top of the mountain before standing beneath a large tree, simultaneously enjoying the thick shade of the green leaves and looking down at the surrounding terrain. He especially focused on committing the landscape and landforms around the Camp to memory, as well as analyzing and searching for the route to take tomorrow.

That's right, they weren't going any further today; they had to rest well and recover their Stamina.

About half an hour later, Li Wei finally withdrew his gaze. At this point, the terrain within a ten-li radius was basically all clear in his heart. However, he would still have to take a walk in the afternoon for the specific details; he had to walk at least fifty li out.

Following that, Li Wei did not return the way he came, but descended the mountain in another direction. There were deep valleys and dense groves here. He lingered inside for a full hour or more. When he returned to the Camp again, he had an extra silly roe deer in his hands, a few medicinal herbs in his backpack, and a small pile of One-Star Quality mushrooms.

At this time, Liu Zhongyuan had long since dug a smoke-dispersing marching stove, pitched the tents, and even dug drainage ditches.

Clyde and Collas had also retrieved fresh water. Charles and Pang Wu had also brought back quite a lot of firewood and wild vegetables; the latter had also hunted a hare and was boastfully bragging about it.

However, seeing Li Wei's harvest, he was instantly a little dumbfounded.

"Dig a hole and bury the internal organs and bloodstains. Clyde, Collas, stay in the Camp on guard and sentry duty. Liu Zhongyuan, you cook. Charles, Pang Wu, go fetch water once more."

Li Wei tossed both pheasants and mushrooms to Liu Zhongyuan. Added with the hare and a portion of the food they had brought, it was enough to eat.

As for that silly roe deer, it had to be processed by the river.

The smell of blood was too heavy and could easily attract unnecessary trouble. Additionally, Li Wei also wanted to wash off the blood and dirt on his body, treating it as a patrol along the way. He truly wasn't tired. Being amidst mountains and forests was as comfortable as returning home.

Two hours later, Li Wei returned leisurely carrying several waterskins, having Charles carry the processed roe deer.

Meanwhile, Liu Zhongyuan had already finished cooking. Mushroom stew with pheasant, and it was actually a One-Star Quality dish. If Li Wei had caught One-Star Quality pheasants this time, with enough Table Salt and various seasonings, it could perhaps even be made into a Two-Star dish.

"My Lord, please enjoy your meal."

Liu Zhongyuan respectfully ladled Li Wei a full helmet-bowl, then chopped up the large flatbread and put it into the chicken soup. Tsk tsk, truly delicious; One-Star Quality mushrooms were not ordinarily fresh and savory.

The six people cleared the food like the wind sweeping away clouds, eating until it was completely clean. Even the soup and broth were drunk clean.

"Everyone rest well in the afternoon, and fetch water one more time before dusk. If anyone knows how to fish, you can go together, but you absolutely must pay attention to remaining alert; don't get carried away and forget yourselves. Two people must also be left behind to keep a good watch over the Camp. Tonight we take turns on night watch. Clyde, you arrange these."

After eating and drinking his fill, Li Wei left this sentence and entered the tent to quickly fall asleep. Seizing the time to recover his Stamina to ensure he was in his optimal state anytime, anywhere—this had long since become his habit.

Half an hour later, Li Wei woke up, notified them, and then left on his own carrying the shovel. He was going to walk the route to be taken tomorrow.

Because observation is better than blind self-confidence, and on-site exploration is better than observation.

Grasping as many details as possible to be prepared for all contingencies was always better than making a last-minute effort.

(End of this chapter)