The electric farm tricycle made little noise as Yan Xing drove it, rumbling over the bumpy terrain of the desolate grassland.
The surroundings were dim, the tricycle's headlights illuminating only the nearby ground, their beams swaying with the undulations of the land.
Under the unknown starry sky, Yan Xing had long since lost his direction. Fortunately, Lao Hansi, who was with him, was very familiar with this grassland and guided the "Great Army" straight towards the shacks.
It truly felt like that saying: "Big Dipper aloft, Geshu bringing his sword at night."
They pressed on, taking nearly two hours to reach the vicinity of the shacks.
Yan Xing guessed that Werewolves had sensitive noses, so he drove the farm tricycle in a small detour, stopping far off on the eastern, downwind side.
Then, with Lao Hansi and Eddie, he quietly climbed a gentle slope and lay prone on the reverse slope.
They crawled forward slowly, their bodies hidden in the grass.
The sporadic chirping of insects nearby only made the night seem quieter.
When Yan Xing reached the top of the slope, he peered through the gaps in the grass and clearly saw a flickering bonfire about two hundred meters ahead, and the shacks illuminated by its light.
The shacks, built of shrub branches and dried thatch, were not only low but also drafty from all sides.
Even the Swamp Tribe Werewolves were reluctant to stay in such shacks.
Most of the Werewolves were sleeping on the ground around the bonfire, while three others stood guard a short distance away.
The captured human farmers were bound with vine ropes, sitting encircled by the Werewolves.
Yan Xing took out a telescope and observed this Werewolf patrol closely.
The Werewolves' height was not much different from that of humans. In appearance, they were bipedal wolves, their forelimbs flexible enough to grasp things like human hands.
Most Werewolves wore Grass Armor woven from reeds, and their weapons were Bone Shackles.
Their equipment was crude, but compared to the human farmers' tattered clothes and dung forks, it was exceptionally fine.
Moreover, Yan Xing spotted a distinctive Werewolf.
He was larger and wore half-body hardened leather armor. The head of his Bone Shackle wasn't bone but a spiked iron ball.
From Lao Hansi's descriptions, Yan Xing knew this Great Werewolf was an advanced Werewolf unit, a Second Order creature of the Swamp Tribe.
This Great Werewolf must be the leader of this patrol.
This will be tough. Really tough.
Never mind the Great Werewolf; even the nine ordinary Werewolves are too much for me and two farmers to handle.
Yan Xing had a clear understanding of his own limitations.
Even with the title of Lord Hero, I'm still just a First Order rookie.
If there were only one or two First Order Werewolves, Yan Xing, perhaps emboldened by half a jin of liquor, might have dared to fight.
But now... even if I drank a whole jin of "Energizer," I wouldn't dare.
I definitely can't count on Eddie and Lao Hansi. We can't win this by brute force; we have to use strategy.
Yan Xing led the two farmers slowly down from the top of the slope, then whispered to them, "Both of you stay here to watch those Werewolves, while I go find some weapons to deal with them.
'Remember! Before I return, no one is to make a move.'"
Eddie and Lao Hansi nodded. "Lord, we wouldn't dare!"
Developing my territory is such a long and arduous journey... Yan Xing sighed and returned to his farm tricycle.
He mounted the tricycle and brought up his personal attributes menu.
He selected "Exit."
Yan Xing and his farm tricycle materialized in the small grove where he had first entered the game world.
Night had also fallen in the real world. Not far off, dazzling city lights outshone the moon, dimming its glow.
The stars were nowhere to be seen.
Yan Xing drove the farm tricycle back to the suburbs, the vehicle going CLATTER-CLATTER, until he stopped in front of a braised delicacies shop on a commercial street.
"Boss!" Yan Xing called out as he entered. "Give me forty jin of braised meat."
The counter of the braised delicacies shop was separated by a glass window. Behind it, several stew pots sat on a table. Small flames heated the pots from below, making the braising liquid bubble. Chunks of meat simmered in the sauce, their glossy, reddish-brown color whetting the appetite.
The owner of the shop was a plump, middle-aged woman. She immediately greeted him with a smile upon hearing someone wanted to buy forty jin of braised meat all at once.
"Young man, are you getting food for a construction site, perhaps to improve their meals? Let me tell you, my braised delicacies use a secret recipe passed down for a hundred years! I guarantee that once you try it, you'll be back for more.
Which kind of braised meat would you like? Auntie will help you pick the most tender and flavorful ones!
Hahaha..."
"Boss, I could smell your delicious meat from far away! It's definitely authentic," Yan Xing said, sweet-talking the owner. He then looked at the more than twenty types of braised dishes behind the window. "Ten jin of pig's head meat, ten jin of pig intestines, ten jin of braised pork belly, and give me five large pork knuckles. Whatever they weigh, I'll take them all!"
Five large pork knuckles would definitely be more than ten jin.
This single order would net her small shop a profit of over two thousand yuan.
Seeing such a rare, high-volume customer, the plump owner beamed and deftly weighed the meat for Yan Xing.
Yan Xing took out his phone and promptly made the payment, then said, "Could you please debone any meat with bones, chop everything into pieces, and mix it all together?"
The plump owner, hearing such an odd request for the first time, asked, "Young man... chopping all this meat into small pieces and mixing it together? How do you plan to eat it?"
"How we eat it is our business," Yan Xing replied, showing her the successful payment on his phone screen. "Just prepare it and pack it in a large bag when you're done.
I need to buy a few other things. Is there a shop selling dried fruits on this street?"
Since the customer insisted and the money was paid, the plump owner didn't ask further. If they wanted to mix four kinds of meat to eat, that was their prerogative.
Responding to Yan Xing's question, the plump owner said, "Yes, there's a dried fruit shop. Turn left when you go out; it's less than fifty meters away. They have all kinds of dried fruits there."
"Thank you, Boss." After confirming the location of the dried fruit shop, Yan Xing left.
After a while, Yan Xing returned to the braised delicacies shop carrying a large bag of round-shelled nuts.
The plump owner had finished chopping and mixing the meat, packing it into a large plastic bag. She even kindly helped Yan Xing carry it to his farm tricycle.
This much meat should definitely be enough for those Werewolves.
Yan Xing placed the purchased nuts in the tricycle's cargo bed. He waved goodbye to the smiling plump owner, who stood at the shop entrance, then drove the farm tricycle back towards the small grove he had come from.
He brought up the game world interface and selected "Enter."
Yan Xing drove his farm tricycle back to the foot of the slope he had left from.
Seeing Lord Yan Xing return, Eddie and Lao Hansi immediately came forward to greet him carefully, then smelled the rich aroma of meat wafting from the cargo bed.
"Lord, why did you bring so much meat?"
Yan Xing replied, "It's for the Werewolves, of course. This Lord never takes unfair advantage in a fight. We'll feed them well tonight, and tomorrow morning, we'll attack and fight them to the death!"
"Ah?"