Before long, Hua Mulan hurried over with Cuihua to give her thanks.
"Thank you for your kindness, my Lord!"
Hua Mulan cupped her hands and stood before Han Huohuo, her figure ramrod straight, neither haughty nor servile.
Han Huohuo couldn't help marveling inwardly. This was a true hero — standing there she was like a host of a thousand armies, dashing and valiant. Truly, a woman could match any man.
But a glance at her Loyalty showed it had barely risen three points, now at 63.
Heroes really were unlike bandits — raising their Loyalty wasn't so easy.
"Come, sit at my place for a bit. I happen to have something to ask you."
"After you, my Lord!"
That was the title Han Huohuo loved best. In the whole camp the other bandits all called him Chief, and only Hua Mulan called him Lord.
Smiling, Han Huohuo led Hua Mulan to his own little courtyard.
Zhang Xiao'an had finished building the toilet, and Liu Long had transplanted a tree into the courtyard. The autumn osmanthus was especially fragrant, and the little courtyard had been tidied up spotlessly.
"You've a fine eye for elegance, my Lord!"
"Sit!"
Hua Mulan sat across from Han Huohuo, while Cuihua stood stiffly behind her.
"You sit too. No need to be so formal."
"Huh? Me?"
Cuihua could hardly believe it. What right did a servant have to sit at the same table as her masters? She didn't dare even imagine it.
"Since the Lord tells you to sit, then sit."
"...Yes!"
Cuihua sat down gingerly at the side, then hurried to snatch the teapot from Han Huohuo's hand and brew tea for the two great ones.
Hua Mulan was a barbarian and hadn't cared for such elaborate etiquette to begin with. Seeing Han Huohuo's manner just now, it suited her perfectly, and a sense of kinship welled up in her at once.
This mountain chief was refreshingly forthright — not like that pack of idiotic Great Qian Dynasty scholars, so pedantic, forever insisting on a strict order of high and low.
Loyalty +2
Han Huohuo hadn't even expected that a casual gesture of his would actually raise Hua Mulan's Loyalty.
"You wished to see me about something, my Lord?"
"I wanted to ask — what treasure exactly is the Barbarian King looking for?"
"Ah, that's no secret. The treasure the Barbarian King seeks is the Giant War Armor. He paid a great price to have the Wang family of Wanqing City find it for him — only for it to be lost in the Hundred-Thousand Mountains."
Hua Mulan sighed, clearly still rueing her failure to complete the mission.
For some reason, Han Huohuo always felt there was a trace of the uncanny in this affair. Too abnormal! Too far against all reason!
"Is this Giant War Armor treasure very powerful?"
"Not really. The Giant War Armor itself isn't very strong, but it's one component of the barbarian set treasure, the Cruel Axe combination. The Barbarian King has already gathered all the other treasures of the Cruel Axe — only the last piece, the Giant War Armor, remains."
"A combination treasure? Treasures can be combined together?"
"Just so!"
No wonder the Barbarian King valued the Giant War Armor so highly — it was a component of a set treasure.
"How are the General's wounds?"
"Thank you for your concern, my Lord. A minor wound, not worth mentioning."
"The Hundred-Thousand Mountains have rather fine scenery. When you've time, have Cuihua take you around to look."
"That is exactly my intention. I must personally scout the surrounding terrain and learn the lay of the nearby battlefields."
"The General is most diligent!"
"......"
The two chatted idly a while longer, then Han Huohuo had Cuihua escort his general back to the manor to rest. Hua Mulan said she was fine, but she looked rather low on energy; her wounds weren't fully healed.
Aiya.
Even Hua Mulan had a maidservant now, and yet he, the Lord, still didn't. No good — yours truly wants a maid too. Doesn't even need to be too pretty. Someone like Diaochan would do.
The kid was starting to indulge in wild fantasies.
A pity — outside, corpses of the starved lay everywhere, sallow-faced famine victims all around, arms and legs thinner than hemp stalks. Where would any beauty come from?
So he could only daydream a little.
With more and more people, Han Huohuo simply built several more houses in one go.
Then, once the wood and stone were enough, he upgraded the wall to Tier 3. A Tier-3 wall was no longer all wood — it had a stone base, with a row of thick timbers set on top. Even a Mammoth Beast couldn't break through such a wall in one rush.
The gate was the weakest point of the defense.
When the time came, he'd probably still have to use the workers' numerical advantage for a gate-plugging tactic!
The third day was nearly over, and Han Huohuo had already begun considering every detail of the seventh-day defense battle.
Everyone was growing familiar with this world.
The Lords gradually diverged. The lucky and clever ones thrived, snowballing into vigorous growth, while those who'd developed in the wrong direction from the start were now struggling at every step.
Ding!
【Congratulations, Lord, you have risen to Level 4.】
【Lord】: Han Huohuo
【Level】: 4
【Attributes】: Strength 5, Defense 3, Endurance 1 (4), Intelligence 3.
【Exclusive Skill】: Mechanical Mastery
【General Skills】: Basic Leadership, Basic Attack (10%).
This level only raised his Intelligence by one point, and Han Huohuo didn't feel any smarter.
Same as not leveling up.
And there was no treasure-chest reward either. It seemed only the first three levels gave rewards; after Level 4 the chests stopped.
He didn't mind. Such rewards obviously couldn't last forever — they were just an opening incentive for the fastest-moving Lords.
He had a useless D-grade Longbowman Barracks blueprint on hand. That barracks was extremely sought-after at the moment, the mainstay troop of many Lords.
With nothing better to do, Han Huohuo browsed the trade channel, hoping to sell the blueprint.
For the moment he didn't know what to trade for, so he just browsed around.
Weapons?
No thanks!
Treasures?
All low-grade treasures, far too low-grade, useless!
Resources?
He didn't seem to be short of any resource.
Suddenly, Han Huohuo's eyes lit up.
He saw a blueprint.
【Herb Garden】: lets you grow all kinds of medicinal herbs.
【Build】: 200 wood, 100 stone.
Huh?
The seller's note said they only wanted to trade for a barracks blueprint.
This blueprint was good. No one could guarantee they wouldn't fall ill. Though his army was all mechanical, what if he himself got hurt or sick?
He checked — the one selling the blueprint was a girl named Jiang Xiaowen.
"Hello, how do you want to trade this Herb Garden blueprint?"
"Huh? Isn't this the big shot Han Huohuo? You're the one who beat the barbarians?"
"The genuine article — that's me!"
"Wow, big bro, you're so impressive! Any tricks to fighting barbarians? Teach me, would you?"
"......"
"Sister Jiang, I just want to buy this blueprint from you. Can we not wander off topic!"
"Oh, all right! I just want a barracks blueprint. You don't know — a few days ago I ran into a wolf pack and took a bunch of cudgel troops out hunting, but we couldn't beat them and got chased across three valleys. So infuriating. I really can't stand these cudgel troops, dumb and clumsy, with low attack..."
"...Sister Jiang, let's get back to the point. I have a longbowman blueprint and want to trade it for this one of yours. What do you say?"
Han Huohuo was already sweating. If this sister kept going she could probably talk till dawn, so he hurried to cut her off.
"A longbowman blueprint? Wow, that's wonderful, I love archers most, especially longbowmen — everyone says they're the best troops out there right now!"
"Auntie Jiang, hold on, I'm not done. By the current market rate, my Longbowman Barracks blueprint is more precious than your Herb Garden blueprint, so shouldn't you throw in some resources for me?"
"Throw in some resources for you? Hold on..."
The other side went off to find who-knew-what, and before long produced some seeds to show Han Huohuo.
【Blood-Staunch Herb Seeds】: can be grown into blood-staunch herb. As for what this herb does, see the name.
【Fever-Reducing Herb Seeds】: can be grown into fever-reducing herb.
【Poison-Purging Herb Seeds】: can be grown into poison-purging herb.
These... herbs... were named so simple and direct you didn't have to guess at all what they did!
"I'll throw in these seeds for you! How's that — don't ask me for resources, I'm short on every resource there is, I'm about to die broke, let me tell you..."
"Fine, fine, that works, Granny Jiang, I give up! Let's trade already!"
Han Huohuo was about to crack. He hurried to trade the blueprint and seeds with Jiang Xiaowen.
"Huh, what did you just call me?"
Jiang Xiaowen suddenly sensed something off — how had she gone from "little sister" to "big sister" to "auntie" and finally to "Granny Jiang"? She was about to ask when she found Han Huohuo had already blacklisted her!
"You scoundrel, Han Huohuo! Trade's done, you pull up your pants and don't know me anymore? Think blacklisting your auntie lets you get away? Boy, you've offended your auntie — you're dead!..."
"What happened?"
"Whose pants? Tell me the details, I love this stuff!"
"Holy crap, the big shot Han Huohuo's got some scandal? Whose paparazzi is this fierce?"
"......"