Section 017: Taming and Raising Wild Buffalo

Very soon, everyone took their positions as arranged by Li Zhan. When Ruoyan saw that everyone else had been assigned a task except for her, she turned to Li Zhan and asked, “Chief, what should I do?”

When there were many people around, Ruoyan would address Li Zhan as “Chief”; when there were fewer people or no one else present, she would simply call him “hey.”

Li Zhan thought for a moment. In truth, he hadn’t considered assigning anything to Ruoyan beforehand. Noticing the missionary watching expectantly, swallowing nervously, he said offhandedly, “You’ll be responsible for keeping the missionary safe.”

The missionary’s role was to heal wounded militiamen or villagers, and having Ruoyan as his protector was a fitting arrangement.

According to Li Zhan’s orders, Zhao Ming and four militiamen went to the stockade gate, lifted the bar, and pulled the gate open, leaving a gap just over a meter wide. The wild cattle outside saw the opening and, lowing loudly, charged straight into the compound. Once five wild cattle had entered, Zhao Ming and the four militiamen quickly exerted all their strength to slam the gate shut and drop the bar.

The five cattle that burst into the settlement rampaged wildly between the fields and buildings, causing considerable havoc with their sheer brute force. Fortunately, Li Zhan had previously instructed the villagers to stand on the thatched roofs, so everyone remained safe.

The villagers, holding fishing nets at the ready, kept their eyes on the rampaging cattle. Whenever a wild cow came near their roof, the villagers hurled their nets. The moment a cow was ensnared, they pulled the ropes tight, trapping it firmly.

After several rounds, all five wild cattle were thoroughly entangled in the nets. The villagers quickly climbed down from the rooftops and joined forces to subdue the animals.

But mishaps occur. In the process of restraining one of the wild cattle, it broke free from the net and escaped. The villagers were caught off guard, and three or four were knocked aside in an instant. Li Zhan, who had been keeping a close watch on the situation, immediately called Zhao Ming and two militiamen from the gate to help subdue the animal.

But the wild cow was extremely fast, and as it charged madly, several villagers were gored by its horns. Zhao Ming and the two militiamen gave chase for some time but couldn’t catch up. Behind them, the missionary, accompanied by Ruoyan, hurriedly tended to the injured villagers. Thankfully, their wounds were minor and could be healed within a second or two.

The wild cow, after running a full circle around the center of the settlement, was exhausted, panting heavily as it stared at the villagers. Finally, it fixed its gaze on the slow-moving missionary. With a bellow, it lowered its horns and charged straight at him.

Seeing this, the missionary cried out, “Oh Lord, someone save these old bones of mine!”

Before his words had faded, the wild cow was upon him, panting fiercely. Seeing there was no way to evade, the missionary simply closed his eyes.

After a moment, not feeling the impact of horns, he opened his eyes to see Li Zhan and Ruoyan together holding back the wild cow’s horns. Both had activated their basic combat skills, giving them a slight boost in strength and defense. Even so, the cow’s brute force was overwhelming, and the two of them were pushed back step by step.

“Thank you, Lord! Thank you, God! Thank you…” the missionary began to shower the heavens with his praises.

Li Zhan could barely contain his frustration—every time, it was the same: the ones who should be thanked were ignored, and the names of unrelated deities were on everyone’s lips. If he weren’t currently locked in a struggle with the wild cow, he’d have dearly liked to give the missionary a good whack to knock some sense into him.

Soon, Zhao Ming and the two militiamen arrived. Because Li Zhan had instructed them to try to take the cattle alive, the three dropped their clubs as they charged in. Two seized the cow’s horns, while one grabbed its tail from behind. With five people working together, they finally managed to subdue the animal. Then, a dozen villagers rushed over with nets and, working together, encircled and restrained the wild cow.

With the five wild cattle securely trapped in nets, Li Zhan assigned over twenty villagers to guard them, while the remaining thirty-odd villagers, along with Zheng Jun and five other builders, began constructing a cattle pen. They selected the sturdiest timber, buried the foundations over a meter deep, and built the pen’s roof more than two meters above the ground, sealing all sides except for a single wooden door for entry and exit.

Li Zhan had already thought of a way to deal with the wild cattle outside the stockade. He ordered the militiamen to gather bundles of sorghum stalks left over from the harvest, set them alight, and tossed them outside the wooden fence. Like all wild beasts, the cattle were afraid of fire. Seeing the roaring flames, they panicked and scattered in all directions.

Before long, the combined efforts of the villagers completed the cattle pen. They dragged the five wild cattle inside, removed the nets, and withdrew safely under the cover of torches. Without waiting for Li Zhan’s command, the only villager with animal training skills, Li He, volunteered to take charge of taming the cattle.

After two days living and working with the villagers, both Li He and Jin Xue had been infected by the group’s high spirits, raising their loyalty above 70. Although this was still lower than that of the native Flame Emperor Tribe villagers, it was much better than when they first joined, and their enthusiasm for work was growing.

Li Zhan nodded his approval to Li He’s request. In truth, even if Li He hadn’t spoken up, Li Zhan would have chosen him for the task. Animal training was not like other skills; if a villager with no farming or weaving skills was put to work in the fields, the worst that could happen was reduced efficiency and lower quality crops. But if someone without animal training skills tried to tame wild beasts, not only would it take far longer, but there was also a real risk of injury.

Li He was delighted. For days, he’d been serving as a farmer, unable to make use of his expertise, which had left him quite dispirited. Now, with the tribe planning to tame wild cattle, he finally had a role suited to his talents—a formal job, one he could be proud of in front of the other villagers.

With a look of joy, Li He strode over to the cattle pen to begin his new work, while Jin Xue stood nearby, pouting, her mood far from as cheerful. Her skill was potential—she could learn the skills of other villagers, but until she did, she was essentially a “blank slate,” possessing no special abilities.

Li Zhan had not forgotten about this dejected “blank slate” villager. Animal training skills were extremely rare, and he certainly did not want his tribe to have only one villager capable of it.

Approaching Jin Xue, Li Zhan said, “Taming wild beasts is both dangerous and demanding. It would be too much for Li He to handle alone. From now on, you’ll work alongside him, focusing on animal training. Don’t worry about not having the skill yet—spend time observing and learning, and one day you’ll be just as adept as he is.”

———

A correction: The population cap for the Dark Age is 500; this was stated incorrectly earlier.

That said, the population cap is mostly irrelevant—few players, apart from novices, would stick around in the Dark Age long enough to reach it. The unit selection is limited (just militiamen), the economy is severely restricted, and technological research is scant. The United Alliance (a consortium of over a dozen game companies) set the requirements for upgrading from the Dark Age to the Feudal Age quite low—for playability’s sake, of course. Naturally, “low” here is relative to the much higher standards of later ages.