Volume One: The First Arrival Chapter Five: The Purge

The little green-skinned dwarf clearly did not understand what Meng Xingchen was saying. Standing barely a meter tall, he held up a long spear nearly twice his height, his puzzled expression oddly comical.

Meng Xingchen ignored him and walked past to inspect the cargo on the wagon. The goods consisted mainly of weapons—spears, knives, and some longbows. There were also a few swords, but all were heavy two-handed broadswords, none suitable for him.

A bit disappointed, Meng Xingchen said to the green-skinned dwarf, “There’s no weapon that suits me. You’d better just pay me.”

The dwarf set down his spear and stomped his feet in frustration. “Impossible! The weapons crafted by our goblin artisans are far superior to those made by your human blacksmiths. Tell me what kind of weapon you want; there must be something for you.”

Meng Xingchen pointed to the two-handed broadswords on the wagon. “I need a lighter sword, suitable for one-handed use.”

The dwarf blinked in surprise, then his eyes gleamed as he said happily, “Wait here.” He climbed onto another wagon and pulled out a sword from behind the driver’s seat.

The goblin, holding a sword almost as tall as himself, jumped down and said to Meng Xingchen, “Look at this longsword, carefully crafted by master goblin smiths. It’s yours for just one gold coin. Human boy, you’re getting a real bargain!”

Meng Xingchen took the sword, about a meter long and two fingers wide, weighing it in his hand. The weight was just right. He ran his fingers along the blade and found it smooth as a mirror, but unsharpened.

He gave the dwarf a half-smile and said, “Master goblin smiths carefully crafted it? Your goblin weapons are all dull? Is this just a showpiece you’re trying to sell at a high price?”

He flicked the spine of the blade gently and, sensing the quality of the material, continued, “Alright, I’ll take the sword, but no way for one gold coin. I’ll pay at most one silver.”

The dwarf, initially hesitant and darting his eyes around, suddenly jumped up and snatched the sword back, yelling, “One silver? Absolutely not! At least eight silver coins, not one copper less!”

Meng Xingchen shrugged indifferently. “Fine, keep it then. Give me four silver coins, and you can have the leopard skin.”

Obviously, getting silver coins from a goblin was harder than climbing to the heavens. After a fierce negotiation, Klein finally exchanged the sword plus thirty copper coins for the Shadow Leopard’s pelt.

Klein stroked the leopard skin obsessively, murmuring, “Look at this glossy black sheen, this smooth texture—it’s simply captivating.”

At that moment, Li Shan, who had been quietly observing the trade, approached and bowed to Klein. “Mr. Klein, are your guards available for hire?”

Hearing the prospect of business, Klein immediately wiped the infatuated look off his face. “Hire my guards?”

Li Shan nodded. “Yes, and the job isn’t dangerous—just clearing out hobgoblins.”

Klein’s eyes flickered. “My guards are all experts above first rank. Killing hobgoblins is easy for them. I’ll be here for two or three days; during that time, I can hire out two guards to you. The fee is one gold coin per day.”

Li Shan and the others, initially excited about hiring guards, immediately fell grim upon hearing the fee.

Klein saw their expressions and knew they couldn’t afford it, so he turned and headed toward the tavern. “Two first-rank guards for one gold coin a day—that’s already generous, considering you brought Klein good goods. No discounts.”

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Waving the longsword in his hand, Meng Xingchen tested its feel and said to the worried Li Daniu and others, “Brother Li, we don’t necessarily need mercenaries. We can clear out the hobgoblins ourselves.”

Seeing Meng Xingchen wield the sword and recalling his precise spear throws, the group thought that with a few hunters cooperating, it might just be possible.

With a plan in mind, Li Daniu and the others stopped fretting and decided to buy some supplies before returning home. Meng Xingchen followed the sound of hammering to a blacksmith’s shop.

First, he needed the longsword sharpened. Also, after learning how tough the beasts’ and magical creatures’ pelts were, he wanted to upgrade his short spears. Bamboo spears alone wouldn’t pierce the defenses of creatures like the wild ox.

Inside the smithy, two youths around eighteen or nineteen, shirtless and sweating, hammered a piece of iron alternately beside the forge. Nearby, a burly middle-aged man in a vest sat fanning himself.

When Meng Xingchen entered, the middle-aged man put down his fan and asked, “Do you need weapons or farming tools?”

Meng Xingchen handed over the longsword. “Can you sharpen this?”

The man examined the blade, plucked its surface with thick fingers, and sighed regretfully, “It’s made from fine steel, but such a light blade can’t bear much force.”

Meng Xingchen smiled without explanation and surveyed the finished goods: farming tools like hoes and machetes on one side, hunting knives on the other.

He didn’t expect finished short spears, so he picked up a palm-sized diamond-shaped spearhead from the shelf. “Boss, how much for this spearhead?”

The middle-aged man still regretted the fine steel’s waste. Looking at the spearhead in Meng Xingchen’s hand, he said, “Forged from refined iron, sturdy and durable. Twenty copper coins each.”

Meng Xingchen bargained, “Forty copper coins for two spearheads, and you sharpen my sword. Deal?”

The man shook his head and waved the two young smiths away. While working, he muttered, “What’s the use of sharpening such a light sword? It might break with even a strong chop. Such a shame on this fine steel…”

When Meng Xingchen left the smithy, Li Daniu and the others had finished shopping. Seeing the longsword and two spearheads in his hands, Li Daniu asked curiously, “Meng, didn’t you say you didn’t want spears? Why buy spearheads?”

Meng Xingchen toyed with the longsword. “I’m not making a long spear, but short spears.”

Li Daniu examined the spearheads and nodded, “Mounted on ironwood shafts, these will be much more lethal than bamboo spears.”

They didn’t linger at the market but ate dry rations and drank cool water on the way back, hurrying to Li Village.

By then, the sun had tilted west, making it unsuitable to enter the mountains. Li Daniu helped Meng Xingchen find two ironwood poles of suitable thickness, then went to hold a meeting with villagers to choose who would join Meng Xingchen in clearing the hobgoblins the next day.

The next morning, before dawn, Meng Xingchen and Li Daniu finished breakfast and headed east in the village to meet three other villagers.

At the meeting the previous evening, four able-bodied men including Li Daniu were chosen to form a hunting team with Meng Xingchen to clear the hobgoblins.

The other three were all experienced hunters: a middle-aged man about Li Daniu’s age named Li Dazhuang, and two brothers in their twenties named Li Dabao and Li Erbao, who, Li Daniu said, were Li Shan’s grandsons.

Li Dazhuang and Li Daniu both carried hunting knives at their waists and bows in hand. The brothers had hunting knives as well, but wielded hunting forks.

Once in the mountains, Li Dabao and Li Erbao took the lead, Li Dazhuang and Li Daniu followed in the middle, and Meng Xingchen brought up the rear.

Meng Xingchen’s left hand held the longsword wrapped in leather, his right hand gripped a bamboo spear, and on his back was a modified backpack with three bamboo spears and two short spears with iron spearheads and ironwood shafts.

Just after entering the forest, he scanned the surroundings. Finding nothing unusual, he summoned his attribute panel to check his stats. He had allocated two free attribute points to Constitution and Agility. His current stats were Spirit 7, Constitution 8, and Agility 6.

From yesterday’s tests, Meng Xingchen realized agility influenced body control, flexibility, and enhanced dynamic vision.

Spirit, Constitution, and Agility were all vital. He decided on balanced attribute growth rather than focusing on one, unlike typical games. Still, since spear throwing was his main attack, Constitution gave him the greatest combat benefit.

The morning forest was especially quiet, save for occasional bird calls in the distance and the sounds of Li Dabao and Li Erbao snapping branches as they forged ahead. They had been in the mountains for some time, heading toward a valley suspected to be the hobgoblins’ nest.

As the sun rose to the mountaintop, faint barking came from ahead. The two brothers paused, sheathed their hunting knives, and gripped their forks tightly, eyes fixed on the source.

Li Daniu whispered, “Retreat to the clearing we passed earlier. We’ll set traps there to lure them.”

With just five men, charging directly into the hobgoblins’ lair would be suicide. Their numbers ranged from a hundred to nearly a thousand—far beyond what they could handle.

After last night’s discussion, they had a plan: locate the hobgoblins’ nest, learn their strength, then stalk the outskirts to whittle down their forces.

The five withdrew to a roughly five- to six-meter clearing with only grass and shrubs. They planned to lure the hobgoblins there. Meng Xingchen, Li Daniu, and Li Dazhuang would lie in ambush in the woods to strike from afar, while Dabao and Erbao guarded against close attacks.

Luring the hobgoblins was simple. Li Daniu pulled a sealed leather pouch from his pack. Opening it, a strong metallic scent of blood wafted out—it contained bloody meat chunks. He dumped the meat onto a stone in the clearing, and the five quickly concealed themselves in the woods.

Within a minute, excited barking echoed from afar, rapidly approaching.

Meng Xingchen set down his backpack with the short spears at his feet, stuck the longsword into the ground for easy access, gripped a bamboo spear in his right hand, and stared intently at the clearing.

Soon, rustling sounded through the trees opposite. Three hobgoblins burst into the clearing, heading straight for the meat.