8. The Lumberyard

Now the small village has thirty farmers and one carpenter. It’s the slack season, so it’s time to build a lumberyard. The village still has thirty-one units of wood left, which is enough for now.

Zhan Xiaobai summoned Sword Tyrant, Ah Fei, Young Hero of Spring and Autumn, and Autumn Water to discuss the matter.

Ah Fei and Young Hero of Spring and Autumn volunteered to search for a suitable forest to establish the lumberyard. Not long after, they returned with their findings. “Three miles west of the village gate, there’s a small grove with over one thousand units of wood that can be harvested.” “Six miles south of the village gate, there’s a forest with five thousand units of timber available.”

Sword Tyrant said, “Our village is still small; a modest lumberyard will suffice. The grove to the west is close, and the timber there should meet our needs.”

Autumn Water agreed.

Zhan Xiaobai made a swift decision, instructing Li Ah San to pick twenty farmers and take the carpenter to the grove three miles west to build the lumberyard. Ten villagers would stay behind to keep watch over the village. The five leaders decided to inspect the site themselves—after all, placing the lumberyard outside the village posed significant safety risks.

Zhan Xiaobai, Li Ah San, their group of twenty farmers, and dozens of enthusiastic players eager to help set out together for the grove west of the gate. The grove was not large, with several hundred trees.

First, they built a small, basic lumberyard on the edge of the grove, consuming twenty units of wood.

Basic Lumberyard: Each lumber worker can harvest one unit of wood per day, with a daily wage of two copper coins. The lumberyard can store up to five hundred units of wood on-site.

With enough manpower, the lumberyard was completed in just two hours. Zhan Xiaobai then discovered that a basic lumberyard could accommodate only ten lumber workers at once. Helplessly, he assigned ten farmers to begin logging, while the other ten started constructing a second lumberyard nearby.

But as soon as the ten farmers entered the grove, they rushed out in terror, shouting, “Wild beasts! Wild beasts!” “Huge creatures!” “Danger, danger!”

Li Ah San quickly calmed them, preventing them from scattering and fleeing.

Zhan Xiaobai was puzzled. “What kind of wild beasts? Let’s go see what’s happening in the grove.” He called Sword Tyrant, Ah Fei, Young Hero of Spring and Autumn, Autumn Water, and a group of bold players. Armed with bronze knives, they entered the grove together, only to discover a pack of twelve or thirteen wild dogs occupying it.

Wild Dog: Level 4 beast, HP 15, Attack 2.

The “huge creature” the farmers spoke of was the wild dog leader, exceptionally robust and fierce, nearly twice the size of an ordinary wild dog, and reached level 7.

Ah Fei dismissed their fear, exclaiming, “Come on, I thought it was something serious. Just a pack of wild dogs. Piece of cake. Apart from the leader, the rest should be easy.”

Young Hero of Spring and Autumn teased him, “Then you go ahead and see how it feels to have your backside bitten by a wild dog.”

Ah Fei snorted twice, refusing to respond. “You want me to go die alone? I’m not that stupid!”

Zhan Xiaobai quickly estimated the combat strength of both sides. Their players numbered over thirty, most between levels three and six, with some combat experience. The wild dogs numbered thirteen, all level four. The greatest threat was the wild dog leader; if bitten twice by it, one would likely be done for. Since this would be a chaotic battle, he didn’t want his scarce and precious farmers to take risks.

Generally, the players held the advantage. As long as they cooperated well, not a single player would die.

Zhan Xiaobai shouted, “The five or six highest-level and most skilled players, follow me to take down the wild dog leader. The rest, team up to deal with the pups.”

After assigning tasks, he and Sword Tyrant, Young Hero of Spring and Autumn, Ah Fei, along with three or four skilled level six players, would tackle the leader. Autumn Water and the others would handle the less dangerous ordinary wild dogs.

Once tasks were distributed, they organized their formation.

In “City Conquest of the Three Kingdoms,” solo monster fighting differs from group combat. Solo fighting relies on skill, while group fighting depends on formation. There are no supply points or healing potions here; every bit of health is precious. (Level 0 players start with ten HP and recover one point per hour automatically.) So reckless fighting is out of the question.

Autumn Water led over twenty players, forming a tight semicircular ambush around the wild dog pack, shoulder to shoulder with no gaps, leaving only a central passage.

“Who’s going to lure the wild dog leader?” Zhan Xiaobai looked at Sword Tyrant and Ah Fei.

“Of course Ah Fei,” laughed Young Hero of Spring and Autumn. “He just said it was a piece of cake.”

Ah Fei scowled, “Fine, I’ll go! Young Hero, you coward, you never dare to act, always pushing me to risk my life.” Gripping his bronze knife, he carefully approached the wild dog leader.

The leader watched him warily, baring its teeth.

Ah Fei gave the leader a hard slash, then turned and ran, darting through the central passage of the ambush.

The wild dog leader barked furiously and leapt after Ah Fei, charging through the passage. Its intelligence was low; it only pursued the player who hurt it.

The other wild dogs barked in alarm and followed the leader, running straight into Autumn Water’s semicircular trap. The innermost dogs were blocked by their own kind, while those on the perimeter faced attacks from three or four players each, quickly falling under a flurry of blades.

Zhan Xiaobai saw Ah Fei lure the leader in, and quickly he and the other players spread out, attacking from the sides. Each could only withstand two hits at most, so none dared to face the leader head-on. Whoever the leader targeted would run in circles to avoid its attacks, giving the others a chance to strike from the sides.

The thrilling monster luring resulted in constant injuries, and players retreated from the encirclement as they were wounded. After more than ten minutes, the wild dog leader finally collapsed under the relentless attacks.

After the battle, the tally showed thirteen players mildly wounded and eleven severely injured—almost everyone was hurt to some extent.

Autumn Water recorded each player’s contributions.

With the wild dog pack eliminated, lumber work could proceed smoothly. Li Ah San directed the farmers to log within the grove and begin construction of the second lumberyard.

During the break, Sword Tyrant said to Zhan Xiaobai, “Xiaobai, should we find something for the players to do? Let them work for us, and we’ll pay them.”

Zhan Xiaobai looked around at the players; aside from monster hunting, there was little else to occupy them. The saying “idle hands cause trouble” seemed apt. Giving players something to do would benefit the village’s stability. He nodded, “That’s a good idea. What should we have them do?”

“Recruit some players as loggers. We’ll buy timber at three copper coins per unit. That’s slightly higher than the farmers’ wages, but it’ll give players something to do—better than being idle.”

“Players near the village currently have almost nothing to do; logging will help relieve some of that pressure.”

“Players have almost no copper coins now. If we circulate some money, it’ll stimulate trade in the village. Gradually, we’ll form a trading zone here, attracting more players to engage in commerce.”

Ah Fei and Young Hero of Spring and Autumn chimed in with suggestions.

Zhan Xiaobai calculated: the village has five hundred copper coins to start with. Spending a small portion will both stimulate trade and increase timber reserves—a worthwhile deal. The village only needs to keep two hundred copper coins for emergencies. Trade taxes will also recover some coins. Implementation could be left to Deputy Village Chief Li Ah San.

“Very well, post an announcement in the village: we’re buying timber at three copper coins per unit.”