Then, in the big tent next to the goblins' storeroom, Yayoi discovered nearly 20 human women covered in sticky goblin fluids with horrid stench.
These women were naked, bound by ropes. They look skinny and awful. Half of them are pregnant with a big belly. Even the captured women he saw yesterday already have their spirits broken and unresponsive like dead fishes.
'Hm...'
Yayoi looked at them with some pity, but that's it.
Although it's not intentional, he has already done them a great favor by slaughtering all the goblins.
Seeing his wife grab a blanket, and was about to help. Yayoi quickly grabbed her hand and asked: "What are you doing?"
"Huh?" Xiao Ling'er looked at her husband, somewhat perplexed: "What do you mean? I thought... Aren't we going to save them?"
"No, Ling'er, you are being too sympathetic." Yayoi shook his head. "These women, there is no more hope for them."
"But...even so..." Xiao Ling'er paused, then sighed and didn't insist. She also understood what he meant.
The famine is severe, and even the villagers in their village can barely fend for themselves.
So what of these women? Since the goblins manage to capture them, their families are probably destroyed.
These women are sick and weak. Once they are brought back to the village, who will feed them? Where will they live? Can they even last till winter, when life will become even harsher?
Moreover, women who get captured by goblins will be looked down upon like garbage. After returning to society, their status is treated even worst than a bandit.
Now that Xiao Ling'er calmed down her impulse and thought about it, she feels that perhaps even their villagers might not survive. It's frightening! Even the day before yesterday, they still survive, relying solely on edible tree roots and wild vegetables. How could she possibly trouble her husband over these strangers?
*Flick!*
"Ouch!"
Seeing Xiao Ling'er's serious expression, he chuckled and slightly flicked her forehead: "Don't overthink it. We owe them nothing. Countless people die every day for various reasons. You don't have to feel guilty. If anything, you can blame the Emperor for being incapable."
"What? Shhh! Tian! How can you say something so rebellious..."
Just when the two of them were about to leave, one of the pregnant women seemed to move. She hoarsely whispered: "Please...kill... me..."
"..." Hearing that, Yayoi halted his steps and glanced back. After sending his wife to wait outside, he walked toward the woman and briefly looked at her lifeless eyes.
A second later—
"Alright."
Yayoi's tone was relatively calm.
It's unknown what he was thinking. Disturbed? Possibly. But having said that, he lunged his spear into the woman's head, ending her miserable life in an instant, and did another strike through her stomach to finish off the baby goblin. After this, he decisively killed the rest of the women.
"This place is plagued with blood. Rather than be tormented by the wolves and whatever comes after, let me send you on your way."
...
With the extermination of the first goblin village, Yayoi and Xiao Ling'er continued to hunt. As time passed, the number of little birds and wolves under his control was constantly increasing.
And for a few days, Yayoi roamed the mountain range and looked forward to taming a tiger as a pet, maybe some hawks and eagles, and possibly some mutated creature like Xiao Hei, but he didn't encounter any. It's a little bit disappointing.
On the seventh day of hunting in the mountain range, they encountered the second goblin village, numbering around 300.
This time, Yayoi wasn't as timid as before. With him and Xiao Hei as the vanguard drawing all the attention to themselves, followed by 200 starving grey wolves working together, they directly swept through the unprepared goblins and wiped them out shortly.
Thanks to his growing army, the battle couldn't be any easier.
[Ding! Your Dexterity increased by 1](7=>8)
[Ding! Your Mana increased by 1](5=>6)
'Single digit stat improved quickly. Especially when you actively practice and have superior talents.' Yayoi contemplated as he looked at the system prompts.
He has also compared himself with his wife and the wolves under his command. But the time is too short, so any change is negligible. However, this also verified his previous thought.
Yayoi then checks his Status.
While he is still at Level 6, he has accumulated a little over 10,000 experience points. Although he doesn't know if leveling up will decrease the amount of EXP he gained from killing low-level mobs like goblins, he doesn't plan to hoard it much longer.
Death often comes without any warning, and Yayoi doesn't want to die without being able to react.
[Ding! You consumed 1,500 EXP! Level up!]
[Level 7!]
[Ding! You consumed 2000 EXP! Level up!]
[Level 8!]
[Ding! You consumed 2500 EXP! Level up!]
[Level 9!]
[Ding! You consumed 3000 EXP! Level up!]
[Level 10!]
After leveling up four times in a row, Yayoi gained 4 Stat Points and 4 Skill Points.
Without much thought, he put it all into Strength(14=>18). While sensing the incredible power making waves inside his body, Yayoi clenched his fist, feeling safer and even more confident.
Obviously, the "Strength" attribute here is not just strength, but it covers both power and speed. As for Dexterity, it's more like the five senses, especially eyesight, precision, and reaction speed. Except for Luck and Intelligence, Yayoi could clearly feel the disparity every time each of his stats increased.
'...My strongest talent's Strength anyway, so this way of using Stat Points can't possibly go wrong, especially when there is a boundary. Once my Strength stat reaches the limit, I won't have to be afraid of anyone. Hahaha!'
[Name: Long Aotian(25)]
[Title: None]
[Class: Priest(lvl 3), Tamer(lvl 1), Warrior(lvl 1), Farmer(lvl 1)]
[Disposition: Pervert]
[Level: 10 (0/5000)]
[EXP: 1350]
[Legend: 0]
[Status: Normal]
[Skills: Basic Spearmanship(lvl 2), Basic Swordsmanship(lvl1), Basic Axemanship(1), Heal(lvl 1), Taming(lvl 1), Thunder Strike(lvl 1), Warehouse(lvl 1)]
[Attributes: Strength(18)(Mythical), Dexterity(8)(Rare), Constitution(11)(Heroic), Qi(9)(Legendary), Intelligence(13)(Rare), Mana(6)(Heroic), Luck(40)(Rare)]
—
[Stat Points: 0]
[Skill Points: 6]
—
The next day, while Yayoi was practicing in the backyard, swinging his spear back and forth, trying to hone his basic spearmanship. He was suddenly distracted by several little birds.
"What's the matter?"
They flew around him and started chirping loudly.
"Strangers are coming?" Yayoi stopped swinging the spear, looked up, and wiped his sweat. "How many?"
The little birds continued chirping dumbly, making a scene.
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