"Pass the flint." "Got it." "And some more dry leaves, I don't think this is enough." "Mmm." Three days had passed since Liu Zhu left border city, and he had blended into the group better than he expected. Although he didn't mind the manual labor, one of the cultivators he'd become acquainted with had been kind enough to assign him with firestarting duty instead of gathering wood or helping set up camp, saving him some time. This wasn't a big change, but it showed that he was appreciated more than most of the lone wolves or other newbies. Liu Zhu was happy that he'd managed to make this much progress in making connections on the way to the beast horde, although it was doubtful he would've managed to break the ice without Feng Jun's help, and he ended up making better friends with him than anyone else in the group.
The group of cultivators reached the outskirts of the village the next morning. The amount of farmland was small given the size of the village, as the villages in the Northern Wastes were more reliant on hunting and gathering than agriculture. The farms that were there had carts loaded up with luggage sat in their fields, as the farmers were ready to retreat into the village at any time. They'd suffer greatly if their fields and homes were ruined during the beast horde, but it was better than making a last stand on their land and dying because of it. Past the farms, at the edge of the village proper, was a massive pile of logs. These logs were partway through being made into a makeshift wall. As the group of cultivators walked towards it hundreds of workers, some cultivators, some citizens of the village, moved about, hurriedly trying to move the logs into place.
When the group of cultivators were around 100 meters away from the wall, they were stopped in their tracks by a representative of the village. Liu Zhu could tell he was a cultivator, but their cultivation was too high for Liu Zhu to sense. The village's representative was a tall, burly man with a farmer's tan and a tattoo peeking out from under his shirt. If it weren't for the tattoo and his clothing, which was distinctive to the Northern Wastes, he wouldn't seem out of place on any farm throughout Yutian Country.
"Welcome to Wolfden Village, and we appreciate your help. On that note, we'll also be keeping an eye on you. Everything is tense given the looming thread of a beast horde, and we won't be tolerating any misbehavior given the circumstances. We have cultivators of our own, so minimizing unrest is worth losing a bit of strength." This disclaimer was more or less expected, and while a couple of people with ill intentions seemed put off by it, the vast majority of the cultivators weren't bothered. "You're free do what you wish, as long as you cooperate with us in defending Wolfden Village against the upcoming beast horde. At the lower level how you organize yourselves is up to you, but the village chief would like to meet with anyone at Qi Refinement or higher to speak. Meals and housing will need to be paid out of pocket, but we've managed to convince quite a few business and home owners to temporarily open inns, so there shouldn't be a problem finding a place to stay." There was muttering about the village being run by misers after hearing they'd have to pay for their room and board, but everyone quieted down quickly, knowing they'd get paid far more than what they spent here.
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After a few more minor details were covered the man from the village was done speaking, and the cultivators were allowed to pass. As they entered the old woman at Qi Refinement detached from the group, presumably to speak to the village chief. The group didn't draw much attention as they entered the village, as many like them had been swarming into the village throughout the previous week.
Everyone separated after entering the village, although quite a few stopped after noticing a few hastily erected notice boards near the village's entrance. This group included Liu Zhu and Feng Jun, who were standing next to each other. At the edges of the notice board were ads for many of the temporary inns that had been erected or other services the cultivators might want to use while they were in Wolfden Village, but covering around 80% of the board was a massive notice. It was essentially a guidelinee for how many men someone should be leading depending on their level of cultivation. No one was going to force anyone to follow it, and a large portion of the cultivators who were strong enough to lead others fought on their own since it was easier, but the numbers provided were a good rule of thumb to go by.
Liu Zhu smiled after looking at the notice, pleasantly surprised. Going solely by cultivation, he was supposed to be commanding a squad of around five men. If he went by his battle strength it could be a bit higher, but recruiting five people would already be difficult given his age, so he didn't need to compound those problems by trying to recruit ten. As Liu Zhu was thinking about how to go about recruiting some Strength Rendering or Flesh Tempering cultivators to work under him, Feng Jun interrupted his train of thought. "Something pretty similar to this was posted at the only other beast horde I've fought in. Wonder if these were circulated between the tribes at some point."
After hearing Feng Jun speak, Liu Zhu had an idea. Feng Jun was at Late Blood and Viscera Tempering and seemed like the type to voluntarily lead rather than fight alone, so he'd probably be leading a few squads. Liu Zhu thought that if he joined him, it might help in his efforts to recruit a squad. People who joined organizational chains like these were looking for stability after all, so knowing that they wouldn't be part of a small, detached group would be a great boon to them.
Liu Zhu asked Feng Jun if he needed anyone to fight under him during the battle, and after some hesitation Feng Jun nodded. "I have a few friends who I was going to make my squad leaders, but most of them will be fine on their own. I don't mind turning one away given the situation." As Liu Zhu's mood soared, happy that the first part of his plan had succeeded, Feng Jun brought him back to earth again. "Still, that's only if you can actually recruit a squad. I honestly don't mind helping you out, but I can only provide you with one or two men at most. You better get at least a few on your own, alright?" Liu Zhu said that he understood and took his leave, determined to convince a few people to join him. If he failed he'd just be fighting beasts on his own, but if he succeeded then it'd be like having his first taste of war, even if it was against vicious beasts instead of Hiqui Sect.
Liu Zhu had only really spoken with people with a higher level of cultivation than him on the journey there, so he was prepared to visit the taverns and start scouting. He didn't believe that with almost a thousand cultivators in the village, he wouldn't be able to recruit at least a few.