The woman was sprawled on the table, her feet on the ground, her skirt flipped up from bottom to top, covering her upper body.
The blood on the table had all flowed from the wound in the woman’s throat.
Luo Lin glanced around, then used the tip of his sword to pick up the skirt covering the woman’s upper body, letting it fall to cover her, before turning and leaving the room.
Arriving at the house at the end of the village, he entered to find a man lying on the ground, a bloody hole in his chest, long dead.
One hand was tightly pressed against the ground.
Luo Lin looked, and beneath that hand was a small money pouch.
Perhaps the Barbarians attacked the village at night and, due to the darkness, didn’t notice the man’s money.
After looking around, he placed the sword in his hand aside, squatted down, and tried to pull out the money pouch.
He found that the corpse’s hand was gripping it very tightly.
After several tugs, he finally pulled it out.
Looking at the dead man, “I won’t take your money for nothing; consider it your commission to me, and I will help you kill a few more Barbarians. I keep my word.”
Woof—
At this moment, Little Hei let out a muffled, low growl.
Swish.
Luo Lin grabbed his longsword and followed Little Hei’s gaze.
Through the open back door of the room, he saw a gray-furred dog standing in the backyard.
Its shoulder height was around 55 centimeters, a bit shorter than Little Hei.
Its head was wedge-shaped, its ears erect, and its fur was visibly thick and coarse, with white patches on its chest, belly, and legs.
From its appearance, it resembled a Norwegian Elkhound, commonly known as a ‘gray dog’ in his previous life.
At the same time.
The moment the gray dog saw the person grab the sword, it shuffled backward, taking small steps.
“So, you’re injured.”
Luo Lin stared at the gray dog as he spoke, while also comforting Little Hei beside him, telling him not to be impulsive.
The reason the gray dog retreated like that was because its front left paw was injured, and it could only gently touch the ground.
It should be an internal injury, as there were no visible wounds or bloodstains on the surface.
Then, he looked at the corpse on the ground.
He looked again at the injured gray dog.
He clutched the money pouch he had just acquired, holding it in his hand.
The prerequisite for unlocking the next talent in the copper skin book was to raise two dogs and spend 4 silver coins.
Now, all the necessary conditions were met.
Perhaps, all of this was fate.
“Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.”
Luo Lin lowered his body, stepping forward lightly, and casually pulled out a small strip of meat, “Want to eat?”
The gray dog no longer retreated.
But it also didn’t come forward; instead, it tilted its head, staring at the person holding the meat strip in his hand.
Its frightened eyes flickered with hesitation.
“You’re the only one left in the village,”
Luo Lin threw out the meat strip, landing right in front of the gray dog, “Follow me; perhaps you won’t eat meat every day, but it’s still better than becoming a wild dog.”
The gray dog remained unmoved, retreating further, its vigilance extremely strong.
“Alright,”
Luo Lin stopped trying, as Dorn Knight was still waiting.
Instead, he rubbed Little Hei’s head beside him and met his gaze: “You need to become partners with him. Whether he can follow us depends on you.”
Woof woof.
Little Hei’s eyes shifted, and he opened and closed his mouth, a low whine coming from his throat.
He first glanced at the gray dog standing there, then looked at his master, who was meeting his gaze. A hint of doubt appeared in his eyes, as if he was very unwilling to associate with the weak.
But in the end, he understood the spirit and stuck out his tongue, licking his master’s hand.
It was considered an agreement.
Luo Lin turned and left the room, returning to the center of the village to rendezvous with Dorn Knight.
Just then, Bill also returned from his search. Both explained what they had seen; no survivors were found.
“These Barbarians, they deserve to die,”
Dorn Knight cursed, pulling on the reins and kicking his horse’s belly, “Let’s continue on our way. The church people will come to deal with these bodies; we don’t need to stay here.”
“Let’s go.”
Dorn Knight gave the command.
The team continued to advance.
After leaving the village, they marched until noon for a break.
Luo Lin stood in the distance, keeping watch, and also took the opportunity to practice with the wooden crossbow.
He had played with crossbows at licensed shooting ranges in his previous life, and although the forms were very different, it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar.
However, his current ‘identity’ was certainly unfamiliar, so he still consulted with his attendant, Pemon.
The latter, unexpectedly, taught him very diligently and patiently.
This surprised Luo Lin a little.
Perhaps it was because Dorn Knight was sitting nearby, which made him teach so earnestly, not daring to be careless.
However, with such instruction, he learned a lot.
Whoosh.
The crossbow bolt shot out and hit the tree trunk ten paces ahead.
He then tried at fifteen paces, also hitting the tree trunk.
At twenty paces, perhaps due to a flaw in the wooden crossbow itself, or perhaps a defect in the bolt, it veered off target after being fired.
However, after practicing for most of the day, he found that without any human interference and without strong winds,
He could achieve a seventy to eighty percent accuracy within fifteen paces.
The threshold for using a crossbow is indeed lower than that for a bow.
But the penetration of this single-arm wooden crossbow is not high; it might not be able to penetrate chainmail, which is also related to its attribute of not overly damaging fur when hunting.
Of course, only a few elites are equipped with those powerful heavy military crossbows.
After all, the production and maintenance costs of heavy military crossbows are very high, making them impossible to equip on a large scale like bows. It’s understandable that weapons involving small metal parts are expensive for the current era.
“Little Hei really has some tricks,”
Luo Lin put away the wooden crossbow and looked into the distance behind him.
The gray-furred dog limped along behind Little Hei.
Little Hei, meanwhile, would occasionally look back, darting around him, as if cheering him on or playing.
Before long, Little Hei came to his side, affectionately rubbing against his master’s feet, wagging his tail and circling around.
After receiving a piece of dried meat from his master, his tail wagged even more happily. He glanced back at his newly acquired subordinate, letting out a soft bark, as if reminding him to acknowledge the master.
The gray dog, however, stopped there, somewhat timidly staring at the human with a longsword at his waist, a wooden crossbow in his hand, a spear propped up, and wearing ill-fitting leather armor.
“Don’t be afraid,”
Luo Lin put the spear aside, squatted down, and took out another strip of meat, gently offering it: “Come, eat some. I won’t hurt you.”
The gray dog hesitated for a moment, perhaps unable to resist the temptation of the meat strip, or perhaps moved by the human’s gentleness, and limped closer.
It tentatively extended its head forward, sniffed with its nose, and finally extended its tongue to lick the dried meat, then gently bit it.
“That’s right.”
Luo Lin squatted on the ground watching, not reaching out to pet the gray dog’s head.
Being cautious is normal.
Hmm, looking closely, he noticed that this one was also a male dog.
The main thing is, he hasn’t figured out the mechanism of the copper skin book yet. Dogs he buys undoubtedly belong to him.
But what about a dog he finds? How does it become his own?
That’s right.
Luo Lin took out the copper skin book and opened it; there was no portrait of the gray dog’s head on the inner page.
This means that this gray dog does not currently belong to him.
It could also be said that the gray dog does not currently recognize him as its master.
Hmm, a cautious dog.
“You don’t have to be so cautious with me; I’m a good person.”
Luo Lin tucked the copper skin book close to his body and smiled at the gray dog chewing the dried meat.
Then he stood up and continued to keep watch.
At this moment, two people appeared from a distant path on the left.
One was wearing leather armor and riding a tall warhorse, while the other, a young man, was riding a smaller travel horse, with a mule carrying equipment and supplies trailing behind him.
The young man held a triangular flag.
“Feoffed Knight.”
Luo Lin knew that such a flag indicated that the person, like Dorn Knight, was a feoffed knight who owned Land.
The emblem on the front of the white flag was a black pine tree, and behind it was a single pine branch.
The black pine tree represented the Bruner Baron family crest, and the single pine branch was the emblem of this feoffed knight.
It indicated that the pine branch pledged allegiance to the black pine.
From this, it could be seen that this person, like Dorn Knight, should be a feoffed knight directly under Baron Bruner.
But, he still needed to be cautious.
He immediately pointed to the nearby bush and told Little Hei: “Hide here and keep watch; don’t move.”
Woof woof.
Little Hei responded obediently, nudging the gray dog with his head and hiding in the small bush.
Then, Luo Lin quickly ran to the temporary resting camp to report what he had seen.
“Hmm, that’s my old friend, Knight Gary.”
Dorn Knight stood up and said, “Pemon, tidy up my clothes. It’s important to be presentable when meeting friends to show our respect.”