Luo Lin returned to his alert position.
From afar, he watched Dorn Knight and Sir Garry walk side-by-side into the temporary resting camp.
The two greeted each other with laughter, but from such a distance, it was impossible to hear what they were saying.
Sir Garry's only attendant, after placing the banner aside, also stood there like Pemon, serving his knightly lord.
Before long, the two teams merged into one and continued forward.
Because Sir Garry only had one attendant, Luo Lin and Bill were still responsible for scouting ahead and maintaining vigilance during the march.
Bill grumbled a few times in a low voice, complaining that with the new arrivals, he still couldn't get any rest.
In his heart, this was absolutely unfair.
Conversely, this arrangement suited Luo Lin's wishes, allowing him to continue training and communicating with Little Black and Gray Dog at the back of the team.
From this point on, the further they went, the more other knights joined the team.
As dusk approached, the entire team already consisted of eight titled knights, and nearly twenty attendants and retainers.
The overnight camping spot was still chosen in a dense forest.
“Oh, finally I can rest.”
Bill and Luo Lin set up Dorn Knight's tent and lit a small bonfire.
Only after preparing a simple dinner did the two find a spot not too far or too close to sit down and gnaw on their own dry rations.
Because the team was large enough, they were also assigned to stand guard in the latter half of the night.
“Laotie, did you see that? Our Lord Dorn has three retainers, while others have only two or one,”
Bill broke off a piece of rye bread, dipped it in the hot soup made from boiled dried meat, and asked while eating, “Do you know why?”
“This… I don’t know.”
Luo Lin now positioned himself as a straight man in a comedy duo, always setting up the punchline.
Even if he knew, he would say he didn't.
This way, he could obtain more information.
“Hey, let me tell you,”
Bill was someone who loved to talk and even more loved to display his experience, especially to his companions, “That’s because Baron Bruner gave our Lord Dorn a Land with very fertile Land, which can yield three times the harvest every year, and even four times in good years.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Luo Lin nodded.
Although his original body was only one person, he cultivated 20 mu of Land (Note 1).
However, the current era used a two-field system, so only 10 mu of Land needed to be planted each year.
Also, due to the backward farming methods, the harvest was not very impressive. For example, if 100 jin of seeds were sown in a piece of Land, the harvest would be around 300 jin.
This was a yield of 1 for 3; some barren Lands could only yield 1 for 2, and if they encountered a bad year, they would only starve.
“It’s precisely because the Land is good that our Lord Dorn is a truly wealthy knight compared to the others.”
As Bill said this, a look of pride could be seen on his face. His knightly lord being wealthy meant that those below him also fared well.
“So that’s how it is, then I understand.”
Luo Lin played the straight man again.
Soon, it was the latter half of the night.
Knights and attendants had all fallen asleep.
Luo Lin got up and walked to the outer perimeter, entering his chosen alert position.
Little Black also sniffed out his master and came over, with the limping Gray Dog behind him.
“Eat.”
Luo Lin took out a piece of dried meat and handed it to Little Black, then affectionately rubbed its dog head.
Glancing at the Gray Dog squatting nearby, the latter's gaze towards humans had long lost its wariness and had become somewhat gentler, its tail wagging in a hesitant manner.
It’s working.
Luo Lin's heart swelled with joy, and he handed over another piece of dried meat.
The Gray Dog stretched its neck forward, sniffed, wagged its tail twice, and bit the dried meat.
This time, it didn't bite the dried meat and then retreat.
Instead, it lay down on the spot, using its front paws to assist its mouth, enjoying the dried meat.
“Good doggy.”
Luo Lin said softly, tentatively reaching out and touching its dog head.
When the other party showed no resistance, he increased the intensity of his rubbing.
At this moment, the Gray Dog's tail finally began to wag.
Phew.
Luo Lin let out a victorious sigh, and while rubbing its head, said, “You can follow me from now on.”
The Gray Dog nudged its head against the human's palm, giving a response.
“Good doggy…”
Luo Lin brought both hands forward, cupping the Gray Dog's head, and looked at it gently, “From now on, you will belong only to me.”
Woof.
The Gray Dog rubbed its head against the human's arm, its tail wagging even more happily.
At this moment, a faint glow floated out from the Gray Dog's body and drilled into Luo Lin's chest.
This was precisely where the copper skin book was located.
Seeing such a situation, Luo Lin took out the copper skin book.
Upon opening it, he saw that next to Little Black's dog head portrait, a dog head portrait of Gray Dog had appeared.
This indicated that Little Gray had recognized him as its new master.
This truly brought joy and excitement.
At this time, the talents unlocked below its dog head portrait were exactly the same as Little Black's.
The words of those unlocked talents were condensing into strands of faint light, floating up and falling into the Gray Dog's body to empower it.
The empowerment quickly ended.
The Gray Dog now possessed the same talents as Little Black.
At this moment, the prerequisite for the Killing Intent Perception talent for both dogs, the text stating 'raise two dogs,' glowed faintly.
This indicated that the prerequisite was met.
Now, he only needed to invest 4 silver coins to unlock the Killing Intent Perception talent.
Luo Lin looked left and right.
He took out the money bag he had obtained in the village, and after counting, he had 2 silver coins and 20 copper coins, plus his own 3 silver coins and 40 copper coins.
Just enough.
He then put the 4 silver coins into the copper skin book's slot.
As the last coin in his hand disappeared, the Killing Intent Perception talent below the two dog heads on the inner page of the copper skin book lit up, and two wisps of faint light floated from the text, falling into Little Black and Gray Dog's bodies respectively to empower them.
It could be confirmed that they now both possessed the ability of Killing Intent Perception.
At this time, under the Combat Type Breeding dog head portrait, five talents had already been unlocked.
—Early Stage. Fierce Dog (Lit up)
—Early Stage. Absolute Loyalty (Lit up)
—Intermediate Stage. Sharp Steel Teeth (Lit up)
—Intermediate Stage. Heart to Heart (Lit up)
—High Stage. Killing Intent Perception (Lit up)
Below, a new talent lit up.
—High Stage. Bone Transformation: The whole body is made of hard bones, the internal organs are more solid, recovery from injuries and illnesses is faster, and physical quality far exceeds that of dogs of the same kind; requires daily morning runs of three kilometers with the raised dogs for 30 days, and a cost of 1 gold coin to unlock.
“Bone Transformation…”
Luo Lin thought that a daily morning run of three kilometers would not be difficult.
The difficult part was the 1 gold coin, which was an astronomical figure for him at the moment.
The current currency exchange was: 1 gold = 25 silver = 2500 copper.
It seemed he still needed to make money first.
“You're so good,”
Luo Lin tucked the copper skin book close to his body, then rubbed the Gray Dog's head again, his voice gentle, “You are the first dog I picked up, so from now on, you'll be called… Little Gray, isn't that a good name?”
Woof.
Little Gray licked its master's palm with its tongue.
To be honest, having his palm licked was a bit ticklish, but his heart felt warm.
Unconsciously, it was already the latter half of the night, and the chill of autumn returned.
Luo Lin leaned against a tree, half-lying and vigilant, with Little Black on his left and Little Gray on his right, their heads resting on his chest, hugging him tightly in the center.
With two little warm stoves, the coldness of the night was quickly blocked out.
He sniffed and found that the smell on these two guys was also a pleasant kind of stink.
Perhaps it was because he only liked his own dogs.
Unconsciously, dawn arrived.
No incidents occurred during the night, and everyone began to eat a simple breakfast, then the team gathered and set off again.
“You picked it up?”
After hearing his attendant's explanation, Dorn Knight glanced at Little Gray, nodded, “Then bring it along, I hope it can also help us like Little Black.”
“Thank you, my lord,”
Luo Lin truthfully explained how he found Little Gray; having an extra dog would be discovered sooner or later.
He took advantage of the lingering warmth from his and Little Black's performance to settle the matter of Little Gray accompanying them.
After receiving the reply, the matter was settled.
Because the team had grown, and because they had stood guard in the latter half of the night, Bill and Luo Lin were no longer assigned to scout ahead, but followed in the center of the team.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Luo Lin did not let Little Black and Little Gray follow within the team.
Instead, he let them continue to follow freely from a distance, and those two guys were happy to be at ease.
Attendant Pemon also took out Dorn Knight's exclusive triangular-tailed banner and tied it to a long spear shaft, holding it in his arms.
The front of the white banner featured Baron Bruner's family crest, the black pine tree, and the rear featured Dorn Knight's crest: a black pinecone.
This signified that the black pinecone pledged loyalty to the black pine tree.
“Bill, here.”
Luo Lin took out a few hazelnuts and shared them with his friend walking beside him.
“Thanks, I'll tell you another little trick.”
“What little trick?”
“Just watch.”
Bill's subsequent actions fully demonstrated his talent for survival.
That was, he had Luo Lin lead the mule with his right hand, with his body on the mule's left side.
And he, in turn, led the mule with his left hand, with his body on the right side.
At this point, in front of them were Dorn Knight and his attendant Pemon.
To their left and right were the mules, and behind them followed Sir Garry and his retainer.
Luo Lin suddenly had an epiphany.
At this very moment, he and Bill were walking inside a primitive, rudimentary 'armored personnel carrier.'
This was truly an eye-opener.
Learned, learned.
—
Note: For an explanation of Land in this book, please see Author's Notes.