Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 23 Family Development Under Heavy Pressure
"We have incurred their hatred."

Penny whispered from the side, her words bitter. She could feel it too, but there was nothing she could do.

"How come there are two more wolves?"

Fila ran over at this moment, her face pale, seemingly a little broken. Four wolves, how can things develop like this?

She must be extremely regretful now.

Fortunately, because of the wall, the four wolves could not rush into the camp. However, they were reluctant to leave and kept pacing around the camp, as if looking for a loophole.

Fortunately, even the two farmlands outside the camp's perimeter wall had been fenced off by Li Wei, and although the black wolf seemed intelligent, it wouldn't have thought of damaging the farmland.

“Penny, how did Sam die? The poor child.”

Fila suddenly asked a question.

"He shot a gray wolf in the forest with the hunting bow I made for him. He was very brave, but then he was ambushed by a black wolf. I was terrified and turned and ran..."

Penny began to sob softly, even shedding two tears. Then she looked up at Li Wei and said, "George, now that I'm injured, Sam is dead, and Mom is old, everything in the family depends on you."

Li Wei remained silent, and did not receive any information or new plot developments. Without resolving the wolf problem, there was no hope for family development. However, Penny was truly ruthless, and Sam was genuinely stupid.

He didn't believe Sam would deliberately try to get rid of him. They had discussed the specific details last night, but Penny actually persuaded him this morning, haha!
“I’ll keep watch tonight. Penny, George, you two go back to sleep and get some rest,” Fila said. Then she lit several bonfires in the yard, not only to scare away the wolves, but also to roast the wolf meat.

“George, I’ll try to make you a hunting bow tomorrow. It’s a pity, if we had built the iron smelting furnace, I might even be able to forge a crossbow…George, there will be more dangers than just wolves in the future, we need to find a way to protect ourselves.”

In the afterglow of the evening, Penny spoke earnestly, and Li Wei listened attentively. Learning from the past is essential for the future. Fila's attempt to seize control of the family and her flawed development strategy are lessons that must be learned.

This is a strategic mistake.

Penny and Sam underestimated their opponent and acted rashly, leaving Li Wei behind, thinking they could handle it on their own. This was a tactical mistake.

“Okay! I’ll find a way to collect iron ore for you!” Li Wei nodded. In the current situation, the only option is to put aside our differences and cooperate.

The facts are obvious: families need handicrafts nowadays, whether it's cultivating farmland or logging and hunting. To do something well, you must first have the right tools. Do we have to repeat this principle several times before people understand it?
If the head of the household's task is not triggered, then they will have to coordinate and operate on their own.

“I need more wood because we still need to burn charcoal, George, I need you.” Penny’s eyes sparkled, her words sincere.

Li Wei simply nodded. Until the wolf plague mission is over, all new family output belongs to the family, not the individual.

So there's no need to worry that the charcoal Penny burns, the pig iron she forges, or the blacksmith shop she builds will belong solely to her.

Hmm, looking at it this way, the Wolf Plague mission isn't so bad after all.

Fila couldn't cause any more trouble, and Penny had to compromise.

Li Wei has now become the biggest winner.

There's no need to worry about plot-driven deaths anymore.

After dinner, Li Wei returned to his room to rest. Lying on the pitiful blanket, a thought struck him, and his equally meager attribute panel appeared before his eyes.

This time, he bound a one-star hunter card and gained five free attribute points, which is excellent. So how should he allocate these points?
After pondering for a long time, Li Wei first used two free attribute points to raise his strength attribute to 10 points, but unfortunately, he did not trigger the first level of awakening. "10 points of strength should be enough to catch up with Penny, no, I should say, enough to catch up with a normal adult male."

Li Wei pondered that because of his late-stage cancer, his body had been very weak and lacked strength, which was why he was completely outmatched by Penny. Ten points of strength should be the passing grade for a normal adult male.

In theory, at least 20 points of strength are needed to trigger Level 1 Awakening.

Even if he adds up all three remaining free attribute points, can he gain a dominant advantage over the wolf pack?
Can they turn the tide and sweep away all enemies?
It's highly unlikely to work.

"Therefore, I need a more coordinated, stable, and balanced physical state, especially now that I have activated my second profession. A hunter is not a warrior; you can't just act recklessly."

Thinking of this, Li Wei immediately used two more free attribute points to increase his agility to 6 points, as flexibility is very important.

As for the last free attribute point, after much deliberation, he decided to continue adding it to Agility, reaching 7 points. After all, when facing a pack of wolves, strength alone is not enough; one must also have fast reaction speed. He also had to live up to the class talent of +30% accuracy for ranged weapons.

He then slept soundly, unaffected by the constant howling of wolves throughout the night.

When Li Wei woke up the next morning, he felt refreshed and energetic, full of healthy vitality. The feeling of vitality was like a towering tower!
That's rare!
He quickly got up and did dozens of push-ups in one go.

When he came out with an unchanged expression, he saw that Fila and Penny seemed to have not slept all night, and they were so tired that they had dark circles under their eyes.

"These bastards have even learned how to harass people, but you're sleeping soundly!"

Penny's gaze swept over Li Wei, seemingly with a hidden meaning.

"Is your arm alright?" Li Wei asked, out of concern for his family; he was also learning to act these days.

Penny forced a smile. "I'm mostly fine now, but it will take some time before I can go out and hunt wolves. So don't worry, once I'm better, we'll hunt them together."

“Those beasts howled all night outside the camp last night and even tried to tear open the fence and jump up, but they were gone this morning. They are very cunning. George, you must not act rashly.”

"I know."

Li Wei nodded again, went to one side of the house to take care of his personal matters, and when he returned, he saw Fila and Penny each pulling on a corner of the tarpaulin, carefully pouring the dew from it into a water-filled earthenware jar; there was quite a lot of it.

With three tarpaulins, we collected nearly three liters of dew.

Li Wei had only heard of this method before, but had never seen it before. It seems that these two are quite shrewd and have a meticulous mind. Knowing that it would be difficult to fetch water today, they made arrangements in advance.

Next, Fila divided the dew into four portions, about 300 milliliters for each person, and used the rest to cook porridge for breakfast.

It's worth mentioning that Fila had already smoked all the wolf meat until it was half-dried with firewood last night, but it still needs to be smoked again today, which consumes a lot of firewood.

Li Wei walked around the yard and became very worried about how they would get through the winter.

The houses need to be reinforced and insulated. Sufficient firewood and food should be stocked. If possible, the camp walls need to be reinforced further. We also need some weapons, and everyone needs a set of warm clothing.

Although he can theoretically live to be ninety, he could still die suddenly in the harsh winds and snow.

Failing to handle any crucial detail can be fatal; after all, this isn't a game.

(End of this chapter)