Chapter 3 The Little Rat

"Everyone, don't stop! We're almost there!" Along the way, Uncle Ulyan, the convoy leader, shouted from time to time to boost the morale of everyone.

According to the sketchy map provided by Uncle Ulyan, the villagers' group journeyed thousands of miles south along the World Tree Avenue.

After more than a month of arduous journey, when they arrived at the watchtower where he had once been stationed, they left the main road and marched westward along the banks of the Anzerno River.

They trekked through over thirty li of primeval forest and finally reached the destination at the river bend.

The location where the group is currently situated is exactly the last section of the journey leaving the westernmost watchtower of Count Frolov's territory and officially entering the wild wilderness.

This short stretch of just over thirty li was more arduous to traverse than the previous over a thousand li. Not to mention the numerous wild beasts lurking in the shadows, there were as many as four ambushes by kobolds alone.

The casualties caused by the last ambush were even the total of the previous three times.

Only half of the remaining fifty militiamen still had combat capabilities. Even Leo Mundo, the newly - appointed militia captain, was severely injured and bedridden during this battle.

Not only were there frequent attacks by kobolds, but also because there was no road, the villagers' convoy with a large amount of supplies was moving at an extremely slow speed.

The wheels got stuck in mud pits, the carts overturned, and the axles snapped.

The donkeys got scared and bolted or became obstinate.

It rained, snowed, and fallen giant trees obstructed the path.

The villagers who had a mental breakdown caused disruptions or fell ill.

Even a small cliff less than three meters tall could halt the convoy for half a day.

All sorts of accidents slowed the convoy's progress to a crawl, almost bringing it to a complete stop.

Everyone in the entire convoy was floundering in the cold mud, struggling against hardships.

"How much farther is it? When are we gonna get there? Can't we just pitch camp here?" Some people in the group cried and shouted.

"We'll arrive tomorrow! We'll arrive tomorrow! Everyone, come on!"

With a smile on his face, Ulyan leaped onto a huge boulder, waved the horned helmet in his hand, and hollered: "There are fat fish you can catch with your bare hands! There are elk running all over the place! Big trees you can chop down at will! Vast stretches of fertile land, and everyone can have enough to eat!"

Uncle Ulyan had been yelling the same words all the way, and even the kids in the convoy had turned them into a nursery rhyme.

But there is no doubt that his words were indeed inspiring and kept the villagers holding on.

If Uncle Ulyan, the convoy leader, didn't have enough tricks up his sleeve and prestige, and if the villagers who had traveled thousands of miles here had no way back, this vulnerable villagers' convoy would have fallen apart long ago.

But anyway, after countless "we'll arrive tomorrow", the villagers' convoy finally reached the destination at the river bend and came to the beautiful new homeland that Uncle Ulyan had described so vividly.

This is a massive river - bend peninsula. Over the years, silt accumulation has formed a vast plain.

Different from the dense primeval forests on both sides of the big river, the river bend peninsula is covered with grasslands and small lakes. Only on some scattered small hills are there sparse small trees and shrubs growing.

In winter, the grassland is covered with withered grass that is thigh-high. The thick roots couldn't even be completely crushed by the snow.

This shows the fertility of the land. Even someone like Leo, who is an outsider, knows that this place is very suitable for reclamation.

Leo Mundo, who had lain on the freight car for three days and three nights after waking up, could barely stand up and walk upright.

During this period, the memories of the original owner were like shards of a mirror that had shattered and splashed after falling from a great height. They pierced his mind in a chaotic and disorderly manner.

They subtly and constantly influenced his perception and character, making him seem muddled.

Fortunately, the original owner was already a muddle-headed person, and since he was lying on the wagon unable to move, no one around him could notice anything amiss.

The convoy stopped on the gravel beach of the river bend. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. There seemed to be a sense of joy after surviving a disaster, but more of a confusion about what to do next.

Uncle Ulyan jumped onto a wagon and loudly assigned tasks, directing the stupidly standing villagers to cut wood, set up pots for cooking, and pitch tents.

The just-silent camp came to life amidst Uncle Ulyan's cries.

Leo left the chaotic camp and sat on a huge rock by the riverbank, enjoying the leisure time he got because of his injury.

The great river in front of him was a tributary of the North Ice River called the Anzerno River.

It originated from the depths of the Grand Barrier, falling from a height of several thousand meters. After flowing more than two thousand li to the northeast, together with the North Ice River in front of the northern border town of Olenik, it converged into the Storm Fjord and finally flowed into the Ice Sea.

Although it was a tributary, it was still a large river whose name could be marked on the continental map.

Its river channel was gentle, and the freezing period was short. The fishery resources were very rich.

Compared with the North Ice River that was frozen all year round, the Anzerno River was more like the mother river of the northern border people.

The river bend here was the upper source of the Anzerno River, and the water surface was not wide.

The rushing river water began to turn gentle after passing through the river bend. The originally more than fifty-meter-wide river channel suddenly expanded to more than a hundred meters, like a small lake. Various fish schools could be seen swimming and looking for food in the clear river water.

Looking westward, one could see the continuous snow-covered mountains. After several low peaks, a steep and sheer cliff thousands of feet high rose from the ground, with its top disappearing into the clouds, as if it were the end of the world.

That was the Grand Barrier, which formed a huge circle in the center of the Morning Light Continent, like a big tree stump on level ground.

What Leo could see was just the tip of the iceberg of it.

The water of the Anzerno River fell from the sky and clouds, splashing all the way down the steep cliffs of the Grand Barrier. More than a dozen huge waterfalls appeared alternately, presenting a spectacular sight.

Crossing the great river to the north was an endless primeval forest, filled with giant coniferous trees that several people could hug. There was still thick snow on the tree crowns.

A group of antler deer as tall as horses were drinking water on the opposite side of the river. Among them, several fawns stared at Leo curiously and let out soft calls.

According to Uncle Ulyan, there used to be a vast prairie named the Wolf-Driving Plain. A thousand years ago, the Beast Race grazed war wolves here. It was the birthplace of the Beast Race's wolf cavalry.

Back then, the wolf cavalry legion of the Beast Race was comparable in combat power to the imperial heavy cavalry regiment.

However, after the Beast Race fled to the snowfield north of the North Ice River, this prairie was covered by a forest under the joint spellcasting of the Beast Race's shamans and the elves' druids.

Countless once-glorious Beast Race ruins were submerged in the vast forest.

What the original owner admired most about Uncle Ulyan, besides the martial arts he learned in the army, was his storytelling ability.

Anything that came out of his mouth had a long history and an appealing story.

The blonde girl, Olivia, walked over and checked Leo's injuries. After making sure there was nothing serious, she said sternly, "I set up your tent for you. If you're tired, go lie down by yourself. Don't wander around or move around aimlessly, got it?"

"Got it." Leo nodded obediently. After looking at the scenery for a while and shivering in the cold wind, Leo finally returned to the camp and found his tent.

This was a small tent sewn together from various kinds of furs. Inside, there was a pile of pelts, all trophies Leo had obtained from hunting over the years.

However, because of the poor skinning and tanning craftsmanship and excessive use, many of the furs had now become a mass of fluff.

But even so, it could still be considered one of the few good tents in the entire camp. At least it was warm enough.

At this moment, outside the small tent, a mud-covered child was squatting, shivering.

He hugged his knees with both hands, a small tattered blanket draped over his body. His back was pressed against the tent, trying to fend off the cold.

Leo walked over and kicked him into the tent, joking, "Little mouse, did you find anything to eat today?"

Forgive me, it wasn't me who wanted to kick. It was the original guy.

More than ten years of living a semi-savage and semi-bandit life had ingrained rudeness and violence in the original guy's blood, constantly influencing his actions.

Leo subconsciously held back his strength when he kicked, but still sent the child rolling a few times until he reached the very back of the tent.

The child lying in the pile of furs in the tent nodded woodenly, with no emotion on his dull face.

This child, who Leo called Little Mouse, was less than 1.2 meters tall. He was wearing thin clothes and was extremely skinny, with black hair and black eyes, which were very rare in the Northern Region.

Leo first discovered him one morning more than ten days ago, under one of the donkey carts in the convoy.

It was snowing lightly then. Little Mouse was hiding under the donkey cart parked by the roadside. He just spread a small blanket on the muddy ground and curled up on it.

This blanket was the same one he had just draped over himself. It was exactly like the doormat in Leo's memory, less than half a square meter in size.

If spread on the ground, it couldn't cover his body.

When the original guy, Leo, found him, he was already completely stiff from the cold.

Maybe because he associated it with his own childhood, the original guy casually picked up the frozen child and threw him into the pile of tattered furs in his tent, and then fed him his own breakfast.

Unexpectedly, this child who could hardly breathe really survived. Since then, he had followed the convoy. He couldn't be seen during the day and would curl up in a corner of Leo's tent at night. He had managed to survive for half a month.

However, although the original guy might have had some kindness, it wasn't much.

Since leaving the village, he could only eat half full every day. He just didn't have the time or energy to take care of others and just gave Little Mouse a corner to make a nest.

Little Mouse was originally named Little Mute by Leo. After finding out that he could talk, he changed his name to Little Mouse.

No one knew whether he went to steal, beg, or eat grass in the wild every day. Anyway, he was still alive.

During the days when he was injured, Leo had been lying on the freight car and was taken care of by Olivia. He hadn't even stayed in the tent. He wondered how Little Mouse had managed to get through?