I led the Goblin Culture to victory.

Chapter 21 Slave Catchers

Along with the cooking smoke, a whole host of notices also came into view.

There are more than a dozen entries for "human traces discovered".

Li Mosi was stunned.

Because the messages pop up so quickly, the first message to appear has long been pushed out of view.

There wasn't even time to look at it.

However, he understood the system's last message.

[Human group's route confirmed!]

He opened [Leshan Shui], and as he moved, the area of ​​the terrain outlined on the map expanded considerably.

Centered on the tribe, the hunting party first walked west to the foot of the mountain, and then continued southwest for a while.

They are now located in the western and southern part of the tribe.

Even here, we're still following the trail of the giant wolf from last night.

Li Mos looked up and gazed again at the brightly lit road.

If you continue hunting the giant wolf, continue westward.

It might also veer north, around to the mountain northwest of the tribe.

The smoke that suddenly appeared was coming from the southwest.

It's about six kilometers away.

That area is a gentle slope with a slight drop in elevation.

Zi Yi watched the smoke rising from the southwest for a while, then turned to Li Mosi and asked, "Master, should we go take a look?"

As the leader, ensuring the safety of the tribe as a whole is also within his responsibilities.

Li Moss asked, "Do you know what that is?"

"The smoke is white and thin, so humans must be preparing food," Zi Yi analyzed briefly and gave his conclusion, adding, "In the past, humans would sometimes try to settle nearby, and the chief would lead a team to drive them away."

It seems that Ziyi's tribe used to be a regional tyrant.

Li Moss continued, "What would the previous leader have done in this situation?"

Zi Yi shook his head: "I don't know, Master. Please teach me."

Li Mosi nodded: "Before the main force sets out, we need to conduct reconnaissance first. I'll take you to scout out the situation; you take care of the troops first."

"Yes, Master."

Zi Yi became excited and turned to give orders to the hunting team.

"Everyone rest here... Hmm, Old One-Eye, you take some men and protect the elder."

The old goblin reminded them, "We also need to spread out some people to keep watch, in case of wild beast attacks."

Zi Yi had no idea about this at all.

He scratched the back of his head, then gave the order to spread out and be on high alert.

After Greedy Meat and some of the goblins dispersed, Zi Yi turned to Li Mosi and said, "Master, I'm ready."

Li Mosi turned around: "Let's go."

He continued westward with Ziyi.

Zi Yi asked, somewhat confused, "Are we going this way?"

Li Moss countered, "Do you know the terrain around that smoke?"

Zi Yi recalled and said, "I heard there's a stream over there, and the surrounding area is flat."

"Do you think I can just go over and take a look?" Li Mos stretched his rabbit fur coat and tight wool pants, and explained his plan: "The place where the smoke rises to the north is on higher ground, so we can look down from there."

Zi Yi looked Li Mosi up and down, then suddenly realized what was going on.

My late teacher was different from him.

Goblins can spy in the forest by simply hiding in bushes, or behind large rocks and thick tree trunks.

But Li Mosi didn't have any natural camouflage, nor was she short.

With that outfit, if someone were to go over and take a look directly, they would definitely get caught.

Seeing Zi Yi's expression, Li Mosi could roughly guess what was going on in this disciple's mind.

Ziyi is indeed intelligent, but his thinking is still too limited.

However, this is related to the living environment and the times, so we can only say that we should take it slowly.

The more you do, the more you see, and your thinking naturally expands.

Many subconscious habits will also be changed.

After Zi Yi understood, he continued to follow Li Mosi westward.

They soon reached a slope that was higher in the north and lower in the south.

The few kilometers through the forest were indeed difficult to traverse, but with the guidance of [Joyful Mountains and Waters], Li Mosi's efficiency wasn't too bad.

They watched as the smoke from the target chimney gradually grew larger and then slowly began to shrink.

They waited until the rice on the other side was cooked before they reached a suitable high ground for observation.

The surrounding area became noticeably colder and gloomy, and the trees began to be predominantly spruce.

Looking up, the sun was almost overhead.

I estimate it's still about an hour until noon.

Li Mosi rarely saw any cooking smoke during this time of day.

People who eat three meals a day, like blacksmiths, usually cook their meals in the early morning, at noon, and in the evening.

People who eat two meals a day also do so in the early morning and evening.

At times like this... it's probably considered brunch.

He had only eaten this once before, when he was still a college student.

It's the Middle Ages now, who has so much free time?

It couldn't possibly be a nobleman, could it?

In the original owner's memories, nobles would never enter this forest.

Li Mosi cautiously approached, circling around the cooking smoke.

Looking down from a higher perspective does indeed offer a broader view.

But now it's all trees, so they need to find a place where their view won't be blocked.

"Master, that place is nice!"

Zi Yi pointed to a protruding rock formation in front of him.

Li Mosi walked over and, through the sparse and dense shadows of the trees in the forest, he saw a campfire, a pottery jar placed on the fire, and a group of people sitting around the fire.

He immediately changed his posture and lay down on the edge of the high ground to look.

They were a slave-catching team.

The people's clothes weren't made of very good material; they were mostly linen and coarse wool. But they looked relatively neat and were cleaner than most of the other inhabitants, without an absurd amount of dirt and patches.

Each of them had various odds and ends hanging from their waists, such as a dagger, a small wooden shield, or a packet of herbs.

This is closely related to personal habits.

However, none of them possessed ranged weapons such as bows and crossbows.

Li Mosi counted carefully and found that there were eight slave-catching team members around the campfire.

But the slave-catching team consisted of more than just this many people.

Behind these "official workers" were a dozen or so male slaves who tended to their donkeys, fetched water, and packed some green items.

These slaves wore thick, coarse wool clothing that was covered in years of dirt.

It's like wearing a thin layer of mud armor.

In areas where the grime isn't so thick, you can still see layers of patches.

It's quite poignant that this is already the result of those regular employees "acting out of kindness."

In order to keep these slaves alive as stockpiled goods while they could perform their duties, they usually didn't treat them too badly.

In Li Moss's memory, many of the bankrupt slaves on the plantation couldn't even afford such thick clothing.

Winter was the end they could foresee.

Those lords cherished the slaves they bought, but were extremely harsh on bankrupt commoners.

Therefore, even if captured by the slave-catching team and sold, they must never go bankrupt and become slaves.

This is what the original body observed.

This is also something that Li Mosi finds hard to understand.

"Hey, have you counted the goblin's ears yet?"

A young male voice came from the right side of the campfire, which was blocked by the tree canopy.

Li Mosi subconsciously shrank back a little.

Zi Yi remained completely still.

He had only just experienced one winter, and couldn't discern much from these people's clothing and appearance, only that they seemed relatively wealthy.

Beside the campfire, the man with the dagger at his waist quickly looked at the slaves: "Haven't you finished counting yet?"

The slaves packing the green items hurriedly said, "Thirteen packages in total! And there's more than half a package left over!"

A figure emerged from the canopy of trees to the right of the campfire. He approached the slave and said, "Let me see!"

This man is not from the slave-catching team.

Li Mosi saw the shield hanging on the other person's lower back.

There are emblems on it!

An eagle and a short sword.

These are Baron Talis's soldiers!