Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 51 Choice
great!
So gold coins are the standard world resource, and one coin equals one unit. This is excellent information. No wonder Penny was so determined to develop handicrafts and foreign trade; indeed, only trade can bring in gold coins.

Li Wei suppressed his elation and hurriedly moved a simple wooden bed from the cave and threw it into the pit to rescue Penny first. Although she had injured her leg and was likely to have suffered a concussion, Penny, wielding a crossbow, was still a formidable fighter.

As for poor Missy, she can only rest here forever, and all her personal property has gone to Li Wei.

“George, I was wrong, you were right. We oversimplified things. Thank goodness for you…”

Penny was covered in blood and looked utterly disheveled.

"Don't talk about that. How can I help you? I mean, your leg. Does it need to be immobilized?" Li Wei asked. He knew that fractures required braces or casts, but he really didn't know much about how to do it.

"No need to immobilize it for now, George. I think I've twisted my ankle."

Penny herself wasn't sure, but one of her right feet was indeed swollen terribly.

Li Wei had no better option than to carry Penny into the cave and hand her the cocked crossbow, just in case.

He took Penny's iron spear and bow and arrows, went down the cliff, and went on patrol, as he was not entirely at ease.

However, by the time he arrived, the man who had been hit by the crossbow bolt was already dead. As for the other directions, all was quiet, so it seemed that the two bandits had really escaped.

After thinking it over, Li Wei decided not to go further afield to investigate; he still needed to be careful.

Seeing that it was getting late, he dared not linger outside and quickly returned to the rocky cliff. At this moment, he was still somewhat worried. Although the chances of the two escaped bandits returning under the cover of night were slim, what if there were other bandits nearby? Tomorrow he would have to find a way to make a sled or something and drag Penny away no matter what.

Outside the cave entrance, Li Wei called out, and only went inside after receiving a response from Penny. He didn't want to get shot through the cave.

"George, you get some sleep first. I'll wake you up when I can't hold on any longer. We have to take turns on night watch tonight."

Penny was clearly also worried about the escaped robber.

Li Wei didn't refuse. To be honest, he was really tired and hungry at this point. He gave some food and water to Penny, and after eating himself, he didn't bother to search the cave. He fell into a deep sleep on a wooden bed.

When Penny woke him up again, it was already late at night, with stars twinkling in the sky.

After a brief handover with Penny, Li Wei moved the wooden beds to the entrance of the cave to serve as a barrier. He had been too tired to notice this earlier, a mistake that could be fatal.

However, the night was unexpectedly quiet; the escaped robbers did not return, and nothing else happened.

After daybreak, Li Wei asked Penny to keep an eye on him while he slept for another two or three hours, only then did he feel that his energy and strength had been fully restored.

Now he finally had time to plunder the bandits' wealth.

As expected, there were four bags of wheat, half a bag of flour, and the supplies that delighted him the most: a small bag of salt weighing about five pounds, a basket of fresh apples, five smelly smoked fish, and a small jar of rendered animal fat.

"These must have been looted by those bandits from somewhere. Eight bandits are quite strong. It's hard to imagine that you, George, could defeat them."

Penny sighed.

"Actually, it's all thanks to the fine steel arrowheads and recurve bow you crafted for me; otherwise, it wouldn't have had such an effect."

"By the way, what exactly happened? Sis, didn't you say you knew that Anderson?" Li Wei asked again, feeling that he should have been about 80% sure about this.

“I don’t know. When Missy and I got close, we did call Anderson’s name and explained our purpose, but it was completely silent up there. There was no response at all. We wanted to go up and take a look, and that’s how we fell into the trap.” Penny said dejectedly. This incident was a huge blow to her. She even wondered if she had used up all her luck while exploring the iron ore mine.

How could something that seemed certain to succeed have gone wrong?

Now it's all over. Trade channels can't be established, Missy is dead, and her own status in the family has plummeted.

It seems that George will monopolize the role of head of the household from now on.

I’m so unwilling!
Little did Li Wei know, he was also regretting it, because if this matter had really come to fruition, it would have been a great help to the development of the family.

As a result, although they have now obtained some salt, it is clear that one of the family's mainstay businesses has been crippled.

What good is it if he becomes the head of the household? He still can't develop the family's finances!
"Sis, what are your plans for the future?"

Li Wei then asked, since the month was not yet over and Penny was still the nominal head of the family, and would remain one of the most important members of the family in the future, he did not want to take the opportunity to make things difficult for her or mock her.

Without Penny, there would be no recurve bow, no steel weapons and tools.

Even if she was extremely unlucky this time, her contributions to her family cannot be denied.

“I just want to go home, George. We can’t stay here any longer. Who knows if these bandits have any backup elsewhere?”

"Okay! Let's go back today."

Li Wei said nothing more. He looked at Penny, who was unable to move, and then at the four bags of wheat, half a bag of flour, and a small bag of salt, which weighed more than 400 pounds in total. Penny also weighed 100 pounds.

Is this something he can fix by himself?
Therefore, some things must be given up.

No, he had to discard all four bags of wheat and flour. He needed to make a stretcher to carry Penny, so he could only take the small bag of salt with him.

Wouldn't that be a waste of effort?

No wonder he didn't record any looting experience when he found the food earlier; clearly, only the supplies he brought home counted.

"Sister, do you have any other ideas? It's such a waste to just throw away this grain." Li Wei asked. Penny was a craftswoman, after all, so she should be better at this kind of thing than him.

Penny glanced at it, then shook her head without saying anything. Clearly, this was beyond their capabilities. A large part of their return route was a rugged mountain path. They wanted to carry the wounded and supplies, but they were all alone, without even a small cart. What were they thinking?

It seems we have no choice but to make some trade-offs.

Li Wei sighed, then disassembled some planks from the wooden bed, tied them together with rope, and hammered out some nails, making a support frame. He had to put Penny on it and drag her around, but this would probably be very tiring; the friction between the planks and the ground was no joke.

"It's better to carry it..."

Li Wei muttered to himself, "After all that fuss, I guess I really don't have the talent for a craftsman. I've just made things even more chaotic."

Penny lay on a bed, watching Li Wei wander around like a headless fly, and couldn't help but say, "George, perhaps there's another way. We can stay here for a few more days. If my foot is just sprained, it will recover quickly. Even if it's fractured, it can recover to some extent in a few days. Then, at least we can bring back more supplies."

"Of course, there are definitely risks involved."

(End of this chapter)