Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
Early morning.
Several children were sparring with spears in the clearing. The adults of the tribe were working by the entrance of the cave, giving the children an occasional glance.
The children had been sparring for a while, and their heads were caked in dust and sweat.
One of the children stopped fighting, thrusting his spear into the ground and saying to his companion, “I’m going to rest and drink a little water.”
Another child called, “I’m going too!”
In the end, all the children decided to rest and get some water.
The children ran back to their parents. Putting down their spears, they took water bags and greedily drank from them.
A thirsty boy drained more than half of the water bag in one go, and the rest of the water was poured over his head. After wiping the dirt off his face and shaking his head, he picked up his spear and ran back to the clearing to continue sparring.
In the past, washing one’s face in the dry season was a most wasteful act, but none of the adults complained or rebuked him.
After all, whenever they thought back to the fifty large jars full of water in the cave, they felt that this amount of water was nothing.
With those fifty jars of water, the tribe had enough to drink for the rest of the dry season, even if they did not fetch any more water.
The chief and Ye Xi, standing at the cave entrance, watched all this unfold.
The chief had a gratified look in his eyes, and he emotionally sighed as he said to Ye Xi, “It’s all thanks to that method of yours. We probably won’t lose anyone to thirst for this year’s dry season.”
Ye Xi: “We also have to thank Plate and Butcher for making all those trips to get water.”
The Warriors had gone nonstop for ten days, traveling between the lake and the tribe with wooden barrels, to finally fill all fifty of the water jars in the cave.
“There’s also Uncle Courage who hunted the Thorned Terror Beast for me, the artisans who worked overnight to craft the water jars, and the Warriors who searched everywhere for stone to make into jars. It’s only because of all their efforts that the tribe does not need to fear a water shortage.”
The chief laughed. “Yes, they’ve all contributed, but you’ve contributed the most. You can’t deny that.”
The thought of this made the chief sigh again. “Alas, we haven’t been able to fulfill the promise of fiendbeast meat to you. The hunting team has yet to find the tracks of any fiendbeast.”
The shaman had mentioned Ye Xi’s reward of fiendbeast meat to the chief and had ordered him to have the hunting team watch out for any signs of a fiendbeast. Alas, more than half a month had passed without any sign of a fiendbeast.
Ye Xi was somewhat disappointed, but he comforted the chief. “It’s fine. It’s not like you can do anything about it. I’m in no rush.”
At this moment, a Warrior covered in gray slurry, his face covered in paint, rushed in from outside.
Ye Xi recognized this man. He was the Warrior who kept watch on the perimeter of the tribe, Graybeak.
Graybeak bowed to the chief and hurriedly said, “Chief! Four members of the Yellow Bear Tribe are outside, asking to come inside the tribe to exchange for food.”
Visitors from the Yellow Bear Tribe?
The chief nodded. “Tell them that I will be there soon.”
Graybeak hastily ran off with the order.
“The Yellow Bear Tribe? What have they come for?” Ye Xi asked the chief.
“They’ve definitely come to trade their salt.”
The chief was in no rush to go and see the visitors. He ordered the tribe members to immediately put away their full water bags and clean up any signs of water on the ground.
Once the tribe had finished cleaning up every trace of water, the chief said to Ye Xi, “Come with me.” He began to walk toward the sentry post.
The Mud Mountain sentry post.
A party of people who looked completely different from the Mud Mountain Tribe members were at the sentry post.
These men had sturdy bodies and threatening auras. They wore cool snake skins on their bodies, and their weapons were made from snow-white bone, their edges exquisitely honed. Under the sunlight, they flashed with cold light.
Most absurd of all was that one of them was riding a giant brown bear. The brown bear was very obedient and simply stood there.
These people were the ones sent to trade by the Yellow Bear Tribe.
The chief was unaffected by this resplendent display. With a bright and refreshing smile, he welcomed them. “Honored guests, how did you have the time to come and visit our Mud Mountain Tribe today? Welcome! Welcome! You did not encounter any danger on the road, did you?”
The giant bear saw a powerful man approaching it and gave a threatening growl.
Still Perch patted the bear’s head, jumped off it, and bowed as he smiled back.
“Naturally, we encountered no danger. Mud Mountain Chief, thank you for your concern.”
Still Perch was the leader of the Yellow Bear Tribe’s trading mission to the Mud Mountain tribe, and he was one of the Warriors of the Yellow Bear Tribe usually tasked with trading.
The chief probed, “What did you come for this time?”
Still Perch smiled. “We’ve come to trade salt for other things.”
The chief relaxed upon hearing this. It was fine as long as they had come to trade. “Good, good. We welcome you. Please, come in quickly.”
The three Yellow Bear Tribe members behind Still Perch didn’t seem to hear, and remained motionless.
Still Perch mounted his giant bear and indifferently ordered the three, “Let’s go.” Only now did the three follow behind the giant bear into the Mud Mountain Tribe.
Seated on a wood pile, Ye Xi saw a man riding a giant brown bear into the tribe.
What a large bear! Ye Xi was shocked. Such a large bear was willing to be ridden by a human!
And then he saw the totem tattoo on the left chest of the mounted Warrior, where there were clearly two flames.
He was a Level 2 Warrior!
The members of the Mud Mountain Tribe saw that another tribe had come to visit, and gathered around.
A woman carrying four Purple Caltrop Fruits came up.
The chief pointed at the Purple Caltrop Fruits and said to Still Perch, “Leader Still Perch, these are Purple Caltrop Fruits that were gathered by the tribe’s men two days ago. You’ve come from far away, so please, help yourself.”
The woman was covered in dust, and there were few black spots of dirt on her hands.
Still Perch slightly frowned, a look of disgust flashing in his eyes. He showed no sign of taking the fruits.
As he said nothing, the three Yellow Bear Tribe members said nothing as well.
The woman continued to extend her hands and offer the fruits.
The mood grew rather awkward.
The chief’s expression sank, and then he heartily laughed. “Hahaha, since our honored guests are not satisfied with the Purple Caltrop Fruits, let’s put them away.”
Ye Xi quietly chuckled to himself at this sight.
Our chief is quite sharp.
The Purple Caltrop Fruits truly were very difficult to find, and it was very proper to offer them to an honored guest.
But this woman was a little too dirty. After all, the tribe was not lacking in water to bathe and clean at the moment.
It seemed that the chief was ready for this trading mission and had made plans to conceal their ample supply of water.
Ye Xi also saw that while these four had remained polite on the surface, ever since they had entered the Mud Mountain Tribe’s territory, they had looked around with a faint pride that could not be hidden.
But these people truly did have the right to look down on the Mud Mountain Tribe. While the people of Mud Mountain wore grass skirts, the members of the Yellow Bear Tribe wore cool and comfortable snake skin. They had a reason to be proud.
And one could also see that the bone ornaments they wore were fine and exquisite while the Mud Mountain Warriors wore extremely crude and simple ornaments. Through this comparison, one could see that the Mud Mountain Tribe was particularly poor.
This other tribe was much stronger than the Mud Mountain Tribe, and the chief had been right to be so cautious. Ye Xi mentally gave him a shout of praise.
The chief continued, “Honored sirs, how much salt did you bring, and what do you want to trade it for?”
Still Perch: “Nine Bear, untie the bag and let them look.”
The Warrior called Nine Bear put down his beast hide bag and untied it.
Inside was naturally salt.
There were around three catties of salt, but the quality was terrible. The salt was a yellowish-white, and there were many grains of dirt mixed in.
“So much salt! We can use it for ages!”
“Yes, but the quality seems to be worse than last year’s.”
The members of the Mud Mountain Tribe privately conversed.
Still Perch said to the chief, “We will exchange this salt for one thousand catties of fresh meat.”
Ye Xi’s eyes widened. Three catties of this salt for one thousand catties of meat? How was this not extortion? And fresh meat too!
The chief frowned. “This year’s salt is of much worse quality than last year’s, and there’s too much dirt mixed in.”
“Oh,” Still Perch said. “This dirt is nothing. You can just have the female slaves of your tribe pick it out.”
Ye Xi raised an eyebrow. Since you knew that you could have female slaves pick out the dirt, why didn’t you do it back at the Yellow Bear Tribe instead of bringing this mixture of salt and dirt to trade?
When he saw the calm and relaxed expressions on the four, seemingly certain that they would get their deal, Ye Xi became pensive. Did the Yellow Bear Tribe have a monopoly on salt? Was this why they did not seem afraid?
After a few moments of silence, the chief replied, “One thousand catties is too much. We can’t possibly exchange that much.”
Still Perch’s eyes flashed, and he smiled. “As we are frequent trading partners, I can make a small concession. How about nine hundred catties?”
Ye Xi mentally frowned. The Yellow Bear Tribe seemed to be certain that Mud Mountain would take the trade.
“It’s no good. Once the dirt is picked out of the salt, the actual weight of the salt will be less. Nine hundred catties is still too much.”
Still Perch’s smile gradually faded as he continued to stare at the chief.
The two were at a stalemate.
After a long while, Still Perch’s voice turned cold. “Since the Mud Mountain Chief is not willing to trade, farewell.”
He ordered Nine Bear to pick up the bag of salt and began to walk back toward his giant bear.
The Mud Mountain Tribe members began to panic. Were they leaving? What would they do about the salt? These traders only came once a year, and they couldn’t go without salt.
The chief did not move.
Still Perch had already mounted his bear and was leading his tribesmen away, showing no signs of tarrying.
“Wait!” the chief shouted.
Still Perch pretended to not hear, and continued on his way.
“Nine hundred catties! It will be nine hundred catties!” the chief helplessly said.
Only now did Still Perch pat the giant bear, making it stop. He then jumped down from the bear, and the smile returned to his face. “Now that’s the decision of a smart man.”