Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
In front of the party was a massive black marsh.
Two Blackpond Warriors, wearing white clothes and holding weapons of bone, stood waiting in front of the marsh.
Ye Xi examined them and quietly clicked his tongue. The Blackpond Tribe truly deserved its reputation as the strongest of the tribes in the Blackspine Mountains. Two unimportant Warriors had textile clothes. Meanwhile, at Mud Mountain, only the shaman wore cloth.
Their bone weapons were incredibly sharp, and just getting close to them made a chill go down his back. Ye Xi had only felt this from the chief’s weapon. They were clearly not ordinary weapons.
These two Warriors recognized Calm Bulrush, and they came up and called out to him, “You’ve arrived.”
Calm Bulrush wiped off his sweat and warmly smiled. “I hope I’m not late.”
The two Blackpond Tribe Warriors nodded and said no more. They turned and inspected the Mud Mountain team, a hint of well-concealed disdain flashing in their eyes.
The Mud Mountain team was not in good condition. As they didn’t have mounts, they could only rely on their legs, and when going out, they couldn’t bring much water with them. Thus, after several days of not bathing, their faces were covered in dust, their bodies stained with blood and filth.
But while the Warriors were unwilling to use water on themselves, they were quite willing with Ye Xi. They had even soaked a beast hide in water and wiped him down.
Thus, when the two Blackpond Warriors saw the white-skinned Ye Xi wearing black snake skin standing in the middle of the Warriors, their eyes brightened.
“This person is…” The two Warriors looked questioningly at Calm Bulrush.
Calm Bulrush gave a refreshing smile and solemnly introduced, “This is the disciple of our Mud Mountain shaman, Ye Xi.”
A strange light gleamed in the eyes of the two Warriors.
“He seems to be only thirteen or fourteen. For the shaman gift to be discovered at such a young age, your Mud Mountain has some good luck,” the taller of the pair said as he shot Ye Xi a profound stare.
Calm Bulrush explained, “Ye Xi has not yet been tested for any gift.”
The two Blackpond Warriors exchanged a glance and then looked in confusion at him.
Calm Bulrush added, “The shaman decided to take Ye Xi as a disciple because of his contributions to the tribe.”
It could not be made known that Ye Xi had inherited the teachings of a wandering shaman, or else other tribes would try to seize him. Before leaving, everyone had agreed to give the same explanation to outsiders.
The two Blackpond Warriors understood. It was no wonder. After all, how could a tribe as small as Mud Mountain have such good luck as to find a person with the shaman gift?
A shaman’s disciple who was not confirmed to have a gift could still be considered a shaman’s disciple? The two Blackpond Warriors faintly smiled and stopped paying attention to Ye Xi.
The pair had no intention to chatter on. One of them turned to the swamp, put a finger in his mouth, and began to sharply whistle.
A few moments later, the stagnant surface of the swamp began to rise, and a large black fish monster emerged.
This fish was as large as a house and pitch-black all over, with the only points of white being its eyes. Sharp thorns profusely grew from its side, and it was a savage and ugly creature, one that was not to be trifled with.
The Blackpond Tribe has tamed such a massive monster! Ye Xi was shocked.
The Blackpond Warrior climbed onto the fish’s back before calling out to them, “Get on!”
Besides Ye Xi, all the Mud Mountain Warriors had seen this before, so they didn’t find it strange. They jumped on the fish.
Ye Xi focused and jumped on the fish’s back as well.
The strange fish slowly brought them to the other end of the swamp.
Standing on the fish, one could see the dark and viscous swamp all around. It was hard to say just how many monsters were concealed under its calm surface.
Ye Xi glanced at the Blackpond Tribe Warriors on the fish’s head.
The lives of the entire Mud Mountain team depended on these two men. The moment the two ordered the fish to turn over and dump them into the swamp, they would all meet a tragic end.
Fortunately, this didn’t happen. The monster fish was as steady as a boat as it ferried them across to the other shore.
This was a gorgeous mountain valley lush with greenery.
The Mud Mountain members carried their bundles to the trade area and began to seek out a place to put their stall.
The two Blackpond Warriors had left after guiding them to the trading area. They needed to find a spot for their stall on their own.
Ye Xi discovered that Mud Mountain was probably the last of the tribes to arrive. The trade area was already bustling and lively, with all sorts of trades taking place.
Ye Xi focused on the lively scene. The people from various tribes dressed in various clothes once more opened up his eyes to the world.
“Stand aside, stand aside,” a muscular man impatiently said, having bumped into the Mud Mountain team. Carrying a rhino upside-down, he was running to the other end of the trade area.
Ye Xi and the others hurriedly got out of the way.
After looking for a while, they realized that they had come too late and that all the good spots had been taken. Calm Bulrush could only take his team to a corner.
The team members put down their bundles.
Plate spoke with Calm Bulrush and then headed into the forest. Meanwhile, Big River bent down and spread out a large piece of hide on the ground.
The Warriors began to pull out small wooden jars from their bundles and line them up on the beast hide. They then untied those bundles that were tied abnormally tightly and began to cautiously ladle salt into the wooden jars.
Plate soon returned with a large, fragrant piece of wood.
Calm Bulrush took the wooden plank, took out a jar of red paint from his bundle, and began to draw on the plank.
Ye Xi quietly watched from the side.
Calm Bulrush had a grave expression, completely focused on his task, and sweat began to bead on his forehead. Eventually, he managed to produce the Mud Mountain totem.
To make a mess of a few mountains so badly was truly not easy! Ye Xi’s fingers twitched as he restrained his urge to help him redraw it.
But he saw Calm Bulrush sigh in relief, wipe the sweat off his forehead, and give a satisfied smile at the wooden board.
Ye Xi: “…”
Once Calm Bulrush was done, he thrust the wooden plank into the soft earth. This was Mud Mountain’s sign.
The Warriors had finished pouring salt into the wooden jars. The rows of crude jars were all full of the snow-white salt.
Mud Mountain had only brought salt to trade. The Warriors had also wanted to bring some jerky and beast hides, but Ye Xi had rejected this. Right now, Mud Mountain needed to find a way to exchange salt for jerky and beast hides, not the other way around.
Mud Mountain’s place was not good, and not many people passed by.
Calm Bulrush wanted to shepherd some people over, but Ye Xi stopped him. This was absurd, as their white salt was certain to become the hottest commodity in the market. There was no need to lower themselves to get customers.
At this time, two people wearing beast hides came by. When they saw the salt laid out at Mud Mountain’s stall, they immediately froze.
“What is this?” a man wearing a yellow beast hide asked.
Ye Xi smiled. “This is snow salt.”
“Snow salt? So it’s salt?!” The two almost wanted to jump up in shock. How could salt be so white?!
Ye Xi: “You can try it and see if it’s salt.”
The eyes of the other man, who wore a brown beast hide, brightened. “We can really taste it?”
The yellow hide man was even more impatient, thrusting a finger into a pile of white salt and dabbing his finger with the white crystals. “I’ll try it out.” He then put his finger in his mouth.
“How is it?” the brown hide man nervously asked.
The yellow hide man was dumbstruck. “It’s… it’s salty.”
The brown hide man’s eyes flew open. “Really? For there to be such white salt…! This is so much better looking than the Yellow Bear Tribe’s salt!”
The yellow hide man stared at the salt jars with shining eyes, seeming very tempted, but on second thought, his expression dimmed. “Such good salt must be very expensive.”
Ye Xi: “One jar of snow salt can be exchanged for two hundred catties of meat. You can also exchange it for something else of equal value.”
“Two hundred catties of meat?” The two men glanced at each other.
The Mud Mountain Warriors frowned at this. Was their salt not worth two hundred catties of meat? Big River couldn’t restrain himself and unhappily said, “Two hundred catties of meat for one jar of salt! If you don’t like it, leave!”
The yellow hide man hastily said, “We don’t mean to say it’s too expensive! Two hundred catties of meat it is. Please wait a moment.”
He pulled on the brown hide man, and the pair departed.
What a joke! Such excellent salt was being sold for cheaper than the Yellow Bear Tribe’s salt! How could they think it was too expensive!? They almost wanted to run in case the Mud Mountain Tribe members had second thoughts about the price.