Chapter 129: Chapter 129: Red Flowers and Fragrant Fruits
The group of six discussed for a long time.
Finally, waiting until Aaron had eaten and drunk his fill, the middle-aged beastman in the group of six approached him, hesitating to speak:
"I... can we trade goods with you?"
Aaron raised an eyebrow: "Oh, of course. What do you want to trade?"
The middle-aged beastman licked his lips: "Salt... is that okay?"
Aaron nodded, saying: "Yes, as long as you offer valuable items for exchange, we will naturally trade the corresponding amount of salt with you. What will you use to trade?"
"We have some fairly good quality furs and sharp beast fangs. Additionally, around our tribe, there are many red flowers with a very fragrant smell. Our Sub-Beasts often use them in their bathwater. I heard you guys also collect flowers and herbs to make spices. You can consider this type of flower from us."
Asher walked over with a smile, saying leisurely: "Trading furs and beast fangs for salt is acceptable, but you’re bringing wild flowers to trade too?"
The middle-aged beastman awkwardly scratched his head, his face flushing red. Although he knew what he offered was a bit cheap, he still tried to salvage it a bit: "That flower plant climbs high on the cliffs and has many sharp thorns; picking their flowers is not easy..."
Asher wasn’t interested in animal furs, but was quite interested in the flower they mentioned. He winked at Aaron. Aaron immediately understood, saying:
"We have to see it with our own eyes first. Besides salt, we still have many other things..." Aaron listed a series of goods the merchant caravan still had left over, then asked the middle-aged beastman once more: "Do you want to trade for anything else?"
The middle-aged beastman’s eyes wavered slightly, but he suppressed his desire. Their tribe was deadly poor; someone letting them trade for salt was already very lucky, they had to give up on other things. Seeing the middle-aged beastman shake his head, Aaron didn’t haggle further.
He and Asher stood up, told Sorin to stay behind to keep watch, and personally led ten warrior beastmen and Wood-element Sub-Beasts along. The six beastmen walked ahead to lead the way, introducing their tribe as they walked.
Their tribe was named Frostbite, also having a history of several hundred years. Although the middle-aged beastman didn’t specify the exact number of people, Aaron guessed their current population probably didn’t exceed five hundred people.
Along the way, the people in the merchant caravan kept paying attention to the surrounding path, both to memorize it and to search for anything useful. Walking for over two hours, they reached the outskirts of the Frostbite tribe. The middle-aged beastman stopped by the roadside, pulled a handful of snake-repellent grass, and handed it to Asher’s group.
Everyone naturally knew snake-repellent grass; their tribe also used this type of grass, but they just didn’t know why this group handed the grass to them. Seeing Asher’s group looking doubtful, the middle-aged beastman hurriedly said:
"The area around our tribe has many snakes; if you don’t tie snake-repellent grass to your bodies, you won’t be able to pass through."
Aaron was a bit disgusted by the pungent smell of this type of grass, but for his own safety, he had no choice but to tie the snake-repellent grass to his arms and legs.
Passing a bend and crossing a fairly wide rock crevice, everyone finally entered the area the middle-aged beastman mentioned. Surrounding this area were many types of thorny fruits growing closely together without any rows. The scent of these fruits was very fragrant, making everyone’s saliva uncontrollably secrete.
The Wood-element Sub-Beast couldn’t hold back and spoke up: "What kind of plant is this? It smells so good, I really want to eat it!"
The middle-aged beastman hastily said: "You can’t eat it! These multi-eyed fruits are poisonous; eating them won’t kill you but will make your mouth and throat very itchy. If you unfortunately eat too many, your intestines will also itch as if gnawed by a thousand caterpillars."
The Wood-element Sub-Beast who just demanded to eat immediately shivered, his eyes staring fearfully at those fragrant yellow fruits. Not looking was fine, but as soon as he looked, the hair on the back of his neck stood up.
Snakes! There were many snakes hiding under the yellow fruit plants, including brightly colored, extremely venomous snakes.
Because they had tied snake-repellent grass to their bodies, the bushes they passed had no snakes. After struggling to pass through all these thorny plants, they entered an area planted entirely with snake-repellent grass. Aaron couldn’t help but sneeze continuously.
Asher fared better, not being bothered by the smell of the snake-repellent grass. But his legs, having just passed through the thorny bushes and brushed against their blade-like sharp leaves, were both painful and itchy. Imagining having to wade through that pile of thorny plants again on the way back, Asher’s face shone with despair.
He pursed his lips, glaring at the six people from the Frostbite tribe, and said: "And you guys were afraid we would conquer your tribe. Not to mention anything else, just the pile of venomous snakes and the thorny plants outside is enough to annoy people to death!"
The six scratched their noses, laughing awkwardly. Although these snakes and thorny plants were a bit bothersome, if someone had the intention to conquer, just a bit of fire oil and a torch could strike straight into the Frostbite tribe. Fortunately, the Crimson merchant caravan absolutely had no such intention, so they didn’t think about destroying this defensive layer.
Passing through the snake-repellent grass area, they officially set foot into the Frostbite tribe. Looking at this empty, deserted tribe, Aaron was a bit speechless. He glanced at the middle-aged beastman, saying:
"Don’t tell me the entire tribe only has the six of you?"
The middle-aged beastman coughed slightly, saying: "Ah no, you guys just go in and sit first; I will go call the people."
Saying that, he invited Aaron’s group into a tent that could be considered the most spacious. Aaron stood outside looking in, saying disdainfully: "I’m not going in; we will sit outside."
As soon as he finished speaking, a warrior beastman walked near a fairly large tree nearby. After estimating the tree’s width was just right, the warrior beastman spread his arms to hug the tree, let out a grunt, and uprooted it entirely. Then another warrior beastman stepped up to assist; his claws swiped a few times, cutting out flat wooden logs.
The two carried those wooden logs back, placed them on a relatively spacious plot of dirt, and lined a layer of clean leaves on top. Aaron and Asher walked over to sit down in satisfaction, then said: "You guys sit down too."
The group of six: "..."
The group of people hiding in the dark: "..."
How terrifying!
The middle-aged beastman didn’t dare to delay anymore, handing the reception task over to the five young people, while he quickly went to a hidden corner to signal. A beastman hiding in the dark came out; the middle-aged beastman whispered a few sentences into his ear. This beastman gave Asher’s group a complex look, then quickly left.
In the middle of the courtyard, Asher tried to endure and endure, finally unable to take it anymore, having to untie his trouser leg bindings and roll them up to inspect. Aaron looked at Asher’s leg, swollen like a pig’s trotter, and jumped in shock: "Asher, were you bitten by a snake?!"
Asher shook his head: "No, brushed against those thorny leaves."
The five young beastmen looked at Asher’s leg, an unavoidable wave of guilt rising in their hearts. Sub-Beasts were always very precious; even the Sub-Beasts in their tribe had never suffered like this. Yet now they had let such a beautiful Sub-Beast be cut by thorny plants. They should have warned him earlier.
The Wood-element Sub-Beast hurriedly stepped forward, placing his hand on Asher’s leg. Asher’s pig-trotter-like swollen calf gradually subsided; a moment later, the cuts also disappeared, and his leg returned to its fair state like before.
The five young beastmen gaped in astonishment. They knew there was a special person in the Crimson merchant caravan who could use vines to tie people up. They just didn’t know this person could also heal injuries instantly like this. The gaze they directed at the Wood-element Sub-Beast shone with admiration mixed with scrutiny.
The Wood-element Sub-Beast expressionlessly pulled the trouser leg down for Asher, saying: "When we return later, the captain just needs to take off his leather armor to wrap his legs."
Asher nodded, asking: "Weren’t you cut by the leaves?"
The Sub-Beast giggled, saying: "No, did the captain forget that we warriors have leather leg guards?"
Asher patted his forehead; he truly had forgotten. He also had leg guards, but normally he found them stuffy and didn’t wear them; who would have expected to eat a bitter fruit today. A warrior beastman said: "Oh well, no need to worry; I’ve estimated the distance, later I’ll carry you on my back and jump across in one bound."
The Frostbite tribe people: "..."
Look at that, the defensive layer they considered solid couldn’t even match a single jump of theirs. While they were conversing, the middle-aged beastman had also explained everything clearly to the old Chief. The old Chief appeared extremely respectful toward Asher’s group.
The trade went very smoothly because Asher highly valued that type of red flower. Unlike the gardenias in the tribe, this red flower had a very gentle scent but made people feel relaxed.
Besides the fresh and dried flowers their tribe had stored, Asher even endured the pain of using the amount of salt a tribe used in half a year to trade for a flower plant to grow. Regrettably, there was only one of this plant, and it couldn’t be uprooted. Asher had to take a step back, asking for a few sections of old branches, handing them over to the Wood-element Sub-Beast to preserve.
Furthermore, Aaron was extremely interested in the thorny plant with fragrant fruits, also using salt to trade for some fruits and seedlings to take back.
The trade successful, Aaron extended an invitation to the people to work in Crimson:
"Our tribe currently has many other tribes applying to join, needing to expand the area but lacking manpower. If you want sufficient supplies, you can dispatch people to the Crimson tribe as hired workers. The employment period is half a year to a year."
"Additionally, to facilitate trade among the tribes, our tribe wants to build a road from Crimson to the bottom of the continent, hoping you will agree."
The old Chief had lived for nearly three hundred years, naturally an experienced person. He heard the underlying meaning in Aaron’s words loud and clear: [There are many other tribes joining us already, how about you guys just join as well].
The old Chief turned his head to look over all of his clansmen once.
The youngsters’ capabilities were only so much; it was somewhat far-fetched for them to shoulder the Chief position. However, they knew nothing about Crimson; joining just like that, he was afraid of cutting off their own retreat. He said tactfully:
"Although our tribe is not large, our beastmen are very strong; letting the youngsters go to Crimson as hired workers for you is fine. But we need a guarantee; what if you take the children away and don’t release them back? We don’t dare take the risk."
Asher smiled.
He had passed through four tribes; except for the easy-to-talk-to Weston, the rest were all sly old foxes, and they all voiced the exact same concerns as this old beastman. Asher said tactfully:
"We only need people who can work, not necessarily strong young beastmen. Disabled or elderly beastmen, or elderly Sub-Beasts are all fine. We don’t hire children, mind you. In our tribe, children are still of school age; we naturally will not mistreat the children of other tribes."
"As a guarantee, we will leave behind an amount of salt and supplies equivalent to hiring someone for a year as a deposit. After summarizing the monthly contribution points for the hired workers, we will deduct a small portion to pay off the debt. After the employment period ends, if the debt is fully paid, you can use the remaining contribution points to exchange for supplies to bring back."
"Additionally, if you are afraid you cannot carry all the supplies back, we have an extra transportation service; as long as the price is negotiated reasonably, you can hire our logistics people to help transport the supplies back. You also shouldn’t worry about the debt being hard to pay. If your clansmen work hard, they can pay off the debt in less than half a year, leaving a quite substantial surplus."
The old Chief’s eyes wavered slightly; below, some people in the tribe had also started stirring. They were all either elderly or partially disabled; if they could use themselves to exchange for a year of supplies for the tribe, they also felt it was worth it.
"I need some time to discuss with them; you guys don’t mind waiting a bit, right?"
Aaron nodded: "Of course. Please feel free. As long as you decide before dark, it’s fine."
