Chapter 209

When the sub-beastmen team arrived at the threshing ground, the vast sun shelter was eerily silent, with only pairs of dull, vacant eyes staring blankly ahead.

In the middle of the threshing ground, four beastmen were curled up, trembling as they tried desperately to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible.

Qi Bai gave them only a brief glance before walking to the front of the sun shelter. Behind him, Diao Lan and She Li led their two teams, lined up neatly in a row.

It was late at night. The cold, pale moonlight illuminated the spacious threshing ground with unusual clarity.

Qi Bai got straight to the point: "I don't care if you were slaves or ordinary beastmen before. Now that you're in Black Mountain Tribe, forget all that. Every one of you has a new identity now: workers of Black Mountain Tribe. Starting tomorrow, how much food you eat and how much private property you can own will depend entirely on your own abilities."

The beastmen under the shelter didn't react. Some only twitched their ears, not even lifting their eyelids.

They didn't know what "workers" meant—probably just another term for slaves.

Ignoring their attitude, Qi Bai continued: "Black Mountain Tribe will only provide you with one meal tonight..."

At the word "food," the previously lifeless group suddenly stirred. Deeply sunken eye sockets lifted, and numb expressions gradually became animated.

However, just as they were about to rush forward to search for food, the Black Mountain warriors standing like pine trees nearby seemed to anticipate their thoughts and stepped forward in unison.

The beastmen's restless movements were ultimately suppressed by fear. They looked at the four beastmen in the middle of the threshing ground. Although these four hadn't been punished yet, no one dared to guarantee they wouldn't be killed.

Qi Bai narrowed his eyes slightly. This group was too accustomed to snatching things—this bad habit had to be corrected.

Amid the restless crowd, two individuals stood out as incongruous.

Qiu Bai gripped his arm tightly. Beneath his palm was a狰狞 slave mark. But besides the slave mark on his arm, his face also bore a flame mark unique to the Sanghuo Tribe.

Beastmen like him with two marks were the lowest-ranking even among the slave contingent.

But now the sub-beastman standing before them was telling him that as long as he was willing to work, willing to exert effort, he could eat, and even acquire private property.

Was he telling the truth?

At this moment, the blood that had nearly凝固 in Qiu Bai's body seemed to sense a summons and began flowing again.

In contrast to Qiu Bai's fervor, Hu Xiao maintained a completely消极 attitude.

Watching Qiu Bai's excited expression, Hu Xiao sneered inwardly. Only a fool like Qiu Bai would believe such words.

Rather than counting on these beastmen to keep their promises, it was better to think quickly about how to trick some food from other slaves later.

"Of course," Qi Bai pointed at the four beastmen still in the threshing ground, "those who violate tribal rules, like these four, will receive no food."

Without regard for their instantly pale faces, Qi Bai pulled out several animal hide strips from his hand and announced loudly: "Tonight, all of you will be assigned to different teams. Those wearing these hide strips are your team captains. Remember your captains—they will assign you tasks daily. Only those who complete their tasks will receive food for that day."

Although Black Mountain tribespeople wore animal hide clothing, making them easily distinguishable in the crowd, Qi Bai decided to use a simpler method for identification: the animal hide strips in his hand. This method was somewhat like the stripes worn on arms in elementary school—seeing the标识 would immediately indicate rank.

However, Black Mountain Tribe's identifiers weren't based on quantity but color: black for brigade captains, white for middle team captains, and brown for small team captains.

Qi Bai scanned the crowd: "Do you all understand?"

A system easily comprehensible to Black Mountain tribespeople was arduous and obscure for the beastmen who had just arrived.

But what followed proceeded with unexpected smoothness because, no matter what Qi Bai asked, Yan in the shelter enthusiastically shouted: "Understood! Understood!"

Yan didn't just respond alone; he motivated the beastmen from the Xiangke Tribe to join in.

Whether they understood or not, they were no longer slaves, and there was food to eat. What more could they ask for?

Just then, Hu Xue, who had been preparing food in the tribe,恰好 led her team down the mountain. Two carts stopped, and large wooden barrels still steaming with heat were unloaded under everyone's watchful eyes.

Soon, the aroma of food wafted to every corner of the threshing ground.

Qi Bai sniffed. Although it was just a paste made from several ingredients mixed together, it smelled quite good. Even he felt a bit hungry.

Qi Bai nodded to Diao Lan, who immediately understood.

"Only those assigned to teams can receive food," she stepped forward, bringing ten people, including Yan, to stand behind Shu You at the very edge. "Now you can go get your food."

Shu You counted the people, then led the team to the carts.

Yan stood at the front of the line, eyes fixed unblinkingly on the paste in the wooden barrels. His posture suggested he恨不得扑上去啃几口 (would gladly pounce and take a few bites).

Hu Xue brought down a large rattan basket from the cart containing thirty or forty large bamboo bowls. She counted out ten and handed them to Shu You: "This is all the empty bowls we could find. Make do for now. Keep an eye on them; collect the bowls back as soon as they finish eating."

Hu Xue would have to discuss the bamboo bowl issue with Qi Bai later. It seemed tomorrow they'd need these workers to cut more bamboo from the grove. Otherwise, with so many people eating together, there wouldn't be enough bowls.

As for today, they'd just have to take turns.

Shu You took a deep breath and said seriously: "Understood."

Shu You had thought he would feel nervous facing陌生 beastmen—at least that's how he used to be. So before speaking to these beastmen, he had psyched himself up.

But when he returned to the front of the line and faced beastmen whose eyes were only on the food, he suddenly felt all his worries were unnecessary.

The tribe had arranged everything for them. He just needed to complete his part.

And so, under everyone's watchful gaze, each person in Yan's small team received a bamboo bowl.

For a moment, the sound of them slurping the paste reached every beastman's ears.

They really could get food!

The beastmen under the shelter became noticeably急切. They regretted not being as obedient as Yan, fearing that if they went too late, they might not get any food.

The small team captains walked to the wooden shelter, separated the beastmen from the sub-beastmen, and carefully selected their team members. After all, barring意外, these people would be under their charge for a long time to come.

Watching the lively scene under the shelter, the four beastmen in the threshing ground were急得眼眶通红 (so anxious their eyes reddened). Why weren't they given food? This punishment was worse than beatings or scoldings.

At this moment, whether it was these four or the beastmen waiting for food distribution, everyone had only one thought: they must behave obediently in the future and绝对不能 be dragged out again.

So, Black Mountain Tribe didn't need whips, punches, or kicks. Just by presenting food, they ensured these people would work hard.

By the time the other teams were lined up in rows, all members of Shu You's team had finished the paste in their bowls.

Even the last bits at the bottom were wiped clean with their fingers. These bowls not only didn't need washing but were, in a way, cleaner than before Hu Xue and the others brought them down the mountain.

Under their reluctant gazes, Shu You collected the bamboo bowls and handed them to the next small team captain who was waiting.

These people had been hungry for too long. Just one bowl of paste couldn't fill them up, but their cramped stomachs finally relaxed somewhat, and they didn't feel as cold as before.

Shu You gathered the ten people together: "The warm paste was good, right?"

The ten beastmen nodded in unison.

"Knowing it's good is enough. I don't care about others, but as long as you work hard, I can guarantee you'll eat such paste every meal. If you perform well, you might even get to eat meat in the future. You all know how precious meat is now, right?"

Shu You didn't dare promise they would eat their fill. With these people around, whether he himself could eat his fill was a question.

Yan and the others continued nodding. They didn't know the disaster situation in the north wasn't as severe; they thought it was like the drought-stricken Northern Wilderness. If that were the case, both plants and animal meat would be very precious.

Shu You nodded满意地: "Tomorrow morning at daybreak, I will come here to take you to work. Before that, behave yourselves and don't cause any trouble for me."

After saying this, Shu You looked around and finally pointed to a corner under the wooden shelter: "Tonight, you stay in that corner. That way, I can find you easily when I come tomorrow."

Yan assured him: "Sir, don't worry. We will definitely stay there."

Shu You frowned: "Did you not listen carefully to Leopard White's speech?"

The group looked at each other nervously, not understanding Shu You's meaning.

Shu You emphasized: "I am not 'Sir.' I am your team captain. Don't address me wrongly in the future."

"Yes, yes, Captain. We understand, Captain."

On the other side, the long line began moving forward.

Everyone who received food instinctively used their bodies to shield their bamboo bowls, quickly drinking the paste. So,尽管 there were many people on the threshing ground and the lines were long, the forward movement was fairly quick.

A small incident occurred during this.

Sun Qing, who had come down the mountain to help ladle the food, had just scooped a full ladle of paste.

Yang Luo, who had wandered over at some point, suddenly coughed heavily.

Startled, Sun Qing's hand shook, causing a good portion of the paste on the ladle to spill off.

However, Sun Qing didn't notice this. He blinked in confusion at Yang Luo's retreating back before pouring the paste from the ladle into the bowl.

Yang Luo, already far away, was shouting inwardly.

Reform! Must reform!

Why cook the paste so thick? Make it thinner. That way, the paste can serve as both food and water, saving the effort of boiling water for them.

Also, those bamboo ladles must be remade.最好能弄個小木片 (It would be best to get a small wooden piece) to scrape off any paste exceeding the ladle's rim. Otherwise, the extra given to them is just waste.

Early the next morning, as dawn broke, the production brigade captains arrived at the threshing ground with various tools.

If we're talking about hardship, the captains were no less burdened than the workers at the mountain's foot.

Many beastmen under the wooden shelter were still asleep, but the captains had忙碌到半夜 (busied themselves until midnight) and had gotten up early for a meeting this morning. Most had only slept a few hours.

The small team captains with brown hide strips woke all their team members from under the shelter.

If any brave souls came forward to ask if there was no food this morning?

The answer was a consistent and resolute否定: No. It was agreed that work must be done before eating. Without starting work, don't even think about such luxuries.

Not only that, all the small team captains felt委屈 (wronged) inside.

Because all the tasks they were assigned today were solely for the benefit of these workers to survive the winter well.

In other words, these people were working for themselves, yet in the end, Black Mountain Tribe had to provide the food.

All teams assembled. Accompanied by the first golden rays of morning sunlight, Yang Luo waved his arms and shouted loudly: "Set out!"