Chapter 216

For the workers, the small wooden tokens they received every day were merely vouchers to exchange for food.

They had no idea that the tokens collected each day in the canteen were actually counted again and redistributed to the scorekeepers.

It was precisely because of this system that, the moment there was a discrepancy in the number of tokens, everyone noticed something was wrong.

Qi Bai picked up the wooden token that had been left alone on the table and ran his fingers over the carved markings, then brought it to his nose.

It carried the unique fruity aroma of the Geng tree.

This wasn’t hard to understand. Recently, in order to obtain more Geng bark for food, most of the trees being cut down in the tribe were Geng trees.

To secretly stash away a small piece of this wood wasn’t a difficult task.

Qi Bai held up this token alongside another one he had saved.

This batch of wooden tokens was newly made, so all the tokens looked fresh. Both of these had the number “112” carved on them.

Just by looking, there was virtually no difference between the two.

Qi Bai handed both tokens to Hu Huo. “You made these—can you tell the difference?”

Hu Huo held the tokens up to the firelight and examined them with Ma Shu for a long while before shaking his head. “No, I can’t tell.”

These were valuable tokens used for food. After they were polished, Hu Huo and Ma Shu carved the numbers on them themselves.

But even the two of them couldn’t recall who had carved this specific token—let alone identify a fake.

Diao Lan asked, “Bao Bai, was the person who carved this number one of your old tribe members?”

Qi Bai had taught them Arabic numerals—symbols no one in this world had seen before. They had spent a long time just learning to write them.

So, Diao Lan instinctively believed that the person replicating the number must have studied under Qi Bai before.

But Qi Bai didn’t think so. For one, these numerals weren’t from this world.

Even if someone had studied them, they’d only need to write them out.

But this token wasn’t simply written. It was completely replicated—even the faint scratch beside the number “1” had been recreated.

So Qi Bai guessed that the person who made the token had treated the number like a symbol or totem—and simply copied it onto a new token.

Quan Nan, furious, said, “In a winter like this when food is so scarce, we’re still giving these workers food. Tonight, we even gave each person a piece of meat—and they don’t thank Black Mountain for its generosity. Instead, they pull this crap.”

Hu Xue added, “Maybe it’s because of the meat.”

Seeing everyone look at her, Hu Xue explained, “For so many days, we’ve had no problems with the tokens. But today, we added meat to the meal, and suddenly we have an extra token. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

Shu Lin asked, “So what do we do now?”

If one fake token showed up today, will there be more tomorrow? Wasting food was a small matter—being taken for fools was infuriating.

She Li suggested, “Then let’s stop using the tokens. Starting tomorrow, let the squad leaders oversee meal distribution again.”

The purpose of giving workers tokens was to let them eat freely. If they didn’t appreciate that freedom, then it was time to supervise them again.

Yang Luo folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. “So we just let this go?”

She Li didn’t want to let it go, but there were over a thousand workers. The token was small—easy to hide. It would be nearly impossible to find the culprit.

So if they couldn’t find the person, maybe it was better to cut losses now.

Yang Luo turned to Qi Bai. “What do you think?”

Qi Bai had expected from the start that wooden tokens might not be secure. That’s why he had Hu Huo carve numbers into them—so those handing out food would just check for a number and distribute accordingly.

What he hadn’t expected was someone copying the number exactly.

Qi Bai smirked. “In a way, this is a kind of talent. It’s just… being used in the wrong way. If we can find this person and correct this bad behavior, they might be very useful.”

“Him?” Yang Luo caught the implication. “You know who it is?”

Qi Bai shook his head. “Not for sure. But I have a hunch.”

Most beastmen were simple. The idea of faking a token wouldn’t even cross their minds—let alone pulling it off this well.

Qi Bai didn’t think it could be just anyone.

He tapped the pile of tokens. “I have an idea. We’ll try it tomorrow. If we still can’t find the person, then we’ll abandon the tokens.”

Everyone leaned in to listen. As Qi Bai laid out his plan, their eyes lit up.

Soon, cheers erupted from the tribe’s kitchen.

The gray wolf perked up, shook out its fur under the moonlight, and ran off to Ma Ling’s house—this was going to be fun. He wanted to be placed on tomorrow’s patrol team.

—

The next morning, while handing out meals, Yang Ling casually said, “You’d better work hard today. Make sure you earn a token. There’s still leftover smoked meat from yesterday. We’ll hand out another piece at dinner tonight.”

A beastman nearby laughed. “I saw Captain Hu Xue slicing meat—it’s even thicker than yesterday’s!”

The workers at the foot of the mountain didn’t usually dare approach the Black Mountain beastmen. But with gentle-tempered Yang Ling, the bolder ones would occasionally speak up—especially if it was about food.

A skinny beastman cub bit his finger and asked, “Sir, will we have meat again tomorrow?”

The horned beastman beside him quickly pulled him back, but the cub still peered curiously at Yang Ling.

This group had come from a small tribe in the Northern Wastes where there were no slaves. The cub didn’t think the Black Mountain beastmen were any different from his own people. His big eyes held only curiosity—no fear.

Yang Ling wasn’t angry. He just said, “Of course not. How could we have meat every day? You got meat because the hunting team brought back prey yesterday. There probably won’t be any more for a few days.”

The news spread like wildfire: the workers would get meat again tonight.

By dinner, Qi Bai was seated inside the main hall. After entering, Quan Nan gave him a subtle nod.

Hu Xiao lined up with the rest of his group, walking with a limp.

He finished dinner with his team but didn’t leave with them. Instead, he slowly walked over to another large table.

Just like before, as soon as he sat down, several beastmen shared parts of their meals with him.

Hu Xiao smiled. After a while, a short-haired, light brown beastman stood up with an empty bowl and got back in line.

Once the short-haired beastman left, Yang Ling quietly passed a token to Qi Bai’s table.

In an excited whisper, Yang Ling said, “Bao Bai, you were right! The token came back. Should we go grab that beastman now?”

Qi Bai motioned for Yang Ling to inspect the token carefully. Then he smiled. “We almost got fooled by that little fox. Gather everyone—we’re having a meeting.”

—

The cold wind howled across the threshing ground.

The workers, now in the Black Mountain tribe for over two weeks, once again gathered—this time facing a much sterner Qi Bai.

He held up two wooden tokens and said, “You all should recognize this.”

Everyone nodded silently. These were the tokens they used to get food.

“On your first day here, I said—anyone can earn food through labor. But food obtained through lies and deception is not allowed.”

“We found a token in Quan Nan’s squad that doesn’t belong to Black Mountain. Who made it?”

He paused. Quan Nan stepped forward.

When his name was called, people were confused. But once he stepped out, murmurs rippled through the crowd.

He was their squad leader. The 100 beastmen under him looked at each other, hearts sinking in panic.

Qi Bai repeated, “Who made the fake token?”

The threshing ground went dead silent—even breathing sounded loud.

“So… no one dares admit it,” Qi Bai said casually. “From the moment we split you into squads, you became a unit. If no one confesses, the entire squad will be punished.”

“Tomorrow, none of you will get food.”

Outrage spread. Some beastmen even began to cry softly.

Why punish them? They hadn’t done anything wrong.

Suddenly, a voice rang out.

“You made all these tokens. You can say whatever you want. You just want an excuse to punish us.”

Faces shifted—from panic to anger.

Yeah… even if they were called workers, they knew they were still slaves. Their “masters” probably didn’t want to feed them anymore and were just making excuses.

With that seed planted, more voices followed.

“We did all their work, and now they’re trying to withhold our food!”

“Give us our food!” “We want our food!” “Take their food!”

A riot was brewing.

“Awoooo!”

The howl of wolves cut through the chaos—as did the appearance of over a dozen bloodstained giant gray wolves.

The hunting team had just returned.

They encircled the area, their presence suffocating. The would-be rioters froze.

Then came a pure white, one-horned wolf—twice the size of the others—slowly walking to Qi Bai’s side.

Its stance made one thing clear: anyone who dared approach his beastman would be torn apart.

Qi Bai casually stroked Lang Ze’s long fur, then said to the silent crowd, “No one is withholding your food.”

“The rations from this squad will be redistributed among the other nine squads tomorrow.”

Sure enough, the moment Qi Bai said that, much of the tension vanished.

Some beastmen began to think—if Black Mountain wanted to punish workers, why give their food to others?

Maybe someone really had stolen food.

Suspicious glances turned to Quan Nan’s squad. On this continent, stealing was not tolerated. Punishment was fair.

Others were just happy to get extra food.

Now, they weren’t about to back up the troublemakers. If anyone tried to steal food again, they’d stop them.

Once the crowd absorbed this, Qi Bai said, “Don’t think this punishment is over. If it happens again, the entire larger team will be punished. A third time? Then no one eats.”

In his system, there was no “group punishment doesn’t work.” Everyone gets penalized.

The tribe had too much going on to babysit the workers daily.

Only by linking their interests together—by making honest behavior beneficial—would they start policing each other.

A bowl of food or a day of hunger… they could do that math.

The fake token issue seemed resolved.

But as Hu Xiao slipped into the shadows, he was stopped.

Expressionless, he faced Qi Bai and Lang Ze.

Qi Bai waved the token. “Look familiar?”

It was Qi Bai’s first time observing Hu Xiao’s human form this closely.

Pale skin. Faint-colored lips. Big, striking eyes. When still, he looked like a delicate doll.

Young. Maybe not even of age. But calmer than many adults.

Even now, staring at the token, those pale eyes showed no panic. As if he was sure Qi Bai couldn’t touch him.

Hu Xiao shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Qi Bai replied slowly, “One thing I didn’t announce—this wasn’t the first fake token. In fact, we discovered one yesterday. Someone definitely got food twice.”

Hu Xiao said, “I only took food once.”

“You’re right. You only took food once. And I know it was the short-haired beastman who got two servings. But if we only looked for who took extra food, we’d catch the wrong person.”

Qi Bai looked directly at Hu Xiao. “You probably don’t know this—but every token is unique.”

He pulled out another token identical to the fake. “Don’t you think today’s design is more complex than yesterday’s? Yours is different. I carved this myself. This symbol means ‘Hu’—as in your name.”

“Get it now? This is your personal token.”

Finally, cracks appeared in Hu Xiao’s calm. After all, he was just a teenager. Faced with solid proof, he faltered.

He couldn’t understand. If they knew he made the fake token, why hadn’t Qi Bai exposed him? Why let an entire squad suffer?

Qi Bai didn’t press further about the fake. He smiled and said, “Those beastmen seem to like you—willing to share even precious food.”

Hu Xiao stayed silent, staring hard at Qi Bai.

“You led them north, didn’t you? They trust you, follow your word.”

Qi Bai winked. “But if they found out you were the reason they were punished—what do you think they’d do?”

A chill ran down Hu Xiao’s spine. He gritted his teeth. “What do you want?”

Qi Bai smiled. “It’s not about what I want. The question is—what are you willing to do… to protect that secret?”