Chapter 302

“Beast God above, is this real?”

“Ping! Come quick and look! These really are stones, Beast God above! Heiyao City’s ground isn’t actually dirt, it’s all stone! Such smooth stone!”

Shu moved closer to the leading priest, instinctively putting more distance between himself and those uncouth Shengling people who were squatting on the ground, practically pressing their faces against it.

Even though they had set out from the same place, even though they had traveled together for half a year, Shu now just wanted to say he really wasn't that familiar with them.

Who knew the priest beside him would stop walking.

Yang Luo's face revealed a faint, serene smile: "Of course, the ground in Heiyao City has dirt underneath too. We just covered the dirt with stone bricks, that's all."

The few beastmen huddled together grinned sheepishly and scratched their heads: "We've never seen stones like this before. They're like they grew right out of the ground."

Ling Ping offered Yang Luo an apologetic smile: "My clansmen are rude, delaying your guidance, Priest."

"It's no trouble," Yang Luo gestured forward. "Let's go, we're almost there."

"Ah, ah, coming!"

The quickly caught up. Ren, following behind Shu, couldn't help but glance sideways. Why did he feel like this priest wasn't annoyed at all, but rather seemed to be enjoying it?

Ren's feeling wasn't wrong.

Yang Luo was extremely satisfied with this assignment. Especially when he noticed the little city leader [Shu] beside him constantly stealing glances at the wood-flower patterned clothes he and Yun Tan wore, his back unconsciously straightened even more. It wasn't in vain that he'd taken out such valuable clothing to wear.

Just as Yang Luo had said, the group soon reached their destination.

The three delegations from Qingchi, Songwu, and Shengling were all arranged to stay in the southernmost part of the Yungu residential area.

Nowadays, nearly adult younglings in the city would prepare houses for themselves in advance, ready to move out once they came of age. So, every clan had plenty of vacant houses; accommodating these three delegations was no problem at all.

Yang Luo had chosen Yungu mainly for two reasons.

First, it was the farthest from the breeding area to the west, the school for the younglings to the north, and the workshop district to the east. These were their assets and couldn't be let outsiders learn about them. Yang Luo thought he'd have to remind the various team leaders again later to ensure everyone stayed vigilant.

The second reason was its location at the city's extreme south, only seven or eight hundred meters from the southern city wall, with relatively open space in between. This meant the warriors patrolling the walls could easily observe the situation here.

So, although Yang Luo's arrangement seemed casual, he had considered every aspect.

The three delegations totaled one hundred and ten people. Yun Tan found five adjacent houses. Each house had a courtyard leading to a layout of two main halls and four side rooms.

"Our houses are designed for beast forms. Staying in human form, three or four people can live in one room quite spaciously. Of course, if you encounter any problems, you can come find me anytime. I live right in the middle of this area," Yun Tan said, pushing open the main gate.

However, no one was paying attention to what Yun Tan was saying. Gasps of astonishment rose one after another. They simply didn't know how to describe what they were seeing.

When they were on the street earlier, they already felt the surrounding buildings were extraordinary. But now, truly stepping into these houses, they realized how lacking their imagination had been.

Sun held his breath, gently stroking the smooth, flat wall. This house was more exquisite than the Great Shaman's Great Shaman Hall. Yet, judging by the condition here, the other party hadn't just hastily cleared out these houses for them; these houses had clearly been sitting empty all along.

Lifting his head to look at the countless houses outside, Sun hardly dared to think further.

"Priest Yang Luo, Elder Yun Tan, we've brought the supplies."

A voice came from outside the gate. Yang Luo inside the courtyard responded, "Bring them in."

"Alright," Hu Huo nodded to Lu Guo, then waved to the others. "Start moving them in. Everyone, be careful."

Shu couldn't help but swallow hard. If he could barely maintain composure at everything he'd seen before, the next actions of these beastmen left even him dazzled.

Through the window, Shu saw several wooden boards that could move forward by themselves slowly enter the courtyard and come to a steady stop.

The Heiyao beastmen unloaded exquisite utensils one by one from the carts, arranging them neatly inside the rooms. Only after they were placed did Shu vaguely discern from their positions that these were actually tables, chairs, chests, and cabinets made of wood.

Then, a beastman carried something that looked like a "log" into an inner room. He first cleaned the flat earthen bed in the room with something, then placed the "log" on the bed and unfolded it with a *whoosh*.

That thing turned out to be a green blanket.

Shu You, while spreading a bamboo mat, said casually, "We all sleep on cool mats in summer. These are cool. They're all new, you can use them without worry."

Just as Shu was touching the cool bamboo mat, Tiger Liao's nearly screeching voice came from outside: "This is pottery?!"

Shu stuck his head out and saw several sub-beastmen placing a large pottery pot on the stove. They held clay in their hands, seemingly preparing to fix the pot in place with it.

Shu clutched his chest. What kind of conditions were these? Using such large pottery for cooking?

Meanwhile, Qi Bai was unaware that Yang Luo's simple actions had left the three delegations breathless.

He and Lang Ze had split up. Lang Ze went to inspect the army and hunting situation, while Qi Bai dealt with arranging affairs within the city.

Qi Bai walked while assigning tasks.

The most urgent matter was settling the newly arrived Yin Yue clansmen.

"First, demarcate a suitable area west of the Heishan residential district for everyone to settle temporarily," Qi Bai said. "Tu Ya, complete the household registration for everyone within two days."

Tu Ya asked, "Are we directly integrating them into the city?"

"Same as before, register them first, let them earn work points to join. Oh, when registering, call Lang Ji and Lang Kuang to assist you."

Qi Bai asked, "Are there any tasks within the city currently requiring a large workforce?"

Shu Lin quickly ran forward a couple of steps. "Yes, yes! The outer city wall is finished, but the stair passages for the inner city wall, the gate towers on the walls, they're not done yet. Assign these people to me! I'll take them to quarry stones first. Once they get more proficient, I'll have people teach them how to build walls."

Seeing no objections from others, Qi Bai nodded in agreement. Most of those who arrived this time were horned beastmen, so quarrying stones was indeed suitable work. He just reminded, "Don't just focus on building the inner wall. Their living quarters need to be built quickly too."

Shu Lin laughed, "Don't worry, their houses will definitely be built before winter."

Speaking of building houses, Yun Zhang recalled the issue they were discussing earlier: "Great Priest, the houses on the Trading Street are all built. How do you plan to handle these houses?"

Qi Bai had already seen the shops lining the South Street when he entered the city. Even without Yun Zhang's reminder, he was just about to bring it up. Wasn't this precisely why he had brought the Songwu and the others from afar?

Qi Bai found the person in charge of the Yi Si (Trade Department) in the crowd: "She Li, when you return later, post a notice. Say that the city's Trading Street will officially open starting tomorrow. Anyone, anyone at all who wants to sell goods, can bring their goods to the Yi Si to apply tomorrow morning."

Xiong Zi hesitated, "Will just posting a notice be enough?"

She understood the Trading Street; it was like a market day changed into a different form. But in the past, one stall was enough for an entire tribe. There weren't that many tribes in the city now; did they really need that many shops?

Furthermore, just looking at Ma Liang's Tofu Workshop showed that once you opened a shop, basically working for the city was out of the question. Remember, the city's compensation wasn't just food; it included important seasonings like oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar – a significant income. Asking clansmen to give that up probably wouldn't be easy.

Qi Bai smiled, "Whether it works or not, we'll know by trying. We'll figure out solutions when we encounter problems. No need to hesitate."

Opening a shop in modern times wasn't easy, let alone in the beast world where there were almost no precedents. So Qi Bai had long prepared two sets of plans.

If everyone was cautious about private shops, he would first open some public shops in the city's name. Once everyone got used to this daily operational model, he could slowly lease or transfer the shops out.

Even large industries like the Pottery Workshop and the Weaving Workshop could gradually be privatized in the future. In Qi Bai's view, over the next few decades, aside from weapon-making smelting which needed strict control, everything else could be gradually released. After all, these technologies weren't secrets within the city; it still came down to individual skill.

Moreover, Qi Bai had actually made arrangements long ago.

His partnership with Ma Liang to open the tofu workshop wasn't just for profit; stimulating the city's commercial development was his ultimate goal. He just didn't know if this hidden move had actually had an effect.

At that moment, none of them anticipated that the notice posted by She Li that very afternoon would immediately cause a huge sensation throughout the city.

That night, the oil lamps in many households burned late into the night. Even those beastmen who went to bed early tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Early the next morning, Qi Bai and Lang Ze headed to the Yi Si. They had come early to prepare, but upon entering the square, they were startled by the scene before them.

The meticulously cleaned central square already had long queues. Everyone held or carried items of various sizes, discussing heatedly amongst themselves.

Seeing Qi Bai and Lang Ze, everyone stopped talking and greeted them cheerfully.

Qi Bai chatted briefly with people as he walked forward. By the time they reached the Yi Si entrance, Qi Bai was directly amused.

Not only were priests and elders like Yang Luo and Xiong Zi all present, even Little City Leader Shu, Tiger Liao, Ling Ping, and several others were sitting excitedly by the foot of the wall.

Shu waved his arm vigorously, looking even more excited than the queuing Heiyao clansmen: "Bao Bai, you're finally here! Hurry up, everyone's been waiting for ages!"

Lang Ze looked at him: "This is Heiyao City's affair. What is the Little City Leader doing here?"

Although Shu spoke casually with Qi Bai, he couldn't help feeling intimidated upon seeing Lang Ze. He shrunk his neck slightly and looked pleadingly at Qi Bai: "Can't we watch?"

Qi Bai smiled: "It's not that you can't watch. But since you gentlemen are watching, you'll have to abide by our Heiyao rules from now on. If you break our rules, Heiyao City will no longer welcome you in the future."

Shu said sheepishly, "We'll follow your rules, don't worry."

Watching Qi Bai and Lang Ze play good cop/bad cop, easily intimidating the three delegations, She Li and the others sitting behind the desks couldn't help but give them a thumbs up.

Qi Bai sat down beside Yun An and nodded to She Li: "Begin."

The first to approach the desk was the owner of the city's currently only shop.

Yun An, dipping his charcoal ink, asked puzzledly, "Don't you already have a shop? Why are you here today?"

Ma Liang said, "I want to buy two more shops."

As tofu gradually became an essential food on beastmen's tables, Ma Liang's Tofu Workshop business got better and better.

Even though everyone knew how to make tofu, everyone was busy farming and working, simply not having the spare time to make it themselves.

More importantly, everyone gradually realized that even though Ma Liang and Ma Chong charged a processing fee per liter of soybeans, their skills were so good that the amount of tofu produced, even deducting the beans used, was more than what people could make themselves.

With that realization, who would foolishly make tofu at home? With that effort, they could farm an extra acre of soybeans and use a few beans to buy ready-made tofu.

Thus, although Ma Liang taught the tofu-making method, his business didn't suffer at all. Instead, it reached a point where expansion was necessary.

So, upon hearing the Trading Street shops were open for purchase, no one was more anxious than Ma Liang.

Of course, another crucial reason for Ma Liang's decisiveness was that to trade tofu, he had to report to the Yi Si daily. So he had long gathered inside information: that in the future, anyone doing business like him must register with the Yi Si, and the current Trading Street was where shops would gather.

Ma Liang hadn't been to external trade days, but he had participated fully in the small-scale trade days the tribe held before. How many beastmen, while buying something, would casually check out neighboring stalls' goods, potentially leading to more sales?

Thanks to his partnership with Qi Bai, he already had a head start; he couldn't afford to fall behind now.

Hearing Ma Liang wanted two shops, the clansmen behind started. Surely this news would reach the end of the queue soon.

She Li asked everyone to remain calm and said to Ma Liang, "Today, one person can only buy one shop."

"I'm not using them for one person. These two shops, one will be a mill, one a tofu workshop," Ma Liang grew anxious, grabbing Ma Chong behind him. "I'm not alone either, Chong is here too. We two want to buy two."

She Li looked back at Qi Bai, seeking guidance with her eyes.

This seemed like a loophole. They said one person could only buy one but didn't specify that a mated pair could only buy one shop.

Qi Bai nodded indicating agreement. The purchase limit was just to prevent shops from sitting idle. As long as they genuinely had viable businesses, it wasn't really exploiting a loophole.

The two happily completed their registration. Sun Qing handed them weighing tools: "Your two shops are a tofu workshop and a mill, so I won't give you rulers. Here are the scale and the dou measure, take them. During transactions, you must use the tools issued by the Yi Si for weighing. We will conduct random inspections on the Trading Street. If any problems are found, you will be barred from operating shops for five years. Understood?"

Ma Chong took the scale and dou measure in one hand, replying with a smile, "We know. No one in the city understands these better than us. We will definitely use these tools meticulously without the slightest error."

After Ma Liang and Ma Chong left, the next person to come forward was somewhat unexpected.

Bao Xing, only standing a head and a half taller than the desk, placed a small wooden box on the table with both hands, presenting it like a treasure to Qi Bai: "Great Priest brother, look quickly at the ink I made!"

Qi Bai was somewhat surprised because what lay before him wasn't the charcoal ink he usually used, but red pigment. He leaned close to Bao Xing's ear and asked quietly, "Made from Chihong stone chunks?"

Bao Xing's eyes lit up instantly, filled with admiration for Qi Bai: "Right! It's made by crushing and grinding Chihong stone chunks."

Since black bamboo charcoal could be ground into black ink, Bao Xing wondered if red Chihong stone chunks could be ground into red ink. He tried using Qi Bai's method for making charcoal ink, and surprisingly, it worked!

Qi Bai ruffled his little head. This kid was really clever. After thinking for a moment, Qi Bai said, "Shops can only be sold to adult beastmen. You can find an adult to partner with you. They contribute labor, you contribute the technique."

Nine-year-old Bao Xing was unconvinced. He pointed to the notice board behind them: "It doesn't say there that only adult beastmen can buy shops."

He might be young, but he was already a teacher at the school. It wasn't bragging, but most adult beastmen in the city couldn't match his literacy and arithmetic.

Qi Bai spread his hands rather roguishly: "It doesn't say that. But the final interpretation right lies with me. I'm saying it now, so that's the rule from now on."

Such a young child's physical strength and energy couldn't keep up. Running a shop alone was too strenuous. Qi Bai didn't want to exploit a youngling; it was best not to open that door.

"I don't want payment, I'll help him," Zhu Zhu stepped out from the crowd of onlookers.

Bao Xing looked at Qi Bai expectantly: "Is this, okay?"

Qi Bai nodded: "It's okay. Don't forget to keep accounts. I will check regularly."

"Yay!" Bao Xing jumped for joy. As if afraid Qi Bai might change his mind, he quickly pulled Zhu Zhu over to register.

In the blink of an eye, two groups had left. Meanwhile, Shu, Ling Ping, and the others were looking at each other, wide-eyed.

Shu: Did you understand any of that?

Ling Ping: You're the Little City Leader, you've seen more. Did *you* understand?

After staring at each other for a long moment, they finally accepted a cruel fact.

After sitting here for half a day, it turned out none of them understood what these people were talking about. Clearly, they knew the words when separate... okay, many words they hadn't even heard of separately, let alone combined.

But even though they didn't understand, they had no intention of leaving. Especially when Shu smelled the delicious food someone had brought, he didn't want to move an inch.

The older priests were completely convinced by Qi Bai. For a whole morning, the central square was constantly bustling with people. Countless clansmen wanted to buy shops and open businesses. The problem they had found headache-inducing was solved effortlessly by Qi Bai.

From simple bamboo and rattan weaving to time-consuming sauces, vinegar, sugar, even various foods – there was nothing they couldn't imagine that the clansmen didn't dare bring before Qi Bai.

If not for Qi Bai's strict scrutiny, rejecting many proposals, the two hundred shops on South Street wouldn't have been enough for the clansmen.

Qi Bai was also very satisfied with this result. His clansmen had never let him down.

After everyone dispersed, Shu, who had been counting on his fingers all morning, finally caught on: "Wait a minute, Bao Bai, do the goods in your city have two prices, inside and outside?"