Chapter 319

When Qi Bai arrived home, Lang Ze had already returned ahead of him, so Qi Bai told him about the situation with Hu Huo.

“This actually reminded me,” Qi Bai said, “many of the Dong Yi tribes migrated to the south and west back then. It’s possible that there are still other tribal groups that haven’t settled down yet. Since Shu is heading southwest, we might as well have him help us look along the way.”

In recent years, the Beast men Continent had been ravaged by natural disasters, and displaced beast man tribes were everywhere. When Qi Bai and Lang Ze returned from Song Wu, they encountered many such tribes along the way.

Wherever these people went, they were inevitably driven out or enslaved. Other tribes and cities had no use for refugees—but Hei Yao did. Hei Yao didn’t lack for anything nowadays—except people.

The development of the five villages outside the city was proof that Hei Yao’s policy of absorbing refugees was working. So with that being the case, they could afford to be more proactive.

Lang Ze didn’t have any objections to the proposal. He only asked, “There are so many tribal groups among the people in the city—how are you going to tell Shu all their names?”

Qi Bai had never imagined that such a simple question would stump him.

Fortunately, collecting the tribal names went smoothly.

Not all tribe members were like Mao Bai and Hu Huo—abandoned by their own tribes. Many, like those from Hou Yan, Niu Xi, Zhu Ya, Xiangyu, and others, sincerely hoped to find their kin again.

Of course, everyone understood that trying to locate relatives somewhere on this vast Beast man Continent—without even knowing where to start—was an almost impossible task. But people needed hope. As long as there was hope, there was something to look forward to.

Qi Bai explained their intentions to Shu, who readily agreed to help. After all, Qi Bai wasn’t asking him to work for free—he promised a reward for every individual or tribe from Hei Yao that Shu found.

But the problem lay in one overlooked detail—Qi Bai had forgotten that Shu was still illiterate.

Shu took the beast hide covered in written names and flipped it every which way. After a moment, he gave up and looked at Qi Bai: “These totems you drew—will the city’s divine envoys understand them?”

With his abilities, the best Shu could do was find a divine envoy for help.

Qi Bai: “......”

Suddenly enlightened, Shu exclaimed, “Oh! This is Hei Yao’s script! The people you're looking for will surely recognize it. All I need to do is show them the beast hide—they’ll understand immediately.”

Qi Bai silently reached out and pulled the hide back. “How about this—I'll read it to you, and you just try to remember as much as you can.”

Even as Shu’s group pulled six carts out of Hei Yao and left, Qi Bai still didn’t know how many tribal names Shu had managed to memorize.

Qi Bai folded his arms. Oh well. If Shu forgot, it’d just serve as advertising for Hei Yao anyway. Qi Bai had already instructed him—if he encountered any wandering tribes he couldn’t identify, just point them toward Hei Yao.

As for whether this might attract bandits?

Qi Bai wasn’t worried in the slightest. No matter how fierce a mountain king might be, once they arrived in Hei Yao, they’d obediently farm the land.

“Bao Bai!”

Qi Bai had just entered the city gates when someone called his name.

He turned toward the voice and saw Shu You standing in front of a noodle shop, waving at him.

Qi Bai walked into the noodle shop and took a deep sniff—wow, it smelled amazing. Even though he’d already had breakfast, just smelling the food made him hungry again.

Shu You greeted him warmly, “What do you want to eat? It’s on me.”

“Then I won’t hold back!” Qi Bai leaned over to inspect the marinated meats, then pointed to the last clay jar. “I’ll take a bowl of beef offal noodles, and half a Jin of beef on the side.”

After ordering, Qi Bai took a beast-hide pouch out of his coat and filled the counter’s bowl with soybeans. A price list carved into a wooden board on the wall listed all food prices, so it was easy to pay accordingly.

“Hey!” Shu You immediately stopped ladling the noodles. “I said I’m treating—why are you still paying with soybeans?”

Qi Bai pushed his hand away. “Noodles are one thing, beef is another. I’m paying for the beef. If you won’t take it, then I’m not eating.”

Shu You looked a little embarrassed. “I was trying to treat you, but now you’re the one spending beans...”

“It’s because your food smells too good,” Qi Bai interrupted him, touching his mouth. “Come on, hurry up—I can’t wait anymore.”

When the bowl of beef offal noodles was finally served, Qi Bai was amazed—it was the first time he’d seen more meat than noodles in a bowl.

Beef brisket, tripe, intestines, omasum... all soaked in broth with big chunks of turnip. A generous ladle of vinegar, paired with slightly rough noodles—this flavor was heavenly.

The only thing missing was chili. But that wasn’t a big deal—he’d already planted chili seeds, and by autumn, he might just be eating spicy beef noodles.

The half jin of sliced marinated beef was tender and flavorful, with a bit of tendon on the side. Dipped in soy sauce and garlic paste, Qi Bai ate until he was rubbing his belly with his hands.

He gave Shu You a big thumbs up. No wonder Yang Luo rushed over here after every shift. These noodles were absolutely worth it. He’d definitely bring Lang Ze next time.

Shu You chuckled. Only then did he get to the real reason he’d called Qi Bai over today.

“You want to go into trade too?”

“I heard from some folks from Qing Chi who came to eat,” Shu You said, gesturing with his hands. “They traded a clay bowl here for one beast hide but got six hides for it in the upper city. The hides they got were even bigger than the ones we use.”

“Bao Bai, if Qing Chi folks can go out and trade, can we do it too?”

Qi Bai thought for a moment. It wasn’t impossible.

He wanted more beast men to come to Hei Yao to buy goods and sell them elsewhere, mainly for two reasons:

First, this method of trade was safer. Even if individual items had low value, as long as the volume was high, Hei Yao would still come out on top.

Second, market expansion on the Beast man Continent was incredibly difficult. There weren’t many cities, and most beast man tribes relied on trade days, which were hard to predict in time and location—and could change at any moment—making them viable only for nearby tribes.

So, sending Hei Yao people out to trade was no easy task.

But since Shu You was asking, he probably already had some ideas. Qi Bai asked, “If you had the goods, who would you sell to?”

Seeing that Qi Bai hadn’t rejected the idea outright, Shu You perked up. “We plan to head west from Bei Huang to Luo Ri City. We’ll also pass by small tribes along the way and trade with them.”

“We?”

Shu, You nodded. “Yes, me, Yun Jing, and Xiong Qi. We’re thinking of forming a trade caravan of a hundred people. Even if some don’t have goods, we can hire them.”

Clearly, they’d already planned this out. Yunjing and Xiong Qi were both from Bei Huang and familiar with the region, so finding tribes wouldn’t be difficult. Once in Luo Ri City, they could rely on the Xu shan Tribe on the outskirts. Even if they couldn’t enter the city, they wouldn’t have trouble selling their goods.

This really sounded like a solid trade route.

Qi Bai reminded him, “Shu can sell a clay bowl for six hides because they’re going to the upper city. Most other tribes and cities aren’t nearly as wealthy.”

“We won’t take too many valuable items like pottery,” Shu You said, holding up two fingers. “As long as we can sell for twice the cost, we’ll make a profit!”

Qi Bai laughed. “Your noodle shop’s doing great—you're not running it anymore?”

“Of course I am! I already talked with Mao Nai—he’ll help run it while I’m away.”

Shu, You cupped his face in his hands. “Bao Bai, Yunjing says it’ll take over a month of non-stop travel to get from Hei Yao to Luo Ri City. I’ve never gone that far before.”

Qi Bai smiled. “Alright, I understand. Go back and write down the people and goods in detail. Show it to me.”

Shu, you nodded repeatedly. “Okay! Okay!”

In the end, Shu You and Yunjing’s trading team really did set out.

However, under Lang Ze’s final decision, the group expanded from 100 to 500 people. Their mission changed from merely making money to also building friendly relations with Bei Huang and Luo Ri City.

With the group so much larger, Shu You and Yunjing naturally couldn’t afford all the goods. Qi Bai ended up

supplying most of the inventory.

Because of the spring planting season, the caravan didn’t depart until early May, and they didn’t reach the Hun Rong area—where the Xu shan Tribe lived—until early July.

As one of the former eight great tribes of Bei Huang, the Xu shan Tribe had close ties with Yun Gu and the Zhan Xiong Tribe. Otherwise, Yunjing wouldn’t have thought of trading the Sang Huo Tribe members to Xu shan.

Sure enough, upon arriving at Hun Rong, the caravan received a warm welcome from the Xu Shan Tribe—but the overly friendly attitude surprised Yunjing and Xiong Qi.

Hu Ran bumped shoulders with Xiong Qi and stepped back to size him up. “Haven’t seen you in years—you look a lot stronger now. We have to spar later.”

Hu Yan laughed. “The chieftain heard you arrived and is already waiting for you in the main tent. Come with me.”

After exiting the Xu Shan chieftain’s tent, Yunjing and Xiong Qi were even more certain of their suspicions.

As the former “big brother” of Bei Huang, Xu Shan never treated other tribes poorly, but they certainly weren’t this humble. At the very least, their chieftain would never have come out to greet them personally.

Yunjing looked around at the tents inside Xu Shan territory—it seemed life in Hun Rong hadn’t been easy for them.

At the same time, the Qing chi group that had departed earlier reached the outskirts of Qi City. But unlike the Hei Yao caravan, they received no warm welcome.

The caravan suddenly came to a halt. Shu, who had been napping on a cart, was jolted awake and smacked into a rattan basket full of supplies.

He sat up grumbling, about to scold the beast man pulling the cart—but his face changed when he looked up.

A group of leopard-form beast men—much larger than typical horned beast men—stood in the middle of the road, blocking their path.

Shu jumped off the cart, putting on a smile. “Xi Si-shi, I was just thinking about bringing some good stuff to you once we entered the city—and what a coincidence, here you are!”

Despite being only, a Si-shi, the beast man in front of him was not someone Shu dared offend—his grandfather was a Divine Si of the Central Temple, and his father a Divine Envoy of Qi City. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say they were the most powerful family in Qi City—or even the entire Beast God City.

“Not a coincidence,” said Bao Xi, his ice-gray eyes full of cold indifference. “I’m here specifically to wait for you.”