Chapter 335

“Xu Hu Priest, you’re here.”

The beastmen working in the wasteland looked up and greeted when they saw a few figures approaching.

The beastmen had been working for over a month already. The foundations of the stone houses and building materials were nearly ready, waiting only for spring to begin full construction.

Lately, they had been clearing wasteland in front of the village—pulling weeds, cutting trees, removing stones, plowing the soil, and digging irrigation canals.

When choosing the village site, Qi Bai and Lang Ze had deliberately picked a place with a river flowing by. But for more convenient irrigation, canals still had to be dug.

Xu Hu Priest stopped at the edge of the field.
“Hey, you all know, right? The City Lord and Great Priest are living in our village now, teaching us farming.”

Several beastmen nodded repeatedly.
“Yes, yes, we know.”

Satisfied, Xu Hu Priest pointed to the wooden bucket in Hu Bin’s hands.
“It’s nearly noon, so I’ve come to bring some meat broth to warm up the City Lord and Great Priest. Do you know where they are?”

The beastmen glanced at each other, and finally, a middle-aged beastman pointed.
“Seems they’re over there. Go take a look.”

Following the direction, Xu Hu Priest and Hu Bin soon spotted Qi Bai and Lang Ze. Not that they had sharp eyes, but because not far from them, a caravan of nearly a hundred carts was slowly rolling past.

Xu Hu Priest craned his neck, peering into the carts. Curious, he called out to Qi Bai:
“Great Priest, what are these stones for?”

He had wanted to ask this for a long time. After all, Hei Yao’s quarry had plenty of stones, yet the Hei Yao beastmen frequently hauled stones from far away. And he had never seen red houses in the city. What were these stones even for?

Qi Bai raised an eyebrow. The old fox had sharp eyes. Those carts were returning from the Scarlet Mountains, carrying Redstone blocks. As for their purpose—Qi Bai did not explain. It wasn’t time yet to spread ironwork to the public.

Lang Ze asked coldly:
“What do you want?”

Xu Hu Priest quickly dropped the subject of stones and held up the bucket with a fawning smile.
“This is freshly made meat broth from the village…”

But before he could finish, a voice rang out behind him:

“City Lord! Great Priest!”

Lü Er came running, breathless, shifting into human form before he even reached them.

Seeing Qi Bai and Lang Ze look his way, Xu Hu Priest’s face darkened. These Zhong Lü people were so annoying. Even from this far away, they just had to ruin his moment.

But he dared not complain, for following behind Lü Er was Niu Xin, captain of Zhong Lü’s patrol squad.

Panting, Niu Xin said:
“A caravan just passed outside the village. We tried to stop them, but they refused, saying they would only speak to the Hei Yao City Lord. They’re already heading toward the city. Ma Tian and the others are following them.”

Qi Bai and Lang Ze exchanged a glance—they both sensed trouble.

Leaving a few quick instructions with Xiong Feng, the worksite supervisor, Lang Ze shifted into beast form. Without even taking the carts stored in Xu Hu Village, the two sped straight back to the city.

Lang Ze’s speed was far beyond that of a caravan. Though they set out last, they reached the city first.

It was not until evening that a group of six to seven hundred finally appeared.

Though called a “caravan,” the party had only three carts.

In the center sat a beastman bundled in heavy furs. With dusk dimming the light, Qi Bai could not make out his face, but at the rear of the column, he could faintly see horned beastmen in tiger and antelope forms.

“Looks like people from Song Wu and Sheng Ling,” Qi Bai murmured.

Caravans could only belong to Luo Shu, Song Wu, or Sheng Ling. Yet Song Wu and Sheng Ling had always been friendly with Hei Yao. Why would they refuse to speak with Niu Xin?

Clearly, things weren’t so simple.

Lang Ze glanced at Ma Ling, who nodded and shouted down from the wall:
“Who are you outside? Why have you come to Hei Yao?”

“We are envoys from Qi City! Open the gate and allow our envoy lord and delegation to enter!”

As for the Song Wu and Sheng Ling people, they were ignored. In the eyes of these envoys, those tribes barely counted.

Lang Ze said flatly:
“Tell them—each tribe may send only three people into the city.”

Ma Ling relayed this. The caravan stirred restlessly. The fur-clad beastman leapt angrily to his feet, but after some persuasion from his companions, he grudgingly nodded.

The gates opened. Nine lightly equipped beastmen entered.

At their head was Bao Tan, grandson of the Qi City high priest Yong Shen Si, and a second-level warrior.

Ma Ling immediately saw they had broken the rule. Song Wu and Sheng Ling had brought only two each—Hu Liao Xun and Ling Ping, Ling Ta—while the remaining five were all Qi City envoys.

But Ma Ling said nothing, only greeted them with a smile:
“Honored envoys, the City Lord and Great Priest have prepared a banquet at the City Lord’s mansion. Would you like to rest at the guesthouse first, or proceed directly?”

The moment they stepped inside, Bao Tan and his four guards felt the massive walls looming like mountains overhead. Warily, they gazed upon the endless main street lined with neat houses, warm light glowing in many windows.

Though Luo Shu had described it, though they had seen the splendor of the Beast God’s city, they were still stunned—dizzy, as if in a dream.

“Envoy?”

Ma Ling’s voice snapped Bao Tan back. His shock vanished, replaced by excitement. He was glad he had accepted this mission. Coming to Hei Yao had already proven worthwhile.

Though displeased the City Lord and Great Priest hadn’t come to the gate to welcome him, he softened at the thought of a banquet.
“No need to rest. Take me to your City Lord at once.”

“This way, please.”

Bao Tan strode forward, his guards behind him.

Trailing them, Hu Liao Xun frowned at the word “banquet.” It didn’t bode well.

But since they came openly as envoys, Qi Bai and Lang Ze were still courteous.

There were nine in the delegation, so Qi Bai arranged for Yang Luo and eight others to accompany them.

At first, things went smoothly. Only Bao Tan stared too long at Qi Bai’s white hair, earning sharp glares from Lang Ze.

And the food—Hei Yao’s feast—soon had everyone eating with greasy mouths.

But when Hu Liao Xun thought the night would end peacefully, Bao Tan finally remembered his “business.”

“This envoy has come to deliver people to Hei Yao.”

“Deliver people?” Qi Bai smiled faintly. “We can hardly feed our own. Why would we need more mouths?”

“These aren’t just any beastmen. They are the very clansfolk you’re searching for.”

Hou Yan and Yang Luo exchanged glances. So Bao Tan had already met Luo Shu. If he really had brought their clansfolk, that would be welcome indeed.

“Of course,” Bao Tan continued, raising one finger, “finding them wasn’t easy. So—one beastman, one sack of salt.”

“And another thing. Why bother trading with that little city of Qing Chi? From now on, deal with me. I can sell all your goods.”

He tilted his chin proudly.
“Most importantly, I can make you vassals of the Upper City. I can let you into the Beast God’s city to bask in the temple’s light.”

On the beastman continent, finding lost clansfolk was immensely difficult. That was why Qi Bai had promised Luo Shu generous goods in exchange. But however generous, it was never this outrageous.

When they had once traded with Xu Shan, over two thousand slaves had only been worth forty thousand catties of meat—barely three hundred catties of salt.

And now this Bao Tan demanded fifty catties of salt per person. Six people equal to two thousand!

Worse, they hadn’t even seen the captives yet. Who knew if they were the right people?

Business required give-and-take. But Bao Tan’s sky-high terms only made Qi Bai laugh. He lost all interest in further talk.

Ling Ping bit her lip, finally rolling her eyes. She wasn’t surprised by Bao Tan’s greed.

Of course not—just before departure, the Upper City envoys had all but robbed Sheng Ling, taking three full carts at extortionate prices. Sheng Ling hadn’t dared protest.

Were it not to return the goods borrowed from Qi Bai, Ling Ping and Ling Ta wouldn’t have come at all.

Qi Bai glanced at Xun.

Though the City Lord’s hall was warm, Xun’s back felt cold. He had known the Upper City envoys were arrogant. But that they’d act even worse here in Hei Yao’s domain—he could only hope Sheng Wu City wouldn’t be dragged into this.

After long hesitation, Xun finally reminded:
“This time, Envoy Bao Tan only found forty slaves.”

Qi Bai raised his brows. The meaning was clear: pay two thousand catties of salt to buy peace.

Two thousand catties! Enough to make a whole tribe prosperous for a year. And Bao Tan tossed it out as if nothing.

Still, from Xun’s tone, Qi Bai understood. The Upper City had long been accustomed to squeezing lower cities. Hei Yao just looked richer than most, so the gouging was worse.

Two thousand catties wasn’t much to Hei Yao—but this would only be the first of many demands.

And Bao Tan wanted exclusive rights to Hei Yao’s goods besides.

“City Lord of Hei Yao, Great Priest of Hei Yao,” one of Bao Tan’s guards stepped forward as Qi Bai and Lang Ze remained silent, “you should be grateful the envoy brought your clansfolk back!”

“Our clansfolk will, of course, return to Hei Yao.”

Lang Ze’s dark eyes flickered coldly.
“It’s late. Escort our guests back to the guesthouse.”