Chapter 339

Because of the previous incident with Bao Tan, although Ma Ling maintained the proper respect toward Bao Xi, he was still cautious at first. But that wariness quickly lessened.

Ma Ling could tell—this Bao Xi-shishi was nothing like that Bao Tan envoy. Bao Tan had come to Hei Yao to throw his weight around, while this one was truly here to trade.

From the moment they entered the trading street, aside from a brief moment of distraction, Bao Xi had begun a full-on shopping spree.

Pots and pans, clothes and shoes, dried fruits and candied snacks—Bao Xi went into every shop and never left empty-handed.

The five guards following behind had already made several trips between the trading street and the guesthouse. Yet before long, their arms were once again loaded with bags of goods.

Ma Ling also gained some insight: though Bao Xi had few guards and little luggage, they truly came from a wealthy and deep-rooted clan. What they carried were all valuables. A casually offered item turned out to be a precious bird-bone. And when he spent, Bao Xi didn’t even blink.

In just one or two hours, four palm-sized bird-bones had already been traded away.

At that moment, Bao Xi was in a shop that specialized in wooden trinkets, listening with great interest as the shopkeeper explained the use of a toothbrush.

“With this toothbrush, you dab on the paste we make and brush up and down on your teeth, then rinse with clean water.” The shopkeeper gave a confident grin, revealing two rows of bright teeth. “I guarantee your mouth will have no foul smell, and your teeth will look beautiful.”

The three guards at Bao Xi’s side raised their heads for a look. They had to admit—those teeth were indeed cleaner than theirs.

“Not bad.”

Bao Xi nodded. A guard immediately brought forward a beast-hide sack full of beans they had just traded bird-bones for. “We’ll take all of these.”

The shopkeeper beamed. “You’ve chosen right! My toothbrushes are the best in all Hei Yao. They’re soft, won’t hurt your teeth, and shed very little. One brush lasts dozens of days.”

Bao Xi paused. “You make all of these yourself?”

The shopkeeper pointed to a semi-enclosed workbench inside. “Of course. Every bristle is handpicked by me.”

Bao Xi turned the toothbrush in his hand. “Can the wood be replaced?”

“It can... but why replace it?”

The shopkeeper was puzzled. Right now he used stems of the Geng tree, abundant around Hei Yao, perfect for toothbrushes that required frequent replacement.

“Do you have li wood?”

“Li wood?” The shopkeeper frowned, the name familiar. After thinking for a while, he suddenly clapped. “I can get li wood. But you don’t mean to make toothbrushes out of li wood, do you? Isn’t that far too extravagant?”

Li wood was black, fine-grained, and heavier than ordinary wood. Even freshly cut trunks burned longer than Hei Yao’s best charcoal. But more importantly, it was a medicinal wood. He’d first heard of it from the giant deer clan.

Bao Xi didn’t care about cost. “I want a full set made from li wood. How many days?”

“A full set?”

In his shop, a set meant six brushes, two paste boxes, and one storage case. If all were made of li wood, the cost would be sky-high.

“Yes.”

“Three days. At the fastest, I can finish in three days.”

Bao Xi calculated, then said, “Start now.”

The shopkeeper took the sack of beans, hesitated only a moment, then grinned widely. Money was money—what did it matter what wood it was?

“Very well! Oh, and look here—we’ve also got combs specially for brushing beast forms’ fur.” He winked and added, “Between us, our high priest uses these combs every day to groom the city lord himself.”

“Cough, cough.”

Hu Xiao cleared his throat. The group turned—and who should walk in but Qi Bai and Lang Ze.

Qi Bai was both amused and helpless. No wonder even villagers knew he combed Lang Ze’s fur. So this was where the rumor spread from.

“City lord, high priest.” The shopkeeper forced a laugh under Hu Xiao’s warning glare. “Hu Xiao-jiyi.”

He was once a Sang Huo slave brought by Hu Xiao. Much of what he knew of the city lord and high priest was hearsay. Whether true or not, he didn’t know. But he could swear by the Beast God: the city lord and high priest were certainly Hei Yao’s closest companions. So he never felt he was lying—at worst, maybe just exaggerating a little.

After all, in business, a good gimmick attracted more customers.

Seeing Qi Bai and the others, Bao Xi paused his shopping and nodded to them. “You’ve settled your trade?”

Luo Shu pulled his nosy gaze off Qi Bai and Lang Ze. “Settled.”

Of course, Luo Shu couldn’t tell Bao Xi that he had stayed behind to share intelligence with Qi Bai and Lang Ze. His excuse was that they needed to finalize trade volumes. And naturally, he answered the same now.

Qi Bai said, “Young city lord Shu is about to take us to see the slaves. Would you like to come along, shishi?”

Passing through the trading street, they had learned Bao Xi was there, so they stopped to ask politely. After all, if Luo Shu had brought these slaves, Bao Xi certainly had a hand in it.

Bao Xi nodded, asking no further questions. But before leaving, his gaze lingered on the comb in the shopkeeper’s hand.

The shopkeeper instantly understood and nodded vigorously. Li wood—this one too needed li wood. He got it.

Qi Bai twitched his mouth. No matter the era, custom orders always had no ceiling. Clearly, his sense of “wealthy” was still too modest.

At the guesthouse gates, over twenty Hei shan beastmen who had been notified in advance were already waiting. They entered together only once Qi Bai’s group arrived.

Hu Meng craned his neck as they walked. “I wonder if the ones from Qing Chi are my clansmen.”

Shu Lin scoffed. “Don’t get your hopes up. Remember last time? That envoy swore they were our people, and not a single one was.”

They’d only been trouble. Hei Yao couldn’t keep beastmen with unclear origins, so in the end, Shu You and Yun Jing had to take them along on trade routes, hoping to exchange them with other tribes.

Hu Xue just smiled and shook his head.

Everyone yearned for their lost clansmen, though with different feelings.

For Hu Meng and Niu Yong, who had simply gotten separated, the hope of reunion was strong. Zhu Ya especially—he’d dressed in his finest, eager to show the wild boar tribe that he, Zhu Ya, had made something of himself.

But others, like Shu Lin and Tu Ya, felt far more conflicted.

As children, even if marginalized in their tribes, they hadn’t thought much of it. But growing up in Hei Yao, they had learned to recognize much they hadn’t before. Toward their old clans, they felt no hatred, but neither could they say they longed for them.

With such mixed emotions, they entered the rear courtyard. And once Shu Lin and Tu Ya saw clearly the beastmen Qing Chi had brought, they unconsciously sighed in relief—their clans weren’t among them.

Exchanging glances, the two gave bitter smiles. Their hearts truly were full of tangled feelings.

At that moment, Niu Xi suddenly stepped forward. Her voice trembled: “Er, Guo... is that you?”

Two frail sub-beastmen flinched like startled animals, shaking their heads as they shrank into each other.

But their reaction only convinced Niu Xi more.

She hurried forward, crouched, pushed back their tangled hair, and locked eyes with them. “It’s me—Er, Guo, it’s me, Xi.”

One of them blinked at the sound of her voice.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you. No one will hurt you now.”

“Xi...” The sub-beastman suddenly threw himself into her arms, sobbing. “Xi, you’re alive—wu wu...”

Elsewhere, Quan Lie and Niu Yong also found their clansmen, embracing in tears.

Seeing all this, Luo Shu was overjoyed. “Well? Haven’t I always kept your matters in mind?

“These beastmen still have kin. I’ll go to those cities and tribes, and bring the rest over too.”

Unlike Bao Tan, who had only brought one tribe, Luo Shu had chosen two sub-beastmen from each of twelve tribes. Altogether, he’d brought members of twelve clans. Now it looked like Hei Yao would at least keep three.

Three tribes! Even as slaves, that meant one to two hundred survivors each. Next trip, he’d make a fortune just transporting them. And along the way, they could even work.

Qi Bai looked happily to Lang Ze. He hadn’t expected Bao Xi and Luo Shu to truly find their people.

They would have to go to Beast God City sooner or later. Now it seemed accepting the Great Shen Si’s invitation might not be such a bad choice.

Lang Ze gave Qi Bai a slight nod, then turned to Bao Xi. “The bone token you brought, Hei Yao accepts. This winter, Hei Yao will indeed go to Sheng Cheng Mountain.”

Bao Xi’s stern face finally relaxed. “Then I will personally welcome you both.”

Just as they were about to discuss further relocation of beastmen, a voice suddenly rang from a corner behind them.

“Mao Bai?”

Qi Bai and Lang Ze froze.

Since coming to Heishan, Qi Bai had always gone by Bao Bai. No one here should call him Mao Bai—unless...

Qi Bai narrowed his eyes, studying the beastman who spoke, while dredging through his memory of the Feng Bao tribe. Unfortunately, what surfaced was not pleasant.

Little Mao Bai had been shoved down by other cubs, his strip of meat stolen. The adults nearby had seen but done nothing.

The beastman’s face overlapped with one of those cubs—Bao Jing, if Qi Bai recalled correctly.

“Mao Bai, Mao Bai, save me! Please save me!”

Luo Shu cast a glance at the yelling beastman and asked Luo Ren, “Which tribe is he from?”

Slaves often went mad like this. Even though Luo Shu considered himself merciful, he couldn’t prevent such breakdowns. He’d grown used to it.

Luo Ren said, “The Ye Bao tribe.”

At that, Bao Yue’s ears twitched. He stepped forward. “Our Ye Bao tribe has no such beastman.”

Bao Xing nodded. “I’ve never seen him.”

“No, not Ye Bao. I’m not from Ye Bao.” Bao Jing tried to raise his hand to point at Qi Bai, but under Lang Ze’s icy stare, his fingers trembled uncontrollably and couldn’t lift. “I... Mao Bai... I... save me...”

Lang Ze was certain—among the lists of clans they sought, there was no Feng Bao tribe. Only the Ye Bao of Bao Yue and Bao Xing. How had this man slipped into Luo Shu’s group?

Hu Xiao frowned. “Young city lord Shu, Hei Yao has no rule allowing slaves to go mad before our lords.”

Luo Shu waved casually. “Just a slave. Ritualist, deal with him by Hei Yao’s laws.”

Lang Ze gave Ma Ling a glance. Ma Ling immediately stepped forward, hauling the limp Bao Jing away.

Lang Ze’s gaze turned to Bao Xi, who had remained silent the entire time.

Could this be connected... to the temple?