Chapter 348

“Bao Bai, Bao Bai!”

Just past noon, Luo Shu came running over from the neighboring camp.

Qi Bai thought something had gone wrong and quickly stepped out of the tent. “What is it?”

That morning, quite a few cities had heard the news from Angqi City and came rushing to Hei Yao to order tents. Naturally, handling the negotiations with the buyers fell to Yi Si’s She Li and Yun An. They had been busy all morning, and once they saw Qi Bai free, they hurried to report the order numbers to him.

Qi Bai took one look and was startled—though no other city placed an order as large as Angqi’s, when all the smaller ones were added up, the number was still considerable. Even if the workshops could keep up, there was no way their livestock could grow fur that fast! With just the orders already signed, Hei Yao’s herds might all be left bare-skinned through winter.

Qi Bai deeply felt both the vastness of the market and the insufficiency of Hei Yao’s own production capacity. Their animal husbandry desperately needed expansion.

But Luo Shu knew nothing of his worries. He urged, “Quick! Lan Gu City has entered the marketplace. Come with me now—if we’re late, it’ll be too late!”

Lang Ze, who was already outside overseeing the warriors, gave a few instructions to Ma Ling, then followed Qi Bai and Luo Shu.

On the way, Qi Bai learned from Luo Shu about Lan Gu City.

The city’s name came from the fact that their lands produced vast amounts of bluebird bones.

Though the hardness of bluebird bone was only mid-tier among bird bones, it was more than enough to deal with wild beasts. Because of its abundance, it was much cheaper than the sky-high prices of other bird bones, and had always been a hot-selling commodity at the Sacred Mountain marketplace.

By the time Qi Bai and the others reached Lan Gu’s camp, a crowd had already gathered outside. The Lan Gu folk seemed used to this, and with little fuss they unloaded their packs—without even setting up tents, they began preparing their stall.

“You only brought this little this year? That won’t be nearly enough for us.”

“Exactly, and why’s the price so high this year?”

Qi Bai twitched his ears, edging closer to listen.

Hadn’t Luo Shu just said Lan Gu’s bird bones were cheap? Why the sudden price spike?

“Don’t even mention it,” a Lan Gu beastman, clearly a squad leader, kicked aside a stone and spread a big hide across the ground. “The Stone Valley Giants rampaged across our lands. They toppled the great mountain where the bluebirds nested. My people had to fight tooth and nail just to hunt down this lot of bones.”

He sat down heavily on the hide instead of laying out the goods. “With the mountain gone, we don’t even know if the bluebirds will return. Who knows if we can hunt more bones in the future? So yes, the price is higher—if you don’t want them, we’ll just take them back for ourselves.”

“Hey, hey, wait,” the buyers cried, quickly stopping him. “Don’t put them away—we’ll buy, even if it’s more expensive.”

The Lan Gu’s explanation was credible. Those who had come weren’t ignorant—they were mostly mid-sized cities that had been to the Sacred Mountain market many times. For years, they had traded bird bones with Lan Gu, and never once had the source been disclosed. If not for that hunting ground’s destruction, Lan Gu would never have revealed it now.

Listening closely, Qi Bai finally understood: the so-called Stone Valley Giants were no monsters at all, but their name for earthquakes.

Lan Gu must have been near the great earthquake’s epicenter. An entire mountain had been leveled. Faced with such terrifying natural force, the beastmen naturally ascribed it to some supernatural being.

The beast clans believed in gods. Beyond the Creator Beast God, some revered their own deities—the Silver Moon followed the Wolf God, the Cangquan worshipped the Ancestor God.

But Lan Gu could not claim it as divine punishment. That mountain had been their greatest source of wealth. If they said the gods forbade them to hunt bluebirds, they’d lose everything.

Thus, the legend of the Stone Valley Giants was born.

Qi Bai listened with great interest. The tale was almost convincing—if the timing and location hadn’t aligned perfectly with the great quake a few years ago, he might have believed it too.

Despite lower supply this year, Lan Gu still brought nearly a hundred hide-sacks of bones. And even at the higher price, they were gone in just over an hour.

Though Beizhou had its redbirds, this was Qi Bai’s first time seeing bluebird bone. He joined the excitement and bought a sack himself.

He was seeing firsthand the immense buying power of these cities. Good thing he had Luo Shu the “know-it-all” with him; without him, Qi Bai might have missed out entirely.

Since they were already out, Qi Bai and Lang Ze continued strolling through the market.

Qi Bai walked ahead, while Lang Ze followed with a hide-sack filled with Mu Hua cloth and honey that Ma Ling had just delivered.

In Beihuang’s smaller markets, cloth was a luxury most tribes couldn’t afford. But here, at the Sacred Mountain, Mu Hua cloth could be used directly as currency. Every city that received it was delighted.

The market, made up of more than sixty cities, was an eye-opener for Qi Bai.

Everyday staples like pelts, meat, and salt were almost unseen here. The few hides on sale were exquisite: massive bear-like marten and fox pelts, flawless snow-sheep hides, and even tail feathers tens of meters long.

Yes—feathers, as long as cables, coiled like ropes. Just one feather. The vendor said it came from a giant mountain bird, similar to a phoenix but larger, with impossibly long tails.

In their lands, the longer a beastman’s house was decorated with such feathers, the greater his prestige. In mating season, their homes were swarmed by sub-beastmen. But here, such symbolism meant little; sales were poor, and many remained unsold.

Qi Bai couldn’t imagine what kind of beast could grow them. But they were cheap by his measure, so he bought plenty.

Five feathers alone he set aside—for Yang Luo, who adored colorful plumes. But to avoid favoritism, he bought some for the other priests too.

As he thought: why not? They weren’t expensive.

At another stall, a small city sold snow-sheep hides. Seeing Qi Bai buy so many, they happily traded for honey.

Qi Bai realized his honey was far more popular than expected. Truthfully, after seeing so many exotic goods here, he had worried it might not sell.

But in the temple-ruled cities, honey wasn’t just a sweet—it was medicine. Combined with its imperishable nature, cities gladly stocked as much as possible.

Everywhere, curiosities abounded: beast fangs, bone tools, strange fruits and plants. Most outrageous, Qi Bai even spotted coffee beans.

Of course, the beastmen called them ku dou—“bitter beans.” Technically they weren’t even merchandise, but a snack one tribesman had brought from home. He’d only put them out to make his stall look fuller, and in days no one had asked.

Naturally, Qi Bai bought the lot. When he learned the small tribe was under Angqi City, he went straight to Xiang Rui, asking for help securing more.

Xiang Rui agreed readily. The beans grew near Angqi, but with so little fruit flesh and a bitter taste, hardly anyone bothered collecting them.

So Qi Bai and Lang Ze made their way stall by stall, and truly found many treasures—especially those overlooked by others but whose value Qi Bai recognized.

Finally, near the back half of the market, they reached the Yu Ren tribe’s stall, a subordinate of Mi City.

Unlike the others, their stand held several large water basins. In one basin, several slick black fish sprawled within.

Hearing someone approach, one fish clambered to the rim, blinking round little eyes and tilting its head at Qi Bai and Lang Ze.

Meeting its gaze, Qi Bai froze—wasn’t that a giant salamander?

Just then, a beautiful female beastman rolled up her sleeves and stepped out from the tent. Her fingers appeared shorter than normal—but only because webbed skin stretched between them.

“We have only one good for trade,” she said, pointing at the outermost basin. “Those—jiao si.”

Then she kicked at the basins where the salamanders poked their heads. “These are our clansmen, not strange fish. They can’t be eaten, and they’re not for sale.”

Her tone was so practiced it was clear she’d been asked this many times before.

Qi Bai: “...”

So, the ones who wove jiao sha weren’t mermaids after all—they were giant salamanders.

He cleared his throat. “We can tell beastmen from beasts. We’ve just never seen beastmen who live in water before, and were curious.”

(Though, he thought, wasn’t that inaccurate? Salamanders were amphibians, after all.)

The woman only shrugged.

Qi Bai crouched by the basin. “You said those are jiao si? So jiao sha is woven from these?”

“Exactly.” The woman squatted too, seeing he knew. “Our Yu Ren’s jiao si not only makes jiao sha, but can also be twined into ropes.”

She scooped up a wisp of jiao si and tugged it hard in both directions. “It fears neither water nor fire, and it’s tough as can be—the most resilient thread in the world.”