*Chirp chirp…* The morning birds disturbed his peaceful dream. Su Bai slowly opened his eyes, blinked a few times, and remembered he was still in the Wilderness. Once everything came to his mind, he quickly sat up.He scanned the area and saw Yan Hua lying beside him. The campfire was only a metre away. On the other side of the fire were Da Gua and Mai Mang.
[It’s most likely around 5 AM…] Su Bai estimated, looking at the sky.
He did not wake the three, as they had taken turns keeping watch last night. With dawn not yet fully broken, he let them sleep a bit longer.
[System, check in.] Su Bai commanded in his mind.
[Ding! Check in successful.]
Su Bai looked at the virtual screen before him, showing four unclaimed Assistance Packages.
He closed the check in page and sighed.:[I’ll open them all once when we return to the Tribe.]
When an Assistance Package was opened, items would appear nearby. Small items were fine, but items like the sweet potato plant from before, were too conspicuous and hard to explain.
[Someone is approaching.] With his keen senses, Su Bai turned to look behind him and saw Yan Jiao walking silently over, carrying a wild rabbit.
“Shaman…” Yan Jiao was about to greet him.
“…” Su Bai gestured for him to stop, pointing at the sleeping Yan Hua and the others.
Yan Jiao nodded and walked away with the rabbit, intending to clean it before returning to roast it.
Soon, he returned with three skewered rabbits and crouched by the campfire to grill them.
*Sizzle…* The aroma of grilled meat began to spread.
Da Gua and Mai Mang opened their eyes, saw the grilled meat, and quickly got up to enter the forest. Three grilled rabbits were not enough for everyone. It was better not to eat dried meat if possible.
*Mm…?* Yan Hua smelled the grilled meat and immediately opened her eyes.
“Awake?” Su Bai softly asked.
“En, en…” Yan Hua nodded lazily, rubbing her eyes to fully wake up.
Mai Mang, Da Gua, and Wa Ming all returned, each carrying wild beasts. They began grilling the meat.
“Shaman, the meat is ready,” Yan Jiao handed over a grilled rabbit.
“From now on, you can’t call me Shaman anymore,” Su Bai said, taking the grilled rabbit.
“Huh?” Everyone was stunned.
“You should call me Su Bai. Otherwise, if others hear you calling me Shaman, my identity would be exposed.” Su Bai explained clearly to prevent them from foolishly calling him Shaman.
“Oh, right.” everyone realised.
As dawn broke, the six finished their grilled rabbits and continued their journey through mountains and waters.
By afternoon, they came across a dirt path.
“What’s this path?” Su Bai asked curiously.
“It leads to the Spotted Deer Tribe. The other end connects to other powerful Tribes,” Yan Jiao said solemnly.
“I see. Let’s go.” Su Bai did not ask further.
He understood the situation. Only strong Tribes could trade frequently without waiting for the market every fifteen days, hence the well trodden path.
“In the future, when we have the ability, we’ll build a four-lane highway so everyone knows the Flame Dragon Tribe is at the end,” Su Bai mused to himself.
Soon, they encountered people from other Tribes, in groups of threes, or fours, or fives, or sixes.
They all shared a common feature. They were all carrying huge animal skin bags filled with dried meat for trade.
Su Bai shook his head helplessly at the sight. In this primitive society without carts, people’s feet were the only means of transportation. Fortunately, Totem Warriors could carry several hundred kilograms of dried meat.
Dried meat was different from fresh meat. Hundreds of kilograms of fresh meat dried might not even yield a hundred kilograms of dried meat. Furthermore, a kilogram of dried meat was enough to feed an ordinary person for a day.
This was just wild beast dried meat. For Ferocious Beast dried meat, even the most common Mix Blood Ferocious Beast dried meat, half a kilogram was enough for an ordinary person’s daily consumption.
“There are more and more people,” Su Bai observed, seeing many emerging from the forest to gather on the small path.
The corner of Yan Jiao’s lips raised and he said in a strange tone, “Su-Su Bai, don’t stray too far from us.”
“En” Su Bai nodded, carefully observing the people around them.
He noticed everyone wore animal skin clothes, with no one in linen. These people were all from small Tribes.
The path widened until they saw wooden walls ahead, with watchtowers made of wooden frames, manned by many people.
“That’s the Spotted Deer Tribe. It’s just up ahead,” Yan Jiao softly said. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.
“Wow! Impressive!” Yan Hua exclaimed quietly, seeing wooden walls and tall watchtowers for the first time.
“Worthy of a Tribe with three thousand people,” Su Bai nodded. These wooden walls could repel many wild beasts and deter Ferocious Beasts.
Building walls required significant manpower. Small Tribes were worried about food all day, who had the energy to build walls? Only the Spotted Deer Tribe, with its salt, had surplus labour for construction.
Under the watchful eyes of the Spotted Deer Tribe’s sentries, Su Bai’s group entered the main gate with the crowd.
Inside, they saw many animal skin Teepees and numerous items laid out on the ground.
“Are they setting up stalls?” Su Bai hesitantly asked.
“Yes, some Tribes without much dried meat bring other things to trade,” Yan Jiao softly stated.
“Oh? There are more wooden walls inside,” Su Bai looked up and saw another set of walls within the Spotted Deer Tribe, taller than the outer ones.
“The inner area is the actual Spotted Deer Tribe. This outer area is for us to trade,” Yan Jiao said solemnly.
“Separating the inner and outer areas reduces chaos, and also adds defensive measures,” Su Bai praised.
However, since they were just wooden walls, he had many ways to break through. If he were to build them, he certainly would not use wood.
“Where’s Hei Ya?” Mai Mang frowned and asked.
Su Bai scanned the surroundings and said. “Let’s wait a bit longer. He might have stepped away for something.”
[noscript][/noscript]