Chapter 59: Bargain (II)

Chapter 59: The Transaction (Part Two)

“Awuu~~ Awuu~~”

“What are you howling about? There’s no need for such a fuss, Da Ha. Your sacrifice is worthwhile; as a model among the Fighting Wolves, it’s only right you contribute to the tribe. After eating so much meat, what harm is there in giving something back? Besides, it’ll grow back in a few months, so stop howling.”

Outside the shelter, Da Ha curled up in a ball, eyeing Li Hongshen as he sobbed and howled. At first, Li Hongshen felt a little guilty and offered Da Ha some fierce beast meat, gently comforting him. Yet the wolf carried on, wailing for half a day simply because a few tufts of fur had been clipped from his tail. Eventually, Li Hongshen couldn’t take it anymore and squatted beside Da Ha.

“Quit howling. Fine, when we get back, you can have fierce beast meat every meal, and I’ll help you advance in rank. How’s that?”

Hearing this, Da Ha’s ears twitched, and he poked his wolf head from beneath his paws, looking pitifully at Li Hongshen.

“Relax, I keep my word. I’ve never lied to anyone, have I?”

Li Hongshen stroked the wolf’s head, offering what he had intended to give as compensation. He felt no guilt, for he’d said he’d never lied to people—he hadn’t said anything about wolves.

After a glance at Li Hongshen, Da Ha slowly stood up, tail tucked between his legs as he scampered off to seek solace from his two she-wolf companions. As he moved, he pressed his tail between his thighs, masking it with his strong legs. From the gaps, it was clear the tail now had only a short inner layer of soft fur covering the skin, dense and waterproof, while the outer coarse and long fur had been trimmed to a short stubble. Compared to the fur on his body, it looked almost bald—conspicuous and eye-catching.

Once Da Ha was settled, Li Hongshen returned to the shelter, where three wooden barrels stood alongside several processed medicinal herbs and a bag of blood crystals—eight in total. All these were part of an exchange with Li Bingbing. Her tribe didn’t produce salt; the rock salt found in the wilderness contained too many trace toxins and couldn’t be refined. Without spirit honey, her people would certainly suffer from chronic poisoning.

Additionally, her people were elves—proud and unwilling to make pottery. According to them, they never played with clay, and now they still used stone pots, tossing firestones in to cook. It was enough to drive Li Bingbing to despair.

So Li Hongshen traded sea salt, ceramic pots and basins, and some cloth and clothing. Both sides got what they wanted, but the exchange reminded Li Hongshen that he needed to prepare unique spirit products from his own territory. Otherwise, every trade would be basic supplies for a few spirit items—a heap of goods for a couple of small wooden barrels and boxes, which made him feel a little pained.

He hadn’t expected anyone to produce surplus spirit goods for trade in their first year. Li Bingbing was clearly quite capable.

When he returned to his tribe, he would have his people collect fallen wolf fur and storm eagle feathers; these could be traded, making use of everything.

After the transaction, Li Hongshen and Li Bingbing continued their conversation, exchanging information as they awaited the arrival of others.

From Li Bingbing, Li Hongshen learned that four or five more people would be joining this virtual market. They had agreed a year ago, all confident in themselves. Among them, only Li Hongshen had chosen to camp near the fierce beast forest; the others were in relatively easier places to the east or west.

The fierce beast forest, connected to the Ten-Thousand Mile Mountains, had multiple paths in and out, with beasts driven out daily. Thus, the forest was rich in fierce beast resources but extremely dangerous.

The others would eventually enter the mountains, but they’d chosen the outer ranges or lakeside areas, home to native beasts that were easier to handle than those driven out of the mountains.

Li Hongshen didn’t mind. It was his own decision, after all. Before coming, he’d consulted Senior Brother Luo Si; aside from a few minor changes—two new wild tribes—the information was largely the same.

He didn’t care about the others; the land was claimed by him, the path chosen by him. Hearing their choices, he simply kept them in mind.

After Li Bingbing arrived, three more teams followed: Mo Ge’s Desert Wall Tribe, Gongsun Bieli’s Departure Tribe, and Lin Shengzun’s Shadow Tribe.

All were male lords, their people common humans, but smaller than Li Hongshen’s tribesmen by a good margin.

Their tribesmen wore beastskin coats, wielded bone or stone spears, and a few had wooden bows. Warriors were fewer than Li Hongshen’s, totaling just over thirty combined.

None had brought along a second-tier instructor from the academy; all had left them at camp to guard their homes, dashing Li Hongshen’s hopes of exchanging martial arts techniques.

Upon meeting, there was a round of mutual praise and information exchange, followed by straightforward trading.

Mo Ge’s tribe was well-equipped, using camels to transport goods—medicinal herbs and spirit plants, plus blood crystals, to trade for large quantities of salt, food, and grain seeds from Li Hongshen. He described himself as the unlucky one whose lord’s trial took place in the desert, ending up with a desert domain.

But Li Hongshen didn’t underestimate him; anyone who passed the lord’s trial was formidable, especially in the desert. And since he dared to trade for food seeds, he must have an oasis—likely a sizable one, or he couldn’t farm.

Gongsun Bieli’s tribe was decent, bringing twelve warriors but relying on manpower to pull carts, with no large beasts. He traded blood crystals for ceramic basins, cloth, clothing, and spices. He’d found rock salt near his domain and was mining and refining it, planning to coordinate salt prices with Li Hongshen.

Li Hongshen had always expected others would find salt; there was no way he’d be the only one. He hadn’t anticipated meeting two others so soon, one already able to sell surplus, which surprised him.

Lin Shengzun, however, was the biggest surprise. He wasn’t among those Li Bingbing had mentioned, and was the second lord to bring spirit items for trade. He had a fierce bird companion—a Sapphire Golden Eagle, apparently evolved from a golden eagle—and transported goods by horse-drawn wagon, immediately elevating his status.

He exchanged his spirit goods for all the remaining salt from Li Hongshen, traded blood crystals for cloth, clothing, and medicine, but didn’t want ceramics or weapons, as he sold those himself—his domain seemed to have a mine.

Newcomer, asking for votes of all kinds, asking for comments, recommendations, chapter reviews, messages—asking for everything. Please, esteemed readers, give me some support; I feel like I’m grinding a single-player game here.

(End of chapter)