LSLFBW: Chapter 55

Qi Bai and Ma Ling’s caves were very close. It could be reached directly by walking down two levels along the edge of the Black Mountain.

Qi Bai didn’t wear gloves. He put his hands in his sleeves and sighed. “I didn’t expect them to wake up so soon.”

In the afternoon, Qi Bai was still worried about whether the two of them could survive or not. Now, not long after nightfall, they were out of danger. It could only be said that the beastmen’s physique was really strong.

“I woke them up,” Ma Ling said proudly. “I saw that their stomachs were empty, so I knew they hadn’t eaten meat for a long time. I took the salted meat to the cave and roasted it over a fire. They woke up when they smelled the aroma of roasted meat!”

Looking at Qi Bai’s suspicious eyes, Ma Ling said, “This is true.”

“One spring, I fell from a mountain. The tribe thought I was dead, so they asked Ma Shu and the others to drag me out and throw me away. I just reached the tribe’s campfire and woke up when I smelled barbecue.”

“The priest said it was because the Beast God came to our tribe and rewarded me with a piece of meat.”

Ma Ling said regretfully, “Unfortunately, I vomited after waking up and didn’t taste much of the barbecue.”

Qi Bai inwardly shook his head. If Ma Ling was really seriously injured, how could he wake up just because of the smell of barbecue? It was probably because his original tribe didn’t want to rescue him as a slave.

However, some things didn’t need to be calculated too clearly. It was enough as long as Ma Ling didn’t take that experience to heart.

Moreover, Qi Bai firmly believed that what they had experienced would never happen again.

As they were talking, they had already reached the first level of the Black Mountain. They ran into She Li and Yang Luo, who were returning from the collective cave.

She Li was holding a piece of salted meat and radish in her hand. Now wasn’t the time to distribute food. It seemed that this should be the food that Yang Luo took out of the tribe’s stored food and distributed to the two people in the cave.

The food wasn’t important. What attracted Qi Bai’s attention more was Yang Luo, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes.

Ma Ling, who had been talking nonstop, couldn’t help lowering his voice when he saw Yang Luo’s look.

Yang Luo was wearing a hair crown made of mountain phoenix feathers, with three long tail feathers pinned on one side of the hair crown.

He was wearing a brand new set of animal skin clothes. More importantly, he was wearing a cloak made of a whole piece of wolf skin over the animal skin clothes.

The mountain phoenix tail feathers swayed gently as he walked. The gray wolf cloak lifted and every step revealed an elegance and mystery that was different from other beastmen.

Qi Bai gave Yang Luo two thumbs up and praised him sincerely. “Grandpa Priest, you are so handsome!”

Yang Luo didn’t understand Qi Bai’s fancy actions and praises. He just waved the bear bone staff in his hand proudly, signaling for them to follow him.

He had prepared this set of clothes a long time ago. However, Yang Luo had a lot of work to do despite being the priest of the tribe. This meant he was reluctant to use these accessories.

The stunning effect of this outfit was obvious.

The two people, who were originally lying on the hay, gulped frantically due to the smell of barbecue. Then they became stunned by Yang Luo, who walked into the cave first.

In particular, the younger beastman. He tried hard to open his eyes wide as if trying to figure out whether everything in front of him was real or his fantasy.

It was because when he was falling asleep, he seemed to smell salt. He seemed to see the white under his feet. It wasn’t snow, but all salt…

The young beastman pursed his lips again and really tasted salt.

Could it be that…

Could it be that he really arrived at the land of the Beast God and that the people before him were all servants of the Beast God?

It wasn’t just them. Even Ma Shu, who was grilling meat in the cave, put down the meat in a state of bewilderment and silently took a few steps back.

Such a noble priest would definitely not take the initiative to introduce his identity to others.

Qi Bai stepped forward very sensibly and said to them respectfully, “This is the priest of our Black Mountain Tribe, Lord Yang Luo.”

The two of them seemed to wake up from a dream.

The middle-aged beastman put his hands on his chest. He could no longer hold back his voice and cried out excitedly, “Master Priest, please save us!”

Qi Bai looked at Yang Luo calmly. Could it be that Yang Luo knew these people?”

However, QI Bai immediately understood after seeing Yang Luo’s calm face. It seemed as if he didn’t know them.

Qi Bai ignored their crying and raised his chin towards them. “What are your names? What tribe are you from?”

The middle-aged beastman was already crying. Fortunately, the younger beastman finally recovered and realized that they hadn’t found the land of the Beast God, but were rescued by the Black Mountain Tribe.

But even this was enough to make him emotional.

Just look at the cave of the Black Mountain Tribe, which was as warm as spring. Every beastman was wearing a well-fitting animal skin coat.

He already had a conclusion in his mind.

The Black Mountain Tribe must be a very powerful and wealthy tribe. They must have enough salt.

They finally saw hope after searching for so long.

The young beastman’s eyes were red, and his voice was choked with excitement. “My name is Ma Song, and he is Ma Tian. We are beastmen from the Xishui Tribe.”

At this time, Yang Luo spoke his first words after entering the cave.

He raised his eyes slightly and said solemnly, “The heavy snow is the instruction from the Beast God for beastmen to stop. Why are you still traveling so far in winter?”

Ma Song gulped nervously. “We… our tribe doesn’t have a priest. We don’t know that we can’t travel far in winter.”

After saying this, he held his head with both hands. “Is it because we angered the Beast God that our tribe has been punished like this?”

Qi Bai and Yang Luo looked at each other.

Perhaps they were frightened by Yang Luo’s words, or perhaps they had no intention of hiding anything. In any case, the two of them said almost everything they knew.

Their tribe was called the Xishui Tribe, which was a tribe mainly composed of horse-shaped beastmen that Lang Ze had tracked down before.

Next to the Xishui Tribe was a long river called Xishui. Their tribe was named after it. Due to the shade of Xishui, there was no shortage of prey in the territory of the Xishui Tribe. They had been living there for a long time and it could be regarded as a safe place.

It wasn’t known whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, but even though the Xishui Tribe had experienced continuous heavy rain, the flood didn’t wash away their territory.

They had noticed the decrease in prey around then but thought everything would be fine as long as the rain stopped.

However, after the rain stopped, their autumn hunting wasn’t very successful. The food they hunted was less than half the usual amount. In addition, the people of the Xishui Tribe lived in tents all year round. Most of the food they stored was spoiled in the heavy rain.

What really made them despair was when they prepared all their supplies and went to the Xiaoniu Tribe, which was seven days away from them, to exchange for salt.

It was discovered that the territory of the Xiaoniu Tribe had been submerged by muddy water, and the Xiaoniu Tribe had long since migrated to an unknown place.

“They have migrated. You can find other tribes to exchange salt,” Qi Bai said. “Or you can go directly to the trading day to exchange.”

Qi Bai’s tone was very natural, and the two people opposite him didn’t notice at all that the Black Mountain Tribe had just arrived in the north and had no idea where the trading day was.

Ma Song smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Our tribe is too small, and we don’t have enough prey to exchange. Every year, we exchange some salt from the Xiaoniu Tribe.”

“Besides, the nearest trading day is three ten-days away from us. By the time we found out that the Xiaoniu Tribe had left, we had already missed the trading day.”

“We can only look for other tribes around our tribe, but winter came early this year. In addition, the tidal water that never froze in previous years was completely frozen a few days ago. We couldn’t get any food from the tidal water.” Ma Song’s voice was full of despair. “If we can’t find salt, our people will die this winter…”

Qi Bai frowned and asked, “Does the tide water never freeze in normal years?”

Ma Song shook his head frantically. He opened his arms and stretched them out as far as he could. “The tidal water is very big. I have never seen it freeze.”

He seemed to have thought of something and murmured, “It must be because we traveled far away when it was snowing. It must be due to this that the Beast God froze the tidal water.”

Ma Song suddenly prostrated himself on the ground and said devoutly, “I am willing to dedicate my life to the Beast God to make up for our offense to him, but the tribe members in the tribe haven’t stepped out of the territory. Please exchange some salt for us and save our people.”

Ma Tian also prostrated himself on the ground, shouting, “Please punish me.”

Qi Bai coughed lightly and reminded Yang Luo to comfort them quickly. After all, these two people were patients now. Don’t let anything go wrong if they became too emotional.

Then Yang Luo said in an unfathomable manner, “The Beast God is merciful. You have traveled far to seek salt for the entire tribe. It must be the Beast God who guided you to the Black Mountain Tribe. The Beast God will forgive you.”

Qi Bai had already asked what he wanted to know, so he stopped the topic at the right time. “Our tribe does have extra salt, but whether we can exchange it with you depends on the will of the Beast God.”

Upon hearing this, Ma Song could only look at Yang Luo nervously.

“Before that day comes, you can stay in the Black Mountain Tribe temporarily.” Yang Luo pointed at the food in She Li’s hand. “The Black Mountain Tribe will provide you with food and a cave to shelter you from the wind and rain. You must remember that the Black Mountain Tribe is a generous tribe.”

Then he waved his cloak, turned around, and left the cave. He left Ma Song and Ma Tian looking at his back in admiration.

Qi Bai naturally had to leave with Yang Luo.

Before that, Qi Bai secretly gave Ma Ling a look, signaling him to keep a close eye on these two people.

Ma Ling immediately nodded to show that he understood.

Among so many beastmen, Ma Ling was the smartest. Just looking at the confused faces of Ma Shu and She Li, it was obvious that they didn’t understand Qi Bai’s meaning at all.

Qi Bai took two quick steps and caught up with Yang Luo in front of him. Yang Luo no longer had the momentum he showed in the cave and looked thoughtful all the way.

The two of them came to the collective cave in silence. They saw Hou Yan and Lang Ze sitting next to the charcoal basin. There were two large bags of things piled next to Lang Ze.

Hou Yan was the chief of the tribe, but he still had to use a cane to walk. He had no authority when facing outsiders, so Yang Luo didn’t let him go with them.

Lang Ze had just finished his patrol and returned to the tribe not long ago.

Qi Bai conveyed Ma Song and Ma Tian’s words to Hou Yan and Lang Ze.

“Can we trust what they said,” Hou Yan asked with a frown.

“Most of their words can correspond to what Lang Ze mentioned last time,” Yang Luo said. “It is just that the route they mentioned is a bit different from the actual journey. According to them, it shouldn’t pass through our tribe.”

Qi Bai recalled the confused mental state of the two people when he first met them. “I think it is more that they lost their way in the heavy snow.”

Hou Yan asked, “Should we exchange salt with them?”

Qi Bai hesitated. “We do have salt. As long as they don’t think about snatching it, we won’t suffer any loss if we exchange it with them.”

The Black Mountain had a lot of salt. Not only would they not suffer any loss, they could use salt to exchange for supplies. This was simply a no-cost business and they would always make a profit.

According to Ma Song, they needed a stable salt exchange channel. If a deal could be reached, it would be a long-term order contract.

Moreover, at present, the social circle of the Xishui Tribe was relatively simple or it wouldn’t be impossible for them to find a second tribe to exchange salt with. For the Black Mountain Tribe, they were still a good trading partner.

Yang Luo also agreed with Qi Bai’s statement. “They have discovered our existence. Even if we don’t exchange salt with them, we have no way to stop them if they want to rob us.”

“There is a way to stop it.” Lang Ze, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, interjected, “We just have to kill the two of them, and no one would know the existence of the Black Mountain Tribe.”

Lang Ze’s words made everyone silent.

Yang Luo had always wanted to take out salt and pottery to exchange for supplies, but what he always hoped to do was exchange them on a trading day where there were many people and many tribes that weren’t familiar with each other. This way, it would be easy to fool them.

For the Black Mountain Tribe, the most important thing was safety. The tribe had too many secrets. The fewer people who knew about their existence, the better.

Qi Bai shook his head, almost led astray by Lang Ze’s words. He grabbed Lang Ze’s hand and said, “It… hasn’t gone that far yet. In any case, we haven’t agreed to their request. There is nothing to lose by observing for another two days.”

Qi Bai didn’t notice Lang Ze’s outstretched arms. He thought for a moment before saying, “They don’t know the location of our tribe yet.”

Yang Luo asked, “What do you mean?”

“They were carried in.” Qi Bai blinked and made a chopping motion with his hand. “Once they leave, we just need to knock them out and carry them out. This way, they won’t be able to discover the location of our tribe.”

The originally tense atmosphere instantly relaxed a lot because of Qi Bai’s interruption. Hou Yan said with a smile, “The territory is full of traces of beastmen activities. They just have to look nearby and they can find us.”

Yang Luo also smiled and shook his head. “Even if they want to harm us, they won’t choose to do it in winter. After all, it is so cold outside, and there is no food. We must build the wall before spring, so that we don’t have to be afraid of any tribe.”

“But what are they going to use to exchange for salt?” Qi Bai asked. “They came here empty-handed. They can’t ask us to go back to their tribe to bring back supplies, right?”

At this time, Lang Ze kicked the two animal skin packages at his feet. “We found these near where we found them.”

Qi Bai opened the animal skin package and found more than 30 animal skins inside. Each one was very complete. It was obvious that they were carefully collected. “It seems that these are the supplies they brought with them to exchange for salt.’

Carrying so many animal skins with them at least proved that Ma Song and Ma Tian were planning to trade. Everyone’s attitude softened a lot.

There was no need to make a quick decision on whether to exchange with the Xishui Tribe or not.

After all, Ma Song and Ma Tian’s physical condition was too bad. If they were allowed to leave now, they wouldn’t be able to survive and return to the Xishui Tribe. They would have to stay in the tribe for at least a few more days.

During this period of time, how the tribe members should be allocated and how the tribe member’s work should be carried out needed to be arranged in more detail.

It was an hour or two later when Qi Bai and Lang Ze came out of the collective cave.

The moon was bright, and the stars were sparse.

Qi Bai absentmindedly searched for untrampled snow and jumped forward.

Lang Ze followed behind Qi Bai. Once Qi Bai lost his balance, Lang Ze held his waist.

“Don’t worry even if you want to exchange with them,” Lang Ze turned his head to look at Qi Bai’s ears, which were red from the cold.

Qi Bai scratched his head. He knew that Lang Ze was always thoughtful. His worries and hesitations had indeed not escaped Lang Ze’s eyes. “If we don’t exchange with them, one or two hundred people from the Xishui Tribe might die.”

At this point, he said dejectedly, “But I am also a bit worried that if I am careless and soft-hearted, it will bring disaster to the tribe.”

“I’ve said before that one tribe isn’t enough to be our enemy.”

“But there are a lot of them.”

Lang Ze looked at Qi Bai’s still shaky body. He simply grabbed Qi Bai’s waist with both hands and lifted him directly to the complete snow surface in the distance.

“True warriors never rely on numbers to win. They can fight ten against one, or even a hundred against one.”

Qi Bai chuckled. “Is that possible?”

‘Of course. Just teach the beastmen warriors how to fight.”

Lang Zes’ eyes curved in a smile. He lowered his head slightly to look at QI Bai, saying with some grievance, “I’m hungry.”

“Oh no!” Qi Bai stopped moving instantly. “There is still meat stewing in my pot!”

Then he pulled Lang Ze and ran towards the cave.