"Seeing as you did not succeed, I will overlook it this time. But if there's a next time, the Yellow Bear Tribe no longer needs to come to the Blackpond to trade!"
Still Perch's teeth audibly ground together, though it was hard to say whether this was out of anger or fear.
He did not understand how things had managed to turn out this way in so little time. Just what had they talked about by themselves?
His mind still a mess, Still Perch left with the Yellow Bear Warriors.
How had it turned out like this? Why did the Blackpond suddenly stand on Mud Mountain's side? They gave them so much good salt every year… Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.
Still Perch turned in shock toward the center of the crowd, where Ye Xi was.
Could it be…
In the crowd, Ye Xi sensed his gaze and glanced back. And then, like he had seen a random bystander, he turned his head away indifferently.
…
Even without the Blackpond Tribe's testimony, everyone could tell for themselves if Mud Mountain's salt was good or bad. As the news spread around, more and more people gathered to buy salt. By the end, they were fighting for the privilege to buy some, and the entire Blackpond trade area was in turmoil.
It wasn't long before the salt was sold out.
With the mission complete, Ye Xi and the others didn't plan to stick around. They planned to start their way back to the tribe while it was still early in the day.
The salt had been exchanged for far too many things. Even though the Mud Mountain Warriors were each carrying double the load they had come with, there were still some things that they could not bring back.
Ramie saw the situation and borrowed three of the frilled, eight-legged insects from the Flint Tribe. Even this was only barely enough to carry all the goods.
Ye Xi gratefully smiled at Ramie. "Thank you, Uncle Ramie."
Ramie chuckled and casually said, "This is nothing, a trifle."
Ye Xi was about to say a few more words of thanks when a furious roar came from the side of the path. "I ask you to do one small thing, and you can't even do that right! Why do I even keep a slave like you around?!"
Ye Xi turned in the direction of the voice.
A Blackpond Warrior was shouting and cursing as he kicked at a thin and filthy slave.
The slave was holding a set of white clothes in his hand, and his head was lowered as he silently allowed himself to be beaten. But a sudden kick to the knee made him drop to the ground in pain, and the white clothes fell to the ground and were stained with dust.
The Blackpond spotted the clothes and instantly grew even angrier. "You dare dirty my clothes! Good! Very good! It seems you don't want to be a slave anymore!"
Once a slave was tattooed, they were very rarely freed from slavery.
In this era of cannibalism, the Blackpond Warrior's furious words and their implied meaning could make one shiver.
The feeble slave limped to his feet, but his head remained lowereded and silent. It was impossible to see the look on his face.
But Ye Xi sharply noticed that the slave's arm was shaking.
Was it fear?
In this primitive society, useless slaves would be cruelly treated as food. If Ye Xi had seen this happen back at Mud Mountain, he would have appeared to mediate, but in the Blackpond… Ye Xi mentally shook his head. He could only count this slave as unlucky.
The Blackpond Warrior was incensed by this slave's silent attitude, so he jeered, "Heh, was your Wolftooth Tribe made up completely of useless people like you? Even as a slave, you're detested!"
Wolftooth Tribe?!
Ye Xi's pupils constricted, and he turned back to the slave in a daze.
The slave trembled at these words, and his fists clenched as he slowly raised his eyes to look at his master.
The Blackpond Warrior met his gaze and shivered.
Those eyes were the color of blood, packed with so much hatred and venom that it made one's heart go cold.
"What's this look!? It seems you don't want to keep living!" The Blackpond Warrior was even more infuriated when he realized what was going on. He began to coldly laugh as his hand moved toward his weapon.
"Big brother over there," a clear and youthful voice said.
The furious Blackpond Warrior impatiently turned his head to see a fair-skinned youth wearing black snake skin standing on the side, smiling at him.
The Blackpond Warrior frowned. He immediately recognized this youth as the Mud Mountain Tribe's shaman disciple.
The Mud Mountain Tribe had grown famous today. Their production of snow salt had sent tremors throughout the trade area. With this salt, the Yellow Bear Tribe's history of salt monopoly would probably be overturned, and the rise of the Mud Mountain Tribe was not far in the future.
This youth was that tribe's shaman disciple, and the trade area patrol captain Ramie was accompanying him. The Blackpond Warrior restrained himself and stiffly asked, "What?"
"Big Brother, killing this slave is such a waste."
"You mean…"
Ye Xi smiled. "I'm lacking a slave. He seems interesting, so you might as well sell him to me."
The Blackpond Warrior was delighted to hear this, and immediately became energetic.
This slave was simply too useless, poor at everything he did and an idiot as well. Even if he were butchered, he wouldn't give much meat. It would be much better to sell him. "How much are you willing to pay?"
"What about two hundred catties of meat?"
The Blackpond Warrior's eyes flashed, but he put on a reluctant expression. "Two hundred catties? That's a little small."
Ramie frowned and rebuked, "You think two hundred catties is too little for a slave? Don't go too far."
The Blackpond Warrior was somewhat afraid of Ramie, and hastily said, "Two hundred catties is two hundred catties."
A Mud Mountain Tribe Warrior handed over two hundred catties of jerky, and the Blackpond Warrior happily accepted. No longer caring enough to vent his rage on the slave, he casually waved his hand. "Alright, off you go. I'm no longer your master."
Ever since Ye Xi had interrupted, the slave had gone back to his taciturn self. It was hard to tell if he was happy over escaping death and getting a new master.
Ye Xi looked him over, internally sighed, and called out, "Come here."
He recognized that this slave was actually the son of the Wolftooth Tribe's chief: Mink.
Mink took up a rather significant portion of Loose Grass's memories.
One was an orphan who depended on the kindness of relatives to barely fend off starvation, and an orphan without much talent. But the other was an incredibly talented individual, the chief's son, who had, early on, passed the provisional Warrior trial and become the hope of the Wolftooth, someone who had practically been chosen by the heavens.
Loose Grass would often sneak envious and admiring glances at Mink, dreaming about how great his life would be if he were Mink.
The Mink in his memories had been a glorious existence, but now, his body was covered in wounds and dirt, in such poor condition that it was hard to look at him.
Mink clearly did not recognize Ye Xi, and he silently joined the Mud Mountain Tribe's group.
Ye Xi didn't say much to him, only ordering him to follow the team.
They were still in the Blackpond Tribe's trade area. For Ye Xi to reveal himself to Mink would be an extremely foolhardy decision. Fortunately, none of the Mud Mountain Tribe team were fools, saying nothing and treating Mink as an ordinary slave so that Ramie wouldn't notice anything.
After packing up and saying farewell to Ramie, they began their journey back to Mud Mountain.