The trader leader looked at the little female then looked at the tiger beastman. He couldn't help but remember when he was young, trading with his father. They encountered those beastmen with three females with them. Although no fight happened, he saw his tribesmen look at the female with desire. Yet this time, he can see that their eyes don't hold desire to possess and such. Their eyes only hold curiosity. He suddenly smiles. Their tribe prospered, the curse was indeed lifted.
His thoughts were interrupted by the tiger beastman, Xiong Wei, "Apologies for the rush but can we trade fast? I want to send her back."
He looked at the tiger beastmen and nodded, "Of course, our inspectors are done." Then he looked at the team lead of the inspector. "Right?"
The team lead of inspectors nodded at him,"Yes."
The trader leader looked at Shun Su. "The carts?" Shun Su nodded. Then he looks at Xiong Wei, "We will take everything including the carts."
Xiong Wei nodded, "Sure. How about the smoke meat technique?"
The trader leader thought that if they will not trade for it, they only need some days to figure out how to make smoked meat, however if they trade for it, then those days of finding out the recipe will be spent somewhere else. "What can we trade it for?"
The way Xiong Wei looked at him made him feel that the smoked meat will be traded something he wouldn't expect. "A favor."
He suddenly regretted asking. "Favor?" This is something he can never decide into.
Xiong Wei nodded, "We want to visit your Tribe and help us with something. At least five beastmen and one female."
Hearing there was a female, he looked at the little female, "Is the visit about the female? Is it her?"
Xiong Wei nodded and shook his head after. "Yes, but not her."
The trade leader hummed and said, "We don't have any authorization for that. We need to go back and ask the tribe leader. It is beyond what I can trade."
"Understood. Would you like to meet here in five days? We will give the method when it is decided." Xiong Wei is confident that they will come back. They can also see it.
It seems like the smoked meat has a secret that they don't know of.
However, five days is simply too short. Thinking about it, going back to the tribe with all these goods will cost them at least three days straight. Going back here with nothing, which means they can run faster, but it is still another two days. This means that they won't have time to check how to do smoked meat. Five days is just enough and clearly calculated by Xiong Wei.
"We still need to go to another Tribe…" Having traded with a lot of goods doesn't mean that they must stop their journey. They already promised the other tribes that they will be coming and trading spices with meat, medicine and plants. They can't go back to the tribe and forget them. They would lose their reputation. Not only that, the tribes who need their goods might suffer, especially when it comes to medicine.
Xiong Wei shook his head. "We can only stay for five days. We still need to travel."
"I can meet you in five days." Shun Su stepped up. Anyway, he still needs to go back and bring the herbs to Ke Rin. He found the rarest herbs that can improve anyone's health and might even bring back the near dead beastmen or female back alive.
The trader leader sighed in relief that someone volunteered. "That's great, I will leave it to you. Bring the three carts back and take some beastmen with you." Shun Su nodded.
They let the tiger beastmen look at their goods and once they are all done. The tiger beastman bowed a little and said, "It's nice to trade with you. We still need to go back." Then Xiong Wei looks at Shun Su. "See you in five days?"
"Yes."
—
"Why visit? Can we live with them instead?" Xiong Fei suddenly asked as they walked away from the fox beastmen.
Xiong Wei answered, "We can't."
She looks at his father. "Why?" Xiong Fei just doesn't understand why his father and his main team always go from tribe to tribe and never stay.
"We just can't."
"They look kind…? Maybe they will let us live with them?" Xiong Fei already encountered several beastmen on the way to find their freedom and safe space. She can at least identify beastmen who have bad intentions and those that don't have any bad interest towards females, mostly when it is towards her.
Xiong Wei patiently explained to Xiong Fei and gave her a lesson, "We don't know if they are kind or not. It's just one transaction. You should never trust any beastmen or even females immediately. Don't get your hopes up. They wouldn't let us live with them. The only possibility that another type of beastman can live with an existing tribe is if you become a mate of their female or a female is sold to their tribe."
He immediately saw her thinking something that she shouldn't, "We will never sell you."
She gave her father a silly smile and curiously asked, "Does that mean any of our beastmen can be with any tribe if they become mates with the females in the tribe?"
He hesitated before answering, "Yes. However, most tribes won't allow it. There are many unmated beastmen on every tribe. If they let some beastman outside their tribe get the benefits of getting mated, it means that the beastman gave them something in return or promised them something that they couldn't say no. You can think of it as trading."
"Oh…." Xiong Fei just nodded. Everything feels complicated to her. She looks at her father, still confused.
His father patted her head. "Come on. We need to rush back. No more questions."