Tap — — Tap — — Tap — —
The sound of footsteps came from inside the cave.
The person inside the cave was walking out step by step. His footsteps were neither fast nor slow, with a hint of carelessness. He was not alarmed by so many strangers at the entrance of the cave.
There was no bonfire in the cave. It was pitch black, so at first, the people at the entrance of the cave could not see the person inside. They were only alarmed by the sudden appearance of this person, so they all picked up their weapons and pointed them at the person walking out.
In a place like this, even an inconspicuous person could cause you trouble, so you had to be cautious.
Near the entrance of the cave, the light became brighter and brighter. The person walking out of the cave gradually revealed his figure.
That person looked very young, wearing a linen robe. Although it was a little wrinkled, it could be seen that this linen robe was much better than the one Shao Xuan saw in the Pu tribe. The weave was also more delicate. At the collar, there were some small bamboo pieces that were connected together to form an ornament, making the linen robe not so simple.
That person raised his arm and stretched. The light at the entrance of the cave was a little dazzling. He grabbed his messy hair with one hand and looked at the person standing at the entrance of the cave. "Eh, another person?"
"You are?" The few leaders at the front of the group looked at him and asked.
"This cave is ours. Get out of here!" There was a younger person next to him. He originally wanted to grab a better position in the cave, but when he started, he was shocked by the noise from inside the cave. As a result, his position was taken by the person behind him. Now he was not in a good mood, so his tone was naturally a little harsh.
But he did not notice that the arrogant tone of the leader of his group had become much gentler. He also did not notice that some of the more experienced travellers in the group suddenly changed their expressions. Seeing that the other party did not answer, he was about to say something, but his mouth was covered by a few older people next to him and he was dragged into the group.
Shao Xuan looked at the person who walked out. He knew that although linen had become popular in the central region, there were many people wearing linen in the bazaar. However, the linen on the person who walked out was much better. He even wore well-polished bamboo ornaments. Most importantly, there was a piece of jade hanging from his waist.
The experienced people in the team had said that in the Mang tribe, almost everyone had a piece of jade. However, some of them had a very small arc, while others had a half-circle or even a circle. It could be said that in the Mang tribe, status was related to jade. However, the young man in front of him had a piece of jade that had a 240 degree arc on his waist. Although there were no engravings on the jade, there were some clear green lines like bamboo.
It could be imagined that this person was not a nobody. Although they did not know why this person was sleeping in the cave, they could not afford to offend him. This was what the leaders thought at the same time.
That person seemed to casually glance at the team of travelers and said, "I have already slept well. You can go in."
No one in the team walked in, but following that person's footsteps, the team that was blocking the entrance of the cave quickly made a path for him. Some young people who did not know what was going on were pulled away by the older people around them.
With no one blocking the entrance of the cave, more light from outside the cave shone in. This also allowed everyone to see this strange young man more clearly. He was quite white and did not look strong. He also did not feel strong. He did not have the imposing manner of the leader Fan Ning and the others. He was dressed well, but they did not know why everyone was so afraid of him. When everyone's eyes swept over the piece of jade hanging from his waist, the people who were cursing in their hearts just now lowered their eyelids and did not look at him.
For a moment, the cave quieted down. The people who were discussing excitedly just now also shut their mouths.
The atmosphere was somewhat tense.
Ta ta ta — —
The sound of the other person walking slowly was very clear to everyone. Even the noise outside the cave could not cover the sound of the footsteps.
Suddenly, the person who was walking out of the cave stopped in his tracks and looked sideways at the team of travelers.
The few leaders at the front of the team suddenly felt nervous. They exchanged glances and thought about what they should do if something unexpected happened.
But they did not expect that the other person only looked at a place in the team and smiled meaningfully, "You have guts. When you go out, don't walk alone. "
The other people in the team followed that person's gaze and looked at a place. There, Shao Xuan was standing with a frown.
After saying that sentence, that person left. He went out and stood outside the cave to stretch his body. He moved his arms and looked down the mountain. Then he jumped.
This place was halfway up the mountain. The slope was a little steep. There was still some height from the ground below.
However, when the people outside the cave looked down, they did not see that person's figure.
"Don't look anymore. He has already left." Fan Ning said and walked in front of Shao Xuan. His face was cold. Probably because he was injured, his face looked worse, "Have you offended the people of the Mang tribe?"
"No, it's my first time here. I have never seen anyone from the Mang tribe before." Shao Xuan was also puzzled. That person only spoke halfway. How could he know what he was talking about?!
"It's best that you haven't offended them!" Fan Ning snorted heavily. Because of this snort, it affected the injury in his body. He coughed a few times and almost coughed up blood. But in order to maintain his face and stabilize the morale of the team, he swallowed that mouthful of blood back.
"Let's clean up the cave." A leader in front said.
Worried that there would be other people in the cave, they lit a fire and walked in with torches. They checked carefully, took out some rubbish and threw it outside. Then they found a place to rest. After rushing for such a long time and arriving at the central region, they had been tense. Now that they could finally get a cave, they really needed a good rest. Some of the injured people also needed to recuperate.
Shao Xuan, Yu and a few others also found a place to rest. They lit a small fire and roasted the meat they brought. Only when they were full would they have strength.
"Shao Xuan, you really don't know that person?" Yu asked.
"I don't know him. I also don't know what he meant by that sentence." Shao Xuan had been thinking about the reason. He even wondered if the other party had found out that he was from the Yanjiao tribe. However, he did not hear about any grievances between the Mang tribe and the Yanjiao tribe. Moreover, Shao Xuan did not feel any malice from the other party. Of course, there was no kindness either. He was just a stranger.
On the other side, the person who left the cave was already near the market. He did not walk into the market. Instead, he walked about a hundred meters away from the market.
Whoosh!
A slender spear shot at him and stabbed into the ground in front of him. Almost half of the spear was buried in the ground in an instant.
"Qu Ce! Hand over Bai Ling! "
A white figure appeared in front of Qu Ce from a hundred meters away in the blink of an eye.
It was a young woman wearing a white silk dress. At this moment, her beautiful face was filled with anger as she looked at Qu Ce.
"Isn't it just a spider? How many days have you been chasing me? " Qu Ce yawned and said carelessly, "You care about your spider. What about my bamboo rat, which I painstakingly raised? You will compensate me? I was planning to raise it for a few more days and make a big pot of soup to eat. Ah, but when I went back to take a look, oh! There are only bones left! "
Qu Ce's face turned cold as he said the last sentence.
"I can compensate you with my silk dress for your bamboo rat." The woman in white softened her tone and said.
"Hey, do you think everyone cares about the smell of spiders in your tribe?! Do you think the Mang tribe has nothing good?! "
"No matter what, you have to hand over Bai Ling today!" The woman in white didn't back down.
"Do you think I'm afraid of you … Wait!" Before the woman took action, Qu Ce quickly stopped her.
Looking at the sky, Qu Ce's line of sight stopped at a certain place. His angry face revealed a smile as he raised his palm.
After a breath, a green figure flashed by and finally stopped on Qu Ce's palm.
It was a bird less than the size of a palm. Its wings were like knives and its tail was like a swallow's. Because of its small size, it was easy to mistake it for an insect if one didn't look carefully.
"What did you find?" Qu Ce touched the bird's head with his finger and said.
The bird chirped and pecked Qu Ce's finger lightly.
"I finally found those thieves." Qu Ce's face was filled with joy, "I have something to do. I won't talk to you anymore. Here you go!" While speaking, Qu Ce took out a white ball from a hide bag hidden in his clothes and threw it to the woman in white.
The woman in white quickly caught it and looked at the "white ball" in her hand. It was originally a spider covered with long white hair, but now it was wrapped into a fist-sized ball. Moreover, there were several bamboo thorns on its body. It was these few bamboo thorns that caused the white spider to suffer great pain.
"Qu Ce!" The woman in white was even angrier.
"What are you yelling for? It's not dead yet. It's much better than my poor bamboo rats. It should be punished for eating so many of my bamboo rats. Will it die if I stab it a few times? It deserves to die! "
The woman in white didn't have time to say anything else. She just held back her anger and pulled out a few thin bamboo thorns on the "white ball". After a while, the "white ball" gradually opened, and long legs with white hair stretched out. The fist-sized "white ball" expanded more than twice.
"See, it's not dead yet. If it eats my bamboo rats next time, I'll stab it to death! " Qu Ce didn't want to stay here any longer. He put away the bag, "I'm going to catch the thief. I'd like to see who dares to steal my bamboo rats. Do you really think I have a good temper?"
The green bird had already taken off, and Qu Ce followed closely behind. The woman in white hesitated for a moment, but she also followed. She also found that some of the spider webs in the tribe had been taken by someone. She didn't know if it was the same as the people in the Mang tribe who stole the jade stones and bamboo rats.
— — —
After Shao Xuan ate his food and rested for a while, he went out of the cave with Yu and the others. The travel team was divided into two groups. One group went out to trade, and the other group stayed in the cave. They took turns to go out in the morning and afternoon.
Now, Fan Ning took the people of the Pu tribe out. They would first trade a batch of goods in this market. The things that were popular in the central region might not be popular when they brought them back. They had to choose according to the habits and preferences of the tribes along the river. This way, they could exchange for more things when they brought them back. Just like the coarse linen cloth that Shao Xuan saw before, it was nothing here. They could casually exchange it for something else, but when they brought it back, they could exchange it for a good water moonstone, and the water moonstone could be exchanged for even more good things.
Because there was no unified currency, the transactions that Shao Xuan saw were all kinds of strange items. Sometimes the buyer would take out something that the seller didn't like, so the transaction wouldn't be successful.
The things that Yu took out from the frogs were more popular, so the transaction went smoothly. The Drumming tribe's water moonstones were even more successful. If there were enough of them, Shao Xuan felt that the Drumming tribe's water moonstones could be used as a unified currency. No matter which tribe the seller came from, if Shao Xuan wanted to trade with the other party, he could take out the water moonstone and succeed. No wonder the people of the Pu tribe were so excited every time they saw the people of the Drumming tribe. The water moonstone was too versatile.
One level higher than the water moonstone was the jade of the Mang tribe. It was also versatile in transactions, but it was much more "expensive" than the water moonstone.
Shao Xuan had no interest in linen and pottery, but the jade from the Mang tribe had a calm and peaceful atmosphere. Maybe it had other uses for the totem warriors, but Shao Xuan felt that he didn't need it. He didn't have enough money, so he shouldn't have any ideas about the jade.
Shao Xuan was walking with Yu and the others in the market when a square-faced man came up to them.
"Do you need jade?" The man quickly glanced around, as if he was on guard against something. Then he pulled the loose sleeve of his animal skin clothes. Shao Xuan saw a few pieces of jade in the other's sleeve.
"Jade?" Yu was a little confused. He was actually very curious about jade, but the others in the tribe said that jade was not cost-effective, so the people of the Pu tribe basically didn't trade jade.
"Forget it, I don't have anything to trade for jade. If I trade for jade, I can't trade for other things." Yu refused.
The other people of the Pu tribe also had the same idea, only Shao Xuan seemed to be hesitating.
"This jade, how to trade?" Shao Xuan asked.
"I saw that the white stone you took out just now is not bad, let's use that. But … it's too eye-catching here, let's go over there. "The man pointed to a place.
"Shao Xuan, we'll go with you." Yu said. He heard that this kind of transaction in the market was very dangerous, and many times they moved in groups.
After thinking about it, Shao Xuan said to Yu and the others, "No, you guys go ahead first, I'll catch up after the transaction. I'm very interested in jade, I want to look at it for a while."
"Yes, yes, we have a lot of different types of jade, some of them are carefully carved." The man quickly said.
"You really don't need us to go with you?" An older man next to Yu asked Shao Xuan.
"I really don't need it, thank you."
"Okay." Some transactions in the market may involve some personal secrets, the elder of the Pu tribe did not say anything more, and continued to walk forward with Yu and the others.
When Yu and the others walked away, Shao Xuan said to the jade trader, "Let's go, but I think that place is good."
Shao Xuan pointed to another place, "There are less people there."
"That place … is also good." The man walked beside Shao Xuan, slightly half a step behind, under the loose animal skin clothes, his finger made a gesture.
After leaving the market for some distance, Shao Xuan stopped.
In front of him, on his left and right, there was a person, and behind him was the jade trader in the market.
Shao Xuan turned to look at the jade trader. The trader was smiling at first, but now he was smiling too. However, there was less friendliness in his smile and more ruthlessness. There were no more jade stones in his loose animal skin coat.
Four people, encircled Shao Xuan in the middle, and the encirclement gradually narrowed.
"Kid, hand over the things." The man in front said.
Shao Xuan did not say anything, nor did he show any panic.
"Don't hide it, we know exactly what you have on you. But you have guts, with such precious things, you dare to come with me alone. "The jade trader's eyes flashed with a greedy light.
Precious things?
Shao Xuan thought for a moment, he had many precious things on him, such as the insect skin clothes, those special silk threads, the Drumming tribe's water moon stones, and … the fire crystals!
Shao Xuan's eyes flashed, he remembered what the man in the cave said, "You have guts. When you go out, don't go alone. "
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