pertwk Chapter 82 Trading Market
Chapter 82 Trading Market
"A trading market..." Cai Xuan's heart stirred.
He has been in this world for so long, and apart from encountering women, he has never seen any other humans.
His understanding of the Xuanhuang was limited to snippets of information gleaned from the Younu tribe. He needed more information, to know just how vast this land was, how many tribes there were, and what the outside world was like.
Moreover, he also wanted to change some things.
Most of the things in his house now are handmade by him, and they're too rough.
The trading market wouldn't open for another two weeks, giving Cai Xuan time to prepare some items for the trade. Because some women had migrated here, he told the children not to hunt elsewhere recently, but to hunt and eliminate the sword-backed crocodiles in the Crocodile River, lest these creatures come up and eat people.
This one sentence led them to eat sword crocodile meat every day for a period of time.
Cai Xuan had to find different ways to cook crocodile meat, such as stewing crocodile, boiling crocodile, roasting crocodile, crocodile meatballs, frying crocodile meat, etc. He also preserved it by making crocodile meat floss, roasted crocodile crisps, smoked crocodile, crocodile ham, etc.
At the same time, he also accumulated a lot of sword-backed crocodile skins.
This is excellent material for making leather armor; it's perfect for trading at the market.
Two weeks later, everything was ready.
At dawn, sunlight streamed onto the rocky mountain, making the leaves of the giant golden gourd vines glisten like jade. Cai Xuan, clad in leather armor, carried a basket filled with various items on his back, a short sword tucked into his belt, a quiver slung over his shoulder, and a spear in his hand, and walked down the mountain. Xi'er, Yun'er, Shu'er, Xin'er, Xuan'er, Ling'er, Yue'er, and Yan'er, each also dressed in leather armor, carried baskets full of things on their backs, short swords tucked into their belts, quivers slung over their shoulders, and weapons in their hands.
The youngest, Yue'er and Yan'er, walked in the middle, with Xi'er and Yun'er behind them, and Cai Xuan leading the way.
The little ones followed behind him, each one incredibly excited, though they didn't know what was so exciting about it.
The group walked down the mountain and met up with the women of the tribe.
With the help of Cai Xuan and others, and through their own efforts, the women of the tribe have recently found many valuable items. They plan to take them to the market to exchange for some goods needed by the tribe, and also to see if they can recruit some people. Otherwise, the tribe is too small, consisting mostly of the elderly, women, and children, making it difficult for them to survive in this vast world.
The female savage is the chief of a female tribe, named "Aya". She is accompanied to the market by two other female tribeswomen, named "Ana" and "Ani".
After a period of recuperation, the women of the tribe were no longer the frail people they had been when they first arrived at Stone Mountain. On the contrary, with Cai Xuan's help, their condition was even better than before the tribe migrated.
The people of the tribe are like weeds in the wild; even if the top part withers, as long as there is some rain, a new green will immediately grow.
There's not that much affectation.
Aya, Ana, and Ani, like Cai Xuan and the others, all carried baskets full of things and weapons. The weapons were also a gift from Cai Xuan. He couldn't bear to see their tribe using wooden sticks and stones, so he used some leftover steel to forge five spearheads for them, and that was all he had.
A procession traversed dense jungles, climbed over mountain ridges, and forded streams, heading towards the distance.
The rocky mountain receded into the distance, and gradually disappeared from sight.
The road to the trading market was far more difficult than Cai Xuan had imagined.
Aside from the initial section where the road was relatively easy to traverse, the rest of the journey involved cutting through dense forests, overgrown vegetation, and shrubs. Sometimes there were narrow paths, and sometimes there weren't even any roads at all. They had no choice but to forge their own path as they went.
The group walked from dawn to noon, and then from noon to as the sun began to set.
Cai Xuan glanced at the sky, then at the children behind him. Although they were all full of energy, they looked somewhat tired after walking all day.
"Aya, how much further?" Cai Xuan asked.
Aya stopped, looked up to check the direction, and said, "After crossing that mountain, it will take another two days to get there."
"Then let's not travel any further today. Let's find a place to rest and continue our journey tomorrow," Cai Xuan said.
Aya glanced at the sky and realized it was getting late, so she led the group towards a low-lying ravine nearby. The ravine contained a small flat area, backed by a mountain wall, with a dry stream in front, offering a wide view—a perfect spot for camping.
There were ashes from a campfire on the ground, suggesting that Aya and her friends had camped here before.
Cai Xuan put down his basket, planted his spear in the ground, and told Xi'er and the others to gather some firewood nearby and see if there was any water to cook something. He then went to find stones to build a makeshift stove.
Xi'er ignored him and took Yun'er and Xuan'er to go hunting.
Shuer, Xin'er, and Ling'er went to find a water source and, while they were there, observed the surrounding terrain.
Yue'er and Yan'er gathered twigs and dry grass to start a fire. The children worked together seamlessly, each with their own tasks. In less than half an hour, a campfire was lit in the center of the camp, and hot water was being boiled.
Xi'er, Yun'er, and Xuan'er have also returned.
Xi'er and Yun'er each held one of the long ears and dragged a red-eyed rabbit taller than a person into the camp, while Xuan'er carried their weapons and walked behind.
"Where did you find such a big rabbit?" Cai Xuan asked curiously, as there was no such breed in Stone Mountain.
"We hit it over there." Xi'er pointed in a direction and said, "I didn't want to catch it, but it tried to bite us, so I punched it to death."
Cai Xuan looked at the red-eyed rabbit and, sure enough, saw a hole in its head. This guy, of all people to bite, bit Xi'er; what's the difference between him and courting death? He had already prepared enough dry rations, but now that Xi'er and the others had returned from hunting, he couldn't let them go to waste. So he skinned the rabbit, roasted it over the fire, and cut some meat to make soup.
Soon, drops of golden meat oil began to drip from the meat, making a sizzling sound.
A mouthwatering aroma of meat wafted out, causing Aya and the others to swallow hard.
After a while, the red-eyed rabbit meat was roasted. Cai Xuan cut the meat and distributed it to the children and Aya and the others, and also ladled some broth for them. Aya and the others didn't expect to receive any, and thanked him profusely, so moved that tears welled up in their eyes.
The little ones were drinking soup and eating meat with gusto, looking incredibly content.
Aya, Ana, and Anni smiled slightly as they looked at them.
As night deepened, the campfire flickered, casting everyone's shadows on the mountainside, sometimes large, sometimes small, sometimes long, sometimes short. Xi'er leaned against Cai Xuan, her eyelids already drooping; Yun'er sat upright, her gaze calmly fixed on the darkness in the distance; Shu'er and Xin'er huddled together, whispering something; Xuan'er listened intently to the sounds around her; Ling'er closed her eyes to rest; and Yue'er and Yan'er had already fallen asleep in each other's arms.
"Brother, someone's coming," Xuan'er suddenly said, opening her eyes.
Cai Xuan grabbed a spear from the side and asked, "How many people are there?"
"Three of them came from the south."
Upon hearing this, Yun'er looked into the vast darkness, but could see nothing. Xi'er, awakened by the sound, grabbed her long axe and stood up. Shu'er and Xin'er's faces also turned serious. The night was fraught with danger; no one knew whether those approaching were good or bad, so caution was advised.
"Don't be nervous, what if they're just passing by?" Cai Xuan said, and then stood up as well.
Aya and the other two were still awake. Seeing their appearance, they grabbed their spears, stood up, and looked ahead warily.
In the primitive world where the strong prey on the weak, there is not much warmth and tenderness.