Chapter 1125, Best That They Vanish Entirely!

Translator: Silavin

 

“Infuriating. To think that Tribe showed up here as well. We seem to run into them wherever we go.” Ai Li’s face was a picture of displeasure, his thick beard making his expression seem all the more fierce.

 

He was a Totem Warrior from the Horned Goat Tribe, an Early-Stage Totem Warrior. The most striking feature of Ai Li’s appearance was the pair of sharp straight horns rising from his head. He was somewhere in his mid-thirties and not particularly tall.

 

“There is nothing to be done about it. Our two Tribes are neighbours. The Flame Dragon Tribe would encounter them travelling this route as well.”

 

Qiong also wore a look of clear displeasure. “It is simply that we have come at the same time as them, and that makes things complicated.”

 

He, too, was an Early-Stage Totem Warrior from the Horned Goat Tribe, though he stood a lot taller, his height reaching one metre and ninety centimetres. Qiong was the Leader of this Horned Goat Tribe delegation, and his strength could not be underestimated.

 

“Leader, what should we do? Are we to use the same method as they do?”

 

Ru rose and moved to stand at the door, keeping constant watch on the sounds from outside, and continued, “If we do, the Flame Dragon Tribe will have a choice to make, and they may not choose us.”

 

She was the only female Totem Warrior among the three, and she had shaved one side of her head entirely, giving her an air that brooked no nonsense. The horns of all three of them bore decorations much like those of the Coiled Goat Tribe, Beast Fangs and Beast Bone worked into their adornments.

 

The method Ru spoke of was the one where sickly or elderly insects were traded to the Flame Dragon Tribe in exchange for goods. Such insects, once delivered, could survive perhaps four or five days at most before dying.

 

The Horned Goat Tribe and the Coiled Goat Tribe had once been a single Tribe, split into two by an internal war. Both Tribes had consequently retained the method of Taming insects, and both had developed similar approaches to trading with other Tribes.

 

After all, they had practised those same methods before the split, and though the war had divided them, neither side had abandoned what kept them fed.

 

“No. Knowing them as I do, I do not think they will use that approach this time,” Qiong said, raising a finger and shaking it lightly.

 

He rose and crossed to the window, pushing it open and leaning against the frame, gaze drifting over the scene outside, his face weighted with thought.

 

“You think they will offer healthy insects for trade? That seems unlikely to me.” Ru said, her expression making no effort to hide her scepticism.

 

Her appearance had a distinctive boldness to it. What Su Bai might have called a lip piercing was worked in Beast Bone at the corner of her mouth, and her ears were lined with bone in every available place. The overall effect made her look wild and reckless, slightly dangerous even.

 

“Anything is possible. You have both seen what the Flame Dragon Tribe has to offer. That thing called a ship, which moves upon the surface of water. Have we not seen enough remarkable things since we arrived?”

 

Qiong turned his head and narrowed his eyes, pressing on. “A Tribe this fine must have a lot more to offer than that. What we were shown earlier was surely only a small part of it.”

 

He had been thoroughly won over by everything the Flame Dragon Tribe had displayed. Everything Hu Shi had shown them within the Tribe had been extraordinary.

 

And the moment the Horned Goat Tribe’s people had stepped aboard the ship, they had been captivated by the Flame Dragon Tribe completely.

 

Then there was the Yong’an Building itself, which had struck them with fresh astonishment from the moment they walked in.

 

They had only just managed to settle themselves enough to hold a conversation. Even so, their minds kept replaying everything they had seen in the Flame Dragon Tribe, one image after another like a procession that would not stop.

 

The carriages that moved on their own, the wide and level road, building after building of cement houses, and the clean and orderly environment of the Tribe itself.

 

None of it existed in the Horned Goat Tribe. Qiong had even begun imagining, quietly, what it would feel like to live here one day.

 

“Leader, do you suspect that the Flame Dragon Tribe is holding something back? Does that mean we should also offer the good insects?” Ai Li asked.

 

He, too, had taken a liking to this Tribe. The food alone was extraordinary, and in his estimation that was what mattered most.

 

Nothing won over a Primitive Tribe faster than food, shelter, clothing, and ease of travel. Gold and precious stones meant little here.

 

“The difficulty is that I cannot quite read what they are thinking. If only I knew, it would make things simpler,” Qiong said, rubbing his chin with one hand.

 

“Let us not trouble ourselves with what they are thinking. What matters most is protecting the image of our Tribe. If the insects we give them die within a few days, the Flame Dragon Tribe may refuse to work with us again.”

 

Ai Li looked genuinely worried as he went on. “My feeling is that they will offer good insects, precisely to put us at a disadvantage by comparison. We cannot walk into that trap.”

 

His reasoning was that the Coiled Goat Tribe, at this moment, would likely offer their best insects. If the Horned Goat Tribe offered poor ones, the contrast would speak for itself.

 

The Flame Dragon Tribe would then know perfectly well which Tribe to continue doing business with.

 

“You are not wrong. What they are thinking does not matter. What matters is that we do not let them lead us by the nose.” Qiong made up his mind in that instant.

 

“Then we should select the finest and most robust insects we have, the ones with the longest survival, and give the Flame Dragon Tribe the clearest possible comparison,” Ru added.

 

The Horned Goat Tribe and the Coiled Goat Tribe were a quintessential case of fire and water. Neither was willing to let the other alone.

 

“We also need to think of something else entirely. Insects alone will not be enough to ensure our Tribe comes out ahead,” Qiong said, his expression turning serious once more.

 

He reasoned that if the Coiled Goat Tribe also brought out their best insects at this moment, the Horned Goat Tribe would find itself without any particular advantage.

 

“What if we add some dried meat? Or perhaps offer a few more slaves? We have more than enough of them in our Tribe,” Ru suggested.

 

“No. Let us first ask the Flame Dragon Tribe what they need, and see whether our Tribe can provide it.”

 

Ai Li had hit upon an idea, and he gave voice to it. “After we present our insects, we ask once more what else the Flame Dragon Tribe requires, and pledge that the Horned Goat Tribe will do its utmost to provide it. Would that not deepen the impression we leave on them?”

 

“The risk is that he may be receiving all of our Tribes at the same time. If so, that approach becomes rather difficult to execute,” Qiong said, turning the thought over carefully.

 

“That seems unlikely. The Flame Dragon Tribe clearly wants each Tribe to bring out its very best. If they received us all together, everyone would hold back.” Ai Li was, of the three, the most perceptive, with a clear head for working through any situation.

 

“There is sense in what you say. Then let it be so. We wait for the Flame Dragon Tribe to summon us, and this time, we must come out ahead of the Coiled Goat Tribe,” Qiong said, and there was genuine ferocity in his voice.

 

“That’s right. We cannot let that Tribe have any peace. Best they vanish entirely from this world,” Ru said, and her words carried real venom.

 

“They will answer for what they have done, sooner or later,” Ai Li said, refusing to be outdone.

 

A deep and bitter history ran between their two Tribes, and neither side had any wish to extend the other mercy. The feud had persisted for years now, with no sign of thawing.