Chapter 1168, A Conversation in the Snow

Translator: Silavin

 

Cold snowflakes drifted down from the sky one by one, and in moments the entire continent was blanketed in silver and white.

 

The Flame Dragon Tribe was the same, draped in a mantle of white snow. Yet the snowfall had not dampened anyone’s spirits.

 

There were still plenty of people moving about inside the Tribe. Those who had work to do were still doing it.

 

Su Bai stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the snow outside. “Another year’s snow season,” he said quietly. “Time really does move fast.”

 

Without realising it, it had been nearly two years since he had transmigrated. And the weight on his shoulders had grown heavier and heavier.

 

He was responsible for the entire Tribe’s operations and its future livelihood. Beyond that, he still had to contend with those who watched them with hungry eyes.

 

The Dark Scorpion Tribe, for instance. Once the snow season ended, that would be when they made their move.

 

“Yes, Shaman,” Yan Hua said, her voice full of feeling. “If it weren’t for you being with our Tribe, I fear we would not have survived to see last year.”

 

Yan Hua was not wrong. Without Su Bai’s leadership, the Flame Dragon Tribe could never have lasted this long.

 

What was most remarkable was that they had not merely survived. They had flourished. They were trading with other Tribes.

 

“It’s mainly because all of you believed in me,” Su Bai said, accepting the tea Yu Ying offered. “Without that, I couldn’t have done any of this alone.”

 

He had always believed it. Because the methods he thought of were deeply strange to people of this Primitive Era.

 

If they had questioned him, or if everyone had simply refused to follow his ideas, the Flame Dragon Tribe could never have developed so well.

 

“You became our Tribe’s leader, Shaman,” Yan Hua answered without hesitation. “Whatever you say, we believe.”

 

“Fair enough.” Su Bai lifted the cup slowly, sipping. “After this snow season passes, another batch of Totem Warriors will awaken. Our Tribe’s strength will rise again.”

 

He was brimming with confidence now. The results last time had made him look forward to this one all the more.

 

“There should be many awakenings this time,” Yan Hua said, her tone easy. “Everyone’s been eating well, sleeping well, living well. If the numbers come out worse than last year, there would truly be no explaining it.”

 

*Step step step…*

 

Sha Lan walked in from outside at just that moment. Today was the first day of the snow season.

 

It was also the day Uncle Qing Yan’s fleet returned from its voyage. She had made a point of going down to the dock.

 

Sha Lan was Su Bai’s Shaman Priestess, after all. Naturally, any news that came in had to reach her first.

 

So when the ships came to shore, she had already been waiting beside the dock, ready to carry whatever news Uncle Qing Yan and the others brought back to the Yong’an Building at the earliest possible moment.

 

“Drink some hot tea first and warm yourself up,” Yu Ying said, filling a large cup with care. “It looks really cold out there.”

 

Since the Yong’an Building had acquired tea leaves, they had become something nearly everyone kept close at hand.

 

Morning after rising, evening before sleep, and almost the whole day in between. A cup with meals, a cup after meals, a cup during rest. And in the afternoon, not drinking tea would simply feel wrong.

 

“Shaman,” Sha Lan said immediately, “all the Tribes have agreed to cooperate with us. Once spring comes, we can start building the docks.”

 

After Uncle Qing Yan had escorted the people from those Tribes home, he had not left straight away. He waited for their answers before departing.

 

Of course, the first Tribe visited was the last to give its reply. He went down the line to the very end, then worked his way back, collecting each answer in turn before returning to the Flame Dragon Tribe.

 

Fortunately, all eight Tribes had agreed to cooperate. Two of them had already become part of the Flame Dragon Tribe.

 

“The answer is what I expected,” Su Bai said, still sipping his tea at an unhurried pace. “Escorting them home was only a pretence. I wanted to see what those Tribes were actually thinking.”

 

He had been certain they couldn’t refuse such favourable terms, especially with goods like theirs on offer.

 

Those people would naturally prefer the Flame Dragon Tribe’s goods above all else. Building a dock and a bank amounted to very little in comparison.

 

And besides, both things would benefit those Tribes’ own development. Some of them would feel like they had come out ahead.

 

“Uncle Qing Yan said none of the Tribes made any unusual moves,” Sha Lan went on. She pressed a hand over her mouth and smiled. “They were simply very excited when they saw our goods. Excited enough that the sound could be heard from outside the Tribe.”

 

“After that,” she continued, “everything went on much the same as usual. They all agreed to cooperate with us once the snow season ends.”

 

“Then we’ll need to recruit more carpenters during this period.” Su Bai swirled the last of the tea in his cup. “Otherwise we won’t have enough people to build the docks.”

 

Yu Ying stepped forward at once and added more hot water. This had long since become part of the daily routine.

 

Yu Ying kept her eyes on Su Bai’s every movement, unwilling to let him do anything by hand that she could do for him. That had always been her way of things.

 

“Yes, and we’ll also be building the banks,” Sha Lan agreed with a nod. “We’ll need stonemasons for that. We should be able to train a good number of people over the course of the snow season,” she added. “The only real problem now is the Dark Scorpion Tribe.”

 

Su Bai blinked, his deep eyes steady. “When the time comes, we’ll gain more hands. That’s what I’m looking forward to most.”

 

He now did not fear the Dark Scorpion Tribe. If anything, he was rather impatient for them to attack.

 

Once they did, every last person from their Tribe could be put to work. They would all become labour for the Flame Dragon Tribe.

 

When Su Bai had previously decided to sweep out the Tribes under the Dark Scorpion Tribe’s control, he had felt a pang of regret at not being able to keep those people as labour.

 

But there had been nothing to be done about it. At that point, he had not yet obtained the Skill, Contract.

 

Without it, there was no safe way to restrain those people. So their destruction had been the only option.

 

“You’re planning to have them build roads, Shaman?” Sha Lan recalled the enormous task that had been spoken of.

 

Before the snow season arrived, the Flame Dragon Tribe had already spoken of road building. So far, only the obstacles along the intended route had been cleared away: stones, trees, and the like. And only for a short stretch of the way.

 

This truly was an undertaking of immense scale. It would require enormous numbers of people.

 

“Precisely,” Su Bai said, calm as ever. “Such gruelling work is exactly what slaves are for.”

 

That was simply the way of this era. If one chose the wrong side, the rest of their days were bound to be hard ones.