Chapter 1184, Learn More Characters

Translator: Silavin

 

*Thud thud thud…*

 

The Giant Shell Land Tortoise moved steadily across the snow, heading for the Coiled Goat Tribe.

 

That Tribe was now part of the Flame Dragon Tribe. With the snow season settling in, it was only right to see them through it.

 

The Giant Shell Land Tortoise had already delivered goods to every other Tribe on the route. The Coiled Goat Tribe was the last stop.

 

Qing Yan rested inside the tortoise’s shell. The cold outside couldn’t reach him at all.

 

The entire shell had been converted. The back of the creature was one continuous storage space. Of course, the tortoise still needed Warriors accompanying it, for the handoff with the other Tribes. A section at the front of the shell, just behind the head, had been set aside for that. It was roughly a six by six metres space, more than enough for several Warriors to rest in.

 

Gu Mu had made exceptional use of that space. At capacity, it could hold ten sleeping men. They needed to bunk together of course, with eight in the bunks on the four corners and two on the floor. When not sleeping, the bunks folded flat against the walls, leaving enough room for them to comfortably sit together.

 

Gu Mu had considered adding another compartment for more Totem Warriors, but settled against it. The tortoise was primarily a cargo animal. Storage had to come first.

 

“We’re almost at the Coiled Goat Tribe,” Qing Mu said, attentive as always.

 

Qing Mu and Chi Tu had been working alongside Qing Yan for some time, handling trade negotiations and deliveries to other Tribes. They had been there when Qing Yan took the Tribe’s Great Ship out to conduct talks. Before all of that, the two of them had been guards for the Yong’an Building, protecting Su Bai. That post eventually passed to Ye Jiu, and the two of them found new work.

 

“This is the last one,” Qing Yan said. “Once we’re done here, we can go back to the Flame Dragon Tribe. Hold on just a little longer.”

 

They had been away from the Tribe for over half a month with no rest between deliveries. Finish one Tribe, move immediately to the next. The Giant Shell Land Tortoise rested only during the day. In this cold, topping for too long at night was something none of them were willing to risk.

 

“Leader,” Qing Mu said, genuinely curious, “what kind of Tribe is the Coiled Goat Tribe? Why did the Shaman want to bring them in?”

 

He didn’t know much about this one. Only that it wasn’t large. Which made the question press at him all the more. Why would the Shaman recruit a weak Small Tribe into the Flame Dragon Tribe?

 

Their Tribe was formidable. No one nearby would carelessly dare provoke them.

 

“If we only ever focused inward,” Qing Yan said, patient with it, “we’d only ever grow so far. Do you know what it means to cast a long line to catch a big fish?”

 

He was passing along what Su Bai had told him. He hadn’t known the phrase himself once. The first time he heard it, he’d stood there for quite a while. It was only because the Flame Dragon Tribe already had people out fishing that the image finally made sense.

 

“Not developing our own Tribe, but helping others develop?” Chi Tu shook his head, a little baffled. “I don’t really understand that reasoning.”

 

He genuinely did not understand. Deep down he thought the Flame Dragon Tribe was already doing very well. Why not just keep that up? Why go out of your way to build up someone else, with no certainty of anything in return? Right now, after all, the Flame Dragon Tribe was the one delivering goods to another Tribe at its own expense.

 

Chi Tu found it hard to make sense of. But they were Totem Warriors. Questioning the Shaman wasn’t something they could do, or would do. So they asked their Leader instead.

 

“Our Shaman wants to extend the Flame Dragon Tribe’s reach,” Qing Yan said. “To touch places further away. Don’t you want to walk into any Tribe out there and know they’re our people?”

 

He sipped his hot tea and went on, “And then those Tribes trade with each other, and the benefit of all of it flows back to the Flame Dragon Tribe. Does it still seem strange to you?”

 

What Su Bai was doing, in essence, was building a network. Drawing in every nearby Tribe. Making it so that the Flame Dragon Tribe’s people could travel anywhere and be welcomed, not wary.

 

And all of that would drive the Flame Dragon Tribe’s economy forward. Nothing but advantage.

 

“I think I understand,” Qing Mu said, suddenly struck by it. “Our Tribe is building roads right now. Once those roads are finished, our people will travel everywhere. The Shaman is laying the groundwork for that.”

 

He felt the scale of it and went quiet for a moment.

 

“Take the Sea Fish Tribe as an example,” Qing Yan continued. “Why did the Shaman bring them in? Because the coast has salt in abundance. Isn’t that something our Tribe badly needs?”

 

“So, the salt the Sea Fish Tribe produces mostly comes back to us,” Chi Tu said, thinking it through carefully, “and we put it in the Central Market and trade it to other Tribes. That’s a stable trading chain, isn’t it?”

 

“En. And the Sea Fish Tribe can take their salt and trade with nearby Tribes as well. Their Tribe develops on its own, and we don’t have to worry about managing it ourselves.”

 

Qing Yan took another measured sip of tea. “Doesn’t that benefit both sides? And our Tribe grows larger through it. We are killing two birds with one stone.”

 

“Leader,” Chi Tu said, “what does killing two birds with one stone mean?”

 

He hadn’t learned his proverbs. He had only ever been stationed on the first floor of the Yong’an Building.

 

“You’ll understand in time,” Qing Yan said, tapping him lightly on the forehead. “When we get back to the Tribe, work on your literacy. It’ll do you good later on.”

 

The adults had to learn to read as well. The difficulty was that there was no fixed time set aside for it. It depended entirely on when the Warriors had a spare moment. Universal education, as Su Bai was fond of saying, was a long road still ahead of them.