Chapter 111

A few minutes later, the Totem Warrior guarding the gate of the Spotted Deer Tribe returned to the entrance and said, “Follow me.”

“Alright,” Mai Mang nodded, signalling to the people behind him to follow behind.

Since people were now living in the outer regions of the Tribe, the Totem Warrior of the Spotted Deer Tribe directly led them to the inner region of the Tribe. Of course, it was not deep inside the Tribe, just a wooden hut behind their wooden wall. After all, Mai Mang and his group were not members of the Spotted Deer Tribe. They had to be cautious. Thus, they brought them to a wooden hut where there were more Totem Warriors.

There were many people already in the wooden hut. Mai Mang roughly counted about eight or nine people, all of whom were Totem Warriors.

In the centre of the wooden hut sat a Humanoid with deer antlers, who looked very imposing. His pair of long antlers on his head were particularly eye-catching.

“This is our Chieftain,” introduced the Totem Warrior who had led the way.

Mai Mang nodded and said, “Hello, Chieftain. Can we exchange for the goods now?”

He did not want to dawdle and wanted to quickly complete the transaction so he could find a place to sleep for the night.

“Of course, I’ll check the linen. If there are no issues, we can exchange goods,” Lu Shi nodded.

He gestured with his chin for the Totem Warriors beside him to go and inspect the linen. Still, checking sixty rolls of linen would take some time.

“Alright, go ahead and check,” Mai Mang stepped aside.

“Please sit and rest for a while. Inspecting the linen will take some time,” Lu Shi gestured for them to sit on a patch of dry grass nearby.

Mai Mang and his group sat on the dry grass. He spoke first, “The items for this trade are the same as last time, but we want to add one more item, and we need more dried meat.”

Lu Shi sat up straight and nodded, “No problem. As long as the linen checks out and the quantity is correct, we’ll make the exchange immediately. What’s the additional item?”

“Black Stone Nut Juice,” Mai Mang said.

Lu Shi thought for a moment and asked, “We indeed have that in our Tribe. How much Black Stone Nut Juice do you want to exchange?”

“Just five small Beast Bones worth.” Mai Mang held up five fingers.

Generally, for liquids other than water, they were stored in large hollowed out Beast Bones. After pouring in the liquid, the bone would be sealed. Though, it had to be said that Beast Bones came in various sizes.

The Beast Bones used to store liquids were usually from Ferocious Beasts. This was because some liquids were volatile or corrosive, and using Ferocious Beast Bones would preserve them for a lot longer.

“Oh? Why so little? Usually, these things are taken back to make Shaman Bone Tablets. Don’t you want to take more?” Lu Shi asked.

Typically, when the Spotted Deer Tribe traded items, they would not ask why the other party wanted so little or so much. They would usually give however much was requested without further inquiry. However, since Mai Mang and his group had brought such a large quantity of linen, and they wanted to establish a long-term cooperation in the future, they had to chat a bit first before bringing up the cooperation. This was to make it seem less abrupt.

“No need. This amount is enough for now,” Mai Mang said softly, not certain of its true purpose.

“I understand.” Lu Shi nodded and continued, “By the way, the amount of salt we can give you this time is not as much as last time.”

“Why? We’ve brought even more linen than last time?” Mai Mang asked, puzzled.

“We also get our salt from exchanging with other Tribes. Due to certain reasons, we don’t have that much salt now,” Lu Shi paused, then continued, “So, we can only give you less salt.”

Mai Mang frowned and asked, “How much less?”

“Last time we gave you five packages of salt. This time, we can only give you two.” Lu Shi said.

The Spotted Deer Tribe wrapped salt in Animal Hide when giving it to other Tribes. Each package was about half the size of an apple.

Mai Mang’s eyes widened in surprise, “What? Only two packages? That’s less than half of the previous transaction.”

“That’s right, only two packages, but the other items won’t be reduced.” Lu Shi said.

“Fine, two packages it is. Then give us more dried meat,” Mai Mang said in resignation.

“No problem. As for your remaining linen, we’ll exchange it all for dried meat. Is your Tribe in urgent need of dried meat?” Lu Shi asked.

Mai Mang’s brow furrowed, and he solemnly said, “Our affairs are none of your concern. Just prepare the items for us.”

He suddenly became alert. The Tribe’s situation was not something to be disclosed to an outsider. If others asked about it, they really could not blame him for being so curt.

Shu Feng, Xi Guo, and others also immediately became alert. They were sure that if there was any danger, they would immediately flee the Spotted Deer Tribe with the linen.

“Don’t misunderstand. We just want to establish a long-term cooperation with you.” Lu Shi raised his hand to calm them down and continued, “We don’t have as much salt as we used to, but we still have plenty of dried meat.”

“What kind of long-term cooperation?” Mai Mang asked.

“You give us all your linen, as much as you have. We’ll take it all in. In return, we can give you a lot of dried meat, as much as you want.” Lu Shi said, word by word.

Mai Mang’s brow relaxed a bit, and he said, “I can’t make this decision. I need to go back and report to our Shaman.”

As long as they were not going to continue probing into the Tribe’s situation, he would not need to be that guarded.

“No problem. When you go back this time, tell your Shaman that if possible, I’d like to talk to him personally.” Lu Shi said seriously.

“You want to talk to our Shaman personally?” Mai Mang asked in surprise.

Lu Shi nodded and seriously said, “We need a large quantity of linen. If I’m not mistaken, you also need a large quantity of dried meat. Talking personally would show our sincerity.”

He remembered that the last time they came to trade, they exchanged for a large amount of dried meat. This time was the same as the last time, but the quantity demanded had increased even further..

“Understood, I’ll convey your message,” Mai Mang responded.