He smacked his lips, savoring that hint of sweetness; the more he tasted it, the more he felt like he’d had it somewhere before.

Where?

Zhang Shuguang furrowed his brow, trying hard to remember.

“Dad, Dad, eat some fruit!”

“I eat them every day—how could I not get enough?”

“It’s sweet and fragrant!”

Zhang Shuguang’s eyes widened suddenly. He glanced at the now-empty bottom of the bowl, then looked at the portion in the pottery pot that had originally been set aside for Mang Jiu.

He scooped out a small spoonful from the pot and poured it into a bowl, then took a whiff.

Surprisingly, the soup tasted much more fragrant after it had cooled than when it was hot, and the fruity flavor was much richer as well.

A strange thought flashed through his mind. Zhang Shuguang felt as if he’d just caught a glimpse of the answer to a question, but that fleeting glimpse slipped away before he could grasp it.

“Shuguang!” Li walked over to his side. Seeing him staring blankly at the small bowl in his hand, he assumed he was still grieving over the kid’s death. He sat down beside him, patted his shoulder, and comforted him, “Don’t be sad. You did everything you could, and he tried his best too. Don’t blame yourself.”

Zhang Shuguang snapped back to reality and shook his head slightly. “I wasn’t thinking about him.”

“Then what were you thinking about? I heard you let your blood right in front of Hu Fei,” Li frowned disapprovingly. “Don’t do that again. If Hu Fei has bad intentions, you’ll be in real danger.”

Zhang Shuguang offered a dry explanation: “The situation was really urgent back then. I didn’t think it through. I really won’t do it again. Now I know my blood isn’t something that can save just anyone, so I won’t let anyone draw my blood anymore.” After he finished speaking, he suddenly realized something and turned to look at Li. “How do you know my blood is special?”

“My father and my brother were both saved by you. How could I not know?” Li looked at his dazed expression in silence, suddenly finding it quite amusing. “Don’t just assume I know—basically everyone in the tribe whose bloodline you’ve saved knows about it.”

Zhang Shuguang’s mouth twitched. So I thought it was still a secret—but now it seems it really was just me thinking that.

“You’ve kept this a pretty well-guarded secret.”

“No one would ever joke about your life—we cherish you even more than you do.” Li seemed to have matured overnight; in the past, he would have pestered Zhang Shuguang to hear the details of how he’d saved those people.

But now, he was the one comforting him.

Zhang Shuguang pursed his lips and handed him the small bowl. “Take a whiff and see what it smells like.”

“Huh?” Li took the bowl suspiciously, sniffed it, tilted his head, and thought for a moment. “It smells like fruit—a really sweet kind. What did you put in there? Did you find some new fruit?”

“No, it’s just my blood, dried bamboo shoots, and dried wild greens. Can’t you smell the dried bamboo shoots and wild greens at all, besides the fruity scent?”

Li sniffed again and nodded. “Why is that? Dried bamboo shoots and dried ground-cover greens have a very strong smell.”

Zhang Shuguang pursed his lips. “I don’t know what’s going on. I didn’t add any ingredients at all.”

Li dipped his finger into the bottom of the bowl, then popped it into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “It’s actually pretty sweet, and the fruity flavor is quite strong—a taste I’ve never had before.”

Zhang Shuguang nodded in agreement. “Right? Isn’t it amazing? Do you think I should add some blood and cook another pot to see what happens?”

Li slapped him in exasperation. “You just said you weren’t going to add any blood—how could you forget that so quickly!”

“I was just kidding. I really won’t add any—I promise.” Zhang Shuguang chuckled and pointed to the pottery pot. “There’s still some left. Want some?”

“No, thanks. I’m fine. It’d be a waste for me to drink it. You should have it all yourself. Is this for Mang Jiu? Don’t save it—I don’t think he’ll be back today.” Li poured all the remaining broth from the pottery pot into a bowl—it filled it to the brim. He carefully handed it to Zhang Shuguang, gesturing for him to drink it quickly. “I just saw Mang Jiu vanish in a flash. Mang Er said Mang Jiu seemed a little off. What did you feed him this time?”

Zhang Shuguang shook his head, cradling the bowl as he sipped the soup in small sips. “He didn’t eat anything. He said he was hungry and went hunting. Never mind him—did you trade anything today?”

“Yes, there were some. The Monkey Clan brought some dried fruit to trade for salt, and others traded for back baskets. Do you think we should put out the jerky we brought? I get the feeling they’re in a bit of a hurry to leave because of the split between the Golden Lion Clan and the Golden Tiger Clan.” Li recalled the beastmen who had come to probe for information as dusk was falling and shook his head uncertainly. “It’s as if there’s something truly terrifying here.”

Zhang Shuguang chuckled softly at Li’s keen intuition.

However, he didn’t say much more. Let others think what they will—their purpose in coming this time was to tell the other tribes that the Cliffside Tribe had salt and was open to trading for anything. Moreover, their salt was cheap; as long as what you brought wasn’t completely worthless, you could trade it for salt. Whether you traded a little or a lot, they would absolutely not let you go home empty-handed.

This was agreed upon by both the chieftain and the shaman. At the time, the three of them had discussed the price of the salt, and they all agreed that it didn’t need to be particularly high—the most important thing was to attract beastmen from other tribes.

Just as the two were talking, Guo walked over.

He stood beside Zhang Shuguang and said somewhat nervously, “Shuguang, don’t be sad.”

Zhang Shuguang patted the spot next to him and motioned for him to sit down, then said, “I really am not upset.” He glanced up at the other sub-beastmen who were occasionally glancing their way, beckoned them over with a wave of his hand, and only after they had all gathered around him did he say, “I’m really fine now, and I’ve come to terms with it. I won’t do anything this dangerous again.”

Yun glanced at Lin beside him, and Lin glanced at Zhang Shuguang. The two of them shifted forward a bit and held out their hands. “Can we give him a hug? While Mang Jiu isn’t here.”

Zhang Shuguang chuckled and reached out. The group all gathered around him, forming a tight embrace.

“As long as you’re okay, that’s what matters. We were all worried you’d be upset,” Lin said.

Zhang Shuguang sat up straight and nodded slightly. “I am a little upset, but I’ve let it go. As Second Brother said, I did my best.”

They all nodded. It was good to let it go—it was better not to dwell on it.

“We’re making stewed meat for dinner. Would you like some?” Jiao asked. “You haven’t eaten anything yet.”

“I’m not hungry. I just drank a bellyful of soup—I’m full,” Zhang Shuguang said, smiling at her. “Thank you all. I’m going to get some sleep. When I wake up, it’ll be a new day.”

Li, standing nearby, spoke up: “Why don’t you sleep with me tonight?”

Zhang Shuguang made a face of disgust. “I’ll sleep on my own. You should stick with Second Brother.”

That night was destined to be anything but peaceful.

The remaining beastmen of the Golden Tiger Clan were escorted away by men sent by Mang Er, while members of the Cat Clan found more cotton and planned to come over at daybreak to trade it for salt.

“Have you heard? The Golden Lion Clan and the Golden Tiger Clan have split up. The entire Golden Tiger Clan has relocated. Some beastmen from the Cliffside Tribe went with them—they were probably acting as guides.” Mao Xin picked out the cotton seeds from the cotton while speaking softly, “I wonder what could have caused them to split up.”

Mao Bei was also picking out cotton seeds. Upon hearing this, he shot him a sharp retort without even looking up: “Curb your curiosity a bit, or you’ll get yourself into trouble.”

“If you’re curious, go ask them yourself.” Mao Ning, who was standing nearby putting the sorted cotton seeds into a small bag, shot him a sidelong glance. “Hurry up and sort them—we’ll send them to Shuguang first thing tomorrow morning.”

“We should be able to trade for another bag of salt. Their salt is really good—I used some when I was grilling meat earlier, and it tasted amazing.” Mao Qing crouched down next to Mao Ning, nuzzling his shoulder. “I traded for a piece of grilled meat once—I have no idea what they put in it, but the flavor was absolutely incredible!”

“I tried some too.” Mao Bei looked up at him, nodding as they chatted, his hands moving without missing a beat. “After eating it, my mouth felt tingly and numb. There was another one that had a really strong flavor—it made my mouth burn, but it was delicious too.”

“They’re really good at cooking,” Mao Ning said, nodding.

Mao Xin finished sorting the cotton by his side and brushed off the bits stuck to his clothes. “Why don’t we go check it out? It hasn’t been dark for long anyway, and Shuguang definitely isn’t asleep yet. You guys better hurry up and finish sorting this.”

“No way. I’ve never seen anyone go trading in the middle of the night. It’s obvious we’re not there for the salt—aren’t you afraid someone will kick you out?” Mao Ning glared at him, annoyed. “Can’t you just stop trying to snoop around?”

Mao Xin let out a snort but didn’t say anything else in the end.

At the Black Bear Clan’s stall, Xiong Da, who was packing up, patted Xiong Er on the shoulder and nodded toward Xiong San, who was eating. “Go ask him. Go ask him.”

“If you want to ask, go ahead. Can’t you see Xiong San’s face is all stiff? I’m not looking for trouble.” Xiong Er glanced at Xiong San and pursed his lips. “He got chased back by the sub-beastmen.”

“It’s better than not having any sub-beastmen at all,” Xiong San heard him muttering from the side and couldn’t resist taking a dig. “At least I have sub-beastmen to chase.”

Under normal circumstances, he would have turned a blind eye and pretended not to hear it, but remembering how anxious Guo had looked just now about that other person, Xiong San took a deep breath. “Don’t get angry, don’t get angry. Don’t get angry, don’t get angry.”

That was a sub-beastman from their own tribe—and one with a partner, no less. He wouldn’t get angry; he wouldn’t get angry.

Xiong San gritted his teeth, a tightness in his chest.

Xiong Da and Xiong Er fell silent instantly. They exchanged glances, but in the end couldn’t resist offering a word of comfort: “Don’t be too upset. The Monkey Clan said someone died over there—they must be grieving right now.”

Xiong San turned his head to look at the monkey-beastmen not far away, who were winding vines around a tree. Seeing them all busy at work, he decided not to disturb them after all.

He’d better ask Guo about this. He trusted that Guo wouldn’t lie to him, but the Monkey Clan—well, that was another story.

Zhang Shuguang lay in a hammock. The vine bed he’d originally slept in had already been buried along with the cub. He’d actually wanted a cremation—after all, bodies buried in pits could be dug up and devoured by wild beasts.

But Li said that no one would burn their own kin; they always dug a pit and buried them.

Zhang Shuguang respected their customs, so he asked the beastmen to dig a deep pit and bury the cub.

He tied another wicker bed to a tree; though it was lined with a thick layer of fur, it was still quite uncomfortable.

In truth, it wasn’t the vine bed that was uncomfortable—it was him.

It would be a lie for Zhang Shuguang to say he didn’t care that he hadn’t been able to save the cub, but it wouldn’t be right to say he was too heartbroken either.

“Do your best and leave the rest to fate”—those words are easy to say, but when it actually happens, it still leaves a heavy weight on your heart.

“Shuguang, can’t you sleep?” Li, sleeping in the vine bed next to him, called out softly. “Do you want me to keep you company?”

Zhang Shuguang rolled over to look at him and saw that Li was also lying alone on his vine bed, wrapped in animal skins with only his head peeking out.

“Where’s Second Brother?”

“He said he’d keep watch tonight, in case the Golden Lion Clan comes looking for trouble.” Li yawned and asked again, “Do you want me to keep you company?”

“No, thanks. I’m just not very sleepy. I’ll be fine once I start feeling drowsy. You go ahead and sleep.” Zhang Shuguang waved his hand. He then heard Li go, “Oh,” before he rolled over, pulled the animal hide over himself, and began to snore softly.

Zhang Shuguang chuckled to himself, pulled the animal hide over him, and lay flat on his back, gazing at the scattered stars in the sky.

He had absolutely no idea what was going on with that strange energy crystal that could actually be absorbed.

“Xiao Cai.”

Xiao Cai: “I’m here, Master. It’s already 11:54 p.m. Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

Zhang Shuguang was quite pleased with its current level of intelligence—at least it knew how to tell the time.

“Do you know about energy crystals?”

Xiao Cai: “No, Master. I’m just a vegetable-growing app. You can’t assume I’ve turned into a different app just because I’ve been upgraded!”

Zhang Shuguang paused for a moment, stifling a laugh. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to look down on you.”

Xiao Cai: “If you were to ask me whether I can grow giant crops from seeds, I might actually have something to say about that.”

Zhang Shuguang seized the opportunity to ask, “So do you know how to grow giant crops?”

Xiao Cai: “I don’t know, but I think you could try fertilizing and watering them as you know how, pulling weeds and getting rid of pests, and turning the soil every now and then to keep the crops happy—who knows, it might just work.”

Zhang Shuguang: “……” I never thought there’d come a day when Xiao Cai would leave me speechless.

Xiao Cai: “Master, could you share some of that wheat you got with me? Since there weren’t any wheat seeds in the pack when you bought them, I don’t have any either.”

Zhang Shuguang: “I keep feeling like I’m missing something.” He thought about what his mom usually grew, and suddenly it hit him. “I remember my mom used to grow catnip. Isn’t that just barley seedlings?”

Xiao Cai: “But I don’t have any catnip here, and I don’t have any barley seeds either. I do have mint seeds, though.”

Zhang Shuguang: “…Mint? The kind that repels mosquitoes?”

Xiao Cai: “It’s edible. I don’t know if it repels mosquitoes, but you can actually redeem some seeds to try planting them, Master.”

Zhang Shuguang: “No, thanks. I can wait. I’ll just plant whatever seeds I have.”

Xiao Cai: “Then could you give me some wheat?”

Zhang Shuguang: “Sure. I’ll see if I can find some more. When Mang Jiu gets back, I’ll go take a look with him. If the Forest Cat tribe can find it, so can we.”

Xiao Cai: “Okay, Master. Also, would you like to take a look at those three snow pear saplings? They’re growing very well.”

Zhang Shuguang: “Sure, let me see them.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a screen appeared floating in front of him, displaying the three saplings.

Seeing their well-developed root systems and the few green fruits already growing on them, Zhang Shuguang was astonished.

He stared at those small green fruits for quite a while and asked, “How come there are already fruits?”

Xiao Cai: “Look at the condition of the roots. If planted in soil, they’d likely take root completely in about three days. Master, these three saplings are all fifteen years old—it’s perfectly normal for them to have fruit.”

Zhang Shuguang rubbed his chin and muttered, “No wonder he asked for eight thousand right off the bat.”

Xiao Cai: “The saplings we have here are all mature. If you’re interested, you’re welcome to take a look at them all.”

Zhang Shuguang: “What other saplings do you have?”

Xiao Cai projected images of all the saplings onto the screen. Zhang Shuguang looked through them one by one and discovered there were even large cherry saplings—and they were already bearing fruit!

“Did I buy that many saplings?” he asked, a bit bewildered.

Xiao Cai was momentarily taken aback by his question; it took him about three seconds to respond: “Don’t you know how many saplings you bought?”

Zhang Shuguang was stumped.

To be honest, he really didn’t know.

“I didn’t check when I bought them… Never mind. It’s fine that I have these now—at least the money wasn’t wasted.”

Xiao Cai: “You have a total of five different kinds of fruit tree saplings, three of each kind.”

Zhang Shuguang nodded slightly. “Why are you showing me these?”

Xiao Cai: “Master, don’t you want to plant them? It takes at least a year for saplings to bear fruit after planting. These saplings already have fruit on them, and if you don’t plant them, the fruit might go bad if left for too long.”

Zhang Shuguang: “If you want me to spend points, just say so. I’ve noticed you’ve got more tricks up your sleeve since you leveled up. Didn’t you say your preservation function was excellent? So why would the fruit go bad?”

Xiao Cai: “……” He’d seen right through him. It really was hard to pull the wool over the host’s eyes.

Zhang Shuguang: “Let’s swap it out. Take the cherry tree out first. Do I have enough points?”

Xiao Cai: “More than enough! I’ve got a discount coupon!”

Zhang Shuguang: “…Well, thanks then. Where’d you get the coupon?”

Xiao Cai: “When you redeem over a thousand points at once, the system drops a discount coupon—20% off.”

Zhang Shuguang: “Xiao Tong really went to great lengths just to scrape together a few more points from me.”

Xiao Cai: “……?” Who is Xiao Tong? Is it the one he’s thinking of? Xiao Tong?

Zhang Shuguang felt a sizzling electronic sound buzzing in his head for quite a while. Frowning, he asked, “What are you doing? Did you short-circuit over there?”

Xiao Cai: “No, Master, I was just deep in thought.”

Zhang Shuguang’s eyes darted around, and he snorted, “I think you’re just smirking. Fine, just see what you can exchange for and go ahead.”

Xiao Cai: “Yes, Master. I’ll exchange them for three cherry tree saplings and three nectarine tree saplings. Total cost: 600 points. Remaining points: 31.”

Zhang Shuguang: “Is there a big difference between honey peaches and regular peaches?”

Xiao Cai: “Quite a big difference. Here’s a description of the honey peaches—would you like me to read it to you?”

Zhang Shuguang: “No need. Just make sure they all take root. If you need any seeds, I’ll give them to you if I have them.”

Xiao Cai was overjoyed to hear this, and the electronic beep sounded several times.

“Master, I want all the seeds you don’t have. The bamboo shoots, wild greens, purslane, and lemongrass—you didn’t have any of those, and neither did you have cotton or wheat.”

Zhang Shuguang: “Oh, okay. Once I have the seeds, I’ll give you ten grams of each.”

Xiao Cai: “Can you give me a little more? The more seeds I collect, the more energy the Master System will have!”

Zhang Shuguang: “We’ll talk about that later. I don’t even have any seeds right now—where am I supposed to get them for you?”

Xiao Cai: “Okay, Master. Thank you, Master. You’re the best, Master!”

Listening to its excited electronic voice, Zhang Shuguang pictured that little green sprout swaying in the breeze.

Thinking of the little green sprout, he asked, “It’s about time you bloomed, isn’t it? Spring is already more than halfway over.”

Xiao Cai: “Not yet, Master. I won’t bloom until your app reaches a certain level. Aren’t you going to sleep yet, Master?”

Zhang Shuguang: “I can’t sleep.”

Xiao Cai: “Are you feeling sad?”

Zhang Shuguang: “I’m not sad. Why do you all assume I’d be sad?”

Xiao Cai: “I know how determined you were to save that person back then. You’re bound to be heartbroken now that you couldn’t save him.”

Zhang Shuguang: “It’s just a momentary sadness. I didn’t really have much of a connection with him. I was only in such a hurry to save him because I knew Aila had drained his life force.”

Xiao Cai: “Then, Master, why can’t you sleep?”

Zhang Shuguang: “I miss Mang Jiu. These long, lonely nights make it hard to sleep alone!”

Xiao Cai: “Sorry to bother you, Master. I’m going into hibernation now.”

Zhang Shuguang: “Oh, don’t go yet—let’s chat a little longer!”

Xiao Cai: “Do you find it amusing to tease your digital pet like this?”

Zhang Shuguang: “You sure know how to take yourself seriously. All right, go to sleep. I’ll mull it over some more.”

Xiao Cai said goodnight, and Zhang Shuguang rolled over to look at the rocky mountain not far away.

It was pitch black—he couldn’t see a thing, only a vague outline.

He stared at it for a while, then finally felt sleepy.

He yawned and rubbed his eyes, then rolled over, pulled the fur blanket over himself, and fell asleep.

Within the Monkey Clan’s territory, Hou Shi sat on a rock, holding a piece of dried meat and gnawing on it bit by bit.

“Elder, aren’t you going to sleep?” Hou Qi held two greenish fruits in his hands and handed one to him. “Can’t sleep?”

Hou Shi waved his hand to decline the fruit; being elderly, he didn’t care for sour fruits—they made his teeth ache.

“Did you hear what Hou Cai said today? The Lion-Tiger Tribe has split up.”

Hou Qi sat down on the ground, crossed his legs, and bit into half a fruit with a crunch. “I heard. The Golden Lion Clan and the Golden Tiger Clan have split up. The Golden Tiger Clan has moved away to the Cliffside Tribe, right?”

“Mm-hmm. What do you think?” Hou Shi bit off a tiny piece of meat, savoring the flavor as he ground it between his teeth, occasionally making slurping sounds.

Hou Qi stared at him for a moment and asked, “You’re staying up just because you’re craving jerky, aren’t you? It’s not like you actually care about other tribes.”

Hou Shi glared at him. “Go on, go to sleep. Don’t stand there and get in my way!”

“I want some too. I traded for quite a few strips of jerky today,” Hou Qi said as he got up to fetch his own little leather pouch. He pulled out two strips of jerky and held them in his hand. Seeing that Hou Shi was almost done with his, he generously handed him one.

“You ask what I think? I don’t have an opinion. The Golden Lion Tribe is so close to us, and you know Shi Quan’s temperament. Last time Hou Xing and I came to trade for meat, he told me something about lions not eating fruit and told me not to come back. Hahaha, eating nothing but meat—doesn’t he worry he won’t be able to poop?”

Hou Shi was disgusted by his remark and kicked him with his foot. “Speak properly!”

“I am speaking politely. Eating nothing but meat makes it hard to poop—it’s not like no one in our tribe has ever been through that.” Hou Qi brushed the dirt off his leg and asked, “Elder, what are you trying to say? Just get to the point.”

“Nothing much. The Cliffside Tribe has gone a bit too far this time,” Hou Shi sighed. “I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not.”

Hou Qi snorted and waved his hand dismissively: “If the Cliffside Tribe really wanted to do something to our tribes, they wouldn’t have brought out so much salt to trade. Think about it—could our fruit juice really be worth a whole sack of salt? If it were me, I wouldn’t even bother trading it. So why did they? Isn’t it just to let us all know that the Cliffside Tribe is friendly to all the tribes?” He paused here, thought for a moment, then amended his statement: “They’re friendly to friendly tribes. As for tribes like the Golden Lion Clan, I don’t think we stand a chance of getting salt from them.”

“What did the Golden Lion Clan bring out to trade today?” Hou Shi frowned as he looked at him.

Hou Qi shook his head. “Nothing. Only some beastmen from their tribe came out to trade for a few things and went back; I didn’t see any stalls.”

Hou Shi frowned. “What exactly is Shi Quan up to?”

No one knew what Shi Quan was up to. At dawn the next day, the Golden Lion Tribe began setting out the items they intended to trade at their stalls—all of them were plump, juicy fruits.

Each fruit was a vibrant red—just looking at them was a delight.

The Monkey Clan members stared in amazement, unable to believe they’d actually brought out fruit!

“Elder! Their fruits are so red!” Hou Qi’s eyes widened as he pointed at the Golden Lion Clan’s stall and let out a loud cry. “How can they be so red? And they look so fresh, too—like they were just picked!”

“What are you yelling about? I see them!” Hou Shi was equally curious about the fruits, but he felt a bit uneasy that the Golden Lion Clan could produce fruits that were so red, so large, and so fresh.

Shi Quan had personally said that his clan didn’t like to eat fruit. For beastmen who didn’t like fruit, to bring out a pile of them to trade for things just didn’t seem right, no matter how you looked at it.

He might not have known the saying “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” but that didn’t stop him from letting his imagination run wild.

The Golden Tiger Clan had just moved out, and now the Golden Lion Clan was bringing out so many fresh fruits—it was clearly a slap in the face, meant to show them that the Golden Lion Clan had the good stuff!

Most of the fruits around here are still green; if you’re lucky, you might find one that’s slightly larger, but none are as big as the ones they’ve laid out.

Each red fruit was as big as a fist, with even the skin gleaming with a lustrous sheen.

As soon as the fruits were displayed, they drew a crowd from all sides. Unfortunately, no one offered to trade for them; instead, everyone gathered around asking where they’d been picked.

Shi Yan was in charge of trading at the stall. He simply smiled and waved his hand at the curious onlookers, saying, “That’s our clan’s secret. Can you teach us how to make honey and fruit juice?”

Those who’d asked the question fell silent—after all, he had a point.

“How much are the fruits?” Finally, someone asked the price, and Shi Yan looked over, taken aback.

Zhang Shuguang’s eyes were brimming with sarcasm, and the smile at the corner of his mouth was unmistakably cold. He glanced at the neatly arranged red fruits on the counter—they looked like apples but weren’t quite the same, each one round and plump. Unfortunately, the moment he thought about why these fruits had appeared overnight and how they’d come to be, he couldn’t help but feel sick to his stomach.

“One bag of fruit for one bag of salt,” Shi Yan said.

Zhang Shuguang remained silent, but someone nearby chimed in, “Keep those fruits for yourself to munch on. A bag of salt? Do you take people for fools?”

“Exactly. A few lousy fruits and they dare to ask for a bag of salt—they’re even bolder than those Sand Crocs.”

“Come on, come on, we can’t afford to trade—we can’t afford to trade.”

Zhang Shuguang snorted with a laugh, waved his hand, and said, “Can’t afford it? Fine, forget it.”

Shi Yan had actually just blurted that out on a whim because he saw Zhang Shuguang was so annoyed—he had no idea it would provoke such a public outcry.

He quickly called out to them, saying, “I was just joking!”

Zhang Shuguang had already turned and walked away, striding quickly, and no matter how much Shi Yan shouted, he didn’t look back.

“Hey, how exactly are you going to trade for these fruits?”

“Yeah, what are you trading for? You’re not just trading for salt, are you?”

“I don’t have any salt. How about some meat?”

“How about some hides?”

Shi Yan was surrounded by people and didn’t have time to call out to Zhang Shuguang, so he could only deal with them one by one.

Meanwhile, several beastmen from the Golden Lion Clan were carrying more fruit over. Soon, their red fruits were piled high on several animal hides—the sheer quantity made for quite a spectacular sight.

“Monkey Clan—I’ll trade you for some other kind of fruit.”

“Black Bear Clan, let’s trade for your Hua seeds.”

“Forest Cat Clan, let’s trade for vegetable seeds.”

“Will you trade or not?”

Shi Yan called out each clan in turn.

The three tribes he addressed were taken aback. After exchanging glances, Xiong Ri was the first to wave his hand and say, “We didn’t bring that many flower seeds with us this time. We’ve already traded them all to the Cliffside Tribe for salt. We still have some honey left that we haven’t traded yet—do you want it? If not, I’ll just trade it to the Cliffside Tribe for salt.”

Mao Yuan of the Forest Cat Tribe also said, “We don’t have any vegetable seeds. We traded everything we found with the Cliffside Tribe earlier. We still have some dried fish and fish bone knives—do you want them?”

Hou Shi rolled his eyes at him and snorted derisively, “If I had fruit, why would I need to trade with you? You’re too young to understand these things—you should’ve had your clan’s elders come out to trade. This is a total waste of time.”

Xiang Wen had absolutely no regard for the Golden Lion Clan either. With a cold expression, he said, “We only have wood—enough to build a frame for people to sleep on. If you’re interested, we can build one; if not, forget it.”

“Or trade for meat—I’ve got plenty of it here,” said a beastman from the Elephant Clan.

“I’d rather save the meat to trade at the Cliffside Tribe for their grilled meat—it tastes so good.”

“It looks like they’re not trading roasted meat today—instead, they’re offering their jerky, cured meat, and sausages. I just went over to check; they’re setting them out right now!”

“No way! What’s a cured sausage? How do they cure the meat? Come on, let’s go check it out!”

In a flash, the crowd gathered at the Golden Lion Clan’s stall turned and left, all rushing over to the Cliffside Tribe’s stall.

Shi Yan nearly ground his teeth to dust as he snapped, “You’ll regret it if you don’t trade now!”

“We never said we wouldn’t trade. It’s just that you don’t know what to trade for yet. We’re going to trade for something else first. Once you’ve decided what you want, you can come to our stall to make the trade.”

“Exactly. It’s not something that can be decided in a single sentence. Why don’t you go back and discuss it with your clan?”

Shi Yan turned to the beastman beside him and shouted, “What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and go get my father!”

The young beastman shot him a glance, his expression one of reluctance, but in the end, he said nothing and turned to leave.

At the Cliffside Tribe’s stall, Zhang Shuguang had already taken a seat at the table, with several dark brown plates set out before him.

“Shuguang, are you just giving this away for free?” Li reached out, pinched a slice of cured sausage from the plate, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed with a look of pure bliss on his face. “We’ve only just started eating ourselves.”

Zhang Shuguang had been busy since he woke up that morning—boiling water to steam the cured sausage, simmering the salted pork, and so on. After preparing all the cured sausage and salted pork he’d brought, he began slicing and arranging them on the plates.

They couldn’t help, so they could only watch him work on his own.

Those slices of cured sausage were so thin they were almost translucent—the aroma while they were steaming nearly drove them wild!

Luckily, the wind was blowing away from them today; otherwise, if the scent had reached the front of the stall and been caught by that crowd, they would probably have swarmed the stall long ago.

Li Yi thought to himself as he reached out and took another slice.

Zhang Shuguang tapped the back of his hand lightly with his chopsticks and glared at him: “You just ate a piece of cured sausage yourself—and now you’re eating another! Aren’t you afraid you’ll choke to death?”

Li grinned, held up a roasted potato, and waved it in front of Zhang’s face. He peeled it, took a bite, and said, “It’s not salty when you eat it with this. This sausage is seriously so fragrant—how did you do it?”

“I didn’t make this,” Zhang Shuguang said, examining the sausage’s shape and appearance before shaking his head. “Someone else made it. Everyone’s versions seem pretty much the same. Pay attention when we’re trading later—try to get more live animals, okay? Preferably small wild animals—the herbivorous kind.”

“Why?” The others looked at him, puzzled.

Zhang Shuguang gave a mysterious smile. “We’ll take them back and pen them up on the outskirts of the tribe. That way, when the sub-beastmen want meat, they can go catch them themselves—no need to scour the mountains and fields. Isn’t that convenient?”

Lin’s eyes lit up, and he quickly added, “Right! Plus, their poop can be used as fertilizer!”

“Exactly, exactly! I sure don’t want to go dig through that big pit for manure—it’s so gross. The platform over there is all wobbly from being trampled; I’m afraid I’ll fall in one day if I’m not careful.” Yun patted her chest and said with a look of disgust, “It’d actually be pretty nice if we could raise some small wild animals. There’s plenty of grass over there anyway—we could just have the little ones go out every day to pull some up to feed them.”

“Fatten them up a bit before we slaughter them!” Guo nodded in agreement. “Let’s switch to little wild animals!”

Zhang Shuguang said with a smile, “You’ve all had the eggs—they’re pretty good, right?”

“Delicious—scrambled eggs are delicious,” they all nodded in agreement.

“Let’s pen up the cuckoo chickens too. If we take good care of them, we’ll have eggs to collect every day.”

Zhang Shuguang thought that if they raised a flock of chickens that laid eggs every day, life would be absolutely wonderful. “Have the kids go dig for worms. We can feed the chickens the wild vegetables and fruits we usually eat, chopped up. And there’s the wheat I traded for earlier—once it’s ripe, we can husk it and feed that to them too. Laying hens are the easiest to raise, and their meat tastes great.”

The others he was talking to started swallowing hard. Li was the only one present who had ever tasted Zhang Shuguang’s roast duck, and as he listened to Zhang ramble on about chickens, the image of roast chicken involuntarily popped into his mind.

“Shuguang, have them go catch some cuckoo chickens! There are so few of them around our tribe—I’ve hardly ever seen one.”

“Didn’t you say that egg in our cave was from a cuckoo chicken?” Zhang Shuguang glared at him. “How come you’ve never seen one!”

“The egg was from a cuckoo chicken, but I’ve never seen the chicken itself—they’ve all been eaten.” Li grinned and pounced on him. “Trade for a cuckoo chicken—bring one back and make us some roast chicken, okay?”

Zhang Shuguang’s mouth twitched slightly: “Say ‘chicken,’ not ‘meat.’ Let’s all be civilized.”

“Roast chicken, roast chicken, roast chicken!”

“Fine, fine, fine! If you want roast chicken, you’ll have to trade for the chicken first!”

Li waved his hand. “Brothers and sisters, charge! Trade for chickens! Trade for little beasts!”

“Chicken, chicken, chicken!”

“Beasts, beasts, beasts!”

Zhang Shuguang put his hand to his forehead. These guys are crazy!

A row of plates was laid out on the stall table. Zhang Shuguang addressed the people coming over to trade: “No need to rush into trading just yet. Let me give you a taste of our tribe’s specialties: cured sausage, salted pork, and salted fish.”

As he named each item, he pointed to the corresponding plate, then gestured toward the bamboo baskets in the back. “We also have pickled pork ribs and oil-cured meat. Try them first, then make your exchange—choose whichever you like best.”

Everyone was taken aback by his offer.

Are they really that generous?

Several sub-beastmen from the Cliffside Tribe wore bright smiles on their faces. “You’ll find out in a moment just how generous we really are!”