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Chen Meng and Xi Lie really helped Wen Ze spread the word.
In four days, they visited seven tribes.
It doesn’t sound like much, but that’s because they chose large tribes, and traveling between them took a lot of time.
Once they arrived, they had to show their goods to the people in charge of the tribe and explain Wen Ze’s “drawings,” which took quite a bit of effort.
Originally, they were supposed to fly back toward the Eden Grasslands last night, but they heard that the Forest Glory Tribe had a type of spicy fruit that seemed to be the chili peppers Wen Ze was looking for. So, they immediately flew over.
After reaching an agreement, they helped the Forest Glory Tribe harvest the spicy fruit.
Now, they were flying through the sky with their backs loaded with the peppers!
Most of the Beastmen in the Forest Glory Tribe had red panda beast forms. They were small in size and couldn’t run very fast.
Chen Meng and Xi Lie were getting anxious, occasionally looking down and urging them to hurry.
The red pandas on the ground panted as they ran: “Stop rushing us! Our legs are short! We’re already running as fast as we can!”
“We’ve been busy all night, and we got up before dawn today. In previous years, we wouldn’t have come this early!”
Other red pandas chimed in: “That’s right! We’re already being extra diligent!”
Chen Meng let out a cry, “We know you’re exhausted, but think about all the great things Wen Ze has! If you’re late, others will exchange for them first! Just hold on a little longer!”
Xi Lie added, “If you miss this chance, you’ll have to wait another year!”
They were truly skilled at being traveling merchants. The Forest Glory Tribe was completely convinced and pushed themselves to run even harder.
No one even thought about the fact that if they didn’t manage to exchange for something at the Autumn Harvest Festival, they could still go to the South Mountain Tribe later.
After pushing forward relentlessly, the Eden Grasslands finally came into view.
The half-beastmen sitting on the backs of the Beastmen cheered first: “We’re here!”
The red pandas slowed down, panting heavily, and called up to the two in the sky: “The grasslands are huge. Can you help us find where Wen Ze is?”
The two brothers flapped their wings: “No problem!”
Taking a deep breath, they suddenly sped up, soaring high above the grasslands.
But there were quite a few bird-type Beastmen in the sky. They almost collided head-on with a large brown bird speckled with white. Swerving to avoid it, they heard the bird shout, “Watch where you’re going!”
The two brothers had no choice but to slow down.
From the sky, the view was much better. They focused their vision and circled halfway before spotting Wen Ze!
Wen Ze was wearing a beautiful hemp outfit, with accessories, and his handsome face was painted with colorful patterns, making him even more striking. They barely recognized him at first glance.
In front of him, his stall was the most crowded, with people clamoring to speak with him. Wen Ze was so busy that he had to ask members of his tribe to help him.
The large brown bird that had nearly crashed into them was also heading toward Wen Ze. Upon landing, it transformed into human form and forcefully squeezed into the crowd.
Chen Meng said, “I’ll go find Wen Ze. You bring the Forest Glory Tribe over.”
Xi Lie nodded. “Got it.”
With sharp hearing, Chen Meng steadied himself, transformed into human form, and instinctively covered his ears.
There was no choice; the voices around him were loud and mixed, far too noisy.
He even heard that brown-feathered Beastman shouting at the top of his lungs, “Move aside! The one at the front making a deal with the stall owner is our clan leader! Let me through!”
Wen Ze was too busy checking what the tribe leader had brought and, with all the noise around, hadn’t noticed Chen Meng’s arrival.
In front of Wen Ze were two full baskets of unshelled peanuts.
The peanuts were large and plump, with even the smallest ones about the length of his index finger.
The shells still had traces of fresh dirt clinging to them.
“Did you just dig these up?” he asked, looking at the young tribe leader with deep features.
As he spoke, his gaze casually swept over the tribe leader’s hairstyle.
His brown short hair was unexpectedly styled into a slicked-back hairstyle, with strands appearing glossy as if they had been carefully styled with hair wax.
How could there possibly be hair wax in this world? Wen Ze almost laughed at his own thought.
But this hairstyle did look quite good—dignified and imposing, perfect for an occasion like the autumn harvest festival.
Most of the people he brought along had also slicked-back hairstyle, looking refreshed and spirited.
What exactly did they use to style it? He would find an opportunity to ask after the business was done.
The tribe leader with a slicked-back hairstyle smiled and replied, “Yes, we dug them up this morning. These multi-seed nuts are a specialty of our tribe. We bring a large quantity every year to the autumn harvest festival. Whether eaten raw or roasted, they are quite fragrant.”
Wen Ze nodded.
The half-beastman who had called over the tribe leader eagerly asked Wen Ze, “Can we exchange them for dyed fabric?”
Wen Ze replied, “Yes. Not just fabric, but other things here can also be exchanged.”
Peanuts weren’t too picky about their growing environment—he estimated they could be cultivated in the South Mountain tribe.
More importantly, they were much easier to obtain than the deep forest nuts.
The tribe leader was pleased and asked Wen Ze to briefly explain the items at the stall.
When Wen Ze mentioned glass, his expression didn’t change;
When he spoke of fabric and pottery, the tribe leader’s eyes brightened;
But when he mentioned soap, his eyes sparkled, and he eagerly asked, “Can I try this soap?”
Wen Ze cheerfully said, “Of course.”
Standing beside him, Zhuo Mu quickly handed over a water pouch.
The tribe leader reached out, took a handful of water, and wet his hands.
Then, following Wen Ze’s instructions, he rubbed two strokes of soap on his hands. As he rubbed, bubbles appeared!
Zhuo Mu poured more water, and the tribe leader washed off the foam. Looking at his now dry and refreshed hands in the sunlight, he repeatedly praised, “This is great! I want to exchange the few baskets of peanuts I brought for two bundles of fabric, two pottery pieces, and the rest for soap!”
The tribespeople behind him nodded in agreement.
Their enthusiasm for soap took Wen Ze by surprise.
He recalled the first time Bai Han visited the South Mountain tribe—when he introduced soap to him, Bai Han hadn’t found its cleaning ability all that impressive.
Sure enough, every product had its target customers.
As long as the exchange could be made, it was a good deal, and Wen Ze didn’t dwell on it too much.
“Alright!” Wen Ze said cheerfully. “Let’s work out the exchange. Do you only want this regular soap?”
“Are there other kinds?”
“Yes, for example, sulfur soap, which is made for pest control. If the cubs in the tribe have bugs, just wash a few times and it’s good.”
“That’s useful too! We want sulfur soap as well! Do they require the same amount of goods to exchange?”
Wen Ze shook his head. “No. If you exchange for regular soap, I can give you thirty-five bars. If you choose sulfur soap, I can only give you fifteen bars.”
The tribe leader stroked his chin, pondering for a couple of seconds before asking, “How many bars of regular and sulfur soap did you bring?”
Wen Ze answered, “Fifty bars of regular soap and thirty bars of sulfur soap.”
The tribe leader nodded. “Got it. I’ll have my people bring all the multi-seed nuts we have, and we’ll exchange for fifty bars of regular soap first. As for the remaining ones, we’ll exchange for as many sulfur soaps as we can.”
Wen Ze’s eyes lit up—this was a big customer!
“No problem! Go and call…”
Before he could finish, Chen Meng and Xi Lie, escorting the tribe leader of the Forest Glory Tribe, finally squeezed to the front.
“You can’t exchange everything with them! We need soap too!” the Forest Glory Tribe’s leader shouted. “Besides, we brought the spicy fruit you wanted!”
Wen Ze’s eyelids twitched as he looked over in surprise.
Supporting the Forest Glory Tribe’s leader, Chen Meng quickly explained to Wen Ze, “It’s that chili pepper you mentioned!”
“What?!” Wen Ze asked excitedly. “Let me see it!”
Someone immediately took off the basket on their back, placed it in front of the stall, and lifted the large leaves covering it.
Inside was a basket full of chili peppers!
These chili peppers were pale yellow, small in size, yet plump and glossy.
With the Forest Glory Tribe’s permission, Wen Ze picked up one of the peppers.
Fresh chili peppers were crisp. Wen Ze easily snapped one in half, and a strong spicy aroma rushed to his nose!
The chili peppers he had found in the Rainbow Sun Tribe before had likely grown from seeds carried by birds. However, the soil and climate in the Rainbow Sun Tribe were not suitable for the growth of this type of chili pepper, so the fruits were dry and shriveled, and their taste was poor.
This chili pepper, Wen Ze lightly dipped his tongue into it… Mmm! The spiciness was real! Not bitter at all! It tasted so good!
Having gone months without chili peppers, Wen Ze had been craving them terribly. Now, overwhelmed with excitement, he gave Chen Meng and Xi Lie a look of approval.
“Yes, this is exactly the chili pepper I was looking for! Thank you, you’ve been a big help!”
The two brothers, thrilled to have successfully completed their mission, straightened their backs with pride.
“We’re friends—no need to thank us!” they said with bright smiles.
Hearing this, the people of the Forest Glory Tribe felt half their worries ease.
The leader asked Wen Ze, “Since this is something you wanted, can we exchange it for the soap we need?”
The tribe leader with the slicked-back hairstyle from earlier immediately raised an eyebrow and said, “No! We already made an agreement with him—fifty bars of soap, and we’ll take everything!”
The leader of the Forest Glory Tribe looked troubled and suggested, “Could you let us have it this time? Our tribe’s territory is damp, and the pesky insects are not only numerous but also highly venomous. We’re always covered in itchy bites. We heard that soapy water could relieve the itch and detoxify the skin, so we really want to exchange for some.”
“Yes, yes! We got up in the middle of the night yesterday to pick the spicy fruit. Look, I’ve been bitten by bugs on my arm, and it’s still swollen!” other members of the Forest Glory Tribe chimed in.
The leader with the slicked-back hair sighed and said, “I understand your situation, but our tribe really needs the soap. We love eating fruits that are high in oil, so we’re always oily, even on our hair. Look at our hair—it’s greasy all year round. If we had soap, we could finally feel fresh and clean.”
The people he brought also expressed their frustration. “That’s right, because we’re oily, people from other tribes think we’re dirty, but we bathe every day! We even use hot water! But no matter how much we wash, we never feel clean! It’s so annoying!”
Wen Ze suddenly understood.
So, the reason they could maintain a slicked-back hairstyle was because their hair was naturally greasy…
He imagined himself in their situation—walking around every day with hair greasy enough to fry food. Forget what others thought; even he would find it unbearable.
The Forest Glory Tribe people understood their situation but still didn’t give in.
“You can scrub with sand and soil—that should help at least a little! But getting bitten by bugs is truly unbearable!”
“Then why don’t you use medicine or find a way to kill the bugs? You can’t just rely on soap for everything!”
“We need the soap more than you do!”
“Nonsense! We need it more!”
The argument between the two tribes grew more intense.
The leader of the Forest Glory Tribe waved his arm and said fiercely, “The spicy fruit we brought is exactly what Wen Ze wanted! In our territory, it’s damped all year round. Eating this fruit immediately makes us hot and sweaty, and it’s great for expelling dampness!”
The leader with the slicked-back hair raised his voice, “Our multi-seed nuts not only taste fragrant but also give us strength after eating them!”
“We brought a lot of spicy fruit!”
“We have plenty of multi-seed nuts too!”
“Ours are better!”
“No, ours are better!”
The shouting grew louder, and the people from both tribes were furious, ready to fight at any moment.
The leader with the slicked-back hair shouted, “We were here first!”
The Forest Glory Tribe’s leader retorted, “The Autumn Harvest Festival isn’t about who comes first! It depends on what the stall owner wants! If you don’t believe me, let Wen Ze choose!”
The leader with the slicked-back hair turned red, “Fine! If he chooses you, we’ll leave immediately!”
They glared at each other before turning to Wen Ze together.
“You say it! Who do you choose?” they demanded simultaneously.
Wen Ze sighed helplessly. “You two were arguing so fiercely just now that I couldn’t even get a word in. We’re all friends here—let’s keep things peaceful.”
“Hmph,” the leader of the Forest Glory Tribe said. “We’ve already been peaceful.”
The leader with the slicked-back hair twitched his brows, and it seemed like the two were about to start arguing again.
Wen Ze quickly shouted, “Stop! No more arguing! Listen to me!”
The two had no choice but to reluctantly close their mouths.
“I wasn’t finished earlier.” Wen Ze turned and pulled another soap wrapped in paper from the basket behind him.
When he unwrapped it, the soap inside was a soft pink color! A faint floral fragrance wafted from it.
Not only the two tribes who wanted to exchange soap, but also the others watching were stunned.
“Beast God, what is this?!”
Wen Ze held up the soap and explained, “This time we brought not only regular soap and sulfur soap, but also this floral-scented soap.
“It works the same as regular soap, but it has a pleasant fragrance. After bathing with it, the scent lingers on the body for some time.
“Would you like to try it?”
The crowd eagerly shouted, “Yes!”
Wen Ze let them fetch some water, wet their hands, and then passed the soap around for them to try.
From the crowd, amazed voices echoed: “My hands smell so good! I really like it!”
“The color and shape of the soap are beautiful!”
“It’s really good for cleaning!”
“Ahhh! Leader, let’s exchange for the floral soap instead of the regular one!”
The people from the Forest Glory Tribe were the first to react, shouting loudly: “Wen Ze, for the sake of friendship between our tribes, we’ll let them have the regular soap! We want the floral soap!”
The other tribe refused to back down. “We want the floral soap too!”
Forest Glory Tribe: “We said it first this time!”
Panicking, the other tribe quickly asked, “Wen Ze, how many floral soaps did you bring? Are they all going to be exchanged in one go?”
Wen Ze had anticipated that the floral soap would be more popular and smiled. “Don’t worry, I brought over a hundred. There’s enough for both tribes!”
They were overjoyed, with the young people almost jumping up and down in excitement.
“Great, great! We can all get floral soap! Hahaha!”
Wen Ze then negotiated the exchange with them, taking peanuts and chili peppers in one hand and handing over soap in the other.
Since the Forest Glory Tribe had brought a large number of chili peppers, Wen Ze also exchanged cloth, pottery, and a piece of glass with them, which thrilled them even more.
The other tribe, having secured their floral soap, was equally delighted. As soon as they left the crowd, some beastmen transformed into their beast forms, flapping their wings and soaring into the sky.
Wen Ze squinted, observing them closely. The more he looked, the more they resembled a species of bird he had seen in nature documentaries before—something called an “Oilbird.” Their behavior also matched.
Of course, the Beastman’s size was much larger than modern birds.
They circled in the sky, chirping excitedly.
Wen Ze overheard their conversation. They were talking about going to a mountain stream to bathe and then coming back to play. Haha.
After completing these two exchanges, Chen Meng and Xi Lie finally had a chance to speak with Wen Ze.
They first explained which tribes they had visited in the past few days and what they had told them.
“Four tribes are farther away than the Snow Sea Tribe. When we circled around earlier, we didn’t see any of their people. But preparing supplies takes time, so you’ll have to wait a little longer.”
Wen Ze nodded in understanding.
“Messages have to be spread by word of mouth. In just a few days, it’s impossible for the news to have reached everyone. I’m not in a rush,” Wen Ze said. “I really appreciate your help this time. Stay in our tribe tonight—I’ll cook for you!”
The two were overjoyed. “We get to eat delicious food again? Yes!!!”
Wen Ze laughed. “Don’t be so polite.”
Chen Meng didn’t forget that he was a traveling merchant, so he gave Wen Ze a heads-up in advance: “I didn’t expect you to come up with something as good as floral soap. When we leave, make sure to exchange some for us.”
“No problem!”
Xi Lie exclaimed excitedly, “You actually managed to forge tools out of black iron blocks! Beast God, you’re amazing!”
Chen Meng had also been staring at Wen Ze’s iron knife for a long time, nodding repeatedly. “We’ve traveled to so many places, including the Black Silver Tribe, and none of them could do anything with black iron! But you succeeded!! You are truly blessed by the Beast God!”
The two brothers exchanged a glance and could see each other’s awkwardness.
They had come up with many words to comfort Wen Ze along the way, but in the end, they didn’t need them at all! Haha!
Wen Ze felt embarrassed from the brothers’ praises and admiration.
Seeing how much they liked it, Wen Ze handed them the black iron knife so they could look at it to their heart’s content.
The people around the stall were insanely jealous.
The two brothers said that this knife was far superior to the ones forged by the Black Iron Tribe.
And thinking about the fact that Wen Ze still had so many black iron pieces left—if they were all turned into metal tools… My goodness, how many supplies would that exchange for?
Before, the two brothers thought Wen Ze had lost out by exchanging a basket of scrap iron.
But in reality, Wen Ze had taken a small risk and won big!
A half-beastman with such intelligence, decisiveness, and keen judgment was simply unheard of!
They didn’t even feel like they had lost out, because they didn’t know how to smelt metal. The black iron pieces were completely useless in their hands.
When handing the black iron knife back, Chen Meng sincerely said, “Wen Ze, I think you’d make a better merchant than us.”
Xi Lie nodded vigorously, admiration was written all over his rugged face.
Wen Ze smiled and said, “If I ever get the chance, I’d really like to travel around. You two have more experience than me—don’t forget to teach me a few tricks.”
Chen Meng and Xi Lie were deeply honored and responded together, “Of course!”
Wen Ze thought of something and asked, “The Black Silver Tribe isn’t too far from here. Did they come?”
Chen Meng was taken aback. “I don’t think I saw them.”
“Aren’t they coming?” Wen Ze asked.
“We’re not from here, so we don’t know much,” Chen Meng replied.
Hearing this, the onlookers around the stall eagerly explained to Wen Ze:
“They rarely come!”
“It seems because their tribe is very powerful, other tribes are eager to exchange things with them, so they’ve seen so many good things that they weren’t very enthusiastic about the autumn harvest festival.”
“Yeah, if they show up even one day out of the three, it’s already pretty good.”
Wen Ze nodded thoughtfully. “Got it.”
With a good start, the rest of the exchanges went smoothly.
However, most of the customers were individuals, and very few came on behalf of their tribes.
Wen Ze exchanged for some delicious fruits and mushrooms.
It’s worth mentioning that he also got pumpkins! Round and plump, with golden skin, and they were huge! They looked delicious just by looking at them!
By noon, the things he brought were mostly exchanged, and finally, people from the Snow Sea Tribe and the Fierce Wind Tribe arrived.
Wen Ze decided to pack up his stall and walk around the market with them while chatting.
Bai Han asked, “You must have had a lot of people exchanging with you this morning, right?”
Wen Ze had talked so much that his voice was hoarse.
He took the water pouch handed to him by Zhuo Mu, sipping it slowly to soothe his throat, and said, “There are quite a lot, but most of them are things I don’t need.”
From the Eden Grasslands to the north, the climate is similar, and the species are more or less the same.
So he was mentally prepared—foods that naturally taste good had probably already been discovered long ago.
As for what he was looking for, like green onions and ginger, their raw taste is so strong—who would casually take a bite?
Or beans, which cause bloating and gas when steamed which making them uncomfortable to eat.
And grains, which is difficult to thresh, so no one bothers to collect it for food.
Zhuo Mu stayed by his side and said gently, “Take your time, you’ll find them.”
Wen Ze nodded with a smile in his dark eyes, “Mm. I’m already very satisfied that I was able to exchange for a few of the foods I wanted this time.”
Zhuo Mu gazed at him and smiled as well.
Kuang Xin, the leader of the Fierce Wind Tribe, scratched his head and said with embarrassment, “Back when I learned weaving from you, I said I’d help you look for seeds. But after all this time, I’ve made no progress at all.”
Bai Han said, “Same for us. We only managed to find radishes and garlic for Wen Ze.”
Kuang Xin shot him a look. “Only? At least you found two things. We didn’t find a single one!”
The more he spoke, the more troubled he felt.
He had heard that the dyed cloth from the South Mountain Tribe and their newly made glass were particularly beautiful, and he had wanted to exchange for some. But now, he felt too embarrassed to bring it up.
Unexpectedly, Wen Ze took the initiative to ask if they wanted any pottery.
Kuang Xin’s eyes widened in surprise. “We didn’t bring any seeds—can we still exchange for it?”
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