Tu Feng looked at the herd of cattle and sheep. Although they seemed somewhat agitated, they did not harm the beastman children, which reassured him.
At the same time, they breathed a sigh of relief, no longer worried that the animals would harm the children; they could kill the cattle and sheep now.
It took a lot of effort to bring these cattle and sheep back to the tribe, and the tribe raised them for a long time so that they could produce more cattle and sheep to ensure the tribe's meat supply. Killing them now would be really not worth it.
He also spared some attention to the outlying tribes; the cattle and sheep remained still as long as the enemy didn't move. To protect both sides, Rabbit Wind could only try his best to appease the outlying tribesmen and prevent them from launching an attack.
However, the orcs from the outskirts of the tribes simply didn't believe Rabbit Wind's words. Although these cattle and sheep behaved differently from the ferocious cattle and sheep they usually encountered, they dared not gamble.
Rabbit Wind understood the beastmen of the marginal tribes. If it were before, he wouldn't have believed it if someone had told him that cattle and sheep wouldn't hurt people.
A slight tremor came from the ground, breaking the delicate balance between the orcs and herds of cattle and sheep in the outlying tribes.
Butterfly Flower, suppressing her terror, stared wide-eyed and stammered, "G-G-G-G-Giant Beast!!"
"Run!"
Someone shouted this, and the orcs of the outlying tribes were thrown into complete chaos.
At this moment, the herd of cattle and sheep was unusually quiet, all its previous agitation gone. They were all hunched over, their little hooves clattering as they moved closer together. Yu Cao and the others, having failed to dodge at first, were caught in the middle of the cattle and sheep, their faces contorted in pain.
Big Black didn't move forward, standing still in place. It was too big; if it went any further, it would crush the earthen house. Big Black didn't even glance at the orcs at its feet who were frightened by its presence; this was the usual reaction whenever people from the tribe came to visit. Big Black was used to it.
"Run! The giant beast is coming! What are you still standing here for?" Fox Tree nudged Rabbit Wind and said anxiously.
Rabbit Wind slapped his head. How could he have forgotten to warn the orcs of the Edge Tribe in advance so they could be prepared? He had become so used to the presence of Big Black that he had forgotten that Big Black was a giant beast, and the orcs of the Edge Tribe were more afraid of Big Black than of cattle and sheep.
He tried to explain, hoping to convince the orcs of the outlying tribes that "this giant beast is a member of our Wood Tribe; it has come to control the cattle and sheep and will not harm you."
Getting a giant beast to obey is even less likely than getting cattle and sheep to obey. Rabbit Wind figured no one in the outlying tribes would believe him.
"Everyone, stop running. What he said is true."
Rabbit Wind looked at the tree fruit, surprised that anyone believed him.
Tree Fruit continued, "Haven't you noticed that the orcs of the Wood Tribe are all very calm?"
Tree Fruit's words calmed down the orcs and priests of the outlying tribes. They looked around and, because of their unusual behavior, a number of Wood Tribe orcs had gathered around them.
They were mostly elderly people and children.
It's time for each team to start work, and all the able-bodied orcs are working and have no free time at all.
It was precisely because these were elderly people and children that the orcs from the outlying tribes believed Rabbit Wind's words even more. After all, if even the elderly and children of the tribe weren't afraid of giant beasts and herds of cattle and sheep, it could only mean that in their hearts, those things weren't scary at all.
The orcs and priests from the outlying tribes, now calmer, stood frozen in place, processing their newfound knowledge.
There really are tribes that can make cattle, sheep, and giant beasts obey them.
Yu Cao was in a hurry to go back to milk the cows and deliver the milk to the feed production team, and it was already a bit late. "Move aside, move aside, don't get bumped by the cows and sheep."
The orcs from the outskirts instinctively moved to the side, watching the cattle and sheep walk past them. Although they knew the cattle and sheep wouldn't attack them, their bodies still stiffened uncontrollably.
After watching the cattle and sheep obediently return to the pasture, Big Black left. It was very busy; the construction team had only chopped half of the giant tree when it was called back, and it had to rush back to continue chopping the tree.
When Shen Nong met the people from the outlying tribe, she gave Tu Feng a strange look.
These people were clearly in a state of shock.
Tu Feng quickly walked to Shen Nong's side and recounted what had happened in the tribe. Upon hearing the retelling, the orcs from the outlying tribe felt their cheeks inexplicably burn.
They were the strongest orcs and the smartest priests in the tribe, yet they were terrified by the giant beasts and cattle that even the old people and children of the Wood Tribe were not afraid of.
The orcs of the Wood Tribe even told the Wood Tribe priests about it.
Shen Nong didn't react much after hearing this, but almost every other tribal beastman and priest who came was frightened when they saw Dahei and the pasture area.
The only difference is the degree of shock.
After learning the reason, Shen Nong didn't ask any more questions. She told the orcs from the outlying tribes about the market's opening hours, "Starting tomorrow, the market will be open for three days."
The originally scheduled start time was still two days away, but Shen Nong sensed an increase in humidity in the air. Summer was brewing a heavy rain. Although there wasn't much sun in the following days, thankfully there was no rain, but who knows what might happen later.
After announcing the start time, Shen Nong asked, "Which tribes will be setting up stalls at the market?"
Tree Fruit replied, "We all want to set up a stall."
Although Rabbit Wind had explained it before, they still didn't quite understand what setting up a stall meant. However, they remembered one sentence: "You can bring things that only your tribe has and let other tribes trade with you."
Leaving aside other things, each of the peripheral tribes has its own unique characteristics. However, in the past, the Salt Tribe only wanted animal hides and good meat in exchange for salt stones, and nothing else, so they never traded their products outside the tribe.
If only we could exchange these things for something else to take back this time, that would be great. But it doesn't matter if we can't get anything in return, since these are all things that can be found everywhere in their tribe anyway.
Shen Nong raised an eyebrow. None of the surrounding tribes had set up stalls at the market; they were all there to trade. She hadn't expected that all nine outlying tribes would come to the market to set up stalls.
He saw that the beastmen from the outlying tribes were carrying tattered animal hides on their backs, and guessed that they were probably goods for setting up stalls, so he said, "I'll take you to the market."
...
It took a while to walk from the Wood Tribe to the market, and further on was a road familiar to the orcs of the Border Tribes. That was the road leading to the Salt Tribe, a road they would take every time they needed to exchange salt stones.
The orcs from the outskirts of the tribe, who had no concept of a market, stared wide-eyed at the sight of it.
Butterfly Flower stamped her foot and exclaimed in surprise, "Is there such a large, smooth boulder in the world?"
Cansang looked around and asked the same question as Diehua about the cement stall under the thatched shed, "And those stones, they're all the same size and very flat."
Shen Nong recalled his road-building plan; building a road to the outlying tribes wouldn't be out of the question. The priests from those tribes had also arrived, and he would explain the plan to them in detail after they were settled.
"You can choose whichever stalls you like from this area." The stalls that Mu Tribe will set up have all been decided, and the area that Shen Nong pointed to was empty.
After understanding what was meant, the orcs from the outskirts of the tribe quickly chose their stalls. Shen Nong took out charcoal sticks wrapped in leaves and wrote the tribe's name on a blank wooden board hanging on a pillar of the thatched hut, according to the stalls they had chosen.
This move made the priests of various tribes' eyes light up.
The beast god created writing and bestowed it upon the priests. Writing enabled the tribe to continue its lineage and to grow and prosper.
But the written language was lost at some point.
Apart from the High Priest of Beast City, no other priests knew how to use writing. The only way to record anything was through drawings. These drawings were often only understandable to the priest himself. Sometimes, after a while, even the priest himself couldn't understand them.
These priests had never seen real writing, but they inexplicably felt that what the priests of the Wood Tribe left on the wooden boards was writing.
Shuguo had her own guesses, but receiving a positive answer was still different. She cautiously asked Shen Nong, who was writing, "Are these... characters?"
Shen Nong finished the last stroke, looked at the three characters "Tree Tribe," and felt they were a bit too high, making the layout look bad. Hearing the question, he immediately replied, "It's text." Then he continued writing on a wooden board.
Upon hearing the definite answer, the priests immediately gathered around the wooden board inscribed with the tribe's name. Their eyes were glued to it, meticulously tracing each stroke, trying to etch the words into their minds.
At the same time, he was also thinking, this priest of the Wood Tribe can write, so what is his relationship with the high priest of the Beast City?
In the Beast World, only the High Priest of Beast City knows writing. This is common knowledge, even in the most remote tribes. In the hearts of the beastmen, the High Priest of Beast City is the most omnipotent besides the Beast God. They think about what they've seen in the Wood Tribe; if the Wood Tribe's priests came from Beast City, then it's not surprising.
Instead of pressing the wooden board against the text, Shuguo followed closely behind Shen Nong.
For some reason, ever since she met the priest of the Wood Tribe, she has always wanted to get close to him, and she vaguely senses the aura of the divine tree on him.
Shen Nong paid no attention to the people following behind him. After writing on the wooden board, he told the beastmen of the outlying tribe that their Wood Tribe would provide food and lodging, but they would have to exchange goods for it.
In the past, people from remote tribes would come to exchange salt stones and leave immediately afterward. They could simply find a tree root to lean against on the roadside and take a nap.
Although they would be staying here for a couple more days, they preferred to exchange what they brought for salt rocks rather than anything else.
Fox Tree suddenly asked, "Is the place we live in the same kind of earthen houses as those in the Wood Tribe?"
The earthen houses of the Wood Tribe were large and well-organized, appearing very sturdy, while their treehouses were crooked and rickety. Fox Tree thought that if he could see what the inside of the earthen houses was like, exchanging some of his belongings for a night's stay wouldn't be a problem.
Shen Nong didn't know why the other person would ask this, so he shook his head and replied, "It's not an earthen house, it's a wooden house."
Shen Nong planned to replace all the earthen houses in the tribe with small brick houses and cement walls. So, the dormitories that were built later were not built from mud bricks, but from wooden houses instead of the laborious process of making and drying mud bricks. They were quick to build and easy to dismantle.
Wooden house!
Fox Tree's eyes lit up; it was a wooden house! She was determined to take a closer look and rebuild their tribe's treehouses when she got back!
Tree Fruit knew what Fox Tree was thinking; she shared the same thoughts. Upon hearing that it was a wooden house, Tree Fruit immediately asked what she would offer in exchange for staying one night.
A whole animal skin the size of an adult tiger's hide provides lodging for one night and one day, along with three meals a day.
This price is not low.
Fox Tree hesitated somewhat; a whole animal hide of this size could have been exchanged for ten salt stones in the old salt department.
However, meals are included...
She asked somewhat uncertainly, "Is this a full-bodied meal?"
Shen Nong nodded, "Of course."
Fox Tree immediately stopped worrying. She could eat her fill in one meal, let alone three. Although the priest didn't eat as much as her, he could still break even in three meals. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn't a loss.
"We, the Tree Tribe, live here."
Chief Wolf Cliff of the Cliff Tribe also came this time. Originally, he wanted the Cliff Tribe's orcs to come along to collect wild prickly pears and then send them back to the Cliff Tribe first. However, the Cliff Tribe's priest was worried that Wolf Cliff's illness wasn't fully cured, and that if anything happened later, Deer Water of the Wood Tribe wouldn't be there, and none of their peripheral tribes could help him. So, Wolf Cliff was brought along to the Wood Tribe as well.
They were carried on the backs of other tribal chiefs the whole way.
Because Wolf Cliff's body had not yet recovered, the Cliff Tribe priest chose to stay in the wooden hut provided by the Wood Tribe. Although it required exchanging a whole large animal hide, it was worth it, at least ensuring he wouldn't have to worry about food or shelter.
The other tribes, not wanting to waste the animal hides, decided to just find a tree root to lean against, since that's what they'd been doing all along.
It takes some effort to find food. After they find a suitable place to rest, they have to go hunting together, otherwise they won't have anything to eat.
So the group split into two groups. The priests and chieftains of the Tree Tribe and the Cliff Tribe, a total of four people, followed Shen Nong, while the others went to find a place to rest.
Shen Nong led them to their lodgings. A cement path ran through the bushes, leading to six neatly arranged wooden houses. This place was only a wall away from the workers' dormitory. The workers hadn't finished work yet, and the area was very quiet.
These six wooden houses were recently built, and Shen Nong loved them from the moment she saw them.
Although it's a single-story building, the wooden house's appearance is rated above average in the system's aesthetics category. The production team and Shen San put in a lot of effort to make the wooden house's appearance closely resemble the one displayed in the system. With the dense forest behind it as a backdrop, it's fair to say that the wooden house is elegant, tranquil, and serenely simple.
The four people from the outlying tribe rubbed their eyes frantically as they looked at the strangely shaped but surprisingly beautiful wooden house.
Their concept of a wooden house consisted only of the crooked, rickety logs on the tree trunks of the Tree Tribe, seemingly about to fall over.
The wooden houses of the Mu tribe completely overturned their understanding: these are wooden houses? Wooden houses can be built like this?
Two people lived in each wooden cabin. After the four of them stepped onto the cement road, entered their respective cabins, and saw what they looked like inside, the same thought popped into their minds: living in such a cabin for a whole animal hide was worth it, absolutely worth it.
Chapter 82
2-in-1
Inside the wooden house, a square wooden table sits in the center, with four chairs on each side. Behind it is a wooden cabinet containing cooking utensils such as earthenware bowls and pots.