In the evening, dark clouds rolled across the sky like an overturned iron pot, pressing down heavily, making it hard to breathe.
*Rustle rustle rustle…* Gusts of evening wind blew making the leaves rustle as the Spotted Deer Tribe welcomed the evening hours.
When the Spotted Deer Tribe was not holding a market, the Teepees in the outer region were inhabited.
At this time, in the inner region of the Spotted Deer Tribe, inside the Shaman’s wooden hut, Lu Shi was discussing Tribe matters with the Shaman.
The Shaman’s wooden hut was very large, with walls and roof built from trees, and many items stored inside.
Most of these items were materials for making Shaman Bone Tablets, as well as various Ferocious Beast Skulls, bones, and so on.
*Crackle crackle…* The fire in the fire pit on the ground was burning vigorously, the wood crackling as it burned, with sparks scattering onto the ground.
“Shaman, after our last market ended, we did not manage to exchange for a large quantity of linen,” Lu Shi reported.
“How much in total?” Shaman Lu Shan asked.
He was the Chieftain of this Tribe, with a pair of golden eyes and a height of over 1.8 metres. He seemed to be extremely imposing, with a pair of antlers on his head that were particularly eye-catching.
“A total of fifty rolls of linen in fifteen days is indeed a bit low…” Shaman Lu Shan frowned.
“Although the quantity is small, I must say that Tribe is really impressive. They alone accounted for thirty rolls of linen, which is quite a lot,” Lu Shi said word by word.
After the last market trade, of all the linen, the Flame Dragon Tribe’s linen accounted for more than half and was of the best quality.
Shaman Lu Shan stroked his beard and asked, curious. “Yes, how can they have so much linen?”
“I don’t know either, but they don’t look like people from a Large Tribe,” Lu Shi said with amazement, continuing, “Their numbers are few, yet they can produce so much linen. They are really amazing.”
Shaman Lu Shan put down his Beast Bone Cup and said, “That Tribe is interesting. A Small Tribe can produce so much linen, and the quality is so good.”
Lu Shi looked puzzled and continued to guess, “Shaman, do you think it might be made by their Tribe’s Shaman?”
“I don’t know about that, but their strength must be quite good.” Shaman Lu Shan solemnly said.
Lu Shi thoughtfully nodded and reminded, “It seems like we need to cooperate with them well. Tomorrow, they will bring twice the amount of linen as last time, which is crazy.”
Shaman Lu Shan squinted his eyes, his index finger tapping lightly on the stone table as he said, “We should establish a long-term cooperation with this Tribe.”
He thought of how they had just delivered the linen seven days ago. It took time for them to journey back to their Tribe and come here again. Calculating the time, the amount of linen they brought in to trade with had increased rather than decreased, which was astonishing.
“Shaman, when they come here to trade tomorrow, they will definitely exchange for salt, but we don’t have much salt left…” Lu Shi worriedly said.
“Keep a portion of the salt for ourselves, just enough for our own use. Exchange the rest with their Tribe,” Shaman Lu Shan arranged.
Lu Shi nodded and said with concern, “Shaman, the Cheetah Tribe is no longer giving us large amounts of salt, they’ve reduced it by more than half, which greatly affects the operation of our market.”
In fact, the Spotted Deer Tribe was an Intermediary Tribe. They exchanged various goods from other Tribes, including materials for making Shaman Bone Tablets, or sewn linen clothes, and so on. Naturally, they also used salt to exchange for goods from other Tribes. Thus, the Spotted Deer Tribe really needed a large amount of salt.
“Damn the Cheetah Tribe. What are they trying to do by doing this at this time?” Shaman Lu Shan cursed.
The Cheetah Tribe was a Large Tribe with a large amount of salt. They have been maintaining long-term cooperation with the Spotted Deer Tribe. The Spotted Deer Tribe normally gave them linen while the Cheetah Tribe gave them salt in return.
“The Cheetah Tribe must want to trade with those Tribes themselves. They are planning to cut us off. That’s why they’re not giving us the agreed amount of salt,” Lu Shi also angrily complained.
Shaman Lu Shan shook his head and solemnly said, “I don’t think that’s likely. If they wanted to do that, they could have done it long ago. Why wait until now?”
“Shaman, if it’s not that, then?” Lu Shi asked in confusion.
“They must have seen our market growing bigger and bigger. I believe they are doing this to restrict our Tribe, to prevent it from growing any further.” Shaman Lu Shan speculated.
Lu Shi immediately stood up and angrily shouted, “That’s too much! How can the Cheetah Tribe do this to us!?”
Shaman Lu Shan’s gaze turned solemn as he said in a deep voice, “Now, we can only rely on that Tribe. They must have a lot of linen.”
“Shaman, you want that Tribe to give us more linen so we can get more salt from the Cheetah Tribe in return?” Lu Shi guessed.
Shaman Lu Shan nodded and stressed, “Previously, salt was the main goods that maintained the trading operation of our entire Tribe. We can’t go on without salt. However, we can use linen to exchange for goods as well.”
Many things in the Spotted Deer Tribe were exchanged using salt from the Cheetah Tribe. The salt from the Cheetah Tribe was exchanged for with linen. Goods in the Spotted Deer Market were all exchanged back and forth. If one thing was lacking, it could paralyse the whole market.
“I understand. In the future, we won’t use salt as our main goods for trade. We can use linen instead, right?” Lu Shi guessed.
Shaman Lu Shan nodded and solemnly said, “Linen is in higher demand than salt and can be exchanged for more things.”
“Understood. When they come tomorrow, let’s discuss it with them,” Lu Shi nodded.
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