"Brother, two hundred bamboo longbows, two thousand hardwood arrows, three hundred copper spears...are you the only ones that can take out these? Don't you have that... 40% spare?..."
"Red-haired tribal brothers, this is indeed my greatest sincerity! This time I go west, I don't know how long the battle will take, I have to keep half of the weapons as backup, right?..."
The woodpecker Aipai had a wry smile on his face, held the amulet of the main god around his neck, and solemnly swore an oath.
"Witness the Lord God! I can only produce so many weapons! I can give you ten more sets of leather armors, all of which are private property of my manor. I think this should be enough to exchange for these top-notch mountain products, plus a few baskets of ordinary What a wild product..."
"Well...our wasteland tribe never treats our brothers badly, and we are very fair in our dealings!"
The red-haired leader Mikui touched his chin and thought for a while. He recalled the excitement on the woodpecker's face before he pecked, and decided to double the price of the top-quality mountain product he had previously ordered.
"Ten top-notch mountain products are all obtained from the temple of the Holy City. They will be exchanged for you two hundred bows and two thousand arrows! As for the three hundred copper spears, you can go to the cellar and pick out ordinary mountain products. Gold ones. , silver or jade will do, fill three baskets...oh, take four baskets away!..."
As he spoke, the red-haired leader Mikui tilted his head and glanced at the woodpecker a few times guiltily. I saw this "turkey" in flashy clothes. His breathing suddenly became thicker, and even his voice started to tremble.
"Ten pieces? Exchange ten artifacts? Are you sure?!"
"Well…"
The red-haired leader Mikui touched his nose and immediately regretted it. If I had known earlier, I would have doubled the price. However, it depends on this guy knowing the goods and having money. I used to sell ten bows and one hundred arrows to a top-notch mountain product, but all the passing warriors found it too expensive...
"The Lord God witnesses! Our red-haired warriors do what they say!... Delivery tonight, these ten best expensive items are yours!..."
"Okay! Okay! That's it, that's it! You don't have to wait until night...when it gets dark, I will have people bring the weapons and trade them in your cellar!..."
The woodpecker scratched the back of his hand excitedly, feeling the eagerness of the cat scratching his heart. He looked greedily at the precious sacrificial artifacts in front of him, especially the "Feathered Serpent Mask" from the Toltec era, and his face almost broke out in a smile.
"Haha! You are mine... you are mine!..."
Seeing Aipai's hair-raising giggle, the red-haired leader Mikui grinned and took a step back calmly. I don’t know why this guy is so happy. Isn’t he the one who should be laughing right now? This is obviously a win! …
"Ha ha!"
A win-win deal was reached, and the two laughed together for a while. When they looked at each other again, they were particularly pleased with each other. The red-haired leader Mikui extended his hand to say hello and invited the woodpecker Apei into the inn for a meal, and Apei happily agreed. But before leaving, he thought about it and solemnly made his invitation.
"Red-haired tribal brothers, such a deal can be done in the future! We have traded military goods, and from now on we are just ants on a snail's back! ... In fact, I have many friends in Gyeonggi, all from the Kingdom A nobleman with military merit, he was granted a large land and many serfs, and I also have a manor... We produce all the large and medium items, food, and supplies that your tribal flag team needs!"
"After tonight's transaction is completed, I will arrange a few personal guards to bring these wild beasts back to my manor... But I don't have many reliable men, so I have to keep them to lead this battalion!... If you can trust me, then Send a few people to help me transport the goods, and take a look at my manor!... I have a clan brother who is guarding the house. You should not set up stalls at the inn in the future, it is too eye-catching!... Leave it all to me, I will help you Take action! The price will definitely be higher than you think, much higher!…"
Hearing the words of the woodpecker, Mikui, the red-haired leader, blinked, somewhat unsure of the other party's intentions. This guy doesn't want to trick the brothers into his territory and then do something evil, right? But soon, he readily agreed. Anyway, if someone from the flag team dies, just let the other party pay for his life with one life...
"Witness the powerful Lord God! Okay, brother! We will send out a few people to help you get the goods home! As for the manor you mentioned, let's go and take a look... If the price is good, all the mountain goods shipped back from the army will be handed over to You can do it too!…”
"Then it's settled! By the way, according to your wasteland tradition, do we have to swear an oath on blood?"
"Huh? You want to swear an oath on my blood? Are you sure?"
The red-haired leader Mikui was a little surprised. Looking at Aipei, who was not good at fighting but knew a lot, his face showed seriousness for the first time.
"Brother! Witness the ancestors! If you violate the blood oath... you will die till death..."
"Of course! Since we want to do big things, we must trust each other! Come! I will make a blood oath with you and become true brothers! And those who betray their brothers will have their souls fall into the abyss and be eaten by wolves after death. !…”
"Okay! That's great! Bring me the stone knife! We'll do it here while the last sun shines!..."
The setting sun falls into the mountains and rivers, taking away the last bright red and light. And a solemn and brief blood-slaying ceremony was also quietly announced in the corner of the inn. The woodpecker's palm was wrapped with white cloth, faintly showing some blood. The same goes for the red-haired leader Mikui next to him. Afterwards, the two of them walked closely side by side into the long room in the center of the inn. They invited each other's tribesmen and personal guards to gather together to talk, laugh, eat and drink.
"Come! Brother Woodpecker, this is the station master and a retired warrior of our Black Wolf Legion, Zu Shasha!"
The red-haired leader Mikui held a wine bowl and dragged a tall red-haired hunter over. The red-haired hunter was very strong, with scars all over his face and body, but he was lame in one leg and couldn't walk fast.
"What? Stationmaster? What's his name? Zusha Sha?"
The woodpecker Aipeck drank a large gulp of fruit wine and ate large pieces of stewed goose meat. He was not a good drinker, but after just a little drink, his face turned red and his tongue became enlarged.
"Hiccup! Is there another one named Shasha?"
"Yes! This name is so common. The wasteland is full of sand... When he was a few years old, he encountered a big cold wave. The entire tribe migrated in the cold wave. As a result, they had no food and no firewood in the sand, and they were all frozen. Even if they die... our tribe won't have anything to eat, but if we can survive longer than them, we will have something to eat..."
The red-haired leader Mikui drank like crazy and kept his mouth shut, telling everyone about everything.
"The old man in the tribe said that when he took Ding Zhuang to pick up the body and came back, he found that the child was dying and still had breath... He fed him broth, and hey! He survived!... Because he picked it up in the sand. It’s called ancestral sand, ancestor’s sand…”
"Later, he was really tough! When we went south, we fought so many battles, and every time he rushed to the front, he could not die. The tribal priest said that he had the soul of the ancestor of the tribe in him, and every time he was about to die, There was an ancestor who died for him. And when his legs gave out, the ancestor told him that you have no one to protect you and you can't rush anymore. If you rush again, you will die!..."
"Sure enough, after he surrendered to the great chief with us, he fought against the Tecos in the south, the Tlaxcalans in the east, the Mixtecs in the southeast, and the Totonacs further east... After many battles, I was never injured. But in Wushan City, when I was fighting against the rebellious coastal tribes in the rear, I just fought with hundreds of rebels, and I actually injured my ankle. Hey! I'm lame! ... I can't say that my legs are not good. , If you can’t catch up with the march of the main army, then you have to retreat!… But I think it’s not bad to guard this inn and have no worries about food and drink…”
"Fuck you! Not bad? Not bad for what!"
Hearing this, Zu Shasha, who had been depressed, finally couldn't help it. He stamped his lame leg hard and cursed angrily.
"The ancestors looked at me, but I didn't even look at them! I ran away all my life and fought so many battles, but I didn't die on the battlefield. Instead, I came back limping?! This coyote can't run away, nor can it hunt. I have to guard a house every day, and it’s hard to go to the woods... I’ve never seen such a disabled person in the wilderness! What’s the point of living?”
"Hey! Shasha, aren't you happy to be alive? So many brothers died in the battle, and you are the only one who survives. It's all the ancestors' arrangement! The tribal priests have predicted it for you a long time ago..."
The red-haired leader Mikui was drunk and shouted with a loud voice.
"Don't complain! If you were left in the wilderness, you wouldn't be able to survive even if you wanted to! But here, everyone has settled down, and there is no shortage of food and supplies. You can't die even if you want... You are here at this inn Just stay peacefully! Maybe, you will live longer than us... By the way! Remember to teach your shooting skills to the new kids in the flag team... Now these little guys have improved their lives and have special skills. I have a hunting bow, but my shooting skills are no longer good... I can’t hit such a close target even if I don’t move!..."
"I think about when we were kids, we had tattered bows and tattered arrows. I don't know what happened, but we could hit them! If you throw a cactus fruit into the sky, you can hit it three times before it falls. !...I see, these new useless kids will have to carry farm tools and farm with their heads down..."
Hearing this, the lame Zu Shasha let out a long sigh, and the scars on his face were shaking. He also drank a glass of wine, took a few sips of the wild goose soup, and shook his head vigorously.
"Isn't that right! There is more food, and everyone is working hard to give birth to babies just like in the wasteland. There are more and more babies in the flag team. In just a few years, they have given birth to a lot! In the wasteland, there are four babies born and one dead. Three, only the strongest can survive... This is a good place, and most of them can survive, but from my perspective, their courage and skill are obviously not very good... But they learned farming faster than us..."
"I think back then, when we were seven or eight years old, a few people armed with broken bows and stone knives went to find the old wolf that had separated from the pack... they followed it for several days, and then they killed it, skinned it, and ate the meat half-raw. ! It’s sizzling and my face is covered in blood..."
"Hey! You said hunting wolves, I remembered it too! That time, I seemed to have been hungry for four days before I ate the meat. It wasn't even roasted, but it tasted so delicious! ... Now the tribe doesn't have to worry about food. I’ve never eaten anything so delicious..."
Two middle-aged red-haired hunters were drinking wine and talking drunkenly about memories of the wilderness. The expressions on their faces alternated between sighing and laughing, but there were no tears. The woodpecker Ape was sitting next to him, warming himself by the warm bonfire and listening quietly.
He listened to the tribe's past, which was so difficult that he had never imagined in his sleep. He also listened to the current situation of the tribe. It was a wealth that the two red-haired hunters had never imagined when they were young.
As for the future of the tribe? No one can tell right now. But Woodpecker Aipeck felt that one day, these wild wilderness tribes would completely settle down, just like the vibrant Prepecha village, and they would no longer be able to tell each other apart.
"Vigorous, all things compete... The first generation of settled tribal banners are wolves that have been wandering in the wilderness for decades. They cannot be honest and obedient... However, the new cubs grow up in the village and accept The guidance of the village priests... In just a few generations, they will assimilate with the people of the kingdom and convert to the Lord God from the bottom of their hearts!... And the descendants of the Jiao people will also grow stronger in the continuous expansion..."
"Perhaps this is the future of the tribal flag team!..."
