Chapter 302: The Deal Behind the Tribe

So what is the transaction you're talking about?

Yun Li was curious what he wanted; he seemed to lack nothing in his own Tribe and showed no interest in the Tribe's females at all.

I'd like you to help me find a female.

Since he had decided to speak to Yun Li, Anzhi simply said everything at once: "Our Tribe has a nomadic Tribe pass by every tide season, and, of course, the beastmen of that nomadic Tribe aren't exactly good people.

In the nearby Tribes, any attractive female has at some point been pursued by the males of that Tribe.

And the female I want you to help find was also taken away by some handsome and capable males of theirs."

The difference is that, unlike the other females who were taken, Bai Lian once escaped back and told them what had happened to those taken females.

At first, the beastmen of the Tribes were angry when they learned of it; their first reaction was to go after the nomadic Tribe's beastmen for payback. Yet when the nomadic Tribe's beastmen chased Bai Lian back, all the beastmen except Anzhi chose to hand Bai Lian over.

Even Lord Gong of the Tribe warned him not to offend the nomadic Tribe over a single female, because that nomadic Tribe seemed to have only two Green-rank beastmen, but they were backed by a medium-sized Tribe.

That's also why Anzhi could propose a deal with Yun Li; after all, if she can't find her way home nearby, she'll inevitably have to go elsewhere to inquire where Heiyan Shanmai is.

As for the other beastmen, they're unaware of farther matters; Lord Gong knows news from elsewhere, but given that Yun Li has nothing on her, Lord Gong won't reveal the crucial information she needs based on just a few words from her.

After Yun Li finished listening to Anzhi, she asked a crucial question: "So you've kept me from appearing in the eyes of other Tribes' beastmen, not because you're afraid of some male harassing me, but because you're afraid they'll tell the nomadic Tribe's beastmen, right?

What deal have you made with them since then?"

Anzhi fell silent for a while, then, with a hint of sarcasm, said, "Indeed, every few years each Tribe takes turns sending a female in exchange for the herbs and salt the Tribe needs.

But you can't bear to sacrifice your own Tribe's females, so you turned to the idea of using an outsider female.

Yun Li said, a faint puzzlement in her eyes, "If that's the case, why didn't you think of handing me over?"

Isn't abandoning an outsider female in exchange for the resources your Tribe needs more acceptable than sending out one of your own females?

There's no need for that.

Anzhi lowered his eyes slightly and said, "Our Tribe already sent a female two years ago; in three more years, it will be Stone Tribe sending a female to the nomadic Tribe."

Do the males of your Tribe all know your plan?

If all the males of the Tribe participated in this transaction, Yun Li wouldn't feel she had reached that point, and would be let go smoothly.

You truly are a clever female.

Anzhi's face then showed a faint smile, "But rest assured, I have a way to resolve this."

Yun Li didn't fully trust him inside, but showed no unusual expression, "Then what exactly does our transaction entail? I don't think I can help you find the female you like."

Anzhi, hearing her say "the female you like," his face tightened instantly, "I don't think I ever said I liked Bai Lian, did I?"

Yun Li saw a hint of doubt in his eyes, "It's not hard to guess; you never called her sister or anything, so for a male to care so much about a female, besides liking her, what else could it be?"

Of course, the line "he likes that female" was deliberately said to Anzhi, to test how much he cared about Bai Lian.

If he truly cared that much, Bai Lian being sent away by their Tribe would certainly bother him.

In that case, even if the Tribe secretly harbored ill thoughts toward her, could she still get a chance to protect herself from Anzhi?

Even if the final outcome still ends up treating her as an item to exchange for the Tribe's needed resources, at least she could obtain more of the information she needs from the remorseful Anzhi.

Anzhi's clenched fist by his leg tightened and relaxed, and finally, with a despondent look, he said:

"What right does a male like me have to like her?"

I can't even protect her; even when Bai Lian left, she kept saying she didn't blame him, but he knows she'll eventually blame his incompetence.

Because even he thinks he's terribly incompetent.

Yun Li rested her chin on her knee and, with a helpless smile, said, "I'm not her, so I don't know what she thinks, but if they truly had no choice but to send her away, she should understand you."

Not a chance!

Which normal female would understand a male who likes her yet is so incompetent that he sends her away to trade for the Tribe's survival resources, and not hate him? That female would already be exceedingly kind.

Anzhi stared blankly at Yun Li for a while, then quickly recovered and, turning his back to the female, said:

"You don't need to comfort me so much; I know what I've done isn't worth forgiveness.

As for your earlier question about what exactly our transaction entails, I can tell you for sure: if you can't find your way home nearby, besides following the nomadic Tribe's beastmen, you have no other way to get out on your own.

But I can give you a legitimate way to join that nomadic Tribe—not under the pretext of a Tribe-to-Tribe exchange, but under your own name."

Yun Li pondered briefly and asked, "You want to tell them I'm a female from the Great Tribe, but they probably won't believe you, right?"

Anzhi: "They won't believe me, but as long as they have that doubt, they won't dare touch you.

Most importantly, Lord Gong also believes you're a beastman from the Great Tribe."

When Yun Li said she wasn't a female from the Great Tribe, only Anzhi, a beastman, knew, and he had warned her not to say that in front of other beastmen.

Therefore, since Yun Li can read and write, and her bearing doesn't look like that of an ordinary Tribe, if Anzhi were to say those words to those beastmen, with the uninformed Lord Gong testifying, the nomadic beastmen would not believe it and wouldn't take Yun Li back as a newly acquired Beast Slave.

And I'll tell you how to disguise yourself as a female of the Great Tribe.

Anzhi once, for Bai Lian's sake, shamelessly followed the nomadic Tribe's beastmen to the medium-sized Tribe behind them, and heard a lot of news about the Great Tribe's beastmen.

But most of those were the medium-sized Tribe's beastmen's fantasies about the Great Tribe's beastmen, not even as good as the information Yun Li once got from Moluo's mouth.