Chapter 111: Elder Babier

The desert weather remained as bad as ever.

No matter where you go, you can't escape dryness, heat, and lack of water; corpses visible everywhere also fill this yellow sand blue sky with a sense of death.

Fortunately.

Now Luo De is no longer the clueless rookie he used to be.

Having stepped into the desert again, he can now skillfully manage to live easily in this harsh environment.

【Due to safety concerns, the Academy has issued a ban on other desert regions of the Great Crimson Sand Sea, strictly forbidding entry!】

【If you don't heed the advice, and any accident occurs in these areas, the Academy bears no responsibility.】

This is the new notice Luo De saw on the bulletin board when leaving Kawanyi.

It's said that the recent abnormal agitation of monsters in the Great Crimson Sand Sea is why, when Luo De wearing Academy attire appeared in Kawanyi, and clearly intending to undertake a solo passage, the patrolling Academy officials of the city immediately appeared, stopped him, confirmed Luo De definitely wanted to go to the desert, then specially had him sign a waiver before letting him leave.

"Monsters really have increased; could this be a sign that a super-sized sandstorm is coming?"

He casually crushed a scorpion trying to attack him, Luo De furrowed his brow and muttered to himself.

He hasn't even gone deep into the Great Crimson Sand Sea yet, but the number of monsters he's encountered is already several times what it used to be.

When at A Ru Cun.

Luo De once heard the elders say that when monsters in the desert become restless and uneasy, showing signs of large-scale migration, it means the Red King is about to unleash his wrath, and then there will surely be a sandstorm capable of sweeping the entire Great Crimson Sand Sea to punish people.

It's unknown whether this saying is true or false.

However, according to Nadixa's words, it's indeed quite possible that an extreme weather event will occur recently.

"We need to hurry."

"If we can't find the new settlement of the Tanit Tribe, once the big sandstorm comes we'll be delayed."

It's been four days since returning to the desert.

Based on Luo De's current foot speed.

At full speed, he's already close to the new gathering point of the Tanit Tribe that the Blaze Light Hunter scout discovered.

Unlike those other desert tribes that, once they find a suitable dwelling, basically don't move much.

The Tanit Tribe is a tribe that often migrates.

Basically they only stay a few years in one area.

And now.

According to the Blaze Light Hunter's intel, they have just migrated to a new settlement point.

"The ruins of Gur City in the Thousand Valleys Sand Land."

It's a fairly familiar place name.

Having the map given by the Blaze Light Hunter, plus Luo De now knows how to identify directions in the desert, it's still quite easy to find.

Having confirmed that a big sandstorm will arrive soon, Luo De quickened his pace again, and in just two days he arrived near the Tanit tribe's gathering point marked on the map.

What allowed Luo De to get his wish was.

In a place less than a hundred li from the Tanit Tribe, he finally encountered the Tanit Tribe's hunting patrol.

This so-called hunting patrol.

The varieties of game they hunt are many.

Edible plants, animals, and valuable specialty products like various eels and sand chrysalis, these are the hunting patrol's targets.

Another is people.

Tribal folks love hunting travelers in the desert.

Especially lone rainforest people wearing scholar clothes.

Most desert tribes have no interest in scholars' knowledge; once they encounter them, they either sell them or kill and rob them, and to prevent the Academy from tracking their slaughter of scholars, victims usually don't leave a whole corpse.

But the Tanit Tribe is different.

After Elder Babier assumed leadership, their tribe suddenly began to show strong interest in scholars' knowledge.

Therefore, in their hunting operations.

When they encounter scholars, they first try to persuade nicely; if that fails, they forcibly abduct; if still impossible, upon encountering someone like Old Luo Yi, a hard-headed fool, they will kill him outright according to desert custom, leaving no evidence.

What Luo De will encounter is the Tanit Tribe's "courtesy before force" policy toward scholars.

Looking at these few bare-chested strong men with sabers at their waists awkwardly speaking polite language, also using some etiquette they learned from somewhere to salute me, while saying they are acting on the elder's orders, wanting to invite me to visit the Tanit Tribe.

These are exactly the same actions and words as when the band of Tanit Tribe bandits who captured Luo De earlier invited Old Luo Yi.

But Luo De won't be as hard-headed as Old Luo Yi.

Instead, he perfectly imitates a normal person encountering bandits, shrinking his body into a trembling ball, timidly asking: "You guys, you won't kill me, will you?"

Several bandits glanced at each other, then looked at Luo De's waist-hanging Grass Element Divine Eye, immediately showing disdain on their faces, but they spoke politely: "Of course not, Elder Babier sincerely invites every scholar to the tribe; how could we possibly harm a guest?"

"Well then, okay, I'll go with you."

Luo De fully played the image of the bookish fool in the desert people's eyes to the hilt.

Actually this isn't really acting.

After all, Luo De had previously begged those Tanit Tribe bandits not to kill him.

Now this at most is just a repeat of old events.

Regarding Luo De's performance, these few Tanit Tribe warriors are obviously satisfied.

They also indeed fulfilled their promise.

Not only did they not take drastic coercive measures, they also gave Luo De some food and water; no matter what time, even when going to the toilet there are at least two people watching him, which makes Luo De rather unhappy.

On an outward hunting patrol, they captured a scholar; this unexpected gain made these Tanit Tribe warriors abandon their original hunting plan, and under the leader's order they directly brought Luo De racing toward the Tanit Tribe.

Along the way.

These bandits made no effort to hide, constantly bragging loudly about how they robbed passing merchants yesterday, and also discussing there that rainforest women are easier to tame than desert women.

He didn't even put Luo De in his eyes.

No need to think too much.

Just by listening to them, Luo De could know how miserable the fate of those captured during the hunts was.

The most infuriating thing is.

Luo De couldn't make any extra movements; he could only pretend to be even more fearful.

Seeing his appearance, those Tanite tribe bandits seemed to find this amusing, so their mouths became unrestrained, chattering on and on, recounting in full their 'great achievements' during this period.

One time wasn't enough; they wanted to say it again, and even in Luo De's presence they agreed to enjoy each other's spoils tonight.

But this just made Luo De suffer.

He realized for the first time that his endurance and acting ability could actually reach this extent.

He had to endure the incessant chatter of this bunch of bastards, suppress the urge to slap them to death, and continue pretending to be frightened, trembling more the more he listened to them.

Finally.

When Luo De felt he could barely hold back, the Tanite tribe arrived.

Unlike the small tribe he imagined, which clearly lived among ruins yet fantasized about unifying the desert.

The real Tanite tribe is extremely large.

Or rather.

The area of this ruin is vast, enough to accommodate a large tribe of several thousand people here to rest and recuperate.

Moreover, it's not just the area that's large.

The greatest advantage of this settlement is the river beneath it.

Compared to A Ru Cun, which uses Red King technology to pump water directly from an underground river to create a river, the river in the Tanite tribe's settlement is obviously much smaller.

However, the Tanite tribe's population is far smaller than A Ru Cun's, so having this river at least completely solves the water problem.

Looking far away.

Many dark silhouettes can be clearly seen crawling beneath the river.

Those are the crocodiles raised by the Tanite tribe.

This is an important source of income for the Tanite tribe, relying on the crocodile skin, essential oil, dried meat and other products from these crocodiles to earn a considerable income each year.

The tribe's greenery is also not bad.

This greenery is not planted by the Tanite tribe themselves; it appears to have existed in this ruin from the beginning.

Besides these plants, Luo De also saw a lush field outside the Tanite tribe's settlement.

It's just that the scale is not large.

The grain produced is absolutely insufficient for the daily consumption of such a large tribe.

But looking across the desert.

This is already a very far-sighted operation.

After all, in Luo De's understanding, the vast majority of desert tribes do not have growing their own grain to feed themselves as part of their livelihood.

A tribe like the Tanite, which knows how to farm and actually does farm, is still the first of its kind.

After observing for a while.

Under the bandits' urging and escort, Luo De smoothly entered the Tanite tribe.

Just as he walked through the gate.

A strong spice scent immediately assailed his nostrils.

Following that scent, he could see an extremely crude workshop, where workers were refining a stimulating, spicy fragrance from sandworm body fat.

Based on Luo De's learning over this period.

The hygiene and production process of this shoddy workshop have at least over twenty violations.

"It's amazing those rainforest people can stomach this spice."

"If they saw this environment, they'd surely vomit on the spot."

Luo De silently complained in his mind.

This spice-producing workshop of the Tanite tribe reminded him of a short video he had seen before with his worldly teacher.

Can't take it anymore.

Thinking further would make him vomit.

Luo De turned his head and directed his gaze at the overall structure of the Tanite tribe.

It was quite obvious.

This is a standard clan social structure.

The tribe relying on the ruins of Ju'er Cheng was divided into three levels.

The area Luo De is currently heading to is the uppermost level, where the tents are most luxurious and exquisite, and there are many slaves with branded marks on their faces coming and going.

This level also has the fewest tents, and all the tents are arranged around the largest, most conspicuous tent.

Without a doubt.

The person living in that large tent is the matriarch of the Tanite tribe, with the nine elders surrounding her.

Moving down from this level, the number of residents increases by several times.

From the flow of people, about eighty or ninety percent are those useful to the tribe, such as the warriors escorting Luo De, hunters going out to hunt, and crocodile breeders, etc.

"Oh, a new head of the merchants has been chosen?"

Seeing a tribesman dressed similarly to Adefi, Luo De couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

Merchants.

This is indeed the Tanite tribe's biggest source of income.

Long ago, Luo De had compared A Ru Cun and the Tanite tribe.

The conclusion drawn.

That is, if the Tanite tribe were not restrained by the identity and outlook of the desert tribe, it would certainly become a dominant regional separatist force.

In internal affairs, this tribe is truly unique.

It values agriculture, establishes solid commercial credibility, and forces all citizens to learn cultural knowledge.

However.

Even with such enlightened measures, the desert tribe's ills persist.

Thinking of this, Luo De looked toward the lowest stratum of the Tanite tribe.

That place has the most tents in the entire Tanite tribe; the combined upper and middle strata are estimated to be less than a fraction of the lower stratum.

Those living there are mostly physically weak tribe members.

There are very few young people; most are elders.

As for children.

Those who can appear in the lower stratum are basically weak and sickly children; the strong‑bodied children either train in various combat skills at the training ground or help out with odd jobs in the workshop or crocodile pond.

Survival of the fittest.

This desert iron law is fully demonstrated in the Tanite tribe.

After deeply etching these circumstances in his mind,

Luo De then, under the escort of those few bandits, arrived before the tent of one of the elders.

Here.

He first saw the legendary desert overlord, Elder Babieer, who has not yet become the matriarch.

(End of chapter)