Chapter 102: Go Swindle Someone Else

Baifeng no longer felt the respect he had at the beginning; even if he truly were a descendant of the Fuxi Clan, as long as he used the Fuxi Clan as a pretext to swindle and bluff, he would not deserve anyone's respect.

"Um, Master, could you explain to me the logic behind this divination? Of course, I don't mean to learn it, I just hope you could briefly mention what those Yarrow represent. I find it particularly marvelous."

Wangzuo was very pleased, smiled slightly, and stroked his short beard: "Back then, my ancestor Fuxi created the Eight Trigrams, and later created the Divination. This Yarrow Divination is one of them. As the saying goes, the Great Knife has Five Branches, so when performing divination, one must take out five branches to represent the Great Knife and consult the spirits. I wouldn't be able to explain the other things to you even if I tried."

Baifeng was certain that Wangzuo was a fraud. What "Great Knife has Five Branches"? He probably misheard it somewhere; the saying is "The Great Knife is fifty, and one escapes."

Knowing that Wangzuo had no real ability, his identity as a descendant of the Fuxi Clan was likely fake as well. Therefore, Baifeng set his sights on the large Tortoise Shell he carried on his back. Wangzuo claimed it was a Tortoise Shell passed down by the Fuxi Clan, though its authenticity was unknown. If it were real, Baifeng felt he could truly bring himself to kill for the treasure.

However, Wangzuo treated these items of his as extremely precious, so it was not easy to get a close look. But one had to try, right? What if he couldn't withstand the test?

"Master, I would like to see your Tortoise Shell, if you don't mind. Of course, it won't be for free; our tribe will trade meat for it. How about we give you two more pieces as large as the one you just ate?"

He had just wanted to refuse, as this Tortoise Shell was something he had picked up by the seaside long ago. Although there were many such giant turtles on the shore, he had only ever found this one. Over the years, he had relied on this Tortoise Shell to swindle his way from the seaside to the Dahe basin, and it had all gone very smoothly. One could say this Tortoise Shell was his rice bowl.

But then again, letting someone look at it wouldn't hurt. Besides, not to mention others, even he himself couldn't understand the things carved on it. Because he had traveled to many places over the years and was well-informed, he had heard a lot about Fuxi and had also met other Sages. He had learned some things by eavesdropping and stealing techniques. The symbols on the Tortoise Shell were just things he had scribbled randomly himself.

Two large pieces of meat would be enough to feed him for a long time. If he could swindle some more here through a sacrifice, it would be enough for him to comfortably go to the next tribe to swindle people. Thus, Wangzuo agreed to the trade with great heartache. Baifeng hurriedly ordered someone to bring two pieces of cured meat and hand them to Wangzuo. Only then did Wangzuo reluctantly untie the Tortoise Shell and place it on the table for Baifeng to examine.

Baifeng leaned in to look closely. He had to admit it was truly large, but Wangzuo didn't know how to maintain it, so the plates on it were somewhat warped. The back was very smooth. In any case, no matter how Baifeng looked at it, it was a sea turtle shell. It was impossible for the elder Fuxi to have been by the seaside back then.

Furthermore, the symbols on the Tortoise Shell had absolutely no pattern. Although there were eight of them, they didn't match the Pre-Heaven or Post-Heaven arrangements. Moreover, they were carved very shallowly, as if they had been ground out with stones. The wear on the symbols wasn't very significant either; it didn't look like something that had been passed down for a long time at all. To put it jokingly, this wasn't from the Shang or Zhou dynasties, but from "last week."

Baifeng was now completely certain that this was a major fraud. But the food was already in the man's mouth, and the job of killing for treasure wasn't easy to pull off. This guy had probably become familiar with all the tribes on the Wasteland, and this Tortoise Shell was too conspicuous. Most importantly, it was fake; even if he obtained it, he couldn't use it. Once it was brought out, other tribes would know they had killed a descendant of the Fuxi Clan. There was no need to take that risk. If it were the real thing, he might consider it.

However, this swindler's methods were still very effective in this era. It would be better to send him to plague Baoxi, let him perform divination every day, and see how many tribesmen and how much food he had to use for sacrifices.

Baifeng moved his gaze away from the Tortoise Shell and sighed. Wangzuo hurriedly picked up the Tortoise Shell again, put the rope on, and tied it to his back.

"You have the divination ability of the Fuxi Clan and have calculated that our tribe faces a great disaster. But our tribe's food is almost gone; what we gave you to eat was almost the last of our tribe's meat. So, we are truly powerless regarding the sacrifice. I wonder if you have any other solutions."

Hearing that the Tribal Chief didn't want to perform a sacrifice, the tribesman beside him grew anxious. Just as he was about to speak, Baifeng coughed, glared with his eyes, and blinked, warning the tribesman not to talk nonsense.

The tribesman felt bitter but could do nothing. Thinking of the great disaster his tribe was about to endure, he couldn't help but sob and shed tears.

Wangzuo was a bit surprised. There was no need for this, right? If there really was no food, then just doing a token gesture would suffice. At worst, he would just take a little less.

"I see that the people of your tribe are all strong and healthy; it doesn't look like you are lacking food. You must know that a sacrifice must never be trifled with, otherwise the spirits will punish you."

Baifeng also put on a show and touched his non-existent tears: "In reality, our tribe's great disaster has already begun. Here, every few days there is a flood, and ice cubes the size of fists fall. The houses have all collapsed, and the food is about to run out. In our tribe's houses now, only wood remains."

After saying this, he sobbed twice and asked the tribesman to open the door for Wangzuo to see. Sure enough, at a glance, it was all neatly stacked wood and black stones. Only then did Wangzuo believe that this Zhi Tribe was poor to the core and had nothing left to swindle.

At this point, he should have left; staying was just a waste of time. But there was still food left on the table, and he was very full, yet he felt reluctant to leave just like that.

Baifeng saw his thoughts, so he had someone find a Pottery Jar, put all the food in it, and let Wangzuo take it to eat, while saying: "Our tribe can barely hold on now, but fortunately we can still make some Pottery. At the upcoming Full Moon Gathering, we will see if we can trade for enough food and Slaves for the sacrifice. When that time comes, we will invite you again to help preside over the sacrifice."

Wangzuo was somewhat disdainful. Even if such a poor tribe traded for things, he wouldn't be able to take much away. So he simply said: "Once I leave, I don't know where I'll be next time, and you won't be able to find me. Since there is no food for a sacrifice now, it will depend on your luck whether you can survive this great disaster."

Having said that, he held the jar in one hand and carried the two pieces of meat he had traded for in the other, ready to leave. He even swiped the Bronze Knife and Fork. As for the Yarrow, he left them on the table; there were plenty in the wild anyway, he could just pick more. It wasn't actually as precious as he had pretended.

Baifeng hurriedly called him back: "Master, do not be in such a hurry. Do you know of the Suiren Clan? Their tribe has a long heritage just like the Fuxi Clan, and they are very wealthy. They also particularly value Sages like yourself."

"You might as well go to the Suiren Clan now. When I have saved up enough food, I will have a place to find you."

Wangzuo's eyes lit up when he heard "Suiren Clan." This was a truly large tribe. Last time he performed divination and sacrifices for the Xiling, he stayed for nearly a cold season, eating and drinking well—it was incredibly enjoyable. Large tribes were not stingy like these small tribes.

"In which direction is the Suiren Clan? I happen to be going to pay them a visit this time."

Baifeng pointed with his hand: "In that direction, follow the Dahe all the way downstream, and you will arrive in about ten days' journey."