Chapter 191: Chinv

A night of wild revelry; Baifeng drank happily and passed out completely drunk. The other clansmen, because their allotted wine was limited, were mostly only slightly tipsy — unable to enjoy themselves to the fullest like last year. The newcomers, those who had never drunk alcohol before, had already collapsed on the ground and entered a "carefree" state before the hot dishes were even served.

Starting today, the Baifeng Tribe must gradually pull in its wings and begin hunkering down for winter. This year was still rather fantastical; he had originally envisioned expanding the tribe through war, but in the end achieved his goal through trade — which also counts as success.

The inlet of the Great Lake was sealed shut that day as well. Although there were still no signs of freezing over, the Baifeng Tribe did this to prevent their water pipes from being burst by ice. Daily water use was no worry either — the Great River was right at their doorstep, and those water cellars had already been abandoned. Baifeng even wondered whether to backfill them; after all, if a child accidentally fell in it would be disastrous, and it was a major safety hazard.

This year Baifeng had experience too; the big fish in the fish ponds had basically all been harvested, and the returns were still very high — completely matching the clansmen's harvest from a month of struggling in the Great Lake. Adding in other miscellaneous gains, it proved the fish ponds were indeed worth building; the key was stability. Even if the city were besieged, the fish ponds would serve as their grain storehouse.

Slaves had no qualification to see Baifeng directly, but Baifeng would routinely inspect the tribe's various worksites, so the slaves would deliberately show off before him, working furiously as if their lives didn't matter, hoping only that the Northerner would glance their way once more, leave a good impression, and thereby gain a chance to escape slave status.

Chinv was frail of build and could not do heavy labor. The work assigned to her was to gather leaves and all kinds of dry firewood and straw inside the city and in the nearby outskirts, to prepare for the tribe's winter survival.

She originally need not have concerned herself with such matters. She was the daughter of the Jiangben Tribe's Tribal Chief — a tribe of no small size. Though she still had to labor, at least she could receive a measure of respect from her clansmen, did not have to sleep crammed together with foul-smelling people, and did not have to worry about tomorrow's food.

Everything changed after the Suiren Clan arrived, and the guide was precisely that man Wangzuo who had left their tribe. He brought the Suiren Clan's soldiers to their territory, then seized their land, slaughtered their warriors, turned the rest into slaves. Her father was even taken as a war trophy and sacrificed to the Suiren Clan's spirits.

She was a woman of very ordinary appearance in the whole tribe; she had not grown the ample buttocks and thick arms everyone likes under good nutrition. But fortunately, because she was the Tribal Chief's daughter, she was not ostracized.

Originally someone like her would either be dragged off as a sacrificial offering and killed, or distributed as a war trophy to the Suiren Clan's warriors. But because she was too ordinary, the ones dividing the spoils thought she was a common clansman and let her go.

Plus, being not beautiful, no one wanted her — no value at all — so she was made a slave. And during her time with the Suiren Clan, slaves lived extremely miserably; fortunately she didn't starve to death, but it left her body even more frail, and in others' eyes even uglier.

She had no confidence in her looks whatsoever, and knew it was impossible to trade her body for a chance to escape slave status. If that worked, some female slaves would have become Baifeng Tribe clansmen long ago.

The only ideas she could think of involved matters concerning the Suiren Clan and those powders hidden in her fur coat. This yellow powder was a very important thing to their tribe; it could produce blue flames. Their Jiangben Tribe regarded it as the Fire God's incarnation, so they valued it greatly. Ordinarily clansmen would carry some on their persons, seeking the Fire God's protection.

Wangzuo's visit this time was also related to that powder, but he seemed not to have told the Suiren Clan people about it; instead he secretly took a large amount away by himself, as if harboring some unspeakable secret.

The Fire God did not protect their tribe. She only hoped to use these incarnations of the Fire God to exchange for a chance at freedom. If she succeeded, it would not be in vain that their tribe had worshipped the Fire God for so many years.

Originally she had not yet steeled that resolve, but ever since last night she heard the Baifeng Tribe's celebratory sounds and saw the soaring flames, she truly made up her mind. Now she just waited for an opportunity to see Baifeng and present her terms. If she failed, she could only remain here as a slave, awaiting death's arrival.

Yet for several days after the Winter Solstice, Chinv saw no sign of Baifeng. Because when Baifeng had no business, he rarely strolled outside the city; he spent most of his time wandering between several worksites and the fields — these tasks were important and had to be taken seriously. As for gathering dry straw and firewood, Baifeng almost never concerned himself with it.

Chinv simply ran out of patience, because she could hardly imagine what kind of life they would face once winter arrived and they could no longer work. Everyone knew the fate of slaves: when there was work, at least some food was given; when there was no work, they could only endure — no one would give away rice for nothing.

Even though the Baifeng Tribe currently treated slaves very well, she did not believe the Baifeng Tribe could keep treating slaves this way forever. A tribe's strength was limited; giving food to slaves meant their own warrior clansmen ate less — equivalent to feeding slaves with the warriors' provisions. In the entire human world this was unheard of; their warriors would likely never agree.

Looking at the Baifeng Tribe warriors guarding them with weapons not far off, Chinv finally steeled her resolve to go ask, hoping they would take her to see Baifeng. If she kept waiting like this, who knew when — maybe never — she would get the chance; her heart was truly tormented.

That young soldier was also encountering this kind of request for the first time. That slave didn't fear him and even dared strike up a conversation. Normally he would never agree; if everyone did this, how could the Tribal Chief get any work done — wouldn't everything fall into chaos?

But Chinv said she knew some secrets about the Suiren Clan, which would definitely be very useful to the Baifeng Tribe. The young soldier then half-believed, half-doubted, thinking this matter should be reported to the Tribal Chief for verification. If this woman dared lie, he vowed to beat this ugly woman half to death. But if she wasn't lying, then he would have accidentally achieved a great merit and could receive rewards in the future.