Chapter 260: Mutual Deception

The gathering began as usual, though there were fewer tribes present than before; this was still caused by the Suiren Clan.

They all saw the Baifeng Tribe's Boat and looked forward to the various high-quality goods brought by the people of the Baifeng Tribe, and the Qiexin Clan was also waiting to fleece them heavily.

However, the people of the Baifeng Tribe remained motionless; the Boat was parked there, but the people would not come down from the Boat. They could see the Baifeng Tribe's Soldiers on the Boat, but since they would not come down, there was nothing they could do, so they could only go trade with others first. In any case, the Baifeng Tribe had already arrived, and the trade would happen sooner or later.

Baifeng had already observed that the people of the Suiren Clan had entered the venue. Countless Soldiers were gathering from all sides toward the gathering point, forming a perimeter, and the direction of their main force's charge was the base camp of the Qiexin Clan.

During the gathering, it was the time when the Qiexin Clan was most attentive and security was tightest, but it was also the time when their base camp's security was most lax. They collected protection fees from everyone, claiming they would send troops to protect everyone, but the large tribes could see very clearly that the Qiexin Clan's main force was arranged at the intersections to block people, fearing they might miss even a single tribe.

As for the troops sent out to patrol, they did exist, but they were not very attentive. The entire Qiexin Clan's attention was on collecting protection fees, so it was said to be the time when the entire Qiexin Clan was most attentive.

On the first day, the Suiren Clan did not launch an attack, but instead arranged a huge number of Soldiers into the gathering point; just what the people of the Baifeng Tribe observed was already over a thousand people.

However, such a small number of people was not too conspicuous in this large-scale gathering, considering that the Qiexin Clan alone was a large tribe with tens of thousands of people.

Baifeng knew that this war would not be easy for the Suiren Clan either, but this time he was truly watching the fire from across the river and had no intention of sending troops. The few people he brought could not play any role in this war.

That night, Baifeng thought he would just wait until dawn without incident, but unexpectedly, not long after dark, Baoxi sent someone to invite Baifeng, saying he wanted to discuss something.

Baifeng wanted to refuse, because to be honest, there was no safety to speak of at night, and furthermore, the gap in manpower between the two sides was so large; if Baoxi feared no consequences and killed him while he was at it, it would not be worth it.

The Suiren Clan's Soldiers did not wait for Baifeng to finish his refusal before stating their sincerity, saying that their Tribal Chief was willing to take a Boat and discuss with Tribal Chief Baifeng on the water.

Seeing that the Suiren Clan was indeed sincere and that this would pose less of a threat to himself, Baifeng agreed. He then sent a small Boat to the shore to pick up Baoxi, and he himself boarded a small skiff, leaving the Large Ship.

Finally, the two met on two small boats, still separated by a distance of one meter. The lanterns on the boats, which used Glass as covers, had fires burning very brightly inside; the two lanterns illuminated both sides very clearly.

Baoxi's already haggard face looked even more eerie under the orange-red light, but Baifeng suppressed the urge to punch him in the face.

It was Baoxi who spoke first: "I know you are already aware of what I intend to do. I never thought of asking you to join in and help, I only hope you do not interfere with my plan, can you do that?"

Baifeng chuckled: "Back when my Baifeng Tribe came here to trade, we were chased by savages for who knows how long. Now these savages want to eat human flesh again; what do you say I should do?"

Baoxi's expression remained normal: "There is no need to bring up the past. It didn't cause you any harm anyway, did it? In any case, we are still trading partners and often cooperate. Let's treat this as a trade and cooperate once, how about that?"

Baifeng had wanted to cross his legs, but as soon as he lifted a leg, the boat swayed significantly, so Baifeng had to obediently sit cross-legged: "Let's see how sincere you are."

Baoxi did not even think much and spoke directly: "After we conquer the Qiexin Clan, two-thirds of their territory will belong to me, and the rest will be yours. You can choose not to send troops and just wait; the conditions remain the same."

It seemed the Suiren Clan had been prepared for a long time. Baifeng knew the Trap in these conditions, so he pressed: "The territory of the Qiexin Clan is so vast, how is my portion divided? Is it downstream of their territory, or that little bit surrounded by you?"

Baoxi did not answer directly: "You don't have to send troops!"

A fool would not agree to such conditions, and Baoxi should understand that. Baifeng's intelligence was no worse than his; perhaps he was still in a drunken state and hadn't thought of this point.

"Besides, how many people and how many Soldiers have you brought? Even if you participated in the war, how much of a difference could you make?"

Baifeng chuckled and leaned forward slightly: "We can't do much with so few people, but the Qiexin Clan has many people. Even if they really can't beat you, as long as they have some preparation, your casualties will likely increase quite a bit!"

For the first time, Baoxi felt Baifeng's shamelessness. His purpose in coming this time was to use some conditions that sounded substantial but were actually meaningless to buy the Baifeng Tribe's silence, because the fact was as Baifeng said: as long as Baifeng opened his mouth, their losses would multiply, and he was not confident that Baifeng would just watch.

"Alright then, you propose the conditions. As long as it's not too excessive, we can satisfy you."

Baifeng didn't even think about it and blurted out: "Forget about the territory. You know that the Baifeng Tribe's territory is already large enough, and besides, it's so far away that we can't manage it. How about this: we only want wealth. Give us one-tenth of what you seize this time, how about that?"

Baoxi felt a bit of heartache: "You know how much one-tenth of such a large tribe as the Qiexin Clan is. Are you being too greedy to exchange just a promise for so much?"

Baifeng scratched his head; thinking about it, it really was a lot, so maybe ask for a little less?

However, Baoxi spoke first: "One-twentieth, how about that? If you agree, it's settled. If you still don't want to, then let's just go to war together!"

Baifeng couldn't imagine how much one-twentieth of a large tribe's wealth was, but he estimated it would be enough to build their New City.

But Baifeng also knew that they were unlikely to actually get it. If Baoxi didn't acknowledge it afterward, they would have no way to deal with it. With their few people, it was impossible to challenge the Suiren Clan, which had gathered all its forces. Right now, they were just deceiving each other.

"We accept this condition, but I can't be sure that we will get what you promised afterward. Why don't you give us the things first, and we won't ask for anything afterward, how about that? Of course, to show our sincerity, we will leave tonight, until we are out of your sight, how about that?"

Baoxi thought for a moment and agreed. In any case, this negotiation was just mutual deception; as long as he could gain the greatest benefit for himself, it was fine.

Afterward, Baoxi had people bring the supplies they were carrying, which was food. Since their Soldiers were all gathered, they naturally had a lot of food. He gave a portion to Baifeng as a token; Baifeng estimated it was nearly two thousand catties. So, he took the win, greeted Baoxi, and left overnight with the Boat full of food.