Chapter 43: Run for It

Having finished handling all the goods, Baifeng had his tribesmen surround all the women in the center and hustle them away from Shazhou; they all thought they were simply going out to set up camp, but only Baifeng felt anxious inside.

Along the way, he pretended to inspect goods at other stalls, taking the opportunity to observe if anyone was following behind; the hunters all knew how to track prey, but they did not understand the difference between humans and beasts, still using the same methods they used to track animals, and they did not notice Baifeng's clumsy performance.

Baifeng discovered that at least two people were behind them, following Baifeng's group with a purpose; the cloth clothes they wore already exposed them as warriors of the Suiren clan, as no other tribe here was wealthy enough for just anyone to wear cloth.

Returning to the place where they had camped yesterday, he did not tell his tribesmen there was a special situation, only telling them to set up camp and prepare to cook; everything appeared to be proceeding normally.

Baifeng was certain those two people were scouts following them; no one would skip trading at the gathering during the day to instead follow a group that no longer had any goods to an empty campsite.

They were hidden very well in the bushes; if Baifeng had not been observing the whole time, he really would not have been able to find them.

Xiong also discovered Baifeng's abnormality; although Baifeng was doing the same things as usual, his flickering, vigilant eyes and serious expression indicated that something must have gone wrong.

The tribesmen had already set up the fire and propped up the Pottery Jar, some fetching water, others cutting meat; Baifeng did not allow them to drink raw water, a habit already formed under the guidance of the whip. It was just that the women who had just arrived would lie down by the river and gulp it down whenever they were thirsty, even drinking the stagnant water in pits stepped in by other savages' footprints; if it weren't for the fact that Baifeng no longer had such severe mysophobia, he would have vomited on the spot.

The tribesmen were doing their work as normal; those who were unaware were the best actors, not to mention there might even be a spy in the group.

Xiong sat next to Baifeng; to those in the distance, it looked like two people in power having a normal conversation, but after Xiong heard Baifeng say that no matter what he heard next, he had to act as if nothing had happened, his posture became somewhat stiff as he performed, though it was enough to deceive those in the distance.

"We should have been targeted by the Suiren clan; they want our Knife and our bows, and I'm afraid they want the other goods too. There are people watching in the bushes at those two locations; don't look up yet, do it slowly, pretend it's unintentional."

Baifeng drew two lines on the ground, pointing to the bushes where the two were hiding; Xiong stretched his arms, pretending to stretch, and took the opportunity to look at the two patches of bushes. Hunters had excellent vision during the day, and after one glance, he spotted the people hiding there.

It was just that Baifeng was speechless regarding Xiong's "unintentional" look, but fortunately, the two scouts did not feel anything was amiss and remained hidden without moving.

After Xiong checked, he shifted his backside closer to Baifeng, sticking even nearer: "I saw them too, should we sneak over and kill them?"

Baifeng straightened his back, his eyes watching the busy tribesmen: "Don't be in a hurry yet, see what they do in a moment; I'm afraid that acting rashly now will startle them and easily ruin things."

By the way, have you heard of the Danfu Tribe? A kid from the Suiren clan said the Danfu Tribe are a Cannibal Tribe, and they are near this gathering now; they might come to raid tonight, but I feel that is a lie from the Suiren clan—perhaps they will disguise themselves as the Danfu Tribe tonight to attack other tribes participating in the gathering."

Xiong thought for a moment: "There is indeed a Cannibal Tribe called the Danfu Tribe, but according to other tribes at the gathering, they are at least twenty days' journey from this Dahe basin; it is impossible for them to come here, and they wouldn't even have enough to eat on the way. I haven't heard of any tribe that came here saying they saw people from the Danfu Tribe."

Baifeng's heart had already begun to tremble; this was definitely a conspiracy by the Suiren clan.

"The Suiren clan said they saw a small tribe of hundreds of people being attacked by the Danfu Tribe on the road. It seems they have already been plotting to target everyone at this gathering."

Compared to the so-called Cannibal Tribe, Baifeng felt the Suiren clan was more terrifying: their Weaponry was excellent, their numbers were sufficient, and most importantly, they already had a shameless leader who knew how to use schemes.

This was far more terrifying than believing in the oaths of simple savages.

Baifeng understood that if the Suiren clan started looting, the Baifeng Tribe would certainly be one of the primary targets; this Strong Bow alone was worth their focused attention.

"Xiong, find a few sharp-minded ones, don't pick those slow Soldiers, and tell them about the plan to run away. I'll see how things go in a moment to see if we can kill those two scouts; before Heaven goes dark, we must run far away. I feel they will act tonight."

"Are we not going to fight them head-on? We have so many Soldiers here, we don't need to fear them."

Baifeng pounded the ground with his fist: "A tribe as large as the Suiren clan—just the Soldiers I saw are almost more than the entire population of our tribe, not to mention the Suiren clan also said they have Soldiers hidden in the surroundings. I don't know if it's true or false, but our tribe cannot afford to lose a single person."

Only then did Xiong nod solemnly, said "good," and then stood up, pretending to be nonchalant, walked up to a tribesman, said something, patted his shoulder, and then went to find the next person. The person being spoken to also continued his work normally, with no abnormality.

When the food was cooked, the tribesmen sat down to eat, still surrounding all the women in the middle with the men on the outside, calling it protection, but in reality, it was surveillance to prevent them from going out to report or escape.

It had been a long time since the Tribal Chief had distributed food for the Baifeng Tribe; everyone usually took their own, and the tribesmen knew their own limits and would not take more than their share. Baifeng's sudden act of distributing food surprised them, but they quickly adapted, and the women did not feel there was anything wrong with the Tribal Chief distributing food.

Taking advantage of distributing the food, Baifeng counted the people; the numbers were all there, not one was missing, and even if there was a traitor among those eleven, they would have no chance to report.

Perhaps seeing that the Baifeng Tribe had started eating, one of the scouts left, presumably to report, leaving only one person behind. Baifeng nudged Xiong, and Xiong also discovered that one person was missing.

Xiong leaned over to Baifeng, and after hearing Baifeng's plan, he called over the blockhead Chi, and stood eating with his bowl facing the direction of the scout. Xiong was behind him, picking up the bow and Arrow from the ground to prepare.

When the few people Xiong had arranged received the signal, they took their Weapons and pretended to go urinate, walking into the woods, then quickly crept toward the scout's position, preparing to surround him.

Chi's body was broad, so Xiong could hide the bow behind him. After everything was ready, Baifeng pulled the bewildered Chi away, and Xiong simultaneously released the fully drawn bow. The Arrow flew toward the bushes where the scout was; only a scream was heard, and the Soldiers preparing to surround him rushed over instantly, ending the scout's life, and no more sound was emitted.

The Arrowhead had barbs, and they could not pull it out, so they used stones to smash the head to extract the Iron Arrowhead.

Baifeng did not know about this; he only saw that after the scout was dead, he quickly had the tribesmen pack their things to prepare to run; even if the meal wasn't finished, they were not to care about it, but they were unwilling to waste it, stuffing the food into their stomachs like pelicans.

The women were in a chaotic uproar, not knowing why the sudden action was happening, but the tribesmen had experience from long-term cooperation and quickly finished packing, hustling the panicked women and starting to run.