Chapter 569: Taken Aback

There was nothing particularly unusual to be found on Zhigui's side, but judging by what could be seen currently, there were many hunting traps in the forest; as long as it was an animal trail, one could basically see traps. Fortunately, these traps were not dangerous to people because people could spot them at a glance, especially since there were enough good hunters in their team.

But likewise, the number of wild beasts in the forest was about the same as in Huaxia, which meant the Suiren Clan's hunting intensity was increasing; the Suiren Clan was currently recuperating and expanding to fill out their strength.

The Shaman's team encountered a fleet from the Xuanyuan Tribe transporting wood. After communicating, the Xuanyuan Tribe learned they were here to discuss trade, so they very readily said they could take them over. A few days later, they arrived at the location of the Xuanyuan Tribe they were most familiar with, where a wharf built of stone and wood had already appeared. This surprised everyone from Huaxia; although the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe did not hide their envious gazes toward Huaxia's large ships in the slightest, every aspect revealed their confidence and pride, because in this past year or more, the Xuanyuan Tribe had undergone earth-shaking changes.

Although they had never entered Huaxia City, they felt that the current Xuanyuan Tribe was no different from Huaxia, and had even surpassed Huaxia again, except that their ships were a bit worse than Huaxia's. However, their ships were still constantly growing larger; in a hidden place, they were building a ship even larger than Huaxia's. Of course, this could not be spoken of.

An advance party had already headed to Qingqiu City to notify Xuanyuan. Although trade had stopped for a year, it did not mean Xuanyuan did not want to trade with Huaxia anymore; it was mainly because they had too many things to do and could not spare the time to go to Huaxia. They had originally intended to go to Huaxia to trade this year, but were currently still waiting for the right time. All the goods Huaxia needed, except for the tea leaves that needed to be freshly picked, had been prepared in large quantities.

Upon learning that Huaxia had actually taken the initiative to come over this time, Xuanyuan was instead somewhat excited. This was a great thing for them, but he did not know if Baifeng had come. If he had, he would definitely let Baifeng see the great changes in their Xuanyuan Tribe.

The Shaman, along with three subordinates and a delegation of four from the Ministry of Revenue, stepped off the large ship under the protection of the Navy soldiers and onto the solid ground. However, after the Shaman's feet touched the ground, he lost his footing, unaccustomed to it, and nearly fell. Fortunately, everyone was quick-eyed and nimble, and they caught the Shaman.

No one in the Xuanyuan Tribe mocked the Shaman, because the Shaman's white hair was simply too conspicuous; they had never seen such a person, which left them somewhat shocked.

Dahong came out to welcome them. Xuanyuan had originally intended to come as well, but upon learning that Baifeng was not there, he did not come over; a few Huaxia officials were not worth him going to welcome.

Supported by Zisheng, the Shaman soon adapted to walking on the ground. At the request of the Xuanyuan Tribe, Huaxia's large ship sailed to the opposite bank of the Dahe; for one, Huaxia's large ship was too big and occupied too much space at their wharf, and for another, it might be disadvantageous to the Xuanyuan Tribe.

Zisheng handed the command of the large ship to his deputy, and after settling some matters, he brought some soldiers to form a ten-man guard regiment to protect the Shaman and the others. Although these few people would not even make a splash in the Xuanyuan Tribe, this was still a necessary thing to do.

Dahong was beaming with joy along the way, introducing everything about the Xuanyuan Tribe to the Shaman and the others, including the road surface beneath their feet, which was pounded out of stone and fine sand. Although it was not as good as Huaxia's Cement Road, it was very flat and had no weeds; while it was not much better when it rained, it would not be full of mud.

Xuanyuan had tried many times to create that strange material of Huaxia's, but none had succeeded, so he had to give up on that plan. Although he very much wanted to trade for this thing with Huaxia, he estimated that Huaxia would not agree, because this was a good material for building cities and was too important.

The Xuanyuan Tribe had far more people than Huaxia. Qingqiu City was not far from the Dahe, but the terrain was high, and they still had half a day's journey to walk. The main territory of the Xuanyuan Tribe was not here, but extended very far, because they did not have the protection of city walls. City walls protected people, but at the same time, they also imprisoned people within the city; Huaxia was in such a state.

The Xuanyuan Tribe had a large population, looking even more numerous than Huaxia City. The road was full of busy people, and the Xuanyuan Tribe's degree of development of their territory was far higher than Huaxia's; otherwise, in the past when there was no farming, it would have been impossible to support such a massive population. Now, after starting to farm, they actually had a greater advantage than Huaxia.

Huaxia's people required artificial construction and artificial migration of the population into it, but for the Xuanyuan Tribe, they first reclaimed land and established villages; when the villages were large enough and wealthy enough, towns would build themselves, truly following Nature.

In the Xuanyuan Tribe, they even saw carts, and even ox carts and deer carts!

The Shaman and the others understood more and more why Baifeng wanted to hide everything from Xuanyuan. As long as a little bit of a clue was revealed for Xuanyuan to see, he could immediately build the same thing. Xuanyuan had seen carts, and the structure was not complex, allowing the Xuanyuan Tribe to have carts to use before long.

The scene of Huaxia taming and riding oxen, especially the Ox Cavalry, had also been seen by Xuanyuan, so he tamed the oxen that the Xuanyuan Tribe had always kept in pens into a labor force, and the deer, which were slightly smaller in physique, were also not spared, appearing even more abundant than Huaxia.

On the road, one could see scattered houses, all of which had become no different from Huaxia's; they were all high walls with wood and pottery tile roofs. Even the people of the Huaxia Tribe were somewhat bewildered. Was this really the Xuanyuan Tribe? If one said it was Huaxia, they would have no doubts.

The Shaman was a bit tired, but he still persisted in walking. It was mainly because everything he saw in the Xuanyuan Tribe surprised him somewhat. Although it was clearly not as good as Huaxia, it was, it was about to catch up to Huaxia! If Baifeng could learn of this, it would definitely make Baifeng very surprised as well.

Not to mention, the Shaman had already seen from afar the city walls standing high on Qingqiu Mountain.