Chapter 571: Restarting Trade (1)

Zisheng twitched his nose a few times and asked in confusion, "Why does it stink so much? There's such a strong smell of excrement and urine. Where do you people here go to the toilet?"

The Shaman shot a glance directly at Zisheng. Zisheng immediately knew he had spoken too much, hurriedly shut his mouth, and pretended nothing had happened. Dahong, however, was very puzzled: "Toilet? What is a toilet?"

Zisheng hurriedly waved his hands: "It's nothing, nothing. It's just that there are indeed more people here than in our Huaxia."

Seeing that Zisheng did not seem to intend to continue, Dahong followed up on Zisheng's remark: "That is true. After all, our Xuanyuan Tribe certainly has a larger population than Huaxia." However, Dahong also kept Zisheng's previous words in mind. Since they were unwilling to talk more, it must be something very serious. After returning, he must tell the Tribal Chief to see if he could pry the truth out of them.

Continuing along the road, there was nothing that particularly surprised the Shaman and his group. It was just that the Xuanyuan Tribe's city was on higher ground, and Xuanyuan's residence was almost at the top of the mountain. Because of generations of development, the entire Qingqiu Mountain had now become terraced, somewhat similar to the terraced fields of Huaxia. The structure of the entire city was very different from Huaxia City, but the advantage of this was that it was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it had good drainage.

The Shaman also discovered many very wide drainage ditches. It was clear that Xuanyuan had also noticed this problem and had provided a very good solution.

Just as the Shaman was about to run out of energy, they finally arrived at the place where Xuanyuan received guests. Now, Xuanyuan had also separated his living and working areas because he felt it was a very necessary thing to do. Therefore, he had also built a room like an office, and he would also receive the Shaman and the others in this room.

Xuanyuan also gave them face by coming out to welcome them. The Shaman performed a salute by cupping his hands in the Huaxia manner. Xuanyuan was already accustomed to this and spread his hands to return the salute, which also indicated that he was not carrying a Weapon. It was a very traditional etiquette used by all tribes across the entire land; Xuanyuan had not created any new etiquette himself.

After inviting the Shaman into the room to sit down, the entire team of the Shaman had arrived, but the guards were carrying Weapons and could only stand outside and wait. Zisheng was worried about the Shaman, so he had no choice but to hand his Weapon to his subordinates and enter empty-handed to accompany him.

Xuanyuan had many subordinates, almost having the embryonic form of a government, and the officials had clear divisions of labor, but there was no title of "official" as there was in Huaxia; they were still addressed by name.

To facilitate daily discussions, a giant tree had been felled and made into a long table, which was placed in this room. There were also chairs like those in Huaxia. Xuanyuan never looked down on useful things from other tribes, especially these extremely useful ones from Huaxia; naturally, he had to learn to equip his own home with them as well.

No one in the Xuanyuan Tribe drank tea; only Xuanyuan drank it occasionally. He had discovered the refreshing effect of Tea Leaves, so he had also become accustomed to drinking tea. However, they did not have the craftsmanship to process tea and could only pick the Tea Leaves, dry them in the sun, and brew them to drink.

For Xuanyuan, it made little difference, as he had not drunk much good tea. There was only a small canister that Baifeng had once sent over, but unfortunately, that little bit was not enough for him to experience the wonder of tea. He only used the Tea Leaves as a medicinal herb for refreshment. Qibo had also tried tea extensively, but unfortunately, he found that as a medicinal herb, tea was not very good. It only had the effect of clearing the mind and refreshing the spirit. It could be drunk for a long time and was not poisonous, but it also had no detoxifying effect. It was evident that the claim Baifeng mentioned about the Shennong Clan using it to detoxify was pure nonsense.

Xuanyuan did not know how good the Tea Leaves used by Huaxia were and only thought that as long as it was tea leaves, it would suffice for the people of Huaxia. Thus, he brought out the sun-dried tea he had prepared long ago and brewed a cup in the pottery cup in front of every member of the Huaxia delegation.

The Shaman had been thirsty for a while, so he unceremoniously picked up the cup and took a big gulp. However, as soon as the tea entered his mouth, his brows furrowed tightly. Still, he swallowed it. Afterward, when he looked at the tea leaves in the cup, he was initially a bit angry, feeling that using this kind of tea to entertain guests was an insult to them. But then he thought that the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe did not know how to drink tea at all, and looking at these tea leaves, they had clearly not undergone any processing. Thus, he could only soften his expression, put down the cup, and say nothing more.

Xuanyuan's attention was not on the Shaman's expression, but on his hair. He was likewise curious about the Shaman's hair color. Fortunately, Dahong noticed Xuanyuan's confusion and whispered the reason to him beside Xuanyuan. Zisheng had good hearing and heard that it was just some trivial matter, so he did not react at all.

After Xuanyuan learned the truth, he put the matter aside. There was no need to ask the Shaman about such things; he could ask Zhishou directly. Zhishou had lived longer and would definitely know what the situation was.

At the same time, Dahong also used an even lower voice to tell Xuanyuan about the inexplicable words Zisheng had said, to see if Xuanyuan could ask anything out of them. Xuanyuan tapped his finger on the table slightly, indicating that he already knew.

As a guest, the Shaman naturally would not speak first; the host had to speak first.

At this moment, Xuanyuan also spoke with a smile: "All you guests have come from such a far place as Huaxia. It has been a hard journey. This is also your first time coming to our Xuanyuan Tribe and your first time to Qingqiu Mountain. I wonder what your impressions are?"

The Shaman praised them very cordially: "The Xuanyuan Tribe is rich and vast, and this Qingqiu City, in particular, is also very magnificent."

Xuanyuan asked again: "I have also been to Huaxia City. I admire and like everything about Huaxia City very much. Although our Qingqiu City is also very large, there is still a gap compared to Huaxia City."

The Shaman chuckled and said nothing more. This was the art of mutual praise that the King had once taught him. As long as you speak first to praise them, they will naturally be happy. Once they are happy, the following matters will be easy to discuss. If you start by saying that this is bad or that is not working here, they will be unhappy, and the discussion will not go smoothly. Of course, when facing tribes that are much weaker than oneself, one does not need to care about this; strength is the most important thing. This can only be used when talking to tribes whose strength is not much different from one's own.

"Is there anything you all have come for this time? Are you here to trade?"

The Shaman also got straight to the point: "That's right. We came this time to trade. Our two tribes have stopped trading for a year. Our King believes that our two tribes should continue to maintain this friendly trading relationship and exchange what we have for what we lack. Only in this way can both sides develop better and faster.

In the past, it was mostly your Xuanyuan Tribe that took the initiative to trade. However, after a year, we are not sure if any major changes have occurred in the Xuanyuan Tribe, which is why you stopped trading with us. Our King sent us here this time, firstly to discuss continuing the trade, and secondly, to show concern for our neighbors, hoping that you are safe and sound."