Chapter 691: I Don't Understand This Either

Although Xuanyuan repeatedly stated that he treated Zhishou as his teacher, Zhishou still insisted on his own stance. Both sides held to their own views, and in the end, the people from the Construction Team could not stand it anymore and proposed a compromise: "In our Huaxia, although we respect teachers, the Heaven Earth Sovereign Kin Teacher principle applies. The Sovereign, whom we in Huaxia call the King—here, that is the Tribal Chief—is placed before the Teacher."

"Therefore, I believe that even a King's teacher must respect the King, but the King must also treat his teacher with courtesy; these two things do not conflict."

Zhishou and Xuanyuan looked at each other, then laughed heartily, agreeing with this viewpoint. Afterward, they acted even more cordially, and in the manner of hosts, led the guests from Huaxia toward the mountaintop.

Xuanyuan had built a reception room for himself, but there were quite a few people from the Construction Team, and they could not all fit inside, so most of them could only sit outside; only a few master Artisans were able to enter the room.

However, the tribesmen of the Xuanyuan Tribe also hurriedly prepared some food for these people; the Xuanyuan Tribe had no Tea Leaves, so naturally, there was no talk of serving tea.

After everyone was seated, Zhishou also hurriedly asked about his doubts: "On our way here, we discovered that the riverbank seemed to have been destroyed by something, and even giant trees were pushed over. It seems our Matou was also destroyed. What exactly is the reason? At this time of year, there shouldn't be any floods."

Xuanyuan sighed and said with lingering fear: "Alas, in the spring, the Dahe was originally fine, and everything was normal. But suddenly, the water level dropped. I sent people to the upper reaches to check the cause, but the people I sent said that the river channel in the upper reaches was completely piled up with huge icebergs, which were pushed by the water flow, destroying everything along the way."

"I also went to see it myself; its destructive power was truly astonishing. Even the thickest trees would be easily pushed over, and the riverbank could not stop its advance."

"By the time it reached our tribe, the power was still there. The Matou was lightly touched and shattered into pieces. Fortunately, it did not hurt our tribesmen, and the farmland was not too affected."

Zhishou fell into thought. He had truly never encountered such a situation before. Why would glaciers appear in the river, and why was their power so great? Even with his extensive knowledge, he did not know the reason.

Xuanyuan asked Zhishou in return: "What about over in Huaxia? Has such a situation occurred? Huaxia is in the upper reaches, after all."

When Zhishou was in Huaxia, he was also able to leave the city and often went to look at the Dahe, but he had never seen any icebergs, so he answered truthfully: "I have not seen it. The Dahe outside Huaxia City follows the changes of Nature; it freezes in Winter and melts in the spring, very calm, without any problems."

When Xuanyuan looked at the people from the Construction Team, everyone also denied it: "Huaxia has indeed not seen this, and it has nothing to do with us. We in Huaxia understand the power of the Dahe best; floods alone are already difficult for us in Huaxia to handle. As for glaciers, we don't know and haven't seen them. But if you ask our King, he might know why."

Xuanyuan sighed: "At the time, all I could think of was that only Huaxia could help us. If we could blow the ice to pieces, all problems could be solved. Unfortunately, the journey was too far, and we simply didn't have the time to go to Huaxia."

Then he changed the subject: "This year, I hope Huaxia can help us build a Cement Matou, the sturdiest kind. I feel that only the kind of Matou you have in Huaxia could possibly withstand the impact of the icebergs."

"Of course, we are willing to trade food and supplies for all the materials. I won't let you work for nothing. Just like the hiring in your Huaxia, I am willing to pay a price to hire you to build such a Matou for us."

"You don't need to worry about the labor. We have enough people in the Xuanyuan Tribe to let you command. I just want our Xuanyuan Tribe to have a solid Matou."

The people from the Construction Team were a bit troubled: "Tribal Chief Xuanyuan, we do not have the authority to accept such a task. Besides, we don't know how to build a Matou; only Huaxia has people specifically responsible for building them. The Cement we brought this time is not that much. To build a large enough Matou, the amount of Cement required is extremely high. When we built that Matou and riverbank in Huaxia, the Cement was hauled out cart after cart; the consumption was very high."

"Therefore, if you have this idea, you must first contact our King and see what his intentions are. If the cooperation is successful, he will likely send a new Construction Team. Our mission here is to build houses for you; we have no authority for anything else."

Xuanyuan naturally would not make things difficult for these people; they were the ones who were going to build houses for the Xuanyuan Tribe and train the Workers, so he had to treat them with courtesy. Thus, after a brief conversation, Xuanyuan arranged for Dahong to take these people from Huaxia to the original construction site to camp and let them rest first.

The Xuanyuan Tribe did not have enough empty rooms for these people from Huaxia to live in, and even if they did, they probably wouldn't be used to living in them, so he simply let them set up Tents. As long as the Huaxia Tents were set up, they were actually no worse than the housing of the Xuanyuan Tribe, and the Workers would live comfortably without having to consider so many problems.

Xuanyuan indicated that he still had things to attend to, and Zhishou was also preparing to return to his residence. He still had some Slaves to settle there, and because his reputation was great enough, he had even bought a set of Iron kitchenware on credit; as for the food, Xuanyuan would certainly have to pay for it.

Xuanyuan was of course very willing to pay some food for these things, and he was also very satisfied with the few Slaves bought from Huaxia; they were simply worth more than the price, especially that cook. Not only could Zhishou eat delicious food, but he himself could also benefit from Zhishou's good fortune and often have delicious food to eat.

Moreover, it was he who paid the money. Although it was purchased in Zhishou's name, as long as the Slaves entered the Xuanyuan Tribe, it was no problem for Xuanyuan to decide how to deal with them.

Dahong led the group to the construction site. The things packed up last year were all placed exactly as they were. The place where they camped was also clean, and everyone felt very comfortable at a glance.

Helping each other, they set up the Tents, then placed all the daily necessities brought over by the Xuanyuan tribesmen, and then thought about having a wonderful sleep. They had been swaying on the Boat all the way here, which was still very uncomfortable.

However, Dahong also told them that the Xuanyuan Tribe had prepared a party for them in the evening, with meat to eat, Wine to drink, dancing, and bragging—not much different from Huaxia's, which also reflected the Xuanyuan Tribe's attitude toward the envoys of a brother tribe.