Chapter 972

Watching them dismantle all the traps, the Huaxia team continued on their way without sparing the savages another glance; however, just as the team was about to pass by completely, the soldier in charge of logistics at the rear took out two pieces of salted fish and tossed them over, a gesture of recognition for these warriors.

After all, even if they were once people of the Shennong clan, they were now a peripheral tribe of a large clan, yet they still lived in great misery, and things like salt were almost never distributed to them.

In any case, Huaxia and they were now considered allies; as long as the roads remained clear and logistics stable and uninterrupted, salted fish cost Huaxia almost nothing, so gifting two to their allies had no impact at all, and they still needed to rely on such peripheral tribes to ensure the roads remained open.

The few who picked up the salted fish immediately shouted with excitement and bowed repeatedly to the Huaxia team in gratitude; if it were just a single fish, there wouldn't be much to thank them for, as they lived along the river and, even without boats, they could easily catch enough fish to sustain their livelihood.

What excited them was the white salt on the salted fish; just one lick was enough to make it taste heavenly. They handed the two fish to their leader, who licked them twice first before passing them down for the other warriors to have a lick as well—such a good thing naturally had to be prioritized for the warriors before considering the common tribespeople.

Furthermore, the leader watched carefully to ensure each person only licked the fish once, forbidding any extra licks.

The warrior who had picked up the salted fish knelt on the ground in a hurry, plucked a leaf, and carefully gathered the salt grains that had fallen, unwilling to let even a single one go to waste.

Having now successfully entered the territory of the tribal alliance, the Xuanyuan clan members were estimated to be about four or five days' journey away from the alliance's location, at which point they would be able to reunite with Xuanyuan smoothly.

Xiong did not urge the soldiers on, continuing to march at a normal pace; as for whether Xuanyuan was anxious, he didn't know, nor could he concern himself with it. This era was just like this—never mind that carriages and horses were slow; right now, carriages and horses couldn't even travel at all, so people moved as fast as they could.

Baoxi naturally encountered no danger in his own territory and arrived home very smoothly. The Huaxia officials who accompanied him to the Suiren clan were extremely shocked to see such a large tribe in this state, and their hearts sank into despair.

The hardship they had imagined was perhaps like Xuanyuan's—living in somewhat dilapidated conditions, houses with poor lighting, tables that weren't level, or just piles of wood—but what they hadn't expected was that there wasn't even anything here that could be called a house.

They didn't even have a place for their team to sleep that night; if they wanted to stay here, they would have to pitch tents.

The workers were quite relieved, as they only needed to finish repairing Baoxi's house and the wooden cabins for these officials before they could return home, without needing to stay here for long.

Baoxi, having completely transformed, was not even recognized by his own tribespeople at first. As for why they were able to enter the Suiren clan's territory directly, it was entirely because they were familiar with the roads, and the Suiren clan, knowing that Huaxia often visited, assumed they were some kind of envoys.

Even Baoxi's warriors had changed their appearance and looked like different people; no one along the way recognized them. However, since envoys had arrived, it still had to be reported, and the person currently in charge of the Suiren clan was Huangpin, so all matters, big or small, had to be addressed to him first.

Baoxi, however, did not realize how much he had changed and walked straight toward his residence. Tribespeople looked at him with strange expressions along the way, and as he got closer to his home, someone finally came to block his path.

"Hey, you are Huaxia envoys, right? Our chief is currently with you; what is the matter now that you've come here? But no matter what it is, please wait a moment, our leader Huangpin will be here shortly."

Baoxi's expression changed immediately; he stepped forward, leaned in toward them, and asked, "What, you don't even recognize me?"

The group heard a very familiar voice, but the face didn't match at all; it felt completely different.

So, the group surrounded Baoxi as if looking at some novelty, staring until Baoxi became annoyed. He shouted, "I am Baoxi! What, you don't even recognize your own chief?!"

Startled by the shout, the people retreated a few steps. The voice was exactly the same—too familiar. Now, looking closely, it really seemed to be their chief.

"You really are our chief? How, how have you changed so much? You don't look like yourself at all; you look just like a Huaxia person."

Baoxi liked the sound of that last sentence, and his slight displeasure vanished instantly. His efforts had not been in vain; he wanted to transform himself into a Huaxia person completely, and that was for the best. Now that he was a Huaxia city lord and a great noble, the fact that his own tribespeople didn't recognize him after such a short time meant his changes were very successful.

"Alright, alright, I am Baoxi. I may have changed quite a bit during my time in Huaxia, so don't worry about not recognizing me. Go call Huangpin for me, and Chengqie too; I have things to tell them."

The people dispersed immediately, leaving only two to await orders. They nodded repeatedly, but their hearts were filled with shock; such a drastic and obvious change in their chief made them feel that some major event might be about to happen.

As Baoxi walked forward, one of the warriors following him passed by his own tribesman, tapped him lightly, and flashed his teeth in a happy smile.

The still-bewildered tribesman saw that the person he thought was a Huaxia warrior was actually someone he knew; although the change was significant, it wasn't as outrageous as his chief's.

After recognizing him, he exclaimed, "Hey, you, you!"

Baoxi looked back, saw nothing unusual, and ignored it.

The transformed warriors showed off their new clothes to their still-rustic tribesmen and then mysteriously drew their long knives from their waists to show off for a moment. They didn't say a word, but their tribesmen were already left with their mouths agape in awe.

Afterward, the dapper warrior patted his friend on the shoulder and followed his chief forward with his head held high.