Chapter 392 (1/2)

We Don't Want Cauldrons

As soon as Shao Xuan’s stone was taken out, it caught the eye of quite a few people.

The words on the wooden sign were so simple and clear that many people didn’t need to stare for long, merely squeezed directly towards the area of the Flaming Horn tribe.

“What is that? It’s glowing?”

“It’s not going to be some nonsense, is it?”

“It looks like it’s the place where the Flaming Horns tribe is. Their animal skins sold well before this.”

“Go check it out. See if it’s true!”

Whatever their opinions were, they were curious. They’d rather waste time checking it out instead of missing out. The purchasers sent by slave masters knew that bringing a rare item back could mean a possible reward if they made the masters happy. The wandering traders could also re-sell these rare items in other places.

These people went towards the Flaming Horns tribe area, carrying the goods they had traded so far. After Shao Xuan took out the crystal, the people around kept increasing so he also had to keep vigilant. Every year, there were many thieves who take advantage of the chaos. They had really sharp eyes for an opportunity.

This time, Shao Xuan had a total of ten stone crystals but now only took out one.

The weather had turned chilly. Many people were wearing large cloaks made of animal leather. To check whether the crystal was really glowing was very simple. They only had to cover the crystal with their coats. Of course they didn’t think about stealing it since there were many eyes around. As long as someone saw something, the thief would not be forgiven.

A large body squeezed out of the crowd, completely covered with animal skin coat, moving towards Shao Xuan to cover his hand holding the crystal. Under the dim light, the small stone crystal emitted a clear light that could make words readable in the dark.

Not waiting for the man to study it more, Shao Xuan took back his hand to show it to the next person.

When more people had taken a look, Shao Xuan put the crystal stone back to his bag. To the surrounding crowd, he said, “Are you satisfied now?”

Someone nodded. Someone choked and didn’t make another noise, but they all stared at Shao Xuan. Their eyes were hot, waiting for his next words.

But Shao Xuan did not speak. It was Duo Kang who took over the task, but he did not tell everyone the whole truth. He only said that the crystal was something they encountered when out hunting for beasts and dug it out in a river connected to the sea. That’s not a lie. If there was water in that river, it would be bigger than the one in front of their tribe. Didn’t that mean it was a big river? They heard that the river flowed to another larger river, then the larger river to the sea, so it was not wrong to say so.

Unlike Shao Xuan, some of the people who often lingered here were no stranger to Duo Kang, hence, they also believed that Duo Kang wasn’t lying. At least not completely.

At the time when Duo Kang was introducing this glowing crystal, Black Bear who had been away these last three days, was in the city in a large yard of a stone house holding a large pottery bowl. He ate a large bowl of meat soup and next to the plate was a large piece of barbecued meat. Black Bear ate two or three more mouthfuls before he was satisfied.

While Black Bear was eating, a big man barged in.

“Boss, there’s something else going on with the tribesmen!” the newcomer shouted as he ran.

Every year, when the tribesmen came over, they would bring something rare. Black Bear would not survey the goods himself but leave someone there to keep watch.

“Is there anything I have to go over personally for?” Black Bear asked after taking another gulp of the soup, then put down the bowl.

“That man from the Flaming Horn tribe took out a stone that glows! That rock glows, it’s true! I saw it with my own eyes!” The big man was afraid that Black Bear wouldn’t believe him, so he quickly said that he saw it himself.

“It was the Flaming Horn tribe again?” Black Bear muttered. He put on his coat, called the man, then strode over the trading area.

Over at the chaotic trading area, Du Kang had already announced the rules of the transaction. It was the same as before where they would negotiate through an auction, to sell the five crystal stones together.

An announcement like that would certainly attract more attention. If they split it all up, it would take longer to sell which was more unfavourable to them. They might be able to get more benefits that way, but the danger was also greater. It’s better to be quick, then get out of here and walk away first. Duo Kang had also consulted this with the Taihe tribe on the side. In order to get the Taihe tribe to cooperate, Duo Kang also divided some goods with them.

Duo Kang took out a copper sword which he had traded before. At a glance, they could judge the value of this sword, and Duo Kang used this as the base price to let the others start the bidding.

“A sword plus a bag of grains!”

“Two swords!”

“Two swords plus five animal skins… But if you don’t want animal skins, then a bag of grains guaranteed that was just collected this year!”

“Two swords plus ten bags of grains!”

“Three swords!!”

……

Listening to the chaotic atmosphere getting noisier as people called out the price higher and higher, Du Kang was really happy inside.

“Boss, do we want to bid, too?” the man next to Black Bear said in a hurry. With that kind of crystal stone, even if it was for five bronze swords, it would still be very cheap. If they traded it at King City, they could even get more.

Black Bear’s eyes took in Shao Xuan and Duo Kang in a sweep, about to call out a price when they heard an arrogant voice shout out, “One Ding cauldron!”

[Note: Ding 鼎 cauldron = three-legged copper cauldron]

The unit of measurement had been swords and grains so far, the word ‘cauldron’ came as a shock- like a crow of a chicken in the midst of a group of pigs.