Chapter 670 Check For The Dog Before Hitting The Owner (1/2)

After receiving news of movement at the desert and the sea, Flaming Horn also increased the intensity of their patrol duties. Tribesmen arrived at the trading point every day, some of them young tribesmen leaving the tribe to explore as they were very curious about the famous trading point; others were there for business. Business was thriving at the trading point, Shao Xuan heard that the trading parties who bought animal hide here could sell them for double the price at other trading points.

Production of the Drumming Tribe’s water moon stones was high during the moon’s brightest nights. These stones required moonlight and the fuller the moon, the more efficient the production process was, resulting in better quality stones. That was why the tribe had already started to work overtime days before the full moon arrived. They had not rested since. Everyone lived upside-down schedules in order to work through the night.

Most of the stones they produced were used to repay their debts to the Flaming Horns. That was why even thieves would not get much if they tried to come steal the harvest.

By the time the debts were cleared, the Drumming tribesmen were very experienced in making the water moon stones and tasted the benefits of merging with the fire seed. At least they would not have to worry about ambushes during full moon every year. Their harvest was not completely tied to the supermoon. They did not have to guard the Water Moon Canal as tightly either, and naturally could divert more resources to guard other places.

The Rain tribe’s lives had slowly stabilised too. A portion of the tribesmen entered the Flaming River Trading Point and rented accommodations along with fixed stalls. All they had to do was spread out their tribe’s goods like cloth and pottery, then wait for customers to come to the trading point. They did not have to worry about robberies anymore. At the tribe, they had cleared land for crop fields not far away from the river. They did not worry about irrigation problems either because the Flaming River was large enough to accommodate for their needs. Even if the other streams dried up, the Flaming River would not. Their standards of living improved when they no longer had to worry about food and water.

Compared to the beginning, more and more tribes frequented the Flaming River Trading Point. They did not have to go visit other tribes anymore. All they had to do was to meet at this point of congregation. It was the largest trading point along the Flaming River and one of the largest points in the region excluding the one in the central plains.

Although this place had stricter regulations than other trading points, every trading party wanted to visit a second time after their first.

Even Zheng Luo was very proud to watch the trading point grow and prosper.

Before, Zheng Luo had wanted to name this place as Flaming River City because that was how the slave masters on the other side of the river named their cities. However, he did not like following the costumes of the slave masters, hence was very hesitant to follow suit. Even if it was just a name, he refused to imitate them. This was how much the tribesmen resented the slave masters.

“Town,” said Shao Xuan. “You can call it ‘Flaming River Town’. A town can also be a place of trade. And this place will not just be for trading as it will expand more in the future.”

“Alright! Then this place will have another name in the future, it will be ‘Flaming River Town’! Mm, I’ll tell everyone at the meeting later.” Zheng Luo was very satisfied with this name.

Since then, the Flaming River Trading Point was also called Flaming River Town and news of this name soon spread among many different visitors.

Shao Xuan stood on the highest floor of the Flaming River Castle, looking over the entire trading point. “It is a small trading point now but in the future, it will definitely be much larger.”

…

A trading party travelled along a narrow path. Last year, this had been a patch of forest but since the establishment of the trading point, the guests who attended the banquet had cleared a path during their visit to allow for carriages to pass.

Soon after, more and more people came to the trading point and no plants could grow amidst the heavy traffic. Some larger tribes had tamed animals pulling their carriages too. Therefore there were no pebbles along the path either for their convenience. This path was much flatter and smoother than other parts of the forest.

As traffic increased, the road became more famous. Although it was a convenient path, it was risky too because robbers would hide in the area to ambush travellers.

Timid travellers rarely took this path. Only people who were confident in their own abilities against the robbers passed through.

At this moment, the trading party along the path was from a medium-sized tribe in the central plains. While it was not as powerful as the largest tribes in the area, it was still stronger than most tribes.

These people were tall and muscular, their exposed chests revealing hard muscles, skin tanned from constant year-long travelling. They held stone clubs in their arms, which were all defined and muscular. These people radiated power.

It was still warm during this time of the year. It was noon and the sun was up in the sky. Their simple linen clothes were drenched in sweat and many just took their tops off to wipe themselves, then draping their shirts over a shoulder. They discussed in their coarse-sounding language as they talked about the Flaming River Trading Point.

They had just left the trading point and bought a lot of animal hide. Now, they were on the way towards their own tribe.

“I’m impressed, the animal hides from the trading point were indeed of great quality!”

“Of course! Those are fearsome beast hides!”

“I heard you can wear these hides even during this time of the year? And it’s a cooling material?”

“That’s why it’s expensive. Going to the trading point to exchange for these hides at this point of the year is a good choice. Haha, our children won’t even feel the cold this winter!”

The group laughed heartily, not the least bit worried that they would be heard. While they looked nonchalant, they occasionally watched their surroundings out of their peripheral visions. Some of them walking on the outer ring of the group were in charge of standing guard while they had also sent scouts beforehand. These scouts had not found anything unusual. However, they were still vigilant.

Experienced travellers were used to robberies. Since they left the trading point, they had already killed three waves of robbers.