Chapter 140

After Yu Su announced he wouldn't drink anymore, those who missed to toast him shifted their focus to people like Lu Yan and Jian Yunchuan.

Jian Yunchuan is straightforward and welcomes all visitors.

Lu Yan is the same, sipping alcohol without a change in expression, as if it were plain water.

By the end, a large group around them had collapsed, but they remained composed.

Jian Yunchuan scratched his head, "What's going on? They're all passed out? I haven't had enough fun yet."

Yu Su frowned, "Dad, you shouldn't drink anymore."

Jian Yunchuan found it uninteresting to drink alone and obediently set down his wine glass.

...

After the completion of the Cast Iron Village road, the construction team from Yu Village returned.

After several busy months, the weather gradually turned hot.

"Dad, take a break before starting again," Yu Su suggested.

Although Jian Yunchuan didn't mind, considering the need for rest among the construction team, they decided to take a half-month break.

Yu Su first visited the Barbarian Tribe Forest, discussing the road construction plan linking Yu Village and the Barbarian Tribe Forest, as well as the horse equipment business.

Once everything was settled, construction began precisely half a month later.

During the construction, leaders from various tribes of the Barbarian Tribe brought their people to help. They marveled at Jian Yunchuan, Yu Meng, and others' abilities, eagerly watching whenever they worked.

"It's amazing! The ground has turned into a solid mudboard."

"Last time when Lord Yunchuan built a wall to block the desert lizards, I thought that was impressive. I didn't expect even more extraordinary skills."

"And these tunneling beasts, I've never seen tunneling beasts dig so fast. They can break such hard rocks with just a scratch of their claws."

"These are not ordinary tunneling beasts; they're mystical beasts like the desert lizards."

The tunneling beasts, hearing the comparison, squeaked at them.

The Barbarian Tribe speakers were surprised, "Can it understand us?"

Yu Meng said, "Tunneling beasts have intelligence. If you compare them to desert lizards, they get upset. Don't talk about it in front of them, or they might scratch you."

The Barbarians quickly closed their mouths, refraining from comparing the tunneling beasts to desert lizards.

They had never seen tunneling beasts that could understand human speech. Were they becoming sentient?

With the combined effort of various Barbarian tribes, the road from Yu Village to the Barbarian Tribe Forest was completed quickly.

On the completion day, Barbarians who could tame tigers and leopards, riding their trained beasts, joyfully ran from the Barbarian Tribe Forest to the outskirts of Yu Village.

Without crossing mountains and ridges, they could now reach Yu Village quickly from the Barbarian Tribe Forest.

The leaders gathered at the Beast God Temple, expressing their joy.

"Great Shaman, with this road, we can not only bring goods to Yu Village for trade but also travel north along the road to the wilderness and exchange with other villages there."

"Yes, we don't have to travel for days to the villages south of the swamp to exchange for iron tools. We can go directly to Cast Iron Village. With a smooth road, it'll take only three days to reach Cast Iron Village, maybe even less if our Barbarian horses run faster."

The leaders enthusiastically discussed where they could go and what they could do through this smooth road, eager to set off.

The Barbarian Great Shaman also reminded, "This road was built by Yu Village, don't forget the kindness of Yu Village."

"You can rest assured, how could we forget?" Huang Leopard said.

Most tribe leaders expressed their gratitude, but the leader of the Tiger Tribe, Mountain, looked slightly embarrassed. After all, it hadn't been long since his predecessor, as the leader, led people to raid Yu Village, ending in complete failure.

Now, with the population of the Tiger Tribe greatly reduced, their influence in the forest was diminishing.

Mountain, the leader of the Tiger Tribe, felt uneasy seeing the relationships between other tribes and Yu Village getting closer, while his tribe seemed to remain stagnant. It was a complicated feeling.

After returning to the tribe, Mountain shared his troubles with the tribal healer.

The Tiger Tribe healer sighed, "There's nothing we can do about it. If Yu Village had demanded the extermination of our tribe, that would have been a disaster. Just avoid going to Yu Village to avoid causing trouble."

Mountain nodded in a melancholic mood. If only the previous leader hadn't acted recklessly, maybe things would be different now. Unfortunately, it was too late.

...

With the road linking Yu Village and the Barbarian Tribe Forest opened, the surrounding area, centered around Yu Village, now had convenient and quick access, whether heading south or north.

This not only benefited Yu Village but also greatly facilitated the human settlements in this vast land.

Villages from the northern wilderness started moving southward along the road, arriving at Yu Village.

Except for Cast Iron Village, most villages had been passively waiting for the arrival of Yu Village trade caravans. Thus, many people among them had never visited Yu Village.

As they entered the Yu Village territory along the road, the first sight that greeted them was the vast fields with crisscrossing paths and lush green crops, extending endlessly, astonishing everyone.

The water wheels, capable of bringing river water from the great river, channel clear water into straight ditches, irrigating all the crops. Gentle oxen and horses pull wooden carts filled with goods along the road. Rows of workshops, more exquisite than their dwellings, house unfamiliar spinning machines weaving intricate linen. Sturdy bridges connect both sides of the great river, unafraid of the rushing river water. Stables for Barbarian horses stand next to the slave camp, where both the horse stables and the slave camp buildings challenge their understanding, as even horses and slaves live so well in Yu Village...

But when they see the appearance of the core area of Yu Village, they almost forget to breathe.

"I thought the changes in our village were enormous after exchanging tools from Yu Village. However, coming to Yu Village, I realize that compared to Yu Village, our changes are nothing."

"Yu Village is like a realm inhabited by gods, not only possessing warriors with the power of gods but also having beauty and abundance like a divine realm."

"I'm afraid only the rumored Prosperous City can compare to Yu Village."

These outsiders, upon arriving in Yu Village, couldn't help but marvel. Many stood at the entrance of Yu Village, too shocked to enter, staring blankly at the village gate.

Yu Village residents were already accustomed to this.

At this point, the chests of Yu Village residents would proudly swell.

They would then walk out in the envious eyes of outsiders and ask them what they came for.

"We... we're here for item exchange."

"What do you want to exchange?"

"Animal skins, animal bones, and herbs. We know Yu Village only accepts intact herbs, and we wrap each herb securely, ensuring they have complete roots and tails."

"Do you see that stall over there? Go check it out."

Yu Village people pointed to a stall, where quite a few people were already queuing.

Upon seeing this, the outsiders with packages quickly expressed their thanks and walked over together.

It was a purchasing point set up by Yu Su, due to the increasing number of outsiders coming to trade in Yu Village recently, necessitating its establishment.

Even so, there was a continuous influx of outsiders, and the queues were getting longer.

Yu Su, returning from Deer God Mountain, witnessed this scene and was somewhat surprised.

He called Yu Ye, in charge of this matter, and asked, "Why are there so many people?"

Yu Ye replied, "With the opening of the north-south road, they all came along the road. Some couldn't wait for the trade caravan to pass and started trading; others said they wanted to come to Yu Village to see and learn."

So, the number of outsiders coming to Yu Village in these days far exceeded Yu Su's expectations.

After his surprise, Yu Su looked at the purchasing stall and realized that there was a problem.

"Tonight, gather all the elders and all the managers in the conference hall for a meeting," Yu Su said after some thought.

Yu Ye immediately nodded, "Yes."

Lu Yan asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Yu Su said, "I neglected this before. After the road was opened, there is a demand for item exchange from both the north and the south. However, one stall cannot meet this demand. We need a convenient trading market, similar to the exchange market in Salt Village before."

This was an inevitable result of Yu Village replacing Salt Village.

Yu Su neglected this matter before but now realized the problem, so he planned to convene everyone to discuss the establishment of a trading market.

Specifically how to do it, and what level of completion they should achieve, these details needed discussion.

Lu Yan asked, "I understand what you mean. So where do you plan to set it up?"

The two of them were currently standing on the lookout tower, overlooking the entire plain east of the great river.

Yu Su said, "I plan to build it on the east bank of the great river. It's not as simple as marking out a place for them to set up stalls; I plan to build a more sophisticated trading market."

Just now, he suddenly thought that the north-south connection had just been established. When they opened the road connecting the plains behind the eastern mountains in the future, more and more people would come to Yu Village for trade. Just an ordinary open space wouldn't satisfy this demand, and he didn't want it to be so rudimentary.

"Since we're building it, let's make it big."

Yu Su looked at the plain east of the great river, his eyes gleaming.

Lu Yan looked at him. Although he didn't know exactly what Yu Su planned to do, from the gleam in Yu Su's eyes, he seemed to have seen Yu Su's ambitions and ideas for the future.

Influenced by this gleam, he heard the fervent voice in his chest.

"I understand. Whatever you want to build, I'll build it for you."

Lu Yan thought that as long as it was something Yu Su wanted to do, he could do it for Yu Su. He wanted to make all of Yu Su's ideas come true.