Chapter 15

In the central part of the Dawa Plain, there is a large valley where three major fairs are held each year: the Spring Fair in early March, the Summer Fair in mid-August, and the Autumn Fair at the end of November.

During these events, all the tribes send trading teams to set up camp, exchanging goods and sharing resources.

For the upcoming Summer Fair, the chief decided that Meng Lin would lead the team, with Meng Xiang and Jimo Ling accompanying her to broaden their horizons.

Since their Green Tribe specializes in medicine, they prepared to sell pre-packaged medicine bags, hoping to exchange them for salt, pottery, herbs, and paper.

Due to the large number of medicine bags needed, the three people at the hospital were busy, and even the Elder came to help.

As the second-in-command of the trading team, Jimo Ling was responsible for the medicine bags and had to juggle various tasks. She felt that by the end of this big fair, her ability to handle tribal affairs would greatly improve, and she was becoming more integrated into this world.

With everything ready, the fifty-member trading team set off.

Three large, covered wooden carts, the size of trucks, were used for the fair. The carts were pulled by horse and deer beastmen, utilizing untamed wild beasts to ensure that any unexpected situations wouldn't lead to chaos.

One cart was designed like a caravan for the women. The largest cart was dedicated to the medicine bags, divided into organized compartments, effectively functioning as a mobile pharmacy. Another cart was filled with surplus animal skins and other resources from the tribe, meant for exchange at the fair.

Luggage was stored inside the women's caravan, while the beastmen transformed into their beast forms to act as guards, ready to respond to any emergencies. However, with such a formidable team, wild beasts generally avoided them; their main concern was the ferocious beasts.

In this world, beastmen are not at the top of the food chain; they are just one part of it.

Mammals can break the reproductive isolation with humans and evolve into beastmen. The strongest beastmen are large and powerful in combat.

Most other animals remain wild beasts, not changing much in size, but differing in appearance.

Additionally, there are ferocious beasts, which also represent evolution in size and combat strength but are aggressive and mostly oviparous.

Beastmen, wild beasts, and ferocious beasts form a cycle: the strong survive!

The Green Tribe's journey proceeded without major incidents, except for the thrilling moment when they encountered a pair of vulture ferocious beasts.

It was dusk, and the team had stopped to set up camp when a vigilant beastman suddenly issued a warning: two enormous birds were swiftly approaching from the sky, clearly having spotted them and preparing to hunt.

Several beastmen hurriedly escorted the women into the caravan, hiding it in a nearby thicket, and then prepared for battle.

Soon, the two ferocious beasts flew overhead, diving down to capture some prey.

The beastmen naturally wouldn't just sit back; they fought back fiercely. One beastman was caught, but a group surged forward to claw and bite at the vulture, forcing it to release its grip. However, due to the opponents' aerial advantage, they barely avoided being captured and suffered some injuries.

Jimo Ling, armed with a bow and arrow, hid to the side, looking for the best opportunity. She had encountered these flying ferocious beasts before in the Zhi Mu Forest, so she was experienced in dealing with them. Back then, they had been at an impasse, with neither side able to harm the other, resulting in mutual disregard.

As the two ferocious beasts focused all their attention on the beastmen, Jimo Ling seized the opportunity when they dove down again to make her move.

"Whoosh!" The sharp stone arrow struck the chest of the left vulture, producing a "gah!" of a scream. The vulture fell to the ground, where nearby beastmen quickly swarmed and bit at its throat.

Caught off guard, the other ferocious beast initially didn't react, hovering in mid-air. Once it realized its companion was dead, its ferocity erupted, screeching as it charged toward Jimo Ling.

The beastmen saw this and hurriedly tried to obstruct its advance.

Several horse and deer beastmen surrounding Jimo Ling positioned themselves to act as shields for her.

On the other side, Rui, who had latched onto the fallen vulture, was furious and, abandoning the already dead bird, exerted all its strength to pursue the foe.

Jimo Ling first found the sight of a multitude of giant beasts jumping up to try and attack the giant bird amusing, but then her view was obstructed by those surrounding her, making her feel a bit awkward.

Seeing the ferocious beast approaching, she jumped, using the back of a lying horse for leverage, then stepping onto the back of a standing deer, bending her bow and aiming at the vulture's head.

The series of actions were completed too quickly; by the time the vulture sensed danger, it was already too late.

As Jimo Ling landed, the vulture was shot through the head, crashing down and crushing a few beastmen below who couldn't escape in time.

After a moment of silence, the air erupted with cheers!

Meng Lin and Meng Xiang, who had nervously witnessed the whole process from the caravan, rushed out.

As an adult and the team leader, Meng Lin was both surprised and composed, arranging for the aftermath.

Young Meng Xiang ran up to hug Jimo Ling, shouting and jumping, making Rui, who came over, anxious and helpless as he could only watch.

After accepting the little girl's enthusiastic embrace, Jimo Ling reassured her beastman fiancé before helping Meng Lin with the follow-up tasks, distributing the external injury medicine bags according to the beastmen's wounds.

The two vultures were too tough to be suitable for the women's teeth, so they were divided among the beastmen. Their feathers, claws, and beaks became Jimo Ling's trophies.

The valley was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and due to its average soil quality, lack of water sources, and sparse vegetation, it lacked large animals. This made it the chosen gathering site for the tribes of the Dawa Plain.

The Green Tribe had a designated area in the valley, so even though more than half of the tribes were already settled when they arrived, they weren't worried about not finding a good spot.

Once they settled in, Meng Lin led the two girls, each accompanied by a husband/fiancé, to visit several important trading tribes.

The first tribe they visited was the Salt Tribe, one of the two major tribes of the Dawa Plain. They possessed the method of salt production and controlled the only saltwater lake on the plain, primarily producing lake salt and some well salt, making them one of the only two salt-producing tribes in Dawa.

As for the other large tribe, they also produced salt, but they specialized in sea salt and were known as the Sea Tribe, located to the east near the sea. They usually arrived later due to the distance.

In addition, there were the Qing Tribe, known for their expertise in growing herbs, the Paper Tribe, skilled in paper-making, and the Pottery Tribe, known for pottery production.

Initially, these visits were merely to confirm the general quantities for exchange; the specific ratios would be negotiated and finalized in the following days.

It can be said that in the Dawa Plain, major and medium-sized tribes typically had a higher female ratio and possessed an important skill that was passed down through generations.

Those with specialized skills but whose contributions were minimal in this world mostly belonged to the numerous smaller tribes, such as the Rice Tribe, known for cultivating rice trees, the Herd Tribe, adept at raising gentle wild beasts, and the Weaving Tribe, known for their weaving skills…

As for the smaller, less common groups with special inheritances, they were rare in Dawa, the most famous being the Xi Mu hermits, skilled in weather prediction.

At the fair, two nomadic tribes from Dawa might also arrive.

They were composed of strong young beastmen, with only one tribe having a female leader.

They didn't have a fixed territory and traveled across the plain and even the entire continent, trading goods with tribes they passed.

They would bring goods from other parts of the continent to Dawa's fairs and take Dawa's goods elsewhere.

They ventured into some dangerous areas to seek treasures and accepted commissions to find specific items.

They had a feel of combining a merchant caravan and an adventure team and were well-received by various tribes.