Eleven people

Salt Department.

"The people from the Wood Tribe haven't arrived yet?"

The stone platform was covered with animal skins, with two people sitting on the left and right.

The man on the left was tall and burly, with a gloomy face. He said to the old man sitting beside him: "Priest, is Mangshan's injury really incurable?"

The old man closed his eyes to rest, but did not open them. "He is seriously injured. No one can save him unless the Beast God descends to the world."

The tall man stood up instantly and shouted, "Gather the troops and follow me to the Wood Tribe!"

"No!"

The old man opened his eyes, his gaze revealed a resoluteness that could not be questioned, "Beast God is above, warriors fight to the death. Losing is losing, and no one can attack the other tribe because of losing."

"Priest, this is not the rule of the Beast God." The tall man exuded a cold tone. He was fed up with the priest's constant preaching. "This is not the Beast City, this is the Salt Tribe! The Wood Tribe hurt my brother, and I want to avenge him!"

The old priest noticed that the other party was out of control, and he said slowly: "Mang Lin, don't forget that the Salt Department can grow stronger because it follows the guidance of the Beast God."

"It was the Beast God who guided us to find the Salt Mountain, allowing the tribe to grow bigger and bigger."

The old priest stared at the python forest with a sharp gaze, "We must not disobey the order of the Beast God."

Mang Lin gritted his teeth and said, "Are we just going to let the matter of Mangshan go?"

"Without enough salt rock, they can't even survive the winter." The old priest looked towards the salt mountain, "The Beast God will help you."

…

"Priest, the Salt Department has arrived."

Outside the Salt Department, a low wall was built with stones. At the entrance, huge animal bones were placed on the stone walls on both sides.

At the door, four strong men with animal skin skirts around their waists and stone mace in their hands were patrolling back and forth.

Their naked upper bodies were painted with a huge white snowflake totem using some unknown paint, covering their entire chest.

Shen Nong was attracted by the animal fang necklaces hanging around their necks. Ze noticed Shen Nong's gaze and also looked at the animal fangs on the other's neck.

As they approached, the people of the Wood Tribe were stopped by the Salt Department’s guards. “Only five people from each tribe can enter the Salt Department to exchange salt.”

The four sturdy men glanced at the eleven people from the Mu tribe, as if waiting for them to decide on the final candidate to enter the Salt Tribe.

Ze looked at Shen Nong, and his meaning was obvious, he wanted to go in with the priest.

Originally, Shen Nong wanted to choose between Ze and Hu Xiao, so he had to say to Hu Xiao, "You stay."

Tufeng, Maoyun and Niumu also went to the Salt Department to exchange salt.

After the people from the Salt Department confirmed the number of people, they let them into the tribe, and there were special people to lead them to the salt exchange site.

As we approached the place, we heard an angry voice from the front.

The young man with a light green fish bone pattern painted on his face said, "Ten pieces of animal skin only for this amount of salt stone? It's not even enough for one person to eat for the whole winter."

The person in charge of changing the salt in the Salt Department remained calm and snorted, "Then don't change it."

"you!"

The fishbone-patterned boy was furious. He rushed towards the people from the Salt Department with his fists clenched, but was stopped by his fellow tribesmen. "Forget it."

The tribesmen who were traveling with him advised: "Change it, or there will be no more salt stones to eat."

The angry boy became like a deflated ball after hearing this.

He snorted angrily, retracted his fist, turned away and stopped talking.

The fellow tribesmen who stopped him sighed helplessly. It was because only the Salt Tribe had salt stones. If they didn't lick the salt stones, they would lose all their strength.

He took the salt stone wrapped in a large leaf and looked worried.

Such a small amount of salt stone is not enough to support the tribe through the entire winter.

However, because their tribe did not participate in the beast hunting, they could not produce more animal skins to exchange for salt stones.

Thirty animal hides were their limit.

"What tribe are those people from?"

If Shen Nong remembered correctly, he did not see the tribe with fishbone patterns on their faces during the beast tide.

"Didn't they say that all tribes will go to the Beast Tide? How come I haven't seen it?"

"Those are from the Water Tribe." Rabbit Wind took a quick look at the other party and continued, "They didn't participate in the beast tide hunting three winters ago."

Shen Nong seemed to be thinking about something. He watched the people from the Water Tribe walk out of the Salt Tribe after they finished trading the salt stone.

When passing by Shen Nong, the young man who had previously had an argument with the Yan tribe people had a look of resentment on his face, and was thinking about the Beast God punishing the Yan tribe.

Shen Nong glanced at the salt rocks in the arms of the Water Tribe, estimated the approximate amount, and had an idea of ​​the amount of salt rocks he had to exchange for from the Salt Tribe.

If these salt stones were to be made into fine salt, they would probably not even be able to fill his 30-centimeter-tall pottery jar.

The guard from the Lingmu tribe noticed Shen Nong's gaze and shouted fiercely: "Don't look around!"

Ze's face looked gloomy and he leaned forward as if to attack.

The guard had already noticed that there was no beast blood on Ze's body, and glanced at him with disdain, "You unawakened rubbish, you still want to duel with me?"

Others don’t know that even if Ze hasn’t awakened, his combat power is still very strong.

Tu Feng had the deepest feeling about Ze's strength. He, a level 5 orc warrior, could not beat Ze, let alone the opponent, a level 4 orc warrior.

Tu Feng and the other two were originally dissatisfied with the other party's attitude towards Shen Nong. After hearing what the other party said, Tu Feng immediately asked: "Then do you dare to duel with him?"

The guard exerted force with his arms, bulging his hard muscles, "Come on!"

Seeing that Ze was really going to accept the challenge, Shen Nong raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

He raised his hand and placed it on his muscular forearm, and the originally relaxed muscles instantly became stiff.

Shen Nong quickly withdrew his hand. He turned around and told Tu Feng and the others, "Hold the things well and don't cause any trouble. Let's go meet the priest of the Salt Department."

He had no choice but to listen to the priest's words and give up.

They lifted up the thing covered with large leaves in their arms and assured, "Don't worry, priest, it won't go bad."

Ze stared at the forearm that had been touched by the priest before, and seemed to still feel the warm touch remaining on the skin.

The guard thought that the people of the Wood Tribe were afraid of him, so he raised his head and said smugly, "You are a coward."

..

Lu San is in charge of exchanging salt with various tribes every year, but this year something is a little strange.

The chieftain personally went to him and told him that the Mu tribe only wanted animal skins in exchange for salt, but they could not give them salt stone, only a small amount of salt soil.

Lu San kept the chief's instructions in mind and waited for many days. The salt exchange period was almost over before he finally arrived at the Mu tribe.

His eyes were fixed on the things in the arms of Tufeng and the other three, but because of the leaves covering them, he couldn't see clearly inside.

But each of them only held a little in their arms, whether it was meat or animal skins, and the amount was definitely not much.

Lu San, who was already prepared to make a fortune from the Mu tribe, was in a bit of a dilemma.

The few things they carried were not as much as those from the Water Tribe.

However, these are not within Lu San's consideration. Anyway, no matter whether the Mu tribe has enough supplies or not, they cannot exchange them for salt stone today.

Lu San cleared his throat and said, "One hundred animal skins for one leaf of salt soil."

"What are you trying to steal? What the Water Tribe just took was not ten animal skins and a piece of salt stone!"

Tu Feng heard it clearly, and he asked, "Why can we only exchange a hundred hides for salt soil?"

Lu San looked unhappy. He acted as if he didn't want to change it or not. "If you think it's too much, don't change it. Other tribes still need to change. Don't stand in the way."

The rabbit wind suddenly stopped working, and salt stone was indispensable, so they had to change it.

But they didn't bring animal skins this time...

"No need for animal skins, use something else to exchange for salt stone." Rabbit Wind replied.

Lu San heard from the hunting team that the Mu tribe obtained a lot of animal skins during this beast hunting event.

The Mu tribe now says they don’t want to exchange animal skins, they must feel that the animal skins they are given are too much and they don’t want to give them.

Thinking of the chief's instructions, he said, "Your tribe will only accept animal skins in exchange for salt soil. Nothing else will do."

Shen Nong ignored Lu San's words and said, "I want to see your priest."

Lu San had long noticed that there were two unfamiliar faces in the Mu tribe's salt-exchanging team.

Among them was one who was as white and tender as the clouds in the sky, and was different from all the orcs he had ever seen.

"Who are you?" Lu San emphasized, "Not everyone can see our priests."

Shen Nong lifted the leaves in Tu Feng's arms, revealing what he was holding.

"What is he holding?"

Lu San's eyes were attracted and he studied what Tu Feng was holding. It seemed to be made of small branches crossed together and could hold something.

"I am a priest of the Wood Tribe. This is just a basket woven with branches." Shen Nong took out a painted pottery jar from the basket and handed it to Lu San. "Give this pottery jar to your priest, and he will decide whether to meet me or not."

Lu San didn't care, it was just a stone jar that had been polished a little thinner.

It is not often seen in other tribes, but there are many of their own.

But there are patterns painted on this stone jar. They only paint on their faces and bodies, but have never thought of painting on stone jars.

Not to mention that the stone jar looks pretty good after being painted.

He took the jar and wanted to take a closer look.

The moment he felt the weight of the jar, Lu San suddenly lowered his head and stared at the jar, feeling surprised.

How could the Mu tribe actually polish the stone jars to be so light?

Lu San suppressed his surprise, turned the jar and looked at the pattern on it.

After turning around, he stopped.

He looked up at Shen Nong with complicated eyes. The stripes painted on the can were not simple.

Above the cloud pattern are deer of various shapes and graceful postures, surrounding the body of the jar.

Apart from their priests, Lu San had never seen anyone who could record animals so vividly.

No, it should be said that the deer on the jar of the Wooden Tribe are more real than what their priests recorded.

Lu San had already put away his indifferent attitude towards the "stone jar" of the Wood Tribe. But when he thought of the chief's order, he snorted coldly: "You want to see our priest with a broken stone jar?"

He suddenly let go and threw the pottery jar at Shen Nong.

The pottery jar was close to his face, so he immediately pulled Shen Nong behind him and smashed the jar with one punch.

"Snapped".

The pottery jar broke into pieces and exploded at Shen Nong's feet.

Before everyone could react, Ze had already grabbed Lu San's neck with one hand.

"Ahem... let go..." Lu San's face turned red, his feet had already left the ground, and his hands were desperately digging into Ze's hands, trying to make Ze let go because of the pain.

But Ze seemed to be unconscious, and the strength of his hands increased instead of decreasing.

The people from the Salt Department finally reacted and stepped forward. They looked at him coldly. His imposing manner was so terrifying that they actually wanted to retreat.

The Mu tribe and the Yan tribe were in complete opposition at this time. Because the Yan tribe had captured the other side's small leader, they did not dare to act rashly for the time being.

Shen Nong said nothing, stroking the wrist that Ze had touched to ease the discomfort in his heart.

Looking at the broken pieces of pottery on the ground, Shen Nong felt a little distressed, because he had worked so hard to draw that!

"Who's looking for trouble in the Salt Department?"

A sturdy man walked over from a distance. He had a loud voice and was full of hostility. He stared straight at Shen Nong.

The people of the Salt Tribe respectfully placed their hands on their chests, bowed their heads and said, "Chief!"

Shen Nong didn't know when he had offended the chief of the Salt Tribe, but the look in that man's eyes showed that he wanted to kill him as soon as possible.

Ze felt Mang Lin's murderous intention towards Shen Nong, he pinched Lu San's neck and blocked Mang Lin's sight.

Mang Lin then looked at Ze. After the two looked at each other, Mang Lin felt the beast blood in his body becoming restless and uneasy.

After suppressing the inexplicable emotion, Mang Lin frowned and said coldly: "The small Mu tribe dares to take action in the Yanbu!"

Shen Nong patted Ze's arm, signaling him to let go.

Who knew that the next moment Lu San's eyes bulged out and he whimpered in pain.

Seeing Zhuang, Shen Nong helplessly stroked his forehead and whispered to Ze: "I want you to let go, not to squeeze tighter."

Ze lowered his head, frowned, loosened his hands, and threw Lu San directly to the ground.

"Don't misunderstand, Chief. My Mu tribe just wants to send some goodies to the Yan tribe, not to cause trouble."

Although Shen Nong's words were not offensive at all, it made Mang Lin feel like he had punched a cloud, soft and powerless.

They orcs will fight back if they are not convinced, so why is this guy the same as the old priest?

Not easy to deal with.

After listening to the old priest's words, Mang Lin suppressed his temper and refrained from killing the person who hurt his brother.

He looked at the broken pieces of pottery on the ground and said disdainfully: "It's really possible that any broken thing could be taken to the Salt Department."

"Our pottery jars are not broken things!" Tu Feng said angrily, "You didn't even look at them, what nonsense are you talking about!"

Mang Lin's eyes were like snakes, and he looked at Tu Feng sinisterly. His eyes fell on the thing in Tu Feng's arms, and he said coldly: "Smash everything in their hands."

"The sacred Salt Ministry cannot be polluted by these filth."

The people from the Salt Department took the order and immediately tried to snatch the baskets from Tu Feng and his men.

"Snapped".

The pottery jars were smashed one by one, the fragments flying everywhere, and some even hit several people from the Mu tribe.

Mang Lin stared at Shen Nong with a half-smile, his eyes filled with endless mockery.

Seeing the pottery jars that the tribe had worked so hard to make being smashed to pieces, and remembering how carefully the tribesmen were selecting the pottery jars, Tu Feng and his companions clenched their fists, wishing they could have a fight with the Salt Department.

Shen Nong listened to the sound of clay pots breaking one after another, and was thinking about asking the Ministry of Salt to pay for the losses.

Just as Shen Nong was thinking about how to set a trap for the Salt Department, a man from the Salt Department came running over and said to Mang Lin: "Chief! The priest asked you to go back..."

Mang Lin knew that the priest had sent people to secretly watch him. Although he was angry, he could only endure it for the time being.

Looking at the broken pottery jars, Mang Lin breathed a sigh of relief. He snorted coldly and left.

The salt tribe man who reported the news to the old priest did not leave, but walked towards Shen Nong, "Take the things on the ground and follow me."

After he finished speaking, he stared at the ground. After hearing the detailed description of the stone jars brought by the Wood Tribe, the priest asked him to lead the people of the Wood Tribe to see the priest.

It's just a stone jar, what's so special about it?

The priest actually wanted to meet him in person.

After Shen Nong and others packed up the pottery jars, they followed the man to the cave of the Salt Ministry priest.

The man first took the "stone jar" that had not been smashed and went in, and told them to wait outside.

After a while, the other party came out empty-handed and said to Shen Nong: "The priest asked you to go in."

Ze followed behind, but was stopped by the other party, "The priest only let him in alone."

Ze was tall, taller than the other man. He lowered his head slightly and said in a tough manner, "Get out of the way."

When the people from the Salt Department saw that Ze was trying to force his way in, they immediately surrounded him and pointed the stone masonry in their hands at Ze.

Shen Nong sighed lightly. If he really let this kid out, he could fight for several rounds when he came out.

"Tell your priest, if he won't let me bring anyone in, then come out on your own."

The Salt Department finally experienced the feeling of being choked. How could their supreme priest come out to meet people at will!

There was no choice, the man had to go in again.

This trip took even less time. Before Shen Nong had time to check if Ze was accidentally injured by Shi Mao from the Salt Department, the other party came out and notified him, "You two go in together."

The cave of the Salt Priest was very large, with torches hanging on both sides of the cave. Shen Nong smelled the smell of grease.

It is indeed a big tribe. Before he arrived, the Wood Tribe relied on wood struck by lightning to make fire, and the Salt Tribe even used animal fats to make torches for lighting.

“You made this?”

The priest of the Salt Ministry was a skinny old man.

He wore a leopard-skin hat on his head and held a cane in his left hand, with a fist-sized luminous pearl embedded on the top.

In the somewhat dark cave, a faint orange-red light was emitted.

Shen Nong's eyes lit up. If one wanted to see natural night-shining pearls in the interstellar space, one would have to explore and search for them on special volcanic planets.

Shen Nong had only seen pictures and had never seen her real face.

I didn't expect to see you here today.

Shen Nong noticed that the other party's right hand had been gently stroking a intact pottery jar that had just been delivered. "Master Priest, what do you think of this pottery jar from our Mu tribe?"

The salt priest paused for a moment, "Clay jar? That's a good name."

"The clay pot is OK."

Shen Nong raised his eyebrows. It seemed that this old priest was a connoisseur of goods. Unlike that clan leader, who was just a nobody.

Knowing the goods means that the Salt Department can cheat.

The salt priest stared at Shen Nong with cloudy eyes, and then asked: "Did you draw the things on this pottery jar?"

Shen Nong said indifferently: "Yes, I have practiced for a long time. I heard that you can do it, Master Priest?"

"You also studied in Beast City?"

The Salt Tribe priest's eyes were fixed on Shen Nong, not missing any of Shen Nong's expressions.

Shen Nong did not give a direct answer, but only said: "Master Priest, where did you learn this from? I am the same as you. Recording is not difficult, just practice more."

The old priest withdrew his gaze from Shen Nong. What the other party said was right.

In Beast City, recording with pictures is the most basic.

The high priest there would record it in writing.

Words are the most powerful things in the world. They are the only things that can record everything in the world.

However, in this remote wilderness, one priest from the Beast City is enough.

The old priest looked at the two men unnoticed. He did not sense the presence of animal blood from them.

In this situation, there are only two possibilities, either he has not awakened, or he is too strong for him to feel.

"Why did you come here from the Beast City?" The old priest asked Shen Nong, trying to find out whether he was hiding his true abilities or just pretending.

Shen Nong sneered in his heart. This old man almost carved the words "want to kill you" on his face.

It was a lie to fool the Mu tribe, and it was also a lie to fool the Yan tribe. Shen Nong began to make up stories, "Old priest, don't you know?"

After finishing speaking, Shen Nong showed an expression of understanding, "Yes, this place is terribly far from Beast City. The old priest must not have returned to Beast City for a long time."

The old priest was kept on suspense by Shen Nong, and he felt very uncomfortable, neither getting up nor down.

I couldn't help but tap the ground with my cane, "What on earth is this? Tell me now!"

Shen Nong then said slowly: "The High Priest of Beast City asked us substitute priests to spread his wisdom all over the earth. Every three winters, we must return to Beast City to tell the High Priest how the progress is."

When Ze, who had been guarding behind Shen Nong, heard this, he couldn't help but look at Shen Nong.

The priests will leave after three winters?

The old priest grasped the meaning behind Shen Nong's words and asked, "You still have to go back to Beast City every three winters?"

Shen Nong said seriously: "Yes, otherwise how would the high priest know how we spread his wisdom?"

"If you don't go back, the high priest will send someone to look for you."

The old priest frowned, "Why?"

"That must be because they are afraid that we will be lazy and don't want to go back." Shen Nong said clearly: "Look, which one is more comfortable, being a priest of a tribe outside or competing with a bunch of candidate priests in Beast City?"

The old priest knew the answer in his heart. He would rather be a respected priest in the Salt Ministry than return to the Beast City.

It seems that he cannot kill this person yet.

Since we can't kill, then choose to cooperate.

The old priest began to rub the pottery jar again, "I want you to teach me how to make pottery jars."

Finally, they started talking about business. Shen Nong smiled and said, "Then what will you give me in exchange, Master Priest?"

This was the first time the old priest heard someone speak to him like this. He had a feeling that he was not easy to deal with and that he was not someone who could be easily dealt with. "Salt stone."

"Salt stone..." Shen Nong seemed to be thinking, a little embarrassed, "Then how much salt stone do you want to exchange with me, Master Priest?"

The old priest was annoyed by Shen Nong's questions. He had never encountered anything like this before.

If you are unsure, you will get annoyed, so he goes straight to the point, "How much do you want?"

Shen Nong smiled even more happily, "We can take as much as we can, okay?"

The old priest frowned, "How many of you are here?"

"Not many, just eleven."

The old priest was secretly delighted and also put forward a condition, "Orcs are not allowed to change into beast form."

Shen Nong nodded, "Okay."

"good."

The old priest looked at the smile on Shen Nong's face and didn't know whether to say that the other person was stupid or smart.

Without changing into animal forms, how much could eleven people carry?

He couldn't stop smiling, and walked out of the cave with his cane, saying to the guard outside, "Let's go to the Salt Mountain."

The old priest followed Shen Nong's instructions and asked someone to bring Hu Xiao and the others who were guarding outside into the Salt Department.

"You guys come in with us."

Hu Xiao waved his hand and said, "Wait a minute, one of our tribesmen is sleeping, I'll go call him."

The man waved his hands impatiently, "Hurry up, don't keep the priest waiting."

Hu Xiao said nothing, turned around, transformed into a beast, and rushed into the mountains and forests.

"Boom." "Boom."

The ground shook slightly and huge footsteps were heard.

This is something only a behemoth can do.

The salt guards, unaware of the situation, immediately took precautions.

Until the black bear stood not far from the salt department.

Hu Xiao transformed into a human form, picked up the animal skin that had fallen on the ground, and wrapped it around his waist again.

He said considerately: "Our people are here, but your Salt Department is too small, it can't get in, so it's just outside."

The old priest stood in front of the salt mountain, showing off the huge wealth of their salt department.

Shen Nong knew that the Ministry of Salt had a salt mine, but it was much larger than he thought, enough to feed tens of thousands of people for nearly a hundred years.

If it's this big, the old priest shouldn't hate him too much...

"Priest! Behemoth!"

The guard outside the Salt Department ran over quickly and told the old priest what happened in front of the tribe.

Upon hearing this, the old priest glared at Shen Nong.

"Among the eleven people you mentioned, one is a behemoth?"

Shen Nong nodded, "Yes, it is a member of our tribe."

"Is the High Priest going to go back on his word?" Shen Nong acted surprised. "The High Priest said that the Beast God hates people who don't keep their word the most. Such people cannot be summoned by the Beast God after death."

The old priest gritted his teeth, "I didn't!"

Shen Nong smiled innocently, "Then I feel relieved."

He waved his hand and called to Hu Xiao and the others who came over, "Come and move the salt!"

Ze, who had been feeling depressed because of Shen Nong's departure, couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth when he saw Shen Nong's bright smile.

He decided that after three winters, he would follow the priest.

He went wherever the priests went.

Because of the black bear, a corner of the salt mountain in the Salt Department was lost.

The old priest looked at the missing piece and his blood dropped with pain.

"If the method you say doesn't work, the Wood Tribe will not exist."

Shen Nong was surprised and asked, "How could that be, Master Priest? Although there will be failures, there will definitely be success. The Beast God does not like liars."

"That's better!"

The old priest covered his aching heart and walked away with the help of his cane.

Shen Nong felt that he could see the angry shadow of the old priest from his back.

This is just the beginning.

If he doesn't make the Ministry of Salt bleed heavily this time, he wouldn't be named Shen.

"System, don't forget to fill half of my warehouse after we go far away."

Shen Nong took the chicken feather as a token of authority, "The old man said that we can take as much as we can. I didn't say to fill it all up, so it doesn't count as violating any system rules."

The system's voice trembled slightly, "Got it."

Oh my god! Oh my god!

This must be the glorious moment of its life!

It actually followed the host and broke the rules!

It's so exciting!