Shu also realized that as the "leader of the valley tribe", he could not just abandon everyone and go to the valley tribe to look for Qiao Yu.

He shouted, "Everyone, rest where you are."

He wanted to wait until he sat down to appease Ming, but he didn't expect the Shanyin tribe to be so difficult to fool. An elder-like man came over and asked him, "Where is your tribe? Why did you bring us here?"

According to their intelligence, even if they took a detour and an extra day's journey, they should have reached the Valley Tribe by now. But this place didn't look like the Valley Tribe at all. It seemed like Shu and the others were trying to use the wooden object on the river to take them somewhere else.

All the people in the Shanyin tribe looked at the tree, waiting for his answer.

But Shu looked at Man.

"Ming, do you know where our Valley Tribe is? Do you also know where the Stone Tribe is? Not only do you know, but the elders of your tribe also know?" Man asked.

Ming glanced at Dian and the others and nodded: "I know the approximate direction." That's why they followed him obediently for so many days.

"Since you all know, do Lei's group know too? What if they don't fight with the Sun Tribe, but instead chase us here, take a shortcut and get to our tribe first to guard it, waiting for us to run into their trap? Then we're doomed, right?"

Ming was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.

He hadn't expected this. He thought that once they escaped the Shanyin Tribe and were out of the pursuit of Lei and his men, they would be safe. After all, Lei still had the Divine Tribe watching him, and the people of the Divine Tribe would definitely not give Lei the time and energy to pursue them from a distance.

But what if? What if something goes wrong over there and the fight doesn't break out?

He looked at Man, then at the tree, and finally his gaze fell on Dian: "So how did you arrange it?"

These two tribes are strange and mysterious.

"Our two tribes merged into one after the snow season. Because our population increased after the merger, the original tribes could not accommodate us, so we found another place and built a new tribe." Man finally told Ming and others the truth.

Originally, if Ming and the others hadn't asked, or if they were easy to fool, he would have said so when he got to the Dragon Tribe. But if Ming quit and wanted to take his people away, then he wouldn't have that choice.

Just like what Yu once said: Once you have a piece of fat in your mouth, can you spit it out?

Ming walked along the way, especially when he saw that the people of the Stone Tribe still did not react at all and followed them silently as they approached the Valley Tribe. He felt that something was wrong. Thinking back to the attitudes of Dian and Qiang when Yu wanted to become the leader, he had a vague suspicion in his heart.

Now his guess was finally confirmed.

If the Valley Tribe and the Stone Tribe were independent, even if they merged into one large tribe, with the checks and balances among the three forces, Ming was very confident that he could guarantee the status and voice of himself and his men in the tribe.

But now, the two tribes have merged together long ago...

Kuangfeng's voice sounded nearby, interrupting Ming's thoughts: "You have already merged together. Is Yu your leader?"

"Yes." Man said.

Man Ke didn't want to give Ming too much time to hesitate, so he advised him, "Ming, think about it. This is a good thing for you. If we were still in our original place and the two tribes hadn't merged, would you be confident that you could withstand Lei's attack? What if Lei got the support of the God Tribe? Now that we've moved and built a raft, we can take it directly along the river to the new tribe. Even if Lei had extraordinary abilities, he wouldn't be able to find us."

"Besides, we've exchanged so much salt that even if we don't come to the trade fair next snow season, we won't be short of salt, right? Merging with us will only benefit you."

His last words served as a reminder to Ming.

At this trade fair, both the Valley and Stone tribes exchanged everything they brought for salt. Meanwhile, the Shanyin tribe, so focused on leading their people out, had no interest in exchanging anything. Consequently, they didn't have much salt left.

If he had not followed Shu and the others and merged into the new tribe, but instead established a separate tribe, they would probably have to take risks to attend the trade fair during the snow season.

Given their current situation, attending the trade fair would be tantamount to seeking death.

"Did you deliberately not remind us to change more salt?" The elder-looking man behind Ming asked angrily.

Man Yi spread his hands and said: "Our two tribes replaced everything with salt in front of you. Do I need to be reminded of this?"

The man was speechless for a moment. Ming was also a little embarrassed.

It was indeed his fault for not considering it carefully.

"No matter what, we sincerely want to merge with you, but you didn't tell us the truth, which is equivalent to deceiving us and bringing us here with you. If we didn't ask, would you continue to hide it? You are too unkind. No matter what, you have to give us an explanation." said the man who looked like an elder.

Man ignored him and asked Ming: "Ming, who is this..."

"This is the elder of our tribe, Hui. Everyone calls him Elder Hui." Mingdao.

Man then looked at the man: "Elder Hui, right? What do you want us to say to you?"

Elder Hui glanced at Ming and said, "Let's discuss this."

"Okay." Man took a step back and said to the people from the Dragon Tribe, "Everyone get on the raft first and find a place to rest. We'll set off when Yu arrives."

The men of the Dragon Tribe were all carrying loads. They could have put them down, but it seemed like it had just rained, and both the ground and the ankle-deep grass were wet. They were worried that putting down their loads would get the salt in the wicker baskets wet, so they kept them on their shoulders.

Hearing Man's words, those who were not carrying loads immediately started to move. They got on the raft first and put the wooden planks between the two rafts to make it easier for people to walk from the raft closer to the dock to the other raft.

After he had set up the planks, the men carrying their loads filed up one by one, walking past the rafts in an orderly manner and placing their loads on each raft in turn. This scene caught the eyes of Ming, Kuangfeng and the others, and they were all a little surprised.

They were not only surprised at the strict discipline and obedience of the men of the Dragon Tribe, but also surprised that the thing floating on the water could bear the heavy weight of so many men and did not sink.

Elder Hui ignored the Dragon Tribe's commotion and asked Ming directly, "Ming, what are your plans? In my opinion, we can't just follow them. We should negotiate terms with them. If we just go along with this floating thing, will we still have a place in the tribe? We're a large tribe. Even if we want to merge, they should listen to us, not us."