Qiao Yu's eyes lit up.

This salt was much cheaper than the Sun Tribe's. It seemed she would have to go back and get another basket of dried meat to exchange for more salt, so the tribe would have more resilience.

Seeing the salt, Qiao Yu also saw pottery on the opposite stall. This pottery was better made than the Sun Tribe's, even glazed, and the grade was completely different.

Qiao Yu also saw linen clothes and rolls of linen on the stall. The warp and weft of the linen were very neatly interwoven. Although not particularly fine, it was obvious that the linen was woven on a loom.

Qiao Yu's spirits became more and more lifted, and he was looking forward to the market even more.

She had a feeling that she would be able to exchange for a lot of good things here.

It’s a pity that they didn’t bring much dried meat, so they had to make some choices.

She was just about to browse the stalls when she heard a commotion. Turning, she saw a group of people approaching from the road in the direction of the main tribe. The first people she saw were six or seven people, men and women, young and old, all tied up with rattan, half-naked, and covered in wounds. They staggered as they were pushed and shoved by a group of men behind them.

The people who were exchanging things at the salt and pottery stalls raised their heads and glanced over there, then lowered their heads again and continued trading with others. They seemed not to care about this scene and acted as if it was commonplace.

Qiao Yu was lost in thought. Seeing the group of people approaching, she quickly moved aside to avoid being affected and getting into trouble.

The group of people drew closer, and only then did Qiao Yu see that the faces of the bound people were branded with what looked like words. They were all skinny, with dark skin and numb expressions, and they just walked forward mechanically.

After walking a little further, they were pushed to the left and into the gap between two stalls.

Qiao Yu frowned slightly.

She had only been looking at the things on the stalls and hadn't noticed what was inside the two stalls. However, the distance between the two stalls was indeed quite far, as if they were a passage.

"What did the slaves of Manager Ji Er do wrong? Why are they all being sold?" The stall owner behind Qiao Yu probably saw those people walking away, so he started gossiping in a low voice with the people at the stall next to him.

"Hey, his family is the worst at torturing their slaves. They don't give them food, make them do the heaviest work, and then they're beaten and scolded. Two or three of them die every month. The slaves were on the verge of death, so they tried to escape last night, but were caught. They killed the two leaders, but they couldn't bear to kill the others. If they kept them at home, they were afraid they would escape again, so they just sold them. At least they could get some money. With the money, they can buy a few more."

"Humph, no matter how much we buy, we can't stand the way they treat us." Another person said, "I feed my slaves well. How can they work if they are not well fed?"

"Haha, come on. What did you feed them? They're still full!"

"If they don't want wild vegetables, do we feed them corn and dried meat?" the man said confidently. "I don't beat them for no reason. At most, I just scold them if they don't work fast enough. I'm already a very good slave owner. Slaves should act like slaves. Who told their tribe to be defeated?"

"That's true. You're considered lucky indeed. Forget about Steward Ji's family, look at Steward Yao's family. Every year, a few slaves die."

Listening to the two people start to discuss the quality of each stall, and seeing that the stall owner next to her was looking at her with suspicion, Qiao Yu turned and left, walking towards the stall below.

When she met Ji Zhan and his group, she knew that this large tribe had slaves. Furthermore, slaves in this era were mostly from tribal wars. Unless two tribes had a life-or-death feud, enslaving the defeated party would only give them the opportunity for revenge, and they would kill all the men in the tribe, otherwise they would be enslaved.

Qiao Yu, born in the apocalypse, had long since hardened her heart. She couldn't change her current situation, nor did she have the financial resources or the ability to buy back the slaves and free them. She had no way of predicting their behavior or the trouble they might cause. She could only choose to keep to herself and manage her own tribe.

Therefore, she put the matter of slaves behind her as she turned around, and now she was thinking about the "money" that the two people had just mentioned.

Is there currency already?

She remembered that the earliest currency was seashells, which appeared in the Xia Dynasty. Could the "shells" these people were referring to be seashells?

But the loom first appeared in the Shang Dynasty, right? Judging from the linen on the stall in front, it seems that the loom also appeared.

So, did the Yellow River Basin develop to the Xia or Shang Dynasty? Or is this a fictional era?

Unable to figure it out, Qiao Yu simply put it all behind him.

By now she had reached the aisle between the two stalls.

She glanced into the passage and saw an open space surrounded by wooden fences that looked like cells. Some of the fences were empty, while others were already holding slaves. The person who had just been escorted in was being pushed into one of the fences.

Outside the fence stood some people in linen clothes, and behind them were their subordinates in animal skins. They were pointing and talking at the newly arrived slaves.

It was impossible to stay in such a troubled place for long. Just as Qiao Yu was about to leave, he saw several women being escorted towards the end of the stall. One of the women was tied up and her mouth was stuffed with straw, so she could only make whimpering sounds. Although the others were not tied up, they all looked terrified and numb.

Qiao Yu looked at them for a few seconds and found that there were no marks on their faces. They were obviously not war slaves, but were brought here by their tribesmen in exchange for food. This reminded Qiao Yu of the women from the Stone Tribe who were taken to the trade fair.

However, the women of the Stone Tribe were traded away to be brought back as wives, and would live a normal life in the tribe like ordinary people, except they could no longer see their parents and siblings. As for the women taken to the slave market, it was hard to say what their fate would be.

Qiao Yu watched them being escorted into the passage, then left and continued browsing the stalls.

But her good mood was still ruined. Even when she saw ginger later, the price was much lower than when she first went to the Sun Tribe, but she was not very happy.

It wasn't until she walked up to a stall and saw what was on it that her mood was replaced by surprise.

"What is this? How do I exchange it?" she asked, pointing at the golden object on the stall.