"That's the best. If Yu doesn't go, we don't know what to do with those Taos." Someone said.

Everyone nodded.

Hei was impatient and didn't think too much about it. Seeing that everyone was still standing there, he asked, "Yu, can we set off now?"

"Wait." Qiao Yu stood in the middle of the crowd, "I have something to say."

Everyone quieted down and listened to her.

"Hei, Qinglang, Yan..." Qiao Yu called out the names of the twenty or so members of the hunting team, "Twenty-three of you will stay to guard the tribe. The rest of you will follow me to the trade fair."

Everyone was a little confused and didn't know why Qiao Yu didn't let these people go.

In the past, I made all the decisions on my own. Except for women and children, any man who wanted to go could go.

When Man heard that his name was not called, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

Yu had said she would make him her assistant when the snow season arrived, and now that she had asked him to go to the trade fair with her, it was clear she was fulfilling her promise.

When Qinglang heard that he couldn't go, he immediately refused to go. He jumped out and said, "Why? Why can't I go? Hei can't go either! Yu, you're just taking revenge. You didn't take anyone who had a problem with you with you."

Qiao Yu gave him a cold look. "You're quite self-aware. I knew you held a grudge against me, but I still took you. What if you did something along the way and had someone ambush me, killing me? I don't want to put my life or the lives of the other tribesmen in danger. So isn't the reason for not taking you with me obvious?"

"You..." Qinglang was speechless.

Shan and Qiao Yu hadn't done anything against them during this time. Qiao Yu had even called Huo over to discuss tribal matters a while ago. Although they ended up parting on bad terms due to an argument with Lu, it at least showed that Shan and Qiao Yu, out of magnanimity, wouldn't do anything to them.

I didn't expect that Qiao Yu would now openly exclude dissidents and say it clearly.

He turned to the crowd and said, "Did you hear that? Did you all hear that? Yu herself admitted that anyone who couldn't go to the trade fair was someone she disliked."

Yan stared at Qiao Yu with a very unhappy expression.

"Qinglang, what nonsense are you talking about?" Shu scolded. "You're the only one Yu dislikes. Don't drag everyone down with you. Yu must have her reasons for making this arrangement."

He said to Qiao Yu, "Yu, tell me why you did this. Do you still want us to go up the mountain and take a look? The traps and snares we set yesterday must be full of prey. If we don't go up the mountain, we'll be at a huge loss."

When everyone heard what Shu said, their eyes lit up.

Yes, it hadn't snowed yesterday, so the wild animals would have come out to forage. There must still be prey in the traps and snares. If I didn't take them, I would have missed out.

"That's not the case." Qiao Yu smiled. Seeing that no one except Qinglang spoke, even Shanshi, Qinglang's usual yes-man, did not speak, she was very satisfied.

This shows that everyone is convinced of her.

She stopped smiling and turned serious. "There are refugees in the forest. I think everyone knows about this, right?"

Everyone looked stern and nodded.

The so-called exiles were those who had committed serious offenses and were driven out of their tribes. They fled to the mountains, either to survive alone or to gather in groups for warmth. Their situation was even more difficult than that of the valley tribes, and they faced death with the arrival of the snowy season. Therefore, they would take risks and rob the tribes when they went to the trade fair.

In addition, there are small tribes that are desperate and facing dire straits. Because food is too scarce during the snow season, they disguise themselves as refugees and rob everywhere during the trade fair.

These people are scary, so every time we go to a trade fair, we are extra careful on the road.

"Since we need to prevent the influx of people, shouldn't we let Hei, Qinglang and the others go? Wouldn't we be safer that way?" someone asked.

"Before answering your question, let me ask you two questions first." Qiao Yu is now ready to seize any opportunity to enlighten everyone, making sure these simple-minded people become smarter.

Everyone fell silent, waiting for Qiao Yu to ask questions.

"First, how many people attended the trade fair in previous years? How many this year?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, looking at each other, and asking the people around them: "Are you going too?"

Seeing the scene slowly quiet down after a period of commotion, Qiao Yu asked, "Is there anyone here who isn't going?"

No one spoke.

"How many people from each team are not going?" Qiao Yu asked again.

The members of the hunting team live together day and night, and their relationship is deeper than that of others. Therefore, when they go out, they stand in a group, and the members of each team basically stand together.

"Everyone in our team will go." Shu answered first.

"The same goes for our team." Hei Zai Man also followed.

"Our team will go too." Cang said.

After hearing the captains of the three teams report the number, everyone fell silent.

In previous years, food was scarce, and even the men themselves didn't have enough to eat, so how could they possibly participate in the trade? Therefore, many men chose not to go, but would ask their friends to exchange the little food they had saved for salt. They would then go up the mountain in groups before the snow fell too deep, hoping to catch even one more rabbit.

But this year, because the harvest over the past ten days had been bountiful, with enough left for everyone to eat, everyone had some leftovers and wanted to go to the fair to see if there was anything they could exchange. Furthermore, with so much meat, hides, and yams to bring, it was difficult to carry them all, let alone help others carry them.

So every household had someone going, and some fathers and sons or brothers would go together if they were both in a hunting party.

"The second question is, all of us young and strong men have left, and only the elderly, the weak, the sick, the women and the children are left in the tribe. If refugees or small tribes come in to rob and plunder, what will we face when we come back?" Qiao Yu asked loudly again.

Everyone shuddered when they thought of this scene.

If they came back from the trade fair happily and saw that the tribe had been robbed, the elderly and children had been killed, the women had been abducted, and there were only corpses in the tribe, what was the point of them living?

This situation is simply unimaginable.