After traveling all this way, one day, Qiao Yu finally looked at the sign she had made on the shore and said to everyone, "We're here."
So everyone went ashore and hid the raft as before.
"You guys wait here first, I'll go take a look at the situation. We'll take action after we find out clearly." Qiao Yu said.
"good."
Qiao Yu went towards the tribe alone.
The place where they landed was some distance away from the main tribe. They had to walk along the stream for another ten minutes to reach the slag dump near the tribe.
The last time Qiao Yu came, she'd walked this route two or three times and never encountered anyone. That's because there was a stream nearby. While not large, it was still about five or six meters wide and more than a person's depth. Crossing it without a boat was quite challenging. The stream marked a boundary between the tribe and the rest of the world, a natural barrier that wasn't too difficult to cross.
This is probably why the tribesmen never come here to hunt, as they have to cross a river before the roads run dry. The miners also dump their waste here for the same reason.
The reason why Qiao Yu was so confident in letting the people in the tribe wait there, and was also certain that the iron ore would not be discovered if it was transported along this road, was because of this.
But this time, she walked from the direction of the stream, that is, from the west to the east of the tribe. When she was almost near the tribe, Qiao Yu actually met a group of people. It seemed that this group of people came from the northeast.
If this group of people had come as hunters, Qiao Yu wouldn't have found it strange. But these people, some carrying rattan backpacks, others carrying bamboo loads, dragged their feet, all covered in dust and looking exhausted, like they'd come a long way. Furthermore, there were quite a few of them, over a hundred in all. This was a bit strange.
It is impossible to go hunting with so many people.
What made Qiao Yu feel even more uneasy was that although they were also wearing animal skins, the styles of their skins and the decorations on their bodies were completely different from those of Ji Zhan and his group that Qiao Yu had met.
In order to confirm his guess, Qiao Yu moved carefully among the trees, slowly approaching the direction they were coming from.
Soon, the group approached. Someone pointed ahead and muttered something. The person next to him probably answered him, also mumbling a long string of words. Qiao Yu didn't understand a word.
But Qiao Yu could understand what Ji Zhan and the others said.
It seems that this person is really not from Ji Zhan's tribe.
Are there other tribes nearby? What are these people from other tribes doing here?
Qiao Yu looked at their gradually receding backs, lost in thought.
She landed carefully behind the group.
Primitive society had nothing but abundant trees. Qiao Yu did not walk on the ground, but leaped from tree to tree like a monkey, hiding himself among the lush leaves and avoiding being discovered.
While walking, the group passed by a slag dump.
They said they were passing by, but in fact the road they were taking was still one or two hundred meters away from the slag, so they just went around it.
Qiao Yu followed behind and saw from afar that the slag pile was like a small hill, one or two times larger than when she came here in the spring. She was overjoyed.
However, she didn't stop at the slag heap, instead following the group forward. She had initially worried they might enter the tribe, making it difficult for her to follow them. However, not long after passing the slag heap, she saw a wall built ahead, enclosing the smelting site she had previously seen. Although there was a gate in the wall facing this direction, it was currently closed. From her perch high in the tree, Qiao Yu could still see people busy at work in the smelting site.
But the group of people she was following did not go in that direction. They turned a corner and headed north.
They were walking along the edge of the woods, as if they wanted to stay as far away from the main tribe as possible. This was convenient for Qiao Yu, who was still following them closely in the tree.
After following for about twenty minutes, Qiao Yu stopped.
Because there was an open space in front, this open space was larger than the Dragon Tribe's training ground. At this time, there were actually a row of stalls set up in the open space, which looked like a trade fair.
Qiao Yu's eyes widened, followed by a burst of uncontrollable joy.
I didn't expect to stumble upon a trade fair! It seems their Dragon Tribe might be able to harvest something other than iron ore this time.
To avoid being seen, she lowered herself against the tree, peering through the gaps. She saw the group of people who had just passed by walk along the middle aisle of the stalls all the way to the end, where they dispersed, with several people forming each stall, and set up about ten stalls.
From time to time, people came from the direction of the big tribe, in groups of three or four, looking around the stalls. The market was very lively. Qiao Yu rolled his eyes, jumped a few times on the tree, and disappeared from sight.
She quietly returned to where the Dragon Tribe were hiding.
"How is it, Yu? Is the iron ore still there?" Man asked hurriedly as he saw Qiao Yu coming back.
"The iron ore is still there." Qiao Yu reassured everyone before adding, "But I noticed they're holding a trade fair."
Everyone's eyes lit up: "Trade fair? Can we go?"
Qiao Yu didn't answer but asked, "What do you think?"
Not only the people of the Valley Tribe, but also those of the Great Stone Tribe were familiar with Qiao Yu's tactics. The only exception was the Shanyin Tribe, who, since their merger, Qiao Yu had not personally led the team and, naturally, had never experienced this kind of soul-searching.
They looked at Qiao Yu in confusion.
Weren't they the ones asking? Why was Yu asking back? Who was the leader?
The people from the Valley Tribe and the Stone Tribe quickly responded.
The one who answered the fastest was Dian. He looked at everyone and said, "No. Have you forgotten when we went to the trade fair before? It was only attended by a few familiar tribes nearby. What would your reaction be if you saw a strange tribe attending?"
Ji had come to his senses by now and quickly said, "Of course we should investigate them to see which tribe they are from, which direction they are in, how many people there are, and whether they will pose a threat to our tribe."
The others nodded: "Indeed." Then everyone's face showed disappointment.
Ji was Hui's son, and his scheming and tactics were similar to his father's. Ever since Hui's dismissal as elder, and the disgrace to his family, life had become difficult. Needless to say, the people of the Valley and Stone Tribes were unfamiliar with them, and had no intention of becoming familiar with them. Even those from the Shanyin Tribe who had previously flattered them had distanced themselves from them.
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