Chapter 29
In the end, Bai Tu managed to use the excuse of “being injured and unable to travel” to win Lang Ze a chance to avoid punishment.
Lang Ze, completely unaware of how close he had come to disaster, wasn’t satisfied after criticizing the Hawk Tribe and began rambling to Bai Tu. His main point? Trading with the Hawk Tribe was fine, but absolutely no food should be given to them.
“What if they eat the food you make and decide to take you back to their tribe?!” Lang Ze declared with full conviction. “I’m sure that’s what they’re thinking!”
Bai Tu: “…” Whether or not the Hawk Tribe had such intentions, Bai Tu didn’t know. But it was clear that the Wolf Tribe had a big tail it couldn’t quite hide anymore!
Even after Bai Tu assured him, Lang Ze still felt it wasn’t safe enough. He tried enlisting his older brother as backup. “Brother, you have to keep an eye on Bai Tu! Don’t let the Hawk Tribe take him away!”
Lang Qi fell silent for a moment, seriously contemplating the question: Would breaking his legs still allow him to travel?
Bai Tu interrupted the brothers before the situation could escalate. “Let’s go buy a few more baskets of fruit.”
He was a little disappointed that he hadn’t found any new staple foods, but discovering fruits was still a good thing. The new fruits they found were grapes and pomegranates—perfect for eating during their journey back.
After buying the fruit, the beastman selling it packed up his salt and left. A new group of beastmen came to occupy the stall, unloading their baskets and opening one of them.
Just as Bai Tu was about to leave, he caught a glimpse of what was inside one of the baskets and froze. Pointing at it, he asked, “What’s that?”
“Fire fruit. Do you want some?” the beastman replied, picking one up and handing it to him. “It doesn’t taste great, but in winter, you don’t need to light a fire if you eat it—it warms you right up.”
Lang Ze and the others came over to take a look, only to recoil immediately. They had seen this thing before and had even tasted it once. The first time they came to the market, they’d spotted the bright red fruit and assumed it would be sweet. One bite in, they had nearly died on the spot.
Since then, they had sworn never to touch it again. The beastman wasn’t lying—eating it really did warm you up, but it did so by making your tongue and throat burn like fire.
Lang Qi glanced at the fruit. He recognized it as well. Fire fruit used to be popular in certain tribes.
However, around the Blood Wolf Tribe, where there was an abundance of firewood and no shortage of warmth, there was no need for it, so no one ever traded for it.
Later, rumors began to spread that eating too much fire fruit caused sores in the mouth, a burning sensation in the chest, and in severe cases, partial loss of voice. As a result, fewer tribes wanted it, and only a few still used it.
Bai Tu took the so-called fire fruit from the beastman, but instead of eating it, he examined it carefully. Sure enough, it was chili peppers.
If there was one thing Bai Tu felt had been missing from his meals recently, it was seasonings like chili or cumin.
Eating meat without the right spices made it half as enjoyable. Although he had experimented with apples and garlic to create a couple of makeshift condiments, eating the same thing repeatedly had grown tiresome.
Over the past couple of days, he’d been lamenting the lack of spices at the market, and now, as if someone had heard his prayers, chilies had appeared out of nowhere. It felt like someone had handed him a pillow just as he was about to doze off—nothing could make him happier.
Taking a deep breath to calm his excitement, Bai Tu asked, “How much salt for these fire fruits?”
“One bowl of salt per basket,” the beastman replied.
Lang Ze immediately objected, clearly unhappy with the price. “Who are you trying to fool?! Two baskets for one bowl of salt and no one would even want it!”
The moment Lang Ze said this, not only Lang Qi but also Bai Qi and Tu Xun turned to look at him. Even Bai Tu, who had been ecstatic about finding chilies, momentarily shifted his gaze from the peppers to Lang Ze.
It wasn’t surprising that everyone was shocked—this was practically a miracle.
After all, Lang Ze had never haggled before. Whatever price was asked, he would pay it without question. Bai Tu had heard plenty of his “glorious stories” about this over the past few days.
This year, with both Lang Qi and Bai Tu keeping an eye on him, Lang Ze had at least avoided being a complete pushover. While he hadn’t managed to keep silent the entire time, he also hadn’t gotten scammed, which was already a significant improvement.
That alone was enough to make everyone feel relieved, but today he had gone even further—he actually haggled!
Lang Ze basked in the astonished looks of everyone around him and whispered proudly to Bai Tu, “See? I’m useful!”
He had figured it out—just persuading Bai Tu wasn’t enough. He needed to prove to Bai Tu that he was useful. That was the only way he could secure a higher position in Bai Tu’s heart than the Hawk Tribe.
His brother might already be useless, but he couldn’t afford to be. Lang Ze didn’t finish the rest of his thoughts, but both Bai Tu and Lang Qi could easily fill in the blanks just from the look on his face.
Bai Tu hesitated to speak, silently thinking that Lang Ze was bound to get himself into trouble sooner or later.
Lang Qi, meanwhile, stayed silent, also thinking that his younger brother was long overdue for a beating.
For the sake of the chili peppers, Bai Tu once again pleaded on Lang Ze’s behalf. “He’s just trying to save salt. The kid’s still young…”
Lang Qi glanced at Bai Tu and then shifted his gaze to the baskets of chili peppers. “One bowl of salt for three baskets.” Chili peppers were already shunned by many tribes, and hardly any beastmen wanted them. How could their price be high?
The beastmen selling the peppers had initially thought they’d struck gold when they saw how excited Bai Tu was. They had hoped to fleece him a little.
When Lang Ze had countered with one bowl of salt for two baskets, they thought they’d still managed to get a good deal. Although it was cheaper than their initial offer, it was still better than what they usually sold for. But they hadn’t expected Lang Qi to cut straight to the real price, leaving them no room for profit.
Even Bai Tu was surprised that the price could go even lower. The prices he had inquired about before had mostly been for common items like fruits, which were fairly consistent.
Rarer goods were slightly more expensive, staple grains cost more, and meat was the most expensive of all.
These general trends made it easy to judge whether a seller was being honest. But chili peppers were something he was encountering for the first time, so he had no idea what a fair price would be. One bowl of salt for three baskets was much lower than he had expected.
Since it was so cheap, there was no reason not to buy it all. Bai Tu used two bowls of salt to purchase all six baskets of chili peppers.
Chili peppers were lightweight—one basket of peppers weighed less than half a basket of fruit. Each beastman in the group could easily carry a basket of fruit on their backs and hold a basket of peppers in their hands. Bai Tu didn’t have to carry anything himself—Lang Qi took even the last basket from him.
When they had first arrived, over a hundred beastmen had each been carrying full baskets. Now, on the journey back, more than half of them were walking leisurely with their loads significantly lightened.
Even with a few baskets of grains and fruit, the group was still relaxed. Ma Xin and his partner traveled with them, helping to care for the silkworms while also paying attention to the route for future reference.
Lang Ze, with even more free time on his hands, stuck close to Bai Tu, his intentions obvious to anyone with eyes.
However, food supplies were running low for the group. Apart from untouchable staple grains, all they had left were fruits and two baskets of roasted meat.
The roasted meat wasn’t very appetizing—no matter how much effort they put into improving the flavor, it still wasn’t great. As a result, Lang Ze and the younger wolves, who had been looking forward to better meals, were all listless, dragging their feet and walking without any energy.
That is, until the group crossed the second mountain. At that point, all the young wolves erupted into cheers.
Crossing this mountain meant they could finally hunt! The area around the market had been thoroughly cleared of prey, but now they were far enough away that there were animals to hunt again.
New prey meant fresh food, and the wolves couldn’t stop thinking about the delicious meal they’d had on the way to the market. Just remembering it was enough to make them drool.
After two or three days of continuous travel, everyone was starting to feel a bit worn out. Lang Qi and Bai An decided that the group would rest here for the night. With prey nearby, it was a perfect spot to both recover and stock up on fresh meat.
The young wolves, overjoyed by the news, dropped their baskets without a second thought and bolted in another direction. Moments later, Bai Tu heard a chorus of wolf howls echoing through the air.
Lang Qi did a quick headcount, and soon another hunting team set out to join them.
As it turned out, the lure of good food was a powerful motivator. Despite their hunger and lower stamina compared to the adult wolves, the young wolves managed to return before the second team, carrying a catch that was just as large.
When the young wolves dropped a massive water buffalo, weighing over a ton, onto the ground, they immediately collapsed in a disorganized heap nearby.
The weight of the buffalo wasn’t enough to tire them out, but they had run at full speed to get there, captured the prey, and brought it straight back without stopping—all in the hopes of getting to eat dinner just a little sooner.
Their sheer determination would shock anyone watching.
Lang Ze, still bursting with energy, sidled up to Bai Tu. “Tu, can you cook dinner tonight?”
Though the Snow Rabbit Tribe had learned many cooking techniques under Bai Tu’s guidance, Lang Ze still felt that Bai Tu’s cooking had the best flavor—no matter if the ingredients were exactly the same.
Bai Tu naturally wouldn’t refuse such a request. He was hungry, too.
Food had been limited over the past few days, and everyone had been rationing carefully. Bai Tu had been eating mostly fruit, saving the staple grains for the tribe’s future survival.
The story Bao Duo had shared about his tribe’s struggles had set off alarm bells in Bai Tu’s mind.
The population in the surrounding tribes near the Snow Rabbit Tribe was also increasing—indeed, it seemed like the entire Beast God Continent was experiencing population growth, the only difference being the speed of that growth.
More people meant more food was needed, and the Snow Rabbit Tribe, being the weakest and easiest to bully, was in a precarious position.
The Mad Lion Tribe had already shown signs of wanting to encroach on neighboring territories. They had even attempted to weaken and dismantle the Snow Rabbit Tribe entirely. At its core, one of the main reasons for this was food scarcity. The Lion Tribe’s population was large, and signs of food shortages were beginning to appear. Thanks to their strength and combat abilities, they hadn’t yet reached the point of starvation, but it was only a matter of time.
In many areas, prey was a shared resource. Migratory herds might wander through one tribe’s territory today and another’s tomorrow.
If the first tribe hunted heavily, the second tribe would have fewer animals to hunt.
Just because the Snow Rabbit Tribe had enough food now didn’t mean that would always be the case.
Bai Tu planned to give a portion of the seeds to the Blood Wolf Tribe—not only because their two groups had been traveling together, but also because their proximity meant that if the Blood Wolf Tribe ever ran out of food, the Snow Rabbit Tribe would suffer as well.
So whether or not the seeds were all used this year, they couldn’t be eaten.
They had to be saved until the first batch of crops matured. This included the wheat, even though Bai Tu had arranged with the traders to exchange more wheat at the next market. Who could guarantee how much they would bring next time? What if it wasn’t enough?
The grains had to be preserved, but the freshly caught prey didn’t. Bai Tu began to consider what to cook.
The dishes he had made previously were well-received, but there was one problem—they were too time-consuming to prepare. With a pack of young wolves howling for food, making anything elaborate would mean they wouldn’t finish eating until the next morning.
Bai Tu scanned the area, and his gaze landed on the basket of chili peppers.
Because food had been scarce lately, Bai Tu hadn’t dared to touch the chili peppers, but they were the perfect ingredient for spicing things up and stimulating the appetite. With their fiery heat and salty kick, they would be an excellent complement to the meal.
Bai Tu announced, “We’re having hotpot and barbecue tonight!” A meal where you could cook as you ate, grilling and dipping food in chili-spiced broth—nothing could be more satisfying.
Lang Ze’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Hotpot with fire fruit???”
It wasn’t even winter yet—why would Bai Tu make him eat fire fruit? Did Bai Tu dislike him now? Was he annoyed by him and trying to burn his tongue off and shut him up forever?
“Hotpot and barbecue—two different ways of eating,” Bai Tu clarified. “Both will use fire fruit, which we’ll call ‘chili’ from now on.”
Fire fruit was a fitting name, but for something as iconic as chili, the king of the culinary world, it couldn’t be left with such a casual name.
Lang Ze, however, didn’t hear anything past the words fire fruit. His focus was entirely on those two syllables. His expression turned tragic, and he mumbled despairingly, “No, I’m too young to eat that…”
