Chapter 160

Chapter 160

But what surprised Snowball even more was that the small team from the Mountain Water Tribe was actually led by Fluffy Fir!

"Dad!" Snowball dropped what he was holding, quickly ran towards Fluffy Fir, and hugged him tightly.

Fluffy Fir laughed as he caught Snowball who was rushing towards him, a happy smile spreading across his tired face.

"Hahaha, Dad, why are you here? I missed you so much!"

Snowball was overjoyed. He didn't dwell on it day-to-day, but when he actually saw Fluffy Fir in person, he realized how much he had missed him.

Fluffy Fir patted Snowball's back and said gently with a smile, "Dad missed you too!"

Snowball held onto Fluffy Fir, not moving for a long time. Leaning on Fluffy Fir's shoulder gave him a feeling of returning to his childhood, a deep sense of security.

"Dad, come with me." Snowball knew, of course, that there must be another person who missed Dad even more than he did!

So Snowball took Fluffy Fir's hand and quickly walked towards Windrock's tent.

Upon hearing the beastman's shout, Windrock immediately ran out. Windrock was also very surprised to see that it was actually Fluffy Fir himself who had come.

But Windrock didn't hesitate at all. The moment he saw Fluffy Fir, he quickly walked up to him and hugged Fluffy Fir tightly.

Snowball thoughtfully stepped back, giving his fathers some time alone.

Thinking about it carefully, this trip was probably the longest time Dad had been away from Father, right?

To prevent other beastmen from disturbing his two fathers, Snowball made an excuse that he had something to discuss with them and pulled away the beastmen who were still watching and snickering.

Dad is thin-skinned; if everyone kept watching like this, he was afraid Dad would get embarrassed.

Fortunately, Father also understood Dad very well. After only holding him for a while, he took Dad into the tent.

Snowball patted Second Tiger's shoulder and back, saying, "Second Tiger! How did you come back so quickly? Where's Third Tiger?"

Snowball looked carefully and noticed that the number of people who came back didn't quite match the number who left.

Besides the marbled polecat brothers missing one person, Firefly was here, but A'Rong wasn't?

As soon as Snowball mentioned this, Second Tiger became excited: "Ah, you definitely wouldn't guess! Firefly and I didn't even make it back to the tribe! We ran into Chief Fluffy Fir at the copper mine..."

It turned out that while Second Tiger and the others were rushing back to the tribe, since they would pass by the azurite mine, they planned to rest there for a day before continuing their journey.

But unexpectedly, when they arrived there, they saw not only First Tiger but also Chief Fluffy Fir.

First Tiger had also run into Fluffy Fir on his way back, so he turned back with him to the azurite mine cave.

As soon as Fluffy Fir heard that Second Tiger and the others had successfully reached the snow mountain, he immediately decided to follow them back to the salt lake first. He sent Third Tiger back to the tribe to notify the others, while First Tiger came with them.

"Let me tell you, those Spirit beast Leaping Goats are really amazing! These last few trips, the Spirit beasts gave us rides the whole way!"

When Second Tiger talked about those friendly Spirit beasts, he really couldn't praise them enough.

Second Tiger: "But that useless First Tiger, after finally swapping positions with Third Tiger so Third Tiger could go back to the tribe to deliver the message... First Tiger got super excited when he reached the snow mountain. He was fine going up the mountain, but when coming down, he was scared out of his wits by the Spirit beasts. He still hasn't recovered and is being helped by others to go rest."

"Ah? Is First Tiger afraid of heights?" Upon hearing Second Tiger's description, Snowball strongly suspected that First Tiger was scared by the speed of the Spirit beasts when diving down the mountain.

Although this kind of situation seems rare among beastmen, if it's a fear of heights, it seems understandable?

Second Tiger finally figured out First Tiger's strange behavior at high places. It was like he had caught some handle on First Tiger, and he talked excitedly all the way.

"So, you mean the Spirit beasts can find you every time?"

Snowball quickly changed the subject. He'd let the marbled polecat brothers "love and fight" among themselves later; he wouldn't participate for now.

"Yeah, we also find it amazing!" Firefly finally found an opportunity to get a word in edgewise.

Second Tiger was talking a mile a minute; she could barely get a few sentences in.

From what Second Tiger and Firefly meant, it seemed like the Spirit beasts had installed trackers on them?

Whenever people from the Mountain Water Tribe appeared on the snow mountain, the Spirit beast Leaping Goats would come to give them a ride.

Snowball couldn't help but say, "That's great! With the help of the Spirit beasts, traveling to and from the snow mountain will be much easier for us."

Snowball was already thinking that after Third Tiger went to the tribe to notify Ye Ke and brought back the soil he needed, he could cordon off an area near the snow mountain specifically for the cute Spirit beasts to plant delicious food.

Thinking about it now, he had only casually saved a Leaping Goat cub, but the simple and kind Spirit beasts intended to keep guiding them as a way to repay them.

Snowball was deeply moved. He hoped he could successfully grow food here to improve the lives of the Spirit beast Leaping Goats. This was perhaps one of the few things the Mountain Water Tribe could do for them.

"So, did A'Rong go back to the tribe with Third Tiger?" Snowball then asked.

Unexpectedly, Firefly shook her head and said, "No, he didn't. He's waiting at the copper mine. When Third Tiger brings the new team over, they'll come together."

"So that's how it is. I understand now." Snowball finally understood the whole story. He led Third Tiger and the others to a small shed temporarily built in the camp, which contained tables, chairs, and a small stove.

This shed could be used by beastmen for meetings or for resting.

Zhong Yan followed behind them, helping Snowball pull out chairs for the beastmen who had just arrived from their journey.

Hui Qiong and Zheng hadn't left yet either. They went to get some food for the beastmen to eat.

There was cooled boiled water in the kettle on the table. Snowball brought over cups and poured water for the beastmen.

The beastmen, without a word, picked up their cups and drank heavily.

"Finally got some water!" After finishing a large cup, Second Tiger gestured that he wanted another one. "I finished the water I brought halfway through the journey. To save time, I couldn't be bothered to make a fire to melt snow. At most, I just grabbed some snow to eat."

Hearing this, Snowball couldn't help but give Second Tiger a thumbs-up. He could endure until now? Second Tiger is no ordinary person either.

Not long after, Fluffy Fir and Windrock also came over.

Fluffy Fir first hugged Hui Qiong and also greeted Zheng. Then he sat down at the table with Windrock.

With an embarrassed blush on his face, Fluffy Fir said to Second Tiger and the others, "You all go rest first. The tents everyone set up are still quite spacious; you can squeeze in for now."

Seeing that the chiefs had no other instructions for the time being, the beastmen who had just arrived obeyed the order and planned to return to their companions' tents to get some proper rest.

"Dad, you should go get some more sleep too," Snowball said. Snowball saw that Fluffy Fir's eyes were red; he definitely hadn't rested well.

"Okay, Dad will go right away," Fluffy Fir smiled, looking at his good boy.

However, Fluffy Fir didn't plan to leave immediately. Instead, he continued discussing with Windrock the matters before he arrived here.

So Snowball and Zhong Yan also stayed seated in their spots, pricking up their ears to listen along.

Rong Shan: "When I set out, I thought about coming ahead of time to meet you. I've already spoken with the beastfolk who came along this time—they don't need to take any risks, so I brought a few more young people with me..."

Oh? Young people? Xue Tuan immediately wondered if his friends might be among them.

But some of them, like Big Tiger, had gone to rest early, so he hadn't seen them yet. He figured he'd have to wait until evening to see.

However, Rong Shan and the others now understood the current situation, so the danger here could be considered resolved.

The beastfolk from the Mountain Water Tribe also felt confident enough to follow him across the snowy mountains to get here.

Actually, after Feng Yan and Xue Tuan left, Rong Shan, who stayed behind in the tribe, had been restless. As time passed, after a long time, he felt as if he were ill, his longing for them growing even stronger.

Yun Lu and Shi Hu had also noticed Rong Shan's state. They had considered various dangers in their plan, but they hadn't given much thought to their plans for success.

When Feng Yan and the others left, to travel light, they only took a few ready-made items, planning to find materials locally after they arrived successfully.

This included summer supplies like foot-pedal fans.

By now, everything in the Mountain Water Tribe was running smoothly, so Yun Lu and Shi Hu encouraged Rong Shan to take a fresh batch of supplies and go ahead early, which actually saved a lot of travel time.

Rong Shan was grateful for Yun Lu and Shi Hu's understanding. He didn't hesitate and immediately started packing and counting the people.

Finally, he enlisted some willing Rockball Sparrow tribesmen to lead them to the old Rockball Sparrow tribe.

Later, on the way, they happened to meet Big Tiger and Hui Hui, who were planning to return to notify the tribe to mine copper.

And when they turned back toward the azurite mine, not long after, they met Second Tiger and the others.

So they split up: one group returned to the tribe to notify Yun Lu and the others, while Rong Shan led the other group, carrying the prepared supplies, and followed them here to the salt lake.

As an aside, after Big Tiger begged and pleaded, he came along, while poor San Hu had to take Hui Hui with him and head back to deliver the message to the tribe.

No wonder Xue Tuan thought their arrivals were so close together—they had indeed saved many days in between!

And Dad had also brought supplies they needed, like the foot-pedal fans, freeing them to focus more on refining salt.

Rong Shan: "Also, before I left, there was new news from the Sun Moon Tribe."

Seeing Rong Shan getting parched from talking, Xue Tuan quickly wanted to pour water for his father. But as soon as he moved his hand, Zhong Yan, with his longer reach, had already picked up the water pot and poured water for Rong Shan.

"Thank you." Rong Shan took the water Zhong Yan handed over, just what he needed to wet his throat.

Feng Yan: "The Sun Moon Tribe was here about the Dawn Dusk Tribe, right?"

Rong Shan put down his cup and nodded. "Yes."

Hui Qiong had caught wind of that too and asked, "Now that we've found a salt lake here, do we still need to look for the Dawn Dusk Tribe?"

Rong Shan thought for a moment and said, "Yun Lu and I had thought we might not need the Sun Moon Tribe's help with an introduction."

"But Ban Cha believes we should consider it further. After all, making friends with the Dawn Dusk Tribe couldn't hurt."

The old chief of the Sun Moon Tribe was already very old, and now it was mainly Ban Cha, who had been promoted to Deputy Chief, running things.

The Mountain Water Tribe had dealt with Ban Cha for many years, and since he became Deputy Chief, contact between the two tribes had become even easier.

Upon learning that the Mountain Water Tribe was desperately short of salt, Ban Cha was the first to persuade the old chief and the elders to help them.

Of course, the Mountain Water Tribe was already well-regarded by the Sun Moon Tribe, so Ban Cha's suggestion met with little resistance.

Not only that, Ban Cha also offered to help them communicate with the Dawn Dusk Tribe.

According to Ban Cha, the Dawn Dusk Tribe should have a sizable stockpile of salt.

At this moment, Xue Tuan silently thought to himself that Uncle Ban Cha hadn't eaten all those watermelons at their tribe for nothing. He really had been thinking about them the whole time; the Mountain Water Tribe was truly grateful for his kindness.

Of course, over the years, the Mountain Water Tribe had provided plenty of 'technical support' to the Sun Moon Tribe as well.

Their cooperation with the Sun Moon Tribe had always been mutually beneficial, with both sides giving and taking—a good arrangement.

"Ban Cha sent someone over with tokens and left the choice to us." As he spoke, Rong Shan took out two items.

Curious, Xue Tuan took a look at them. One was a small square, made from some kind of stone, carved with shapes representing the sun and moon on the left and right, connected by a river in the middle.

The other item was an irregular small copper piece with the same pattern as the small square token.

"To enter the Dawn Dusk Tribe, you'll need that copper piece. Then, find whoever's in charge, show the other token, and someone will take us to see the chief of the Dawn Dusk Tribe," Rong Shan explained.

"I heard this copper piece can also be used to buy things in the Dawn Dusk Tribe? But it seems salt coins might work too?" Rong Shan pointed at the copper piece.

"Buying and selling things" was another thing they'd picked up in recent years from other visiting or passing beastfolk.

In the Mountain Water Tribe, they still used barter, so hearing that in the Dawn Dusk Tribe, they used copper pieces to buy things was quite novel for them.

But when Xue Tuan heard this, he was impressed by the Dawn Dusk Tribe.

For a tribe to have everyone else follow their rules, using their money for trade, must have taken many years of effort and required the tribe to possess absolute prestige to achieve.

It wasn't something just any small tribe that also smelted copper pieces could do—using them as currency out there.

This was actually something Xue Tuan had once envisioned the Mountain Water Tribe could achieve in the future.

He had heard many stories about the First Great Chief of the Dawn Dusk Tribe from Uncle A Li, the clan leader of the brown-eared leopards.

He didn't know if this First Great Chief was the same person as the "mysteriously missing person" Uncle Li Xing and the others had encountered, but in any case, he should be a time-traveler who didn't belong to the beast world.

Now, holding this item—which could perhaps also be called a "copper coin"—Xue Tuan felt even more certain of his guess.

Feng Yan thought for a moment and said, "We probably don't need to go for now..."

Just as Feng Yan was about to conclude, Xue Tuan beside him interrupted.

Rubbing the small copper piece in his hand, his eyes shining with excitement, Xue Tuan said, "Father, Dad, how about letting me go to the Dawn Dusk Tribe first to scout things out?"

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