Chapter 514 – Black Bear Beastman
Zhao Hai laughed and said, “That’s great. Let’s see who dares to annoy me now.” If he was in the Human domain, Zhao Hai would be saying, “I really don’t care if I can walk sideways, as long as my business is in line.” However, he cannot say it in the Prairie since it would be equal to looking down on the Dog-headed race. When that time comes, he would be lucky to only have his friends.h.i.+p flag revoked.
Buffon laughed and said, “Don’t be overconfident. Our Dog-headed Race isn’t considered to be a Warring Race, it’s still good to behave yourself. If you meet those Warring Clans, they might even be impolite to you. But don’t worry, if you sell them food, they might even give you a friends.h.i.+p flag.”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “Forget it, they might not necessarily befriend me. Come, let’s drink. Let’s take care about the Bear Tribe’s food problem first. I heard that they suffered a serious food shortage a few years ago. Since the Bear Tribe is a friend of the Dog-headed Race, we must help them.”
Buffon smiled and said, “We really should. The Black Bears are really good friends. If you befriend them, they would surely give you a hand later on. Even if they suffer a loss, they won’t hold back in helping.”
Zhao Hai nodded. From Buffon’s introduction, he had a certain understanding towards the Black Bears. They seem to be really good people. If Buffon was saying truth, then they’re worth paying a visit.
The three continued to drink inside. At the same time, the people outside doesn’t have anything to say about it. After all, Zhao Hai had also provided them with liquor and snacks to partake during breaks.
They travelled from day to night. They had also met a small Black Bear Tribe along the way, one of the various tribes in the Black Bear Territory. This tribe had about more than 300 people, a much smaller number compared to Zhao Hai’s group.
These Bear Beastmen were a very enthusiastic bunch. When they saw the Mastiffs, they immediately invited Buffon into their tent while having people slaughter some sheep to welcome the group.
Zhao Hai and the others didn’t prevent them from doing so. If they did, it would be like looking down on them. They just have to gift the tribe with some food when they left. These Bears might have food troubles, but Zhao Hai didn’t.
At night, Zhao Hai didn’t need to construct his own tent. He can just rest inside Alien since it was comfortable and warm there. Because of this, he can closely monitor the Bear Beastmen more carefully.
Although these Bears had large heads, they weren’t fat like those Pig-headed Beastmen. On the contrary, they looked pretty buff. They can even be compared to the Herculean Bulls.
However, Zhao Hai can see that they hadn’t been doing as well as the Mastiffs and the Herculean Bulls. They were only a small tribe of 300 so they didn’t have a lot of Argali raised. This time, to welcome Zhao Hai’s group, they slaughtered a bunch of them. Zhao Hai can see that they had almost run out of food.
To be honest, Zhao Hai’s heart was aching. These Beastmen were very likeable, but seeing how much Argali that they have right now and the fact that they can’t trade with Humans made Zhao Hai feel that the world has been very unfair to the Beastman race.
In fact, if one thought carefully, they can see that most of the wars between Beastmen and Humans were likely caused by the Human side. Take this time as an example, if the Humans did indeed withheld some grain, then what other choice do the Beastmen have other than to steal? Will they just die in starvation? Even Humans wouldn’t able to hold on, much more the ill tempered Beastmen.
Zhao Hai spent the night in the small Bear Tribe’s camp. When they prepared to leave in the morning, Zhao Hai left behind 5,000 jin of Bread Fruit for the Bears to consume. The Bears were naturally glad, they even want to pay Zhao Hai with their Argali, of which Zhao Hai strongly declined.
Things like these small transactions weren’t worthy of Zhao Hai’s concern. Tens of thousands of jins are too few for Zhao Hai. If he can make friends by giving those away, then that would be a good outcome.
After having their breakfast, Zhao Hai’s group left. Since they were already inside the Black Bear domain, they only needed another four day’s worth of travel to reach the main camp. The Black Bear Tribe was also quite a large one, so their domain would also be equally huge. But their main camp would be completely fixed, especially during the winter.
After four days of travelling and staying inside small Bear tribe camps, Zhao Hai can finally see the distant view of the Black Bear Tribe’s main camp.
At this time, a team of Black Bear Cavalry dashed out from the main camp. These people rode on top of four meter high black bears. Also, these Black Bears themselves were more than three meters high. One could feel pressure just by looking at these Black Bears riding their mounts.
Before long, the team arrived near Zhao Hai’s team. When their leader saw Buffon, he smiled and said, “So it’s Brother Buffon who arrived. Come with us to the camp quickly. Right, there are also some Herculean Bull brothers, welcome. There’s a human as well?”
When he heard the Bear Beastman, Zhao Hai understood that he was a frank person, expressing both closeness and distance in his words. When he saw Buffon, he immediately invited him to the camp, when he saw Mendez, he said his greetings. And when he saw Zhao Hai he expressed a bit of hostility.
Buffon jumped down from his mount and hugged the Bear Beastman and said, “Lieben, it’s supposed to be your patrol s.h.i.+ft this time, why are you still in the camp? Have you been lazy again?”
Lieben cracked a smile and said, “You don’t know, but the tribe doesn’t have a lot of grain right now, we can only ration them out. There’s n.o.body who can eat fully right now, so we don’t have the energy to patrol around.”
Buffon didn’t expect that the Black Bear Tribe would reach this degree of shortage. It was still the beginning of spring, but the Black Bear Tribe was already rationing, it seems like their grain stores have really gone dry.
Buffon patted Lieben’s shoulder and said, “You don’t need to worry about that anymore. See this man? This is the Herculean Bull’s Foreign Prince, a big grain Merchant. He has a lot of food in his hand. After he traded with us, I brought him over here as well.”
Lieben looked at Zhao Hai and grinned, “Can a Human really become the Herculean Bull’s Foreign Prince? Good. Does he really have food in his hand?”
Buffon smiled and said, “Of course he has. I won’t dare deceive you. Escort us to the camp quickly.”
Lieben complied and led the group towards the main camp. They immediately headed towards the golden tent.
When they reached outside the golden tent, Lieben went inside to report while Zhao Hai and the others stood outside. Before long, Lieben went out and looked at the trio and said, “Buffon, the Patriarch asks you in.” Since Lieben didn’t ask Zhao Hai and Mendez, the two naturally wouldn’t follow. Buffon nodded to the two of them and then went inside the tent.
After quite some time, Lieben went out again and told Zhao Hai and Mendez, “The Patriarch invites you two in.” Then Zhao Hai and Mendez expressed their grat.i.tude before entering the tent.
When Zhao Hai entered the tent, he noticed that there were a lot of people inside. Nearly 20 Black Bears were present, Buffon sat at a place in the left side of the tent.
In the place farthest from the entrance, a Black Bear was sitting. This Bear looked like he was in the prime of his life. His Bear eyes looked at the newcomers closely.
The two of them knew instantly that this person was the Black Bear Tribe’s Patriarch. After the two gave their respects, the Black Bear Beastman looked at Mendez and said, “You’re the Herculean Bull Prince Mendez?”
Mendez quickly replied, “Mendez has seen the Patriarch.”
The Black Bear nodded and said, “I know about what happened between you and Fighting Bulls. Good job in eliminating the Radiant Church.”
Mendez expressed his grat.i.tude. Then the Black Bear turned his head to Zhao Hai and said, “You are the Herculean Bull Foreign Prince Zhao Hai?”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “Zhao Hai has seen the Patriarch.”
The Black Bear Patriarch looked at Zhao Hai, “Since you’ve become the Foreign Prince of the Herculean bulls, this meant that you had helped them a lot. It seems like you’re not a bad person. Buffon said that you have a lot of food?”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “I do have some food. It’s this one.” Then he put out a Bread Fruit and pa.s.sed it along the Black Bears, having them taste it.
After Patriarch tasted the fruit, he nodded and said, “This is very good. But unlike Humans, we Black Bears eat a lot. How much do you have?”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “I have a lot. This fruit is something that’s only grown in my territory. On the continent, only I have this thing. It’s still my second year trading in the Prairie, and I initially didn’t plan to sell a lot. But when I saw that there is a food shortage here, I decided to sell it to my friends, the Herculean Bulls and the Mastiffs. And since the Black Bear Tribe is friends with the Mastiffs, I came. After all, a friend of a friend is also a friend.”
The Black Bear nodded, then he said, “Alright, since you have a lot, our Black Bear Tribe wants all of it.”
Zhao Hai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, these Beastman Patriarch really are too self-confident. They really think that they can buy everything that he has?
Zhao Hai quickly responded and said, “Sir Patriarch, you should tell me a specific amount. I really have a lot of food. Also, I’m afraid that you won’t want to have all of them. Even if the Bread Fruit can be stored for a long time, they can’t last forever. Especially when they burst, they can’t last for too long.”
Naturally, the Bread Fruit cannot burst by themselves. This was just Zhao Hai’s pretext. If he directly told the Black Bear Patriarch that they cannot afford all of his food, then the Black Bears would think that he was looking down on them. By that time, it would be impossible for him to be their friend.
Zhao Hai had already known that since the Black Bears had been deceived by a Human, they’re quite hostile towards them. This made Zhao Hai tread lightly with his words. He was even more careful this time than the time when he spoke to the Wolf King