I Became The Chief Of A Primitive Village

Chapter 1129, The Restful Night Building Is an Intelligence Centre

Translator: Silavin

“Shaman, when will we meet with the people from those few Tribes?” Sha Lan asked curiously.

“What’s the matter?” Su Bai set down what he was working on and looked up.

“Nothing really. It’s just that the people from those few Tribes have been asking constantly. They want to be received sooner so they can discuss cooperation with us.” Sha Lan gave a gentle shake of her head.

“How long have they been in our Tribe?” Su Bai asked.

“About four days now. They’ve already spent three nights in the Restful Night Building.” Sha Lan’s memory was very clear on this.

“Then arrange to meet them tomorrow. We can’t keep dragging it out. The snow season will be here before we know it.” Su Bai lazily stretched out.

He had deliberately stalled them. He wanted them to understand that cooperation was not something easily granted.

It had been Hu Shi who sailed the boat down the great river, going from Tribe to Tribe to spread word of this matter. That was what had brought them here.

Su Bai had no intention of letting those people think it was the Flame Dragon Tribe that needed them. If they believed that, the initiative would slip out of his hands.

That was why he had dragged things out this long. It was simply to make them understand who held the initiative here.

The delay was also meant to keep them in the Tribe a few more days, so they could take in more of what the Flame Dragon Tribe had to offer.

It would let them understand that cooperation with the Flame Dragon Tribe was no simple thing to achieve. Only then would they feel the pressure.

“That’s right. They also need to return to their Tribes before the snow season arrives.” Sha Lan nodded.

“Have those rumours I asked you to spread already gone out?” Su Bai continued.

He had asked Sha Lan to circulate a certain rumour. The gist of it was that the Flame Dragon Tribe would only cooperate with a select few Tribes.

The aim was to make them anxious and unsettled. To stop them from holding back on their offers.

“It’s all been spread. And done rather cleverly too. They won’t suspect a thing.” Sha Lan said this with complete seriousness.

“Good. And how did they react?” Su Bai was genuinely curious. He picked up a cup of tea and took a small sip.

This was a flower tea Yu Ying had brewed fresh this morning. It had a light, clean sweetness to it.

“They believed it without question. Every single one of them was in a panic, terrified they wouldn’t be able to cooperate with our Tribe.” Sha Lan could not help but cover her mouth and laugh.

“Is there any Tribe with crooked intentions? I’d rather like to see who has that much nerve.” The corner of Su Bai’s mouth curved upward slightly.

He was quite curious about all these Tribes. He was already wondering which one would be the first he would need to make an example of.

There had to be one killed as a warning to the rest. Only then would they understand that the Flame Dragon Tribe was not to be provoked.

And word would travel from there. It might move slowly, but it would eventually become a channel through which the Flame Dragon Tribe built its authority.

“More or less the same across all of them. They’re all watching and listening at the moment. Nothing particularly unusual came through in the conversations. Some Tribes had crooked intentions at first, but after talking it over amongst themselves they dropped it.”

Sha Lan turned her blue eyes thoughtfully. “What’s interesting is that they’re all very curious about the other Tribes. They’ve been asking our people about them constantly.”

“That’s normal. They’re all competitors with each other, after all. It just comes down to which Tribe can offer something with a real advantage.” Su Bai raised an eyebrow. “Is there any Tribe that seems particularly confident?”

He knew perfectly well that no one liked the bird that sticks its neck out. He simply wanted to knock the confidence out of a certain few.

They could not be allowed to get too proud of themselves. They needed to understand who was truly running things here.

“It looks like the Red Horse Tribe and the Soft Rabbit Tribe. Those two are fairly self-assured. The others are more or less average. Though the Green Snake Tribe seems to be the least settled of the group.”

Sha Lan thought back to a conversation she’d overheard from the Green Snake Tribe. A faint unease settled in her chest.

“Oh? What have the Green Snake Tribe’s people been saying?” Su Bai asked.

“Their Tribe doesn’t have anything particularly special to offer. So, I don’t know what they would use as an offer. I’m worried they might do something reckless.” Sha Lan voiced what had been weighing on her.

Those people were entirely within the Flame Dragon Tribe’s control. However, sometimes the absence of any incident was precisely what made her more uneasy.

“They haven’t found the listening devices, have they?” Su Bai asked.

“No. The positions we used to embed them are very well concealed. There’s no way they’d find them.” Sha Lan shook her head without hesitation.

The Restful Night Building was, in truth, an intelligence hub. Every room had a listening device embedded within it. The other ends all led to a single room, much like a monitoring station. Anyone from the Flame Dragon Tribe who pressed their ear to a speaker could clearly make out everything being said in a given room.

These listening devices had been built in place from the very moment the Restful Night Building was constructed. Their sole purpose was to capture the words and conduct of other Tribes.

That was how Sha Lan could know so much about those Tribes in the first place. The people stationed in the monitoring room passed all the intelligence along to her.

“Then there’s nothing to worry about. They ought to be agonising over what to do right now. Who knows, they might even come up with something new.” Su Bai looked entirely at ease.

He felt that every eventuality had been prepared for. There was simply no cause for concern.

Su Bai had no patience for unnecessary worry. That was why he made sure all preparations were thorough.

“Shaman, do you think the Green Snake Tribe’s people might pretend to cooperate with us, but actually be planning to rob us of our goods?” Sha Lan put the thought forward boldly.

“That’s not impossible. But we wouldn’t be handing goods over in advance. So, what exactly could they do?” Su Bai gave a shrug.

“I guess so. Now, I’m more curious than ever about what they’ll do tomorrow.” Sha Lan’s tail swished back and forth without stopping.

“By the way, what about those two Tribes that split off? What are they thinking?” Su Bai continued.

“Originally both of them were planning to trade the nearly dead insects with us. But then, for some reason, they both changed their minds.” Sha Lan’s tone was openly curious.

“Perhaps neither Tribe wants to lose. And perhaps they both want to establish a long-term trade relationship with us. So, they’re trying to open a connection with us using the proper way.” Su Bai rubbed his chin with one hand. “Can’t let that go too smoothly, though. I’ll need to think of something.”

“What’s the matter, Shaman? Is it not fine if they trade us the good insects?” Sha Lan didn’t understand at all.

“That’s not the issue. The issue is that those two Tribes need to stay at odds with each other.” Su Bai smiled with quiet calculation.

“But why?” Sha Lan had no idea what he was planning.