Chapter 205: This Woman, I Want Her
Nan Xun hurriedly looked away.
Th-this shameless, stinking hooligan—he was actually flirting with her right out in the open, in front of everyone.
The Ala Mountain tribe’s chief stepped forward, staring warily at the cannibal tribe’s leader.
The corner of A-Mang’s mouth tilted upward. “Chief of Ala Mountain, I’m the new chief of the Cannibal Tribe. I heard everyone’s here exchanging food and clothing, so I thought we’d join in. You won’t refuse us, will you?”
Several tribal chiefs exchanged glances. The Ala Mountain chief said loudly, “If you truly came to trade, we naturally won’t refuse. But if you came for anything else, then everyone in our tribe—together with the other tribes—will never let you cannibals off!”
A-Mang snorted lightly and said nothing, simply shouting to the brothers behind him as they swaggered into the trading grounds.
Wherever this group of savages passed, people scattered to avoid them.
After pretending to browse for a bit, A-Mang led the twenty-odd burly men behind him to stop in front of A-Yu and A-Shi.
A-Yu and A-Shi tensed all over, staring at him on full alert.
The corner of A-Mang’s mouth lifted again. He smiled maliciously at A-Yu and A-Shi, then pointed at Chuxue with one hand.
“I think this woman is pretty good. I’m willing to trade twenty long-fur beast hides for her.”
The moment the words left his mouth, the entire place fell silent.
Nan Xun was stunned too. What the hell was A-Mang doing? He wanted to buy Chuxue?
After the deathly silence came an uproar.
Everyone was dumbstruck.
Twenty long-fur beast hides!
One long-fur hide could help a single tribesperson survive a brutal winter. Twenty meant twenty people!
At the trading grounds, people often used food or hides to exchange for women, but the highest price was usually two wild beasts weighing four to five hundred jin, or five or six furred hides.
They’d heard the cannibal tribe lacked women—several men sharing one woman—but did they have to be this desperate? Willing to pay twenty hides, and long-fur ones at that, just for a single woman?!
A-Yu’s face instantly turned iron-blue. He said coldly, “The women we brought are not for sale.”
A-Mang was displeased. He cast a sideways glance at the Ala Mountain chief.
“Chief of Ala Mountain, judge this fairly. Everyone knows how trading works. Aside from Ala Mountain’s own women, any women other tribes bring are meant for trade. This man clearly brought women for trading, yet he refuses to sell to me—even for twenty long-fur hides. Chief, don’t you think he’s looking down on us cannibals?”
Cold sweat broke out on the Ala Mountain chief’s forehead. The other party wasn’t wrong: every year, tribes that came didn’t bring women unless they were for trade. But A-Yu and A-Shi had indeed said earlier that the women they brought were not to be traded.
The Ala Mountain chief hurried to explain, “A-Yu’s tribe also lacks women—how could they sell one? Just now A-Yu even bought two women from our Ala Mountain tribe, so they’re just—”
A-Mang suddenly slammed his spear hard into the ground. It embedded firmly into the stone floor. He cut the man off coldly.
“Chief of Ala Mountain, are you teaming up with this tribe to fool me? Our cannibal tribe may be a bit brutal, but we never mistreat women. I’m already willing to trade twenty long-fur hides for one woman—are you still not satisfied?”
The Ala Mountain chief panicked. “How about this—our Ala Mountain tribe has many beautiful girls, absolutely no worse than this one. Could you—”
“No!” A-Mang said decisively. “I’ve set my eyes on her!”
A-Shi’s eyes spewed fire as he ground his teeth. “Don’t push things too far! Chuxue is A-Yu’s woman—how could she possibly be sold to you?”
A-Mang shrugged indifferently. “My brothers won’t mind. Women are far too precious to our cannibal tribe—we don’t have the luxury of being picky.”
Brothers…
Chuxue’s face turned pale. She instinctively clutched A-Yu’s hand.
This savage was simply despicable.
A-Yu squeezed her hand back in silent reassurance, then said icily, “I already told you—Chuxue is my woman. I will not trade her to you. If you insist, we’ll have to suspect that your cannibal tribe came here deliberately to provoke trouble.”
Hearing this, people from the other tribes grew wary. Tribes that came to trade usually sent at most seven or eight people. Like the cannibal tribe—arriving with twenty or thirty men, each holding a stone-tipped spear—this was clearly a provocation.
That’s what they’d thought. How could the cannibal tribe possibly be so generous, willing to trade twenty long-fur hides? They’d sooner believe the cannibals would just seize her outright.
Just as the standoff reached an impasse, A-Mang suddenly put on a look of reluctant compromise. His gaze finally shifted away from Chuxue and landed on Nan Xun.
“Fine, fine. I didn’t know your tribe was so particular. Since the woman I picked already has a man, I’ll switch. I’ll take her.”
With a casual flick, A-Mang’s finger landed on Nan Xun. Then he looked at her openly, his gaze naked and scorching.
Nan Xun had long seen through this serrated-tooth hooligan’s trick. She was amazed that even ancient people could be this crafty.
Reject the first request—your reason is solid, understandable. Reject again—and that becomes hard to justify.
A-Yu, A-Shi, and Chuxue were dumbfounded. Everyone else was dumbfounded too.
They’d already decided the cannibal tribe came to stir up trouble, yet the other side gave in so easily.
A-Shi’s face turned livid. He yanked Nan Xun behind him protectively and roared, “My little sister is even less up for trade! She’s our chief’s daughter!”
Women in a tribe could be traded—but never the chief’s daughter. Trading away the chief’s daughter would be a disgrace to the entire tribe.
Now even the Ala Mountain chief didn’t know what to do. By rights, the cannibal tribe had retreated again and again. Given their brutal nature, being this calm and willing to trade was already rare. Yet the other woman was the chief’s daughter.
The cannibal savages began to grow restless. The men behind A-Mang all turned ferocious, feeling the others were provoking them.
What kind of woman was so precious that even twenty long-fur hides couldn’t buy her? Two chiefs’ daughters would be enough to trade!
None of the tribes wanted to go to war with the cannibals—especially the host, Ala Mountain, whose base was right here. The cannibals killed without caring whether their victims were old or young.
People unconsciously turned their gazes to A-Xi. This woman truly was beautiful—much healthier-looking than the thin woman earlier. The conflict clearly revolved around her, yet she was extremely calm, as if the argument had nothing to do with her at all.
A-Mang’s eyes were fixed on her, impossible to move away. A flash of feral determination gleamed within them.
Any woman A-Mang set his sights on—no matter the method—he would get her. If twenty long-fur hides couldn’t buy her, then… he’d take her by force.
