Chapter 206: Embarrassed, Riding His Neck
A-Yu looked at the cannibals eyeing them like predators, then at A-Xi’s calm face.
He didn’t believe the cannibals truly wanted to trade twenty long-fur pelts for A-Xi. But if he flatly refused, everyone would think the war—if it broke out—was caused by their tribe.
A-Yu frowned deeply, torn.
Just as the tension peaked and everyone instinctively tightened their grip on their weapons, Nan Xun suddenly stepped forward.
“Take out the twenty long-fur pelts and let us see them first. Who knows if what you’re saying is true?” she said, looking straight at A-Mang.
A-Mang stared right back at her, the depth in his eyes something only Nan Xun could understand.
“A-Bao, show them,” A-Mang said, lifting his hand slightly to someone behind him.
A broad-shouldered, thick-waisted man immediately placed two bundles tightly bound with grass rope in the middle of the clearing.
The ropes were untied, revealing what was inside.
They really were all kinds of long-fur pelts! The fur was thick and glossy—white, black, and spotted. Just looking at them, everyone could imagine how warm they would be worn in winter.
Could it be that these cannibals were serious? That they truly came only to trade for a woman?
For a moment, the other tribes looked at A-Yu and A-Shi’s group with a hint of envy. Even if she was the chieftain’s daughter, trading her for so many precious pelts was worth it.
A-Shi’s face turned ashen. He was tempted by the pelts too—but A-Xi was his sister. How could he hand her over to the brutal cannibals?
Nan Xun shot A-Mang a sidelong glance. He’s really willing to pay.
“Brother, I’m willing to trade with him,” Nan Xun suddenly said.
A-Shi was shocked but said nothing. A-Yu pressed his lips together in silence. Chu Xue panicked.
“A-Xi, you can’t go! Our tribe isn’t short on pelts!”
Nan Xun grabbed Chu Xue’s hand and secretly winked at her.
Chu Xue froze, all the words she was about to say stuck in her throat.
Nan Xun looked at A-Mang and smiled. “Besides these pelts, you have to agree to some conditions. If you don’t, I’d rather smash my head and die than go with you.”
Her words startled everyone. The ancient people didn’t understand concepts like chastity or martyrdom; they just thought Nan Xun was out of her mind.
No one wanted to die. Even the elderly with little labor value struggled to live on.
Hearing her, all the sharpness around A-Mang seemed to withdraw. He gave a teasing smile. “Go on. Whatever you ask, I’ll agree.”
Nan Xun spoke slowly. “If I go with you, I’ll belong to your tribe. But I can’t bear to leave my father and my brother. You must allow me to return once every month or two to visit them. Don’t worry—I won’t take anything from your tribe or reveal any of its secrets.”
A-Mang thought seriously, ignoring the objections from his men behind him, then agreed outright. “Fine. But whenever you go back, I’ll go with you.”
Nan Xun laughed secretly to herself. Already has the awareness of a son-in-law accompanying his wife back to her family. Not bad—high consciousness.
She continued, “I’ve heard that in your cannibal tribe, one woman serves many men. I don’t like other men. I only like you. I belong to you alone.”
A-Mang’s eyes curved with a smile, the corner of his lips lifting into a captivating arc. “Of course. You’ll be mine alone. And from now on, I’ll only have you.”
“And once I become your woman, you must make sure I eat well and stay warm,” Nan Xun added, mainly to reassure her brother.
A-Mang raised his brows, smiling. “Any woman of mine will live better than any woman in all the tribes.”
Nan Xun’s lips moved, as if she wanted to add more conditions. A-Mang’s men were nearly exploding with anger—she was just a woman, did she think she was some kind of deity?
Nan Xun only chuckled and spread her hands. “That’s all. Nothing else.”
A-Mang stepped forward, wrapped one long arm around her slim waist, then gestured to his men.
The two bundles of long-fur pelts were tossed at A-Yu, A-Shi, and the others.
“A-Xi, you… really want this?” A-Shi asked, shame on his face.
Truthfully, he didn’t want to bring war upon the tribe—especially against something as terrifying as the cannibals. He’d worried A-Xi would be abused if she went with them. But just now, the new cannibal chieftain had publicly promised she’d be well fed, well clothed, untouched by other men, and even that he’d have only her.
So A-Shi shamefully hesitated.
A-Yu also fell silent. No one would refuse such tempting conditions—especially when the person involved was willing.
Nan Xun said to A-Shi, “Brother, I’m doing this of my own free will. I’ve taken a liking to this A-Mang too.”
A-Shi instinctively glanced at A-Yu, then at the cannibal leader. Compared to A-Yu, that man was no less impressive—just hard to tell what kind of person he really was.
No matter how conflicted they felt, in the end, Nan Xun was exchanged to the cannibals for twenty long-fur pelts.
A-Mang got the woman he wanted and immediately lost interest in everything else. He didn’t even spare a glance at the pottery and bamboo baskets that had amazed everyone.
The cannibals came like thunder and left like a gale—sweeping in, trading for a woman, then vanishing like a violent storm that passes and is gone.
A-Shi and the others were still a bit dazed.
Had they really just traded A-Xi for twenty winter pelts?
Chu Xue’s gaze flickered. She wasn’t sure if she’d understood the look A-Xi had given her. If she had… then the man A-Xi had been pining for all along was actually the new chieftain of the cannibals?
Nan Xun was dragged along by A-Mang, walking faster and faster until she was almost running.
A-Mang laughed loudly, scooped her up, and hoisted her onto his shoulders. Then he shouted to the men behind him, “Look! This is the woman I, A-Mang, wanted. Isn’t she great?”
Nan Xun cried out and quickly wrapped her arms around his head, scolding him in embarrassment. “Put me down! Your people are all watching!”
A-Mang was thick-skinned. “I want them to see—see just how good the woman I traded twenty long-fur pelts for really is.”
Nan Xun: “…”
Sitting on a man’s shoulders like a child—this was seriously mortifying.
“If you don’t put me down, I’ll crush your neck!” Nan Xun threatened, pretending to tighten her legs.
A-Mang laughed heartily. “Hear that? This woman says she’s going to snap my neck—hah!”
The twenty or thirty savages following behind burst into laughter.
“A-Mang, you’ve got great taste! This woman’s fierce!” someone praised.
A-Mang lifted his brows proudly. “That’s nothing. The first time we met, A-Xi stripped me naked and hung me from a tree all by herself.”
Nan Xun: “…”
He dared to say that out loud too?
Absolutely shameless.
