TPWBI Chapter 104

The tall cave was illuminated by the bonfire at the center, the aroma of roasting meat filling every corner.

In the dim corners, two or more people were tangled together everywhere, doing the most primitive exercise.

Some were shouting in excitement, while others were crying.

On the high platform at the very back of the cave sat several people, drinking fine wine from beautiful vessels, their faces filled with intoxicated delight.

If the people of the Spark Tribe were here, they would certainly recognize that those beautiful vessels were none other than the finest porcelain currently crafted by them. The wine inside was also the best quality they had ever brewed, and the most expensive.

In the Spark Tribe, even the divine envoy and the chief rarely drank it, thinking it too extravagant, preferring instead to trade it for more food.

But here, this group of people drank greedily and without restraint, not at all deterred by the steep price.

“These wines really do taste good! Those Western Continent merchants are too stingy, leaving only this little bit.”

When the chief, seated on a beautiful tiger pelt, wanted to drink another bowl, he found the wine jar already empty and became extremely angry.

This man was precisely the chief of the Blackstone Tribe.

“They really are especially stingy. For the same quantity, the Spark Tribe only needs to trade half the resources,” one person beside him spoke.

The shaman, knowing that the best wine was gone, began savoring the last bit in his own bowl, calm and unhurried.

“Very soon, we will have wine we can never finish drinking. Hei Lie should have already received the great gift we sent him by now.”

The Blackstone Chief revealed a chilling smile: “Why hasn’t the scout returned with news yet? I can’t wait any longer.”

“I heard that over there are very beautiful tall houses, warm even in the snowy winter. In the future, we’ll build our tribe there!”

“There’s also endless food there. I heard the ground is covered with things to eat, and there are so many animals.”

“As long as we seize that place, everything will be ours! I’ve already been waiting too long!”

The drunken crowd had already begun to imagine the beautiful days of their future. In the past, they thought their lives were already very good.

Across the entire Eastern Continent, their tribe was among the very best—meat they could never finish eating, furs they could never finish using, as well as wine, sugar, and other foods.

Until they obtained food that came from the Spark Tribe, and learned of life over there. Only then did they realize that what they had was nothing in comparison!

When they learned that the chieftain of the Spark Tribe turned out to be Hei Lie, the Blackstone Chief and his ambitious subordinates felt even more unbalanced in their hearts.

Accustomed to plundering, they regarded the Spark Tribe as a thorn in their eye and began to plot how to attack.

The past grudges between them and Hei Lie had already destined that the two tribes could never coexist peacefully.

What’s more, compared to trading, they preferred plundering.

Hei Lie was once nothing more than an exile. Since they had once been able to drive him away, they believed they could still seize the power in his hands now!

As for that mysterious divine envoy, they would also capture him and keep him by their side as a slave to bring them blessings.

“I’m afraid it won’t be that easy. Hei Lie is an extremely clever man, and now he even has such good weapons.”

Among the crowd, one of the few sober ones voiced his worry. Hei Lie had once been the Blackstone Tribe’s most intelligent and strongest warrior.

Up until now, everyone still felt that his departure had been a very foolish decision, for he was one of the tribe’s most prestigious figures. At that time, though, Hei Lie was at a disadvantage.

But Hei Lie could have completely relied on his own powerful strength and prestige to obtain whatever he wanted.

The reason Hei Lie left was even more laughable. It was merely to protect those useless people, which led to conflict with the Blackstone Chief.

Yet it could not be denied that Hei Lie was a great warrior, a leader with a very quick mind.

Even though their strategies were extremely clever, Kong still worried that this man would resolve everything and not be shaken by it.

“Kong, are you looking down on the chief’s abilities? Or do you think Hei Lie is more formidable?”

Someone sneered as they spoke. The Blackstone Chief’s gaze also shot over.

Kong felt a chill run down his spine. The chief was becoming more and more petty. If he dared to show even the slightest hint of such an attitude, not only he, but also his family, would face a terrible disaster.

The Blackstone Tribe was no longer the Blackstone Tribe of the past. Now, they were nothing more than the chief’s killing tools, forced to obey unconditionally.

Those who dared to question him now were already reduced to bones.

“I didn’t mean it that way. I just think being cautious is never wrong.”

The Blackstone Chief was greatly displeased: “Useless thing! Since when has our Blackstone Tribe ever feared anyone! They’re nothing but a bunch of exiled trash.”

Kong had words in his heart but dared not speak them. Otherwise, his ending would be extremely tragic.

The chief had already become more and more insane. No one could stop him anymore.

Someone patted Kong’s shoulder: “Our Blackstone Tribe is not only strong in force but also clever in mind. You just need to prepare yourself to welcome a better life.”

Kong forced a smile: “I hope that day comes soon.”

At that moment, someone burst in in a panic.

“Chief, a large group of people is running toward us, waving weapons!”

The Blackstone Chief lazily raised an eyelid: “What’s there to panic about! This isn’t the first time. What’s all the fuss?”

The Blackstone Tribe survived by plundering. Nearby tribes had all been looted. Many had no choice but to migrate.

Some tribes had resisted to avenge themselves, but in the end, they were all suppressed.

Now the Blackstone Tribe not only possessed blackstone weapons but also copperware exchanged from the Western Continent.

After driving out the useless ones and only accepting young people with high combat value, their fighting strength had grown ever more powerful.

And to join the Blackstone Tribe, the test was to cruelly kill someone they once knew as a ritual, and then eat his flesh.

Such a ritual turned even originally honest people into extremely brutal and cold-blooded beasts, their lethality reaching its peak.

“The leader of those people is Tu! Hei Lie sent people to attack us!”

Those who had been drinking and making merry all stopped what they were doing and focused their attention here.

“What big guts. They didn’t come looking for trouble. They brought it to our doorstep themselves.”

“This is perfect. Here we can take them down more easily!”

The messenger wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: “Our strategy doesn’t seem to have hurt them. They look very strong… ah!”

The Blackstone Chief sprang up violently and kicked the messenger flying.

“No one is stronger than us, no one!”

“No one, no one!” The people in the cave cheered.

The Blackstone Chief reached out and grabbed Kong from the side. Before Kong could react, the Blackstone dagger cut his neck. Blood immediately spattered everywhere.

Kong widened his eyes, unable to believe any of it, even unto death.

He had been very obedient. Why! Why still could he not live!

The others were already used to this sight and watched him fall with calm indifference.

The Blackstone Chief brought his mouth close to Kong’s gushing neck, drank several mouthfuls of blood, and shouted:

“The bringers of death have arrived. We will have fresh nourishment again. If you want to become stronger, unleash your greatest power and kill all these foolish people!”

Not far away, Tu led this large group toward the Blackstone Tribe’s territory.

He felt both unfamiliar with and familiar with this place. Though he had once lived here for more than ten years, now it seemed he could not find any familiar traces.

Except for the original mountains and caves that remained, everything else was different, exuding an unpleasant aura.

“They’re right there, right there!”

The speaker stared with eyes full of hatred and pain, like flames that could set those around him alight.

He was a victim under the Blackstone Tribe’s brutal rule. Most of his people had been ruthlessly slaughtered. The beautiful women had been taken by these demons.

Because of the Blackstone Tribe, they found it difficult to survive in their original homeland.

There were many such people. Tu met quite a few of these tribes along the way.

When they learned that Tu was going to attack the Blackstone Tribe, they all eagerly followed.

“Please take us with you. As long as the Blackstone Tribe is destroyed, we are willing to sacrifice our lives and be the stepping stones for your advance!”

Seeing this, Tu took them along. These people never reached out to take even a little from him on the road. They only followed closely.

Tu’s group rode ostriches and ran very fast. These people had not a single complaint, hurrying to catch up from behind.

Their hearts were full of hatred. The desire for revenge allowed them to overcome every difficulty.

At the sight of this, Tu felt both glad and wistful.

Glad because they could strengthen their forces and have a greater chance of victory. Wistful because this had once been his tribe. Although later some bad things happened, there were still many beautiful memories.

But now this tribe had completely lost its shape. All the past efforts of so many people had been turned into poison by the brutal rulers, and that feeling was very bad.

Tu also hardened his resolve to destroy them. Rather than let them continue to rot and make him grieve, it was better to wipe them all out.

War was about to break out. Even the Goose King sensed the change in atmosphere and walked to Tu’s side to await his orders.

On the other side, Yang Yi stood by the window, watching the colorful snowflakes outside.

His hands were clasped together, his two thumbs turning in circles, betraying his present restlessness.

Hei Lie handed him a double portion of hot tea. Yang Yi took it and sipped.

“The battle has already begun, hasn’t it?”

Hei Lie nodded. “According to the timing, it should be these two days.”

“I wonder how it’s going… If only we had telephones,” Yang Yi sighed.

Walkie-talkies couldn’t cover such a long distance, and carrier pigeons didn’t fly that fast. In winter, they were even slower. Because food was hard to find, they could easily be eaten during foraging, making the failure rate rather high.

They knew nothing of news from afar.

Although one of the twins, Hua Sui, who possessed the ability to transmit information through the mind, had gone along with Tu so that Hua Sui could report back here—

At such a great distance, however, Hua Ban could only sense the other’s intense emotions and, from that, judge the situation over there.

Hei Lie pulled Yang Yi into his arms and rubbed his head. “Don’t keep thinking about things we don’t have. Facing reality is more practical.”

Yang Yi understood this truth as well, but it was always difficult to control himself.

This was probably the aftereffect of having a cheat-like ability. Humans were always greedy, always wanting to have more.

But at the moment, aside from sighing with regret, it served no other purpose.

“But we can move toward a goal. Everything will turn out fine.” Hei Lie worried that his words just now had been too harsh and tried to make up for it.

Yang Yi wasn’t so petty. He only sighed. “The creators of these technologies are truly remarkable. I just happened to take advantage of it.”

Hei Lie didn’t agree with this view. “We, too, are creators of history. Everyone is an indispensable part.”

Yang Yi smiled faintly. Sometimes, he would feel inexplicably low.

The people around him were all too remarkable. If not powerful in strength, then extremely sharp-minded.

They had only been exposed to new things for such a short time, yet they could already handle them so well.

Yang Yi had grown up influenced by knowledge since childhood. He could read and study, yet even so, he did not do as well as they did.

If not for the golden cheat-like ability granted by the great god of transmigration, he truly would have been useless in both brains and brawn—utterly worthless.

“Besides, luck itself is also a kind of ability.”

“That’s true.” Yang Yi acknowledged this view. His momentary melodrama quickly returned to normal.

Yang Yi had always thought of himself as lucky. He was born into a very wealthy family, without the messy so-called pressures of a powerful clan, and his family was very harmonious.

Although transmigrating here was, for him, an extremely unlucky thing. He had been living well in the modern world, not short of money, with things he loved to do, not empty or lonely. Yet he ended up in this wild land where, even staying indoors, one had to worry about being killed.

But he had a powerful golden cheat. And the reason he was chosen in the first place was because he had already died suddenly. This was a second chance at life.

Thinking of it this way, he was, in fact, very fortunate.

A moment’s luck had been transformed into practical capital, propelling future development. Likewise, it could evolve into part of his strength.

At that moment, Yang Yi realized: “You’ve completely led my focus astray!”

“What’s the point of overthinking? We already made our plans before. No matter what the outcome is, we have strategies prepared to deal with it. All you need to do is quietly wait for the news and arrange the construction of the tribe properly. That’s enough.”

Hei Lie kissed Yang Yi’s forehead. “I firmly believe we will not fail, but we must also have the heart to bear failure.”

“You really are getting better and better with words. You could practically take over Jiao’s job.”

Yang Yi had never imagined that he would be fed motivational talk by a primitive man. The worst part was, he actually bought into it!

“I’m not the same as her. I’m devoted. I only give it to you.” Hei Lie paused, blinked, and with a face full of ambiguity added, “In every sense of the word.”

“……”

Yang Yi’s face was blank. He only felt his sore waist growing more and more noticeable.

Very soon, Yang Yi no longer had the energy to think about Tu’s situation. One after another, new groups arrived at the Spark territory.

Altogether, their numbers had already surpassed that of the entire Spark Tribe. For now, they could still be kept stable, but the food crisis was already looming.

Relying only on suppression through force wasn’t enough. Food had to be provided.

The thinking of the people here was very simple: as long as there was food, everything could be negotiated. If survival was impossible, then they were capable of doing anything. Plundering never brought them any pangs of conscience.

Hunger could turn even a gentleman into a petty villain, let alone these primitives who lacked much in the way of morals or codes.

“At present, the problem is not too serious. Counting both our stored food and the food currently being cultivated and hunted, we can still meet a day’s needs. But the final month before the snow melts will be very troublesome.” The logistics minister was deeply worried.

The foreign affairs minister said, “We have already been actively contacting the Green Python Tribe to trade porcelain and other items for food. The Green Python Tribe is still fairly honest. They didn’t lower the prices to take advantage. It’s just that their supplies are also very limited.”

Hearing this, Yang Yi nodded. “Note down this kindness of the Green Python Tribe. As for those who took the chance to drive down the price, write them down as well. We’ll settle accounts with them in the future.”

Adversity reveals true loyalty. The Green Python Tribe is well aware of the Spark Tribe’s current situation and did not take advantage of them like some other tribes and caravans did.

Although this is partly out of self-preservation, if things here in the Spark Tribe fell into chaos and so many people flooded into the Green Python territory, even with their natural barriers, they would suffer considerable losses.

Still, their attitude is very commendable.

As for those who tried to lowball them, the Spark Tribe won’t refuse to trade with them in the future. After all, trade is mutually beneficial. But the prices will be adjusted accordingly.

“This is still far from enough!” The logistics minister had been so worried lately that he’d lost a lot of hair.

Every day, he painstakingly calculated how to allocate food. Every day, he erupted like a volcano.

“Cut the tribe’s food expenditures,” Hei Lie spoke firmly.

“That’s likely to undermine internal stability. After all, those people are outsiders.”

“Yes, we’ve already lowered the meal standards. People are a bit dissatisfied to begin with.”

Hei Lie’s fierce gaze swept across them: “Those who are dissatisfied can get out. Why should the tribe cater to them? If their brains can’t figure that out, they don’t deserve to be Spark people!”

“Those who will only share wealth but not hardship do not deserve to be Spark people,” Jiao spoke slowly at that moment.

“We’re allocating food so those who’ve come to join won’t become a threat, so they’ll be the same as most of the tribe. Many people were accepted this way before. Why can’t it be done for others now?”

“I agree with the chief and the shaman. Even if we lower the standards, we’re still living much better than before. People with no sense of responsibility will sell out their kin when trouble comes.”

Tu Meng also voiced his opinion: “We came here the same way. On behalf of the Rabbit Tribe, I support the tribe’s decision.”

Other representatives also raised their hands in agreement.

The school principal also stated, “This is my failure. From now on, I will have the teachers not only teach literacy and arithmetic, but more importantly, teach the principles of being a person. We are Spark people, civilized people with loyalty, righteousness, and responsibility.”

Seeing this, Hei Lie’s expression finally improved quite a bit: “Don’t take everything we have now as a matter of course. If the tribe falls, it won’t just be lowering the standards. It’ll mean losing everything.”

“That alone isn’t enough.” Yang Yi spoke at this time. “We may have to change the old model. Instead of only waiting for others to come to us to trade, we also need to take the initiative to go out and trade.”

Han Bing brought out the newest map he had drawn: “I’ve refined the map based on everyone’s accounts. It also marks dangerous areas and other specific details. With this, traveling will be much safer, and we’ll know where to go and what to do.”

The arrival of these new dependents had enriched Han Bing’s map even further.

Having a map was like having light in the darkness. It made long journeys much safer.

Not only maps, Han Bing also recorded and analyzed the plants these people brought along from their travels, so that when Spark people ventured into unfamiliar places, they would know what kinds of food could be found there.

“This is a great idea!” Quick thinkers immediately chimed in. “The reason the Western Continent’s caravans are so wealthy and powerful is that they travel everywhere to trade. I’ve heard that they go directly to each tribe to trade, and the gains from that are even greater than from trade fairs. Trade fairs are just more centralized, saving time and effort.”

“Maybe one day, we too can be like the Western Continent caravans, traveling to the Western Continent to trade!” someone boldly imagined.

This thought immediately won everyone’s admiration: “If that day really comes, it would be amazing! Over the years, who knows how many things the Western Continent caravans have taken away from us. If it weren’t for the huge profits, how could there be more and more caravans coming each time?”

“But we have no way to cross the river in the middle.”

“Isn’t it just building ships? We have the god-given books! Our carpentry group has so many skilled people now. As long as you give us a bit more time, we’ll definitely be able to build them.”

“By then, we can even use iron to build ships. They’ll be extremely sturdy and able to carry a huge amount of cargo!”

“……”

At this moment, Hei Lie lightly tapped the table with his finger. If he didn’t put a stop to this discussion, the topic would stray further and further away.

“Since everyone has no objections, we’ll begin forming our own caravan. Regardless of whether Tu wins or not, regardless of whether food is sufficient or not, we must start trying.”

Although the Spark Tribe was currently focusing on development and aiming to become a trading hub, forming their own caravan was still necessary.

A caravan could not only bring back more resources but also gather news everywhere. For developing a tribe, there could never be too many paths.

Of course, forming a caravan was not an easy matter. Suitable people had to be chosen, and they had to be willing, since this was extremely dangerous.

Fortunately, there were many people in the tribe, and there were always some who loved adventure. After several rounds of selection, Spark Tribe finally formed its very first caravan.

The caravan leaders were Han Bing and another level three warrior. It is a common management model in Spark Tribe, combining one civil and one martial leader.

Han Bing had already gathered some people earlier, preparing to travel around the Eastern Continent and perfect the map once things stabilized.

Now that it was formed into a caravan, it could also contribute more to the tribe. Why not?

To ensure the caravan’s safety, Yang Yi did not let them depart immediately, but instead started arranging specialized training, both in civil matters and in martial skills.

Although Western Continent people were tight-lipped, that didn’t mean every mouth was sealed shut like with a zipper.

Especially once you poured some wine into them, it became much easier to get information.

Because of this, they managed to collect some tricks about caravan trading. On top of that, many had dealt with caravans before. From all this, they could distill some useful insights.

As for martial training, Hei Lie personally oversaw it. For a caravan out in the world, self-preservation was far more important than confrontation.

First came personal safety, then the safety of property.

How to properly avoid danger and turn peril into safety in all sorts of environments. Hei Lie designed the training based on the information he had gathered.

Since they were going to form a caravan, they would form the best one!

Just as the caravan was about to set out, a carrier pigeon arrived at the Spark Tribe with news of Tu’s victory.

On it were only a few simple words: “We won. No more worries about food!”

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