The wicked female is extremely fierce, but she's pampered by her seven beast husbands.

Chapter 79 Demanding Compensation
I don't understand.

No one can figure it out.

But gradually a small voice began to emerge: "Could that rumor be true? The salt mines in the south... are almost depleted, which is why they've started limiting the amount of rock salt that flows into the trade market each month."

"Maybe, it's actually quite possible."

Many tribes in central Taiwan know about the salt mine collapse caused by last year's earthquake, but the collapse of the salt mine is one thing, and it will be fine once it is mined again.

If this were the only situation, salt prices would only surge for a short period and shouldn't have lasted this long.

The orcs on the gentle slope whispered among themselves, discussing in hushed tones the real reason behind the rising price of rock salt.

Ling Chengen turned his head and asked Chongzhen beside him, "Should we leave first?"

Chongzhen nodded, got up and said goodbye to Qingertai, then left the bustling rock salt sales area side by side with her.

After walking a distance, Chongzhen frowned: "What are your plans?"

"Bai Xu's trip has completely ruined your previous plan to extract salt from Hongying Lake. We haven't found a new salt supply channel yet. If we don't buy this rock salt, it means we will be in extreme salt shortage for a long time to come."

"Without salt, hunting teams will be most affected. Without enough physical strength to hunt far, the tribe will easily face food shortages."

Ling Chengen sighed softly: "There is no other choice but to buy it."

"We'll still buy salt this time, but we'll do it monthly. We'll try to find a salt mine or other salt supply channels within the next month."

Chongzhen nodded slightly: "That's what I was thinking too, but apart from exchanging some necessities, the rest of the supplies we brought were used to exchange for salt stones, and I'm afraid we won't get much."

"Let's go back and discuss it with Bai Xi first, and see how much salt we need to buy. It's best not to put it off until tomorrow."

"They didn't bring much salt this time. The salt will become even scarcer in the next few days, and their price might even rise." Seeing that she didn't look well, Chongzhen offered a few words of advice, hoping that she would make a decision soon and not delay too long.

Ling Chengen nodded slightly and said, "I understand."

After this trip, she had actually lost interest in the border trade.

This place is more like a commodity exchange in the early days of the apocalypse.

Most of the transactions are between tribes, and you hardly see any individual vendors setting up stalls.

However, Chongzhen still explained to her: "The trade market has just begun and will last for several days. Generally speaking, the first two days are mainly for the exchange of goods between tribes, and the following days are for scattered individual stalls with a wide variety of goods, but you can occasionally find some treasures."

The most pressing issue is still resolving the purchase of salt stones, so Ling Chengen wasn't in the mood to look forward to the retail market a few days later.

Back at the tribe's encampment, Chongzhen methodically explained the situation he had gathered in detail. He took the bamboo tube that Gangfeng handed him, drank half of the water, and then looked at the silent Baixi and Gangfeng, who was standing to the side with his hands on his hips: "You two are the leaders of your respective tribes. What are your plans?"

Bai Xi scratched her forehead in frustration: "Besides buying, what other choice do we have?"

However, the price increase of rock salt was outrageous, even more than double what Ayu had predicted.

"Let's cut our salt purchases by 30% from what we already have," Ling Chengen quickly decided.

Seeing her decisive attitude, Bai Xi asked, "Is cutting it by 30% enough?"

"If all else fails, just like the Water Witch Chieftain said, we can temporarily supplement with salt from Hongying Lake. We can't eat too much of that salt, but eating a little for a short time won't cause any major problems."

"During this period, we must find new salt supply channels."

Bai Xi pinched her fingertips and turned to look at Gang Feng.

Gangfeng didn't hesitate too much. The moment Ling Chengen made his decision, he glanced at Chongzhen and knew what to do.

“Reduce the herbal medicine by 30% as well,” he said.

Bai Xi was slightly surprised upon hearing this, but quickly made a decision: "We'll also reduce it by 30%."

For the next month, the three tribes will pool all their resources due to the salt shortage.

Only in this way can we prioritize overcoming the major challenge of salt shortage.

"Chongzhen and Baixi, you two take the supplies and exchange them for salt."

Ling Chengen wasn't very familiar with the exchange of goods, but Chongzhen was a very quick-witted person who knew the prices of all kinds of goods by heart, so she wouldn't be easily deceived.

However, let's hope this fox doesn't miscalculate.

Bai Xi and Chong Zhen accepted the task and quickly arranged for people to take the allocated goods to trade with familiar tribes.

After most of the people left their encampment, the whole place became much quieter.

She looked around and finally found a peach tree, where she sat down against the trunk.

Before she could even take a sip of water, Chang Tianchen wagged his tail and strolled over to her, still holding the bound Beya by the leash.

"You went out without me," Chang Tianchen poked her leg with the tip of his tail, his tone a little annoyed. "Did you go to the dark market just now?"

"You know about the dark market too?" Ling Chengen asked in surprise.

Chang Tianchen looked at her amusedly, leaned down and scratched her chin with his fingertips, and said in a lazy tone, "Do you think I'm some kind of naive and kind good person? How could I not know about such exciting places?"

"If you dare scratch me like a cat again, I'll chop off your claws." Ling Chengen slapped his hand away, his face cold. "Of course I know you're no good, so do you need me to lend you some money to buy a female as a mate?"

The playful expression on Chang Tianchen's face vanished in an instant, almost like a Sichuan opera face-changing act.

He ignored the reddened back of his hand, his eyes suddenly turning dangerous and sinister: "I may kill stupid and vicious orcs, but I wouldn't be so beastly as to treat people as commodities to be bought and sold."

"Besides, I don't just resort to violence casually. Unless you provoke or anger me, I'm not that unreasonable."

Moreover, there was murder and the buying and selling of animal slaves.

Those are completely different things.

"Want me to praise you?" Ling Chengen held up a bamboo tube full of water, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her. "A truly good person who clearly distinguishes between gratitude and resentment."

"I know you're being sarcastic."

Chang Tianchen wasn't angry at all about her sarcastic remarks.

“Back in Poison Valley, I advised you to leave first, but you provoked me first.” Chang Tianchen didn’t think there was anything wrong with his actions back then. “I gave you a warning, but you wanted to encroach on my territory, so I had to fight back.”

Moreover, he was sometimes lucid and sometimes in a state of confusion at that time.

When his mind is in a mess, even he himself doesn't know what crazy things he might do.

Killing her would be the least of his worries; he might even eat her corpse. He didn't want to eat strange things or corpses while he was in a daze, so he preferred a quiet environment where no one would bother him. What's wrong with that?

The one who's wrong is clearly this unreasonable tiger cub.

However... Chang Tianchen looked at Ling Chengen, who clearly didn't think he had any problems, and ultimately swallowed his complaints.

There's no reasoning with this woman in front of me, and there's even less reasoning with her father.

He went completely mad at the time, but Ling Xiao still managed to beat him until he finally gave up and couldn't even fight back.

Finally, the orcs from the Stone Forest and Cold Mountain tribes came and went right under his nose, while Ling Xiao sat to the side, coldly and ruthlessly watching him.

If he showed even the slightest inclination to attack those potato-digging orcs, Ling Xiao would make him score twice.

Chang Tianchen couldn't help but press the tip of his tongue against his cheek, and he could taste the fresh blood seeping from the roots of his teeth again.

The giant tiger clan is invincible wherever they go.

Ling Chengen noticed his unsettling gaze, too lazy to discern what mischief he was plotting. He simply glanced at the frail Bei Ya and said, "You're just going to leave her like this at the Xima Tian Valley market? Are you afraid the Snow Wolf people won't hold a grudge against you?"

"These mere snow wolves, I'll kill them one by one."

Chang Tianchen arrogantly raised his chin and gave a disdainful snort.

"Is there anything you want to buy? I'm looking at her, you can go to the market and take a look." Ling Chengen put the lid on the bamboo tube in his hand and then reached out to take the rope from Chang Tianchen's hand.

Chang Tianchen didn't let go, but sat down next to her: "The current market isn't very interesting. In a couple of days, small stalls will start to appear, and then it will be somewhat worthwhile to browse around."

Ling Chengen: "What kind of things will usually be sold at the market a few days from now?"

“We have everything.” Seeing her curiosity, Chang Tianchen didn’t mind telling her more. “The more common things are leftover animal hides and dried meat, bone needles and blades, some rarer metal ores and plant seeds, as well as some fresh fruits grown by wood-type ability beastmen. Occasionally there will be dried salted fish and seaweed, and various animal eggs and cubs…”

"Anyway, you'll see when the time comes; it'll be quite lively."

"Some orc tribes not far from Ximatian Valley can make a round trip in a day, and usually come to the trade market on the third day, so the tribes near Ximatian Valley... have relatively abundant resources."

Ling Chengen had heard enough. As soon as she looked up, she saw several orcs wearing snakeskin skirts standing in front of their stall. Their eyes, however, were fixed on Chang Tianchen, who was resting his chin on one hand and staring at her face.

She poked Chang Tianchen's arm with her hand: "You people from Snake Mountain."

The orcs of Snake Mountain are easy to spot. Most of them wear snakeskin skirts with intricate patterns. These snakeskin skirts are relatively thin and not very effective at keeping out the cold, but they are quite beautiful on the body. Some of the snakeskin patterns are so vibrant that they are very eye-catching.

Ling Chengen thought of snake molts. Snakes shed their skin every year. Chang Tianchen's beast form was quite large, and the patterns on his scales were very beautiful. He wondered where Chang Tianchen had hidden his previous snake molts. If he could get his hands on some, he could make some clothes suitable for summer.

She's still wearing animal skins, mainly tiger skins, and because her arms and legs are exposed, it's not very hot yet.

But in two months, when the dry season comes... she definitely won't be able to withstand it.

Chang Tianchen had already noticed that the people from Snake Mountain were coming from a distance. Snake Mountain and Snow Wolf's stalls were not far from where they were.

But he had a terrible relationship with Snake Mountain, and he never expected that these people would dare to approach him.

“They seem eager to talk to you, why don’t you go say hello?” Ling Chengen probed him.

Chang Tianchen turned his head and leaned close to her shoulder, whispering, "You are my master now. I don't care about anyone without your permission."

Ling Chengen instantly got goosebumps and pushed away his alluring face: "Whether you go or not is none of my business."

Unfortunately, she also had a bad relationship with Snake Mountain.

I can't be bothered with these shameless bastards.

Seeing that they weren't leaving, Chang Tianchen rolled his eyes in annoyance and handed the rope in his hand to Ling Chengen: "I'll go and get rid of them."

As he slowly swayed his snake tail and glided in front of the Snake Mountain group, Ling Chengen wondered what those guys from Snake Mountain were up to.

Could it be that because the former chieftain and the young chieftain ran away, they felt the tribe needed someone who could fight and take the blame, and they wanted to bring back Chang Tianchen, who seemed to have calmed down, so they planned to put aside past grievances and work with this madman to make the tribe bigger and stronger, create new glory, and then go to Shilin to avenge their past humiliation?

Ling Chengen felt that they couldn't be that naive.

But the truth is, these giant snakes of Snake Mountain really intend to first establish a relationship with Chang Tianchen and see how well he has recovered.

If we could persuade them to take the person back... that would be even better.

The moment they saw Chang Tianchen and how intimately he was leaning against the young clan leader of Shilin, the little radars in the Snake Mountain people's minds started working.

……

"Young clan leader, how could you be with a female like Ling Chengen?"

The middle-aged man, led by Snake Mountain, looked at Chang Tianchen, who was leaning against the tree trunk, with a strange expression. His probing gaze went from top to bottom and finally landed on his rainbow-colored snake tail.

Chang Tianchen let out a soft whistle, as if chuckling: "Don't be like that, I'm not the young patriarch of your Snake Mountain clan."

"Who I spend my time with is none of your business."

The middle-aged man leading Snake Mountain twitched his beard, looking somewhat embarrassed, but still spoke politely, "Young clan leader, what are you saying? I've watched you grow up since you were a child. Although there were some conflicts before, the decision to expel you was made by the clan leader, and we can't influence her decision."

"The clan chief and Yinbo have been taken back to the Southern Beast Plains. Before they left, they instructed us to find out your whereabouts and to locate you as soon as possible. If you're willing, we'll immediately arrange for someone to take you to the border of the Dark Abyss and notify the clan chief and the others to send someone to bring you back..."

Chang Tianchen's nonchalant expression gradually vanished, his eyes instantly transforming into shattered snake pupils as he stared intently at the middle-aged beastman who was speaking: "Take me back?"

"Are you sure she didn't say she needed to notify me as soon as possible so she could arrange for someone to get rid of me?"

If he returns to the Southern Beast Plains alive, the Chang family will no longer have a place where she can boss people around.

Under this oppressive atmosphere, the middle-aged orc wiped the cold sweat from his temples and said with a wry smile, "How could that be? The chieftain really wants to take you back to the Southern Beast Plains. The shamans there have better medical skills and might be able to help you recover sooner."

Chang Tianchen scoffed, "Don't try to fool me with such stupid talk!"

"Hiroshi, there are some things that we both know."

“I’m fine staying in the Stone Forest. I have no interest in the Southern Beast Plains, and I don’t want to get involved with the Chang family. As for that stupid thing, Chang Yinbo, he’s almost an adult. If he still can’t get rid of that female who has no maternal instincts at all, then he deserves it.”

"Didn't Snake Mountain lose to Stone Forest before? Have you given them all their prey? The young clan leader has run away, shouldn't you prepare more to compensate Stone Forest for their losses?"

"Let's leave it at that for today. But if you don't deliver the compensation to Shilin after the trade fair ends, don't blame me for going to collect it myself."

After saying that, he swerved and drove off.

After Chang Tianchen left, the expressions of the orcs, led by Guang Si, changed drastically.

(End of this chapter)