I thrived in the primitive tribe

Luo Ya looked at Lu Yao standing beside him, not understanding why she was so agitated.

He looked in the direction Lu Yao was looking and found that she was looking at the patrol team leader. He couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

The feeling came suddenly and intensely, leaving him somewhat bewildered. He didn't know why he was reacting this way, and Loya frowned slightly, trying to sort out his chaotic emotions.

Just then, Lu Yao's excited voice came over.

"Loya, Loya, look, that's an iron sword, isn't it?"

Upon hearing Lu Yao's words, Luo Ya looked at the patrol captain's hand and saw that he was indeed holding a weapon, which seemed to have been absent before.

He frowned and pondered, trying to search his memory for relevant information, but after thinking for a long time, he still had no clue.

Not hearing a reply from Luo Ya, Lu Yao was very puzzled. She looked up at Luo Ya's face and found him looking serious, seemingly lost in thought.

She didn't disturb Loya's thoughts any further and continued to keep her eyes on the patrol team in front of her.

"What are you doing gathered here?" the patrol captain shouted angrily at the two arguing men.

Upon hearing the serious yet slightly angry voice, the two released their clasped hands and turned towards the source of the sound.

"Captain, this person is cheating in the transaction. You have to help me!" The stall owner said indignantly, taking the initiative to accuse the other party and try to gain the upper hand in public opinion.

His voice trembled slightly, in an attempt to elicit sympathy and attention from the patrol captain.

“Captain, that’s not how it is,” another person stepped forward, his voice slightly tense but firm. “This person clearly lied to me, saying that fresh meat could be used instead of salted meat. I didn’t cheat in the transaction.”

The patrol captain frowned slightly, his eyes sharp as he scanned the two arguing men before him, trying to glean any clues about the truth from their expressions and words.

"When did I say that salted meat could be used as a substitute? Don't slander me. What evidence do you have to prove that I said that?" The stall owner angrily faced the man.

"It was clearly you who said it!"

……

Seeing the two start arguing again, Lu Yao immediately realized that the stall owner had clearly seized the initiative and was trying to shift all the blame onto the other party through a preemptive strategy.

She thought to herself that in this situation, simply defending herself would easily lead to the predicament of "talking to herself" and would be difficult to convince others.

The real key is how to skillfully guide the other party to reveal their weaknesses, so that they can prove why their statement is valid.

The patrol captain looked at the farce unfolding before him. His voice was calm and powerful, carrying an unquestionable authority: "Alright, you both say the other is wrong. There's no point in arguing like this. Either produce relevant evidence to prove you're right, or shut up."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yao had a rather good first impression of the patrol captain. She lowered her voice and whispered to Luo Ya beside her, "This captain seems very upright."

Luo Ya suppressed the slight sourness in his heart and nodded in agreement.

The stall owner placed the animal skin bag in front of him, opened the bag, and gestured for the captain to look.

"Did you give this bag to the stall owner?" the captain asked, looking at the other person involved.

"Captain, I gave it to him, but..." The man was anxious and didn't know what to say.

"Apart from the salted meat on top, the rest is all fresh meat. Do you admit that?" the captain asked immediately afterward.

The man could only stammer in agreement. "I admit it."

"Since you admit it..." As the man listened to the captain's words, his face gradually revealed an expression of anger, resentment, worry, and helplessness.

"Now let's talk about the other side. You said the stall owner told you that you could use fresh meat. Do you have any proof?" the captain asked calmly.

"I...I...he told me that himself," the man could only answer after thinking for a long time.

The captain shook his head inwardly, "Was anyone else overheard when he told you that?"

The man looked around, but no one met his gaze. He lowered his head helplessly.

"There probably isn't. We were talking very quietly."

"That means you have no evidence to prove what you said."

"Yes, Captain." The man seemed quite frustrated, probably realizing he had no chance of turning the tide.

Looking at the smug expression on the stall owner's face.

"Loya, is there really no way? He's so pitiful," Lu Yao said, feeling sorry for him. "Can we help him?"

"Unless the person who just saw us can come forward to prove it, or..."

"Or what?" Lu Yao asked anxiously.

"Or we can prove the stall owner is wrong from another perspective."

Seeing Lu Yao's questioning gaze, Luo Ya gave her a reassuring smile and took a step forward.

"Captain, please wait a moment. I think there are still some questions that haven't been answered." Loya's voice rang out in the slightly noisy environment, carrying an undeniable firmness.

His words were like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples that instantly attracted everyone's attention.

Upon hearing Loya's sudden statement, everyone turned their curious and puzzled gazes toward them.

The patrol members, who were preparing to end the dispute as instructed by their captain, stopped in their tracks.

One of the team members frowned slightly, looking sharply at Loya, his tone tinged with doubt and wariness: "And who are you? Isn't this incident already quite clear? What else is there to doubt?"

“I don’t think this is what it seems on the surface. The stall owner is definitely not as innocent as he claims.”

Upon hearing Loya's words, the stall owner glared angrily and was about to step forward to argue.

"Since you think the stall owner is wrong, do you have any evidence?" The captain gestured for his team members to be quiet and asked the upright young man in front of him.

"There's no evidence,"

"What nonsense are you spouting without any evidence?" someone in the crowd said.

"Captain, may I ask the stall owner a few questions?"

The captain raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment, then gestured for Loya to ask.

"Stadium owner, you just said that this person cheated you by using fresh meat to exchange for salt, right?"

"I've said it so many times already, are you deaf? Didn't you hear what I said before?" Hearing the stall owner's contemptuous words, Lu Yao wanted to go up and argue with him, but Luo Ya stopped her.

“You just need to answer yes or no,” Loya said loudly and seriously.

"Yes."

"Has the salt exchange ratio been adjusted this time?"

"How would I know if I received a notification?"

"In other words, the salt exchange rate on your end hasn't been adjusted so far. Is that right?"

Seeing the orc's sharp eyes, the stall owner gave a reluctant reply.

"Yes."

"Then let's examine whether the meat in this animal skin bag is inconsistent with the current salt exchange rate?"

Following Loya's pointing finger, everyone looked at the animal skin bag placed on the ground, and the captain gestured for the team members next to him to go and check it out.

When the teammate nodded to him, indicating that Loya was right, a glint of approval flashed in the captain's eyes. He looked at Loya, wanting to know what this person would say next.

"Based on our normal exchange ratio of salt to salted meat, you should have already noticed something was wrong when you saw him take it out or before the transaction was even completed."

But why did you only intervene after the transaction was completed?

The stall owner initially thought he wouldn't get anything out of the young man in front of him and didn't take him seriously, but now he felt he was about to be in deep trouble.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He didn't know how to answer. While he was racking his brains, the onlookers began to whisper among themselves.

"It's obvious the stall owner is up to something,"

"Yes, yes, he used to always try to trip us up and cheat us in various ways,"

"That's great, finally someone can handle him."

Seeing the situation turn around, the man who had previously looked ashen-faced now had a strong light of hope in his eyes as he looked at Loya, as if this man were his savior.

"Alright, quiet down." The captain's deep voice interrupted the surrounding noise, his tone carrying an undeniable authority that instantly silenced the previously chaotic scene. All eyes were on him, awaiting his next instructions.

The captain turned his gaze back to the stall owner, his words stern and scrutinizing: "Stadium owner, do you have anything else to say?"

Upon hearing this, the stall owner's expression changed slightly; he knew that his situation in this dispute had become very delicate.

He quickly sorted through his thoughts, trying to find evidence and reasons to defend himself.

However, he felt somewhat powerless in the face of the doubts raised by Loya. He knew that if he could not effectively refute the other party's accusations, he might find himself in an even more passive position.