Chapter 154: Chapter 154: The Lion and Bear Tribes Pay a Visit

“If Changxia shares her method for eating white nuts, the lions will definitely agree,” Yami said. “As for chilies, I think the lions use them for roasting meat. We never dared to try it ourselves, so we don’t really know.”

As she spoke, Elder Yami’s tone was tinged with regret.

The Sky Lion Tribe calls chilies “red fruit,” and they grow everywhere in their territory.

The lions once tried to trade red fruit with other beast tribes, but nobody knew how to eat them properly—everyone just ate them raw like wild berries.

The result?

Well, there was no real result.

Even a totem warrior like Elder Pukan couldn’t handle eating raw chilies, let alone ordinary beastfolk—anyone who dared try ended up completely defeated.

“Back then, we all ate chilies raw. Only those who’ve tried it know how awful it is,” Senda complained, cursing the lions. “Those lazy idiots never even told us how to eat them when they tried to trade!”

Some beastfolk had it even worse!

The lions would just say, “Red fruit is a fruit, you can eat it raw.”

Honestly, aside from the Sky Lion Tribe, no one else in the entire Twilight Forest would dare eat chilies raw.

Constipation was the least of the problems.

In serious cases, people thought they’d been poisoned and started frantically taking antidotes.

“Maybe the lions never even considered that other beastfolk couldn’t eat chilies raw,” Yami said calmly.

The lions are basically a bunch of blockheads.

Well, the lionesses are okay, but the males are all lazy, arrogant, and full of themselves.

Muqin was surprised. “Is that possible?”

“It’s possible,” Senda nodded, grumbling, “Don’t overestimate the lions. They probably just forgot to mention that chilies can be eaten with roasted meat.”

Chilies grow right in the Sky Lion Tribe’s territory.

It’s in their blood to eat chilies.

So, the lions can eat raw chilies with roasted meat.

But they forgot that the other beast tribes in the Twilight Forest don’t have chilies at all.

The first time anyone tried them, it was because the lions recommended eating them raw.

You can imagine how that went.

Honestly, if it weren’t for Changxia’s suggestion, most of the tribe would never have dared try.

After all, the chilies at Changxia’s place were brought from Kongshan.

That generation from Kongshan had never dealt with the lions, so they didn’t know about eating chilies raw. If it had been Elder Yami and the others, they probably would have stopped Changxia from trying them.

They’d all been tricked by the Sky Lion Tribe before.

Muqin could only shake her head in exasperation.

You really can’t expect beastfolk to be too responsible.

Every tribe has its own dark history—Heluo is no exception.

At the very least, Muqin didn’t dare ask Elder Yami what they’d done after being tricked by the lions.

It wasn’t something you could—or would want to—ask.

Given the Heluo Tribe’s reputation for holding grudges,

if the lions dared trick them, they’d definitely hit back.

Ahem—

They call the lions lazy, arrogant, and full of themselves, but the lions probably don’t have anything nice to say about the Heluo Tribe either. After all, to occupy the mountains closest to the Sacred Witch Hall of Kana, the Heluo Tribe can’t be easy to deal with.

“Besides the lions, little Changxia seems interested in the bear tribe’s purple seaweed. Yami, do you remember anything about it?” Pukan asked.

At this, the other tribespeople in the shed all looked over.

They’d all tasted chilies—the flavor was unforgettable.

But what about this purple seaweed?

Yami squinted and said, “I remember purple seaweed is a kind of wild vegetable, and it tastes a bit sweet. The bear tribe loves sweet things and never lets anyone else pick their seaweed.”

“Chang Xia said that seaweed can be used to make sugar,” Muqin said.

In other words, seaweed can be turned into sugar.

The tribe members grew even more curious about seaweed.

Even though the tribe already had maple sugar, maple syrup, and sugar made from thatch roots—

But really, who would complain about having too much sugar in the tribe?

“The Bear Tribe is so stingy with their honey that they won’t even trade it. If seaweed really can be used to make sugar, I bet they’ll guard their seaweed even more closely,” Senda said seriously.

Seaweed was something Chang Xia had specifically mentioned before.

Naturally, they wanted to fulfill Chang Xia’s wishes.

“Heh heh—” Pukang laughed loudly, glanced at Senda, and said, “Senda, you’re wrong. If seaweed can really be used to make sugar, the Bear Tribe will be the first to bring it to the Heluo Tribe. Do you believe it?”

“Pukang, are you crazy?” Senda stared at Pukang in disbelief.

The other tribe members nearby had similar expressions.

Clearly, none of them believed what Elder Pukang was saying.

But Elder Yami and Muqin seemed to understand something.

“Senda, this time I believe Pukang,” Yami said.

Even Elder Yami agreed with Elder Pukang, and everyone in the wooden hut looked utterly shocked.

“How do you figure that—?” Senda frowned, puzzled.

Muqin smiled and explained, “The Bear Tribe has seaweed, but they don’t know how to turn it into sugar. If they want sugar, of course they’ll bring the seaweed to our tribe.”

With that explanation, everyone suddenly understood.

That actually made a lot of sense.

It was just like the sugar made from thatch roots—everyone knew about thatch roots and had eaten them before, but no one had ever thought to turn them into sugar.

In fact, even those who dug up thatch roots to eat were rare.

After all, picking wild fruit was much faster than digging up roots.

Meanwhile, Elder Yami and the others were chatting happily.

The rain kept pouring down, getting heavier and heavier.

It looked like it wouldn’t stop anytime soon.

Inside the cave dwelling, Chang Xia and Chen Rong slept soundly, wrapped in each other’s arms.

Knock, knock—

Suddenly, there was a faint, uncertain knocking at the door.

Chang Xia felt like she was dreaming.

But the knocking didn’t stop.

“Who’s knocking—?” Chang Xia opened her eyes, still groggy.

Chen Rong patted her shoulder gently and said softly, “I’ll go check. You keep sleeping.”

With that, Chen Rong got up, opened the door, and stepped out of the room.

He had just reached the corridor when he saw Gen leading Yadong and the others inside, carrying baskets made of vines. There were also a few unfamiliar faces with them.

Chen Rong’s expression shifted slightly—he seemed to catch a whiff of an unfamiliar scent.

These strangers probably weren’t from the Heluo Tribe.

In the middle of the group, Chen Rong even spotted Wu and Baiqing. In that instant, he realized who those unfamiliar faces belonged to.

The Lion Tribe, or perhaps the Bear Tribe.

Sure enough—

The baskets Yadong and the others carried were filled to the brim. Even though they were covered with leaves, Chen Rong guessed they contained chili peppers and seaweed.

“Chen Rong—” Gen waved, calling out.

Chen Rong said, “The rain’s heavy, let’s go inside first.”

As soon as they stepped onto the corridor, they found it already soaked by the rain.

“Chief, please take them to the living room. I’ll go wake Chang Xia—she’s still asleep,” Chen Rong explained. “We were busy all day yesterday and only got back to the cave at dawn. Please forgive us if we’re a bit slow to greet you!”

Su Ye waved her hand and said directly, “Let Gen take care of them. You go wake Chang Xia.”

With Su Ye’s word, no one dared object.

Besides, the Lion and Bear Tribes had come to the Heluo Tribe this time because they needed something. And as for Chang Xia—her name was well known to them.

Even though she’d never left the Heluo Tribe, as someone valued by Wu, Chang Xia’s reputation was famous throughout all the tribes of the Twilight Forest.