Chapter 245: Near the Nan State
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Su Ying shook her head. “How is your father?”
“Thanks to the Orange Guardian, Father’s wound has been treated and he just regained consciousness.”
Su Ying nodded. “Where’s the Orange Guardian?”
“The Orange Guardian has been helping to treat the tribesmen. He only stopped to rest at dawn.”
Su Ying didn’t expect the Orange Guardian’s medical skills to be so competent. She followed Zhang Shulun to the house of the tribal chief, Zhang Ping.
Zhang Ping had already regained consciousness and was currently leaning weakly against his bed. He had heard everything Su Ying said to Zhang Shulun in the courtyard, and he knew that Su Ying was the benefactor who had saved him and his tribesmen.
“Sacred Mother…”
“You can call me City Lord Su.” She was somewhat resistant to the title of Sacred Mother.
“Thank you for saving my life, City Lord Su.”
Su Ying walked over to the bed and checked his pulse. His pulse was weak, but there was still a strong beat. The wounds on his body had already been bandaged, so she didn’t bother to check those.
“It’s good that you’re alive.”
When Su Ying said this, the father and son’s eyes became red-rimmed. This time, the tribe had encountered a great calamity. By the time Su Ying arrived, those people had already massacred the tribe, and it was unknown how many tribesmen had died.
Fortunately, those people harbored evil intentions towards the women of the tribe and didn’t kill them immediately. After Su Ying arrived, she managed to rescue those captured women from the hands of those evil people.
“I heard that City Lord Su is here to purchase medicinal herbs.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve already asked them to sort out the medicinal herbs. City Lord Su, just take whatever you want.”
“Ask them to mark all the types of medicinal herbs. 1 will pay you according to the previous prices.”
“How can we still ask for your silver, City Lord Su? You’re our savior and benefactor, so the medicinal herbs can be taken as a thank-you gift to you.”
Su Ying had heard about this from the Shinloh Tribe. As they were people who had drifted away from the states, to put it bluntly, they had no one backing them and could only rely on planting medicinal herbs to maintain their daily lives.
The merchants who came to buy from them also saw that they had no one to back them up, so the prices they offered were very low. These tribesmen could only barely make ends meet.
If Su Ying took away this batch of medicinal herbs for free, they would probably not even have any food before the spring harvest next year. If they starved to death, who would be left to plant medicinal herbs?
“I’m paying you guys, so just take it.”
When he saw Su Ying’s insistence, Zhang Ping couldn’t say anything more. Their current situation truly didn’t allow them the luxury to go without money. Many of the males in the tribe had been killed, and the manual labor force had been reduced by half all of a sudden. Their lives next year would probably not be easy.
Su Ying took out two lists. One was the list of herbs that Sky Alpha City had purchased from here, and the other was the list of herbs she wanted.
“Tribal Chief Zhang, take a look. Can your tribesmen grow these herbs here?”
Tribal Chief Zhang took the list and looked at it. “Some of these can be planted, but some are not quite possible. It’s wet and cold in our place here, and some seedlings can’t survive here.”
“Tell me which are those that can be planted.”
Tribal Chief Zhang asked Zhang Shulun to bring a pencil over and he circled out what could be planted.
Su Ying then asked them to clearly mark the months of planting for these herbs so that she could get the medicinal seeds or seedlings according to the timetable on the list.
By the time Su Ying finished chatting with Tribal Chief Zhang, the Orange Guardian had already woken up. When he learned that Su Ying had returned, he immediately rushed over.
“City Lord.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“City Lord, do you still want to visit the other tribes?” the Orange Guardian asked.
When he heard that, Tribal Chief Zhang immediately interjected, “City Lord Su, you still want to go to other tribes to buy medicinal herbs? You don’t have to make a trip through this snowy territory in this freezing weather. I’ll just get someone to send a message to those tribes and ask them to send the medicinal herbs over to you.”
Su Ying felt that this was fine too. They could send their person-in-charge to come over and she could explain the situation to them directly.
“Alright.”
There were more than ten tribes in this area. In order to prevent conflicts between tribes, they had made an agreement among themselves that the medicinal herbs planted by each tribe should not be repeated. This way, there would be no overlap of interests between tribes, and it would be less likely for conflicts to occur. It would also be more conducive to maintaining the unity of the tribes.
After all, they didn’t have a backer, so the tribes could only depend on each other. However, the arrival of that group of Nan State people was too sudden, and they hadn’t even had the time to ask the other tribes for help before Su Ying appeared.
Su Ying’s main purpose for coming here was to understand the terrain and the area where the tribes were located. She also wanted to inquire about the cultivation of some medicinal herbs. Apart from that, she had another purpose that had nothing to do with the tribes.
Tribal Chief Zhang sent his men to inform the other tribes, and while they waited, he arranged for Su Ying to temporarily stay at his home.
Most of the people in the tribe were very hardworking. The tribesmen would help each other, so every family had a roof to shelter them from the wind and rain.
The tribal chief’s house had an empty room, and Su Ying was temporarily staying there until the other tribes arrived.
That night, Zhang Shulun’s mother slaughtered a chicken for Su Ying and made a wild vegetable and egg soup. The vegetables used to make the soup were fresh cabbage no less. She also fried an egg and made a bowl of stir-fried preserved vegetables and meat.
There weren’t many dishes, but these were already the best they could bring out.
After Mrs. Zhang finished preparing the food, she brought it directly to Su Ying’s room.
“City Lord Su, please eat. There’s white rice in the pot too. If it’s not enough, just let me know and I’ll get more for you.”
Su Ying glanced at all the dishes on the small table. “These are all for me?”
“Yes, yes. We still have more in the pot. Eat as much as you want.”
Su Ying could sense their goodwill, and she usually wouldn’t hold back on such matters.
“Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome. It’s our blessing to be able to repay you, City Lord Su.” Mrs. Zhang was afraid that Su Ying would feel uncomfortable if she remained in the room, so she left the room after putting the food down.
Su Ying did not stand on ceremony either. She finished all four dishes without leaving anything behind and even finished half a pot of their rice.
She had been eating dry food for the past few days. She had long been craving the food made by Uncle Ilea and the others. Although she still could not taste their cooking now, it was not bad to have a bite of hot food.
After eating and drinking her fill, Su Ying took out the map that Tribal Chief Zhang had given her.
This was a map of the northern wilderness, more detailed than any she had seen before.
As she pored over the markings on the map, she realized that behind Sky Alpha City, in the direction of these tribes, was another border territory of the Nan State. On the side of the entrance to the northern wilderness was the southern territory of the Nan State, while this side was the western territory.
From this, it could be seen how big the northern wilderness was. One territory in front and another behind actually divided a quarter of a state.
Moreover, there was not only one tribe here. There were countless other tribes of all sizes scattered in other places..