Inside the Flaming River Trading Point, there were many others who were observing from the outside who didn’t follow the people into the castle to attend the feast. Although they also had food given to them, it was obvious that the food they ate were definitely different from the food the people were having on the inside, and the difference was clearly not a small one.
Here, the meat was all raw and they had to roast it by themselves.
And amongst these people, some were roasting the meat while others observed what was happening on the inside.
After observing for such a long time, they began to hear thunder-like sounds coming from within the Flaming River Castle. Besides that, they heard no other suspicious sounds from the inside. They also didn’t hear the whistles from their chiefs, so there was clearly nothing unusual happening inside.
“Say, what do you guys reckon is happening inside the castle? What are they eating in there?” the person on patrol who was bored asked his companion.
“Who knows, we’re so unlucky to be left out here, I would’ve followed them in if I could! Did you smell the food from there? It’s clearly not the same as what we’re having.” The person who spoke gulped and looked in the direction of the Flaming River Castle with envious eyes.
“Hmm, hey, look! The Flaming Horn tribe is sending food in again.”
The people who were patrolling from different places all looked toward the only wide path in the trading point that led to the Flaming River Castle.
Carts pulled by fierce beasts were sent in one after another, but this time, they did not smell any meat from the carts. It was completely covered so they couldn’t tell what was inside. Only when the carts shook that they heard the gentle clanging sounds from the objects inside. It sounded like pottery.
The fearsome beasts of the Flaming Horn tribe were all given a task today. Each was in charge of pulling a cart and transporting the goods to the back door of the Flaming River Castle for a final process. Even Chacha was assigned a task, to transport things by air. It seemed like the entire Flaming Horn tribe was busy working today.
Meanwhile, inside the Flaming River Castle.
Zheng Luo had already arrived at the seating area of the last tribe. Brandishing the giant green blade in his hand, he chopped up the thick meat into thicker pieces and cut the tender parts into thinner slices.
After cleaning the meat off the bones, only a plate of beast bones were left. On the other hand, the other plate that was placed beside this one was already stacked neatly with pieces of beast meat in all different sizes.
Whoosh!
The giant green blade cut through the air one last time, like a rewinded playback of fireworks, and returned to its sheath.
The blade returned to its scabbard and they walked away.
Zheng Luo returned to his seat and just like Ao from before, he had a cheerful and proud smile on his face, full of satisfaction from his performance.
They had two ex-chiefs of the Flaming Horn tribe serve them meat. Wasn’t this a splendid show of hospitality?
If the others knew what the two ex-chiefs of the Flaming Horn tribe were thinking at the moment, they would’ve screamed, “This is too much! We can’t accept it!”
The newly appointed chief Gui He looked over at Zheng Luo who just returned to his seat, and then turned his head to glance over at Ao. He moved his fingers. His hands itched with the same urge to show off. He also had skills to show. Ao could cut the meat clean off the bones, Zheng Luo could slice up the meat, and as for him, he could break apart every joint on those beasts that they so often ate! With just one swing of the sword! At most, he needed three swings!
Seeing his father’s urge to perform, Gui Ze who was sitting on the side coughed softly, reminding his own dad to be cautious about his image. He was the chief now. In front of all the other tribes, his every movement represented the entire Flaming Horn tribe.
But in truth, who didn’t feel the urge to show off in the Flaming Horn seating area? Gui He was not the only one who felt that way.
As for the others in the hall, seeing the people of the Flaming Horn tribe shifting in their seats, they began to worry again and their facial expressions changed. Don’t tell me they’re going to do another round?
Can’t you just let us enjoy our food for once?!
This was just a distraction right? Right?
It didn’t matter. The Flaming Horn tribe had already achieved what they wanted.
They knew that they could not have too many shocking performances like these. Once or twice was enough to leave an impression. If they overdid it, the effect wouldn’t be as strong anymore. It wouldn’t be as surprising as the impact of the first performance. This the Flaming Horn tribe understood.
So, after Ao and Zheng Luo showed off their skills, the hall finally returned to a normal state.
By normal, they meant that the people had to cut up the meat by themselves. Giant uncut roasted beasts would be served and no one would cut it up for them. No one would be there to cut it into chunks, pieces, or shreds.
This also satisfied the wishes the people had when the first two rounds of meat were served.
Didn’t you want to cut the meat yourself? Sure, go ahead!
Needless to say, when the people in the hall started to cut the meat, they realised how difficult it was.
Even if it was already roasted, cutting fierce beast meat was not easy. If they did not understand the inner structure of the fierce beast, they would end up striking on its rigid bones. There would be no damage made to the meat, but they cared a lot about their blades. The bones of fierce beasts were a few times harder than the bones of normal wild beasts. Some beasts with tougher outer bones could even make a crack in the medium-upper grade stone blades.
Not everyone was that rich and willing to damage their own blade. They would certainly feel distressed if their blades were damaged.
The people who cared a lot about their blades were extremely careful while cutting the meat. They cut it up piece by piece. The experience was not at all fancy and cool like the performances put on by Ao and Zheng Luo before.
Many people couldn’t help but think in their minds, “If I knew this was going to happen, I would’ve let the Flaming Horns continue doing their thing... Oh well, I’ll just cut it myself.” When they thought about how Ao and Zheng Luo cut up the meat from before, the feeling of intensity that made their hearts skip a beat, they decided to cut it their own way, slowly and steadily.
The three rounds of meat had already been served, and the people who were hungry were now all feeling refreshed. After all, the portion of meat from every round was quite a lot. Plus, fearsome beast meat filled people up much more efficiently than wild beast meat. Sometimes, the meat of an entire wild beast was not even close to what a handful of fearsome beast meat could provide.
Right when everyone was thinking about the fourth round of meat, a team of warriors marched in with the fourth round of meat in their hands.
At a glance, they noticed that the meat had already been sliced up and was not much different from the third round of meat. But if they took a closer look, besides the fact that the fourth round of meat was not an entire roasted beast and was sliced up, it was done slightly rarer than the previous rounds. Beast blood still flowed where cuts were made.
And beside the meat, there were also three stone bowls full of different coloured powders.
What is this?
They could recognise what was in the first bowl. It was salt. But they could not determine what was in the second and third bowl. They had not seen these before.
A person smelled the powder and suddenly sneezed
It was a little spiced and made their noses itch when they got closer.
“What is this?” someone asked with suspicion.
“The Flaming Horns made it. It’s probably edible.”
“Who cares, just eat!”
A chief of a tribe that was sitting on the far end immediately used a knife that he carried and cut out a piece of roasted meat. Scanning the bowls, he dipped the meat into the bowl with the red powder and put it in his mouth.
Gui He who was seated in the Flaming Horn seating area didn’t even speak yet, but the ignorant man had already acted before instructions were given.
And everyone present also saw the person who went ahead and ate it first. It was perfect because they also didn’t want to eat before others ate. They wanted to see how others reacted before deciding to eat. Very soon, the person who ate first suddenly stopped chewing. His face twitched uncontrollably and his expression was twisted. He turned his head and spit out the meat from his mouth. He hopped up from his seat, ran around in the space beside him, and didn’t know what to do. He opened his mouth wide and let out his tongue. He fanned his giant hands at his mouth, and his rough face had already turned bright red. His nostrils flared wildly, like a furious bull about to explode. Strange sounds came from within his throat, and even tears came out of his bloodshot eyes. He couldn’t stop his nose from running.
Everyone present looked over and focused completely on the person. They only saw the chief rolling on the ground with wet eyes and a runny nose. His face was furious. He pointed at the Flaming Horn seating area and shouted, “There’s poison!”
Even the people from the Zhi tribe who was sitting next to them dropped the meat in their hands when they heard it.
There’s poison?
The people in the hall were at first shocked, and all of them looked over to the Flaming Horn seating area. So the Flaming Horns finally made a move? Did they call all of them over so they could destroy them all at once?
Suddenly, everyone’s minds were like wild sacred beasts unleashed into the boundless desert. No force could pull them back now.
Hearing the sudden exclamation, even Shao Xuan almost spit out the wine from his mouth.
Shao Xuan looked toward Gui He, hinting at him to explain the situation.
Gui He had also intended to do so. He wanted to speak before they started eating, but he didn’t expect the person to be that excited for the food. Seeing an unknown substance, it was clear that something smelled strange, yet this person ate it right away without hesitation. Just look at the other tribes. They were all vigilant and just watched before taking any action.
When he noticed that everyone from the twenty-four tribes were looking at him, Gui He did not rush to explain. Words meant nothing now, he had to take action.
Gui He calmly grabbed a pinch of the red powder and sprinkled it over the meat on the plate. He forked the meat with a finger-sized skewer and put it in his mouth. After chewing, he swallowed it down. From his eyes, they could tell he was enjoying the food.
After finishing, Gui He said, “Actually, this is a condiment that we use to flavour our food. It’s not poison. This one is called the Flaming Horn Chili Powder.”
These were made from a few spicy plants and some other plants with complementary flavours. They were first heated up in pots until they were dry and then they were ground into powder and stored.
Not all members of the Flaming Horn tribe liked this flavour. Some disliked the taste and refused it whenever they could, but Gui He loved its flavour. After he got used to it, eating it even felt refreshing!
This chili powder was actually something Shao Xuan concocted.
A long time ago, when Shao Xuan didn’t even have a high status in the tribe, he had been looking for plants with this type of flavour. Back then, he didn’t have many people’s support. Instead, many people thought that Shao Xuan was up to no good because he didn’t do proper work like the rest of them did. But now, with his superiority in the tribe, even if he was picking some leaves because he was bored, people would think that he had a specific purpose in mind. Not only would they not prevent him, they would even take the initiative to help him.
This was the difference.
With helpers, it was much easier to search for plants because they were a huge group with a common goal. The spices served on the banquet, besides the salt and chili powder, was another flavouring element that was only made after they came here and found a plant.
There were many goods to be discovered in this forest.
Although these spices and condiments were not poisonous, animals rarely went to eat them, so it was very easy to find. Now, the Flaming Horn tribe had already collected enough stock to last them a year even after the banquet was over.
After Gui He explained the way to eat the meat, everyone in the hall calmed down from their previous tension.
Even the chief of the Flaming Horn tribe had eaten it, so they reckoned this was probably the truth.