Chapter 57

With over fifty Matai people, along with Lu Yu and Cha Zhe, carrying plenty of supplies, they formed a rectangular procession.

Lu Yu and Cha Zhe stood in the middle, surrounded by tight protection. Although the large groups of wild beasts along this road had been cleared by Tai Lie and his team before, recent disturbances from the Great Drift might have scared other beasts, causing them to run over here unexpectedly.

Actually, Shan Pu and the others were quite hoping for some short-sighted wild beasts to come their way, which would mean free meat and fur.

After noticing Cha Zhe’s loneliness and longing for family, Lu Yu paid more attention to him. This time, he brought Cha Zhe along with him instead of letting him stay with Shan Pu and the others.

Lu Yu took out a bamboo tube and handed it to Cha Zhe. “Cha Zhe, do you want some water?”

“Thank you, Witch.” Cha Zhe took it and took a sip, then handed it back to Lu Yu.

Lu Yu didn’t take it back and couldn’t help but nag, “You, child, forgot to bring the fur bag prepared for you by Xia Cao and the others. This bamboo tube will be for you to drink water from now on. Oh, and these too.”

Lu Yu took out a simple leather bag from his ring. It was the style Lu Yu wanted: a single-shoulder, cross-body bag tightly pressed against the back, or it could be worn in front. There was a hole on the bag strap to insert a weapon with a handle.

After taking out the bag, Lu Yu also put some of his dried meat and fruits inside, along with items like red medicine, smoked insect grass, and colored grass, and handed it to Cha Zhe. “Here, you can’t forget this leather bag anymore. Wear it carefully.”

Cha Zhe looked at the bag and smiled gratefully. “Witch, if I hold onto it for a long time, I’ll definitely get tired. It might hinder everyone’s progress. Why don’t you hold onto it for me first? If I want to drink water or eat, I’ll come find you.”

After thinking about it, Lu Yu agreed and retracted his hand. “Alright.”

“Thank you, Witch!” Cha Zhe smiled. “By the way, Witch, you’re amazing! How can you carry so many things? Aren’t you tired…”

As Cha Zhe spoke to Lu Yu, he moved closer.

Xia Cao also joined the expedition to the Beast Plains this time. She looked over and felt something was a bit off, but then she thought that Lu Yu always treated Cha Zhe like a child, and Shi Tou and the others also liked to stick to Lu Yu. Cha Zhe might like Lu Yu as much as Shi Tou and the others did and enjoy being around him, so there was nothing strange about it.

Xia Cao suppressed the unease in her heart and instead asked Shan Pu, “Why haven’t Chief and the others returned yet?”

It was already dark, and they were just preparing to go to the place where they would spend the night, which was an abandoned beast cave. Lu Yu and the others had stayed there before during their previous trip to the Beast Plains, and they were planning to stay there this time too. However, they found traces of wild beasts on the way there, so Tai Lie took two others to scout ahead.

Scratching his head, Shan Pu said, “Should I go check—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the sound of footsteps interrupted him.

Everyone’s expression turned serious.

Shan Pu and Xia Cao quickly ran to Lu Yu’s side.

“It’s us! Can’t you even hear our footsteps?” Lian Shun, who went to check with Tai Lie, pushed aside the grass and walked out, sounding annoyed.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Shan Pu said, “It’s been a long time since we traveled at night.”

Tai Lie walked to Lu Yu’s side and asked softly, “Everything alright?”

Lu Yu shook his head. “No problem. How about your side?”

Tai Lie replied, “There might have been wild beasts passing through here during the day, but they didn’t stay in the cave. We just need to be careful tonight.”

“Okay.” Lu Yu smiled gently. “Thank you for your hard work.”

“No problem.”

—

Cha Zhe’s figure lurked in the darkness, grimly watching the ambiguous atmosphere between Lu Yu and Tai Lie.

When he noticed Tai Lie and the others’ movement, he withdrew from Lu Yu’s side. Because he couldn’t attract the attention of the Matai Chief for now, he had to keep his distance from Lu Yu while he was around.

Cha Zhe gritted his teeth.

Just wait a little longer, just a little longer. He couldn’t expose himself. He had to wait for the right opportunity…

The group spent the night in the cave.

Perhaps it was just a passing during the day, but they spent the night peacefully without any trouble from wild beasts.

Shan Pu sighed regretfully. “I thought we could have an extra meal tonight.”

Lian Shun patted his head. “Extra meal? Those traces of wild beasts we saw, I and Chief inspected carefully. Definitely a giant-sized wild beast. Even we would have a hard time against it. If we can avoid it, we should. You still want an extra meal?”

Shan Pu rubbed his sore head. “Giant-sized wild beast? Are you serious? I haven’t seen a giant-sized wild beast in a long time…”

Lian Shun nodded. “Yeah, maybe it’s because of the Great Drift, it stirred up all these unknown beasts hiding somewhere…”

Xia Cao interrupted their conversation and said, “Stop chatting. Let’s get ready to leave!”

“Yes!”

The group continued on their way.

This time, there were no accidents on the road, and everyone safely arrived at the towering stone castle of the Beast Plains.

“Alright, everyone, as I said before, tidy yourselves up!” Lu Yu instructed.

“Yes!”

Everyone took out colored grass from their leather bags and began “dressing up.”

Lu Yu also took out colored grass and handed some to Cha Zhe.

Cha Zhe’s tribe had also suffered attacks. Although it couldn’t be fully confirmed whether they were attacked by the same group that attacked the Matai, it was necessary to disguise themselves, just in case that tribe also participated in the Great Drift event.

This time, not only did everyone paint their faces, but they also painted their bodies. However, it wasn’t random; it was the pattern Lu Yu had in mind. A simple pattern of a blood-stained battle axe. It was easy to draw, had a fierce look, and matched Tai Lie’s weapon. However, the iron axe Lu Yu gave to Tai Lie was put away by him, and other inappropriate weapons and armor were also put away. Now, everyone was equipped with “valley-style” weapons and armor.

The Matai people were now dressed in grass  clothes, with patterns painted on their faces, and their hair and beards were arranged with thin stone flakes as Lu Yu instructed. Now they looked completely different from the Matai people Lu Yu had first seen.

After tidying up, everyone headed towards the stone city. The crowd at the Beast Plains Stone city was more than five times what they had seen last time. The entrance was bustling with activity.

Their group didn’t attract much attention, but the wooden plank cart did, although people only glanced at it a few times before returning to their business. Everyone seemed busy, and no one came up to talk.

With so many people, it took Lu Yu and the others quite a while just to enter.

Inside, there were even more people, densely packed.

Lu Yu didn’t know there were so many primitive people in this area.

Finally, the group found the wooden shed they had been to before.

As they walked in, they saw Mao Pu walking out towards them.

Mao Pu’s eyes lit up. “Lu Yu!! You’re here!!”

Mao Pu hurried over in three steps and two leaps.

“It’s been a while, how have things been Chief Mao? We’re here to join the fun,” Lu Yu greeted with a smile. He still had a favorable impression of Mao Pu.

Mao Pu chuckled, “Things are more interesting in the Beast Plains than in the tribe. Don’t call me Chief Mao anymore; I hardly manage things in the Blackwater Tribe now. By the way, come in quickly.”

Lu Yu and the others entered the wooden fence.

Lu Yu hesitated a bit. “Um, Mao Pu, we’ve brought a lot of people this time, so…”

Mao Pu immediately understood what he was trying to say and waved his hand. “Don’t worry, I have other places to stay. I bought several wooden sheds quietly many days ago.”

Lu Yu was surprised. “Several?!” As far as he knew, living in these wooden sheds required giving up a lot of fur or other resources every day. How could Mao Pu and the Blackwater Tribe afford several sheds?

Could it be…

Lu Yu whispered, “Did you rent them out to others?”

Mao Pu raised his thumb. “Lu Yu, you’re the witch and you’re smart! Of course, as more and more tribes come, there aren’t enough wooden sheds to accommodate everyone, so I…” He chuckled mischievously.

Lu Yu was still quite surprised. This Mao Pu was something else.

“But,” Lu Yu furrowed his brow slightly, “when you first rented the wooden sheds, didn’t you have to provide a large amount of resources? Where did you get so many resources from?”

Mao Pu squinted and smiled. “We have you guys to thank for that~”

“Us?” Lu Yu couldn’t figure it out this time.

Mao Pu whispered slyly, “After spending some time with you guys and watching your battles, I suddenly found myself much better at reading people. So I started betting at the arena every day…”

Lu Yu suddenly realized. So it was gambling. No wonder.

“So you don’t have to worry about me not having a place to stay. You’ve been through a lot on the journey here. Take a rest. We can talk more tonight.” Mao Pu said.

“Alright,” Lu Yu agreed.

After Mao Pu left, Lu Yu and the others parked the wooden cart in a corner.

It was getting late, and Lu Yu was thinking about what to eat tonight when he heard a surprised shout behind him.

“It’s you!!!”

Hearing this voice, Lu Yu raised an eyebrow.

He turned around, and sure enough, it was that somewhat arrogant son of the big tribe, Yin He.

Lu Yu took a step forward. “You…”

Yin He pointed at Lu Yu, turned to the people beside him, and said loudly and confidently, “He’s the god of barbecue!!!”

Lu Yu: …Huh??

Before Lu Yu could express any opinion on this sudden “Barbecue God” title, the people around Yin He spoke first.

A young man wearing a colorful beast skin skirt, arms crossed, glanced disdainfully at Lu Yu, then turned to Yin He and said, “Barbecue God? Yin He, you’re just randomly calling someone you don’t know a god. Do you realize you’re insulting the gods? The gods will punish you.”

Yin He hesitated for a moment, stubbornly said, “Even if he’s not the god of barbecue, he’s still the best at cooking barbecue!”

Hearing this, the man in the colorful beast skin showed even more disdain, and so did the people around him.

To outsiders, Yin He and their tribe might be considered relatively large, but in their eyes, they were just ordinary. In the past, they used to play around with Yin He and have some fun, but now it seemed that this person had no taste. Just because he had eaten a few pieces of barbecue, he dared to say that person was the best at cooking barbecue.

The man in the colorful beast skin glanced at Lu Yu again.

Although this person looked a bit fairer and had some strange things painted on his face, there was nothing remarkable about him.

The man in the colorful beast skin spat on the ground and sniffed, “I’ve seen your type a lot, just fooling around with idiots like Yin He. The barbecue I’ve had is more than the roads you’ve walked.”