Chapter 63

Zhou Lang said, “I guess you’ve already guessed. The main thing is that I want you to make a few more dishes, like the ones you made yesterday. Not barbecue, but wild vegetable dishes. Of course, you can rest assured that we will give you a lot of rewards.”

Coming to find him after eating his food, it must be something like this.

Lu Yu remained calm and casually brought up another matter, “By the way, yesterday the stone bowl I used to serve food was taken by you, right? The fur you gave me was only meant to be exchanged for food, not including the bowl. Your behavior isn’t good, it’s like stealing.”

Zhou Lang grinned, knowing that Lu Yu was indirectly bringing up the matter of him being called a liar and a thief before. But he did take something that didn’t belong to him. He waved his hand impatiently and said, “It’s just a stone bowl. I’ll bring you ten of them later. Tell me if you agree to what I just mentioned.”

Lu Yu smiled faintly, “I don’t agree.”

Zhou Lang was furious, “You!”

Lu Yu calmly said, “Young Chief Zhou Lang, as you can see, I’m busy all day and can’t spare time to help you make food. Haven’t you eaten a lot of delicious food before? Go find someone else.”

After the insults Zhou Lang hurled at him yesterday, Lu Yu wasn’t someone with Stockholm syndrome who would help just because asked. Besides, he didn’t like people like Zhou Lang and didn’t want to compromise himself.

Zhou Lang gritted his teeth, “If I could find someone else, would I still come to you!”

Yesterday, Zhou Lang brought back those few dishes to see if the people responsible for cooking in the tribe could replicate them. He thought those dishes were simple to make, and maybe the people in the tribe could learn. Then he could throw the cooked food in front of Lu Yu, saving face. But when he brought the dishes back, he happened to run into his father, Zhou Shan, the chief of the Dao Ma Tribe.

Zhou Shan was tall and burly, with a presence that shook the ground as he walked. Seeing Zhou Lang clenching a stone bowl and walking forward with gritted teeth, he reached out and grabbed the back of his neck, lifting him up like a rabbit. “What are you doing?”

Zhou Lang stumbled, subconsciously protecting the thing in his hand.

Zhou Shan frowned.

Stabilizing himself, Zhou Lang’s eyes lit up when he saw the newcomer. “Father, you’re back! Was everything smooth today?”

Recalling today’s events, Zhou Shan snorted coldly, “It was alright. The relationship with the three major tribes isn’t that strong. Entering the inner region is just a matter of time.”

Zhou Lang was delighted, “That’s great! Once we enter the inner region, we can talk to the witch!”

Zhou Shan looked at his happy son and sighed, “It’s not so easy to talk to the witch. But I heard that the witch went to other lands before, so this time during the Great Drift, she should come back. We’ll eventually have a chance to meet her. Anyway, let’s not talk about that. What do you have in your hand? It seems precious.”

Zhou Lang pulled his hand back slightly, feeling uncomfortable. “It’s, it’s nothing…”

Zhou Shan asked, “What food is this? Didn’t you eat enough at night? Why didn’t you let Zhou Da and the others cook barbecue for you?”

Zhou Lang forced a smile and said, “I wasn’t hungry. This food was exchanged from another tribe…”

Zhou Shan’s face darkened. “Exchanged for food? Isn’t there enough food in the tribe for you? Why do you need to go out and exchange for food? How much fur did you use to exchange?”

The question Zhou Lang least wanted to answer came up, but he knew there were many people around when he exchanged for the food. Even if he didn’t answer, Zhou Shan would soon find out. So he could only grit his teeth and say, “Six large pelts…”

Zhou Shan raised his eyebrows angrily. “Are you itching for trouble? Didn’t I tell you that we need to store a lot of supplies recently? Also, why is this food worth six large pelts? Have you lost your mind?!”

Zhou Lang was sprayed in the face with spit, trembling and dared not retort. He could only whisper, “Actually, this food is quite delicious.”

Zhou Shan looked at the stone bowl, picked up a piece of vegetable with his hand, and put it in his mouth. As time passed, his expression went from disdainful to shocked, then serious…

Zhou Lang sneakily watched, feeling a bit satisfied for some reason. So, this is what it feels like to see someone get slapped in the face…

Zhou Shan chewed and swallowed, then walked over to the person behind Zhou Lang, who was holding two other stone bowls, and ate some of the food from the other two bowls. Finally, he came back and asked Zhou Lang solemnly, “Where did you exchange for this food?”

Zhou Lang replied, “It was from a shack in a small tribe that Yin He and I went to.”

Thinking of this, Zhou Lang couldn’t help but complain, “By the way, Father, you don’t know how arrogant the people in that small tribe are. The food they make is just passable. Father, can you give me more people to help me deal with them? The people I have on hand are not enough. The people from that small tribe are quite sturdy…”

Zhou Lang rambled on for a while without getting a response. When he looked up, he found his father lost in thought, not paying attention to him at all. He raised his voice, “Father!”

Zhou Shan raised his eyelids and said, “I can give you the people.”

Zhou Lang was delighted.

Zhou Shan continued, “But, I’m not sending you to fight. You’re going to bring those people back and have them help us make food.”

Zhou Lang’s smile froze. “Huh?”

“I heard that the witch, sponsored by the three major tribes, is very picky about food…”

—

The flashback ended there.

Zhou Shan hated himself for enduring humiliation in this small tribe just to curry favor with that witch. And his father had said that they must invite that person to help them make food.

“How can I get you to agree? I’ve already promised to give you plenty of fur! Or perhaps you want something else? You came to the Great Drift to exchange goods, right? Speak up, and maybe I can give it to you!”

‘This person wasn’t entirely stupid’, Lu Yu thought. But if he wasn’t stupid, Lu Yu couldn’t continue dealing with him.

Lu Yu thought for a while, he narrowed his eyes and mentioned a special material used for upgrading villages. He didn’t mention all of it, just one type. If Zhou Lang only had part of the material, there would be no need for a trade.

Zhou Lang asked, “What is that? I’ve never heard of it!”

Lu Yu shrugged. “Well, then there’s nothing I can do. Sorry, I can’t help you make food.”

Zhou Lang’s anger surged, and although his father had warned him to control his temper and be more polite, he couldn’t hold back at this moment.

He threatened Lu Yu with a hostile look, “I advise you to help me make food obediently, or else…”

Lu Yu had just been thinking that this person wasn’t entirely stupid, but he was quickly proven wrong.

He smiled and said, “Zhou Lang, what are you talking about? Have you forgotten? You invited me to ‘make food’.”

Food is something that goes into one’s mouth. If you offend someone deeply and then ask them to do something highly actionable, you’re really not afraid of death.

Zhou Lang realized the situation and growled, “You!”

But despite his anger, he didn’t dare to force Lu Yu. If Lu Yu really did something to the food he will make for the witch, regardless of the consequences for him, the three major tribes would probably unite and deal with their tribe.

Lu Yu stood firm, and Zhou Lang didn’t know what to do. According to his father, the witch was very picky and particular about food, unlike them. He didn’t like eating meat every day; he preferred wild vegetables and fruits, which Lu Yu’s food happened to meet. So his father insisted on bringing him in to help.

Lu Yu extended his palm and pointed his fingertips outside the door, issuing the order to leave. “If there’s nothing else, please leave.”

Zhou Lang clenched his fist, and the muscles on his arms tensed up.

He dropped a sentence, “Our Dao Ma Tribe will soon enter the inner layer of Stone City. You’ll benefit from helping us. I advise you to think carefully!”

The inner layer of Stone City…

Lu Yu paused for a moment, then slowly withdrew his hand.

Zhou Lang angrily led his men towards the door.

“Wait,” Lu Yu called out to him.

Zhou Lang turned back, his face still grim.

Lu Yu smiled kindly. “You’re right. I think we can discuss this further.”

Zhou Lang was stunned.

—

Watching the silhouette of Zhou Lang and his men leaving, Xia Cao turned her head and worriedly asked, “Lu Yu, are you really going to help them make food?”

Lu Yu replied, “Let’s discuss it first. If we can’t find any other information, we can consider it.”

Xia Cao said, “I don’t think this person is suitable to deal with.”

Lu Yu responded, “I understand what you mean. So this is just a backup plan.”

That night, Lu Yu opened the dream training ground.

When he returned to the control room after training, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the dream training ground had upgraded without him noticing.

Lu Yu was very happy.

The upgrade difficulty of the dream training ground was much easier than that of the village, mainly based on the number of training sessions and duration. When it was enough, it would automatically upgrade, which was very convenient.

Recently, whether it was the Matai people or the Valley people, they had been training diligently. Lu Yu even received feedback several times, hoping to train a little longer and not sleep so much. Some even said they could spare time for training during lunch.

They were very diligent and enthusiastic.

Lu Yu had been worried that they might feel overwhelmed by the tasks he assigned them, but he didn’t expect them to be so happy being busy. Indeed, in this primitive society, if you weren’t diligent, you would starve to death. Moreover, there weren’t as many entertainment activities as in modern times, so learning and working were equivalent to entertainment.

But Lu Yu still didn’t squeeze their time, increasing their duration in the dream training ground. Last time, the father of Qing Qiu died of illness, and Lu Yu had considered that it might be related to his long-term work in the Blackwater Tribe. So Lu Yu had been alert and tried to ensure that everyone had enough rest time every day.

Putting those thoughts aside, Lu Yu focused on the present and checked what new features the training ground had after the upgrade.

In the skill training ground, besides the original projects, there were more sub-projects, and a new main project had been added: Smelting.

Lu Yu’s eyes lit up as he examined it closely. Smelting was still in its infancy, with only one sub-project: Bronze.

Although they could only smelt bronze, it was still great. If they could make bronze tools, both their living standards and martial capabilities would improve significantly.

Lu Yu then looked at the combat training ground. There were no additional training projects, but there was an extra option and a note.

[Multiplayer Training Ground]

[Note: Beginner combat scene simulation enabled]