novelraw Chapter 310 The Salt Road Robbery
Chapter 310 The Salt Road Robbery
Chapter 310 The Salt Road Robbery
Ling Chengen's understanding of the breeding season was not very thorough; she only truly realized this after the breeding season began.
She originally thought that the reproductive period of females and males should not be very different, and if she didn't really want to have sex with someone, she could actually get through it on her own.
But the reality was far more dangerous than she had imagined.
In March, the snow in the central part of Beihuang had gradually melted. By the end of the month, there was basically no snow left in sunny areas, and only in shady areas could one still see snow and thick ice.
She stayed in the Beast City for the entire month of March, but the breeding season was long overdue.
But some plans were made long ago and she couldn't afford to postpone them, otherwise she would only miss a good opportunity.
Therefore, after March, the City of Ten Thousand Beasts began to purge the various tribes in the central region, intending to firmly control the central part of the Northern Wilderness.
The unification of the central region mainly relied on the policy of persuading people to surrender.
But some tribes will definitely rebel.
Ling Chengen is not an indecisive person, nor will he give the other party too many choices.
Although war is cruel, she wants to unify the entire Northern Wilderness.
This goal has never changed, so war is inevitable.
After more than a year, the number of troops in the City of Ten Thousand Beasts exceeded 30,000, and the organization and numbering of the troops were clearly defined.
Chang Tianchen served as the commander-in-chief of the three armies, Bai Xi mainly commanded the flying beastmen troops, Su Weihua was responsible for the land warriors' combat, and the water-based army had not yet taken shape because there were still too few beastmen who could swim, so it was temporarily handed over to Shi Ruoan for management.
Ling Chengen is not good at negotiation, but she has no shortage of such talents around her.
She adopted a strategy of diplomacy before resorting to force, entrusting the task of negotiation to Bai Qingyu, who was responsible for persuading other tribes in the central region to submit.
If the other party refuses, Bai Qingyu will withdraw immediately.
Next, Chang Tianchen will take the lead in the battle and the war will begin immediately.
Bai Qingyu has a good appearance, a gentle temperament, and speaks with refined manners. He is also meticulous, observant, and insightful about human nature. In addition, he is very good at observing the expressions of beastmen, and Ling Chengen has also taught him some techniques for analyzing micro-expressions. Therefore, he is particularly adept at handling negotiations between various tribes on behalf of the Beast City.
Therefore, from mid-March onwards, Bai Qingyu spent most of his time outside of Beast City.
Chang Tianchen, along with Su Weihua and Bai Xi, also left Beast City.
Every year from March to May, Yuheng would go out to collect some extremely rare medicinal herbs. The time he stayed in Beast City was not very certain, and Ling Chengen rarely saw him.
Chongzhen was in charge of all sorts of miscellaneous matters. In particular, after the battle, he was responsible for cleaning up the army. He not only had to deal with the issue of prisoners of war, but also had to consider the distribution of various resources to the front lines. He also had to figure out how to resettle the surrendered tribes. So Ling Chengen only saw him twice in the entire month of March.
Every time, he would scold me mercilessly, even though I was exhausted.
Ling Chengen was also a little guilty, so he never talked back when he was full of resentment.
However, Chongzhen is just a bit sharp-tongued, but he is a very reliable person. He handles everything in an orderly manner and has never made any major mistakes.
As for Yu Shaochen, his combat strength is too weak, so he will not participate in the battle of Beast City.
However, only one crop can be grown in the Northern Wilderness each year, so spring is the busiest time for him to open up the fields and sow seeds, and he is always so busy that he can hardly be seen.
The main force remaining in Beast City consists of her, Shi Ruoan, and Ling Xiao.
However, Ling Xiao encountered some unexpected events when he advanced to the fourteenth level. Since the winter season last year, he has rarely appeared to lead the team. He has spent most of his time recuperating and trying to tame his malfunctioning superpower.
Fearing something might go wrong during the breeding season, Ling Chengen did not leave the city alone from March to early April.
But in early April, she suddenly received a request for help from the Hailing tribe.
In just over a year, the southern region has completely stopped transporting salt to other areas.
Currently, 80% of the salt supplied in the Northern Wilderness market comes from the Hailing tribe.
To increase production, the Hailing tribe absorbed two nearby small tribes, expanding the area of the salt fields and maintaining a stable output.
But in early April, the salt they were transporting from the coast to the inland was suddenly intercepted en route.
To ensure their salt income, the Hailing tribe signed agreements with regions in the central, eastern, and even northern areas. Now that this batch of salt powder has been stolen, they will face severe claims.
But that's secondary.
Because the cold season in the Northern Wilderness is long and the icy and snowy terrain is not suitable for transporting supplies, the Hailing Tribe stopped supplying salt after November.
The batch of salt transported in April represents all their production from November of last year to March of this year.
The next batch won't be available for another month.
This means that tribes in the east, central and northern regions, and even some in the south, will face a shortage of salt.
The person in charge of dealing with the Sea Spirit Tribe in the City of Ten Thousand Beasts is mainly Chong Zhen.
However, Chongzhen was currently too busy to handle the matter, and Shi Ruoan had no connection with the Hailing tribe. Moreover, he was the only level 17 warrior in the Beast City at present. Therefore, Ling Chengen did not intend to let him handle the salt robbery case. After careful consideration, he decided to go himself.
Shi Ruoan escorted her to the outskirts of the city, looking at her with concern as she prepared to depart. He said, "The salt powder has already been stolen. Going now won't help, and your breeding season is likely in April. What if…"
Ling Chengen jumped onto Shu Dan's back, waved to the few crow warriors below, and glanced back at Shi Ruoan: "The breeding season is secondary. I have a feeling that something is wrong with the salt powder being stolen. It should be aimed at our Beast City."
The Beast City has been established and is constantly expanding, giving them the confidence to protect their own interests.
Therefore, starting last year, she no longer concealed her collaboration with the Hailing tribe to produce salt and sell the salt powder to various places.
Salt is extremely profitable and is vital to the lives of various tribes.
There must be some tribes that are envious; they've been eyeing the Sea Spirit Tribe and Salt Powder for a long time.
This month's attempt to steal salt fans might just be a test.
Afterwards, the people who stole the salt powder might target the Hailing tribe and seize all the salt fields along the coast for themselves.
The Yantianjia Hailing tribe is like a hen that lays golden eggs every day.
By controlling these, one can hold the throat of most tribes in the Northern Wilderness, and if handled properly, even gain more.
They could even control these tribes, force them to serve them, or even make them oppose their beast city.
Therefore, we absolutely cannot let the situation develop unchecked. We must go there, find out who is behind this, and find a way to retrieve this batch of salt powder.
Although she could increase the salt production in Xilu Youdi to fight against the mastermind behind the salt theft.
But this would drive down the price of salt powder.
Salt powder is currently the most profitable business in Beast City. Driving down the price of salt powder would only result in mutual harm, hurting the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred of your own.
So Ling Chengen set off with his team without hesitation.
After watching her leave, Shi Ruoan stood on the city wall of Beast City, looking at the fish-scale clouds in the clear sky. He noticed that the clouds were thickening rapidly, and a gloomy expression appeared on his face.
There might be heavy rain tonight.
Hopefully, Ling Chengen and the others can leave the rainy area tonight, otherwise they'll probably get soaked to the bone.
……
Ling Chengen didn't go to the Hailing tribe. Instead, he followed the crow warrior who brought the news directly to the section of the road where the salt powder had been stolen. For the past two years, the Hailing tribe had been using land transportation, which, although slightly longer, was more reliable than using waterways.
In two years, they have established a fixed route.
The fixed route means it's easy for the enemy to lock onto it. All they need to do is find a good ambush location and take out the soldiers escorting the salt powder to achieve their objective.
The transport convoy was ambushed in the Zhaoshi Mountain area.
Zhaoshi Mountain is located in the central part of the eastern region. Although it is not very high, the mountain is actually quite steep. On one side is a dense forest, and on the other side is a tributary of the Yehelan River.
There is an east-west mountain path on the mountainside of Zhaoshi Mountain.
Hailing Transport Team usually travels this route.
Because of the space containers, the number of people in the transport team is not very large.
The orcs of the Sea Spirit Tribe weren't stupid either. They usually kept a low profile, storing all the salt powder in spatial containers and pretending to be a passing hunting party.
When Ling Chengen arrived at Zhaoshi Mountain, he found the Sea Spirit Beastman recuperating in a cave on the west side of Zhaoshi Mountain.
The leader of the orcs was Hai Xing's cousin, named Hai Xian. He was a male orc in his early thirties with the skin color characteristic of orcs from the eastern coastal tribes. His skin was dark, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he was very strong.
Ling Chengen had only met this person once, but she usually corresponded with Hai Xing and learned about Hai Xian from Hai Xing's letters. He was a man of few words, very cautious, low-key and reserved, and had a very calm personality.
That's why the shipping company entrusted him with the task of transporting salt powder.
There were also warriors from the City of Ten Thousand Beasts in the transport team, but only three of them.
One of them was the Crow Clan, the ones who went to the City of Ten Thousand Beasts to ask for help.
The remaining two perished in the attack.
Hai Xian collected the two bodies, and after Ling Chengen entered the cave, he immediately saw the two corpses covered with linen cloth.
Hai Xian was also seriously injured. His left leg was pierced by an arrow, he was hit by two arrows in the back, and his right forearm was cut with a deep wound that exposed the bone.
The wood-type warrior in this team was sent by the City of Ten Thousand Beasts and is already dead.
Therefore, none of the injuries suffered by the transport team were treated by the witch doctor; they all treated themselves with simple remedies.
Ling Chengen lifted the cloth, his expression somber. He stared at the two corpses for a moment before lowering his head to examine their wounds and the cause of death.
The members of the Hailing tribe's transport team, whether sitting or standing, remained inside or outside the cave, their eyes fixed on her movements. No one dared to speak at this moment.
After examining the wounds, Ling Chengen covered the corpses with the burlap again and turned to a tall crow warrior, saying, "Treat their wounds first, check their injuries, and be sure to record them carefully."
The shaman we brought this time, Ya Lian, is a seventh-tier shaman of the Crow Clan.
After being trained by Yuheng, he became adept at treating common external injuries.
Moreover, this witch doctor was very skilled at identifying the weapon that caused the injury based on the wound.
That's why Ling Chengen brought him here specifically.
Following her instructions, Ya Lian left the cave and began to assess the condition of the wounded.
Treat minor injuries first, and focus on treating the seriously injured.
He had black strips of cloth tied around the arms of the seriously wounded, and he prioritized taking care of these orcs. Some of the lightly wounded could treat themselves, so he simply took the medicine he had brought and let them apply it themselves.
Hai Xian was filled with shame after his goods were stolen.
Moreover, two of the orcs responsible for escorting him had died, and Shi Lin was worried that Ling Chengen would hold him accountable.
So instead of seeking treatment, she stayed by Ling Chengen's side, wanting to explain what had happened.
Ling Chengen waved his hand and said, "You should treat your injuries first. Although the salt powder is lost, there's so much of it that unless they all scattered it into the river, it definitely won't be used up in a short time. We can investigate after your condition stabilizes."
After treating his injuries, Hai Xian said with a guilty look, "When we reached the middle section of Zhaoshi Mountain, a large number of rocks suddenly appeared from above. In order to avoid them, our formation became somewhat scattered..."
To avoid falling rocks, they focused all their attention on the mountain path above, seizing any opportunity to run towards an area free of falling rocks.
At first, they didn't think it was an ambush. There were indeed many rocks above the mountain path. The rocks on the mountain were eroded by wind, frost, rain and snow, and occasionally they would roll down. They had walked this path many times, so they didn't think much of it at the time, especially since there had been a heavy rain on the mountain the night before.
Therefore, in their view, it was normal for rocks to fall from above the mountain road, and the area affected by the falling rocks was not large. They were all quite skilled and could easily avoid them.
But that's where the problem lies.
They avoided the danger above, but overlooked the danger lurking in their safe zone.
The orcs, who had been hiding on the side of the mountain path, suddenly attacked.
In particular, there were many stray arrows, which disrupted their rhythm. Several people were hit by arrows and falling rocks while dodging. Some died on the spot, while others were knocked off the mountain path and rolled directly into the river on the other side, and their bodies were never recovered.
Hai Xian was also hit by an arrow, and he could sense that he was being targeted by the enemy.
Because many of the arrows were aimed at him.
As the team leader, it's not surprising that he was the primary target of the attack.
Strangely, the remaining arrows from the enemy were almost entirely aimed at the two stone forest warriors.
Because the team leader is easily targeted by the enemy, the transport team's spatial container is not on Hai Xian, but on the Stone Forest Warrior.
Only a portion of the Sea Spirit Tribe, the higher-ups of the Beast City, and the orcs responsible for coordinating with the transport team knew about this.
Ling Chengen sat on the rock and gently pinched his forehead.
Sure enough, there was a traitor among them.
The spatial container that Shi Panxing gave him was quite different from most of the containers currently circulating in the Northern Wilderness Beast Plains.
These space containers are not owner-owned, so anyone who gets their hands on them can use them.
Of course, even if it has been bound to a master, if the owner of the spatial container is killed, the container can still be used by the person who picks it up.
Ling Chengen didn't dwell on this for too long. The investigation into the mole could wait; the most urgent task was to win back the salt powder.
She examined the wounds of the transport team soldiers, most of which were arrow wounds.
Arrow fletching isn't anything special on the Beast Plains; basically, anyone with hands can make it.
However, as a means of frontal attack, bows and arrows are actually somewhat ineffective against orcs, who have relatively high defense.
Orcs are unlikely to die unless an arrow hits their heart or head.
Just like Hai Xian, he was shot in the leg and had several arrows stuck in his back, but he still didn't die.
Therefore, many tribes often use bows and arrows to ambush enemies with weak defenses, especially when the enemy is in human form.
Therefore, it is difficult to determine the identity of the attacker based solely on arrows.
At present, we can only hope that the enemy will show its offensive methods and beast form when the two sides clash.