Chapter 12

After a simple breakfast, all seven members of the Hunting Team set out, Elder among them. They carried a Water Jar, a Clay Pot, and three Pottery Bowls in their Back Baskets to trade for people and salt.

Luo Chong's instructions were not to take adult men. Men from outside the tribe were hard to tame. They could trade the Water Jar for two adult women; adult women were no weak fighters, and they could bear children too. Far more worthwhile than men—and there were two of them.

The Clay Pot could be traded for two boys nearing adulthood. Young people were relatively easy to integrate.

All three Pottery Bowls were to be traded for salt. If there was no salt, they could trade the bowls for girls. One Pottery Bowl for two underage girls was still a good deal.

They were trading with a tribe west of their own. Once they crossed a mountain and passed through a valley, they would find that tribe. Elder led the entire operation, while the others were responsible for protection. They would try to return before dark.

The Hunting Team would not hunt today. Luo Chong told them to gather wooden poles suitable for making spears along the way. They were not to waste time on anything else unless wild beasts came looking for trouble.

All the children went to pull weeds and clear the open ground before the cave. They cleared away all the brush, and burned whatever they could not move.

The Gathering Team was not going out either. They all went to the river to catch fish or smoke Cured Meat. For those with nothing to do, Luo Chong also taught them how to twist grass rope, and he would teach Lame how to make pottery. Other than pregnant women and little brats, no one was idle.

In the jungle, an old man with Sheep Horns atop his head hurried along a narrow goat-track with six Han men whose hair was tied up. This path had been worn out by the Hunting Team's frequent travels.

After crossing the mountain, they saw a valley less than two hundred meters wide. On the other side of the valley lay another tribe.

This tribe was larger than Luo Chong's Han Tribe, with around eighty or ninety people. They had had some dealings with the Han Tribe before. The two tribes had once lent each other fire, and the Han Tribe had traded Dried Meat and animal hides with them for Salt Stone.

By the time most of the morning had passed, the party of seven finally reached the mountain across the valley.

Before they reached the other tribe's dwelling place, Elder and the others ran into their Hunting Team. Their Hunting Team had more than a dozen people, but they were not together. They had all scattered to search for prey.

The one who spotted Elder's group was a young man. The moment he saw them, he began shouting for his companions. One cry after another rang out from the woods, and within two minutes, twelve people had run out and surrounded Elder's group.

Their Chieftain was a burly middle-aged man. Solid muscles bulged from his bare upper body, and a broad animal-hide skirt wrapped around his bear-like waist. If Luo Chong had been here, he would surely have cried, "Third Junior Brother, is that you, Third Junior Brother?"

Their Chieftain was Baldy. The top of his head was bare, yet the rest was ringed with naturally curly short hair. If he put on a string of huge Buddhist beads, he would look exactly like Sha Wujing.

At first, Baldy did not recognize these people with tied-up hair and Back Baskets. But after looking closely, he found familiar faces. He had seen Elder with the Sheep Horns before, and he had seen the ferocious-looking One-Ear as well. Only after recognizing them did Baldy relax.

Baldy and Elder began communicating with a mixture of gestures and words.

"What are you here for?" Baldy was deeply puzzled.

Elder smiled warmly and took a Pottery Bowl from Big Strength's Back Basket, handing it to Baldy. "We want to trade this for Salt Stone."

Baldy's eyes lit up. He took the smooth Pottery Bowl, inside and out, and even held it up to the sun for a look. Its shining glow made Baldy's heart pound. This little red Stone Basin was a treasure—so beautiful, and much lighter than an ordinary Stone Basin.

"All right. Come to my tribe."

Baldy readily agreed and told the Hunting Team to continue spreading out to hunt. He brought only two men with him to lead Elder and the others back to the cave, showing no intention whatsoever of returning the Pottery Bowl to Elder.

Baldy's tribe also lived in a cave, and it was a karst cave. Clear mountain spring water flowed from cracks in the rock, collecting in a hollow to form a small pool less than two square meters wide. This was their tribe's water source. But in winter, the water here stopped flowing, and then they could only drink melted snow or travel a long way to Small River for water.

Near the karst cave, more than a dozen pregnant women watched over the children. The underage children were pulling weeds nearby or gathering berries from the bushes.

The group stopped at the entrance of the karst cave. Baldy had two of his men go inside and bring Elder a small bag of Salt Stone.

It was a bag made from groundhog skin, with only half a bag of Salt Stone inside. This little salt would not last long at all, and it was all coarse salt grains the size of soybeans. If Luo Chong purified it, even less would remain.

Elder took the bag and looked it over, then shook his head. "This is not enough. Too little. We want more, and this time, we also want to trade for people."

The moment Baldy heard that, he grew anxious. Frowning, he gestured, "No. Your Stone Basin is too small. It is not very useful. If you trade for people, we cannot give you Salt Stone. We do not have much Salt Stone either."

Elder chuckled, his grizzled beard trembling like an old mountain goat's. He beckoned for Big Strength to take out the Water Jar.

"We will trade this for people."

Baldy's eyes went wide at once. The children and pregnant women around them also ran over to watch.

"What a beautiful Stone Basin."

"Wow, this Stone Basin is huge."

"It is even bigger than the big Stone Basin in our tribe."

Chattering native speech that no one could understand immediately rose all around them.

Baldy stroked the small Water Jar, then took out the earlier Pottery Bowl for comparison. It was made from the same kind of stone, and its surface was so smooth. How had they polished it? A Stone Basin this large would take generations to grind smooth.

"This for two adult women. If not, then no deal." Elder had Big Strength put the Water Jar away again and spoke to Baldy with a resolute expression.

Baldy hesitated now. Their tribe truly needed such a large Stone Basin. He felt that even two women for one would be a bargain, but it was autumn. One less person meant less harvest, so he could not make up his mind.

"Could you trade in winter instead? Our people still need to gather food now. I can give you more Salt Stone." Baldy said, torn with indecision.

Elder shook his head again, indicating that it would not do. "Trade the people to us now, and in winter you will save the consumption of two people. It will be fine even if you gather a little less food."

When Baldy heard that, he realized it was true. One fewer person meant one fewer mouth to feed. Then they would not need to prepare as much food for winter. This deal was worthwhile.

"All right. This large Stone Basin for two adult women. I will add more Salt Stone as well." Baldy generously agreed to Elder's terms.

One of Baldy's men pointed toward the karst cave and rattled off a stream of words. Baldy smiled and nodded, telling him to go find them.

Before long, two skinny, naked women were brought over. They were sisters. The younger sister was a girl who had only recently come of age, while the older sister was several years older and held a naked four-year-old boy in her arms. The little boy lay still with his eyes closed, his face flushed red. One look showed that he was sick. His mother held him with a face full of grief.

"We will trade these two people for your large Stone Basin. That little boy is a gift for you."

Baldy waved his hand with a look of disgust, as though urging the two women to leave quickly.

The child was sick. Baldy had told her to throw him away and hurry out to gather food, but the woman had refused. Every day, she only held the sick child in the cave and did no work. Her younger sister would not go out to work either. Baldy had not distributed food to either of them for two days. Driving them away today while getting a beautiful large Stone Basin in return made him happier than words could say.

Elder looked at the two weak women but said nothing. This was the season when labor was needed most. If it had been him, he would not have traded away two strong women either.

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