Thin-skinned peppers (continued)

The chieftain of the Salt-Drying Tribe sat at the same table with them. Seeing the interested expression on Jian Mo's face, he waved enthusiastically and said, "Come and try our tribe's chili peppers!"

Jian Mo: "Then we won't stand on ceremony."

Jian Mo whispered in Wu Jiong's ear, "The chili might be a little spicy. Try a small bite first, and make sure you can handle it before you eat more."

Wu Jiong nodded, picked up a piece of fish, and took a bite.

Jian Mo observed his expression and saw that his face was a little red from the spiciness, so she quickly brought him some cool boiled water from the table and told him to drink some to calm down.

Wu Jiong tilted his head, covered his mouth, and coughed lightly, whispering, "It's nothing."

After Jian Mo waited until Wu Jiong had gotten used to it, he picked up a piece of chili pepper and decided to try it himself.

As soon as the chili pepper entered his mouth, Jian Mo tasted a crisp and sweet flavor with a hint of spiciness, but not much. If he hadn't gone a long time without eating chili peppers and his tongue wasn't so sensitive, he wouldn't have been able to taste it.

This chili pepper—it looks just like the bell peppers he's ever eaten on Earth.

Thick and bland, with little spiciness, it feels more like a decorative chili pepper.

Jian Mo paused, her hand holding the chopsticks still. "Why isn't your chili spicy at all?"

The man from the Salt-Drying Tribe blinked. "Isn't it spicy? This is already quite spicy."

Jian Mo: "It's not as spicy as I imagined."

A member of the Salt-Drying Tribe, "You must be able to handle spicy food. Even the people in our tribe don't find it very spicy after eating a lot, haha."

Jian Mo a little disappointed; it was chili pepper, but not the chili pepper he had imagined.

He politely suppressed the disappointment on his face and continued tasting the chili peppers.

I haven't had chili peppers in a long time, and even though these chili peppers aren't very spicy, they'll satisfy my craving.

The people of the Salt-Drying Tribe also sensed that this wasn't the chili pepper Jian Mo wanted, and after dinner they asked Jian Mo, "Doctor Jian Mo, would you like to exchange it for our chili peppers?"

Jian Mo thought for a moment, "How should we change it?"

He wouldn't change it if it was too expensive; this really wasn't the chili pepper he wanted.

The Salt-Drying Tribe said, "If you want it, how about one roll of cloth for half a basket?"

Looking at Jian Mo's face, the people from the Salt-Drying Tribe explained hesitantly, "Growing chili peppers isn't easy for us either, we can't reduce the amount any further."

Jian Mo didn't think the price was expensive; in fact, she thought it was a bit too cheap.

Since it's so cheap, there's no harm in exchanging some back.

Jian Mo asked, "Do you have any dried chilies? Our tribe is too far from here; if we bring fresh chilies back, they'll probably rot halfway there."

The Salt-Drying Tribe readily replied, "Yes, we do. But the dried chilies are small and troublesome to dry; you need two rolls of cloth for half a basket."

Jian Mo: "Then let's exchange two baskets first."

For the wealthy Doctor Jian Mo, a few rolls of cloth were nothing.

After exchanging chili peppers with the people from the Salt-Drying Tribe, Jian Mo, still unwilling to give up, asked, "Is this the only kind of chili pepper here? Are there any other kinds? For example, chili peppers with red skin?"

The chili peppers inside the bird's belly were clearly red; there should be red chili peppers in this world.

One of the people from the Salt-Drying Tribe casually replied, "Yes, the Dense Forest Tribe of the mountains have those long, red chili peppers. They have very thin skin and are much spicier than ours; we can't even eat them. Do you want those chili peppers?"

Jian Mo's eyes widened. "Yes, yes, yes! There really is one?!"

The people from the Salt-Drying Tribe laughed, "They really do have some, but we don't know if you can exchange them? Their tribe doesn't really like dealing with outsiders."

Jian Mo optimistically said, "Let's give it a try, maybe it'll work?"

The people from the Salt-Drying Tribe, "Then stay in our tribe for the night and go tomorrow. We'll show you the way."

Jian Mo happily agreed.

The next morning, Jian Mo took Wu Jiong to say goodbye to the people of the Salt-Drying Tribe and inquire about news from the Dense Forest Tribe.

The people of the Salt-Drying Tribe readily gave them directions and pointed out several special landmarks for their reference.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong rode their Flying-Winged Beast and flew towards the Dense Forest Tribe.

The path given by the people of the Salt-Drying Tribe was clear enough that they found the Dense Forest Tribe in the woods without much difficulty.

Just like their name suggests, the Dense Forest Tribe lives deep in the mountains and forests.

Jian Mo felt that the Dense Forest Tribe was the most primitive tribe. Just by looking at the thatched huts they built, she felt that their level of civilization was not very high.

The Dense Forest Tribe was also more vigilant than the other tribes. When they saw them riding Flying-Winged Beast, their first reaction was to point their javelins at them and assume a defensive posture.

Jiujiu, Chirp let out a loud "Cheep!" and quickly flapped its wings to fly higher into the sky.

The Ying'ao also flew higher to avoid being attacked.

Jian Mo hugged Jiujiu's neck and shouted down, "We are from the Riverside Tribe. We came here to find chili peppers after being introduced by the Salt-Drying Tribe. We mean no harm."

Fortunately, orcish is the common language of this continent, otherwise Jian Mo was really afraid that a fight would break out.

The people of the Dense Forest Tribe glanced at them several times, then went to report.

A moment later, the people from the Dense Forest Tribe put away their javelins and said to them, "Come down, I'm sorry, we just had a fight with the people from the Mountain Ridge Tribe, so the defenses in our tribe are a bit tight now."

Jian Mo looked at Wu Jiong.

Wu Jiong's muscles were tense, as if he was ready to revert to his beast form at any moment. Receiving Jian Mo's gaze, he nodded slightly, indicating that he could leave.

Wu Jiong's combat strength is among the best in the vicinity of the Riverside Tribe. Jian Mo felt that with Wu Jiong around, there shouldn't be any problems, so he commanded Jiujiu to go down.

However, Jian Mo was a little cautious. When he went down, he untied the supplies from Jiujiu's back, patted Jiujiu's back, and let Jiujiu fly away.

Wu Jiong also unloaded the supplies and let Ying'ao fly away.

Jiujiu and Ying'ao are very clever; if something really happens, they might be able to bring in reinforcements.

Jian Mo wanted an extra layer of protection.

The people of the Dense Forest Tribe glanced at Jiujiu and Ying'ao flying high away, but said nothing more.