031 The Veteran Actor of an Oscar-Winning Caliber—Old Sha

After carefully composing herself, Xia Rong slowly rose to her feet.

“Let’s set aside my personal friendship with your chieftain for now, for a migration of this scale involves the fate of an entire tribe and cannot be decided by private feelings alone.”

First, Xia Rong established her moral stance, seemingly putting herself under the yoke of principle, yet in truth advancing by retreating—her meaning was clear: let’s not muddy the waters with personal entanglements. Let us speak only of official matters, and handle things as they ought to be handled.

“First, there are three benefits to the alliance between the Mouse Tribe and my Lizard Tribe.

One: We lizardfolk are skilled in fish farming and fishing—almost every one of us is a natural fisherman. From what I’ve seen, your camp’s development of the Tam River is still in its primitive stages, which is far from sufficient.

Through my observations, I’ve found the Tam River teems with a great variety of fish, all of high nutritional value.

We can dig a small artificial lake on the Northson Plain specifically for fish farming, and even use it for irrigation. Once our techniques are advanced enough, we might construct a dam on the Tam River—enabling the Northson Plain to be fully utilized!”

She finished, patting Wendy’s shoulder.

“That’s wonderful! We’ve been lacking people skilled in fish farming, so we haven’t even begun that work,” Wendy exclaimed, delighted and straightforward, as if fate itself had sent Xia Rong.

Yet the other leaders, including Yang Jie, frowned.

“How is this girl still so naïve?” Seeing this, Xia Rong couldn’t help but sneer inwardly—her judgment of the Mouse Tribe clearly had not been mistaken.

“Second, there is the question of defense on the Northson Plain,” Xia Rong pressed on, seeing the tide had turned.

“The southern side of Horseshoe Mountain, across the Chakalk Grasslands, is surrounded by formidable enemies. The nearest ancient ruins lie right between Chakalk Grasslands and the Northson Plain—surely a contested ground in future wars!

If you permit us lizardfolk to migrate and garrison here, we will build a full defensive system around the ruins, extending our reach across the southern Chakalk Grasslands at any time.”

“That’s perfect! We were just discussing stationing men there yesterday!” Wendy spoke up again, Xia Rong’s words striking home every time.

Old Sha glanced at the overexcited Wendy and wondered if she might be a plant sent by the other side.

“Moreover, from my observations, the southern part of the Northson Plain is one of its poorer regions. Our encampment here would not impede your development. All things considered, cooperation between lizardfolk and mousefolk is destined to be a win-win situation!

My dear friend, have you any further thoughts?”

With these words, Xia Rong instantly reversed the situation. A barrage of compelling arguments, coupled with Wendy’s enthusiastic support from within, left Yang Jie caught off guard.

“It’s all very good, but there are some unspeakable difficulties on our side…” Yang Jie began, struggling.

“Oh? My old friend, speak freely!” Xia Rong interjected at once.

In truth, Yang Jie could think of no real difficulty—he simply felt cornered. All Xia Rong had said, he and the other leaders, Old Gil among them, had discussed in private and unanimously agreed upon. Whether or not to raise fish was not the real issue; the main concern was that if fighting broke out on the Chakalk Grasslands, they would inevitably be drawn in.

Today it was lizardfolk fleeing danger; tomorrow, it might be gecko-folk, and the day after, perhaps spider-folk. Should word spread that their side was an easy target, the Northson Plain would know no peace.

Stationing troops would be a massive undertaking, not only supplying rations but also building a full set of defensive works and living facilities—something they had no capacity for now. In this sense, the arrival of the lizardfolk happened to fill a gap.

But Yang Jie wasn’t about to let a good bargain slip by for nothing, hence today’s performance. The whole council had already discussed everything, except for Wendy, who was absent due to other obligations. Thus, this farce had unfolded.

Xia Rong was right—cooperation brought mutual benefit—but Yang Jie wanted to secure the dominant role, to ensure the lizardfolk were grateful while his own tribe gained extra advantage, making the lizardfolk see their own presence as dispensable and the mousefolk as their saviors. It was also a way to rein in the young lizard chieftain, lest she become difficult to control. That was, in fact, why he’d had Scar show her around the mousefolk settlement today.

But now the situation was developing beyond his expectations. Xia Rong was no fool; she had surely guessed his intentions by now. Yet, thanks to Wendy, his own side was at a disadvantage in what should have been a sure victory at the negotiating table.

Just as Yang Jie was about to be stymied by embarrassment, Old Sha suddenly dropped to his knees with a thud.

“Chieftain, I have sinned!” Old Sha’s face was flushed red, and tears welled in his small eyes.

Yang Jie was overjoyed—Old Sha’s timely intervention was a lifeline. Wendy and Xia Rong, on the other hand, were utterly baffled.

Wendy sensed something odd in the air but couldn’t place it.

Xia Rong, meanwhile, began cursing Old Sha’s ancestors in her mind.

“Rise, my loyal subject. You work tirelessly for the tribe; what fault could you possibly have?”

Yang Jie played along with the act.

“Chieftain! I concealed information about our food stores. In a week’s time, our supplies will be exhausted…”

Old Sha’s tears flowed freely—his performance was flawless.

“How did this come about?”

“We’ve had a boom in newborns among the mousefolk, and a recent drought destroyed our rice harvests!”

“What! Why are you only telling me now?”

“I hoped to make up the shortfall by robbing Peter to pay Paul, but if we ally with the lizardfolk today, I fear burdening our allies and becoming the eternal sinner of the mousefolk!”

By now, Xia Rong’s face had darkened. What a bald-faced lie! She’d just toured their territory—short on food? No rice harvest?

But she understood: unless she conceded something, she would not pass this test.

So she spoke:

“I will help you solve your food problem. As allied friends, we ought to help each other. I am willing to provide one hundred thousand units of grain, and to give you five percent of our tribe’s total food output each month.”

“Oh, my friend, how can I possibly thank you? You’re too generous, truly!” Yang Jie, having achieved his aim, quickly took up the conversation.

“Old Sha, aren’t you going to thank our ally for rescuing you? I’ll deal with you later!”

Yang Jie feigned anger.

“Thank you, Chieftain Xia Rong! Thank you, Chieftain Xia Rong!” Old Sha thanked her profusely, but Xia Rong didn’t so much as glance at him.

“My old friend, about our alliance—are we agreed then?” Xia Rong thought, I’ve made my case and offered my gift—surely the matter can be settled now.

Suddenly, Yang Jie slapped the table. He turned to Wendy and shouted, “What did you just say?”

Wendy was utterly bewildered and at a loss.

“Chieftain, I didn’t say anything…”

Bang! Yang Jie slammed the table again, face stern.

“You think you can just ask for a bicycle?”

“No, I mean, you think you can just ask for a wheelbarrow?”

“Hmm?”

“Is a wheelbarrow—the likes of which is so vital—a resource we can just give away?”

Wendy stared wide-eyed at the unfamiliar chieftain before her, at a complete loss for words, feeling that anything she said would be wrong.

At last, Xia Rong saw the reality for what it was: the moment her people set foot on the Northson Plain, everything she possessed had already been precisely tallied by those across the table.