Published: March 12, 2025
Chapter 233: Big-Belly Pig-Headed Man
Colorful little flags are a symbol of the orc tribes. No matter the size of the tribe, they all hang colorful little flags within their territory.
For the orcs, these colorful flags signify stability, good fortune, and luck, as they see the flags as reminiscent of rainbows, which only appear after rain. Rain is vital for the orcs; when it rains, rivers swell, providing them with more water, and the grasslands thrive, allowing their magical beasts to grow stronger and fatter. A healthy magical beast means more wealth for the orc tribes, which is why all the tribes display colorful flags.
On the prairie, as long as you see a colorful little flag, you know you've reached the vicinity of an orc tribe—this is common knowledge for anyone visiting the prairie, and Zhao Hai had learned this from various notes he had read.
Zhao Hai exhaled and quickly turned to Laura and the others who were chatting in the carriage. "I see the colorful flags!"
Laura clearly understood what Zhao Hai meant. She immediately climbed out of the carriage and followed his gaze. Sure enough, a patch of colorful little flags appeared in her sight.
Laura sighed with relief. "Finally, we’ve spotted the orc tribe! That's great! Tonight we might get to drink milk wine and eat roasted mountain goat."
Zhao Hai chuckled lightly. To be honest, after walking a day across the seemingly endless and uninhabited prairie, suddenly spotting those colorful little flags was indeed invigorating, akin to people living in darkness suddenly seeing a glimmer of light.
Before long, Zhao Hai and the others saw a cluster of tents. The tents were quite spacious, and atop one of them was a large flag featuring a cute little pig.
Zhao Hai blinked, confirming he wasn't mistaken—the flag indeed depicted a cute little pig. He turned to Laura in confusion and asked, "Laura, which tribe is this?"
Laura also noticed the little pig flag and smiled slightly. "Did you see the pig on the flag? It has a particularly big belly! This is a branch of the pig tribe known as the big-belly pig tribe. They aren’t tall, usually only about two meters at most, which makes them smaller among orcs, but their bellies are huge. Their big bellies are often exposed, but don’t underestimate them; their bellies are the toughest part of their bodies. This tribe isn’t known for strong combat capabilities, but they have a unique skill: they drink water and use their big bellies to spray it out as water arrows to injure others. They can shoot water up to thirty meters, with force comparable to a human's strong arrows. It's this special ability that has prevented them from becoming a slave tribe."
Zhao Hai was very curious. He felt that the world was indeed vast and full of wonders, having such a unique race was fascinating.
Zhao Hai turned to Laura and asked, "So what is the temperament of this tribe? They won’t suddenly turn into bandits, will they?"
Laura shook her head and smiled. "No, they are very gentle. They belong to a sub-tribe of the fragrant pig tribe. As long as you don't bully them, they won't rob you. They are also quite hospitable and primarily survive by raising mountain goats."
Zhao Hai knew that mountain goats were rank one magical beasts, the most commonly raised magical beasts on the orc prairie. Their hides can be used for clothing, their wool for blankets, their meat for food, and their horns for weapons. You could say the orcs' lives heavily depend on mountain goats.
In contrast, in the places where the human race lives, it is rare to see anyone raising mountain goats because they only thrive in the prairie. If taken among humans, they would fall ill. Therefore, to the orcs, mountain goats are the greatest gift from the beast god.
Zhao Hai nodded. "That's good. Let’s rest here today. If they need it, we can sell them some food. By the way, how does trading work with the orcs?"
Laura smiled. "It's not difficult. As long as we bring the food over, they will come to us for trade. However, they usually trade using their magical beasts rather than directly using gold or silver. Only some of the larger war tribes will trade in gold and silver, so we’ll need to convert the magical beasts they trade us into money."