exclusive
It was a rare opportunity for them to go out, so the five of them did not follow the river the way they came. Instead, they determined the approximate direction and headed towards the tribe, hoping that they could find some good things on the way.
The weather grew colder as they headed back. Ten days after leaving the Shui Tribe, heavy snow began to fall. Fortunately, they found a cave to temporarily shelter in. Wu Yue's space contained everything they needed for food and daily necessities, so they settled in for the time being, hoping to wait until the snow stopped before continuing.
Xiao said that the heaviest snowfall in the past only lasted two days, and Wu Yue thought it would be similar this time, but who knew he would have to wait in the cave for five days.
It was not until the fifth day that the sun came out. Through the clouds, the sun was even white, and the light it shed had no heat at all.
There was a thick layer of snow on the ground, and it would cover the calves of people and horses if they stepped on it. The few people still couldn't move, so they had to stay in the cave and wait for the snow to melt.
Who would have thought that before the snow melted, a group of people would appear.
There were about forty people in the group, all of them were pale and thin, with unkempt hair and dirty faces. The animal skins on their bodies were also tattered. They looked very panicked and hurried as they ran to the cave.
They obviously didn't expect that there were already people in the cave. They were stunned when they saw Wu Yue and his group. Then, their hungry eyes immediately stared at the horses and the little fox in Wu Yue's arms.
Xiao drew his sword and took a defensive stance. Ma Zong, Ying and Shan also immediately grabbed their weapons.
Although they had the advantage in both physical fitness and weapons, they were outnumbered. Wu Yue didn't want to cause trouble, so he spoke in a gentle voice, "Who are you? Do you own this cave? If so, we'll leave immediately."
"Ah! It's Wu Yue, the Divine Envoy!" someone in the crowd shouted, and soon a young man squeezed out from the crowd, pulling his messy hair aside to reveal his face. "I'm Mao, I went to the Sharp Tooth Tribe to trade for salt!"
Wu Yue searched his memory. There were so many tribes that had gone to the Liya Tribe to exchange salt before that he couldn't remember clearly.
Shan had some impression of him. This Mao was from the Yellowstone tribe, a small tribe with scarce supplies. They came all the way here but only got a little salt in exchange, and they were extremely envious of the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the Sharp Tooth tribe.
"I remember him, the divine messenger. He's from the Yellowstone tribe." Shan leaned close to Wu Yue's ear and said, "It's a small, poor tribe. The only supplies they exchanged with us were furs, and they were old and poor."
Wu Yue nodded and smiled at Mao, "Hello, Mao. We are just taking a break here temporarily. If you need any help, we can all rest together. This cave is quite big."
Over there, the people of the Yellowstone tribe had their eyes on the horses and foxes, but after hearing Mao say that they were the messengers of the Sharp Fang tribe who were said to possess divine powers, they basically gave up the idea.
Mao said that the Sharp Fang Tribe had a large population, no shortage of food and furs, and extremely sharp weapons, even sharper than those of the Blessed Tribe! If they dared to steal their things, it wouldn't be long before the Sharp Fang Tribe came to seek revenge.
Although they had more people, they were cold and hungry, and the enemy each had a weapon that flashed with cold light. They were sure to lose.
The group didn't dare to provoke the five people and quietly entered the cave. They didn't even dare to go near the fire, shivering in the corner. Wu Yue felt sorry for them, so he took out some dry firewood from the space and made a fire and handed it to Mao.
"Thank you, Messenger Wu Yue!" Mao thanked him gratefully and quickly built a fire for his tribesmen to warm themselves up.
"You're welcome." Wu Yue asked, "It's so cold, why aren't you staying in the tribe? Did something happen?"
Mao nodded, tears welling up in his eyes. "Do you know the Blessed Tribe?"
Wu Yue nodded. This seemed to be the largest tribe in this area, with a large population and a large territory. When they came to the Liya tribe to exchange salt, they brought a lot of supplies and looked very proud.
Wu Yueting cared about them because their weapons were better than those of other tribes. Although they were also made of stone, they were not ordinary stones, but obsidian.
Just like in many games, obsidian can be used to make sharp weapons, and this is also true in real life. Its texture is like glass, and its cut surface is sharp, allowing it to cut things with ease. Of course, it can't compare to iron weapons, but it is more than enough to deal with primitive people who use stone.
With such weapons, it's no wonder he dares to arrogantly claim to be blessed by God.
Mao continued, "We don't know why, but before the snow season, they suddenly came to us and said that our land belonged to them and that all of us had to join the Blessed Tribe. At first, we thought it was a good thing. After all, it was a very powerful tribe, and we wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing in the future. But that wasn't the case at all!
Our tribe lives next to some hills with yellow stones on them, so we're called the Yellowstone Tribe. They didn't know what to do with the stones, so they killed our leader and our chief witch doctor and forced us to dig for them from the hills, day and night! They only give us very little food and furs, and many of our people have starved to death or frozen to death in the mountains!
Wu Yue frowned. What was going on? A yellow stone... Could it be that the Divine Blessing Tribe had discovered some kind of usefulness for this stone?
Mao wiped his tears and continued, "If we stayed any longer, we would all die. That's why we took great pains to kill two guards last night before we escaped. Some of our tribesmen were seriously injured and died on the way."
Alas, it is indeed miserable.
Wu Yue patted his shoulder comfortingly and asked, "What are you going to do next?"
Mao shook his head. He didn't know. Their leader and the Great Shaman had been killed by the people of the Divine Blessed Tribe. Without anyone to lead them, and now with the ice and snow, they were cold and hungry. They probably wouldn't survive for long.
Wu Yue's mind moved. The Sharp Tooth Tribe was still short of population. He had a lot of seeds now, and planned to do large-scale farming in the spring. A lot of manpower would be needed, but hunting and gathering could not be delayed.
Moreover, these people are in desperate situations now. If we take them in, they will definitely be grateful and will not be as difficult to manage as the Malaysians.
He whispered his thoughts into Xiao's ear. Although the food in the space was not enough for so many people, as long as they fed a few hunters first, equipped them with iron weapons and let Xiao take them out hunting, they should be able to get some food.
Xiao naturally agreed. Looking at these people, he couldn't help but recall last year's ice and snow season. Weren't they in the same miserable state when Wu Yue first came to them?
So Wu Yue walked up to these people and started taking out food from the space, including a few sweet potatoes, a string of sausages, a small basket of dried meat, a few radishes, and dried fish and bamboo shoots exchanged from the water tribe.
The people of the Yellowstone tribe were all stunned.
Mao was startled, and walked over with a mixture of surprise and timidity: "Messenger of God, you..."
"Stop talking nonsense and talk after you eat." Fortunately, Wu Yue brought the big soup pot with him this time. He threw all the things into the pot and started to cook. Since there were not enough ceramic bowls, he took out a few bamboos and asked Shan and others to cut them into bamboo tubes.
The soup in the pot soon boiled, bubbling and emitting a complex aroma, which made these poor tired and hungry people swallow their saliva repeatedly.
After he had enough containers, including bamboo tubes and ceramic bowls, Wu Yue stirred the pot and felt that the ingredients were basically cooked.
But before distributing the food, he had something to say.
"Friends of the Yellowstone Tribe, I'm Wu Yue from the Sharp Tooth Tribe," he said, stirring the pot to spread the aroma. "I know you're hungry, and this pot of food is for you, but there are conditions."
"Please speak, my lord!" Mao stared at the pot of soup and kept swallowing his saliva.
"Our Sharp Fang Tribe is still under construction and needs population. If you are willing to join the Sharp Fang Tribe and obey the orders of our leader Xiao, then you will have a share of this pot of food." Wu Yue said.
The people of the Yellowstone Tribe looked at each other, somewhat hesitantly. The Divine Blessing Tribe had previously offered to let everyone join, but...
"Don't worry." Wu Yue, knowing what they were worried about, smiled. "The Sharp Fang Tribe won't just make you work without giving you food. As long as you're diligent enough, you can eat your fill every day."
To prevent these people from being ungrateful like the Dama tribe, he added, "You can follow us to the Sharp Fang Tribe. If you don't like it, you only need to work for a short period of time to pay for the food and then you can leave at will. Of course, this choice is a two-way street. If we find that you are lazy or a criminal, we will expel you."
Mao was the first to speak: "God's messenger, I'm willing to join!" As the only one among these people who had been to the Sharp Fang Tribe, he would have wanted to join even if it weren't for today's situation! The thought of being able to wear sackcloth and live in a house... He was extremely excited!
Mao had a vague feeling of being the leader among these people. Seeing him join first, the others also expressed their willingness to join.
After all, the current situation...can't get any worse.
"Very good," Wu Yue nodded in satisfaction and began distributing food to them. After everyone had eaten the warm food in their earthenware bowls or bamboo tubes, filled with meat, vegetables, and soup, they sighed with satisfaction.
Wu Yue saw that they were in tatters, so he took apart the large furs used to make tents and distributed them to a few young men who looked stronger. He then handed them a few spears and said, "You, go hunting with Chief Xiao."
Those who had received the most food and now had furs and weapons immediately responded with a loud, "Yes!"
After their basic needs were met, Wu Yue called Mao aside and asked about something that concerned him: "Do you have the kind of stone that the Divine Blessing Tribe wants? Can you let me see it?"
Mao went into the tribe to ask around, and actually found two small pieces of hair from one person, which he showed to Wu Yue.
Although the yellow object was small, its cross-section clearly showed a metallic luster and was very hard. Wu Yue was startled and quickly took out a magnet to test it. Fortunately, there was no magnetism, indicating that this object was not iron ore.
If it's not iron, could it be copper? This stuff can also be used to make weapons! If that blessed tribe has also learned how to forge metals and is producing weapons in large quantities...
Wu Yue suddenly became anxious. Making weapons alone meant attacking other tribes. As the tribe with the most valuable items, the Sharp Fangs were naturally the most dangerous! The Divine Blessings had several times more people than the Sharp Fangs, and their walls weren't even finished yet. If they attacked, metal weapons against metal weapons, their chances of winning wouldn't be great!
But now that he is carrying so many people, it is impossible to return to the tribe quickly in a short time. He is also worried about letting someone go back on horseback alone to report the news.
After thinking it over, he finally came up with an idea and set his sights on the little fox baby.
He pulled out a red snowflake from the space. He had previously told Yu that red snowflakes represented danger. However, using only the snowflake wouldn't work. What if Yu mistakenly thought someone outside was in danger and brought people out to look for them?
After thinking for a while, he cut out another piece of bamboo, drew the unfinished city wall on it with charcoal, strung it together with the snowflakes with a rope and hung it around the baby's neck.
"Please, baby, go back to the tribe and find fish!" He begged after feeding the baby sausage.
The little fox agreed with a howl. After eating the sausage, it quickly jumped out of the cave and disappeared into the snow.
Fish is a smart creature. He should be able to understand the message he wants to convey and build the city wall quickly, right? Wu Yue prayed silently, "Fish, fish, please don't let me down at this critical moment!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
