The next morning, Ai Cao and her companions quietly left the tribe, stepping on the grass leaves glistening with morning dew.
Ai Cao and Chi You led the way. Ai Cao carried a sleepy little boy from the Ji tribe on her back, while Chi You wore her silver crown. Their swords were neatly sheathed at their waists.
Behind them were women walking silently, and further behind them was the silent black and white bear.
They crossed grasslands and forests.
Before entering the orchard, the Jiang women scouted the terrain. They found the path using the map given to them by the Ji boy, and after confirming there were no traps along the way, they returned to report.
The little boy from the Ji tribe woke up on the back of the mugwort. He rubbed his eyes and asked softly, "Mugwort, where are we now?"
Ai Cao patted the top of his head. He obediently snuggled closer to Ai Cao's back, and the women around them smiled silently, knowing the unspoken truth.
The little boy buried his face in the back of the mugwort. He was a little shy and sleepy, seeking shelter from the mugwort like a little animal.
Artemisia said, "We're almost there, you can sleep a little longer."
The little boy then softly uttered a gentle nasal sound.
Chi You, having failed to command the bear to climb the fruit tree, simply climbed the tree himself and glanced at the quiet Ji tribe tribe. The Ji tribe tribe was so quiet in the early morning that it seemed as if there was no one there at all.
Chi You slid down from the tree in a few quick movements and asked in a low voice, "Are we just going to charge in like this?"
She made a slashing motion with a knife.
Artemisia shook her head. She said, “We came here because of the Mother Goddess’s will.” Her voice grew softer, but her tone became more stern. “Therefore, we must also treat them according to the Mother Goddess’s will.”
Chi You stretched impatiently and asked, "If we don't fight our way in, how are we supposed to get in?"
Ai Cao gently bounced the boy on her back.
She said, "We just walked in like that."
The women had no objections. After all, whether they marched directly into the Ji clan's territory or charged in with swords, the course of events wouldn't change.
They were powerful; a single sword stroke could cut down two men. The women didn't believe they would lose—if they couldn't even defeat the men of the Ji tribe, they would be ashamed and run to the Mother Goddess to pray.
So they quietly walked along the path in the orchard into the territory of the Ji tribe. The Ji tribe had few women, and few guards within their territory. They stood before the Ji chieftain's ancestral home without being discovered.
Chi You strode to the door in a few steps and reached out to pound on the dilapidated wooden door.
The wooden door creaked painfully under her fist.
A soft rustling sound of animal hides and feathers coming from inside. After a few moments, a man opened the door, his face grim, and asked, "What is it?"
When people look at a man, they always look at his face first.
The man's face bore a resemblance to the little boy with the surname Ji; his eyebrows and eyes were gentle and kind, and he still retained a masculine air.
Then look at his clothes.
He wore three or four layers of clothing. The inner garments were still wrinkled and unevenly creased, pushing up the outer garments. He had many feathers of different colors and lengths hanging from his waist, which looked neither beautiful nor dignified.
The women then knew that this was the male patriarch of the Ji clan.
Only a man who has never seen anything good would wear those less-than-pretty feathers on his body.
They had also heard that the previous chieftain of the Ji clan was a woman, so the man who took over the chieftainship and had just tasted the power naturally didn't care about anything.
Chi You still asked, "Are you the patriarch of the Ji tribe?"
The man raised his chin—he was much shorter than Chi You, but still looked up at him arrogantly. His crescent-shaped eyes were filled with displeasure: "Who are you?"
Chi You chuckled. She took a step to the side.
There was an opening in front of the man, so Ai Cao naturally stepped forward and gently put the little boy on her back down.
The little boy caught a chill on the road, and his face turned red from the cold.
He opened his teary eyes blankly, rubbed them, and whispered, "Eh...?"
Artemisia gently stroked the top of his head. His hair was soft, the kind of softness that comes from malnutrition.
Artemisia said, "We'll trade him for a rabbit skin."
The male chieftain of the Ji tribe raised his eyebrows. He raised his chin even higher, so high that the little boy could only see his nostrils.
He looked at the little boy's face for a few seconds, recalling the child from his old memories; then he thought about the remaining furs in the tribe's warehouse and said, "No trade."
The Ji clan's warehouse... was completely empty, not even a single rabbit pelt remained. But he wouldn't show weakness in front of the Jiang clan, so he simply retorted with curt words.
“Then let’s use that little Jiang boy from back then,” Ai Cao said. She pushed the bewildered little boy forward.
The women around her let out mocking chuckles.
The little boy looked at her blankly, then at his uncle.
He asked softly, "Ai...?"
The male chieftain of the Ji tribe frowned. He was still trying to maintain his position as chieftain, but the women before him were not buying it.
The sky gradually brightened.
The women of the Ji tribe lazily emerged from their houses. Some of them, seeing Jiang Ai and her group of women, sauntered over and chatted with them about hunting and food.
Several generations back, both the Jiang and Ji tribes have women who came from the same mother's womb. The women of the two tribes also have a good personal relationship, and occasionally exchange some prey during the worship of the mother goddess.
The reason is simple: the current patriarch of the Ji clan... is really just a figurehead.
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