Chapter 228 - Sounds quite familiar

Edited by Ilesyt

The ships seemed to be sailing fast in the waves, but probably, they just moved forward a little bit.

Wind flow on the river was always changing, so it may be the same case with the water flow in the river!

Shao Xuan didn’t notice this in the past. When he was in the tribe, he could only see the shallow water near the bank. The water flow was not very visible, and what he could see was only the horizontal changes of the water. Moreover, after sailing out, he focused on operating the vessel and identifying the locations, so he paid no attention to the changes of the water flow. But now, with close observation, he noticed the changes of the water flow. Therefore, sometimes the ship looked like it was moving forward, but in fact it may just be travelling.

This was only Shao Xuan’s guess and he couldn’t verify it at the moment.

Nevertheless, Shao Xuan was thinking: Is there another relatively steady passage in other places of this river?

And how did those giant eagles go to the Eagle Mountain at that time?

To keep it in mind, Shao Xuan wrote down this thought on an animal skin volume where he made records. Maybe he would find something in future, especially after meeting that “Hui” tribe.

The ships of the tribe sailed in the direction indicated by Shao Xuan all the way. At the very beginning, some didn’t adapt and even had seasickness. Shao Xuan was prepared for this and even developed seasickness pills with the Shaman. The pills worked but had limited effects. Many staying inside the cabin were depressed, while those in high spirits were restricted to only going out to look at the scenery outside and seeing the big fishes with stripes and thorn-shaped back fins swimming away from under the ships.

The life on the river was boring and full of tension. Nobody slept properly. At times, the moment when they closed their eyes, the ship would shake for a while, which immediately woke them up full of anxiety. People of the Flaming Horns tribe still remembered the horrors of this river.

In order to gain time and make sure they could arrive before the river level dropped, the warriors took turns to paddle day and night.

As the days went by, those in high spirits also became depressed, like the seasick ones. Many of them were obviously much thinner than before.

The water and food on the ships were also lessening. Little food was given to those who didn’t work, to guarantee their minimum necessity, while the remaining food was given to the warriors who worked. No one said anything about this allocation.

When Chacha came down from the sky, watching the sky with fear and there was no wind around, Shao Xuan would advise the danger in advance and Ao would order everyone to work the oars.

After finally moving away from the dangerous area and looking back, they found that on the surface of the water behind, the drifting wooden boards that were thrown away were smashed instantly. The water seemed to evaporate and turned into mist, Ao and the others, with the same feeling as Shao Xuan at that time, all drew a cold breath and couldn’t calm down for a while.

“This river is really full of dangers.” Ao said.

Ta and Gui He looked at each other and saw fears in each other’s eyes and nodded, to show their agreement.

At that time, they only knew that Shao Xuan crossed the river with hardships, as well as many difficulties, but they had no clear idea. Now after they experienced themselves, they knew the hardships in the process. Any carelessness would lead to death in the river.

With their personal experience, in the hearts of everyone in the tribe Shao Xuan became a heavier existence. It could be said that without Shao Xuan, the tribe would not have been to cross this river safe and sound even if they made big ships.

“Are we almost there?” Ta looked ahead, but what he could see was still a vast river.

“Still far away. But I believe we can make it.” Shao Xuan replied.

This year the rainy season came and went early, giving more time to the tribe. Even if the speed of the ships was slower than that of Shao Xuan’s boat last time, they still had enough time.

The life on the river continued. On the ships, the excitement at the beginning had already died down; kids in the cabin were either eating or sleeping. They would gather for talks for limited activities while awake.

When a long eagle cry came from the sky, those originally depressed ferocious beasts pricked up their ears immediately with shining eyes.

Ao and the others didn’t understand What Chacha meant, everyone looked at Shao Xuan.

Holding the eagle claws and flying into the sky, Shao Xuan said to the others after he landed again, “We’re there! I can see the river bank!”

Ao was overcome with joy and the two teamleaders also shouted loudly with excitement. After shouting, they turned around and went back to the cabin right away.

“What are they doing?” Shao Xuan was confused. Not only the two teamleaders, even Ke Ke and the others also ran inside the cabin.

“Didn’t you mention that the Drumming tribe is over there? Ta and the others are dressing up.” With this word, Ao also went inside the cabin.

Shao Xuan was left stunned. Dressing up? Could it be what he thinks?

Messages were passed between the ships. Almost similar things happed on every ship. The silent cabins became noisy.

The moment when Shao Xuan watched the Shaman coming out of the cabin, he felt a twitch on his eyes.

When did this old man wear those bone ornaments? Also wearing a necklace made of beast teeth on his neck. The cloak is not the one he wore when getting on board. It is a new fur cloak made with elaborate care!

And looking at the chief, the teamleaders and the totem warriors coming out later, Shao Xuan felt like seeing another group of Phorusrhacos running back and forth in the dust with their big feet, making sounds of “Bang Bang Bang”.

Probably, people of the Flaming Horns tribe thought that it was a very important day today. Moreover, the Shaman and the chief mentioned to leave a good impression on the first tribe they would see, also their first partner!

So Shao Xuan saw everyone dressing up like they did on the day of the ritual, wearing animal skin, horns, bone ornaments and facial masks. Looking elsewhere, and it was the same case on every ship! Except that they looked thinner than before, everyone was in high spirits, rid of the previous depression on the voyage.

Shao Xuan covered his face with his palms, lowering and shaking his head with a smile, not knowing what the first impression of the Flaming Horns tribe would be on people of the Drumming tribe.

Inside the Drumming tribe.

The people of the Drumming tribe, who knew nothing about the arrival of the Flaming Horns tribe, they were not in a good mood.

From the time when they got that message, everyone was in a bad mood and got ready for a fight earlier than they did last year.

The crocodiles had already left in the rainy season. Those remaining in the tribe were only the newly born small crocodiles, which could not go on a long journey.

Fu Shi carried a wild beast back home with an exhausted face.

The family was eating without any word. After finishing the meal, Fu Shi and his wife would continue their duties, one for patrol and the other for defense.

It was rare for Chen Jia, who was quite rebellious usually, to become obedient. He knew that recently the atmosphere in the tribe was not good, and that everyone was worried.

“Are they really coming?” Chen Jia asked.

Fu Shi looked up at Chen Jia, nodding with a long sigh.

When the rainy season was over, they went to the Pu tribe to trade, to exchange for tools and better stones, and to make preparations for the Water Moon Festival. It was at that time that the Pu tribe told them a message: last year, some tribe in the central region found an important medicinal function of the water moonstone, and then, water moonstones became even more popular in the central region. For a water moonstone of the same size, the things it could exchange for now were two to three times more than it did before.

Those large tribes in the central region would not come to create trouble for a tribe in the border regions in public, but it would not be the case with other tribes. Take the Martyr tribe for example, who even attacked in the last two years. It’s said that because of the failure last time, the Martyr tribe allied themselves with other tribes to loot the water moonstones this time.

Just the Martyr tribe alone was quite an ordeal for the Drumming tribe, nevermind others coming along. Things became troublesome.

Moreover, after knowing that there would be trouble at the Drumming tribe, the Luo tribe and other tribes nearby began to evade people of the Drumming tribe. There was no way for the Drumming tribe to ask them for help. Everyone did the same, in fear of getting themselves in trouble.

As to the Pu tribe, they just provided some information and clues. It’s impossible for them to interfere with this kind of trouble.

That’s why Fan Mu, the chief of the Drumming tribe, had pulled a long face recently. He had had no good sleep since the day when he got the message. What he could do was only ask the members of the tribe to prepare more tools and weapons, as many as possible.

“This year may be the most difficult one over the past few years for our Drumming tribe.” Fan Mu said.

The shaman of the Drumming tribe was sitting aside, his eyes full of worries. Others around were also laden with anxieties.

It was a good thing for the water moonstones to be more precious, and it was also a bad thing. The good thing was that the Drumming tribe could exchange for more items with water moonstones, while the bad thing was that they had no idea whether they could protect and keep these water moonstones.

“No need to fear them! They can come as they like. We can kill them one by one!” One warrior said with cold eyes. The vertical pupils in the brown eyes looked quite cold and sharp, but his temper was hot.

“He is right! Kill them one by one! Just as we did in the past!”

“We are not afraid!”

Several young warriors could not help shouting.

“Shut up!” The chief, Fan Mu, berated them.

Many were not afraid of death, but it didn’t mean that they didn’t worry. What would happen to the Drumming tribe could be foreseen if the Martyr tribe really attacked them with others.

“We can find others for help, too!” A middle-aged warrior by the side said.

Fan Mu shook his head. Few days were left now. No tribe nearby was willing to help. And they were not familiar with those tribes far away. Even if they persuaded those tribes to help, it was probably like trusting a wolf to watch over sheep. Fan Mu distrusted the tribes.

It suddenly quieted down inside the house, only some young men were panting with anger, for the Martyr tribe coming to loot the water moonstones so many times, and for the nearby tribes not willing to help.

“If only Shao Xuan and his tribe were here.” One of them suddenly said in a low voice.

At that time when Shao Xuan left, he said that the Flaming Horns tribe and the Drumming tribe would be on good terms. If it were the people of the Flaming Horns tribe, they would probably be willing to help.

“But, where will we find the people of the Flaming Horns tribe? Shao Xuan didn’t tell us where their tribe is.”

Inside the house, it quieted down again.

Right at this moment, sounds of whistles came from the river bank.

“What’s wrong? Did they come to attack so quickly?!”

“No. Not it’s not an alarm of attack, but more like……”

Soon, a patrol guard rushed in from outside in gasps, who ran too fast to stop. Fan Mu caught him and made him stop by force. The man was red-faced, whether for running or for being too excited.

“What’s the matter?!” Fan Mu asked.

Fan Mu heard a long and loud eagle cry when the warrior was about to say something.