Chapter 189 – The Wan Shi tribe
Translated by Lesyt Team
Edited by Ilesyt
In the surroundings of the vast farm were high enclosures built up by huge tree trunks and stone columns and the kind. Every so distances away around the enclosures, there would be someone standing by on guard. The number of people assigned on guard had probably kind of increased because the accident today.
In some of the enclosures, the big birds were driven back while some people were repairing.
Those big fat birds of enormous sizes but chicken hearts were looking around with their long necks. Sometimes there would be people throwing some fruits and unknown grains inside, which would cause a stir in the enclosures. The big birds would fall over one another to peck at the food on the ground. With a full stomach, they would crouch at the sides, enjoy the sunshine and sleep.
Shao Xuan also saw people carrying lots of eggs of sizes of about half a meter out of some haystacks. In contrast, the egg from which Chacha hatched was unbelievably small. Anyone who saw Cha Cha now could hardly imagine that Cha Cha had come out of that small bird egg.
People of the Lu tribe called those big birds “Meat Birds”, which were kind of domesticated giant moas. After cultivation and domestication from generation to generation, these meat birds had already lost their feralness and became docile and chicken-hearted. But although they look fat with those thick and short legs, these birds could run quickly, or at least run “faster” than they looked.
Apart from those meat birds, Yan Jiu also showed Shao Xuan around to other domesticated animals’ pens, like cattle pens, horse pens, sheep pens, etc… The scale of these animal pens were not as large as what Shao Xuan had seen in the grasslands of the Feng tribe, but with such various species and feeding techniques, people of the Lu tribe indeed would not face a problem of shortage of food.
“What do you think of the domesticated animals in our tribe?” Yan Jiu asked Shao Xuan with pride on his face.
“Extremely wonderful.” Shao Xuan replied honestly.
Many tribes knew how to raise livestock, as far as Shao Xuan understood having traveled all the way here, but no one was a match for the Lu tribe. For this reason, the Lu tribe kept a foothold in the central area and was on good terms with many other tribes. It’s said that some large tribes in the central area built friendly relationship with the Lu tribe: if the Lu tribe was in danger, they would also send people to give aid. Or so it was said at least.
And though Shao Xuan knows that this is not an aggressive tribe, it could even be called “a nice tribe” in the central area. For sure, being nice didn’t mean it had no temper. Strength was indispensable to have a firm foothold in the central area.
“Are those also raised for food?” Shao Xuan pointed to one feeding area. Over there were many giant cattle grazing. In spite of the small quantities, the giant cattle were quite eye-catching, which were obviously larger in size than those cattle, sheep and horses around.
“No, not all of them are for food and trade. Most of the time, we use them to pull carts.” Yan Jiu said.
“Pull carts?”
“Yes. Look over there. We are packing up the meat birds of before. If it were not for the accident, we would have started off already, and be on the way.” Speaking of this, Yan Jiu restrained his smile.
For that kind of accident to happen to the animal pens. Was it really that no one saw the damage and the warriors on guard couldn’t stop the accident? Yan Jiu didn’t believe it. He thought there must’ve been someone who destroyed the fences deliberately. But he wouldn’t tell Shao Xuan about this. This was their internal issue, still under investigation, and not a glorious thing to publicize. In public, they would just say that it was an accident.
Shao Xuan, for the first time, saw the cattle carts in this place.
Extremely big cattle carts.
Even if no cart was in sight, seeing the deep ruts left on the ground alone showed the size of these carts.
In the surroundings, there were some worn-out wheel-shaped tools, such as stone wheels or pottery wheels. The stone spinning wheels were made of special stone, made of relatively hard stone, while pottery wheels had greater varieties, ranging from some common small wheels to high wheels up to the waist of a man. These wheels also had drawings in pigments on the surface.
Some of these tools were used to twist and spin the threads, and some were used as wheels to transfer some fodders for the domesticated animals, while others were used as wheels, likewise to transport heavier goods.
The distance between the two almost paralleled ruts were more than four meters.
Walk a little forward and rumbling sounds could be heard. Many people were carrying the meat birds to the large wooden carts, piling them up like small hills. Those meat birds were already tied-up and unable to escape.
Yan Jiu grabbed one warrior who was carrying the meat birds and asked, “Have all the escaped meat birds been taken back now?”
That warrior wiped away the sweat on his forehead and sighed, “All the people who went looking for the meat birds have come back. So far, almost all the birds have been brought back, but one escaped.”
“Only one escaped. This is already a good result.” Yan Jiu said with a sigh, looked around, and asked again, “By the way, how is it going with the goods?”
“It’s almost done. We can start off in the afternoon.”
“All right. You can go on with your work.”
Not saying much more to the others, Yan Jiu invited Shao Xuan to a rich lunch at noon in return for his assistance today and sent him a meat bird and a meat-bird egg. Shao Xuan gave the egg to Chacha as an extra meal.
Sending gifts to Shao Xuan was not merely in return for his help. Yan Jiu also had a plan. Although they hadn’t heard of the “Flaming Horns tribe”, this tribe was not necessarily a weak tribe. Maybe in future they would have contacts with this tribe. It’s not a bad idea to make friends with Shao Xuan.
Knowing that Shao Xuan left the tribe and went on a long journey, Yan Jiu didn’t ask for more details, as people of many tribes would travel about. Especially some small tribes located in the outer regions, the elders would take the young men to the central area, widening their horizon. It’s just rare to see a case like Shao Xuan, who traveled alone.
Shao Xuan didn’t say the specific place where he’d go, just pointing to several places closer to the old haunt of the Flaming Horns tribe.
“Our transport team will pass through those places, so you can go with us. It’s also safer that way. One more thing, the Wan Shi tribe is over there. People of that tribe have bad tempers.” Yan Jiu said.
Those who were branded as “bad tempered” by people of the Lu tribe for sure had very bad tempers, probably pretty bad.
For people of the Lu tribe, inviting others on the cart was one of the ways to show friendship, so Shao Xuan didn’t refuse. After thanking them, Shao Xuan also helped them to carry the tied-up meat birds.
Getting a closer look at these meat birds, Shao Xuan found that after being tied-up, these meat birds would sometimes cry out, but most of the time they were all sleeping, without any sense of crisis at all.
For this kind of meat birds, the Lu tribe usually needed two men to carry one bird, but when it came to Shao Xuan, he had no difficulty in carrying two birds on his own.
“Shao Xuan, people of your tribe really have great…strength.” Yan Jiu couldn’t help saying.
“You’re right. People of our tribe actually don’t have good tempers either, but they have great strength.” Shao Xuan said, throwing the two meat birds on to the wooden cart.
As to Shao Xuan mentioning “People of our tribe actually don’t have good tempers either”, Yan Jiu didn’t take it seriously. He just took it as a joke, thinking that Shao Xuan was not an irritable or savage man, so others in the Flaming Horns tribe were just like him. But he believed Shao Xuan’s words about “great strength” of people of the Flaming Horns tribe.
“Your tribe resembles the Wan Shi tribe, both having great strength.” Yan Jiu said.
It’s said that the Wan Shi tribe was not one of the large tribes in the central area in the past; but later on, the tribe developed and gained name. Yet some old strong tribes seem to hold the Wan Shi tribe in contempt.
After all the goods were loaded on the carts, the leader of the team called on the others to get ready to start. Yan Jiu was also a member of the transport team.
Over ten cattle carts lined up in a linear shape. The giant cattles were already fed and ready for work.
“Come on, Shao Xuan. Get on this cart.” Yan Jiu called Shao Xuan while jumping on one of the carts.
Shao Xuan went over and jumped on the cart, which was taller than his height.
The wheels of this giant cattle cart were huge stone wheels, whose shafts were round and relatively thick. Probably for buffering, circles of straw vines were also tied around the stone wheels.
In order to load more meat birds, they didn’t add a roof to the carts, they were only open wooden carts.
The good thing was that the thick wood boards were strong enough, or the carts would break down from just a pull.
After counting the heads, the leader of the transport team shouted out, “Let’s go.”
The rumbling sounds of the stone wheels grinding the ground and the creaking sounds of the wooden boards, together with the cries of the meat birds, rang up when the team started off.
To Shao Xuan, this was a fresh experience.
Sitting on the wooden cart with the his legs hanging off the edges, Shao Xuan listened to the others talking about rumours of some tribes in the central area, for example which tribe went to war again, who of which tribe got beaten, which tribe finding some treasures again, and whose leader or shaman was getting changed, and the like.
The sunshine of the afternoon was still strong. Maybe because it was almost the end of the year, so the temperature was not that high.
Listening to the chatter of the people of the Lu tribe all the way, Shao Xuan asked some questions once in a while, acquainting himself with the surrounding situations and improving the map as well.
When nearing the old haunt, Shao Xuan didn’t hear anything about the Flaming Horns tribe. No one mentioned the name of the Flaming Horns tribe, only the Wan Shi tribe, which was said to have great strength but bad tempers could be considered a clue.
Beside the old haunt of the Flaming Horns tribe, this new strong Wan Shi tribe rose up, taking up the new territory. From the meaning of the words said by the people of the Lu tribe, in the eyes of the old strong tribes with a long history, like the Mang tribe and the Eight Limbs tribe, the Wan Shi tribe was probably the second Flaming Horns tribe, while the flourishing Flaming Horns tribe in the central area of the ancient time had already been forgotten.
While chatting, Shao Xuan heard a long and high-pitched sound of an elephant horn from the front.
Looking over there. Black figures were appearing at the horizon. The vision was blurry because of the movements over there.
“The Wan Shi tribe.”
“They are people of the Wan Shi tribe.”
The people in the team didn’t have the mood to chat leisurely anymore as they did just now, putting on tense faces, while others had taken out weapons noiselessly.
The Lu tribe built good relationship with many tribes. In the central area, lots of tribes would not attack this “nice tribe” as it didn’t have any threat; even in case of fighting for territories, they would not put their hands to the Lu tribe. Nevertheless, the Wan Shi tribe was an exception.
Yan Jiu said that people of the Wan Shi tribe had bad tempers, so there were frequent conflicts between these two tribes.
“Look at their formation. They’ve fought against other tribes again.” One man on the cart said.
“Probably so. See how many things are on the back of their mammoths.” Another man said in disgust, “If they have the power, why won’t they go hunting the ferocious beasts in the woods instead of always robbing other tribes?”
The Wan Shi tribe was relatively close to the mountain woods, with the many ferocious beasts, but they seldom hunted the beasts in the woods. Every time they almost ate up the food in the tribe, they would rob the goods and materials from other tribes. Their targets were those tribes which were smaller than their own tribe, but they would not bother the large strong tribes.
“I heard that long time ago, in the woods with the ferocious beasts, there was one large tribe. But it has died out. It’d be nice to hear that the Wan Shi tribe would die out someday.” One man lowered his voice and said.
“Stop talking. Protect the goods.” Yan Jiu said to those men on the cart in a whisper.
“Got it.” The others on the cart replied.
“Shao Xuan, be careful. Though the Wan Shi tribe would not necessarily start fights against us, we’d better be on guard against them.” Yan Jiu looked towards Shao Xuan.
“Ok. I’ll be careful.”
Shao Xuan looked at the figures coming closer.
Many people came and went through this place for a long time, so it created a dirt road with little grass. The giant mammoths treaded on the ground, stirring up the dirt. A team of several hundred people and dozens of mammoths, which were larger than the giant cattle, all had bloodthirsty looks on their faces.
In view of the massive people in front, and to avoid conflicts, the team leader of the Lu tribe took the initiative and told the others to keep to the side and leave the main road open.
Those coming from the front, however, didn’t have any intention to compromise; the speed of the mammoths was even faster than before. If the Lu tribe didn’t step aside, they would probably have run into each other directly.
On every mammoth sat several people. Apart from some goods and materials robbed from other tribes, there were also a few tied-up young women on the back of the mammoths. From their looks and clothes, these women were not from the Wan Shi tribe, but were robbed as one of the trophies. In fact, the Wan Shi tribe was not alone in this case. Wars between the tribes were all like this: some captures would be killed, and some would be sold to the potential slaveholders, while some young women would be taken back as trophies.
The leading mammoth had long ivories. Some decorative ornaments colored with blood were put on its body, which included bone, stone and wooden ornaments. The man sitting on the head of the mammoth wore a headwear, like a grimace carved in ivory. His stiff and short hairs stood on end like steel needles, while the long hairs were simply tied up by bone ornaments. This man was robust; his uncovered strong muscles seemed to contain explosive power, and his eyes were full of obvious ferocity and haughtiness.
This was the team leader of the Wan Shi tribe.
He glanced at the transport team of the Lu tribe, his eyes filled with greed, as if seeing meat at the sight of the things on the carts of the Lu tribe. But thinking of the warning he got not long ago, he suppressed the impulsion of taking out his blade to rob.
Not only this team leader, but those people of the Wan Shi tribe walking on the ground also coveted the goods on the carts of the Lu tribe. They looked at their team leader time, and just waited for his order to take actions.
People of the Lu tribe were all tense. They didn’t expect to encounter this team of the Wan Shi tribe today, but they would not cower or even send out their goods.
The team leader of the Wan Shi tribe ignored the looks from his subordinates, just taking a rough glance at the team members of the Lu tribe. When seeing Shao Xuan, he looked away immediately and didn’t linger his vision at all. But he paused for a while every time he looked at the meat birds on the carts. He blackened and scowled, whipping at the mammoth and shouting “hurry up”.
The mammoth gave out a loud cry with pain, speeding up the pace.
The raising dirt was blown with the wind towards the transport team of the Lu tribe, which made people of the Lu tribe choke with anger many times, and suppressed their intention to fight. They were outnumbered by the enemies who were not easy to handle, so they had to endure when they should. The disgust with the Wan Shi tribe was getting deeper.
The long whips of the Wan Shi trube were almost swung towards the giant cattle of the Lu tribe. If that warrior of the Lu tribe didn’t defend with his knife, the whip would have fallen on the cattle.
When passing by, many people of the Wan Shi tribe also bared their teeth towards the transport team and waved their swords and spears in their hand, as if saying that we are going to rob all the things of your tribe sooner or later.
Only after all people of the Wan Shi tribe passed by and went away, and the raising dirt dispersed, did the men of the Lu tribe relax and the team started off again.
Looking at the receding backs of those people, Shao Xuan thought, “Is this the second “Flaming Horns tribe” in the central area?”
They are not even worth a fart!
