Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Sadisram did not let the situation become worse. When Hakatulama came up to push away Li Du and his men, he and his nephew stood in the way and insisted, “This is the tribe’s guest of honor!”
Hakatulama said stiffly, “You know the tribe’s rules. The tribe doesn’t accept white and black guests!”
“But Mr. Li is yellow, not white or black,” replied Sadisram forcefully.
While there were many different phenotypes among Native American nations, they all had a distinctive appearance, very different from that of the European Caucasoid invaders who eventually conquered their lands.
Although there was naturally much assimilation over the centuries, with the Native American gene pool blending with the European one, most tribes were still fiercely proud of their identity.
The Mohicans were a traditional tribe that maintained its purity of descent, and most of the villagers looked as though they didn’t have a single drop of European blood in their veins.
It was a big issue if outsiders came into the tribe. After someone informed the chief, he came with his men.
The chief, who was probably in his forties, was bare-chested and muscular, with a design in red and green paint on his forehead, like two leaves holding a flame.
Seeing him coming, Hakatulama and Sadisram stopped arguing and stood aside.
The chief looked at them sternly and asked, “What’s going on here?”
Hakatulama immediately said, “Chief, Sadisram, and Catulom have not brought back the supplies dropped by the white evil government, but they came back with some outsiders instead. Look what they have done!”
Sadisram did not speak and looked coldly at his opponent’s performance.
Li Du said nothing, and the situation made him a little sick. He had thought that the mountain tribes were friendlier, but he was evidently mistaken.
Either way, he had no intention of staying, and if the chief wished to drive them away, he decided to turn back and leave Sadisram and his nephew alone.
The chief did not speak. He looked at Sadisram, who stepped forward and said, “Chief, this is what happened…”
He told all about how he followed the helicopter to the distant mountains, found no supplies, and met a copperhead snake. As a result, Catulom was bitten and Sadisram was bitten too when he was trying to get the snake away from his nephew.
Then came the story of Li Du’s arrival and the appearance of Ah Ow, the holy wolf who found them and rescued them…
Hearing this, the chief’s expression changed.
Hakatulama shouted, “Don’t talk nonsense, it’s not a holy wolf, it’s just a beast!”
“We’ve tried to raise wolves before, too. Can those demons be tamed?” Sadisram asked. “Do you remember what happened when they became adults? Wolves cannot be domesticated!”
Hakatulama stood firm. “Who knows what these outsiders did? Maybe they’ve invented some drugs to control animals or something…”
“Idiot! You talk so foolishly, you discredit us Mohicans,” scoffed Catulom.
Hakatulama clenched his fist to strike him, but the chief raised his hand. “Quiet, don’t let the guest see us fight. Hakatulama, you know that Sadisram is a reliable member of our family, and he must have a reason for doing what he did. Stop quarreling for a moment. Our relatives and guests must be tired after the journey. Let them rest first.”
It was a very polite and pleasant thing to say, but Li Du now knew that these people were shrewd and cunning, and he did not trust the chief. He thought the man must surely have some underlying motive.
It was now afternoon, and the lunch hour was long past, but the chief arranged a meal for them.
Young Markelov approached Li Du and said in a low voice, “Boss, do you want to eat? I don’t trust them.”
Li Du did not trust them either. Some Native American tribes were still out of tune with the mainstream society of the United States, and the two sides still maintained a hostile attitude. Some white and black people were afraid of wild beasts and poisonous snakes when they entered the deep mountains and forests, but Li Du thought it would make more sense to be afraid of meeting separatist natives.
This social contradiction had something to do with history. As everyone knew, since the 17th century, Spain, Britain, France, and other countries have successively invaded North America.
To exclude other colonists, countries formed military alliances with local tribes and provided them with weapons and horses.
The natives, who were in awe of the white man’s superior technology, were very willing to accept their “gifts”, so they soon became embroiled in the European wars.
From 1756 to 1763, the seven years’ war between France and Britain began. In North America, the Iroquois were on the side of England, while the other northern tribes were on the side of France, and the southern tribes joined the Spanish in fighting against England.
Later, during the American Revolution, the army commanded by Washington launched a fearsome attack on the British colonists and won a crushing victory.
The colonial British army was losing ground, so they hired mercenaries at a high cost and many natives tribes joined them to attack the colonial army and civilians in Washington.
The natives were violent and brutal in their attacks, and they slaughtered civilians, which led to a long period of disfavor towards them in Washington and among the citizens of the United States.
The conflict was gradually resolved, with most native tribes slowly integrating into the mainstream society; some tribes, however, chose to go deep into the mountains to isolate themselves.
Now, the Tavisi tribe belonged to the latter, but Li Du was not afraid. He released the space-time bug to monitor the chief’s arrangement, and if there was a problem, then he would directly attack!
Everything appeared normal, however. The chief personally instructed one of the tribal cooks to prepare some meat and drinks for them and there were no tricks.
After this arrangement, the chief returned with a basket of dried tobacco.
Young girls came up to crush the tobacco, and the chief smiled and said, “Come, guests, don’t stand on your feet. Taste Tavisi’s smoke. It feels like heaven.”
Sharing a pipe of tobacco was a symbol of peace and friendliness among many tribes, and though Li Du did not like smoking, he could not reject the other side’s kindness, so he nodded.
The Markelov brothers, Godzilla, Driver, and Firecracker, who were smokers, went up and put some tobacco in the wooden pipe, lit it and began to smoke.
