The September sea breeze already carries a hint of chill, heralding the approach of winter. Five longships continue forward, rowing for thirty miles until dusk, when they dock by a coast filled with redwood trees.
"Praise the rciful Chief Divine! Leave one guide on each ship, and bring the rest over!"
Scholar Mikki stands calmly on the beach, observing the dozen captured hunters from the Leaf Grass Tribe. His face holds a friendly smile as he picks up a wooden carving of the Chief God’s Amulet, gently coaxing the hunter at the forefront.
"Co! Recite with ! Praise the Chief Divine! Huitzilopochtli!..."
"..."
The Tolowa hunter grits his teeth, glaring fiercely at Mikki. He seems to be holding back, resisting the urge to spit.
"Ha ha!..."
Hearing the laughter, Scholar Mikki’s smile falters. Turning back, he sees Zuwaro laughing audibly.
"Cough! Mikki, instead of guiding them one by one, why not just carve the Chief Divine’s symbol on each of them? Even uttering a single divine na leaves them far from conversion..."
"Zuwaro, shut up!"
Scholar Mikki grits his teeth, glaring hard at Zuwaro. Then, calming himself, he raises his friendly smile again, turning to the next captive hunter.
"Co! Say one divine na, and after saying it, wearing the Chief God’s Amulet, you can return to your tribe..."
"..."
The second hunter’s face is wary and confused, unable to understand the words of this longboat chieftain. He cautiously watches the amulet in Mikki’s hand, staring at the carved Sun Hummingbird, as if it were a Shaman Ritual Artifact capable of stealing his spirit.
"Uh..."
Scholar Mikki scratches his head, then looks towards the translator Tuowu, solemnly requesting.
"Tuowu! Although these tribal huntsn are from the Leaf Grass Tribe, they are of your sa clan... The fleet wants to release them; help with the translation, please!..."
Hunter Tuowu purses his lips, his face shifting. Hesitating, he struggles for a long ti with the tribal hatred before stepping in front of Scholar Mikki, shouting a few words to the captives. Imdiately, the captives’ expressions change, most of them incredulous, a few showing anticipation.
"Co! Recite with ! Praise the Chief Divine!..."
Scholar Mikki smiles softly, once again stepping in front of a young captive with lively eyes, solemnly chanting.
"Huitzilopochtli!"
"...Wei Qi... Luobo..."
The captured hunter from the Leaf Grass Tribe blinks, hesitantly uttering the divine na.
"Chitli?"
"Good! Very good! Chief Divine’s blessings! You pronounced it correctly!"
Scholar Mikki beams as he personally places the Chief God’s Amulet around the young captive’s neck. Then he unties the ropes on the young captive’s wrists and hands him an acorn cake.
"Alright! Wearing the Chief Divine’s Emblem! You can return to your tribe!"
The young captive’s face is cautious and doubtful. He carefully steps out, looking back once, then takes another step as if testing the waters like a squirrel. His gaze falls on the bows held by the longship guards, staring for a long mont before suddenly leaping away, transforming from a squirrel into a running grass rabbit.
"Hmm?"
Scholar Mikki widens his eyes, watching the young captive dash into the woods, nimbly hiding behind a big tree. Then, after waiting for a while, seeing no movent from the fleet, he sticks out half his head and shouts loudly.
"’Anaan Haa! Sh’aa! Cheewya!..."
"Uh? Tuowu, what is he shouting?"
Hunter Tuowu’s gaze shifts, watching the hunter from the Leaf Grass Tribe in the woods for a mont before replying lowly.
"He says his na is Feng Cao, a hunter as outstanding as the wind in the Leaf Grass Tribe. One day, he will see you again!"
"Hunter Feng Cao? That’s a nice na."
Scholar Mikki strokes his chin, murmuring with a smile.
"Alright! The Chief Divine sees all! Until we et again then!..."
With the first demonstration successful, subsequent steps proceeded faster. The dozen or so captive hunters recited the divine na, wore the Chief God’s Amulet, received an acorn cake each, and were thus released. Their eyes held complex emotions, standing in the coastal redwood forest, gazing at the five longships sailing north again, disappearing into the dusky night. In this long day, they experienced battle and capture, captivity and release, and henceforth ca to know the Chief Divine’s na... This is fate, unpredictable, whether believed or not, unknown where it flows.
The fleet continued northward, rowing 150 miles, reaching another two to three thousand strong Great Tribe of Tolowa, the Mountain Tribe. This Tolowa tribe, unlike their southern kin who were long embroiled in warfare, held a less hostile attitude towards outside tribes.
The Chieftain of the Mountain Tribe was indifferent, but with the translation by Hunter Tuowu, they traded ten days’ food for over two hundred people with the Kingdom Fleet who traveled from afar. After replenishing their provisions and freshwater, the fleet did not linger in the Tolowa territory and sailed back to the sea.
From the Mountain Tribe heading north, following the steep coastline for over two hundred miles, they arrive at the territory of the Kus people. Here, the towering Eastern mountains gradually level out, turning into low hills, and eventually becoming plains of long grass and Luwei. However, this does not an the surrounding lands are richer or more populous. Quite to the contrary, the fleet saw fewer villages and smaller tribes!
"Farther north into the cold regions... without the mountains to block the chill, without the shelter of valleys... it’s difficult for these northern tribespeople to form larger tribes!"
Scholar Mikki gazed into the distance, observing the desolate Luwei swamps along the coast, his deanor growing solemn. He already slled the icy air on the autumn wind blowing south from the North.
"Mikki! North! North! There is a new port northward! Very large!..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro excitedly shouted for a while. But as the fleet approached, his excited calls gradually lowered.
"Uh... alright! This bay has visible boundaries... then it seems not so large! Haha!"
Zuwaro chuckled, gesturing with a big hand towards the eastern bay.
"Head over there! Heading eastward! We will explore the bay thoroughly!... Isn’t this the land of the Kus people? Everyone keep your eyes open, look for their villages!"
The five longships turned eastward, entering the five or six-mile-wide bay entrance. Then, a deep and broad lagoon port slowly unfolded before the fleet. After asuring the water depth, confirming it as another deep-water harbor, they continued east. The fishing boats of the Kus people also appeared in their view.
"Good! Approach them! Approach them! Huh! They are retreating from us? Are they avoiding us?"
Exploration Captain Zuwaro pondered for a mont and then spoke with a laugh.
"Then let’s slow down, follow them, and find their village!"
"Then we just..."
Scholar Mikki widened his eyes, staring over fiercely.
"Zuwaro?"
"Haha! Chief Divine’s blessings! They are our long-lost brothers..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro spoke leisurely, finishing the rest of the sentence with a grin.
"Since we are brothers, let’s go get a al from them! Then, have a good talk with the village elders of the Kus people to ask about the situation around here..."
"By the way! Mikki, how far have we traveled from Lake Bay Port? What’s the latitude?"
"Hmm... We’ve traveled 800 miles from Lake Bay Port..."
Scholar Mikki raised his head, looking at the sun setting in the sky, as if he could see the invisible North Star.
"Zuwaro, last night I asured the latitude; it’s around 43 degrees north... We’ve traveled 5 degrees north from Gold Mountain Port, more than 1700 miles!"
"Ah! So far? 43 degrees north... 800 miles from the last port..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro pondered for a while, then spoke with a smile.
"Chief Divine’s blessings! The Kus people seem to have quite a few fishern... We should visit their village, get a al, see how good it tastes!...
If it’s delicious, we’ll station a ship here and establish a Kingdom Port!"
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