When the sun rose early the next morning, casting its light on the snowy ground, the ancestor warriors of the Wild Mane Tribe had already risen. They heated breakfast over the embers of last night’s campfire, and after rubbing two handfuls of snow on their faces, they prepared to set off.
Though they had slept outdoors for a night, for the ancestor warriors of the Wild Mane Tribe, warriors blessed by the ancestral spirit were far superior in physique to ordinary people, and such cold was still within their tolerance.
After a simple breakfast, the group from the Wild Mane Tribe continued to follow the trail Charlie had left yesterday, moving towards the camp of the white n they suspected.
Charlie hadn’t intentionally hidden his trail yesterday, so the marks left in the snow remained quite obvious.
After all, the snow was waist-deep, and even if Charlie wanted to hide his trail, it wouldn’t have been an easy task.
The ancestor warriors of the Wild Mane Tribe, granted the speed like galloping horses by the ancestral spirit, were faster than ordinary people even in their regular state.
So, the group from the Wild Mane Tribe didn’t take long to follow the trail and locate the Eagle’s Beak Cliff base.
As they gazed at the orderly camp below the cliff, the faces of the group from the Wild Mane Tribe turned very grim.
"It seems to be the worst-case scenario; the white n have set their sights on the Northern Territory." The ancestor warrior, who feared the white n’s intentions to occupy the Northern Territory, was deeply worried. Although he had been anxious about this happening, facing the reality filled him with genuine fear.
It wasn’t that he was cowardly, but he clearly knew how terrifying the white n were; they were foes not conquerable by re courage.
If it were only the Wild Mane Tribe, let alone facing a true army of white n, even just the camp before them was enough to crush the Wild Mane Tribe.
This judgnt was based on the assumption that the camp was manned by ordinary white n, without considering the possibility of hundreds of "warriors" within it.
Despite being aware of the White Bear Knights’ presence, due to their reluctance to get too close and having their view obstructed, they could only roughly estimate the camp’s strength by comparing it to similarly sized indigenous tribes, concluding there might be at most a dozen White Bear Knights.
Yet, even so, it was enough power to confront, or even crush, the Wild Mane Tribe.
Keep in mind they numbered around seven or eight, which was nearly a third of the ancestor warriors of the Wild Mane Tribe.
So far, the entire Wild Mane Tribe had under thirty ancestor warriors, even counting the young warriors who just passed the ancestral trial.
If counting only experienced adult warriors, the Wild Mane Tribe had rely thirteen qualified ancestor warriors.
And thirteen adult ancestor warriors surely couldn’t defeat thirteen white warriors, even if they were young, inexperienced warriors, they could hold their ground against the ancestor warriors. Not to ntion the white n had other ard forces.
Rember, the white n’s weapons were easier to use than the indigenous axes, and even a child with a white man’s musket could kill an unsuspecting ancestor warrior.
So, upon discovering a white n’s camp, these ancestor warriors of the Wild Mane Tribe felt their hearts sink.
Yet at this mont, Lili’s father, after gritting his teeth, suddenly spoke up, "Let’s go down! Let’s make contact with these white n. We must find out their purpose in coming to the Northern Territory!"
"But why would the white n want to communicate with us?" One ancestor warrior objected, as in their experience, white n were considered savage and brutal, too arrogant to communicate with indigenous people.
Addressing this concern, Lili’s father calmly said, "The white warrior Lili encountered yesterday showed no hostility and even gave her a dagger as a token of gratitude, so we could try contacting them."
He intended to first probe the white n’s camp, to at least figure out their intentions in the Northern Territory, and their attitude towards indigenous tribes.
This way, the Wild Mane Tribe could at least prepare themselves, rather than being caught off guard.
"But what if the white n deceive us? It’s not unheard of that tribes have been deceived by them." Another ancestor warrior expressed his concern, noting that the white n’s reputation among indigenous tribes was only slightly better than the sources of all evil from their mythologies.
He feared that if the white n pretended to be friendly to deceive them, they could later on locate the Wild Mane Tribe and attack.
Precautions against this were necessary, but at this mont, Lili’s father insisted, "Even if they plan to deceive us, we need to first engage with them to understand their stance and buy ti for the tribe to prepare."
Hearing Lili’s father’s words, everyone engaged in a low discussion and eventually agreed with this idea.
After all, they also understood that even if they didn’t approach these white n, eventually the camp’s scale would lead them to discover the Wild Mane Tribe.
Attempting a direct confrontation? They knew their own tribe’s combat strength well, and even with full preparation, any victory would be hard-fought, with uncertain losses.
Thus, after so discussion, the ancestor warriors of the Wild Mane Tribe decided to make contact with the white n’s camp.
However, before engaging, they sent two young ancestor warriors back to the tribe to report about the white n’s camp and urge the tribe to prepare. In case they couldn’t return, at least soone would report back.
After the two selected young ancestor warriors set off, Lili’s father, along with a few adult ancestor warriors, erased their traces to buy more ti for the tribe.
Then, estimating that the two young warriors had gone far enough, they began the trek down towards the white n’s camp at the foot of the cliff.
Soon they reached the camp’s entrance. Glancing at the others, Lili’s father bit his teeth, handed over his weapons to a companion, and approached the camp alone, holding only the dagger Lili brought back yesterday.
The White Bear Knights guarding the camp noticed these indigenous people imdiately. However, they didn’t attack or warn but upon seeing an unard man approaching alone, they hurriedly inford the camp’s managers and reported to the steward, Foster.
Simultaneously, one of the White Bear Knights stepped forward, stopping Lili’s father outside the camp.
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