Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1837 - 1324: White Mountain Black Water, the Fiercest Fish-Skin Tribe!

The continuous mountain range rises and falls in the distance, and the endless forest stretches towards the horizon. From the bow of the Great Snow Wolf, looking towards the banks of the Great River, the dense, sturdy trees almost filled the view.

Aside from trees, there are still trees, everywhere there are trees. Below the trees is moist, soft black soil, covered by thick layers of leaves and pine needles. In places where trees are sparse, there are traces of water. The flood from the rainy season seems to have just receded. Moist, sticky, mixed; the air is full of humid vapor and the scent of decayed leaves. And the stretches of swamp, piece after piece, appear to be overgrown with grass, but stepping on it finds no bottom and can directly swallow a person.

In the distance, the White Mountain, underfoot the Black Water, and the roaring Great River. The "White Mountain Black Water" of the Tungusic land, reaching the downstream of the Great River, is exactly the later Outer Northeast granary.

However, the Outer Northeast of this era has no relation to the warm, fertile black soil granary. The cold black soil belt during the agricultural era, meeting the great cold period, is extremely difficult to develop! Before draining the swamp, the land here lacks seriously in cultivable land, and there are simply no Old Continent crops that can adapt to the harsh cold climate.

This is truly the "bitter cold and damp" swamp, the "poor and desperate" forest land, the burial ground for countless Tungusic tribes' struggles and bones!

The swamp and dense forest are the first death challenges faced by all outsiders. Hunger and cold are the second. As for the last challenge, it is the chaotic struggles of the Tungusic tribes, the people in the forest and swamp, hungry and cold.

"Dogs are powerful, they can find paths in the forest. The swamp is dead, swallowing living people. The wind comes to deliver news, bringing the scent of blood from afar. When dogs bark, you must stop, take out axes and bow and arrow. Because if it's not man-eating tigers or wolves, then it's man-eating tribes!"

The Nivkh Chief squats on the deck, feeding the dogs with fish offal, while chatting idly with Zuwaro through the Ainu translator. His dogs are very slender, with narrow heads and long mouths, legs thin and long, and torsos long, they are the real "slender dogs"! 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The two Khitan slender dogs, slightly arch-backed, like arrows, appear to excel in running. They bar their teeth, eyeing Zuwaro, as if about to pounce and bite anytime. If the Alaskan dogs and Huskies raised by the Mountain Part give a sense of "wisdom" and "fortitude," then these two slender dogs give Zuwaro the feeling of "swift" and "ferocious," both fast and fierce!

"Dogs can scout paths, lead you in the forest. Dogs can pounce and bite prey, chase the most cunning foxes and rabbits. Dogs can hear from afar, spot death from a distance. When you sleep at night, if there's no dog on guard, how can you dare to sleep peacefully? ...So, oh tribes on the large ships, you must raise dogs. In this porcupine-like man-eating forest, without dogs, it's truly impossible to survive!"

The Nivkh Chief keeps chanting, never straying from the topic of dogs. While those two fierce large dogs obediently listen to the "head dog" chant. In fact, when Zuwaro asked for the name of the Nivkh Chief, his reply was also dog, called "Dog-Using."

"Once, there were many Horse-Using tribes around here, wearing roe deer's small hats, riding horses by the river. Then, the weather grew colder, the Horse-Using migrated further south. The Deer-Using tribes would often emerge from the north... But no matter what, with the departure of the Horse-Using and arrival of the Deer-Using, the forest still has the most Dog-Using! ...Hmm, now it's you, Boat-Using..."

"Howl!"

"Howl!..."

The sharp barking suddenly rang out from the forest. Then, the slender dogs on the longship also howled fiercely. The tribe rowers paused, and the warriors quickly donned armor, alertly gripping bows.

"..."

The longship halted, the warriors cautiously on guard. Even the chanting Dog-Using Chief abruptly stood up. He squinted his sharp eyes, gazing at a certain spot in the forest. Then, from deep within the dense forest, slowly emerged a group of twenty or thirty tribesmen with bows on their backs.

These people are very tall, their builds are extremely robust. They are wrapped in a circle of strange gold and silver attire, and the clothing bears eerie fish scale patterns. They have long hair, braided into three long braids, showing no signs of shaving. Behind them are very bulky greatbows. But seeing the length of the quivers, almost as long as an arm, practically like long spears! And their eyes, fiercely reddened, fixating on the people on the longship and their slender dogs.

"Oh! It's the Fish-Skin-Using!... Long-haired Fish-Skin-Using Hunters..."

The Dog-Using Chief blinked, glanced at his feet on the boat, then at the hunters on the shore staring. He knew he had already entered the territory of the Fish-Skin Sect. These Fish-Skin Sect and their Dog Tribe actually have quite a bit of interaction, primarily trading fish catch, dogs, meat, and salt.

While smaller tribes can't intermarry internally, they would intermarry with the Fish-Skin Sect. He has a few familiar Fish-Skin tribes, but they aren't here, instead around the estuary region.

It's already been five or six days deep into the Great River. The deeper into the Great River, the more forest and swamp, the more tribal conflicts, migration, and death become frequent. By now, he has no acquaintances here anymore; new acquaintances, often not long afterwards, are either dead or gone.

"They're called Fish-Skin-Using?..."

"Yes! Boat-Using... What they wear is the skin of very large big fish. They are expert fishermen, having their small boats, also skilled hunters, with their greatbows... Look! That bow is very large, the thick heavy arrows shot out can directly pierce a tiger down!... Hmm? They raised their bows, aiming at us? Are they treating us as enemies?! Ah?!"

The Dog-Using Chief paused, hurriedly opened his mouth, shouting at the Fish-Skin Hunters on the shore.

"Fish-Skin-Using! In summer and autumn by the river, no one makes a move! If blood stains the river, the water can't be drunk!"

"..."

In the flood season of rains, a clean water source is incredibly precious. The tribes here typically do not fight at the riverbank. With ample food in summer and autumn, tribal conflicts are much less frequent than in spring and winter. The oldest Fish-Skin Hunter was silent for a while, pressing down on his bow, and the surrounding hunters also lowered their bows. Then, he pointed at the Kingdom's Warriors on the large ship and awkwardly asked.

"The Dog Tribe in the coastal forest... what are you here for?..."

"Fish-Skin Users, we're here to find that altar! The remaining altar in the marketplace!..."

"Find the altar... what for?..."

"Of course, to offer sacrifices to the Mountain God! To pray for a bountiful fish harvest this year! To pray for a warmer winter this year!..."

"Pray for a warmer winter this year?..."

Hearing this sentence, the Fish-Skin Hunter was silent again and slowly lowered his bow. Zuwaro observed this and also instructed the warriors on the ship to put down their bows and arrows. Both sides thus stared at each other across a stretch of river water. And this, was the first encounter between the fierce Hezhe Tribe and the Kingdom's exploration team in the dense forest!

Yes, they are the "Hezhe People," "the people living by the river in the East." They fish by the river and hunt in the dense forest. They are loose but fierce, often eat raw food, wear fish-skin clothes, and exhibit fierce archery skills.

In the original history of the Late Ming Dynasty, they would be conscripted in large numbers by the rising Jurchen Clan Alliance in the South, assembled into battalions of "Dead Soldiers," and then the most brave "Vanguard Solon" and "Archer Solon" are selected. The opposing Ming Army would give them a name of deep dread, the most fierce among the slave bandits, the "Fish-Skin Tartars"!

Of course, none of this has happened yet. On the longship, Zuwaro squinted his eyes, scrutinizing this poor and fierce "Fish-Skin Tribe," from the stone axes on their waists to the bone arrows on their backs, looking again and again.

"Chief Divine! Just the hunters of twenty or thirty Fish-Skin Tribes give me such a strong sense of threat, as if a pack of wolves emerging from the forest... even if they're barefoot, wearing fish skin, holding bone-made weapons, they seem far more dangerous than the Japanese warriors! So, what if they are armored, carrying metal weapons, organized into a team?..."

"Hmm... Give it a try! See if we can recruit these Fish-Skin Hunters to join the Kingdom's camp!..."

Zuwaro pondered for a moment and then ordered the longship to row towards the shore. However, the Fish-Skin Hunters on the shore backed away cautiously, maintaining a bow's distance.

Soon, Warrior Captain Tamicao, hands empty, jumped off the longship. He placed a bag of salt and a Gold Talisman in the center of the empty ground by the sea, making a "give" gesture to the Fish-Skin Hunters. Then, under their watchful gaze, he retreated back to the longship.

"..."

The elderly Fish-Skin Hunter stared at the small deer-skin bag for a while before gesturing to the young hunters beside him. Then, the young hunter didn't even glance at the Gold Talisman, directly approached the small bag, carefully opened it to find grayish-white salt!

"This is?..."

The young hunter's eyes instantly brightened. He tasted it with his fingers, indeed salty with a bitter taste, the tribe needed salt!

"Chieftain! It's salt, a whole bag of salt! They are traders..."

"..."

The elderly Fish-Skin Hunter paused, and when looking at the tribes on the ship again, his expression became much calmer. Even if they couldn't be considered friends of the tribe, those who can bring salt are certainly not enemies. He thought for a while, put down his bow and arrow, and took out two beautiful purple sable pelts from the Fish-Skin Bag behind him. Then, he placed the pelts at the previous salt location, carefully picked up the deer-skin salt bag, and retreated to the forest edge.

"Traders... Salt, ours. Sable fur, yours!"

The elderly Fish-Skin Hunter shouted to the ship. Then, he turned around like this, leading the Fish-Skin Tribespeople with the back-bowed quickly into the deep forest. Zuwaro was stunned, shouting a couple of times "Friends, stay!" However, the other party seemed to fear he would change his mind, ran even faster.

Yet after a moment, under Zuwaro's astonished gaze, the Fish-Skin Hunters and silent slender dogs quietly disappeared into the shadowy forest. Only the border left two gorgeous purple sable pelts and a Gold Talisman that no one cared about, shimmering like river water with golden light.