Chapter 1316: Chapter 1316

August on the Northern California coast is the clearest and most beautiful time of the year. The turquoise ocean, the brown beaches, lush forests and plains, and the greenish-brown eastern mountains constantly alternate in the view of the fleet, brimming with vitality.

This is the season of all life proliferating; most flowers of the Northern Land bloom during this time. Purple sea daisies appear on the beach and, along with the equally spectacular asters, splash colors across the saline tidal flats. Meanwhile, the white daisies grow on high cliffs, gently swaying in the wind. These low-lying little flowers have surprisingly deep roots to withstand the strong winds atop the cliffs. Between the tidal flats and cliffs, on the moist grassy lands traversed by rivers, pink sea thrift grows everywhere. These radiant flowers cluster together like umbrellas blooming from the earth, considered blessings from the Earth Mother by the Pomo people!

"Praise the Chief Divine! The August northern coast is so magnificent!..." Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel✶fire.net

Exploration Captain Zuwaro stood at the prow, marveling at the varying colors along the coast, unable to hold back his admiration.

"So many summer flowers, such vibrant colors! They’re even more dazzling and enchanting than the Priestess of the Kingdom! Ah! I want to lie on those flowers, singing a joyful spring song and frolicking with the most beautiful maidens..."

Hearing Zuwaro’s exclamation, Scholar Miki’s smile froze instantly. He grimaced, his gaze falling on the group of seals by the shore.

In the warm sunlight, these round, endearing animals were divided into two circles. One circle was fighting while the other lay lazily watching. Shortly, a male seal, victorious from the fight, eagerly crawled towards the circle of females to join them in frolicking.

Scholar Miki maintained his frozen expression, observing for a while. Then he turned his head, looking at his equally stunned friend Zuwaro, and teased.

"Zuwaro! So what you want is to be a seal!..."

After a moment, Exploration Captain Zuwaro twitched his mouth, gritted his teeth, and said fiercely.

"Damn it! This group of happy seals... just right to replenish the fleet’s meat supplies!"

Hearing this, Scholar Miki shook his head and pressed his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

"Chief Divine bless! August is the season of life proliferating, also the time when the tribes cease hunting. According to local tribal traditions, hunting of seals doesn’t start until October, when mating is completed and female seals visibly exhibit pregnancy. The hunting targets are male seals and they never hunt pregnant females..."

"All living things in the Northern Land obey the cycle; whether hunting or fishing, they must maintain population balance! This is the tradition formed by the Northern Tribes over thousands of years, as well as the law of survival. If we disrupt these laws, we will be opposed by all tribes!"

"Uh! Northern traditions, the law of survival? This... okay!"

Exploration Captain Zuwaro pondered for a moment, sullenly glancing at the seals, then looked forward again. With the warm Alaskan current guiding them, the fleet pressed on northward without pause. Soon, the low villages of the Pomo people and their drifting canoes came into everyone’s view.

"We have arrived at the hunting grounds of the Pomo! Ahead lies their most powerful coastal tribe! I’ve been there!"

The cloak-clad Hunter Le Tian gestured excitedly. It was about six hundred li from the Golden Bay where the North Bay Tribe resided, the limit of his past hunting ventures. The large coastal tribe ahead was also the northernmost tribe he had visited.

"Look! Great River! Totem Pole!... Ba’po! Ba’po! Up ahead is the Ba’po Tribe!"

Scholar Miki stood on tiptoe, and after a while, saw a quiet river flowing into the Western sea. Then a tall totem pole was erected at the riverbank, marking the tribe’s territory. The totem pole seemed to depict a fighting scene, and as they got closer, it revealed a female hunter wielding a spear against a giant bear!

"Hmm? Le Tian, what does the ’Ba’po’ you shouted mean?"

"Oh! That’s their language, one of the dialects in the Palapa large family. ’Ba’po’ means bear, or one who fights with bears. The name of the Ba’po Tribe actually means ’Bear Hunting Tribe’!"

The cloak-clad Hunter Le Tian touched his chin, recalling tales from long ago and stories told by the Cedar Shaman, narrated intermittently.

"The Bear Hunting Tribe is the most powerful branch of the Pomo Tribes! Legend says their ancestor was a female hunter who wandered north. She was strong, brave, and even ventured alone into the woods to hunt bears! With a long spear in hand, she battled a legendary grizzly all night before finally killing it. But the bear also wounded her, and its blood flowed onto her and merged with hers..."

"Ah! A female hunter hunting bears alone? Wounded while killing the grizzly?"

Upon hearing this, Scholar Miki showed surprise and asked.

"What happened later? Did she bathe in the legendary bear’s blood, becoming stronger and thus gaining divinity?"

"Eh? Why would you think that? The thoughts of the Southern Tribes are truly strange! Everything has spirit, and so do people..."

The cloak-clad Hunter scratched his head, looking at Miki oddly. There is no generationally inherited Divine Descendant Noble Chief here in the harsh and cold Northern Land, and the productivity doesn’t allow it.

"...Then? Naturally later, the female hunter was tainted with bear blood, became pregnant, and gave birth to the bear-blooded Pomo people! And the Pomo became the strong Bear Tribe, capable of battling bears in the forests. As for the most powerful Pomo Tribe among them, it’s known as the Bear Hunting Tribe!"

"Pomo people... Bear’s Tribe... Bear Hunting Tribe..."

Listening to this Pomo ancestor myth, Zuwaro and Miki exchanged glances, unsure what to say.

The appearance of the exploration fleet quickly alerted the hunters of the Bear Hunting Tribe. These formidable forest hunters, accustomed to battle, quickly mobilized. The entire Bear Hunting Tribe rallied over four hundred tribal warriors, armed with javelins and hunting bows, "warmly welcoming" on the beach. From the swift mobilization of warriors, one could roughly deduce that the Bear Hunting Tribe’s population was about three thousand.

"Chief Divine bless! These Pomo people are truly enthusiastic!..."

Seeing Bear Hunting Tribe in a combat stance, Scholar Miki sighed with a helpless expression. He pulled aside the cloak-clad Hunter Le Tian and asked in a low voice.

"Le Tian, you’ve been to the Pomo Tribes and surely speak their language, right? Can you negotiate on behalf of the fleet? Tell them we are allies trusted by the Cedar Shaman, passing through to the North, and need to replenish some food and water here..."

"Uh... I only know a few words in Pomo."

The cloak-clad Hunter Le Tian tugged at his hair and smiled sheepishly. But soon, he displayed a confident expression.

"But communicating? No problem! I’m familiar with it, no need for words at all!..."

"Praise the Chief Divine! Great! Then it’s up to you!"

Soon after, the cloak-clad Hunter Le Tian went to the shore with a bow. Under the gaze of hundreds of Pomo warriors, he first raised his hand, showing his bow without an arrow, and placed it on the ground. Then he took off his leather coat, put down his dagger, and stood naked except for a bear-skin cloak. Finally, he spread his limbs, danced a war dance like a playful grouse, knelt on the sand, and opened his arms in anticipation.

Scholar Miki was dumbfounded, watching this seemingly meaningful but obscure dance and unable to discern anything.

But moments later, a strong tribal huntsman emerged from the Pomo warriors. He too laid down his bow and arrow, approached, touched Le Tian’s bear-skin cloak, and cried out in surprise. Then he lifted Le Tian with both hands, and the onlookers erupted in enthusiastic shouts.

"Pomo’loktol! Nyi’tah!"

"Bear Hunter! Friend!"