Chapter 1329: Chapter 1329

The morning sun fell on the round dome of the little hut, its light streaming in through the flue at the top. Exploration Captain Zuwaro bowed his head and entered the hut to visit his friend lying inside. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net

This type of hut, typical of the Xiusilao people, was quite low from the outside, made with a framework of branches covered by bark, fur, and thatch. Once inside, it was surprisingly spacious, as half of it was dug into the ground. Through this practical design, only a small amount of building material was needed to ensure warmth in winter and coolness in summer. The main drawbacks were that excavation was laborious, the land needed to be dry with no groundwater, and relocation was impossible.

In the dim light, Zuwaro squinted, inhaling the faint scent of herbs, and looked at the grass bed at the center of the hut. Scholar Mikki was lying there, drowsily, not knowing whether he was awake or not.

"Oh! Chief Divine! Miki, I didn’t know that the thistle fern was poisonous and had to be cooked before eating! You can’t blame me!..."

Exploration Captain Zuwaro sighed, holding a clay pot, and approached the grass bed. Inside the pot was a seaweed and fish stew, sending out steaming hot aromas. Zuwaro lifted the stew to his lips, glanced at the closed-eyed Miki, shook his head, and took a few sips himself.

"Tsk tsk! So tasty! So good! In one word, fresh!"

"Uh... sniff sniff... hmm?..."

Smelling the rich aroma, Miki sniffed and struggled to open his eyes. Yesterday, he had vomited all night, then his whole body was weak and limp, unable to move, before finally falling into a slumber. It wasn’t until this moment, after a sleep, that he started to feel a bit better, only his stomach growling fiercely with hunger.

"...Zuwaro... I’m... starving!..."

"Ah? You woke up just from smelling the fish stew? Tsk tsk!"

Exploration Captain Zuwaro chuckled, handed the clay pot to Miki, and watched as his friend, like a starving rabbit, drank the entire pot. Only then did Miki sweat all over, let out a long comfortable sigh, and asked groggily.

"Chief Divine! What happened to me yesterday? Did I get poisoned?"

Exploration Captain Zuwaro gave a small "cough," lowered his head, somewhat guiltily and preemptively blamed.

"Chief Divine’s blessing! Miki, you were really careless! How could you randomly eat... cough! That thistle fern? The tribe’s Sun Shaman said that eating thistle fern raw is poisonous; luckily, you didn’t eat much. He gave you some herbal tea, and you vomited all night... you’ll probably recover in a day or two!"

"Uh... so that’s it? Chief Divine’s blessing! I really shouldn’t have eaten randomly... eh! Why did I eat wild greens?"

Upon thinking this, Scholar Mikki paused. Then, his eyes gradually reddened, fiercely glaring at Zuwaro, gritting his teeth, and asking.

"Damn it! Zuwaro! Was it you? Was it you who told me this wild greens were edible? Right! I remember you ate first! Why were you okay? Did you set me up?!"

"Uh! No! Absolutely not! I only ate the non-poisonous bear’s paw fern, not the poisonous thistle fern..."

Exploration Captain Zuwaro broke into a sweat on his forehead, hurriedly clenched his fist to his chest, and swore to the Chief Divine.

"Chief Divine witness! I never intended to harm you... the thistle fern looked so old, I wasn’t even interested to eat it! Uh, Miki, you looked like a scholar, always reminding me to be careful... how come when it was your turn to act, you were even braver than me?"

"Damn it! Zuwaro, I trusted you! If I was alone, I definitely wouldn’t have touched it!"

"Cough! My fault... my fault. You continue resting, I’ll go attend to the fleet’s matters. We had agreed to trade food with the Asahi tribe today..."

"Help me up! Let’s go together!... The sooner we resupply the fleet, the sooner we can set off north..."

Scholar Mikki, gritting his teeth, struggled to get up from the bed. He tried walking a few steps, his legs somewhat numb, but much better than last night, and he could move around now. Zuwaro, supporting Mikki, had a trace of apology in his eyes, yet still wore a cheerful expression.

"Chief Divine’s blessing! Miki, aren’t you staying here to rest? And have another chat with that Sun Shaman, about the faith in the Chief Divine?"

"No more chats! That Sun Shaman is very knowledgeable and hard to talk to... the missionary work seems to have no chance for now. We should continue heading north, and reach the prophesized Great Bay as soon as possible!"

Upon hearing this, Exploration Captain Zuwaro agreed. Along the way, it seemed harder to sway any tribe directed by a High Priest or Shaman. He recalled what he witnessed this morning and spoke with a smile.

"Miki, today at sunrise, I saw a Xiusilao’s ’Sun Dance’ with my own eyes! They circled around on the sand dunes, praying to the sun and then spinning in a dance. That Sun Shaman was in the middle, shaking a wooden bell, chanting incomprehensible songs... judging by the tribespeople’s expressions, they seemed truly devout!"

"I think, their sun faith, although primitive, is strong and clearly grasped by each generation’s tribal shaman. Unless we find a way to make the Sun Shaman acknowledge that the Chief Divine is the Sun the tribe worships... otherwise, the Kingdom’s missionary work... might be difficult..."

"Chief Divine’s blessing! With the Kingdom’s mighty strength, we will eventually find a way, and win over the Chinook Shamans! But right now, the exploration north is our primary task!"

The Kingdom’s four longships stayed at the Xiusilao’s Asahi tribe for three days, trading for enough food to sustain two hundred people for half a month. Then, the fleet set off again, traveling north a hundred miles to exit the Xiusilao’s territory.

The continued voyage along the coast revealed low green mountain forests, with occasionally noticeable fishing and hunting tribes, but of scarcely notable size. According to the information from the Asahi tribe, this was supposed to be the Tillamook people’s territory, with a Tillamook Great Tribe residing inside a certain bay to the north.

Three hundred miles north from the Asahi tribe, on this particular evening, the fleet came across a stretch of brown beach. The beach itself wasn’t very beautiful, just desolate and vast. What’s truly captivating was the lonely rock pillar offshore to the west. So grand, it stood about seventy to eighty meters high, like a pyramid rising from the sea. Yet it was so abrupt, with nothing else around, as if the giant hand of a sea spirit was raised from the sea, its purpose unknown!

"Chief Divine! What... is this?"

Scholar Mikki widened his eyes, looking at the natural wonder before him, his mind racing with countless Divine conjectures. Exploration Captain Zuwaro, on the other hand, stroked his chin, inspecting the towering remarkable peak and the birds nesting atop, lost in thought.

"Praise to the Chief Divine! Miki, this is the Chief Divine’s favor, a good omen for navigation!... Also a natural navigation landmark, must be recorded on the sea chart!"

"Hmm... I have to give it a name... like a Divine’s hand-shaped peak..."

"Chief Divine witness! Then let’s call it... ’Divine Hand Peak’!"