Volume 4: How big is the heart, how vast is the earth Chapter 110: Tribe of Survivors
When most of the grassland entered midsummer, the violent cold current from the snowy mountains had just left the northern part of the grassland under the Samal Snow Mountain.
The average daily temperature rising to around ten degrees has caused lush green vegetation to emerge on this frozen land that was covered with ice and snow for most of the year. Agile Centaur warriors walked through the green land, looked back, raised a longbow made of wild beast spines and tough vine skins, and a dull sound of the string rang out, and a large bird hiding in the treetops fell down.
The Centaur warrior trotted forward to pick up the prey, took back the feather arrow, and just tied the prey to the horse when he heard a clear whistling sound coming from the south to the north.
The Centaur warrior looked up and saw the Snowhorn of the Snow Elf, and immediately turned away, soon disappearing among the rugged rocks.
After a while, a group of snow elf warriors came from the direction where the snow bird flew. The sergeant in the lead was a beautiful and cold-looking female elf. Her helmet was tied around her waist, and there was a layer of fine beads of sweat on her forehead. She looked up at the towering snow-capped mountains, raised her hand to fan the wind, and sighed, "We are finally almost home."
"Yeah, it's really terrible to stay in the cursed land at this time."
"It's still cooler around the snow-capped mountains. I was miserable in the first half month."
Private First Class Yarlin took out his canteen and drank some water, then handed it to his companion: "Sergeant, we are the last group to withdraw, right?"
"Yes, the other legions were completely withdrawn last month." Sergeant Selina raised her hand to comb back the hair that had fallen on her forehead and exhaled softly, "My tribe is not adapted to the climate outside the snowy mountains. From now on, we will rely on the forest elves to monitor the tiger king's court."
"I feel like something is not right with the forest elves..." Arlin frowned, "The warriors who entered the royal court this time are Stephens's soldiers, replacing Ananas' troops last year. Why do I feel like... Her Majesty the Queen seems to be worried about Ananas?"
"That's not something we need to worry about." Sergeant Selina didn't care about that. "Rest here. We need to make a concerted effort to get back to the snowy mountains today."
"Yes, Sergeant."
The Centaur warrior trotted around the group of snow elves, making sure that his whereabouts would not be followed by anyone, then turned in the grass and galloped towards the tribe.
The summer in the northern part of the grassland is short, and the land is frozen for at least seven or eight months a year. Such a barren area cannot support large herds of cattle and sheep, and no large tribe would pay attention to it. However, it is surprisingly suitable for small and vulnerable tribes to survive.
The Centaur warriors returned to the tribe hidden in the large pine forest. Just as they saw the tribe's outer wall built with stones and branches, two cats popped their heads out from behind the wall.
"I'm back, Sayer!"
Sail waved his hand, and the two cats retracted their heads. After a while, the door blocked by wooden boards opened from the inside.
Saier ran briskly into the door. The two cats guarding the door ran up and unhooked the prey from his horse's back. One of them was missing a hand, and the other's left leg was shorter than his right leg, but they were still very agile. As they unhooked the prey, they chattered in a flurry: "Today, the goblins dug up a lot of edible tubers in the south of the pine forest, and the gray dwarves dug up a nest of rabbits. Oh, and Yi just dragged back a bear!"
"Ayi?" Sai Er was surprised. "Can his right hand move?"
"No, but we managed to beat the big bear with just our left hand and teeth. The Snow Wolf warriors are really powerful." The two cats laughed happily.
"I'll go see him." Sail handed the longbow to the cat tribe for care and walked towards the tent made of wood and wool felt in the tribe.
The right shoulder of the snow wolf man Ayi was drooping, and his whole arm was hanging limply at his side. When Saier lowered his head and walked in, he saw that he was using the sharp claws and teeth of his left hand to peel off the bear skin, and his face, chest and hands were covered with blood.
"Don't force yourself. Let the cat tribe come." Saier walked forward and looked at Hajime's shoulder, saying disapprovingly, "You still have to save your fellow tribesmen, so you should take care of your body."
Ayi shook his head silently and continued to work on peeling the skin.
Saier stood there for a while, and when he saw that the snow wolf still had no intention of communicating, he lifted the door curtain and walked out. This tribe was just a small tribe struggling to survive, and physical injuries and painful experiences that could destroy people's hearts were everywhere. Saier didn't have enough sympathy to pay special attention to one person.
"Searle, eat beans ."
In the next tent, the old gray dwarf who was guarding the fire handed over a clay bowl. Both of his legs were missing below the knees, most of his face was burned by molten iron, and one of his eyes was blind.
"Will there be enough bean seeds this year?" Sail knelt on his horse with his legs bent among the dry thatched grass and began to chew boiled beans with a light taste of salt.
"That's enough. Last year you only ate two bags of beans you brought back from the minotaurs." The old gray dwarf, whose facial muscles were mostly necrotic, seemed to be trying to force a smile, and the rotten flesh around his lips was torn in a hideous manner.
Sail nodded and said nothing more.
He finished the bowl of boiled beans in salt water, which was only provided to those who were allowed to hunt, and those who had gone out to collect food returned one after another.
Five centaurs, one snow wolf, more than a dozen small cats, more than a dozen gray dwarves and about twenty goblins are all the members of this tribe of survivors.
All the centaurs are soldiers and can bring back prey more or less. The goblins are good at gathering. The cats and gray dwarves can cooperate to hunt some small animals. If they are lucky, they can catch big ones such as musk deer, deer and roe deer. When the summer that the snow elves despise comes, it is a rare happy time for this small tribe to have enough food.
More than forty people sat around in an open space in the tribe to share food. The cats and gray dwarves with more serious injuries were responsible for cooking. The food of those with relatively intact bodies or those who had hunting abilities barely had a hint of salt in it. Those who relied solely on others for food were not so lucky, and the food tasted bland without a trace of taste in their mouths.
"Ayi." The cheetah, who had a hideous scar on his cheek and only had thumbs left on his palms, said to the only snow wolf man, "We just smelled the scent left by the snow wolf tribe on the south mudflats. Do you want to go over and take a look?"
Ah Yi, who was chewing meat, suddenly looked up.
"The smell is very faint, as if it has been there for some time." Cheetah added.
Ah Yi quickly stuffed the food he was given into his mouth, stood up, and looked at the cheetah eagerly.
The cheetah drank the salty soup in one gulp, wiped his mouth and stood up: "I'll take you there."
"I'll go with you." Sayer's heart moved and he stood up.
The tiger tribe, which used to only attack the centaurs, cats and foreign races, began to attack the snow wolf tribe. When Saier and his centaurs picked up the snow wolf Ayi, he felt that the grassland was changing in a direction he could not predict. With this premonition, Saier, who was not very willing to contact the snow wolf tribe, also took the initiative.
The three of them set off immediately and ran towards the mudflats more than ten kilometers south of the pine forest. This area was a must-pass place for the Bulei River, another large river on the grassland. Every summer and autumn, the rising river water flooded large areas of land on both sides, leaving behind a long mudflat stretching for dozens of kilometers.
When the climate warms up, migratory birds from the south, such as wild geese, red-crowned cranes, swans and other birds gather in groups to mate and lay eggs, which is full of vitality and extraordinary beauty.
Naturally, the indigenous people would not be shocked by such magnificence that they were used to seeing. When the three of them ran to the mudflats, they only felt that the flock of birds was too noisy and the smell of bird droppings was too strong. They had to be very careful to find the traces left by a large group of snow wolves passing by.
"They are my people, they are indeed my people..." Ah Yi lay on a relatively dry high ground and sniffed for a long time. Suddenly, he jumped up excitedly, turned into a wolf, and limped on three legs in the direction he had identified.
"Come on my back." Sail let the cheetah, which was missing two and a half front limbs, sit on his horse and followed closely behind the lame white-haired giant wolf.
The chase took most of the day. After running for more than a hundred miles from west to east along the winding Bulei River, Ayi and Saier, who were out of breath, finally saw a group of people who had stopped to set up camp ahead.
“Ouch——!!”
Ah Yi howled to the sky, big tears falling from his eyes.
Soon, two Snow Wolf warriors ran towards them.
The next morning, more than 20 Snow Wolf warriors entered the pine forest. When the simple gate was moved open and curious and nervous people appeared in front of Hongye and others, the tragic living conditions of this tribe of survivors made everyone speechless for a moment.
The goblins are fine, the tiger tribe does not need such dirty and weak slaves. As long as they don't die at the hands of wild beasts and monsters, they can still struggle to survive. Although they may have injuries, at least they are still within an acceptable range. As for the cat tribe and the gray dwarves... all of them are disabled, no one is spared.
Snow leopard Rosemary looked in shock at the dozen or so small cats who were either missing arms or legs, then looked down at the lynx that was approaching him, his eyes fell on the other's left shoulder that was completely cut off and missing a piece, and he couldn't help but hug the person in his arms - the snow leopard clan and the lynx clan are naturally close, even if Rosemary didn't know each other, this blood-related closeness would not make them feel unfamiliar.
"How could this happen?!" Hongye was shocked and angry when he saw the old gray dwarf whose legs were empty below the knees and whose large areas of muscle and skin on his face were burned. His face looked extremely ugly.
"They were all disabled slaves abandoned by the Tiger Tribe. They were left outside to fend for themselves, and we picked them up." Sail said lightly.
The part he didn't say was that the cats and gray dwarves could at least be thrown out alive, but the centaurs could only escape by death... Over the years, he and his tribesmen risked their lives to wander around the tiger tribe, but they didn't find a single living member of the tribe.
Hongye counted the five centaurs including Saier, her lips moved but she said nothing.
"Are the Snow Wolf Tribe willing to take them all away?" Saier looked at Hongye.
Hongye nodded and met Saier's gaze: "The Snow Wolf Tribe is willing to accept anyone who is willing to go with us, no matter what race they are. You can come with us too."
"No." Saier shook his head, "Our people are still in the Tiger Tribe. We have to wait for them."
"Are you waiting for the day when you can find their bodies?" Hongye said bluntly.
Saier was irritated and his eyes narrowed.
"I heard that the Centaurs are a warlike race. In addition to you, there should be other members who have escaped the capture of the Tiger Tribe and are lingering elsewhere." Hongye looked up and looked directly into Sayre's eyes. "If we are scattered all over the place like this, we can only hope to find the bodies of the fallen members one day. So why don't we give it a try and find all the members who are still strong and alive?"
"Indeed, the Centaurs were no match for the Tigers before they were captured and enslaved on a large scale like they are now. Even if we gather all the free Centaurs who are still alive, we still cannot save them from the Tigers." Without waiting for Sayre to speak, Hongye continued, "If it doesn't work just with the Centaurs, then what about the others? What if we, the Snow Wolf Clan, the Cat Clan, the Gray Dwarves, and the Goblins, all work together?"
"Stop talking big. How is this possible? Even if we can do it, can we defeat the tiger tribe?" Saier said angrily.
His voice suddenly rose, startling the survivors who were receiving food from the Snow Wolf Warriors.
"Because you can't do it, you're too scared to do it?" Hongye laughed frivolously, as if Sayre had said something funny and stupid. "I thought the centaurs were really brave and good at fighting, but it turns out that you are so scared that you don't even dare to try to imagine a counterattack."
"Who said we were scared!" Saier was so angry that he wanted to attack on the spot.
"Since you are not afraid, then imagine it. Imagine that you can become strong again, and one day you will be able to rescue your fallen tribesmen and avenge those who died tragically. It's not difficult to imagine it." Hongye said calmly, "We, the Snow Wolf Tribe, are now imagining that we can see this day, so we are trying our best to gather our tribesmen, anyone who is willing to unite with us. Even though we know now that we are no match for the Tiger Tribe, we can always achieve it if we yearn for it and work hard in the direction we yearn for within our capabilities."
"Sail..." Saier's fellow tribesmen had obviously been convinced by Hongye and shouted eagerly.
Saier clenched his fists, stared at Hongye angrily, moved his lips, but didn't say anything in the end - picking up the survivors, hiding in the uninhabited northern grassland and struggling to survive, this was the only way Saier could choose to survive in desperation. But could he really be willing to wait for the enslaved people to die slowly like now?
The survivors ate the dry food brought by the Snow Wolf warriors, and after the centaurs who protected them compromised, they packed up their meager luggage and followed the Snow Wolf tribe out of the pine forest.
The Snow Wolf tribe's main force still had to go deeper into the central grassland, and they couldn't spare any manpower to send them off first, so they continued to follow the Snow Wolf tribe. There were more than 50 warriors with the team, most of whom were Snow Wolf warriors. Unless a large Tiger tribe came out in full force to intercept them, they didn't have to worry about safety issues.
The vermicelli just put into the boiling soup pot quickly softened and was cooked into a soft translucent substance. The vermicelli was scooped up with a colander and placed in a bowl, and seasonings and large pieces of steamed meat were added. The bowl of vermicelli with an indescribable aroma was brought to the survivors. The goblins huddled together timidly stared at the Snow Wolf warriors who were giving them food, and hesitated for a long time before they dared to stretch out their dirty hands.
The gray dwarves, whose performance was only slightly better than the goblins, also huddled together, each holding a bowl and taking small bites of the chewy vermicelli.
Xiaohua brought over a big bowl of noodles and placed it on the wooden stool in front of Ayi. Ayi, who could only move one hand, licked his lips, grabbed the fork impatiently, buried his head in the bowl and scraped along the edge of the bowl.
The grassroots chief sat beside Ayi, grabbed Ayi's limp right arm, pressed it lightly from top to bottom with his fingers, and his brows were twisted into a knot.
"Can his arm be cured?" Hongye and Yu sat opposite each other and asked with concern.
The Grassroots Chief shook his head and put Hajime's arm back: "The bones in this arm are all broken, the muscles are atrophied, and there is no feeling at the shoulder position... This hand is completely useless."
Hongye and Yu sighed heavily, and Xiaohua, who had just sat down, shook her head reluctantly.
"It's okay, I'm used to it." After picking up the vermicelli, Ah Yi lifted the bowl and gulped down the soup. He licked the bowl before putting it down. He stood up and looked at his compatriots sitting in a circle. A smile appeared on his face. "I can fight with only one hand. I'm not afraid."
The dozen or so warriors gathered around the campfire all felt sad. The Grassroots Chief patted Ah Yi on the back and said, "Good boy... Do you remember where your people were captured?"
Ah Yi nodded, and the smile that had just returned disappeared from his face. He gritted his teeth and said, "I remember it, and I will remember it for the rest of my life. Our tribe originally lived in the mangrove highlands beside the Bule River. Including me, there were more than 60 people in the tribe—"
Fourteen years ago, the Beast King borrowed soldiers from the grassland. The Tiger King's court recruited more than twenty Snow Wolf tribes in the central grassland, and a total of sixty Snow Wolf elite warriors were recruited. Ayi's tribe was also one of the recruited tribes.
The three elite warriors never returned. The chief of the Ayi tribe sensed the crisis and soon after the war ended, the entire tribe moved to the mangrove highlands upstream of the Bulei River, avoiding a series of grassland disputes that followed and preventing further loss of tribesmen.
After living peacefully in the mangrove highlands for several years, the old chief passed away in winter. The new chief was relatively young and inexperienced. Blinded by the peaceful life, he did not notice that the grassland annexation operation organized by the tiger tribe was gradually spreading to the vicinity of the mangrove highlands. It was not until last year, when the warriors of the tribe went to the cat tribe to buy salt and cloth, that the new chief discovered that the cat tribe, which was closest to the mangroves, had been controlled by the tiger tribe.
At this point, even though the new chief lacked experience, he knew that something was wrong, and he quickly gathered his people to prepare for migration. However, they were delayed due to the storage of fodder in the autumn. One night in late autumn, a hundred tiger warriors attacked Ayi's tribe at night. The only two remaining elite warriors died that night, and more than half of the warriors were killed or wounded. All the tribesmen were captured and quickly transported to the eastern part of the grassland.
Ayi was also a soldier. In the night battle, his right arm was broken and he was seriously injured and unconscious. He was tied up and thrown onto a flatbed truck with his fallen tribesmen. After several days and nights in a daze, Ayi woke up from hunger and found that he and his tribesmen were transported to an unfamiliar place and locked up in a place with particularly thick walls and no view of the sky.
All the tribesmen were starving to death, and Ayi also lost the strength to resist. At this time, for some reason, most of the tiger warriors who were guarding them were transferred away, and the centaurs who were also imprisoned as slaves took the opportunity to cause trouble. Several centaurs rushed in and wanted to release the snow wolf tribe, but were hacked and killed by the tiger tribe who chased in. In the chaos, Ayi and another snow wolf warrior escaped, but they were too hungry, and the warrior fell to the ground not long after running. Only the younger Ayi stumbled back from the east, lost consciousness in the snow, and was picked up by the centaurs and brought back to the survivors' tribe.
Hongye and the others were so angry after hearing Ayi's story. Yu punched the ground heavily, Xiaohua gritted her teeth in hatred, and A Tian turned his head away with resentment.
"Has the eastern part of the grassland been controlled by the tiger tribe?" The grassroots chief was horrified.
"I heard from Sayle that it's impossible to get through to the east...Originally, there were only centaurs living there, and now...there are almost no centaurs left." Ayi said in a low voice. He knew very well that it would not be easy to rescue his people with such a small number of people.
The Grassroots Chief was silent for a moment, then he exhaled a long breath and looked at everyone seriously: "We need to speed up and contact the tribes in the central part as soon as possible. We should persuade those who can go with us to go, and those who can't, we should also try our best to persuade them to help each other with other tribes and not live alone in remote places. Since the Tiger Tribe captured our Snow Wolf Tribe people and transported them to the east overnight, it means that they don't want to completely turn against our Snow Wolf Tribe in the short term, but this peaceful time... I guess it won't last for a few years."
Everyone nodded in unison, their expressions solemn.
The Grassroots Chief looked at the warriors of the Cat Tribe again, and said apologetically: "As for the Cat Tribe, we still have to avoid them as much as possible... because we don't know which Cat Tribes have been controlled by the Tiger Tribe, and we can't expose our whereabouts."
Rosemary was in low spirits. He vaguely knew that the tiger tribe didn't take the cat tribe seriously. But after all, he had lived in the western part of the grassland for many years and his understanding was not deep. Now he knew that in the eyes of the tiger tribe, there was no difference between the cat tribe and the centaurs and gray dwarves. He felt a little hesitant and didn't listen to what the grassroots chief said at all.
Fishbone also had similar emotions, but he never agreed with the view that "the future of the cat tribe should be like that of the tiger tribe", so he was not as upset as Rosemary. He looked up after hearing this and said with some difficulty: "We can understand that when a grassroots tribe leader is not capable enough, he should not do things beyond his ability. This will make it impossible to achieve his goal forever. The situation that the cat tribe is facing now... cannot be affected by a small number of us."
The cat tribe in the western part of the grassland was a little confused about the distance between them and the tiger tribe, let alone the tribe in the middle? If they shouted to save people regardless of the consequences, they would only drag their own people into the pit. Although Yu Gu felt uncomfortable, he knew what he could and could not do.
The Grassroots Chief sighed again, then cheered up and looked at everyone: "Then our next move will have to bypass the Mangrove Highlands..."
The planned route was to go from the north to the middle of the grassland, but after discovering that the grassland along the Bulei River was also unsafe, the route had to be revised. The safest route was originally to go from the south, but the southern part of the grassland was densely populated with water networks, many swamps and a wide area, which was not suitable for a large group to travel.
Everyone worked together to come up with ideas. Leopard Xia, who usually spoke up at critical moments in such occasions to show his presence, was strangely silent at this time.
Or rather... the fact that Xia can still remain rational and calm while sitting here at this moment already shows that he is very shrewd.
The future of the cat tribe lies in the tiger tribe. Xia was a staunch supporter of this concept before he got the advice of the tauren. Later, when irreconcilable differences arose within the tribe, Xia chose to join the snow wolf tribe, which he thought was easier to fool, only out of selfishness when he did not want to rely on the tiger tribe.
Seeing with his own eyes the injured cats abandoned like trash by the tiger tribe, and hearing with his own ears that the central cat tribe was controlled and enslaved by the tiger tribe, Xia broke out in a cold sweat - if he had made a different decision at the beginning, then let alone maintaining the last dignity as the tribe leader and trying hard to gain the right to speak in the group, he might have become one of the slaves enslaved by the tiger tribe, doing worthless hard labor numbly on some grassland.
