Where Now
When the team rejoined the rest of the tribespeople, the sky had cleared up. After a few days of darkness and murky skies, a rainbow had appeared but nobody bothered to look up. They were too worried about their future.
The rest of the tribespeople had sent out teams to scout the area in different directions while Shao Xuan and his team were out. Knowing more about the area would benefit them in the long run.
Soon after Shao Xuan returned, the scouts returned too.
According to what they said, no place was untouched by the disaster. Some tribes were affected badly with their terrain turned upside down and cracks in the ground. On the other hand, some tribes, which were mostly the larger tribes, had it better.
Some small and medium tribes met different levels of blows to their area but comparatively the larger tribes like theEight Limbs tribe, Longboat tribe and others didn’t suffer significant losses.
“Their areas didn’t have tremors as strong as the forest. They probably experienced the same level of tremors as us,” said the warriors that returned.
“Apparently, two thousand years ago, many tribes were in different locations. Eight Limbs tribe and Mang tribe were quite far apart, they only moved closer later on,” said Ao. He heard a lot of stories from the long-distance hunting teams in the past four years.
“Looks like they didn’t move that far from their original spot. I think they just moved to a more stable area to avoid damages from disasters like this,” said Shao Xuan.
Every tribe would have their reasons for moving to an area. For example, the Flaming Horn tribe moved to the Fearsome Beast forest to be able to hunt. However, for tribes that don’t rely on hunting for food anymore, anywhere with fertile soil and constant water supply would be a good area to live in.
“No wonder we didn’t notice any commotion from them, they were already prepared,” sighed the shaman. The ancestors of these few tribes had already snatched up the more stable areas years ago. That was how they could grow their civilization without any disturbances.
“So, location is very important!” sighed the two shamans.
But how would they find such a place?
It was because Flaming Horn was located in the Fearsome Beast Forest that they weren’t able to snatch a more stable plot of land as they were further from these regions.
Where would they go this time?
When Shao Xuan pointed out the direction they were heading to, the shaman and Ao thought they might be headed back to the place they once called home but as time went on they dismissed the thought. There was still a huge river to cross. How would they be able to get there? Would they need to wait a year to even cross it?
When everyone returned, the tribespeople continued their journey towards the area Shao Xuan pointed out.
With their homeland destroyed, they wouldn’t be able to head back anytime soon. They had to find a new place to live. Although everything was gone, they still gained a lot in the four years. Their pottery, metal tools, textiles, farming knowledge and others were all greatly improved. Being separated from the rest of the world, the people of Flaming Horn were like sponges, absorbing knowledge wherever they went.
There were so many changes in the four years, especially for the fire seed.
Without the fire seed’s presence to unite them, would the tribe be scattered all around? This was a question that weighed on the shamans and chiefs.
There was no point in thinking too much, they had to deal with this step by step. They’ll find a new place then think about this.
Shao Xuan took out the ropes again. He wanted to confirm the direction.
“What now?” asked the two chiefs nervously.
“No changes to the original plan, we continue in this direction.” Shao Xuan held the ropes tightly in his fists. With a flick of his wrist, the straw rope turned to shreds. Shao Xuan had entertained the thought of going to the old homeland. The rope divination seemed to be pointing to that direction. It was indeed a good location but he knew they wouldn’t be able to live there for a thousand years. The river was another problem too.
The long line marched forward. Many of the carts they made were destroyed so they weren’t able to transport people. The injured would sometimes get a lift from their farm animals.
The tribesmen met a few robbers on their journey. The robbers were from smaller tribes where these changes were disastrous for them. They were left stranded without food or manpower so they resorted to robbing for their essentials. However, there were too many Flaming Horn tribespeople so their attempts failed.
The route looked different from the time they travelled here. After all, they mostly used boats then and were travelling on foot now.
Some dried up rivers had a steady flow of water in them now. They weren’t sure of the reason but this was a good sign.
More and more people knew about Flaming Horn moving tribes as they travelled on. Some people from Longboat tribes came over to help them in exchange for goods.
They all had their eyes on the seven green-faced fanged beasts within the Flaming Horn tribe. Before they started their journey, the tribesmen fed the beasts medicine to knock them out so they slept through all the tremors. Shao Xuan also enslaved them so they didn’t have as much attacking power.
The Longboat tribe tried to make weapons with the beast they captured but failed. They were more experienced now but they lacked the materials to try again. They were hoping to use this opportunity for a trade.
Flaming Horn declined their offers.
The boats in the Longboat tribe were mostly damaged. Repairs were going to cost time as most of the trees here were damaged too. If they needed to make large scale repairs, they wouldn’t have enough materials.
The people of Flaming Horn didn’t want to trade for boats from the tribe either. They could make their own boats if they wanted to and they didn’t want to share the secrets of their new bronze weapons.
Other than the Longboat tribe, the other tribes came forward and had the intention to go up to them too. However, they too were faced with their own problems after the disaster.
Many days passed when the Flaming Horn tribespeople finally reached the Drumming tribe. The people there were busy rebuilding their houses when a guard blew the whistle signalling an intruder. They didn’t expect it to be Flaming Horn tribespeople they hadn’t seen in years!