The warm spring sunlight bathed the land as Shu Pi, carrying a bow on his back, led his tribe's people forward.
Those accompanying him were all able-bodied men from the tribe.
Without exception, each of them carried a bow, with a quiver made of Shu Pi slung across their bodies.
Inside the quivers were an assortment of arrows, their shafts adorned with various bird feathers.
Thanks to Shu Pi’s arrival, bows had become widespread within the tribe, gaining the attention and appreciation of all.
However, compared to the bows of the Green Sparrow Tribe, theirs were far more crudely made. Except for a few who used bone or stone arrowheads, most had arrows whose tips were hardened over fire and then sharpened.
These arrows were effective at short range, capable of killing prey, but they were vastly inferior to the bronze-tipped arrows of the Green Sparrow Tribe.
The people of the Shu Pi Tribe had no idea that, in a distant tribe, bows and arrows had advanced far beyond the ones they now considered treasures.
At this moment, they marched forward, following the leader who had brought them prosperity and a better life.
They were not going hunting.
They were going to attack a tribe.
During the heavy snowfall, their leader had told them that their population was too small.
So today, under his command, they left their cave dwellings and the wooden barriers that surrounded them, heading toward their chosen target.
Though this was an attack on another tribe—different from an ordinary hunt—the people of the Shu Pi Tribe showed little concern.
They had a leader who was both intelligent and brave.
They held in their hands weapons that could strike from a distance.
With these weapons, they had hunted much prey, even taking down fierce beasts that had once been too dangerous to challenge.
At the front of the group, Shu Pi strode forward without pause, his bow on his back.
It had been a long time since his last raid on another tribe.
The thought of it brought back memories of the battle that had completely changed his fate.
That battle had been a devastating defeat.
They had been driven into chaos by towering walls and a relentless rain of arrows.
Even though much time had passed and they were now far from that terrifying yet unforgettable tribe, Shu Pi still felt a lingering fear when he recalled it.
Fortunately, his dark complexion concealed the paleness that fear had brought to his face.
Reaching into his quiver, Shu Pi pulled out an arrow and gripped it tightly.
The tip was fashioned from a sharpened beast fang, gleaming with a deadly edge.
As he stared at the arrow in his hand, his heart gradually steadied.
This time was different.
This time, they weren’t attacking that terrifying tribe.
Their target was a tribe roughly the same size as theirs—one that didn’t even have defensive walls.
This time, they held powerful weapons in their hands.
This time, the past would not repeat itself.
He would lead his people to conquer that tribe, bringing them back and making them part of his own!
Shu Pi gripped the arrow shaft tightly for a long moment before returning it to his quiver.
To show his courage, he puffed out his chest, let out a few loud howls, and quickened his pace forward.
The rest of the Shu Pi Tribe followed closely behind, howling and pounding their chests as they rushed forward with their leader toward their distant goal.
The leader of the Black Stone Tribe gripped a bloodstained black stone weapon in his hand, a smile playing at the corners of his eyes as he led his people forward.
The blood on his weapon was not from prey—it belonged to the people of a nearby tribe.
Naturally, the leader of the Black Stone Tribe was pleased. Not long ago, relying on their strength and the sharpness of their black stone weapons, they had once again defeated another tribe.
The fate of this defeated tribe was not as tragic as that of the one they had conquered during the winter.
This time, after their victory, the Black Stone Tribe’s leader did not bring the survivors back to be eaten. Instead, he allowed them to continue living in their settlement.
The only difference was that, from then on, the defeated tribe had to offer food to the Black Stone Tribe on a regular basis.
This practice had been discovered by accident when they encountered the Grass Tribe.
Following the Black Stone Tribe’s orders, the Grass Tribe had begun offering food at regular intervals.
It was then that the Black Stone Tribe’s leader realized there was another way to acquire food—one that required far less effort than hunting or gathering.
With this method, his people could obtain food without lifting a finger.
He still remembered the moment when his tribe had gathered around the fire, feasting on the food delivered by the Grass Tribe.
The pleasure of getting food without effort was intoxicating.
Compared to wielding weapons, slaughtering people, and eating their flesh, having other tribes deliver food voluntarily was far more appealing.
The only downside was that the Grass Tribe’s offerings were too small—they had eaten everything in a single day.
Once the food was gone, some in the Black Stone Tribe wanted the Grass Tribe to bring them more.
Many in the tribe supported this idea, but their leader rejected it.
As a leader himself, he understood that the Grass Tribe could not continuously provide extra food in such a short time.
But he was also a clever man.
Instead of draining the Grass Tribe dry, he spent several days pondering a better approach.
Finally, he decided to use the same method on other tribes, forcing them to submit and provide food just like the Grass Tribe.
Thus, in the time following the thaw of ice and snow, the Black Stone Tribe’s leader led his people on hunts and gathered food, while also raiding nearby tribes, forcing them into submission and demanding tribute.
Faced with the threat of death—or something even more terrifying, the black stone weapons—every tribe they conquered readily agreed to provide food.
If they conquered enough tribes, his people would no longer need to hunt at all.
They could live happily, sustained by the food tributes of others.
The more the Black Stone Tribe’s leader and his people thought about this plan, the more they became pleased.