*Whoosh whoosh whoosh…*
Early the next morning, the three hot air balloons began to fly again, continuously advancing towards the direction of the ocean.
"Shaman, do you think Lu Zi and the others were expelled from their Tribe because they did something wrong?" Sha Lan asked. This question had been troubling her for the whole of last night. She consistently felt that something was wrong with these people.
Perhaps because they had initiated the attack first, she instinctively felt that they were not good people. In addition to having to bring all of them back to the Tribe, especially with over a hundred people, she was very worried that they might do something detrimental to the Tribe.
After all, these people’s origins were unknown, and it was unclear whether they really came from the other side of the great river.
Sha Lan had cautiously imagined many scenarios last night, thinking more and more until she could not sleep, so her complexion today did not look that good.
"I think it’s impossible. Even if they were expelled, how could they be driven from the other side of the river to this side?" Su Bai rejected this idea from the start.
If those people truly harboured ill-intent, they would not have attempted to attack them like that.
Nobody would be foolish enough to expose their hostility right from the beginning, especially when their numbers were far inferior to their own.
If they truly harboured ulterior motives, they would have initially presented themselves as vulnerable to gain sympathy and trust before taking action. It was impossible to have acted this way from the start, and given their young age, they would not have thought that far ahead.
"But they have so many people, how will we bring them back to the Tribe?" Sha Lan asked, confused.
"We’ll just bring them all back with the hot air balloons. Once we reach the sea and let the others disembark, there will be space to bring them back." Su Bai said seriously.
These three hot air balloons were extremely large, with the three baskets having an area that could accommodate around two hundred people.
And this time, they had only brought out more than forty people. As long as they reached the ocean and let them disembark, they could have them watch over the salt harvesting.
"That’s true. Once we put these people down, we’ll have barely enough space…" Sha Lan nodded.
"When we return, arrange for them to live in the less populated areas, and don’t let them get too close to too many people at the start." Su Bai instructed.
Sha Lan adjusted her wind-tousled hair and asked with confusion. "Shaman, why?"
"These people look and speak differently from us. The people of the Tribe will inevitably emotionally harbour some rejection to these new elements, so don’t arrange for them to live in crowded places at first. Let them gradually integrate into the Tribe after some time." Su Bai explained.
"I understand. When we get back, I’ll have them arranged in the outer region of the Tribe, where there are fewer people, but they’ll all have wooden houses." Sha Lan said.
"They’re in no position to be choosy. They’ll be happy to have wooden houses to live in." Su Bai said indifferently.
"But we have stone houses, why would they be happy with wooden houses?" Yu Ying listened curiously from the side.
"They’ve been wandering outside for a long time now, so they’ll naturally be content to have a place to live." Sha Lan explained.
"Not just that, wooden houses are quite rare for them." Su Bai added.
From what he knew, trees were scarce in the desert, so wooden houses would be quite luxurious for them. Being allocated wooden houses would make them very happy, and with gratitude in their hearts, they would work even harder.
"I see. I just hope those people aren’t bad." Yu Ying was the most concerned person.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh…*
Time passed minute by minute, and the hot air balloons were slowly approaching the ocean. Su Bai’s face felt the ocean breeze blowing towards him, and that familiar feeling immediately surfaced.
The faint fishy smell mixed with a salty taste was this key scent, a smell that was all too familiar.
"We’re here." Su Bai smiled. He looked out at the entire stretch of seawater, where the wide river continued to flow gently into the ocean. The forests on both sides gradually ended there, replaced by two smooth sandy beaches.
Except for the beaches on either side of the coast, the rest of the periphery was boundless, with only azure seawater.
As it was afternoon at this moment, the sunlight reflected off the seawater, creating a shimmering surface.
This view of the sea looked as if the surface had been gilded with a layer of crushed silver, appearing exceptionally beautiful.
"How beautiful," Yan Hua excitedly poked her head out of the hot air balloon, and if she had not been holding the railings with both hands, she might have jumped out.
"Truly beautiful. Is this the ocean? It’s much wider than that river." Yu Ying marvelled.
Co Co blinked her golden eyes with delight, suddenly feeling that this scene was very familiar.
She stared without blinking in the end and exclaimed happily. "It’s so beautiful and familiar!"
Co Co did not initially want to come, but as she had been in the Tribe for a long time, Su Bai feared she would get bored and brought her along.
"Familiar? Do you remember something?" Sha Lan immediately leaned her head over.
Co Co had been in the Tribe for some time now, but this was the first time in so long that she had mentioned something being familiar.
"Could it be that you came from the ocean?" Yan Hua also pulled her head back from outside the hot air balloon.
After hearing this, Su Bai’s thick black eyebrows slightly raised as he asked. "Could it be that you used to live somewhere close by?"
Co Co furrowed her brow, her expression very serious as she continued to recall something, but this time was different; remembering was not as painful as before.
She looked for quite a while before speaking. "Yes, I used to live here, I’m sure of it!"
Co Co’s tone suddenly became firm, the first time she had been so certain since losing her memory.
"What? You used to live in the ocean?" Yan Hua widened her red eyes; this news was too shocking!
When Yan Hua had asked her before, Co Co always could not remember, and even seemed quite distressed when trying to recall. How was it that she was remembering it now?
"That’s impossible. She must have lived near the seaside." Sha Lan turned to look at her and asked. "Am I right?"
Su Bai was initially a bit surprised, but thinking about it now, he did not find it to be impossible.
He looked seriously at Co Co and asked. "Where is your Tribe? Is it far from here?"
Co Co’s brow was still tightly furrowed as she began to effort to recall deeper memories.
She pointed to the right side of the hot air balloon and said. "My Tribe is there, but…"