Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1806 - 1296: Northeast Asia, Nivkh Dog Tribe and the Sorun Tribes!

"I wish for a talkative person who can communicate with the Divine Spirits of the Heavenly Divine, speaking five and a half sentences! I attract him with food, and he descends from the sky, as graceful as a Divine Spirit! He is a water thrush, able to fly to the sky and also land on water, communicating with all Divine Might! As long as I feed him well, with venison and mountain vegetable soup, with salmon and mouth-chewed wine, he will happily chirp... Ha ha chirp chirp chirp!…"

The joyful sound of the lute plays once again, amidst the fire pit of the tribes, under the moonlit night by the seaside, lingering in everyone's heart. As a coastal Great Tribe, the Cold Swamp Tribe has prepared an abundance of food to entertain the brother tribes with the same heritage. The aroma of food and people's laughter, like moonlight and tide, fill the entire seaside village.

Sun-dried smoked venison, mountain vegetable soup stewed with wild onions, fermented salmon, and uniquely processed mouth-chewed wine, are all contained in clay and wooden pots, presented before Zuwaro.

Especially the mouth-chewed wine, which requires a pure Ainu maiden, bathing in prayer, brushing her teeth with salt and twigs, before chewing the raw materials for brewing, accumulating little by little into the pot for fermentation. In fact, this is an ancient custom prevalent from the Ainu to the Ryukyu, carrying a meaning of offering to the divine. Holding the pot with a gentle smile, the maiden, after pouring a cup of her own brewed wine for Zuwaro, inexplicably blushes. She bows her head like a little doe, then retreats to the side, continuing to sing the song of Divine Might. Her voice is light and beautiful, also like an elegant water ouzel.

"One day, when people went hunting for deer, they could not find any, and when fishing in the stream, they couldn't catch fish either. Hunger spread in the village, while the deer god and fish god turned a blind eye, showing only anger."

"So, I fed the last of the food to the water thrush, sending him to communicate with the Divine Might. He was so spirited, and soon returned with a message. The reason for the deer god's anger was because people brutally hit the deer with sticks when they caught them, and after skinning them, carelessly discarded the heads. The fish god was angry because people struck the fish heads with rotten wood after catching them. The people did not properly care for the food bestowed by the Divine Might, so the Divine Might ceased to provide, leaving them empty-handed!…"

"I told all of this to the people. Finally, they changed! They used bows and arrows to hunt deer, skinned them, and respectfully decorated the deer heads, dedicating them back into the embrace of the deer god. They fished with hooks, carefully decorating fish bones, allowing the fish to return to the fish god adorned with exquisite wooden hooks…"

"From then on, people learned to respect food, with sincerity, treating the gifts from the Divine Might seriously. And the deer god and fish god bestowed more deer and fish, famine was no more…"

"And I also have truly brave Ainu people, continuing to protect the earth for me. So, I can leave now, go to the Heavenly Divine place after death. Lastly, I left my messenger the water thrush, and also my name, the son of Father God Okikurumi, the second Ancestor Divine Might, I am Ae-Oine…"

The clear singing ends here, and the ancient story also comes to a close. It's another profound story, leaving Zuwaro deep in thought.

"Respect for food, and the response to such actions... even when one holds all the advantages, like hunter and prey, one must maintain respect, and give the other side a dignified ending, hmm... interesting, truly interesting!…"

As Zuwaro pondered, he glanced towards the direction where the singing stopped, and saw that the maiden who sang smiled shyly at him. Then, holding a harp resembling a "wooden sword," she quietly left.

"Hmm?!"

The maiden's smile lingered in his eyes, her retreating figure resembling Zi Liu. Zuwaro keenly sensed something, his heart slightly stirred. He glanced shamefully at the pure, innocent Thousand Island Shell beside him, then looked at the Great Chief Bei Yu Nizhao next to him. The latter smiled, gently nodding, saying nothing yet conveying everything.

"…Cough!"

Zuwaro touched his nose, remained silent for a while, then resumed asking the previous topic.

"Respected Chieftain of the Swamp, the Birch Tai and Shandan you mentioned earlier?"

"Oh! That was many years ago!"

The Great Chief of the Cold Swamp Tribe looked up, gazing at the bright moon, recalling those tumultuous days of stormy seas and mountain forest hunting, as if he had returned to the vigorous and lively days of his youth.

"From here, heading north across a day and a half's rowing of the strait, you can reach Birch Tai. It's a large island with many forests, the domain of the Divine Might of the Rivermouth, 'the island created by God at the Rivermouth.' Birch Tai is home to many tribes of the Ainu People, especially in the slightly warmer South. And at the northernmost tip of Birch Tai, there's a narrow passage connecting to the western continent. That area is the territory of the Nivkh Shandan People, but there's a lot of interaction with us Ainu People, and they share similar 'Bear Festivals' and 'Fishing Festivals' customs..."

"Nivkh Shandan People?... Do they have any animals? Like horses or deer..."

"Yes! They call themselves Nivkh People, not many in number, and don't seem very close to the other Shandan People. They are very good at fishing at the rivermouth, and are excellent hunters... animals... well, they live in particularly dense forests, have no other animals, but they raise many dogs, a lot of dogs! Each person has about three to five dogs, everyone wears dog skin clothes and they eat dog meat..."

"When Nivkh People migrate in the woods, they are like wolf packs or dog packs, thus some call them the 'Dog Tribe'! Those fierce large dogs obey them, attacking prey or enemies, excelling particularly in forest ambushes, attacking quickly alongside the hunters... So, even though there are stronger Shandan Tribes to the west, no one comes to trouble the Nivkh People. Those tribes are herders, not very interested in such dense forests, nor interested in fighting with the Nivkh People. After all, aside from their biting dog packs, the Nivkh People have nothing, not even houses..."

The Great Chief of the Cold Swamp Tribe thought for a while, reassured that he hadn't seen the Nivkh People raising horses or deer. But a tribe that raises both horses and deer he had seen, to the south of the Nivkh People, those most fierce fishing and hunting tribes with roe deer hats...

"The western continent is large, very long from south to north! The northernmost part of Birch Tai is the Nivkh People, to their west are some cattle and horse-rearing tribes, but I don't know what they're called, they may not even have names... The true Great Tribes are to the south and west..."

"Actually, going directly west from here, takes about eight or nine days of rowing to reach the western continent, meeting some of the larger 'Lin Zhong Tribes' that rear horses and deer. Their territory is vast, you can also sail west from the middle of Birch Tai, which shortens the rowing time, only five or six days. Of course, your Large Ship has many oars and seems very fast, maybe it won't take that long! I wonder how such a Large Ship is made?..."

The Great Chief of the Cold Swamp Tribe smiled and teased Zuwaro with a few questions. Zuwaro laughed and nonchalantly bluffed.

"Haha! It's the protection of the Ocean's Divine Might, the Chief Divine bestowed upon us the great wood, which naturally formed the shape of a ship! We just cut down the trees and put them in the water, and it became a Large Ship!..."

"Ah! Such powerful Ocean Divine Might! So miraculous!..." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The Great Chief of the Cold Swamp Tribe showed surprise, but was not convinced in his heart. He wanted to inquire more, but Zuwaro had a repertoire of divine stories, finding ways to praise the 'powerful Ocean and Thunderbolt Divine Might,' continually urging him to 'worship the Chief Divine.' Eventually, the Great Chief of the Cold Swamp Tribe was somewhat confused, believing yet disbelieving, a bit bewildered. He decisively moved past the topic and continued discussing the situation of the western continent.

"The western continent is vast, like a sea, boundless. There are also many tribes there, scattered like sand on the beach... Along the coast, the Shandan Tribes are called 'Sorun People,' 'tribes living in the woods'! These people are extremely warlike, almost all are Divine Archers, occupying expansive territory and hunting grounds. Although they also live in the forest, they have horses, particularly tall ones used for combat like the Jurchen Horse, and not very tall ones adept for forest running like the Sorun Horse... As for cattle, I haven't seen them there, but many tribes have pigs, and some in the north have deer..."

At this point, the chief remembered a long-buried past, his expression filled with emotion.

"The Divine Might of the Ancestors! Many, many years ago, the southern Wa People also gifted the tribe with presents, giving much rice wine and ironware, and asked me to obtain some Jurchen Horses from the Shandan People for their infamous Great Chieftain! Many of the tribe's iron spears and iron blades were exchanged this way..."

"At that time, the Wa People were not as cruel as today. Although, with their growing power, their attitude towards various tribes has worsened... Every year they demand Tribute, but previously it wasn't much, they would also reciprocate with much-needed ironware, which was somewhat acceptable. But in the past two years, I don't know what's happened, they have gone mad! They even collude with the Shikari Faction, and the two strongest Great Tribes work together to desperately collect Tribute from other tribes, as much as two or three times a year!..."

"The Great Chief of the Wa People is probably old and muddled! He disregards the Guardian Divine Mights of the tribes, his greed surpasses the bounds of the Divine Mights, and he shows no respect for any of the tribes... Even hunters must respect every deer, every fish!... Such foolishness, like an owl too feeble to see the treetops. I am certain, he must be close to death!!..."