This year's rainy season wasn't long. It ended in less than twenty days.
After the weather cleared up, the temperature rose rapidly. They were about to welcome the hottest period of the year.
At this time, the two moons were getting bigger and bigger. They didn't need torches at night to see what was going on around them.
After Shao Xuan successfully protected the thousand grain gold from the second calamity, he brought his men onto the ship to prepare for this long journey.
After the rainy season, the Flaming River's water level rose again. Because it washed away a lot of soil, the river water had a muddy yellow color.
Looking at the flowing river, Shao Xuan bid farewell to the tribesmen and set sail with two hundred selected people.
There were two ships, each with a hundred people. Shao Xuan's ship was in front.
Actually, the two ships sent by the Longboat tribe were big enough to carry two hundred people. They could even carry five hundred people. However, the ships were loaded with goods and used up some space. Plus, if one of the ships met with an accident, the other could still be used to complete the rest of the journey.
The two ships with Yanjiao totems left the Yanjiao headquarters. They raised their sails and sailed down the Flaming River.
They definitely wouldn't bring any other fearsome beasts on this long journey. Chacha was an exception because it could fly. Plus, if Shao Xuan wasn't in the Yanjiao tribe, it wouldn't be able to stay by itself. That was why Chacha was tagging along for this long journey. It could help Shao Xuan observe the situation from afar. After all, the ship's view was limited.
Half a day later, Shao Xuan put away his telescope and ordered the crew to dock and put up a plaque.
After the Flaming River was named, the plaque with the name "Flaming River" wasn't placed too far away. After all, the people in charge of putting up the plaque weren't traveling teams. They could only travel a limited distance. After that, they relied on the trading point to attract people from other tribes to spread the word.
Now, their team was going to travel further, so naturally, they would put up a plaque along the way. Hence, from here onwards, Shao Xuan would ask people to put up a plaque along the way.
When the people who were planting the tombstones were busy on the shore, there would also be people guarding nearby to prevent them from being attacked. This was no longer the territory they were familiar with, so they had to be more vigilant.
Shao Xuan asked Chacha to bring him up into the sky. After flying around, he took out an animal skin scroll and opened it up. He took out a fine animal brush and dipped it in some paint. Then, he began to draw circles on the scroll. He was replenishing the map. Since the tribe was going to live near the Flaming River for a long time, they needed to know more about the river banks.
It was very simple on the other side of the forest where ferocious beasts roamed. The terrain was similar and there were no people living there. If there were, the Yanjiao ancestors who had been isolated by the great river would have known about it long ago. They wouldn't have not seen any outsiders for nearly a thousand years.
What Shao Xuan wanted to observe was the other side.
Thanks to the disaster last year, the changes on both sides of the river were different. One side sank while the other rose, causing one side to be lower and the other side to be higher. Shao Xuan and the rest could only see the lower side from the boat.
Fortunately, the lower side was also the side they needed to observe. It was far away from the ferocious beasts' territory and most of the tribes lived there. The boat also sailed downstream.
After planting the tombstones, everyone rested for a while before continuing their journey.
Their daily routine was more or less the same. Sometimes, they would meet some ferocious beasts that ran to the river to drink water. However, these beasts couldn't swim so they could only roar at Shao Xuan and the rest.
"After this, will there be more ferocious beasts that can swim across the river to the other side?" Duo Li asked.
"Probably not." Tuo didn't think so. "The ferocious beasts in the forest know where the best place for them is. At most, they will run over because of an accident, but in the end, they will still return to the forest." Tuo had a lot of experience so he could guess the habits of many ferocious beasts.
"No wonder there aren't many ferocious beasts crossing the river." Duo Li nodded.
"There are other reasons too." Shao Xuan put away the animal skin roll in his hand and said, "In the memories of many ferocious beasts, this place should be very dangerous. Coupled with the disaster last year, there must have been a lot of activity here. The ferocious beasts that originally lived near the river bank may have left far away, just like the night swallows that used to live near our tribe. Perhaps, they ran to other places when they were taking refuge, and then chose a new place to live. So, in the short term, there shouldn't be many ferocious beasts crossing this river. "
After a pause, Shao Xuan continued, "Besides, there are tribes living on the other side of the river. Even if these tribes aren't close to each other, they will at least affect the ferocious beasts that come over. After all, there are fire seeds in the tribes."
As soon as Shao Xuan mentioned fire seeds, Duo Li and Tuo understood. The people of Yanjiao no longer had fire seeds, so they often forgot to think about fire seeds. However, there were many tribes living here that still had fire seeds. No matter how small the tribe, their fire seed would still have a certain deterrent effect on the ferocious beasts in the forest.
In the next few days, the situation on both sides of the Flaming River was similar. There was nothing new.
Shao Xuan continued to fill up the map. He could sense if there were any tribes nearby. They were too far away from the river so he couldn't sense human auras. However, he could sense the aura of fire seeds. Although it wasn't obvious and some tribes even tried to cover it up, Shao Xuan could still sense it even if the shamans of the tribes came here personally.
Due to time constraints, he couldn't go to each tribe to investigate. However, as long as he could sense the presence of a fire seed, he could understand some basic information. This was a new ability that Shao Xuan discovered recently.
A few years ago, if he wanted to know what a tribe's fire seed was like, he had to get close to the tribe. Just like when he first crossed the river and sensed the Drumming tribe's fire seed at the Drumming tribe, now he didn't need to be too close to feel it. Sometimes, because a tribe was too far away, he could only sense a vague presence.
Ten days later, Shao Xuan had marked seven dots on the map. Four of the dots had totems drawn beside them, while the other three didn't. Those dots represented a tribe living there. If you looked closely, you would see that the tribes with totems were closer to the river bank. The tribes without totems were further away from the river bank.
Shao Xuan couldn't pinpoint the exact locations of these tribes. He could only get a rough idea of where they were. The map he drew could only be used as a rough reference. At least it would let the Yanjiao people know how many tribes lived in the Flaming River area.
If more people came to the Flaming River Trading Point in the future, he would get more information. Then he would fill up the map and take it one step at a time.
"If we go further, it should be the Drumming tribe, right?" Duo Li asked.
"Yes, that's what Zheng Luo told me." Shao Xuan looked at the information Zheng Luo gave him about the Drumming tribe. The Drumming tribe was the furthest from Yanjiao, so Shao Xuan remembered it clearly.
The Drumming tribe was the tribe that sold fishing nets at the Flaming River Trading Point. It was said that they lived by the Flaming River too. They were luckier than the Luo tribe that was wiped out during the natural disaster. They didn't suffer much damage, which meant that they were further away from the river bank.
Shao Xuan focused. If he couldn't concentrate, he might not be able to sense the tribes further away from the river bank.
Although the Drumming tribe was good at making fishing nets and must have caught fish often, before the natural disaster, this river wasn't easy to catch fish. They might have been fishing in other rivers further away from the river bank.
Shao Xuan told Chacha in the sky to keep an eye on the rivers nearby. If he sensed anyone, he would alert him.
Another day passed. Shao Xuan didn't sense the presence of any foreign tribe's fire seed.
Chacha, who was given an important task, also didn't see any signs of human activity. Other than the Flaming River, there were no other rivers nearby! There were no lakes either. At most, there were a few thin mountain springs.
Perhaps because of the lack of rivers, there weren't many plants growing in places far away from the Flaming River. The rolling mountains looked very monotonous. On both sides of the river, there were two different sceneries. On one side of the river, there were lush forests. From a high vantage point, it was verdant and lush. Further away, there were towering ancient trees. Compared to the other side, it was like long hair and short hair.
There were no other rivers. Just by looking at the forest, one could tell that it wasn't suitable for farming. The vegetation wasn't lush and there weren't many beasts living there either. If that was the case, the possibility of a tribe living in this area was even lower.
"Is the Drumming tribe really here? Are they lying? "Duo Li asked.
It wasn't just Duo Li, the others thought so too. Not every tribe would tell the truth when they went to the Flaming River Trading Point. Some would only give a rough location. Even if you really went there, you might not be able to find them. Just like the Drumming tribe. You knew where they lived but very few people could find their nest.
Some tribes didn't even tell the truth. They even pointed in the wrong direction.
"Maybe we've already passed by the Drumming tribe," Tuo said.
On Shao Xuan's map, there were three areas marked with tribes living there. They didn't sense any totems. Perhaps the Drumming tribe was in these three areas.
"That's possible." Shao Xuan nodded in agreement with Tuo's guess. After some thought, he took out the fishing net the Drumming tribe brought to the Flaming River Trading Point.
The people from the Drumming tribe brought the fishing net to the Flaming River Trading Point to trade for things. These fishing nets were kept by Zheng Luo. Shao Xuan brought two fishing nets from the Drumming tribe with him this time. If they couldn't hunt any beasts, they could try fishing with these nets.
The Drumming tribe's fishing net was different from the Luo tribe's. The Luo tribe's fishing net was thinner while the Drumming tribe's fishing net had different sizes. The weaving style was also very different from the Luo tribe's. There were more patterns on the same net.
Looking at the nets, Shao Xuan turned to Duo Li, who was fishing with a fishing rod. "Call Kun Tu over. I have something to ask him."
Duo Li nodded and kept his fishing rod. He quickly ran to the cabin to look for Kun Tu.
This time, Shao Xuan chose close to a hundred guards from the Flaming River Trading Point. This was half of the expedition team. The guards who often worked at the Flaming River Trading Point had seen many tribes and had some impressions of unfamiliar tribes. Kun Tu was a guard at the Flaming River Trading Point. He was also one of the people who had come into direct contact with the Drumming tribe.
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