There are no grape fields in Napa Valley, and there are no luxurious wineries of later generations, and large wine cellars filled with wooden barrels. Five hundred years ago, this was the land of Indian tribes, as it has been for the past thousand, ten thousand years.

From the ancient wilderness to today, countless Miwok people live in this long and narrow valley. They reclaimed the land along the river and built tribal longhouses, which were passed on from generation to generation. The only thing that remains the same is the sunny sun in summer and the sweet Napa River that irrigates the fertile soil along the coast.

"Very good fertile land, a lot of farmland!...It should have been developed for a long time, but the growth of the crops is average. It may be a lack of fertilizer, or it may be that weeding is not careful...Of course, the biggest problem should be that it is not warm enough..."

The knowledgeable Mickey was on the longboat, sailing along the river to the hinterland of the North Bay. He observed carefully, and the more he walked in, the farmland by the river gradually became denser. Corn, pumpkin and kidney beans are all growing slowly together with the weeds. The surrounding thatched huts and thatched huts also gradually increased, and then after a certain section of the river bank, suddenly there were patches of wooden huts and piles of firewood!

"The tribe's longhouse...the wooden house...the firewood stored...so much?"

The knowledgeable Mickey's eyes widened, and his evaluation of the North Bay increased again. In the northern lands where productivity is even lower, felling trees in the forest is not an easy task. Wooden longhouses can withstand the cold, but require a lot of labor. And this requires sufficient food supply and enough tools, that is, more people who farm, hunt and make tools.

Therefore, the fleet went north, met many tribes, and gradually came to a consensus. Then a tribe, if there are more wooden houses, the scale will be larger and the strength will usually be stronger! And with the number of wooden houses in this valley...

"Witness of the Lord God! There are probably six or seven hundred tribe hunters in the Beiwan tribe, and four or five thousand tribal people..."

According to the observation along the way, the knowledgeable Mickey roughly made a judgment, and became more cautious in his heart.

This is already the core camp of the North Bay, and the long boat drew close to the shore, attracting many tribal people to watch. Under the curious attention of hundreds of people, the knowledgeable Mickey jumped off the long boat nimbly. Afterwards, he followed Lefeng, the cloaked hunter with his head held high, and the warriors of the kingdom holding gifts, to the tallest and largest chief's house.

It was approaching dusk, and a bonfire was burning in the chief's longhouse. The room was warm and smelled of herbs. An elderly tribal shaman sat cross-legged in front of a warm campfire with his waist bent, processing some medicinal herbs by the bright light of the fire. His face is painted with yellow and red patterns, at first glance, he looks like a red fox on the prairie. And those old wrinkles are like the bark of a pine tree, crumpled and imprinted with time and wind and frost.

"Respected and wise Cedar Shaman!"

Seeing the shaman chief, Le Tian, ​​the cloaked hunter, bowed his head with respect on his face. Among the tribes in the north, shaman is an honorable title, a "physician, healer, prophecy and divination person". And to put it in a more popular kingdom, it is the high priest, or even the elder priest.

In the hearts of many Miwok tribesmen, the status of shamans is actually ahead of chiefs and priests, and only below the gods and ancestors. Because chiefs and priests usually belong to only one tribe, but shamans can belong to many tribes. And to become a shaman in the Northland, one must have rescued hunters of many tribes and healed many tribesmen, so that the reputation will transcend the boundaries of tribes and penetrate into the hearts of the people.

"Shaman, I have invited the chiefs of the longship tribe! ... They have very large ships, much larger than the tribe. They have many hunters, almost all hunters. I carefully looked at their attire and weapons , this is probably a powerful Kumeya tribe, after the defeat in the south, the hunters and warriors fled here by boat..."

"And their leader seems to be divided into several different factions. The leader who came here is the most gentle one, without any hostility! He seems to know nothing about the situation of the Gulf tribe, and he doesn't even know the noble , You who saved everyone..."

The cloak hunter Le Tian lowered his voice and quickly responded in the tribal Miwok language. Along the way, the knowledgeable Mickey was observing around, while he was silently observing Mickey.

"Um."

The shaman chief Xue Song raised his head and stared at Mickey at the door of the longhouse with deep eyes, as well as two kingdom warriors in leather armor. His peaceful eyes stayed on the amulet on Mickey's neck for a moment, and gradually became sharper.

"They're not kumeya."

"ah?"

"The sun and the birds...the Kumeyas don't have such gods. His clothes are also different from the Kumeyas."

"Well…"

"Go! Invite the guests over!"

The shaman chief Xue Song smiled, pointed to the position by the campfire, and sang a song leisurely.

"The **** of heaven played the bamboo flute, stood on a tall tree, and greeted the wind on the sea! Whether it is the gentle wind that brings rain, or the cold wind that brings storms... If you are willing to come, then you are a guest of the tribe!... Come , and sit by the bonfire to keep warm together. Drink a cup of hot and sour purslane tea and tell stories about distant places!…”

"Aha! Greetings, respected Chief Cedar, thank you for your invitation!…"

The knowledgeable Mickey lowered his head, and greeted Chief Cedar at the bonfire with the royal etiquette of greeting. He came forward and sat cross-legged in front of the campfire. Then, with a gentle expression, he said with a smile before the elder shaman chief spoke.

"Blessed by the Lord God! Respected chief, we came from a distant sea, followed the prophecy of the Lord God, and came to this golden bay with the goodwill of the kingdom! ... You are the master of this land, and we, as guests, have Some gifts for meeting, here to give to the honorable you!"

After speaking, the knowledgeable Mickey waved, and the two kingdom warriors came forward with gifts. The warriors put down a bag of gems from the lake, a piece of cloth, a copper axe, a copper spear, a longbow, a copper arrow, and a pair of refined leather armor.

"Praise the Lord God!"

The two warriors looked solemn, prayed in a neat and flat voice, and then retreated to the door. That well-trained appearance is like a wooden wither that can move.

"Hmm...gift...warrior..."

Chief Cedar's eyebrows trembled, and there was no expression on his face. First he picked up a bag of gems, opened it, glanced at it, and then closed the bag again. But then, he paused and noticed the cloth bag in his hand. Then, he looked at the cloth next to him.

"A bag of cloth...a piece of cloth...Southern tribes, very southern..."

Chief Cedar pondered for a while, then stretched out his hand and grabbed the copper ax on the ground. Although he looked old, he picked up the heavy copper ax with ease.

"when!"

Chief Cedar lightly tapped on the face of the axe, and then touched the sharp edge of the axe. He raised his eyebrows again, and calmly put down the axe. As for the copper spear, he didn't take it, but stretched out his hand, touched the smooth shaft of the spear, and felt the texture of the wood.

"The metal ax is like the red copper of the tribe in the Eastern Mountains, but it is tougher and sharper... The fir shaft is very smooth, and it is a good spear."

Afterwards, Chief Cedar glanced at the big bow and copper arrow, and calmly ordered.

"Letian, you draw this bow."

The cloak hunter Le Tian nodded, raised his big bow, and slowly pulled the bowstring. A surprised expression was evident on his face, but he still drew the bow to its fullest. After a few breaths, he pursed his lips again, and slowly pulled back the bowstring without letting it go.

"How about it?"

"...stronger than a tribal bow."

"How strong is it?"

The cloak hunter Le Tian was silent for a while before replying.

"... double."

"Um."

Chief Cedar nodded, touched the material of the copper arrow wood again, and his eyes finally changed.

"Fir shafts? Can you use strong fir shafts?..."

Finally, Chief Cedar touched the tough surface of the leather armor again, and then asked quickly in the language of the tribe.

"Letian, how many of them have such weapons and leather armor?"

"..."

There was another soundless silence. The cloak hunter Le Tian frowned and tried to recall for a long time before replying.

"Many, most of them have...the number...at least half of the tribe hunters!"

This time, it was Chief Cedar's turn to be silent. The knowledgeable Mickey smiled ~lightnovelpub.net~ and patiently waited for the two people to talk. Although he couldn't understand the other party's conversation, he could roughly guess the content. This beginning was exactly as he expected.

"Tribes from the sea. I already know your reason for coming, and your thoughts of not wanting to go to war."

After a long time, Chief Cedar spoke calmly. He stared at the somewhat astonished knowledgeable Mickey with old and sharp eyes, and asked calmly.

"Tell me! You came to this cold land from the far south, and even set up camp in the bay. What is it for? And you risked your life to come to my tribe, what do you want? ?”

"I…"

"Please tell me the truth, for guests from far away, the more direct the better!...Because, our translation seems not very reliable."

This time, Chief Cedar straightened up, as if he had suddenly transformed from an old fox into a brown bear. His eyes were sharp, and he spoke in a deep voice. What he spoke was the language of the Kumeya people.

"When I was young, I went to the south, looking for the herbal medicine inheritance of various tribes, and also learned their language..."

Seeing the changing expression of the knowledgeable Mickey, Chief Cedar also adjusted his language. He switches between the Utah-Aztec languages, from Kumea in the south, to Utah in the southeast, and finally the substandard but barely intelligible Yaqui. And at this time, Mickey, the knowledgeable man, was finally able to stutter and talk to him directly.

"Tell me! What do you want when you come here? And what do you want when you come here?"

Speaking of this, Chief Cedar had a wise smile on his old face. He spoke gently, but his words hit the nail on the head.

"I think you have traveled so far from the sea. When you get here, you immediately reclaim the farmland... Maybe you don't have enough food?"