CHAPTER 1494: CHAPTER 1041: SHAMANIC SPIRITUAL DESCENT, PROMISE BEFORE THE EXPEDITION!

"Muluke Alashanwa! I am the ancient Ancestor descending from the Divine Mountain! I am your loving mother, and the mother of the entire Mountain Part!..."

"Muluke Alashanwa! Oh, my children, children of my bloodline! I gaze northward from the Divine Mountain, filled with fury: I see the land of the Mountain Part’s Ancestor Spirit, the ancient land, is occupied by those evil Rokube!!..."

"Muluke Alashanwa! With the Divine Mountain as my witness, this is the wedding gathering of the Mountain Part, a blood-colored sacrifice must be made to the Divine Mountain and me!... You must reclaim the land occupied by the Rokube, kill those invading Rokube, and take the head of the Deer Moss River Chieftain!!..."

The December ice wind blows from the far north, crossing twelve hundred miles of snowy plains and Ice Sea. In the far south of the Peninsula, at the foot of the towering Divine Mountain, the camp of the Hot Spring Mountain Part is solemnly silent.

The camp is enveloped in a faint scent of deer blood and the blue smoke of pine resin worshiping the Ancestor. Hundreds of Mountain Part warriors, bearing bow spears and carrying stone axes, kneel with reverence beside the Shaman Altar. They form a prostrating circle, foreheads pressed to the snow, listening to the decree of the ancestor spirit descending!

In the center of the gathering, the Old Grandmother Muluke Alashanwa stands by the blood sacrifice altar of a young deer, wearing a hat with the forked deer skull, dressed in a long strip of colorful shamanic robe, holding high the Shaman’s Staff made of deer bone. At this moment, her eyes wide with white, maintaining the possessed stance of an ancestor, she lets out a high-pitched roar akin to the snow bears of the far north.

"Muluke Alashanwa! This is the will of the Divine Mountain, with its protection and mine! Go forth! In this deeply snow-laden season, ride the sleds with reindeer and hunting dogs, head to the northern ice plains of the Ancestors and strike at our Mountain Part’s enemies... and I shall promise you victory!"

"Go! Go to the Deer Moss River of the Mountain Part’s ancestors, kill all resisting men, expel all Rokube... behead the Deer Moss River Chieftain, bring it back as a sacrifice to me!!... Roar! Go quickly! Go quickly! Roar!!..."

With the final proclamation, the Old Grandmother Muluke Alashanwa, let out a terrifying roar that was not of human sound. The hundreds of Mountain Part warriors around the altar were silent for a few moments, then steadily let their hair loose, beat their chests, and emitted wild beast-like frenzied shouts.

"Roar! Kill the enemies, expel the Rokube! Roar! Bring the head, offer it to the Ancestor Spirit! Roar roar!!..."

"Oh! Chief Divine! This is truly... a simple yet effective rally, raising all the Tribal warriors’ morale to the peak!..."

In the corner of the Shaman Altar, Exploration Captain Zuwaro lowered his head, bringing along ninety longship warriors and sailors, maintained a surface respect and solemnity. After all, as a Kingdom Priest graduating from Divine Power University, after the initial awe when encountering the descent of the Shaman God, he slowly came to realize. Yet, the more he understood, the more he was secretly shocked by the Old Grandmother’s viciousness and decisiveness, her strong judgment and action.

"As a renowned old Shaman, the Old Grandmother’s prestige extends beyond the powerful Hot Spring Mountain Part. Within a half month of preparation and notification, large and small Mountain Parts around have sent hunters and envoys on sleds to attend the wedding of the Old Grandmother’s granddaughter... and before the visiting envoys of all parts, the old grandmother once again performed ancestor possession, suddenly gathering the elite tribal warriors into a sharp blade aimed at the Deer Moss River Tribe!"

"Chief Divine’s protection! Currently, the Hot Spring Mountain Part has gathered more than three hundred tribal warriors! Now it holds the power to overwhelm the Kingdom Warriors and sailors..."

"Ah! The Ancestor Spirit departs! Farewell to the Ancestor Spirit!..."

Amidst the roars and cheers of the Mountain Hunters, the Old Grandmother Muluke Alashanwa again skillfully fainted beside the altar. But this time, she awoke very quickly. And, waking amidst the cheers of the crowd, the first one she summoned was Zuwaro.

"Muluke Alashanwa! The Ancestor Spirit left its will through my mouth, and you need to execute it!... Zuwaro, my brave son-in-law... come to my side!"

"...Yes!"

With respect on his face, Exploration Captain Zuwaro approached the side of the Old Grandmother. The Old Grandmother affectionately reached out her hand, gently caressing Zuwaro’s frost-reddened face, and said with a smile.

"Ancestor and Divine Mountain protect us! The people sent by the tribes exceeded my estimate... this time heading north, each Mountain Part sending sixteen teams of hunters, Sea Tribe sending four teams, making exactly twenty teams, four hundred people!... This way, the certainty of attacking the Deer Moss River Tribe is much better! You have more time, even if surrounding Rokube small tribes send reinforcements southward, there’s no need to worry too much..."

"Yes! It is all the Ancestor’s protection, and the Chief Divine’s protection indeed!"

"Hmm... Zuwaro, my child. The Sea Tribe warriors under your command are very strong, tribal elite! They also have good copper face armor... this time heading north, your father-in-law Mukun is the first leader, and you are the second leader... you and your father must work well together! With your Sea Tribe’s good armor, adding the winged armor of the Mountain Part, wearing double armor, you can be the vanguard of the assault!..."

"...Hmm."

Hearing the order to serve as the vanguard, Exploration Captain Zuwaro pursed his lips. After a moment, he gently nodded, humming his agreement through his nose.

"As you wish, Grandmother..."

"Good! May the Divine Mountain bless us! Suona, you are my grandson-in-law, and I won’t treat you unfairly..."

With a kind smile, the Old Grandmother Muluke Alashanwa gently ruffled Zuwaro’s hair. This gesture held special significance within the Mexica Alliance, making Zuwaro’s eye twitch and his face tense up.

"Our ancestor has promised! After breaking through the Deer Moss River Tribe, you can claim half of the captured able-bodied men, children, and women first! And you’ll also get half of the captured reindeer herd!..."

"As for the territory... if you are willing to establish a foothold in the north of the peninsula with the Sea Tribe, then all five hundred miles of the tundra grazed by the nomadic deer of the Deer Moss River Tribe will be yours!..."

"Five hundred miles of tundra? The far north of the peninsula?..."

Upon hearing this, Exploration Captain Zuwaro remained silent for a moment, realizing that the Kingdom’s warriors were being placed as the first line of defense against the southward advance of the Rokube. After some contemplation, Zuwaro shook his head firmly.

"Honorable Grandmother, we of the Sea Tribe are accustomed to living by the sea, surviving on fishing and farming. We do not need so many herds, nor such a vast land..."

"With the Chief Divine as my witness! We only need fifty miles of territory around the southern bay! As for the herds... we just need enough to last through the winter, but we hope to receive more captives..."

"Oh? You want the territory around the southern bay... less of the herds, more captives?..."

Upon hearing these requests, Old Grandmother Muluke Alashanwa squinted her eyes, her expression subtly changing, carrying a silent sense of severity. But considering the importance of this expedition, and the strength of the Sea Tribe warriors, along with the potential involvement of a Great Tribe and Great Shaman, the Old Grandmother pondered briefly before nodding in agreement.

"Very well! As long as you can control those captives of the Rokube, and truly produce food from the sea and the land... then I will give you seventy percent of the captives, and thirty percent of the herd!... "

"As for the territory... the northern side of the bay is one of the summer fishing grounds for the Hot Spring Mountain Tribe, and it’s too close to the winter camp of the tribe... If we can seize the northern peninsula territory from the Deer Moss River Tribe this time, each tribe’s hunting grounds can move northward, freeing up the southern mountains..."

"Suona, my child! I can decide on behalf of the southern Mountain Tribe, and grant you three hundred miles of southern mountains, from the ’Second Son Divine Mountain’ south to the ’Youngest Son Divine Mountain’! May the Ancestor Spirit bless! With these warmer southern lands, perhaps you can indeed grow something edible in the blackest soil..."

"Ah? From Second Son Divine Mountain to Youngest Son Divine Mountain? Three hundred miles of the southernmost peninsula mountains? Is this... to keep us away from the Hot Spring Mountain Tribe’s winter camp, to act as a buffer against island tribe raids?"

Hearing such seemingly generous but also calculated terms, Zuwaro was momentarily taken aback, then a true smile of delight appeared on his face.

Over the past two weeks, he had learned much about the peninsula from the Mountain Hunters. The ’Second Son Divine Mountain’ of the Mountain Tribe is situated about two hundred miles south of the ’Twin Divine Mountains’ where their fleet is anchored, approximately four hundred miles away from the Hot Spring Mountain Tribe’s winter camp, providing sufficient distance. As for the ’Youngest Son Divine Mountain,’ it is located at the narrow tip of the southern peninsula, also the end of the entire peninsula.

Therefore, from ’Second Son Divine Mountain’ to ’Youngest Son Divine Mountain,’ it’s almost the southernmost three hundred miles of this cold peninsula! And further south from there, along the string of islands that make up part of the island tribe, is the ’Three Islands and Tribal Alliance’ prophesied by Your Majesty!

"Great! Praise the Chief Divine! Thank you, generous Grandmother!..."

Exploration Captain Zuwaro bowed his head, expressing his sincere gratitude to the Old Grandmother. The Old Grandmother smiled slightly and finally pinched Zuwaro’s face affectionately, her smile carrying a hint of deeper meaning.

"Suona, my brave child! Rest well tonight, for tomorrow morning, the warriors shall set out on sleds for battle!... Remember, today is your wedding day! And tonight, the beautiful Musuona will accompany you well... And you must drink plenty of reindeer blood and give your best effort, so she may bear your child!..."

"... Uh... Yes! Grandmother... I will work hard..."

"Go now! My child, I can hardly wait to see the offspring of two tribes unified!... Haha!"