CHAPTER 1496: CHAPTER 1043: SILENT SLAUGHTER, THE SIMPLICITY AND CRUELTY OF THE SNOWFIELD NOMADS

The snowstorm occasionally halted and fell, concealing the tracks of their raid and secretly harboring the looming death. When the reindeer sled dashed out of the central hills of the peninsula and reached the plains along the western coast, the northward speed suddenly increased!

Every morning at dawn, the herd would set off northward, stopping and going along the cold coast until dusk, capable of covering nearly two hundred miles in a day. The cavalry of four hundred sleds, heading north for just seven days, had already traveled a thousand miles on the peninsula.

Along the way, the west side reflected the bright white Ice Sea, the coast was a vast gray-white snow field, and the east side was a glittering silver-white range of mountains. Between the Ice Sea and the mountains were the territories of the Mountain Part tribes, also snow-covered tundra. The marching scale was vast, occasionally startling panic-stricken Mountain Hunters along the coast. After all, this force of over four hundred, on this bitterly cold peninsula, was enough to sweep away any tribal force, with no adversary in sight!

At this time, Mukun, the Hunter driving a sled pulled by six dogs, would swiftly charge forward, using the Shaman name of the Mountain Part’s ancestral matriarch, to calm these frightened and awestruck small tribes. As for their reaction, they either nodded uneasily and left, or picked up bows and arrows to join in. The further north they went, the more able-bodied men from small tribes chose to join, as if the long-buried hostility and hatred for the Deer Moss River Tribe by the Mountain Part had become unbearable.

That afternoon, the Exploration Captain Zuwaro lay in a large reindeer sled’s moving tent, dozing fitfully, demonstrating the true demeanor of a "Great General." Inside the big tent of the reindeer, there was a small stove for warmth at night, which could also be used to make some simple meals. The tent was filled with a pungent smell of deer fat and blood, making people dizzy and hard to adapt in a short period, only able to sleep by putting up with it.

"Howl! Howl! Howl!"

"Charge forward! Surround them! Kill! Don’t let a single one escape!..."

The moving sled tent suddenly stopped. Zuwaro, dressed in Leather Armor, had barely slept sweetly when he was abruptly awakened by the muffled barking of dogs and the low chanting of battle cries outside the tent. Suddenly awake from the shallow dream, he hesitated for a few breaths, then drew the Bronze Axe from his waist and crawled out of the tent.

"Chief Divine’s protection! Stonefirm! Mukun?!... What’s the matter? Did we encounter a Deer Moss River sneak attack?!..."

"Chief Divine’s protection! Captain, it’s not a sneak attack; we encountered a nomadic herd of the Deer Moss River Tribe. They aren’t many, just dozens, their camp is small, just over the Zhana side... The Mountain Part hunters deployed four or five squads, currently encircling and slaughtering them!..."

"Ah! A nomadic Deer Moss River Tribe? Let me see! Let me take a good look!..."

The Exploration Captain Zuwaro stood on his tiptoes, gazing to the north. He saw sleds pulled by teams of dogs breaking out from the ranks, carrying Mountain Part Wing-Armored Hunters, towards the camp below the northeastern hills. The camp was in a low-lying area, unseen clearly, only visible by hundreds and thousands of reindeer huddled together. The clamorous battle cries faded northward, quickly becoming faint, the chilling wind only carrying short, sharp screams!

In December’s icy plains, covered with a fluffy thick layer of snow. The porous layered gaps within the snow naturally absorbed sound, making distant sounds blurry and silent.

"Oh Chief Divine! The Mountain Part Hunters, their battle tactics are skillful, like a wolf pack... No, they guide wolf dogs, essentially a wolf pack!"

Zuwaro watched the skirmish on the snowy field, although just a few hundred meters away, as if separated by a thick curtain, like watching a distant sacrificial ceremony.

He watched as Mountain Part Hunters scattered, closed in from all sides like hunting wolf packs, while many startled reindeer ran frantically, spraying up vast clouds of snow mist. He saw a few Deer Moss River Hunters wrapped in fur cloaks, fleeing desperately in the snow, easily chased down and shot by Mountain Part sled cavalry. He also saw one last Leather Armor-clad Chieftain charge out, driving a sled with two wolf dogs, fast across the hill. While four squads of six wolf dogs pulling Mountain Part sleds immediately tightened the dog leash, pursued closely behind!

On the snow field buried over the calves, light sleds were much faster than trudging on foot. Short-distance dog-pulled sleds were faster than long-distance reindeer-pulled ones for sprinting. As for sleds pulled by six dogs, they were even faster than those pulled by two! The Chieftain of the Deer Moss River Tribe struggled to cross over the hill, almost out of Zuwaro’s sight, yet the pursuing Mountain Part Hunters were tightly closing in, merely ten meters behind. Then someone on the sled managed the dogs, another drew the Composite Recurve Bow; four Bone Arrows shot in succession!...

"Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!..."

Zuwaro couldn’t hear the sound with his ears, only pairing the bow’s firing sound in his mind. That Chieftain tumbled down instantly, falling lifelessly in the blood. Those two foolish dogs, pulling the unpiloted sled, ran out of sight’s edge, only to return moments later to circle anxiously around the fallen owner, seeming to mouth out, and appearing somewhat confused. Quickly, the Mountain Part Hunters surrounded them, took out something to feed them. The foolish dogs lowered their heads to eat a few mouthfuls, then were lead away by their new owner.

"Whew! This tactic, relying on speed for running and shooting, could be quite a nuisance if encountered on the snow plains without sleds!..."

The reindeer sled tent set off again, heading towards the recently-claimed camp nearby. Zuwaro remained silent, observing the tribal people’s corpses fallen around the camp, many with vital wounds shot through, penetrated Leather Armor, showcasing the Hunters’ accurate and powerful shooting. The Composite Recurve Bow shooting from the sled seemed almost as strong as the Kingdom’s Longbow, even with a quicker rate of fire...

"Ancestor and Divine Mountain’s protection! Not one of these fifty or sixty tribespeople from the Deer Moss River Tribe escaped! Sage Captain, what should we do with the dozens of captives in the camp?"

"Mulu, we’re about to fight a major battle soon; there’s no time to spare men to watch over them... just follow the old rule on the snow plain, leave the women capable of bearing children, and kill all the men taller than reindeer!"

"Mm, alright! Captain..."

The Mountain Hunters wore calm expressions; some were feeding reindeer and dogs, others tidying up the camp, and some were building campfires to prepare the evening meal.

"He’s a bit too tall..."

"Then kill him."

"What about this one? Just right."

"Check the palms, are there a lot of calluses from handling the reindeer rope harnessing?"

"Mm, quite a few. He’s been learning to handle reindeer since childhood..."

"Then keep him!"

A few experienced hunting team hunters pulled the able-bodied men from the captives and measured their height against a male reindeer focused on eating lichen, casually deciding the men’s fate. Those taller were cut at the throat with a stone knife, falling into the snow gasping, while those shorter were pushed into the group of women, held tightly by frightened mothers. As for the elderly, the tribes never had more than two, so none would be kept...

Life and death decisions made beside the reindeer in the snow. No sounds, no emotions, akin to the cold, towering Divine Mountain on the snowy plains, akin to the frigid Tenggeri of the heavens.

"Chief Divine witness! Mukun? Why did you kill these able-bodied captives so wantonly?..."

Watching the effortless slaughter before him, Exploration Captain Zuwaro was a bit startled, somewhat pained. He approached Hunting Team Leader Mukun urgently.

"The ancestors promised me! Granted me seventy percent of the captives... Our Sea Tribe’s population is too small and needs replenishment..."

"Ah? Zuwaro, this is the old rule of the snowy plains! The tribes can’t have too many mouths to feed, they can’t sustain them. These able-bodied men are unreliable, they’ll escape... Actually, it’s better to bring women back, have them bear a batch of children, then wait for the children to grow up, it’ll be quick!..."

"Mukun! Our Sea Tribe is short on people, we need able-bodied men for immediate service! Women and children are needed too, but children take years to grow... As for food, we’ll fish from the sea, surely we can sustain them! Our territory is at the peninsula’s southernmost point, once we bring them back, there’s no worry they could escape..."

Listening to this, Hunting Team Leader Mukun scratched his head, glanced at his son-in-law Zuwaro, then at the sorted two or three dozen women and children of the Deer Moss River Tribe. Apologetically blinking, he contemplated for a moment before readily making a promise. These captives’ lives, like captured reindeer herds, were of little concern whether dead or alive. What truly concerned the Mountain Hunters was the hunting and grazing land capable of long-term tribe sustenance, enhancing tribal limits.

"Alright! Once we break the Deer Moss River Tribe, if there are captured able-bodied men, we won’t kill them, we’ll leave them to you!..."

"Chief Divine witness! You swear to the Ancestor!..."

"Good! Swear to the Ancestor! If you can manage and sustain them, then all future captured able-bodied men will be yours!..."

Hunting Team Leader Mukun chuckled heartily, embodying the profound simplicity and harshness of the nomads of the snowy plains. Then he gestured towards the encampment with the rising campfire, enthusiastically inviting.

"Come! Zuwaro, join us, have some roasted reindeer meat! After we break this tribe, freshly killed reindeer!..."

"The mighty Deer Moss River Tribe is just two hundred miles to the north. Tonight everyone feasts heartily, feed the reindeer and dogs to the brim! Tomorrow we’ll sprint two hundred miles, even if it means running the reindeer and dogs to death, with reckless abandon, charging to the Deer Moss River Tribe’s main camp!..."

"Ancestors and Divine Mountain bless! This long snow-bound raid, who ultimately claims the peninsula’s north, it all depends on tomorrow’s crucial strike!..."