Chapter 1323: White Mountains and Black Waters, the Most Ferocious Fish Skin Tribe!

The mountains undulate in the distance, and the endless forests extend to the horizon. From the bow of the Snow Wolf, looking at both sides of the river, the dense and sturdy trees almost fill the field of vision.

In addition to trees, there are trees everywhere. Under the trees, there is moist and soft black soil, covered with thick leaves and pine needles. And where the trees are sparse, there are traces of various water. The floods in the rainy season seem to have just subsided. Wet, sticky, and mixed, the air is full of moist water vapor and the smell of rotten leaves. And the continuous swamps, one after another, seem to have grass growing on them, but you can't see the bottom when you step on them, and you can swallow people directly.

The white mountains in the distance, the black water under your feet, and the rushing river. The Tungus land of "white mountains and black waters" came to the lower reaches of the river, which was the granary of the Outer Northeast in later generations.

However, the Outer Northeast of this era has nothing to do with the warm and rich black soil granary. The cold black soil belt in the agricultural era, and the great cold period, is extremely difficult to develop! Before the swamp was drained, there was a serious lack of arable land, and there were no crops from the Old World that could adapt to the bitter cold climate and be cultivated.

This is a real "bitter, cold and humid" swamp, a "poor and desperate" forest, and a cemetery where countless Tungus tribes fought and buried their bones!

Swamps and dense forests are the first death test faced by all outsiders. And cold and hunger are the second. As for the last test, it is the Tungus tribes fighting in the dense forests and swamps, and the cold and hungry people.

"Dogs are powerful and can find the way in the forest. Swamps are dead and eat living people. The wind is a messenger, bringing the smell of blood from afar. When the dog barks, you must stop and take out the axe and bow and arrow. Because, either you encounter a man-eating tiger or a man-eating tribe!..."

The Nivkh headman squatted on the deck, feeding the dog with fish entrails, while chatting with Zuwaro through the Ainu translator. His dogs are very slender, with narrow heads and long mouths, thin and long legs, and long waists. They are real "thin dogs" at first glance!

The two Khitan thin dogs have a slight bow on their backs, like arrows, and they look very good at running. They bared their teeth and stared at Zuwaro, as if they were ready to pounce and bite at any time. If the Alaskan dogs and huskies raised by the mountain tribe always give people a sense of "wisdom" and "perseverance". Then the feeling that these two thin dogs give Zuwaro is "fast" and "fierce", fast and fierce!

"Dogs can find the way out and take you through the forest. Dogs can pounce on prey and catch up with the most cunning foxes and rabbits. Dogs can hear far away and find death from afar. When you sleep at night, if there is no dog on guard, how dare you sleep peacefully?... So! Tribes sitting on big ships, you must raise dogs. In this hedgehog-like man-eating forest, without dogs, you really can't survive!..."

The Nivkh headman kept muttering, and every sentence was about dogs. The two fierce dogs also listened obediently to the "head dog". In fact, when Zuvaro asked the name of the Nivkh headman, his answer was also a dog, called "the dog driver".

"In the past, there were many horse-driving tribes in this area, wearing roe deer hats and riding horses along the river. Then, the weather became colder and colder, and the horse drivers moved to Vietnam. The deer-driving tribes often appeared from the north... But no matter what, the horse drivers left and the deer drivers came, and the most in this forest are still the dog drivers!... Well, now I have met you, the boat drivers..."

"Ahhh!"

"Ahhh!"

The sharp barking of dogs suddenly sounded from the forest. Then, the thin dogs on the longboat also howled violently. The oarsmen of the tribe who were rowing paused, and the warriors immediately put on armor and held their bows vigilantly.

"..."

The longboat stopped, and the warriors were cautiously on guard. Even the chief dog driver who was muttering suddenly stood up. He narrowed his sharp eyes and looked somewhere in the forest. Then, from the depths of the dense forest, a group of 20 to 30 tribesmen carrying bows slowly walked out.

These people were very tall and very strong. They were wrapped in a circle of strange yellow and white leather clothes, and there were creepy fish scale patterns on the leather clothes. They had very long hair, braided into three long braids, and there was no trace of shaving. They all carried very heavy bows on their backs. But the length of the quiver was almost as long as the arm, just like a spear! And their eyes, staring at the people on the long boat and the thin dogs they led, were all fierce and slightly red.

"Oh! It's the fish skin!... Long-haired, fish skin hunter..."

The chief dog driver blinked, looked at the boat under his feet, and then looked at the hunter staring at the shore. He knew that he had entered the territory of the fish skin tribe. These fish skin tribes actually had a lot of contact with their dog tribes, mainly trading fish, dogs, meat and salt.

Small tribes cannot intermarry, but they will intermarry with the fish skin tribe. He has several familiar fish skin tribes, but they are not here, but around the estuary.

This place has been deep into the river for five or six days. The deeper you go into the river, the more forests and swamps there are, the more tribal fights there are, and the more frequent migrations and deaths there are. When he got here, he had no acquaintances. New acquaintances often died or left not long after.

"They are called, fish skin people?"

"Yes! The boatmen...they wear the skins of big fish. They are good at fishing, with their boats, and they are also good at hunting, with their big bows...Look! The bows are very big, and the thick and heavy arrows shot out can directly knock down a tiger!...Hmm? They raised their bows and aimed at us? Do they regard us as enemies? Huh?!..."

The chief who used dogs was stunned, and quickly opened his mouth and shouted at the fish skin hunters on the shore.

"Fish skin hunters! No one fights by the river in summer and autumn! The water in the river is undrinkable if it is stained with blood!..."

"."

In the flood rainy season, clean water is very precious. The tribes here usually don't fight by the river. In summer and autumn, there is no shortage of food, and the fighting among the tribes is much less than in spring and winter. The oldest fish skin hunter was silent for a while, pressed the bow in his hand, and the hunters around him also pressed their bows. Then, he pointed at the Kingdom warriors on the big ship and asked awkwardly.

"Dog tribe in the seaside forest... what are you doing here...?"

"Those who use fish skin, let's go find that altar! The remaining altar in the market!..."

"Looking for the altar... for what?"

"Of course, to offer sacrifices to the mountain god! Pray for more fish this year! Pray for a warmer winter this year!..."

"Pray for a warmer winter this year?..."

Hearing this, the fish skin hunter was silent for a while and slowly lowered his bow. Seeing this, Zuwaro also asked the warriors on the boat to put down their bows and arrows. The two sides looked at each other across a section of the river. And this was also the first encounter between the fierce Hezhe tribe in the dense forest and the Kingdom exploration team!

Yes, they are "Hezhe people", "people living by the river in the east". They fish by the river and hunt in the dense forest. They are loose and fierce, often eat raw food, wear fish skin clothes, and have fierce archery skills.

In the original history of the late Ming Dynasty, they would be captured in large numbers by the Jurchen clan alliance that rose in the south, organized into "dead soldiers" to break through the enemy lines, and then the bravest "vanguard Sauron" and "shooter Sauron" would be selected. The Ming army that was fighting against them would also give them a name that they were deeply afraid of, the most ferocious "fish skin Tartars" among the slaves!

Of course, all these things in the future have not happened yet. On the longboat, Zuwaro squinted his eyes and looked at this group of poor and fierce "fish skin tribes", from the stone axes on their waists to the bone arrows on their backs, and looked at them carefully again and again.

"Lord God! These are only 20 or 30 fish skin hunters, but they give me such a strong sense of threat, like a pack of wolves emerging from the forest... Even if they are barefoot, wearing fish skins, and holding bone weapons, they seem to be far more dangerous than human warriors! So, what if we put armor on them, take metal weapons, and organize them into teams?..."

"Well... give it a try! See if we can recruit these fish skin hunters to join the kingdom's camp!..."

Zuwaro pondered for a moment, then ordered the longboat to row to the shore. But the fish skin hunters on the shore saw this, but stepped back vigilantly, always keeping a distance of one arrow.

Soon, the warrior captain Tamicao jumped off the longboat with empty hands. He took a bag of salt and a golden talisman, put them in the middle of the open space on the seashore, and made a "send" gesture to the fish skin hunters. Then, under the other party's vigilant gaze, he retreated back to the longboat.

"."

The old fish skin hunter stared at the deerskin bag for a long time before making a gesture to the young hunter next to him. Then, the young hunter didn't even look at the golden talisman, but walked straight to the bag, carefully opened it, and saw that it was indeed grayish-white salt!

"What is this?..."

The young hunter's eyes lit up instantly. He tasted it with his fingers, and it was indeed salty with bitterness, which was the salt the tribe needed!

"Chief! It's salt, a whole bag of salt! They are here to trade!..."

"."

The old fish skin hunter was stunned for a moment, and when he looked at the tribe on the boat again, his expression became much more relaxed. Those who can bring salt, even if they are not friends of the tribe, are definitely not enemies. He thought about it, put down his bow and arrow, and took out two pieces of beautiful sable fur from the fish skin bag behind him. Then, he put the fur in the position where the salt was before, carefully picked up the deerskin salt bag, and retreated to the edge of the woods again.

"Traders... Salt is ours. Sable is yours!..."

"That altar has been replaced by a powerful tribe, be careful!"

The old fish skin hunter shouted to the boat twice. Then, he turned around and walked quickly into the deep forest with the fish skin people carrying bows on their backs. Zuvaro was stunned and shouted "Friend, stay!" twice, but the other party seemed to be afraid that he would regret it and ran faster.

But a moment later, under Zuvaro's astonished gaze, the fish skin hunter and the silent dog quietly disappeared in the deep forest. Only two pieces of gorgeous sable fur and a golden talisman that no one cared about were left on the shore, flashing the same golden light as the river water.