The Seas Change, Man Becomes Fish Food (Seeking Readership)

On the mountaintop, Huo Tang remained silent, gazing into the distance for a long time.

They had traveled out this far, over a thousand miles east of their tribe, far beyond the scope of their previous explorations.

Using the tribal map they had on hand, they had located five tribal settlements.

Then, using maps found in those five tribes, they had continued eastward.

They selected usable supplies and gathered them in a hidden location to transport back to the tribe later.

Now, the terrain marked on the map had transformed into a vast expanse of water, with only mountaintops visible, standing like islands in the flood.

"Chieftain, why don't we search around these mountains again? I refuse to believe there isn't a tribe located right at the edge of this flooded area."

Having traveled so far, and not to just look at water, everyone was feeling rather indignant.

Huo Tang took out the map and began to search. Although the terrain had changed, it still offered some reference.

"Head northeast."

When faced with disaster, human tribes would not sit idly by; they would inevitably migrate to higher ground.

They hadn't encountered any survivors yet on this trip, and gathering some of them was one of the expedition's objectives.

They could also help transport supplies on the way back.

The edges of the waterlogged areas intertwined with the mountain ranges. Some places were shallow, turning into swamps, while others were deep. Some areas were a mix of shallow and deep water with patches of land.

Huo Tang led his group, carefully navigating along the water's edge. Occasionally, they would climb to a mountaintop to scan for signs of smoke or campfires.

Survivors of natural disasters would need food to stay alive.

If their tribe's food supplies couldn't be salvaged, then fishing in the water would become their means of survival. After all, with so much water, finding land for farming would be difficult.

"Look for small mountains with gentle slopes and see if there are any cultivated terraced fields."

Fishing by the water, farming on gentle slopes.

Relying on Huo Tang's experience, the group soon spotted a gently sloping mountain range stretching for over ten miles, about fifty miles away.

The mountain's southern slope was gentle, and above the water, there was a series of terraced fields.

"Chieftain, look! There are boats in the water."

"There aren't many people."

From a distance, the cultivated fields and cave dwellings on the gentle mountain slope were few.

No children were seen playing.

On the water in the distance, over a dozen hollowed-out log canoes and one assembled wooden boat were fishing.

The group was delighted to encounter these people after traveling so far. With their small numbers, the tribe could easily absorb and integrate them.

"Chieftain, should we go down now?"

"Let's go down after the people on the boats come ashore."

Huo Tang looked around. Although they were here to gather survivors, not to capture slaves, they still needed a certain approach to subdue them.

The group, consisting of one Heavenly Meridian, three Mountain Openers, and over forty Stone Splitter martial artists, stealthily approached under the cover of night.

Under the cloak of night.

On the mountainside, each dwelling was quiet. Only the crackling of campfires and the smell of grilled fish could be detected.

There were campfires near the water's edge, guarded by two martial artists.

They had even dragged their log canoes up the slope and were vigilantly watching the water, as if some terrifying desolate beast lurked beneath the surface.

"Who!"

Footsteps echoed in the darkness, immediately alerting the two guards. One drew his wooden bow taut.

The other grabbed his spear and sharply struck a broken pot hanging in front of the campfire.

With a clang, people inside the caves and dwellings were startled.

They emerged, grabbing whatever weapons or tools they could find.

Everyone was like a startled bird, huddling together.

Campfires were lit one after another, illuminating the mountainside.

At this point, Huo Tang's group revealed themselves, which was also due to their lack of concealment.

Tribal warriors were easily identifiable; the more robust and well-built they were, the stronger their perceived strength.

Huo Tang appeared with only three others. The rest of his tribesmen stood at a distance, partially visible.

However, this group, clad in leather armor and wielding iron weapons with sharp gazes, was clearly not comparable to these refugees.

In contrast, the remnant refugees pushed forward a burly martial artist in his thirties, covered in scars.

The women behind him clutched their tools. Although their expressions showed panic and they lamented their plight, their eyes glared defiantly at their surroundings.

"We will never be slaves! We'll fight!"

"Ah Fu, let's fight them! At worst, we die."

"Let's fight! I want revenge for my son!"

Seeing the people united in their hatred, Huo Tang signaled his tribesmen to stand down and said, "We of the Blazing Flame do not take slaves.

The crowd showed no sign of relaxing, still warily watching Huo Tang, their various 'weapons' gripped even tighter.

Huo Tang's gaze fell upon the leader.

"If our tribe were here to capture slaves, why would we give up such good cover of night, giving you a chance to be alerted?"

Shi Fu gripped a heavy saber. It was called a heavy saber not because of its superior forging, but because the poor craftsmanship necessitated thickening and weighting the blade, making it more like a strangely shaped club.

"We don't welcome you. Please leave."

Shi Fu spoke, "As you can see, we are just a group of survivors who escaped from the water, with nothing. If you wish to eat fish, the catch from today is here for all you warriors to enjoy."

"My tribe is developing and needs to absorb new members. Since you are living such a difficult life, you can join my Blazing Flame Tribe."

Huo Tang looked at the fish they had caught. They were all small, none larger than a foot. Besides fish, there was almost no other desolate beast meat to be seen in the entire tribal territory.

Unfortunately, even though Huo Tang extended an invitation, no one in the crowd relaxed in the slightest. Or rather, they didn't believe him at all.

"Don't lie to us. My tribe was hiding safely in the mountains from the flood, and then you suddenly attacked. The old and weak of the entire tribe were slaughtered, the strong youths and children were captured, and only I and a few others managed to escape." A one-armed man with a scarred face, wielding a fishbone knife, rushed forward, intending to stab Huo Tang.

Before he could get close to Huo Tang, he was kicked away by Huo Bai, who stood beside him.

"My Blazing Flame Tribe has committed no acts of slaughter, nor have we ever captured our own people as slaves."

Then, the one-armed man was caught by Shi Fu, who helped him stand up again. Huo Bai had held back his strength; otherwise, this one-armed man would have likely died with his internal organs shattered.

Shi Fu pulled back the one-armed man, who was still trying to charge forward, and looked at Huo Tang.

"We are all from small tribes, survivors who happened to come together. We have nothing. Does your esteemed tribe truly want to absorb us?"

"My Blazing Flame Tribe is the same, we were just luckier than other tribes and weathered the flood and plague." Huo Tang spoke, his tone not condescending.

"Ah Zhao, the ones who massacred the tribes were piloting ships as large as mountains, controlling floodwaters as if they were walking on flat ground. They wore armor we couldn't even dream of, and they are different from these people here." Shi Fu said this, causing the tense crowd to snap back to attention.

"Everyone, look at them. Are they different from those on the giant ships back then?"

The one-armed man collapsed to the ground with a thud. "They aren't human. My child, only seven years old, was thrown into the mouths of those monstrous odd fish."

"The tribal chief was bitten in half by an odd fish at the first encounter. I took my youngest son and jumped into the water to escape, but my son is also gone."

The roaring and weeping cast a somber atmosphere over the small settlement, with muffled sobs echoing.

"In the second month after the floodwaters covered the mountains, ships as large as mountains appeared outside our tribal territory. Strange fish pulled the ships, riding the wind and waves. The odd fish were impervious to blades and spears, and could climb slopes to devour anyone they saw. The ships were covered with cages, packed tightly with people. The Stone Rock Tribe was breached in an instant. The old and weak were thrown into the water to become fish food, the strong youths were captured and put into cages, and the giant ships sailed away through the waves."

In front of the bonfire, Shi Fu slumped to the ground, trembling, immense fear in his eyes. He couldn't even hold his weapon.

"I hid in the mountains and saw them hang people on hooks like fish bait to catch desolate beasts in the water."

Under the night sky, the bonfire flickered. Huo Tang and his tribesmen felt a chill run down their spines. Without their knowledge, they had narrowly escaped a great crisis. Perhaps it was because the Blazing Flame Tribe's location was too close to the Giant Peak Mountain Range, with its undulating terrain making navigation difficult, that they avoided this tribal annihilation.

The several hundred survivors on the hillside came from several tribes. Shortly after the flood, large ships had appeared, riding the waves and crashing into various tribes, slaughtering and capturing people. As for where the large ships came from, they had no idea, only knowing that there was more than one ship, about twenty to thirty of them, forming a large fleet.

That night, Huo Tang and his people stayed in this small settlement. The assimilation of these tribal survivors did not meet with resistance. Having repeatedly escaped from the brink of death, those who survived were numb. Rather than clearly understanding that joining a tribe meant survival, their mentality had become one of going with the flow, taking things one step at a time, devoid of any expectations.