One group dug pits and buried the dead, while another cleared the battlefield.
When they were done, they dusted off their hands and took off.
The attack had taken only an hour.
More than half of that had been wasted on dealing with the aftermath.
By the time anyone realized something had happened to this tribe, it was already noon the next day. Under the royal court's garrison system, to make sure every tribe stayed "in line," neighboring tribes' garrisons had to exchange information once every ten days.
If a tribe fell into disorder, the royal court would hold not only the garrison responsible for that tribe to account, but also drag in the garrisons of related tribes. Still, the royal court's authority had grown ever more formidable in recent years. Even the Ten Crows tribes, who had always preferred to fight alone and had no concept of organization or discipline, had begun to behave themselves. After all, following the royal court meant full bellies, and raiding south into Longwu Commandery even came with a subsidy.
If there was something to be gained, why not do it?
The following day was the scheduled day for exchanging information.
But by noon, no report had arrived, and their own messenger hadn't returned either. Could something have happened?
It wasn't unreasonable to suspect as much.
Small tribes were willing to follow the royal court because there were plenty of benefits. But the same couldn't be said of old, established tribes that had lasted for a long time and grown quite large. They always felt they were getting the short end of the stick, and were more likely to rebel. Just as they were about to gather their troops and go take a look, the messenger returned.
"Report—"
It was nearing dusk.
The messenger