Mermaid

Elder Oliyev's demand was naturally somewhat excessive, because everyone knew that Aurora's party, with Aurora and Seton in it, was far stronger than the other two-hundred-man party led by his son Saren. Yet Aurora still agreed to Elder Oliyev's proposed division of benefits, leaving Zhang Tie slightly puzzled. Seton explained that Aurora had made this concession so that the entire Gray Eagle Tribe would not be ridiculed or thought to lack unity.

Zhang Tie had nothing to say to that.

Along the way, Zhang Tie encountered quite a few Prospectors, all traveling toward Fichal Estuary in groups of three or five. These Prospectors had all come from Shata Town. Some had rented mounts such as elk oxen for transport, while others simply relied on their own two legs to hurry along.

When they spotted Zhang Tie's large cavalry force, nearly all the Prospectors became somewhat nervous. Many simply fled in other directions, hoping to avoid the Gray Eagle Tribe's party.

Out here in the wilderness, if the commander of such a force happened to be cruel by nature, then killing these scattered Prospectors in groups of three or five would be no great matter. No one would know, and there would be no consequences. Nor would anyone stand up for these Prospectors. That was why these large parties frightened the isolated and helpless Prospectors on sight.

Zhang Tie's delighted look as he rode his rhino horse grated on many people's eyes, yet not one of them said a word. Anyone who wanted to trouble Zhang Tie only had to think of what had happened to Guke and his men that day to understand—without strength, it was nothing more than courting death.

Fichal Estuary lay in a broad, open plain. Three rivers flowing here from different places converged at this