"Main God be my witness! Revered old grandmother of the Mountain Tribe, we came by Longship, traveling along endless coasts and through the waves, never greedily coveting any tribe's land or wealth. When we met you, when we reunited with brothers lost for a thousand years, we held not the slightest malice, only brotherly affection from the depths of our hearts!..."
A bonfire had been lit inside the shaman's great tent, its flames burning low. Pale green smoke from pine branches drifted up from the fire and followed the smoke vent toward the sky. The sky was the red curtain of sunset, shrouding the towering God Mountain not far away, and also shrouding the hot springs and tents in the valley. This was the ancient home of the Kotelny Mountain Tribe, and also their most fundamental winter camp.
Beneath the Blue Sky, God Mountain, territory, and tents of these Kotelny people, Exploration Captain Zuwaro wore a sincere expression as he looked at the old grandmother, Mu Lu Mountain Mother, who was close at hand, and frankly explained his purpose in coming.
"The supreme Sun Main God protects us! His Majesty the Sage of Divine Revelation guides us! The reason we sailed for two years, using twenty Longships to relay our voyage, coming twenty thousand li to reach this place... was precisely to obey His Majesty the Sage's enlightenment, to trade with the brothers of the distant west from the prophecy for all kinds of goods urgently needed by the Eastern Sea tribes!... And what we need most are four-legged riding beasts, four-legged plowing beasts, seeds for planting, and all sorts of craftsmen and medicine priests..."
"Mm? Ancestors be my witness! You came after receiving a great shaman's prophecy? You have warriors from twenty Longships, and sailed for a full two