The wind and snow howled all night, drowning out every sound. By the next morning, clear sunlight shone on the dry, soft accumulation of snow, turning it into the powder best suited for skiing.
"Main God! The noblewomen of the Mountain Tribe... really are skilled skiers!..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro emerged from the warm hide tent beneath the falling snow, his face weary, yet carrying a trace of lingering aftertaste. His steps were unsteady, and with one foot he sank into snow past his calf. After much effort, he finally pulled himself free, only to see Warrior Captain Shijian also emerging from a hide tent not far away.
"Huh? Shijian, why are you here? This is the tent settlement where the Mountain Tribe women live... What clawed the wound on your neck? A local wolf-dog?..."
"Uh... Main God bless us! I'm here... learning the Mountain Tribe language... no... spreading the Main God's doctrine... Claw marks? What claw marks?... Ah! Captain, I'll sound the horn for assembly!..."
Warrior Captain Shijian stammered a couple of sentences, then staggered into the open and blew a short blast on the conch horn. Very soon, more than a dozen Kingdom Warriors hurriedly pulling on armor emerged from the surrounding tents. And judging from their expressions and movements, it was obvious that last night, if they had not been laboring over foreign languages, then they had been preaching with great diligence...
"...Main God bless us! Large numbers of Kingdom Warriors appearing in the women's tents is, on one hand, due to the Mountain Tribe Matriarch's tacit approval, and on the other, because under the Mountain Tribe's warm reception, the warriors have let down their guard against them... And now, with the two tribes constantly intermarrying, who will swallow up whom in the end?..."
Thinking of this, Exploration