"The ancient Sky God (Hulu) emerged from the deep, thunder-filled sea. Like a storm, He strode onto the land of the east, and like a storm, His spirit scattered through the vast world..."
Near dusk, the fleet moored on the eastern shore of the Lagoon, at the Wiyot people's Lake Garden Tribe. The Wiyot reacted very calmly to the exploration fleet's arrival, like tepid lake water—no wariness, no mobilization. Especially after Scholar Miki presented the token of the Cedar Shaman, the elderly Lake Garden Tribe chief, Tujing, personally came forward to host the leaders of the fleet.
The Wiyot people's Lake Garden Tribe lay at the edge of the Lagoon, on the lakeside plain of reeds and tall grass. There were few trees here, and timber for building was scarce. Among the two or three thousand people of the Lake Garden Tribe, there was not a single complete wooden house; all of them were low "windbreak huts," densely spread along the lakeshore.
These Wiyot huts were like round hats set on the ground, roughly two to three meters tall, with diameters ranging from three to six meters. At this moment, Scholar Miki sat inside one of the huts and could clearly see its supports: small logs that were not particularly thick. In the gaps between the log pillars, branches, bamboo, and reeds had been stuffed. Farther outward were bark, turf, and mud serving as insulation. As for the hut's roof, it was likewise a light roof of branches, covered with thick layers of tall grass and reeds.
"A very simple little hut. Easy to build, and the materials are easy to get!..."
Scholar Miki tilted his head back and carefully observed the smoke hole in the small roof, which seemed to line up with the fire pit below. The whole