The Bison and White Pig Tribes Shaken
While the Fire Tribe's people learned to count behind their rammed-earth walls and passed the bitter winter cold in safety, the Bison Tribe and White Pig Tribe, not far away, were shrouded in unprecedented shock and anxiety. The Fire Tribe, once a "cornered beast" standing alongside them, seemed to have transformed overnight into an unsettling behemoth.
The smell of livestock and leather lingered year-round in the Bison Tribe's settlement. Their chief, Jijiao, a man as powerful and tough as an old wild bull, had lately taken to standing alone on the high ground at the edge of the tribe, his brow tightly furrowed as he gazed in the general direction of the Fire Tribe.
When Juti, the fiercest warrior under his command, and nine other warriors returned from the small gathering and the Fish Tribe, they brought generous gifts from the Fire Tribe-soft, comfortable hemp clothing, smooth, practical pottery bowls, and savory, delicious salted dried fish. The entire tribe rejoiced, and Jijiao, too, was initially pleased by their ally's "generosity" and his warriors' safe return.
But soon, that pleasure was diluted by what Juti and the others had seen and heard.
"Chief, the Fire Tribe's people have changed!" Juti vigorously waved his thick arms, trying to describe the feeling. "They're not like they used to be, like us, only getting a full belly once in a while! Every one of them has light in their eyes, they walk with the wind at their heels, and they're frighteningly strong! Their hunting party-no, they call it a 'warrior unit'-stands in perfectly neat ranks, like a rock that can't be smashed!"
Another warrior added, "All the dried meat they eat is carefully cured with salt! Their pottery is big and shiny, even better than the Fish Tribe's! And we heard they seem to be planning to build a very tall, very long earthen wall to enclose the entire tribe!"
Jijiao listened in silence, his rough fingers unconsciously rubbing the hemp garment the Fire Tribe had given him. As the chief of a tribe that revered strength, he understood all too well the relationship between "full bellies" and "martial might." A tribe that could feed everyone, equip them well, and begin building fortifications held terrifying strength. This was no longer simply "good luck," but a planned, all-around rise.
Then came news that made his heart pound with even greater alarm. Several tiny tribes of twenty or thirty people, originally scattered across the buffer zone between the Bison Tribe and the Fire Tribe, had all vanished without a sound before winter arrived! Only after making inquiries did he learn that every one of them had gone over to the Fire Tribe, their entire populations in tow, and all had been accepted!
"Six hundred people... they have at least six hundred people now..." Jijiao muttered to himself, the number leaving him feeling suffocated. Even straining every sinew, the Bison Tribe could barely maintain a population of just over two hundred. Six hundred was a size they could only look up to. He could almost see a giant capable of rivaling the Fish Tribe rapidly taking shape behind that earthen wall under construction.
"We can't just sit here and wait to die!" Jijiao slammed his fist into the wooden post beside him with a dull thud. He gathered the tribe's elders and warriors. "If the Fire Tribe can take in people, so can we! While it's winter, go find the small tribes near us that can't survive. Tell them our Bison Tribe is willing to provide food and shelter too! Our target... take in fifty people first! If there isn't enough food, we'll tighten our belts another notch! We have to increase our numbers, or we won't even have the confidence to speak to them in the future!" An intense sense of crisis, an unwillingness to fall behind, drove this old wild bull to make a difficult decision.
The White Pig Tribe lived where the mountain forests met the marshes, and its people were known for their shrewdness and skill at making use of their surroundings. Their chief, Zongmao, was sitting in his relatively tidy hut, the pair of pottery jars gifted by the Fire Tribe set before him. Yet he had no inclination whatsoever to admire or handle them; his face held only an unrelenting gravity.
The five quick-witted hunters he had sent out had returned, bringing news similar to what the Bison Tribe had received, but with richer detail.
"Chief, the Fire Tribe doesn't just have a lot of people. They're extremely well managed," the hunter Niqiu reported. "That boy Yan in their tribe seems to be using a new way of counting. They distribute things quickly and accurately, and nobody argues. We heard their youths have all been organized for training. Most importantly, they don't seem worried about food at all, and they're preparing to clear land on a large scale."
Zongmao's fingertips lightly tapped the smooth surface of a pottery jar, producing crisp sounds. His thoughts went deeper than Jijiao's. What the Fire Tribe displayed was not merely military strength and abundance, but efficient organization and long-term plans for development. This went far beyond an ordinary tribe suddenly coming into wealth.
"Taking in the nearby tiny tribes, building walls, training warriors, clearing land, even methods of counting..." Zongmao listed them one by one, his heart sinking further with every word. "Every step they take is swift and steady, with a clear goal. What they want is certainly not as simple as full bellies."
When he learned that the Fire Tribe had taken in nearly another two hundred people, bringing its total population above six hundred, Zongmao did not display the same fierce competitive drive as Jijiao. Instead, he felt a deep helplessness. Even with his meticulous budgeting and their unique geographical resources, the White Pig Tribe could barely maintain a population of well over a hundred, close to two hundred. Six hundred? That was a height beyond his reach.
"We need to increase our numbers a little too," Zongmao sighed to his wife and several trusted followers beside him. "But we can't be as blind about it as the Bison Tribe. Find people with real skills-people who can tan special hides, for instance, or identify more medicinal herbs, or strong, healthy young people whose tribes truly can't survive. Not too many. Take in thirty or forty first. We have to follow the 'elite troops' route, or we won't be able to contend with the Fire Tribe at all."
He looked at his wife, his tone complicated. "The Fire Tribe really is about to soar into the sky this time. I just don't know whether, once they've taken flight, they'll still remember neighbors like us down on the ground." Shrewd as he was, he already sensed that their future relationship with the Fire Tribe would become exceedingly delicate. What had once been an equal relationship between tribes might soon become one in which they had to live at another's mercy.
That winter, the balance of power was tilting sharply. The old rules of survival and relationships between tribes would all face a severe test when spring came the following year.