The Shield of Greater Qing

While the Tiger Tribe and Wolf Tribe were making their moves, Yan was leading the Fire Tribe's fleet downstream along the Fish River. The weather had been stable for the past few days, and around noon, the fleet finally arrived at the Valley Tribe's main dock. The sun shone directly overhead, shortening the shadows of those on the dock to their feet. A considerable number of people were already standing on the dock. Daiyue stood at the very front, followed by Fengren and Quyong. Both wore clean linen robes with hemp ropes tied around their waists, standing ramrod straight, their gazes fixed on the sails of the ships that were docking. Behind them were the seven elders of the Valley Tribe, lined up in a row, also dressed in their most presentable clothes. Some had their hands clasped in front of them, some had their hands behind their backs, and some were shielding their eyes from the sun with their palms, as if counting the number of ships in the fleet.

Qingsui stood at the edge of the crowd, wearing a light blue linen dress with a few small white Little Flower embroidered on the hem, the stitches fine and even. Her hair was tied in a braid that hung down her shoulder, the end tied with a light-colored string that swayed gently in the afternoon breeze. She stood on a wooden plank at the edge of the dock, neither pushing forward nor backing away, her gaze passing over the shoulders of those in front of her and landing on the sails of the ships that were docking, as if trying to discern who was standing at the Chuantou. Bailin and Jia Li stood on the other side of the dock, both dressed in clean clothes, their eyes scanning the docking boats one by one.

The boat docked, the gangplank was set up, and Yan stepped off the boat. Today he was wearing a dark gray linen robe, with a bronze-buckled leather belt around his waist, from which hung his usual short knife. His collar was still covered with fine dust blown by the river wind, which appeared a light grayish-white in the afternoon sun, but he was full of energy.

Daiyue stepped forward and stopped in front of Yan, clasping his hands in a salute. He said, "Young Chief Yan, your fleet this time is quite large. I counted at the dock, and there are dozens more ships weighing 100,000 jin than last time. It seems that your Fire Tribe's shipyard has never stopped working."

Yan returned the greeting with a fist and palm salute, saying, "Yes, this time I brought 10,000 people from the Fire Tribe to settle in your Valley Tribe's main base and Little Valley Camp. After these people disembark, I will continue leading the fleet down the Fish River to settle 1,000 warriors in the Greater Qing Tribe, and provide them with some bronze weapons, leather armor, and boats to strengthen their defenses. After that, I will turn around and bring the majority of the Bean Tribe's forces to your Valley Tribe, and then take 20,000 people from here back to the Fire Tribe to settle them."

Daiyue nodded and said, "No problem, we've already made preparations here. Houses, food, and tools are all ready. People can settle in as soon as they arrive. With these 10,000 people, plus the majority of the Bean Tribe's forces, even if our Valley Tribe relocates 20,000 people to the Fire Tribe, it won't delay next year's planting. We have enough manpower, and the land won't be left uncultivated."

Yan nodded, then asked, "What's been going on with the Tiger Tribe and Wolf Tribe in the north lately? Your side should have better information than ours."

Daiyue's gaze lingered on Yan's face for a moment before he looked away, lowering his voice slightly as he said, "Many of the Valley Tribe's spies have been discovered and secretly dealt with by the Tiger Tribe. Some haven't sent back any news for a long time. I've sent people to look for them, but much of the news coming back from the north is either delayed or vague, as if someone has cut off the communication path. You might only be able to get accurate information by going to the Greater Qing Tribe. However, one thing is certain—significant changes have indeed occurred within the Tiger Tribe. Their internal disputes have lessened, and the previous situation of mutual sabotage seems to have been suppressed by something."

Yan's gaze lingered on Daiyue's face for a moment before he said, "Alright, I'll go there myself. The Greater Qing Tribe is close to both the Tiger Tribe and Wolf Tribe, so their news should be faster than ours."

The two chatted for a few more minutes about the details of resource allocation and personnel resettlement. At the dock, the 10,000 people brought by the Fire Tribe were disembarking one after another and walking along the boardwalk towards the camp.

Yan watched for a while, confirming that the crowd was dispersing into various parts of the camp in an orderly manner. He shifted his gaze from the figures heading towards the camp, paused at the end of the crowd to check the pace and distance between the last few rows, then turned around and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Daiyue: "Chief Daiyue, I'll be going now. I still need to get to the Greater Qing Tribe; I can't linger too long."

Daiyue returned the greeting with a fist salute and said, "Alright, be careful on the road. If there's any news from the Greater Qing Tribe, we can talk in detail when you return." His gaze lingered on Yan's face for a moment, as if that brief eye contact was a way of saying a word of advice that he hadn't yet had a chance to utter.

Yan nodded, turned and walked onto the gangplank, shouting, "Let's go!" The fleet slowly left the Valley Tribe headquarters dock and continued downstream along the Fish River. The sails were billowing again in the afternoon sun, the white sails unfurled in the wind, the hulls tilted slightly on the water, and then steadied themselves.

The fleet didn't linger long at the Bear Tribe. Yingmu was already standing at the dock. Seeing the fleet approach, he casually put down the end of a rope he was winding and quickly approached. Yan didn't disembark; he stood at the Chuantou, hands on the gunwale, leaning slightly forward, and chatted with Yingmu for a few moments. He asked about the recent activities of the Wolf Tribe and Tiger Tribe to the north. His voice was partially carried away by the river breeze, but Yingmu listened attentively, nodding as he listened. Only after Yan finished did he speak, saying that the Wolf Tribe had indeed been rather restless lately, and had sent... Several boats patrolled back and forth on the river, seemingly probing for something, but they never actually approached the Bear Tribe's dock. Each time, they would stop briefly where the dock was visible before turning back. Yan listened, nodded, and then gave Yingmu a few more instructions on strengthening patrols and vigilance. He told Hardwood that if the Wolf Tribe's boats got any closer, he should send out boats to drive them away, letting them know that they were being watched. As he spoke, he tapped his fingers lightly twice on the gunwale, then straightened up, waved to Yingmu, and the fleet continued on its way.

A few days later, the fleet finally arrived near the Greater Qing Tribe. From afar, Yan could see several boats moving back and forth on the river above the Greater Qing Tribe's dock. The boats were small and shallow, with their sails not fully raised, as if they didn't want to attract too much attention. The boats neither docked nor went far away, but simply moved slowly on the river outside the dock, traveling back and forth along a roughly fixed route, as if using their boats to repeatedly measure the distance of the same stretch of river, sailing from the upstream bend to the downstream Qiantan, and then turning back to the starting point. One of the boats stopped in the middle of the river, its hull turned sideways, like someone sitting on a Shitou observing the dock's movements, neither approaching nor moving far, simply waiting in place.

Yan squinted and watched for a while, his gaze tracing the outline of one of the ships, from Chuantou to Chuantou and back again. Then he called out to the men behind him. A leader strode out of the cabin, stood beside Yan, and bowed slightly, waiting for him to speak. Yan pointed to the ships on the river, his finger tracing a short arc in the air. "Take five ships with a carrying capacity of 100,000 jin each and drive those ships away. Don't chase them too far, just drive them out of sight. If they don't turn back when they see you approaching, stop when you're an arrow's length away from them."

The leader nodded, glanced in the direction Yan pointed, and turned to run off. Soon, five massive ships, each weighing 100,000 jin (approximately 50,000 kg), emerged from the fleet. Their sails billowed in the wind, producing a dull thud, and the ships lurched forward, charging towards the other ships. Seeing the Fire Tribe's giant ships approaching, the Chuantou immediately turned, their oars dipping into the water, paddling furiously Fish River. The Shuihen at their sterns quickly expanded from a thin line into a wide fan shape, the ends spreading into fine ripples on the surface. The ships moved quickly, leaving long, thin Shuihen that shimmered white in the sunlight, soon becoming tiny, dark dots on the river's surface. The Fire Tribe leader stood at the Chuantou, watching the fleeing boats grow smaller and smaller on the water. He didn't pursue them further, but waved to the others behind him, leading the five giant ships to turn around and rejoin the fleet.

Yan stood at the Chuantou, watching the small boats flee into the distance. His gaze lingered on the direction they disappeared in, as if trying to memorize their destination. Then he turned to the person beside him and said in a low but certain tone, "Those were the Wolf Tribe's boats."

The fleet slowly approached the dock of the Greater Qing Tribe. The Greater Qing Tribe's dock was smaller than the Valley Tribe Valley Tribe's, and the wooden stakes along its edge were thinner, only allowing a few large ships to dock at a time. Many of the Fire Tribe's boats could find places to moor on the Qiantan near the dock, their Chuantou scraping against the riverbank with a low, grinding sound, and their hulls rubbing against the sand and gravel with a continuous, fine rustling sound. A considerable number of people were already standing on the dock. Qingya stood at the front, wearing a new, dark blue linen robe with dark stitching at the collar and cuffs, as if he had changed it specifically for today. The stitching was finer than usual. A wide leather belt cinched his waist, and the scabbard of the short sword on it was gleaming. Behind him stood Qingshi and several leaders, all dressed neatly, craning their necks to gaze at the river. Qingshi's hair... His hair was tied back with a dark leather cord, much neater than when they last met. Their gaze first fell on the scale of the Fire Tribe fleet, moving over the sails of the giant ships one by one, as if they were counting the number of ships in their own way. Then it fell on the giant ships that were docking, their hulls scraping against the edge of the dock with a low screeching sound. Then their gaze moved to the direction where the Wolf Tribe's small boats that had been driven away had disappeared, as if they were still chasing after those no longer visible ships. Qingya's gaze swept back and forth over the sails of the fleet twice before returning to the Chuantou. His fingers, which had been resting on the hilt of his sword at his waist, tightened slightly when he saw the Fire Tribe's giant ships docking, as if using that gesture to confirm that he was still in his place. Then he loosened his fingers and stepped forward to meet them.

Yan disembarked from the ship, Qingya strode forward to greet him. His steps were quick and steady, his boots making short, sharp thuds on the wooden planks, a beat faster than usual. He stopped in front of Yan, clasped his hands in a salute, and the sound of his palms closing was crisp and clear. His voice carried a sense of relief after being rescued, as if a long-awaited sentence had finally found its voice. "Young Chief Yan, you've finally arrived! The Wolf Tribe across the way has recently gone mad, constantly sending ships to monitor and harass us near our dock. They come every few days, sometimes at dawn, sometimes at dusk." They anchored their boat at a distance that wasn't too close or too far, neither approaching nor leaving, as if recording the activity at our dock. A few days ago, one boat even approached our fishing grounds, and our fishermen didn't dare cast their nets." He paused, glanced back at the direction where the departing boats disappeared on the river, then turned back, opening and closing his palm in front of him. "If you hadn't just chased them away, who knows what trouble those guys would have caused. You came just in time. If you had come a few days later, I might have been forced to send out my fleet to confront them head-on."

Qingshi stepped forward from behind Qingya, his pace faster than the others, as if he had wanted to move forward for a while, only finding his place after Qingya finished speaking. He was wearing a dark gray linen robe today, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing several work marks on his forearms, as if he had just moved something and hadn't had time to wash. The linen bandage wrapped around his thumb for several days had been removed, leaving only a thin, light-colored mark, seemingly almost healed, its edges blending in with the surrounding skin. His gaze held a long-suppressed... Finally seeing the gleam of his backer, his voice was even brighter than when they last met. "Boss, our Fire Tribe is still the best. We just sent out a few ships and scared them so much they turned tail and ran, not daring to look back. If I had known you'd be here so quickly, I wouldn't have been standing there helplessly at the docks the other day." As he spoke, he slapped his thigh, as if to release the pent-up frustration he had been holding in for so long. The slap wasn't hard, but it left a short, sharp sound on his trouser leg, like a breath that had been stuck in his throat for a long time finally being released.

Yan nodded, shifting his gaze from Qingshi to sweep around the dock. He saw the warriors unloading supplies and the crates of bronze weapons stacked along the edge. The wooden crates were piled three layers high, neatly arranged, with straw placed between the corners to prevent damage during transport. Stacks of leather armor bindings lay beside the crates, the leather slightly warm to the touch in the afternoon sun. Then he turned back to Qingya and Qingshi, his voice steady, as if to lay out his next plan along the wooden planks of the dock. "This time I brought over a hundred ships with a carrying capacity of 100,000 jin each, along with many other ships, to support you. I plan to leave a thousand elite warriors in your tribe to strengthen your defenses. I've also brought plenty of bronze weapons, leather armor, and other supplies, enough for you to re-equip your existing warriors."

He paused, as if finding a more solid footing for his next words, gesturing with his hand in front of him. "When we leave, we'll leave you five large ships with a carrying capacity of 100,000 jin each, ten large ships with a carrying capacity of 50,000 jin each, and some smaller ships. Don't be Wolf Tribe, not even if a flanking force from the Tiger Tribe comes. I've left manpower and ships in the Bear Tribe, Bean Tribe, and Valley Tribe; they can't do anything to you. As long as your defenses hold, they won't be able to get around you from the south."

Upon hearing this, Qingya's expression seemed to soften as if something had gently stretched it open. A smile spread from the lines at the corners of his eyes, along the curve of his cheekbones, to the corners of his mouth, appearing particularly relaxed in the afternoon sunlight. His voice was slightly higher than before, carrying a sense of relief after being given a boost. "That's wonderful! With these, we can confidently cultivate the fields and start planting. Before, every time we sent people to the fields, we had to dedicate some manpower to watching the river. Sometimes, when the people sent out returned, the work in the fields wasn't finished. Now we don't have to; we can concentrate on planting well."

Yan looked at him, his voice steadying slightly. "Don't worry, I will definitely bring you all back to the Fire Tribe before next winter, keeping you away from the front lines of the conflict. Until then, stay put, cultivate the land, and fortify your defenses. If you need support, send someone to the Bear Tribe or the Valley Tribe to deliver a message; my people will meet you there. I've already paved the way for the message transmission; it won't be cut off halfway like before."

Qingya clasped his hands in a fist salute, bent slightly at the waist, and then straightened up. His hands made a short, crisp sound as they closed. "Thank you, Young Master Yan. With your words, I feel more confident in my actions. Qingshi and I will stay here and wait for your fleet to come and pick us up."

The group walked along the dirt road between the dock and the camp towards the council hall of the Greater Qing Tribe. The Greater Qing Tribe's camp was smaller than the Valley Tribe's, but its layout was compact. The wooden houses were arranged neatly, and the thatch on the roofs varied in color, as if it had been laid at different times, but each roof was evenly and thickly thatched. A section of wall had been newly built on the right side of the road, with several thick wooden supports added at the corners. The bottom ends of the supports were buried in the ground, as if it had been recently reinforced, and the soil filling marks were still fresh. On the open ground to the left, newly harvested grain was piled up. The grains had been dried and were being packed into sacks and stacked into neat rows. Several tribesmen were bending over tying the sacks, their fingers threading through the ropes to tighten the knots. After tying each sack, they would put it aside and pick up the next one. When they saw the group passing by, someone straightened up and glanced in their direction before lowering their head to continue working, their hands never stopping, as if they had become accustomed to glancing up to confirm the identity of those passing by while working.

The council hall wasn't large, but it was clean and tidy. The old weapons hanging on the wall were spotless, as if regularly maintained. After everyone sat down, Qingya first had hot water and dried fruit brought out. The dried fruit consisted of freshly sun-dried dates and apricots, piled into a light brown mound in a ceramic plate. The rim of the plate had been repeatedly rubbed smooth and shiny. After everyone had drunk a few sips of water, Qingya put down his bowl, turned to Yan, and lowered his voice, as if he were talking about something that needed careful handling. "Young Chief Yan, I've recently received some news. There have indeed been significant changes within the Tiger Tribe recently. The struggle between the three factions has temporarily ceased. It seems that Tongding, Hu Bashan, and Hu Zheng have reached some kind of agreement, using all the resources accumulated by the Tiger Tribe to enhance their strength. They're building ships, smelting copper, and training troops—their actions are much faster than before."

He paused, as if weighing the weight of his words in his own hands once more. His fingers hovered over the rim of the bowl, his fingertips tracing the curve of the pottery surface, as if using that touch to measure the weight of his next words. "It seems the Tiger Tribe is truly terrified of the Fire Tribe. No matter how much they fought before, they would never have given up their entire fortune. This time is different."

Yan's fingers paused on the rim of the bowl, then he put it down, his gaze lingering on the table for a moment, as if he were re-marking the information on a mental map. "If the Tiger Tribe really uses all their resources, their strength will increase rapidly in a short time. However, no matter how united they are internally, it will take time to convert these resources into combat power." He looked up at Qingya, "Any news from the Willow Vine Tribe lately? How's your contact with them going?"

Qingya picked up the conversation, his palm flat on the table as if to ensure every word he spoke had a solid foundation, "The Willow Vine Tribe has recently felt the pressure from the Tiger Tribe. After the Tiger Tribe annexed the Great Luwei Tribe, their sphere of influence has directly encroached upon the Willow Vine Tribe's borders. The Willow Vine Tribe's leader, Liuren, is a smart man; he knows he can't hold out for long caught in the middle." He paused, "I've already sent people to contact them, and we should have news by next spring. As long as the Fire Tribe remains stable, the Willow Vine Tribe should make a choice."

After listening, Yan's gaze lingered on the table for a moment, as if he were reviewing the information in his mind. He tapped his finger lightly on his knee, as if to confirm the length of the message: "I'll arrange things here with the Greater Qing Tribe first. I'll leave after the handover of supplies and personnel. There's still a group of people to pick up from the Bean Tribe; we can't delay too long."

He stood up, the chair scraping against the floor with a short screech, then clasped his hands in a fist salute to Qingya: "Make arrangements for the men and supplies I left behind. In case of emergency, send someone to the Bear Tribe or Valley Tribe to deliver a message; they know how to find me."

Qingya also stood up, clasped his hands in return, and said, "Young Master Yan, rest assured, I will keep an eye on things here."