Discussion at the Willow Vine Dock

That morning, the sunlight slanted down from the riverbank, casting a warm glow on the wooden planks of the Willow Vine Tribe pier. The morning mist had dissipated, and the river shimmered. Waterbirds skimmed the surface, their wings flashing in the sunlight before folding back and disappearing into the distant Luwei. Several wooden stakes along the pier's edge were still tied with ropes, their ends dangling in the water, swaying gently with the ripples. Supplies to be transported were piled on the boardwalk. The air was filled with the dampness of the river and the raw scent of vines—not pleasant, but reassuring.

Yan stood on the edge of the dock, holding a wooden tablet with a list of supplies that Liuren had left him before he left. His gaze shifted back and forth between the engravings on the tablet and the supplies piled up on the dock. After checking each item with his subordinates, he would lightly trace a line on the edge of the tablet with his fingernail. Today, he wore a dark gray linen robe, a leather belt with a bronze buckle around his waist, and animal skin boots. His hair swayed gently in the river breeze, and there was a faint vertical line between his eyebrows that was more pronounced than usual.

He finished reading the last number on the wooden tablet, then glanced at the stacks of supplies on the dock, confirming that each pile matched the number on the list. He then turned to Qingsui, who was standing beside him, and said, "The supplies that the Willow Vine Tribe is transporting have all been counted. We can leave once Bailin arrives with the fleet. I originally wanted to take you out for a trip, but I've been so busy these past few days, I haven't had a break. I've barely had time to sit down and have a proper meal. You've been running around with me and haven't had a proper rest either. Last night you even helped me check the list until midnight; I saw it, the lights were on very late."

Qingsui stood beside him, wearing a light blue linen dress with a few Little Flower embroidered on the hem, the edges of the petals shimmering slightly in the sunlight. Her hair was tied in a braid that fell to one side of her shoulder, the end of which was tied with a light-colored string, a small section of the string hanging loosely and swaying gently in the breeze. She held nothing in her hands, simply standing there, her gaze shifting from the piles of supplies on the dock to the distant river. A few stray strands of hair were blown by the wind and fell back down, landing near her cheekbone, but she didn't bother to gather them up. After listening to Yan finish speaking, she turned her head slightly to look at him, a smile playing on her lips. The smile slowly unfolded, not deep but genuine, as if warmed by those words from the bottom of her heart. "I've never been here before. It's good to get out and about. I've mostly stayed at the Valley Tribe headquarters and the Little Valley Camp before, never having the chance to travel far. My father always said that girls shouldn't go too far, it's not safe, and I thought he was right then, so I always stayed in the camp. The scenery here is nice, the trees on both sides of the river are denser, and I don't even recognize some of the leaves. When I woke up this morning, I saw fog on the river, different from the fog in the Valley Tribe. The fog here is thinner and dissipates faster."

She withdrew her gaze and landed on Yan's face, her voice softer than before. "Besides, I've learned a lot from working with you lately—how to quickly inventory supplies, how to arrange the docking order of the fleet, how to deal with people from other tribes. My father taught me some of these things back in the Valley Tribe, but I never had the chance to practice them myself. Now that I've been with you, I feel much more at ease. As long as I can be by your side, I'm happy wherever we go. Whether I'm waiting for you in the camp or running around with you, just seeing you makes me feel happy."

After listening, Yan didn't immediately respond. He switched the empty wooden tablet in his hand to his other hand, then reached out and gently touched her fingertips resting at her side. His fingertips lingered on the back of her hand for a moment, as if using that gesture to replace a sentence he hadn't yet uttered. His gaze lingered on her face for a moment, then he spoke, his voice lower than before, carrying a softness as if gently pushed by those words: "Qingsui, thank you. The Fire Tribe has been so busy lately. Since our wedding, I've hardly had a moment's rest. The relocation of the management center, the Willow Vine Tribe, the northern outpost—one thing after another, it's like someone's pushing me along. You've been running around with me all this time, and haven't enjoyed any of the good life. Sometimes when I think about it, I feel sorry for you."

Qingsui shook her head slightly. She gently tucked the finger that Yan had touched into her hand, and then she said, "What you're busy with is all important. There are so many people in the Fire Tribe working; you can't just hide at home and rest. If you stayed home every day, I would feel uneasy. I'm happy to follow you around, and I'm happy to see you get things done one by one. Yesterday, when the supplies at the dock were tallied, I saw you smile, and I was happy for a long time afterward."

She paused, then looked back at the river, and said, "Besides, I didn't just follow along. I helped you check the seals on those sacks in the granary, checked the sentry rosters at the ferry crossing, and even watched over the manpower allocation at the dock for a few days. You can do these things, and so can I. Father used to say I was quite efficient, and now it seems he was right."

Yan smiled, the smile slowly spreading from the corners of his mouth to the corners of his eyes. He didn't say anything more, but simply withdrew his hand and placed it at his side. His gaze shifted from Qingsui's face to the supplies waiting to be loaded onto the ship at the dock. The wind blew from the river, causing the thin rope at the end of her braid to bounce slightly before falling back down to her shoulder.

Just as the two were talking, Liutiao walked over from the camp. He wore a light brown linen robe, with a leather belt embroidered with vine patterns around his waist. His hair was tied back with a leather cord, and a few strands fell from his ears, landing on his cheekbones. He walked faster than usual, his boots making short, sharp sounds on the wooden planks of the dock. He stopped in front of Yan, glanced at Qingsui, nodded slightly to her, then turned to Yan and spoke in a low but clear voice, "Young Chief, you're right. The Tiger Tribe didn't send a large number of troops to pursue or cause trouble. They only sent some boats to operate near the Great Luwei Tribe, mainly to guard against and monitor our movements. There aren't many boats from the Great Luwei Tribe, mainly some 50,000-jin-capacity boats and some small boats. They don't dare to go upstream, only circling back and forth on the east bank of the Fish River. Our people are watching from the opposite bank and have seen them circle twice a day, morning and evening, taking roughly the same routes."

After listening, Yan nodded, his gaze shifting from the dock to Liutiao's face. He lightly tapped the hilt of his sword at his waist and said, "That's good. This way, our retreat will be relatively unscathed and trouble-free. If the Tiger Tribe doesn't pursue us, we can safely take the people and transport the supplies. If they send a large force to chase after us, although we're not afraid, it will still be more troublesome and time-consuming. This is for the best; we can each go our own way and do our own thing."

Liutiao nodded, tapping his fingers lightly in front of him. He continued, his voice lower than before. "One major reason the Tiger Tribe hasn't sent troops to pursue them is that they've been recruiting people on the Long River Tiger Tribe. According to our informants, the Tiger Tribe has made considerable gains in the past few months, recruiting tens of thousands of people on the Long River. They've taken advantage of the smaller tribes' lack of preparedness, sending people to abduct them in droves. We've heard that some entire tribes have been taken away without even a chance to resist. The Tiger Tribe's population has now exceeded 200,000 and is approaching 300,000. If it weren't for the Fire Tribe's large-scale fleet appearing here, they wouldn't have shut down their workshops. Our people saw that the fires in several of their workshops had gone out, and the artisans had been gathered together as if they were on guard against us."

After listening, Yan tapped his fingers lightly on the hilt of his sword. He spoke in a low voice, "It seems the Tiger Tribe is also anxious. They know the Fire Tribe's fleet is pressing close to their doorstep, and they dare not focus all their efforts on the north anymore. They've stopped and gathered their craftsmen, which shows they feel the Tiger Tribe from our Fire Tribe's fleet. However, the Tiger Tribe's development is still slower than our Fire Tribe's. Our Fire Tribe 'Fire Tribe population is approaching 400,000, and the production capacity of our workshops is expanding. Shipbuilding, copper smelting, salt production, weaving—everything is increasing. The Fire Tribe's strength will soon completely overwhelm the Tiger Tribe. The Tiger Tribe can't catch up now; they're already a step behind, and their foundation is Fire Tribe than ours."

Liutiao nodded, his gaze lingering on Yan's face for a moment before he changed the subject, his voice more formal than before, his shoulders slightly straightening. "I believe that! Young Chief, our people have mostly migrated to the Greater Qing Tribe now. What about the Wolf Tribe, who are entrenched in the Great Boulder Tribe on the other side? They're only separated from our Greater Qing Tribe by a river, a half-day boat ride away. Although they're behaving themselves now, those people are very cunning; who knows when they'll suddenly pounce and bite us again? The Wolf Tribe's people are on the other side. While we're not afraid of them, this situation is still unsettling."

Yan did not answer immediately; his gaze shifted from Liutiao's face to the blurred shoreline on the opposite bank of the river. In the morning light, the outlines of the forests and hills on the opposite bank were faintly visible, like a gray-green curtain shrouded in a thin mist. His fingers tapped on the hilt of his sword for a moment, then he spoke, his voice low, "Now, the Great Luwei Tribe to the north of the Wolf Tribe is Tiger Tribe territory, the Bear Tribe Greater Qing Tribe is on the west bank, and the primeval forest is to the east. They are surrounded, with our Fire Tribe on two sides and the inescapable Old Forest on the other. The Wolf Tribe's methods of coercion and plunder are no longer effective here. They used to rely on looting and running away, only to plunder again elsewhere. Now they are trapped in a fixed place, unable to plunder anything new, and their existing resources are dwindling day by day. As time goes on, their supplies will only decrease. Our Fire Tribe will continue to compress the Wolf Tribe Wolf Tribe's living space, harass and attack their military forces, preventing them from peacefully farming, training their troops, and recovering their strength. When the time is right, we will deliver a devastating blow to the Wolf Tribe."

He paused, lowered his finger from mid-air, and let it hang at his side. His voice was lower than before. "Many of the people who joined our Fire Tribe have a blood feud with the Wolf Tribe. We will not let the Wolf Tribe get away with this. Their good days are numbered!"

After listening, Liutiao nodded. When he spoke, his voice carried a calmness that came from confirmation, and the corners of his mouth relaxed slightly. "The Wolf Tribe is indeed despicable. We've heard of the Wolf Tribe bloodshed and brutality even from this distance. Back when they were in the lower reaches of the Fish River, they plundered everywhere, stealing grain, people, and livestock. Wherever they went, disaster followed. Later, they also ravaged the Great Boulder Tribe. The Fish River Basin has no need for such a tribe. Young Chief, when you make your move, the warriors of the Willow Vine Tribe are willing to lend a hand. Although we are few in number, we can still muster quite a few elite soldiers."

Yan nodded at him, a slight smile playing on his lips, "We'll talk about it later. Let's finish what we're doing first."

Liutiao nodded, then said, "I also heard from my informants that there's a super-large tribe with a population of over a million on the Long River."

Yan nodded, turning his gaze from the dock to Liutiao's face, and then spoke, his voice low but clear. "I've heard about this too. That's why our Fire Tribe needs to relocate its management center to the Valley Tribe. Only in this way can we confront the Tiger Tribe more easily. Our Fire Tribe's target isn't the Tiger Tribe, but those super-large tribes with millions of people on the Long River. The Tiger Tribe is merely a Shitou in our path; only by removing it can we see further. Only by rapidly increasing our strength can our Fire Tribe possess a certain degree of self-defense power on this land."

Liutiao and Qingsui nodded simultaneously. Standing next to Flame, Qingsui gently twirled her fingers at the edge of her sleeve before letting go. She said, "You're right. The Fire Tribe can't just look at the present; we have to look further ahead. What we're doing now is so that we can stand more firmly in the future."

A breeze blew across the river, carrying a cool, damp scent of budding Water Grass. It ruffled the edges of the supplies piled on the dock, causing a few pieces of burlap draped over vines to flutter slightly. Yan stood at the edge of the dock, his gaze shifting from Qingsui's face to Liutiao's, then to the rippling water. He tapped his fingers at his side, then spoke, "Once Bailin returns with the fleet, we'll load these things onto the ships and leave. We won't linger here. There's a mountain of things waiting for us at the Greater Qing Tribe. Shibang is overseeing the defenses there; one thing after another. We can't afford to waste too much time here."

Liutiao nodded, put away the wooden tablet in her hand, turned and walked towards the camp. Qingsui stood next to Yan, tucked a few strands of hair that had been blown by the wind behind her ears, and looked towards the river in the distance.