Chapter Summaries

Xueya’s force subdued the Mole Burrow, Firefly Marsh, and Boat People Tribes, swelling the Wolf Tribe’s ranks and supplies. After preparing the recruits for battle, Xueya led more than nine hundred people north into the Horse Tribe’s sphere of influence to raid another tribe.

• Xueya left guards at the Firewood Tribe and led the remaining force to capture the Mole Burrow Tribe, whose chief Tuzhua surrendered.
• Xueya’s army reached the Firefly Marsh Tribe, where chief Zecao surrendered without a fight and handed over the tribe’s scepter.
• Xueya surrounded the Boat People Tribe, and chief Muzhou opened the gates and surrendered.
• Xueya reorganized the captured young men, assigned guards to their families, and counted more than three hundred thousand jin of grain and other supplies.
• Xueya ordered a day of rest and a feast, using the veterans’ stories to inspire the recruits before leading the force north toward a Horse Tribe settlement.

Xueya led more than nine hundred fighters in a surprise attack that destroyed the Green Vine Tribe and seized its horses and supplies. The Wolf Tribe celebrated its spoils as Xueya looked ahead to expanding his cavalry and challenging the Horse Tribe.

• Xueya ordered his force to hide overnight and attack the Green Vine Tribe before dawn, assigning Shichui to lead the assault, Duyan to seize the stables, and Yexiao to block escape routes.
• At dawn, Shichui’s men smashed through the palisade while Duyan captured the ponies and Xueya’s fighters overwhelmed the Green Vine Tribe’s able-bodied adults.
• After the fighting, Xueya ordered young women taken from the survivors and forced recruits to massacre the remaining old people, women, and children.
• Xueya learned that the Wolf Tribe had seized more than 120 adult ponies, grain, livestock, and other supplies, then promised the fighters a feast and rewarded those who had distinguished themselves.
• Xueya celebrated the captured horses and considered raiding more tribes to build a cavalry of five hundred riders.

Xueya led the Wolf Tribe through a series of raids on northern tribes, gathering horses and supplies while warning allied tribes to evacuate south. After the Horse Tribe learned of the attacks and began assembling cavalry, Xueya turned the plundering force toward High Pointed Mountain with thousands of people and livestock.

• Xueya led more than nine hundred warriors to capture the Small Tree Vine Tribe, where the warriors killed its defenders and seized more than sixty horses and abundant supplies.
• Xueya attacked the guarded Great Grass Vine Tribe, but its chief Tengjiao and three riders escaped, prompting Xueya to warn southern tribes that the Horse Tribe would seek revenge.
• Xueya ordered messengers to urge the allied tribes to evacuate to High Pointed Mountain, then continued raiding the Mound Earth, Frog Marsh, and Sparrow Nest Tribes.
• After the nearby northern tribes fled and some escapees carried news to the Horse Tribe, Xueya ended the raids and led his force south with their plunder and captives.
• Chai Dao warned the Charcoal Fire Tribe and other allied communities to evacuate, and they traveled south with their families, livestock, and supplies.
• Xueya reunited with the retreating column and ordered it to move faster after learning that the Horse Tribe was gathering cavalry to pursue them.

After the Wolf Tribe massacred the Great Grass Vine Tribe, Junfeng resolved to destroy Xueya’s forces and led six hundred Horse Tribe cavalry south in pursuit. At the Sparrow Nest Tribe, he learned the Wolf Tribe had already departed with more than eight hundred people and many supplies, and he continued after them rather than wait for reinforcements.

• Tengjiao told Junfeng that Xueya’s Wolf Tribe had attacked the Great Grass Vine Tribe, killing his people and taking horses, and begged for vengeance.
• Junfeng’s leaders and elders agreed the Horse Tribe should eliminate the Wolf Tribe, and Junfeng ordered the five northern vassal tribes to send a hundred cavalry each.
• Junfeng left Muyun and Jiangsuo to defend the Horse Tribe and led six hundred cavalry south to pursue Xueya.
• At the ruined Sparrow Nest Tribe, Junfeng and Tengjiao saw the burned camp and remains of the dead, while survivors reported that the Wolf Tribe had departed three days earlier.
• Junfeng refused to wait for the reinforcements and ordered his cavalry to keep pursuing the burdened Wolf Tribe, vowing that Xueya would not escape.

Xueya led a thousand Wolf Tribe fighters to delay Junfeng’s six-hundred elite Horse Tribe cavalry while Shichui escorted the migrating tribes south. After a costly day of fighting, both sides held their positions, and Xueya ordered his forces to camp as the migrants gained distance.

• Xueya learned that six hundred Horse Tribe cavalry were less than two hours behind the migrants and ordered Shichui to lead the people south while he stayed to hold off the pursuers.
• Xueya led more than six hundred cavalry and nearly four hundred infantry to meet Junfeng’s forces, and the two chiefs ordered their armies to attack.
• Xueya sent his infantry against the Horse Tribe cavalry’s flank, forcing Junfeng to withdraw and regroup three hundred paces away.
• Junfeng refused another direct charge and chose to wait for reinforcements, planning to attack the Wolf Tribe from the front and rear.
• Xueya’s forces lost more than two hundred fighters while inflicting seventy or eighty casualties, and Yexiao warned that the Horse Tribe had reinforcements coming.
• Xueya judged that the migrants had reached a safer distance and ordered the Wolf Tribe’s forces to make camp and maintain the standoff.

Xueya led the Wolf Tribe south while Junfeng pursued with five hundred Horse Tribe cavalry, harassing the retreating force. Xueya lured Junfeng into Tiger and Leopard Valley, where a prepared ambush trapped the Horse Tribe riders.

• Xueya ordered the Wolf Tribe to withdraw, but a patrol alerted Junfeng that they had fled south.
• Junfeng pursued with five hundred cavalry while ordering Zhuiying to remain behind with the wounded and supplies.
• Xueya split his column and used his cavalry to hold off the Horse Tribe with repeated clashes and retreats.
• Xueya planned to trap Junfeng in Tiger and Leopard Valley, sending Duyan ahead with infantry to ambush the cliffs.
• Junfeng sent Chidian and a hundred riders into the valley to scout, then realized it was a trap when stones and logs began rolling down.

Junfeng ended the standoff at Tiger and Leopard Valley by accepting Xueya’s oath, the captured Horse Tribe warriors, and two thousand sheep, though he privately admitted he did not trust Xueya. As the Horse Tribe withdrew, Xueya dismissed his oath and ordered the Wolf Tribe to return to High Pointed Mountain.

• Xueya’s ambush in Tiger and Leopard Valley killed more than forty Horse Tribe cavalrymen, captured Chidian and others, and gave the Wolf Tribe over forty usable horses.
• Junfeng received five hundred affiliated-tribe reinforcements, but held his forces outside the valley because the Wolf Tribe controlled the high ground.
• After learning that the people seized by the Wolf Tribe were nearing High Pointed Mountain, Junfeng met Xueya, who offered to release the captives and give two thousand sheep in exchange for peace.
• Junfeng demanded an oath sworn in the name of the Wolf Tribe’s ancestors, then accepted the sheep and captives and withdrew with his forces.
• Junfeng told Xiao Matou and Tengjiao that he had agreed because his troops lacked supplies and could not afford a costly assault, while hinting that the decision was not the end of the matter.
• Xueya laughed off his oath and ordered the Wolf Tribe to pack up and return to High Pointed Mountain.

Junfeng assessed the Horse Tribe’s losses and decided to unite tribes hostile to the Wolf Tribe before Xueya attacked again. At High Pointed Mountain, Xueya consolidated the captured tribes, prepared his recruits for war, and planned future moves against the Horse Tribe and others.

• Junfeng explained that the Horse Tribe’s losses mattered more than the Wolf Tribe’s and warned that Xueya would return once his new fighters were trained.
• Junfeng proposed an alliance against the Wolf Tribe and assigned envoys to contact the Fire Tribe, Fish Tribe, and Pottery Salt Tribe while subordinate leaders prepared their forces.
• Junfeng comforted Chidian, rejected his offer to take blame for the ambush, and vowed to make Xueya pay next time.
• Xueya reviewed the camps and supplies with Yexiao, then ordered the captured young men to be fed and trained while their families remained under Wolf Tribe control.
• Xueya spared Chai Sheng, a runaway who feared for his mother, and ordered him reunited with her before telling him he now belonged to the Wolf Tribe.
• Xueya ordered preparations for a renewed northern campaign and told Yexiao to watch the Fish Tribe and Fire Tribe as well.

After the Wolf Tribe destroyed several northern tribes, more than four thousand refugees fled south and the Fire Tribe took them in. Yan and Jianshi learned that the Wolf Tribe had grown into a force of over a thousand warriors and discussed uniting with neighboring tribes against its next attack.

• After hearing that the Wolf Tribe had slaughtered northern tribes, Nigen led the Green Mud Tribe and other allied tribes toward the Fish Tribe for refuge.
• Canglan told Weigan he could not house more than four thousand refugees and directed them south to the Fire Tribe.
• After nine days of travel, Weigan and the other chiefs asked Jianshi to take them in, and Jianshi welcomed them as members of the Fire Tribe.
• Weigan told Jianshi and Yan that the Wolf Tribe had swept up several tribes, defeated the Horse Tribe in an ambush, and grown to over a thousand warriors, including at least six hundred cavalry.
• Yan warned Jianshi that the Wolf Tribe would likely attack the west next and proposed joining forces with the Fish Tribe, the Horse Tribe, and other tribes.

Jianshi reviewed the Fire Tribe’s growing population, fleet, and grain trade, then laid out plans to defend against the Wolf Tribe and expand settlements along the Fire Creek River. The council agreed to pursue the expansion, while Yan considered how the tribes might unite against the Wolf Tribe.

• Jianya reported that the Fire Tribe had received another 1.5 million jin of grain from the Valley Tribe and planned to return for the remaining five million jin.
• Yan told the council that more than four thousand people fleeing the Wolf Tribe had joined the Fire Tribe, which now had over forty-one thousand people and more than eight thousand warriors.
• Dabang announced that the boatbuilding workshop had built forty new five-thousand-jin boats and twenty ten-thousand-jin boats, giving the Fire Tribe capacity to carry over a million jin of grain per trip.
• Jianshi proposed building an outpost at Stone Creek Mouth to watch the Wolf Tribe, moving people to White Pig, and increasing production of bronze tools and farming implements.
• Jianshi assigned Dali and Yan to bring back five or six thousand people from tribes upstream on the Fish River, and proposed clearing land and establishing settlements along the Fire Creek River.
• Jianya, Dali, Binmao, and Jijiao supported Jianshi’s expansion plan, while Yan resolved that the Fire Tribe should unite with neighboring tribes to counter the Wolf Tribe.

Jianya brought the Fire Tribe’s expanded fleet to the Fish Tribe to collect grain and discussed an alliance against the Wolf Tribe with Canglan. He agreed in principle to join forces, while the Fish Tribe chose pottery as payment so it could trade for horses, and the combined fleets departed to transport grain.

• Jianya led the Fire Tribe’s fleet of 140 five-thousand-jin boats and 21 ten-thousand-jin boats downriver to the Fish Tribe.
• Canglan proposed an alliance between the Fire Tribe and the Fish Tribe’s five-tribe coalition to defend against the Wolf Tribe, and Jianya agreed to discuss the details with his big brother.
• Canglan asked to pay for the Fish Tribe’s help with pottery, which he planned to trade to the Horse Tribe for short-legged horses, and Jianya accepted.
• Jianya learned that Jia Li and several other tribes were considering joining the Fire Tribe after autumn.
• Feiyu and Bailin led 30 two-thousand-jin boats and 10 five-thousand-jin boats to join the Fire Tribe’s fleet as the combined fleets set out to transport grain.

Yan led a fleet upstream to bring willing tribes from the White River, Clear River, and Wood River to join the Fire Tribe, then watched them settle into their prosperous new home. After checking on the tribe’s expanded boatbuilding, Yan and Dali set out again to collect people from the Stone River, Forest River, and Water River.

• Yan learned that more than six thousand people from six tributaries were ready to join the Fire Tribe and planned to collect them by boat.
• After Jianya’s grain fleet departed, Yan and Dali led a fleet north to the White River, where they took aboard 523 people and their supplies.
• Yan’s fleet collected more than a thousand people at the Clear River and more than a thousand at the Wood River, leaving some livestock and supplies guarded until another fleet could carry them.
• Yan brought the newcomers to the Fire Tribe, where they marveled at its fields, houses, and grain stores before being registered, housed, and fed.
• Dabang showed Yan that the boatbuilding workshop had launched forty new five-thousand-jin boats and ten ten-thousand-jin boats.
• Yan and Dali set out with a larger fleet to collect the people from the Stone River, Forest River, and Water River.

Yan led the Fire Tribe’s fleet to the Water River, Forest River, and Stone River, bringing their people back to join the tribe. After the newcomers settled and Dali retrieved supplies from the Wood River, Yan learned the Fire Tribe had grown to about 48,500 people, with more tribes considering joining.

• Yan and Dali set out with a fleet of more than three hundred boats to bring five thousand people from three tributaries to the Fire Tribe.
• At the Water River, Yan welcomed headman Shuigen and arranged for around two thousand people to board.
• Yan welcomed Lin Po and around fifteen hundred people from the Forest River, then brought more than fourteen hundred people from the Stone River aboard.
• Dali split off with fifty boats to collect supplies from the Wood River while Yan led the newcomers back to Fire Creek Mouth.
• Dali reunited with Jianya, who reported bringing back one and a half million jin of grain, and Yan said the Fire Tribe’s population had reached around 48,500, with more tribes interested in joining.

Jianya’s fleet finished transporting the belongings of more than 7,500 newcomers, and Jianshi held a meeting to review the Fire Tribe’s growth, supplies, and construction. The chapter ended with Yan and Dali preparing to fetch more grain from the Valley Tribe while Jianya rested for a later trip.

• Jianya’s fleet brought the remaining belongings of more than 7,500 new members safely to Fire Creek Wharf, where leaders sorted and stored them.
• Yan reported that the Fire Tribe had 48,500 registered members, an actual population of 54,000, and expected more than 5,000 additional people from allied tribes after the autumn harvest.
• Dabang reported increased workshop output and nine newly launched large boats, bringing the fleet to forty boats with a capacity of ten thousand jin each.
• Jianshi estimated that the Fire Tribe would have 13.3 million jin of grain and reviewed progress at the Fire Creek Mouth, Stone Creek Mouth, and Middle Fire Creek outposts.
• Jianshi ordered Yan and Dali to take the fleet to the Valley Tribe in two days for another grain shipment and told Jianya to rest until the next trip.

Yan and Dali led a fleet carrying pottery toward the Valley Tribe, stopping at the Pottery Salt Tribe to negotiate the tribes’ planned integration into the Fire Tribe. After the chiefs agreed to join following autumn, the fleet continued toward the Valley Tribe, and Yan estimated that the Fire Tribe would reach sixty thousand people once they arrived.

• Yan prepared a fleet with enough pottery to trade for two million jin of grain, then departed with Dali after receiving his family’s warnings and farewells.
• As the fleet traveled downstream, Yan and Dali passed the Fire Tribe’s growing outposts and discussed their harvests and defenses against the Wolf Tribe.
• At the Pottery Salt Tribe, Yan met Jia Li, Cangbo, Muye, and Wu Xiong, while Shinian described how well the Green Grain Tribe survivors had fared after joining the Fire Tribe.
• Yan showed the chiefs the Fire Tribe’s coarse salt, explained its population and grain production, and promised that their people could use their skills and find work after joining.
• The four chiefs agreed to join the Fire Tribe after autumn, and Yan promised to send a fleet to collect them after returning from the Valley Tribe.
• After the fleet departed, Yan told Dali that adding the four tribes would raise the Fire Tribe’s population to sixty thousand.

Yan arrived at the Fish Tribe with the Fire Tribe’s growing fleet and learned that its leaders were divided over joining the Fire Tribe as the Wolf Tribe’s threat increased. He promised support against the Wolf Tribe, then departed with Fish Tribe boats to transport grain, while Canglan prepared to call another meeting.

• Yan and Dali discussed whether the Fish Tribe would join the Fire Tribe as their fleet sailed downstream.
• Julang welcomed the fleet, and Yan met Canglan, who explained that the Fish Tribe had traded for a hundred horses and feared another attack by the Wolf Tribe.
• Canglan told Yan that Fish Tribe leaders were divided over joining the Fire Tribe and that Wolf Tribe scouts had been watching their defenses.
• Yan promised to tell his father about the scouts and said the Fire Tribe could station more people at Stone Creek Mouth to help defend the Fish Tribe.
• Canglan assigned Feiyu and Bailin to accompany the Fire Tribe’s grain fleet with forty Fish Tribe boats.
• Yan departed with the combined fleet, while Canglan told Julang they would hold another meeting after the fleet returned.

Yan spoke with Feiyu and Bailin aboard the fleet, learning about the Fish Tribe’s river knowledge, trade network, and divisions over a possible alliance against the Wolf Tribe. As the fleet neared the Horse Tribe’s territory, Yan ordered it to speed up so he could reach the Valley Tribe sooner and return in time to prepare for war after the harvest.

• Yan asked Feiyu and Bailin about their experience on the Fish River and learned that the Valley Tribe blocked travel downstream.
• Feiyu described the Fish Tribe’s trade with the Horse Tribe and Clothing Tribe, and Yan recognized the value of the Fish Tribe’s knowledge and connections.
• Feiyu and Bailin told Yan that the Horse Tribe wanted a joint attack on the Wolf Tribe, while Fish Tribe leaders disagreed about the plan and what to do with the Wolf Tribe’s dependents.
• Feiyu and Bailin explained that the Horse Tribe had strengthened its defenses and warning system after the Wolf Tribe’s earlier attack.
• Yan decided the Fire Tribe needed more time to prepare and ordered Dali to make the fleet travel faster toward the Valley Tribe.

Yan’s fleet reached the Valley Tribe’s Little Valley Camp Outpost, where Yan registered with Daiyan before continuing toward the main settlement to trade for two million jin of grain. Feiyu and Bailin, impressed by the Fire Tribe’s strength and technology, declared they wanted to join it.

• Yan told Feiyu and Bailin about the Fire Tribe’s saltmaking, pottery, linen, ships, grain production, and population, and both leaders said they wanted to join the Fire Tribe.
• Feiyu and Bailin shared information about the Fish River’s routes, reefs, docks, and tribes with Yan during the voyage.
• Ten days after leaving the Horse Tribe’s territory, Yan’s fleet arrived at Little Valley Camp, the Valley Tribe’s outpost across the river from its main settlement.
• Yan greeted Daiyan, received a registration pass, and gave him baskets of Fire Tribe goods before sailing toward the main settlement.
• Daiyan remarked that the Fire Tribe had forty ten-thousand-jin ships and 190 five-thousand-jin ships, but believed the Valley Tribe’s larger ships still controlled the river.
• Yan’s fleet approached the Valley Tribe’s main settlement, where the two-million-jin grain trade awaited.

Yan brought the Fire Tribe and Fish Tribe fleet to the Valley Tribe headquarters dock to collect grain and establish camp. After recognizing the Valley Tribe’s strong river blockade and Quyong’s wariness of the Fire Tribe’s growing power, Yan reunited with Qingsui and promised to show her his tribe next year.

• Yan saw the Valley Tribe’s large patrol boats and realized they had sealed the Fish River against downstream tribes.
• Quyong welcomed Yan at the headquarters dock, assessed the Fire Tribe’s rapidly growing fleet, and showed him a prepared campsite after accepting pottery as a gift.
• Yan noticed Quyong’s unease about the Fire Tribe’s rise and resolved to stay cautious while dealing with the Valley Tribe.
• Yan assigned Daya to help establish camp, then greeted Qingsui, who had come to see him.
• Yan and Qingsui walked beside the river, shared news about their tribes, and agreed that he would take her to visit the Fire Tribe next year.

Yan attended a banquet hosted by Daiyue, where they confirmed the grain trade and discussed expanding future supplies and transport. Qingsui saw Yan and the Fire Tribe delegation off as they returned to the dock.

• Qingsui praised Yan's leadership and told him she thought he had a good heart before a warrior summoned him to Daiyue's banquet.
• Yan arrived at the Valley Tribe camp with Fengren, Dali, Feiyu, and Bailin, bringing pottery worth two million jin of grain.
• Daiyue welcomed Yan and the other leaders at the council hall and praised the year's successful grain-for-pottery trade.
• Yan told Daiyue that the Fire Tribe fleet could carry two million jin of grain and promised an advance pottery payment equivalent to five million jin for next year's trade.
• Daiyue guaranteed the Valley Tribe would supply twenty million jin of grain next year and help transport it, while warning that future harvests could decline unless more land was cultivated.
• Yan and Daiyue settled trade and transport details, then Qingsui joined the delegation as it headed back to the dock.