Rolos was silent for a long time. His face became as pale as Wuwuyi's, and his palms began to sweat.
"Lolos?" Wuwuyi shook his hand nervously and asked again, "Why don't you speak?"
Rolos knew that Wuwuyi actually already had the answer in his heart. She was waiting for her rebuttal and wanted to reassure herself through her own words. But he couldn't make Wuwuyi feel at ease. According to past experience, every time the Aztlan people dispatched on a large scale, it was to capture human sacrifices from various tribes on the grassland, but even so, the number of soldiers dispatched at each time would not exceed 300. Three thousand Aztlan soldiers were walking towards his tribe. The severity of this situation far exceeded any crisis he had ever experienced.
"We'd better move now."
Rolos avoided Wuwuyi's sight and said to his fellow tribesmen next to him:
"The chief is ready to move to the west. You can escort Wuwuyi to the west first. I will go back and inform the chief about this, and then I will catch up with the rest of the tribe."
Wuwuyi was startled: "Lolos, what are you..."
"Why are you still standing there?" Rolos yelled at his tribe companions, "Why don't you take Wuwuyi with you and leave immediately?"
Perhaps they had realized something, the tribesmen nodded solemnly, and then started moving without saying a word. They grabbed Wuwuyi's arms, covered her mouth, let her struggle, and dragged her toward the west.
Rolos and the remaining tribesmen watched Wuwuyi leave.
"Lolos, you are the smartest in our tribe. You can write and count large numbers." Someone said, "Tell us the truth, can we successfully retreat this time?"
"Why are you panicking?" Lolos forced a smile, "We're not sure yet that the Aztlan people are coming for us."
"Then what if they are really coming for us?"
"...Then we can only hope that Wuwuyi can continue the tribe."
This place is very close to the tribe's camp. With a large-scale migration of more than five hundred people, it was almost impossible to completely avoid this group of Aztlans. They had to carry heavy daily necessities with them, and if any clues were discovered, the Aztlans could easily chase them. Even if they want to surrender, I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve - the Aztlan people, who are sent out with the purpose of capturing sacrifices, never accept any form of surrender.
Rolos looked back at the gray wolf that Wuwuyi was hunting.
"Who is willing to go with me to find the Aztlan people?" he asked the people who stayed behind. "If you bring gifts and pretend to be a messenger, maybe you can buy some time for the chief to migrate."
Without waiting for anyone to answer, the group of people who dragged Wuwuyi away suddenly ran back in a panic.
"Uwuyi, Wuwuyi, she ran away again! In the direction of the Aztlans!"
…
Wuwuyi gritted his teeth and ran wildly on the grassland. The Aztlan people's team had already marched in front of her. In order to circle back to the front of the queue, she could not even have a moment to stop.
The body that has not completely escaped from the wild helped her, allowing her to run tirelessly and continuously at a speed that the Aztlan people could not reach; the natural and primitive magic protected her, allowing her to survive on the grassland where she was born and raised. Her clothes were simple and light, not as heavy as the Aztlan's cotton armor; the wild beasts that fled in panic due to the large-scale march also helped her, allowing her to determine Ah from a long distance. The whereabouts of the Ztlan people.
Without being noticed by anyone, she arrived at the front of Aztlan's marching queue.
She took off the colorful hat that symbolized her status, revealing her boyishly simple short hair. She held up the soil with both hands again, letting the black mud cover up the red war lines on her skin; panting would reveal her long-distance running, and she must adjust immediately; fear would expose her plan, and she must clear her mind and not think about it. .
Before today, she naively believed that being an enemy of the Aztlan Empire meant gathering dozens of people from both sides and making an appointment to fight. She didn't understand why her father had to pay tribute to the Aztlan Empire every year, and she didn't understand why every year the tribe produced several strong men for the Aztlan Empire to kill on the altar.
These questions were all answered the moment they saw the Aztlan's massive procession.
However, even so, she did not want to kneel at the feet of the Aztlan like her father.
——To solve the Aztlan Empire, there must be other methods besides force.
When the Aztlan people found Uwuyi, she was covered in mud and struggling to walk on the grassland with a cane. Before the Aztlan people could say anything, she turned around and limped towards them.
"Excuse me, is there water?"
She opened her lips, dry from the long run, and begged the Aztlan soldiers. The Aztlan soldier walking at the front kicked her away impatiently. She endured the pain and climbed up holding her belly, and continued to plead:
"Okay, give me some water...I can do anything."
The Aztlan people completely ignored her and continued to move forward - such a little girl was not qualified to be captured as a sacrifice.
But when the leading Aztlan officer passed by, he let the soldiers drag Wuwui in front of him with great interest.
"Why are you here alone?" he asked. "Where is your tribe?"
"Water." Wuwuyi repeated the same sentence, "Give me some water..."
At the officer's signal, a soldier threw a kettle to Wuwuyi. Wuwuyi picked up the kettle, unscrewed the lid without saying a word, and drank the entire kettle.
"Answer my question," the officer repeated, "Where is your tribe? Why are you alone?"
Wuwuyi slowly put down the kettle, with a bit of sadness in his eyes.
"My parents were killed by grizzly bears while hunting. I stole some food and was expelled from the tribe. I haven't eaten anything for two days. If you need slaves..."
The officer motioned to a soldier next to him with his eyes. The soldier took out a piece of dried meat and threw it on the muddy ground.
Wuwuyi suppressed the anger in her heart, picked up the pieces of meat in the mud and started to chew them.
The officer laughed.
"Very good, we need people like you. Where is your original tribe? As long as you take us there, you can get a small reward."
Wuwuyi rolled her eyes and swallowed the piece of meat that smelled of mud into her stomach, then wiped the mud from her mouth.
"I remember the way," she said. "It's two days' journey from here. Come with me."
Propping up his body with branches, Wuwuyi led the Aztlan soldiers in the completely opposite direction to where the tribe was.
