Wuwuyi's plan was simple: lead the Aztlan people in the wrong direction and buy his tribe time to migrate. But it was the first time since she was born that she was surrounded by so many enemies. She couldn't predict how she would be treated along the way. Along the way, Wuwuyi kept his head shrinking and did not dare to make a sound, for fear that his identity would be exposed accidentally. Even if his identity was not exposed, it would not be a good thing to attract the attention of the Aztlan people.
But the Aztlan officer talked to Wuwuyi from time to time.
"I really don't understand how you guys live here," he said. "I'm already dizzy. There are no iconic buildings, farmland, or chinampa here, and there are not even any chinampas that have been stepped on by people." There are no wild trails. If I were to live here, I would probably go to the wrong door and sleep with the wrong woman every day."
Seeing that Wuwuyi lowered his head and seemed not to hear his words, the officer raised his whip angrily and swung it in the air.
"Let me ask you, how did you find the way here? Don't take us to other places by mistake then, right?"
Normally in the tribe, no matter who whipped her, Wuwuyi would definitely pounce on her and start a fight. But facing the terrifying military power of the Aztlan people, Wuwuyi chose to bow his head for the first time in his life. She answered honestly:
"There are landmarks on this grassland. Hillsides, lowlands, woods, and even animal nests can all be used to determine the location."
Hearing this, the officer looked around the surrounding environment.
"I can't see it at all. But whatever, as long as you can find the right way."
It could be seen that the officer was in a good mood to find a guide on this deserted grassland.
Wuwuyi continued to lead the way with his head lowered, mentally calculating how much time he would have to buy before his father could safely evacuate with his fellow tribesmen. For safety reasons, it was natural to take this group of Aztlan people as far away as possible. But over time they would definitely become suspicious, and if she was too far away from the tribe, she wouldn't be able to catch up.
During this period, through observation, she was able to somewhat distinguish the status classes of this group of Aztlan people - those with only a piece of white cloth around their waists were slaves; those with slightly more clothes were ordinary soldiers; those with higher-level soldiers Wearing cotton armor; the armor of officers of the next higher rank is embroidered with bright patterns such as the sun, cacti, and butterflies. The officer who spoke to her should be the highest-ranking officer here. He had an eagle's beak carved on his wooden helmet and two eyes painted with paint. He was the only one with a brightly colored cloak hanging behind him. It was similar to his father's decoration, and she guessed it was the Aztlan leader.
"The Aztecs didn't seem very rich," she muttered to herself. Slaves and civilians wore cloth woven from agave fiber, and high-ranking officers wore cotton clothes. She was not familiar with these materials and felt they were inferior to animal fur.
Suddenly a loud and harsh whistle came from the distance. Wuwuyi had never heard such a terrifying sound. Although the heat was not as loud as the lion's roar, it penetrated directly into her nerves and bone marrow, making her shudder.
The officer waved the troops to stop their march. Not long after, Wuwuyi saw a dozen Aztlans running over from the direction of the whistle.
"Sir!" they pointed to the report that came over, "We found many stoves there, and it is estimated that about five hundred people were stationed there!"
Wuwuyi felt a chill in his heart. She thought her plan had been successful, but she never expected that the Aztlan people had their own reconnaissance team.
The officer frowned slightly. The direction pointed by these soldiers was completely opposite to the direction pointed by Wuwuyi.
"What else did you find? Did you see the tribe?"
"No." The soldiers replied, "Those stoves have been there for some time."
Wuwuyi breathed a sigh of relief. What these scouts should have discovered was their tribe's previous camp. They were stationed there when they first moved from other places. However, it didn't take long for them to find that there were too many ferocious beasts around the camp and it was difficult to defend them, so they moved a short distance to the west.
"It was the previous camp of our tribe." Wuwuyi said, "Because there were too many wild animals, we moved eastward."
The officer nodded without any suspicion.
"Continue your investigation," he said. "If you find anything else, come back and report to me immediately."
Although he successfully passed the test, Wuwuyi became increasingly nervous. Originally, she planned to take the Aztlan people eastward for two days, and then sneak back quietly to find her own tribe. But the Aztlans had reconnaissance parties and had successfully probed the previous camp. If the search continued, the location of her tribe would soon be discovered.
She suddenly turned in the opposite direction, taking the Aztlan south.
"Wait a minute, is this the wrong way?" the officer asked, "The terrain is so flat. If you want to go in this direction, you can go diagonally from the beginning. Why do you have to turn around?"
"To go to our tribe, we have to continue walking in the direction we just walked." Wuwuyi explained, "But the journey is a bit far, and we have to walk for two days. If we want to continue forward, we have to go nearby to replenish water. "
"There is still enough water in the army." The officer said, "Don't worry about the water, just keep moving forward."
Wuwuyi forced a smile and persuaded: "There will be no other water sources further ahead. Are you sure you don't want to replenish the water first?"
"Sir, after walking for so many days, I have consumed a lot of water." A junior officer advised from the side, "Since there is no water source ahead, it is better to take this opportunity to fill up the water. It is not a bad thing to have more water. .”
The officer nodded, convinced.
"Not far, right?"
"It only takes a short half-day walk." Wuwuyi lowered his head to prevent the expression on his face from revealing his thoughts. "That is rare mountain spring water. You people in the Aztlan Empire should like it."
So Wuwuyi walked with the Aztlan soldiers for a long time and came to the side of a mountain. It is said to be a mountain, but in fact it is just a slightly raised hillside. To the Aztlan people, who were accustomed to seeing plateaus and mountains, this was not even a small piece of dirt. But in this prairie, this can indeed be regarded as a mountain.
There are very few plants on the mountain, and there are many exposed rocks. The spring Wuwuyi mentioned is at the foot of the hillside. The cracks in the rocks formed natural stone channels, which led the spring water down from above and finally gathered it in a stone pool.
The soldiers who had traveled a long distance felt relaxed and happy when they saw the source of water. Without waiting for the officer to say anything, they rushed forward and started drinking. After quenching their thirst, the soldiers began to fill the spare water bags with water. Aztlan had no carts or animal power, so all supplies had to be carried around. In addition to each carrying the day's water and food, there were also slaves in the army who were responsible for carrying goods. From their shoulders to their waists, they had water bags hanging full everywhere.
The officer drank the few water left in his water bag in several sips, and then handed the water bag to a soldier. The soldier filled the kettle with water and quickly ran back. The officer drank a few mouthfuls of spring water and sighed happily: "The mountain spring water is still sweeter."
"Yes." Wuwuyi's voice was a little trembling, "The mountain spring water is very sweet."
"By the way, how did you do it?" the officer asked with a smile, "You know the location of the water source, but you almost died of thirst before you met us?"
He just asked casually, but he didn't expect Wuwuyi to suddenly turn around and run away!
