Just as the tribal army began to attack the city, many Taya warriors in the northeastern mountains, led by their respective leaders, converged on a large mountain.
The Taya tribe was probably the first to migrate to the island, and was probably the most populous ethnic group on the island, as well as the most aggressive and aggressive.
In fact, the Taya tribe is just a collective name. There are dozens of tribes, large and small, with very similar lifestyles, customs and beliefs.
However, their languages are quite different, and they have different names for themselves, and they are often hostile to each other.
Sometimes this kind of conquest is for hunting resources, and sometimes it is just for headhunting.
The biggest thing they have in common is tattoos, which are a symbol of adulthood and achievements, and are the most glorious and serious event in life!
People without facial tattoos will not be respected and recognized by their tribesmen, nor will they be qualified to discuss marriage. After death, they will not be able to cross the Rainbow Bridge and reach the resting place promised by their ancestors.
To be qualified for tattoos, girls must be proficient in weaving skills and remain virgins, while young men must go out to hunt for heads and prove that they are brave and good at fighting.
In addition to facial tattoos, men who are successful in headhunting and women with excellent weaving skills will be given the privilege to have specific patterns tattooed on their chests, hands, feet and forehead, which is equivalent to a 'medal of glory'.
As long as a person with tattoos on these parts walks through the crowd, everyone will naturally respect him, make way for him, and look at him with envy and adoration.
Therefore, for Taya men, hunting wild animals is for survival, and hunting human heads is their pursuit in life.
The destination of these Taya warriors is Dahu Mountain on the eastern edge of the Taichung Basin. There is a relatively large village on the top of the mountain, which is the most powerful Dahu tribe's main village among the Taya tribe.
Many warriors have arrived around the village, and they have built hunting houses in the forest next to the big trees as temporary residences.
In the center of the village, there is a wooden tower more than ten feet high. The tower is densely covered with black and dry heads or skeletons.
When the wind blows, the hanging human heads sway and collide, making a dull and dull beating sound, like an alternative type of wind chime.
Probably there is no room for them to be hung on the tower, so there is still a large wall of human heads stacked neatly around the bottom of the tower.
Next to the wooden tower is the Gongse Lingsi, which is built with thick ancient wood. Compared with the surrounding wooden houses, it looks particularly majestic and spectacular.
There is a simple and huge altar in the public house. There are many wooden carvings on it, including figures representing ancestral spirits, as well as wood gods, mountain gods, snake gods, the sun and so on.
Standing in front of the altar was an old man with sparse beard and hair, a stooped figure, and skin as rough as tree bark.
This old man is the chief priest of the Great Lakes Tribe and the wisest venerable person recognized by all the Taya ethnic group, Mu Hua.
It is said that Mu Hua was also very brave when he was young. He hunted a bear alone at the age of thirteen. At the age of fifteen, he left the tribe and wandered around for unknown reasons. He did not return until many years later and became the leader of the tribe, making the Great Lakes The tribe grew stronger and stronger, with a population of tens of thousands.
Standing behind Mu's avatar were the heads of other ministries. They chanted mantras together and worshiped the statues frequently.
After the ceremony, dozens of people sat together in the public hall and began to discuss matters.
A strong man with many tattoos on his body and wild beast tusks hanging on his chest was the first to speak, "Dear High Priest, did the tribe in the south put forward some irresistible conditions, so you decided to make a big move?"
This strong man is called Haru, and he is the strongest warrior of a tribe not far east of the Great Lakes.
His problem was also of concern to others, so they all focused on Mu Hua.
Although Mu Hua was very old, his eyes were still bright. He shook his head slowly and smiled, "Actually, no matter what the conditions are, I have already decided to send troops, otherwise I would not have let everyone gather beforehand."
Another elder named Pensai Bukan frowned and questioned, "You said before that you brought everyone together to hold an unprecedented grand ceremony, and also to discuss everyone's future, and to guard against the southern tribes and Why did the Mori tribe decide to send troops again?"
In the face of doubts, Mu Hua took his time, "Because this is a major event that affects everyone's future. You may not realize it yet, but we are about to face a life-and-death crisis right now."
As soon as these words came out, the crowd was agitated. Many people felt that Mu Hua was being alarmist.
Pensebukan asked directly, "There are still plenty of prey in the mountains and forests, and crops in the farmland have been harvested. There are no major disasters and diseases. We have fewer fights with each other. Our sacrifices to the ancestors are He is also very attentive, and his life is pretty good, so why would the chief priest say that we are going to encounter difficulties?"
There was no emotion or anger on Mu Hua's face, but he still said slowly, "Everyone knows that many Song people came to the east coast and built a very grand walled city, and the tribes in the south have united to drive away these Song people. We have been invited to participate many times, but I have always asked everyone not to agree yet."
Pensai Bukan didn't understand. "Although we have little contact with the tribes in the south, preventing overseas invasion should be the common goal of all tribes. After all, the island is only so big. Why doesn't the chief priest agree?"
Others also said, "Yes, we all lived on the plains in the east a long time ago. But when the Mori people came, they drove us all into the mountains. If another Song people come, where can we go?"
"I wanted to send troops before, but everyone has always respected the opinion of the high priest, so they endured it. Now the high priest has finally figured it out, and it's not too late."
After everyone present had finished speaking, Mu Hua spoke again, "Everyone is right. The arrival of the Song people will definitely change our lives, but everyone has overlooked one point. Even if the Song people are driven away, The tribal alliance in the south is also dominated by the Song people. In the future, they will become increasingly close and even completely integrated into one, becoming a powerful whole. Wouldn't they threaten us?"
After listening to this, dozens of people present were all lost in thought. The more they thought about it, the more they felt that the high priest was indeed the wisest person, and could even see through such a profound crisis.
"No wonder the high priest is unwilling to help the southern tribe. It turns out that it is out of this consideration. When two wild boars fight, the best thing to do is to wait for them to both lose. The high priest is still smarter!"
The natives are relatively simple. When Mu Hua gave a reason that convinced everyone, Pensai Bukan immediately became very admired.
Mu Hua waved his hand, "You are right but not entirely right. You should also have heard that I once went overseas when I was young. In fact, it was true. At first, I went to a small island not far to the west, which people in the Song Dynasty called It is Pinghu Island. I stayed there for a few years and learned a lot. Then I followed the Song people there to visit their ancestral land. It was a vast land of mountains and rivers, perhaps a hundred times larger than our island, with a larger population. There are countless of them, probably a thousand times as many as our entire clan.”
“They wore extremely gorgeous clothes, had tall and magnificent cities, could grow food denser than grass, had ships as big as mountains, and had iron tools everywhere. They had troops dedicated to fighting, wearing iron clothes and holding weapons. Sharp swords and guns, bows and arrows can shoot ten times farther than ours... There are too many, and there are countless more powerful than us. I once thought that maybe the resting place promised by the ancestors was nothing more than this."
"What's more important is that they have a unified leader, called the emperor, or the official family. As long as the emperor wants to do something, all the subjects must work hard for it."
"So if the emperor of the Song Dynasty wants this island, it will be useless even if all the tribes on our island unite completely. Even if they can be driven away once, there will be a second and third time, depending on the number of their troops. It is several times more than all the men, women, and children on the island combined.”
This unimaginable power silenced everyone.
Pensai Bukan asked, "What does the Great Sacrifice mean that the Song Dynasty people will definitely occupy this place?"
A trace of confusion flashed in Mu Hua's eyes, "I don't know either, because the Song Dynasty is very large and complicated, and there are tens of thousands of officials under the emperor. I don't know if the island occupation comes from the will of the emperor."
"And they also have internal conflicts and disputes, so some people have promoted the southern tribal alliance. Therefore, I don't want everyone to act rashly until they can see through it."
"Originally, I was waiting for the Song people who came to the island to come in contact, but I didn't expect that after they occupied a small area, they just moved back after a little testing."
"In my original idea, if I could get a suitable condition, there would be nothing wrong with submitting to the Song Dynasty. After all, I just learned a few things from the Song people and made the Great Lakes Department as strong as it is today."
"When the southern tribes sent people to contact me, I also wanted to go over and help the Song people, but I still couldn't make up my mind. After all, this choice is too important."
Even the wisest Daji Capital did not dare to choose easily, and the others present even had no idea.
After a long silence, Pensai Bukan asked again, "Then the chief priest has decided to send troops now, is he going to help the Song people?"
"No!" the chief priest said decisively, with some confusion in his eyes, "Originally, I thought that although the southern tribes had gathered nearly 20,000 warriors and the Song army only had more than 3,000, the Song people would not be too disadvantaged. Both sides The battle between them should last for a long time."
"However, the actual situation is beyond my expectation. The Song people have been suppressed and huddled in the city without courage. This troubles me. As far as I know, the Song people are not good at moving in the mountains and forests. Maybe It’s difficult to deal with harassment and hunting, but if we fight fair and square, we should be sure to win, but...and it seems that the Song people’s ancestral land hasn’t sent anyone for a long time, maybe something big has happened, and these Song people on the island may have been abandoned.”
"Now it seems that the Song people are definitely going to lose, so we can only stand on the side of the winner. This is also to prevent the southern tribal alliance from turning its finger on us too early, so that we can form a whole as soon as possible after buying time. Only in this way can we fight against the threats from the southern tribes..."
Now the chief minister was not sending troops, but now he wanted to send troops, now he wanted to help the Song people, now he wanted to help the southern tribes, which made many people present feel confused and felt that they were not using their brains enough.
Only a few like Pensai Bukan understand that the chief priest is wholeheartedly thinking about the entire tribe.
Haru shouted carelessly, "I don't understand all the twists and turns, but I believe in the high priest, so I will hit whoever the high priest says to beat."
This guy's statement was immediately recognized by many people, and they all expressed their willingness to obey all the decisions of the high priest.
At this moment, there were suddenly several loud thunders.
At first, no one paid much attention to it. After all, although it was already September, afternoon thunderstorms were normal.
A few people noticed that something was wrong with the source of the thunder. It did not come from the sky, but seemed to come from the mountainside...
Soon, someone hurriedly came to report, "The big sacrifice has been invaded by enemies. There are not many people, forty or fifty, but they are like monsters. They are covered with shiny hard shells. They may be made of iron. We Their bows and arrows bounced off when they hit them. They couldn't cut them with iron knives, and even their javelins couldn't penetrate. They threw a black ball with sparks, and then like thunder and lightning, the stones turned into shapes wherever they hit. Powder, trees fell immediately..." m.
Before the person who reported the report had finished speaking, Haru stood up, pulled out the iron knife from his waist and shouted, "I want to see what kind of monster it is!"
Before he finished speaking, the people rushed out of the public house, leaving a group of stunned people who thought the reporter was talking in his sleep.
Only Mu Hua's eyes were filled with shock and memories. Could it be that someone from the Song Dynasty was here?
But what happened to the thunder and lightning?
Then someone else rushed in and came to Mu's incarnation, holding a beautiful and gorgeous square piece in his hand, "The great sacrifice, the enemy threw this, and it should be given to you."
"Huh? Will they speak our words?" Mu Hua took the diamond despite his doubts.
He recognized this and knew that it was a greeting card from the Song Dynasty, and that it was only used by people with extremely high status.
After opening it, there were only four large characters with gold hooks and silver strokes, "King Yan of the Song Dynasty".
Some people died, but not completely...
