Chapter 6: Welcome, Distant Friends

  Zhao Hongyu and his three companions were now staying in a vast plain area. In front of their field of vision was a dense forest that could be vaguely seen.

  To rest, Song Huo dug a hole in the snowy ground to shelter from the wind and snow.

  So, if they weren't careful, the four of them would never be discovered.

  Although they won't be found by others, it doesn't mean they can't find others.

  Song Hu, who was in charge of keeping watch, made a discovery at this time.

  "There's movement!"

  Song Hu reported in a low voice, then quickly picked up the cross axe on the outside of his thigh and the chopping knife behind him, and exposed half of his head, staring tightly at the front.

  With Song Hu's warning, Wang Shan and Zhang Tie crawled out of the snow pit, slowly crawling to a not-too-distant place and hiding down while slowly covering themselves with snow.

  Zhao Hongyu also tensed up, holding the machete behind his back in his hand, slowly revealing his head to look in the direction of Song Hu's gaze.

  "It shouldn't be, Indians are generally not active in winter, this doesn't make sense." Zhao Hongyu muttered to himself, thinking of a book he had read before about the European colonization of the American continent.

  In that book, the author explicitly points out that due to the Indians' productive relations, they had no way of manufacturing clothes that could withstand the cold, so every winter they would stay in their tents at home camp to reduce going out and consuming heat.

  And in winter, it was also a great news for the colonizers.

  Because Indians won't show up in winter, their safety is also nothing to worry about.

  For the colonizers, what they feared most was the days from spring to autumn that allowed the Indians to move freely.

  Since 1492, relations between Indians and European settlers have not been very harmonious.

  Killing is just an everyday meal.

  Either you kill me or I'll kill you.

  Before the 18th century, there was actually little difference in armed strength between Indians and European colonists.

  The Indians had an advantage in numbers, while the Europeans had an advantage in having firearms and more advanced weapons.

  But overall, it was the Indians who were beating the Europeans.

  It's just a pity that the Indians themselves were at odds with each other and were taken advantage of by Europeans, ultimately leading to their gradual extinction.

  Even in that book, it was written that the Indian tribes united and destroyed more than 50 of the 88 British colonies on the American continent in one summer, making Europeans tremble with fear.

  This is a true example of what happened in the second half of the 17th century.

  So, it can't be said that Indians are not powerful.

  The Indians of North America were far braver and much more bloody than those of Central America.

  Of course, as Indians were pitted against each other and killed by Europeans. Europe underwent the Industrial Revolution, with a huge leap in technology.

  The appearance of more powerful weapons led to the decline of the Indians.

  But anyway, in the 17th century (roughly from 1600 to 1699), Europeans were still very afraid of Native Americans. Even when spring came and the ice melted, every European at each settlement was on edge.

  "Indian summer" is a phrase that old-timers at American immigrant points warned every new immigrant to watch out for.

  Thinking of these things, Zhao Hongyu was very curious about what Song Hu had discovered.

  Maybe... it's not necessarily a beast either.

  Following Song Hu's line of sight, on the vast plain covered with thick snow, there were two Indian youths wearing animal skins and feathers on their heads, surrounding a wolf.

  The knee-deep snow restricted the wolf's movement, and at this moment its body had been hit by several arrows. It was on the verge of collapse from exhaustion.

  However, the instinct of survival drove it to continue fleeing forward with a hop and a skip.

  And two Indian youths were also closely pursuing behind the coyote.

  The direction from which the wolf escaped was exactly the direction where Zhao Hongyu and his team were resting.

  "That's not right, is the book wrong? Isn't it that Indians shouldn't come out in winter? And all the Indian tribes I've met on this road are huddled together for warmth inside their tents."

  Looking at the two Indian youths closely following behind the coyote, Zhao Hongyu muttered to himself.

  The wolf was already exhausted, and the pain from its wounds made it unable to hold on. The constant flow of fresh blood had brought its life to an end.

  As if knowing its own life was about to end, the wolf turned around with a fierce snarl and wanted to fight to the death.

  However, two Indian youths were clearly not going to let the coyotes have their way.

  Whoosh!

  Another arrow accurately shot into the throat of the wolf, and the strong inertia brought the wolf to the snow pit where Zhao Hongyu was resting.

  Two Indian youths walked over with a relaxed expression, and the fallen coyote would no longer pose any danger.

  As long as two Indian youths walked over, they would definitely find Zhao Hongyu and Song Hu.

  Will it lead to misunderstandings and conflicts all of a sudden?

  "You are from that tribe, don't get me wrong! We're just passing by!"

  Finally, Zhao Hongyu had no choice but to squat in the snow pit and loudly shout a sentence in Indian.

  The sudden voice really startled the two Indian youths, who jumped back a distance and opened their bows and arrows, looking around nervously.

  Splash!

  Before they could make any discovery, Wang Shan and Zhang Tie suddenly jumped up from the snowy ground and controlled them from behind.

  A cold, inferior iron dagger pressed against his throat, even a fool would know what to do now.

  While Wang Shan and Zhang Tie controlled the two Indians, Song Hu and Fei quickly rushed out of the snow pit to the front of the two Indian youths, quickly removing their bows and arrows and axes from their waists and throwing them aside.

  It wasn't until all threats had disappeared that Zhao Hongyu finally crawled out of the snow pit.

  "We have no malice in this, we are doing it just to avoid necessary misunderstandings."

  He walked up to the two Indian youths and stood still, Zhao Hongyu spoke very sincerely in Indian language to them, at the same time he waved his hand to let Zhang Tie and Wang Shansong release these two Indian youths.

  Yi Yan let go of the two men, but Zhang Tie and Wang Shan still stood guard behind them, watching them closely without relaxing at all.

  Although they were released, the eyes of these two Indian youths still filled with anger, hatred and fear.

  "We are a tribe from the north, our tribe was attacked by the Mokle tribe, I got separated from my tribe...", Zhao Hongyu is talking nonsense, speaking without even drafting.

  He vividly described how his tribe was raided by the Mokole tribe and oppressed by the French.

  And the two young men's expressions gradually relaxed as he spoke.

  ……

  ……

  Atido and Ruziba are the names of these two Indian youths, after Zhao Hongyu's explanation and kindness, they have become friends.

  Two young Indians were also not very old, one was nineteen years old and the other was twenty-four years old.

  Although Zhao Hongyu's appearance is a bit special, he is not a 'white skin' after all. At the same time, he can also speak fluent Indian language, which is enough to gain the trust of two young Indians.

  Especially when Zhao Hongyu took out a box of matches to demonstrate, and then gave them one box each, the two Indian youths immediately regarded Zhao Hongyu as their brother.

  "Originally, we wouldn't have come out in this cold winter. But my father fell ill, and it's very serious. The tribe's shaman said that if we can get a wolf's heart, maybe my father will recover."

  Young Indian Attido, with a sorrowful expression, explained the reason why he and Ruziba went out to hunt wolves in winter.

  What Zhao Hongyu read in that book is actually right, Indians won't come out in winter because the weather is really too cold.

  They may have clothes made of animal hides, but can you call those clothes?

  Poor handmade goods are just a few pieces of fur stitched together and put on the body, which can't keep out the cold at all.

  Ati's face was frozen purple, which made Zhao Hongyu sigh that the Indians of this era were really resistant to freezing.

  Under the leadership of two Indian youths, Zhao Hongyu and his three companions arrived at their tribe.

  And Zhao Hongyu also knew the name of the tribe to which these two young men belonged... Mosigang!

  When Zhao Hongyu learned of the tribe's name, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

  He knew that he was probably already near New York. Because the gathering place of the Mohican tribe is on the left plain of Manhattan Island, New York.

  As for how Zhao Hongyu knew so much, it was also thanks to his experience of being sent to the United States by the company, where one of his colleagues was an Indian.

  So from his colleague, he learned a lot about Indian history.

  Ati Doro led Zhao Hongyu into the center of the tribe and arrived in front of a largest and highest triangular tent.

  "Please come in, brother from afar, just keep your voice down a bit, my father is not doing well at the moment."

  Atidu walked up to the tent and lifted the fur curtain, gesturing slightly before reminding.

  Zhao Hongyu nodded and followed Atti's back into the room.

  Wow! What a huge flavor!

  As soon as Zhao Hongyu entered the tent, he was hit by a strong smell of sweat.

  At this age, the sanitary condition of Indians is really unacceptable.

  After going in, Ati followed a person with thick 'oil paint' on his face and chatted for a while, then handed over the wolf he brought back to him.

  Then, Attido pointed at Zhao Hongyu and the others, gesturing for them to go over.

  Zhao Hongyu knew that the person might be a witch.

  "Distant friends, welcome from the Maasai tribe."

  The shaman bowed his head and whispered something in the ear of the elderly tribal elder, who barely managed to muster a greeting.

  Ati Duo then took Zhao Hongyu and the others aside, watching as the shaman treated the tribe leader's illness.