CHAPTER 740: WHO IS YOUR COMMANDER?!

Chapter 740: Who Is Your Commander?!

In the square between the inner and outer walls of the Green Sparrow Tribe, a large crowd had gathered.

One hundred and twenty warriors of the Green Sparrow Tribe stood straight and silent, weapons in hand, in neat formation.

Compared to the uniformity and quietness of the Green Sparrow warriors, the people from the allied tribes who had come looked much more scattered and disorganized.

Not only that, the assembled crowd was buzzing with murmurs.

This contrast made the well-trained Green Sparrow warriors stand out even more.

After a short while, the two hundred and ten people from the twenty-one other tribes standing nearby also sensed the change in atmosphere.

The neatness and discipline of the Green Sparrow warriors struck them.

Their murmuring gradually quieted down, eventually falling completely silent.

These tribe members glanced at the orderly Green Sparrow warriors, then at themselves. Previously, they hadn’t thought it was strange to stand scattered like that, but now they felt awkward.

They shifted their feet quietly, trying to imitate the Green Sparrow warriors’ disciplined stance, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t manage it.

“Pour the wine!”

The shaman, dressed in thick clothes made of tiger hide, did not hold a rabbit today. The sly and somewhat disrespectful air he usually had was gone, replaced by the solemnity usually reserved for rituals. Even his typically aged appearance seemed fresher.

At his command, the prepared Green Sparrow tribe members quickly brought over stacks of bowls, handing one to every warrior set to depart, and the other tribes received the same.

Someone carried warm wine and ladled it carefully into the bowls, with a few drops spilling onto the ground.

Looking at the warm, slightly cloudy wine in their bowls, the Green Sparrow warriors’ eyes sparkled with excitement. The other tribesmen, most of whom had never drunk wine before, also had their eyes shining with anticipation.

Though inexperienced with wine, they all knew one thing: the Green Sparrow Tribe always produced good food.

“Today, we shall utterly defeat the Semi-Farming Tribe! Drink!”

Han Cheng, standing at the front, turned and loudly declared to the crowd. Then, holding his wine bowl with both hands, he saluted the empty air and threw his head back to drink it all.

“Defeat the Semi-Farming Tribe!”

“Drink!”

The Green Sparrow warriors echoed, each holding their bowls, saluting the empty air, then gulping their wine down fiercely.

“￥% Semi-Farming ￥Tv”

“Drink!”

The other tribesmen mumbled incoherent words, then, filled with anticipation, tilted their heads back and gulped the wine as well.

“Cough cough cough…”

A series of violent coughs erupted. Those who were drinking for the first time were choked and red-faced, some sticking out their tongues, their mouths twitching awkwardly.

This scene caused many in the Green Sparrow tribe to laugh good-naturedly.

Han Cheng put down his bowl and looked at the more than 300 warriors gathered, ready to set off. He wanted to imitate some famous advertisement and shout to the sky, “Who is your commander?!”

“What is your mission?!”

But after thinking it over, he didn’t shout those flashy lines. Instead, he drew his somewhat rough copper sword from his waist, pointed it slantwise at the sky, and shouted, “Forward!”

The blood-red sun rose from the east, its rays spreading and dyeing the white snow in a garish red.

The large group of armed warriors stepped onto the snow and marched out from the Green Sparrow Tribe’s gate in a single file.

Amid the shouts, the lead eldest senior brother moved first, guided by a slave from the Sheep Tribe with a tattooed face, pulling a deer.

The deer’s hooves crushed the snow, the sled left two wide tracks as it passed, and many dogs struggled through the thick snow.

In the middle of the long line of sleds, a larger deer pulled a longer sled.

At the front of the sled was a wooden frame built with tree sticks. A bamboo pole tied to the frame bore a freshly embroidered Green Sparrow flag fluttering in the wind.

Next to the flag frame stood a drum rack holding a large drum. Drumsticks lay beside it.

Han Cheng, wearing leather gloves and a black hemp cloth tied over his eyes, steadied one hand on the wooden frame, the other resting on the hilt of his copper sword at his waist. At his feet crouched Fu Jiang, his dog.

Watching the marching formation, Han Cheng felt a surge of excitement.

This was his first time going to war alongside the tribe’s warriors, and it was also the Green Sparrow Tribe’s first time mobilizing on such a grand scale to attack another tribe.

He remembered how the legendary war god Li Jing once took advantage of heavy snow to attack the Turks, devastating that arrogant northern nation in a single battle, even capturing the Turkic Khan and forcing him to dance in the imperial palace.

Now, Han Cheng was also launching his attack during heavy snow. He wondered how many merits he could achieve…

Under the watchful eyes of the Green Sparrow Tribe, the expedition force crushed through the snow toward the east. Aside from everyone wearing black hemp cloths over their eyes, making them look a bit odd, everything else seemed fine.

Inside the Semi-Farming Tribe, the female shaman wrapped in thick hides sat on a knotted tree stump by the fire, warming herself while gazing outside.

A faint cracking sound caught her attention—a branch of a tree in the courtyard, which still hadn’t shed its leaves, had been broken by the heavy snow.

The branch drooped, and accumulated snow fell softly to the ground.

That tree had been deliberately left when building the courtyard to provide shade during the summer.

Now that such a large branch was broken, the Semi-Farming female shaman felt no sorrow. Instead, she felt a lightness and joy rise in her heart.

Ever since the heavy snow began to fall, her mood had been quite good.

Because this meant that for a long time to come, her tribe would be in a very safe state.

During this time, she didn’t have to think about the six members who went out and never returned, or about where the remaining Sheep Tribe members had gone, nor did she need to worry about the mysterious Green Sparrow Tribe.

This made her feel very relieved.

As she looked outside, she saw some slaves from the Sheep Tribe carrying dry grass to feed the tribe’s livestock.

Seeing them made her blood boil—not because of the slaves, but because of those Sheep Tribe people who had submitted to their tribe.

It had been a long time, yet these foolish fools still hadn’t learned much of their tribe’s language. How could she, who wanted to get more information about the Green Sparrow Tribe from them, not be irritated?