Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1470 - 1022: Luba and Gifts
"With the ancestral spirits as witnesses! Are you from the East of Luba? From the White Sea in the East? From the Great Island in the sea?..."
"Ancestral witness! We come from the East! We are the Kingdom in the Lake, a vast continent under the mantle of the Chief Divine! We crossed the sea guided by a Divine Revelation..."
The Kurile Cold Current flows ceaselessly southward, bringing the chill of the Arctic Ocean to the edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Snow falls in October on the peninsula, and by November, temperatures plunge below freezing. On this icy coastline, in the biting cold wind, two people by the campfire chatted enthusiastically, gesturing and drawing in the snow, despite not understanding a single full sentence from each other, their faces full of surprise and excitement.
"Oh Ancestor! Your ships, remarkably, are from the East of Luba, from the sea of Luba! Ah! You’re not from the northern Luba’s tent tribe, nor the southern Luba’s island tribe... You’re... the Sea Tribe from the East of Luba! That’s why you have large ships, that’s why you’re different from them!"
"Oh Chief Divine! Luba? What is Luba? Is it the sea?"
Exploration Captain Zuwaro blinked, repeating a word frequently mentioned by the other party. Upon hearing Zuwaro’s repetition, Hunting Team Leader Mukun somewhat misunderstood. He hesitated for a moment, reached into the thick deer-hide robe, fumbled for a while before pulling out a long narrow deer-hide bag and a deer stomach water bag. Then, he solemnly handed these two items to Zuwaro, carefully explaining.
"Sea Tribe leader! You offer me warm meat soup, and I offer you warm Luba! Luba, the coldest winter, warming the body, life-saving!"
"What? These two, Luba? Offer it to me? ... Uh, is this a custom of showing friendliness?"
Exploration Captain Zuwaro paused, although he couldn’t understand the other’s language, he vaguely guessed their meaning. He hesitated slightly, took the water bag containing something, and also took the long narrow bag. First, he opened the water bag, a rich scent of blood immediately hit his nose, it was a familiar blood drink to the Highland Tribes!
"Ah? Such a familiar scent! Is this blood wine? Or pure blood? Is it a Sacrifice to declare to the Divine?..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro sniffed, not detecting the smell of wine. He looked at Hunting Team Leader Mukun, who showed a simple smile and made a drinking gesture.
"Luba! A drink, Luba!"
"Gulp! Uh? ... This taste? Is it not human blood... but deer blood?"
"A drink, Luba! From the heart... here!"
Seeing Zuwaro drink the deer blood, Hunting Team Leader Mukun smiled happily. He pointed to his own heart, indicating to Zuwaro that it was the most precious deer heart blood! In the tradition of the Kamchatka Tribes, drinking the precious deer heart blood from each other’s tribe was a gesture of friendliness.
In the sub-zero winters of Extreme North Asia, the Kamchatka Tribes had neither warming liquor nor body-heating peppers, ginger, or sugar. What could warm them, revive the frozen, weakened able-bodied men, was only the most precious Luba, the deer blood that could heal and warm the body!
In this era, cold-resistant rye from Europe or cold-resistant potatoes from America had not yet reached Siberia. For the Kamchatka Tribes, who reared deer herds, their most important food source was deer and fish! And the deer herds, the precious domesticated deer herds, were the source of all essential living items for most tribes!
Deer meat was the tribe’s staple food, deer hide could be used for warm clothing and armor, deer antlers could be made into needles and combs, deer bones were used for bone artifacts, and deer sinews for bows... But for healing and warming, life-saving in the winter snow, there were three kinds of Luba or three kinds of deer treasures: deer heart blood, deer whip, and deer fetus!
However, as the foundation for continuing the deer herd, the Kamchatka Tribes generally refrained from using deer fetuses, except when a noble of the tribe fell seriously ill. Therefore, the commonly seen life-saving Luba consisted of only two types...
"Whew! This deer heart blood, once downed, instantly warms the body!"
Upon drinking a few mouthfuls of deer heart blood, Exploration Captain Zuwaro felt his whole body warm up, his face flushing red. The biting cold night wind seemed instantly to become gentle.
"Oh Chief Divine! Truly a wonderful thing! Come, you have a sip too, warm your bodies!"
In the reluctant gaze of Hunting Team Leader Mukun, he handed the bag filled with deer heart blood to the Kingdom’s Warriors behind him, allowing these warriors from the South to drink a few mouthfuls. He then opened the other long narrow hide bag, saw the dried contents, and a splendid expression appeared on his face.
"Ah this? Is this too Luba?..."
"Luba! To eat, Luba! Warmth and life-saving!"
"Uh... you want me to eat this? Oh Chief Divine, the customs of these tribes are indeed quite peculiar!"
Exploration Captain Zuwaro hesitated for a few beats, thinking of gaining the local Jiao People’s trust and acquiring more important information... Moments later, he gritted his teeth wide, taking a large bite like a foraging beast...
"Oh Ancestor! You... eat slowly, savor it! ... This, this is something that can heal and save lives in the snow and wind! What’s more, eating too much will..."
Seeing this scene, Hunting Team Leader Mukun felt great regret, and Hunter Mulu widened his eyes, staring in awe at the Chieftain of the Longboat Tribe before him.
"Oh Ancestor! Such a formidable Chieftain! He drank so much Luba, ate so much Luba... this must take days to... recover from!"
The curious misunderstanding soon ended, the prolonged "negative" effects only to be dealt with later. Exploration Captain Zuwaro stood proudly, expressing the "most sincere goodwill". Subsequently, he took out a longbow brought by the Longboat, a quiver of bronze Feathered Arrows, and a Bronze Axe as another gesture of goodwill to Hunter Mulu. Then, eyes sparkling, he pointed to the Composite Recurve Bow on Mulu’s back, hinting with patience.
"Uh! Such a large Hardwood Great Bow? Sharp arrows? A golden metal axe? ... Ah? All given to me?! Haha! The Sea Tribe from the East is truly blessed with Luba!"
Hunter Mulu caressed the cedar longbow in his hand, feeling the superb elastic wood of the bow’s body, and looking at the craftsmanship that was simple to the point of roughness, sighed with a tinge of regret. Then, he joyfully touched the Bronze Axe, struck it a few times with a Stone Axe, and listened to the crisp sound.
"Hmm? A golden axe, it seems not to have become brittle, should be Bronze... it’s different from an Iron Axe, usable in winter! Hahaha, truly Luba’s blessing!"
Hunter Mulu hugged the Bronze Axe, smiling foolishly with delight. He recognized bronze, the tribe also had very few bronze items, obtained from combat with other tribes and passed down for many generations.
Compared to ironware that easily becomes brittle in the cold, bronze alloy can resist low temperatures better. Although pure tin would suffer from "tin disease" in severe cold, turning into crumbling tin powder, the alloy of copper, tin, and lead would not have issues, maintaining certain toughness even in temperatures dozens of degrees below zero.
"Uh? You want my bow as a return gift?"
Hunter Mulu smiled heartily for a while before noticing Zuwaro’s hint. He thought it over and then gallantly handed his Composite Recurve Bow to Zuwaro.
"Ancestral witness! Here you go! A friend’s return gift, thanks for your meat soup and gifts!"
"Haha! Praise the Chief Divine! Praise our long-lost kin brothers!"
Exploration Captain Zuwaro beamed with brilliance, nodded contentedly. He felt the multi-material bow body, handed the never-before-seen Composite Recurve Bow to the Kingdom’s Warriors behind him. Then he thought briefly and said to Warrior Leader Chakapu Stonefirm.
"Stonefirm, bring me two pounds of gold, and fetch that chest of ’national documents’ most important to Your Majesty! ... I want them to try and recognize it! ... May the Chief Divine bless! Also, I wonder if these peculiar tribes are the Three Islands and Tribal Alliance foretold in His Majesty’s Prophecy, or some Jurchen Tribes Alliance..."
"Yes! Captain!"
