The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Chapter 447 Discovery of the Aboriginals

Min Xi took a look and asked, "Could it be left behind by other teams?"

"No, there are no more teams going so far in this direction." said the captain of the No. 3 formation who was seen yesterday.

"Okay, let's go in this direction." Min Xi said.

The group continued to move forward, getting closer and closer to the river. The closer they got to the river, the more animals there were. It was probably the dry season, and the animals were all moving closer to the water source, so the animals were denser.

Min Xi didn't see any emus during his whole day yesterday, but today he saw two or three groups of emus. These creatures are about the same size as ostriches, taller than most people, and weigh up to 70 or 80 kilograms each.

Yesterday, a team brought back an emu. The cooks fried and roasted it, and it tasted very good. It was not as dry as the firebird, and the meat was quite tender. If you can't find suitable food, you can hunt some emus and make dried meat.

Finally, at noon, they arrived at the river they saw yesterday. The river was not far from the mountain, just at the foot of the mountain. Because it was the dry season, the river was almost dry, and they could cross directly in the shallow parts.

Someone suddenly shouted, "Look, there are a lot of big bird feathers here, as well as bird heads, bird feet, and internal organs. Someone must have processed the big birds here. Is it General Yan or someone else?"

Min Xi and Yun Ji walked over and took a closer look. Those things gave off a bad smell and were badly rotten.

Min Xi took two steps back and said, "These were not killed by General Yan and his men. These things must have been rotten for more than one day. They may have discovered these and then continued to search."

Yun Ji said, "There should be people living nearby. Let's go look for them. Everyone, be alert. We don't know if those natives are friends or enemies, so don't be careless."

Min Xi felt a little uneasy. If the No. 3 formation had discovered local natives, they should have returned to report by now. Could it be that they had encountered some danger?

Min Xi whispered his worries to Yun Ji, and Yun Ji said, "Don't overthink it. It shouldn't happen. They have so many people and weapons. It's impossible for them to be wiped out. Maybe they encountered some kind of accident."

Min Xi could only pray for this, otherwise if the mission failed, he would not know how to explain it to everyone.

They crossed the stream and headed towards the other side, where they found a path that was clearly made by people or animals. They decided to follow this path, but they also had to be alert because Team 3 had probably also followed this path to find the way there.

This narrow path leads into the mountains, and people can even find fresh traces of cutting on the side of the road, which may have been done by the people in the No. 3 formation.

After walking for more than an hour, Yun Ji, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped and asked, "Did you hear that?"

"I seemed to hear gunshots just now." Min Xi said.

"I heard it too." Many people echoed the opinion.

"It was gunfire, but only one shot was fired. I don't know what happened." Yun Ji said, "We have to hurry."

Yun Ji quickened his pace as he spoke, and Min Xi and the others hurriedly followed. They had been walking for most of the morning, covering at least twenty or thirty miles. They were all a little tired, but no one dared to slow down because no one knew what was going on with their companions.

After walking for a while, the uphill road started to go downhill at the mountainside. When they passed the ridge, the view became wider and a mountain dam appeared in front of them. There were some simple houses built with trees and grass in the dam, and some people were seen moving around there. It was obvious that this was an aboriginal settlement. The aboriginals wore very little, only animal skins around their waists.

Min Xi said: "They are indigenous people."

"They didn't see our people. Aren't they here?" Yun Ji picked up the horn suspiciously, hesitated for a moment, and put it down. Blowing the horn could indeed call companions, but it would also alarm the natives.

Min Xi said: "Let's go closer and take a look. Everyone, be alert and be careful not to fall into the ambush or trap of the natives." He knew that many natives would use the venom of animals and plants to hunt and fight enemies. They had no intention of making enemies with the natives, so they had to protect themselves first.

Min Xi and Yun Ji were extremely alert along the way, keeping an eye out for various mechanisms and traps along the way. The indigenous people had low productivity, and they might use traps to hunt various animals for safety and survival.

As expected, they encountered several traps along the way, but the traps were crudely made, with only some dead grass and branches roughly covering them, and it was unknown whether they could really catch prey. They went down the mountain and came to the dam in the mountains. Such a large group of people coming down from the mountain had already been discovered by the natives in the dam.

So when they arrived at the edge of the village on the dam, they encountered a group of natives with dark skin, not the black color of Africa, but the red copper color from too much sun exposure. Their facial features were not very similar to those of Asians, but more like those of Africans, with high brow bones, deep eye sockets, and tall noses.

Among these 20 or 30 people, there were only a few adult men, most of them were women and children. The men wore a kangaroo skin around their waists, some women wore animal skin around their chests and waists, some even went bare-chested, and the children were basically naked, wearing nothing at all.

You know, it's winter now, and the highest daytime temperature is only around 20 degrees. I didn't expect these natives to be so resistant to cold.

Except for Min Xi, everyone else looked away uncomfortably, because they had never seen a woman dressed so revealingly. Even on the islands in Southeast Asia, the natives there would not dress like this no matter how poor they were. Compared with the natives in Southeast Asia, the natives here were more like primitive people.

The numbers on both sides were obviously unequal, and the natives looked at the outsiders in silence.

Even though they couldn't communicate in the same language, Min Xi still gestured and asked, "Hello! Have you ever seen people like us?"

The leader was a dark-skinned old man, who opened his mouth and mumbled something. Min Xi didn't understand, so he thought for a while, then broke off a branch and began to draw on the ground. He drew a moon to represent last night, and then drew some people in clothes, pointed at the paintings on the ground, gestured towards himself, and shook his sleeves to show that they were dressed the same as himself.

The old man tilted his head and looked carefully, then nodded, as if he understood what he meant. He pointed towards the village behind him, and then pointed towards the mountain behind him.

Min Xi turned to look at Yun Ji: "Does he mean that they came here and went that way?"

Yun Ji frowned: "Maybe."

The old man turned around and said something to the women and children behind him. Soon, those women and children came forward and stretched out their hands to hold Min Xi's arms.

Min Xi dodged the outstretched arm. The owner of the arm was stunned for a moment, then pointed behind him, made eating and sitting gestures, pointed at the painting on the ground, and gestured towards the mountain behind.

Yun Ji said to Min Xi, "General Yan and his men should have been here. Let's go to their village first to see if there are any traces left."