NOVPUBNight was gradually falling, with moonlight enveloping the entire ocean and surrounding forest. The cold moonlight shining on the white sand produced a beautiful reflective glow.
*Splash splash…*
*Rustle rustle…*
*Chirp chirp chirp…*
The sound of waves, the gentle breeze rustling through the forest, and the calls of wild beasts did not disturb the tranquillity that belonged to the night. On the contrary, these sounds were particularly pleasant on the sea at night, especially the deep ocean in the darkness, which appeared truly unpredictable.
In the sky, Ai’er was flying with Co Co, the two of them at quite a distance from the ground.
Originally, they had planned to ride a hot air balloon, but the sea breeze was stronger at night, making the hot air balloon difficult to control.
Additionally, the balloon’s size was large, and having just two people sitting in it above other Tribes would have been rather inappropriate.
*Flap, flap…* Ai’er continuously beat her purple butterfly wings, maintaining stability whilst battling against the oncoming sea breeze.
She blinked her purple eyes and asked, "Where is your Tribe?"
"Just ahead, continue flying forward. It’s close to the place we passed by during the day." Co Co said, pointing ahead.
Ai’er looked in the direction indicated and saw a long, endless coastline.
She had to adjust her position and said, "You’d better hold on tight, I’m going to speed up."
With an endless coastline, flying would take time, and Ai’er could no longer fly as slowly as she was now.
"All right, it’s dark so be careful." Co Co said with concern.
In truth, Co Co had been suppressing her inner fear. Flying in a hot air balloon was bearable, but flying like this made her truly afraid.
After all, she was neither a Warrior Trainee nor a Totem Warrior. Being carried into the sky by someone would naturally cause fear.
Unlike a hot air balloon with its reassuring basket, she was purely being held by Ai’er.
*Flap, flap…*
The two followed the coastline, flying in the direction Co Co had indicated. In the darkness, the figures of the two were not obvious in the high sky.
However, the bright moonlight shining on the butterfly girl’s purple wings made them look particularly beautiful.
An hour later, the two began slowly approaching their desired destination.
"That’s it, that’s my former Tribe," Co Co said, pointing to a settlement on the ground from high above.
The settlement was still some distance from the beach and even further from the ocean. The entire Tribe was built in a position behind the beach, at the edge of the forest.
"It indeed doesn’t look very big, but there should be quite a few people inside," Ai’er analysed.
She could see many places within the Tribe where bonfires had been lit. The entire settlement did not appear particularly large, with approximately a hundred wooden huts.
Around the edges of the wooden huts were several dozen Teepees, making it truly appear to be a Small Tribe.
"The Sea Insect Tribe has more people; they must have moved some people over to this side." Co Co said.
Co Co had initially thought this settlement would be abandoned, as the Sea Fish Tribe was not as large as the Sea Insect Tribe. Even if conquered, they would typically just take the people away, along with any usable items. It would have been unnecessary to directly relocate people from the Sea Insect Tribe to live here, which would have seemed redundant.
After all, many Tribes were the same; the reason for attacking another Tribe was to seize their territory. After conquering it, they would settle there, but the Sea Insect Tribe was larger than the Sea Fish Tribe. So, this possibility might not exist, and the only possibility would be to seize resources.
But what they now saw was different; there were people living in the Sea Fish Tribe.
But according to Co Co’s memory, most people from the Sea Fish Tribe had been killed.
At most, only about a hundred people remained, so seeing so many people in the settlement now meant most must be from the Sea Insect Tribe.
"Good, quickly see if there are any familiar people in the Tribe." Ai’er said. She handed over the binoculars she was carrying, as she did not recognise anyone from the Sea Fish Tribe herself.
Co Co took the binoculars and began looking at everything below, though it was not very clear due to the darkness.
Fortunately, with the binoculars and the illumination from the moonlight and bonfires, she could still see some things.
*Flap, flap…* Also, thanks to Ai’er’s great stamina, she did not feel tired despite hovering in the sky with Co Co for quite some time. 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Half an hour passed, and Co Co still had not discovered anything.
All the people coming and going in the Sea Fish Tribe were unfamiliar, especially as she could only see those on the outer perimeters of the settlement.
"Spot anything?" Ai’er asked.
Co Co shook her head and said with difficulty, "Nothing. I guess everyone from my Tribe is long gone."
Co Co felt somewhat sad at this thought. She had hoped for some discovery tonight, but in the end, there was nothing.
"Let’s stay a bit longer; if there’s nothing, we’ll go back." Ai’er said, noticing the other’s disappointment.
They should have returned by now, but to avoid leaving Co Co too sad, she suggested staying a bit longer.
Co Co could certainly understand the other’s intention and looked at her gratefully before continuing to observe the settlement below through the binoculars.
Time passed minute by minute, and after another half hour, Co Co still had not discovered anything.
"Shall we wait a bit longer?" Ai’er was still extremely patient.
"It’s all right, let’s go back now. We’ve been out for quite a long time…" Co Co said, shaking her head.
"Since we have nothing to do when we get back, why don’t we stay a bit longer?" Ai’er persisted.
Co Co smiled at her and continued looking below with the binoculars. As soon as she looked down, her golden eyes widened.
Suspecting she might have seen wrongly, she looked again and exclaimed excitedly, "I see him, I see him!"
"Really? Who is it?" Ai’er was also glad she had persuaded the other to stay longer.
"It’s Long! The wood raft craftsman from the Sea Fish Tribe!" Co Co exclaimed.
"What’s a wood raft craftsman? I only know of carpenters and stonemasons.” Ai’er asked, puzzled.
"We often need to go to sea for fishing, so we need to make rafts, and Long is an expert at making wood rafts." Co Co explained.
"I see. Are there any other people?" Ai’er asked.
Co Co continued looking for a while, then shook her head and said, "I haven’t found anyone else. Let’s go back first and tell the Shaman."
"All right," Ai’er said, flapping her wings to return.
