Sparse raindrops fell from the deep sky, not too fast, not too slow, landing silently. The sparse long wind blew along the Long River, neither cold nor hot, just right. It was late summer and early autumn harvest season; in the deep mountain forest, there was no fragrance of mature grains, only the ever-blooming Huashu attracting flocks of hummingbirds and flower butterflies.
The exploration fleet stayed in Eight Hundred Town for two days before setting sail again. Camp Commander Pimeng personally led two hundred warriors and eight hundred captured able-bodied men to follow along the Tarsas River. The expedition fleet, fully loaded with the team's food, went upstream. After traveling forty miles, they encountered the first obstacle, the first three-forked rivermouth.
"This is the eastern rivermouth."
Pimeng, leaning on a spear, stood on the rocky shoal by the river. He pointed to the upstream in the North of the rivermouth, then to the southern fork of the rivermouth.
