Chapter 1065 – Mo Lan’s Travel Diary 18

The next afternoon, the sunlight was perfect.

In the open clearing at the center of the Tatari tribal camp, the festival preparations had already taken shape.

A massive bonfire pile had been stacked up like a small hill. Beside it, three cleaned Iron-Horned Bulls and several plump Moonlight Deer were mounted on spits. Colorful woven rugs spread across the ground, covered with wooden bowls and stone vessels brimming with mountain berries, moonlight mushrooms, tree honey, and nuts.

Most eye-catching of all was the temporary wooden stage erected on one side of the grounds, hung with decorations made from beast bones, colored stones, and feathers that glittered in the sunlight.

Sylvia had changed early into a brightly colored skirt-trouser outfit that was both easy to move in and vibrant.

The skirt hem fell just to her calves, the cuffs were snug at the wrists, and the Spatial Card in the card pouch at her waist held the little gifts she’d prepared for the Tatari children.

Her mother had braided her hair into two neat plaits, tied with indigo ribbons.

“Mama, I’m ready!” She bounced in place at the castle entrance, her eyes bright as if filled with sunshine.

Mo Lan had also changed into the same style of skirt-trousers as Sylvia. One hand carried a wicker basket filled with gifts, while the other held her daughter’s hand. “Then shall we head out?”

“Let’s go!”

The two had barely stepped out of the castle when they saw Talam waiting outside with his clanspeople.

They had all changed into long robes sewn from Moonlight Deer hide today, painted with intricate totemic patterns that shimmered with blue, purple, and gold light under the sun.

“Lady Moira, Miss Sylvia!” Talam stepped forward, thumping his right fist against his chest. “Welcome to the Tatari tribe’s hunting festival!”

The clanspeople behind him bowed in unison, their movements perfectly synchronized.

Mo Lan gave a slight nod in return. “Thank you for the invitation, Clan Leader Talam. These are gifts that Sylvia and I have prepared!”

She handed the wicker basket to Talam.

The Clan Leader accepted it with both hands. First he noticed the simple wooden box, and when he opened it, his eyes went wide immediately — three Level 5 Healing Potions and three Level 5 Antidote Potions, worth more than all the cards they’d purchased with Gem Coins this time combined.

“This… this is far too generous!” Talam’s voice trembled slightly.

“Just a small token of goodwill,” Mo Lan smiled. “I hope they can help safeguard the tribe’s peace!”

Talam took a deep breath, solemnly handed the wooden box to an Elder behind him for safekeeping, then looked at the other items in the basket — the little packages tied with indigo bows.

Sylvia stepped forward then, a bit shy but her voice clear:

“Clan Leader, these blue packages are candies and cookies I prepared for the children of the tribe… I hope they’ll like them.”

Every Gem Coin the Tatari earned had to be saved for buying daily necessities and medicines that couldn’t be obtained in the forest.

Even though candies and cookies weren’t expensive in the Card Shop, the children rarely got to eat them.

Hearing there were gifts for them too, the little ones peeked out from behind their parents.

Talam simply let the children come forward to collect their gifts.

Every child who received a gift politely thanked Sylvia.

Sylvia beamed happily, showing her two little tiger teeth.

The atmosphere immediately relaxed.

Talam personally escorted Mo Lan and Sylvia toward the festival grounds.

Along the way, Sylvia looked around curiously — women bustling before massive stone hearths, children with painted faces chasing and playing, young warriors checking bowstrings and sharpening short knives in preparation for the upcoming performances.

What excited her most were the Flash Thunder Wolves lying at rest.

Their silver-blue fur had been groomed until it gleamed, and the golden patterns along their spines glittered in the sunlight.

Each wolf wore a blue leather cord around its neck, strung with colored stones and small bone ornaments.

“They’re so beautiful…” Sylvia murmured in admiration.

“Want to pet one?” a bright voice piped up beside her. Sylvia turned to see a girl of about seven or eight standing nearby.

The girl had simple lightning-pattern face paint, wore a small set of leather armor, carried a little bow and arrows on her back, and had a wooden short knife tucked at her waist. Beside her trotted a smaller Flash Thunder Wolf pup.

“C-can I?” Sylvia’s eyes lit up.

The girl nodded and said something to the pup in the Tatari language.

The little wolf tilted its head, studying Sylvia, then slowly padded over and sniffed at her feet before obediently lowering its head.

Sylvia carefully reached out her hand and gently stroked the top of the pup’s head.

The fur was softer than she’d imagined, and her fingertips could feel a faint, tingly sensation of static electricity.

The little wolf contentedly narrowed its eyes and made a rumbling purr deep in its throat.

“It likes you!” The girl grinned, showing a gap where a front tooth was missing. “My name is Tamuna, and this is Tata-Feng.”

“Hello! I’m Sylvia!” Sylvia smiled back. “What kinds of things happen at your festival?”

“So many things!” Tamuna immediately grew excited. “There’s a big barbecue feast, an archery competition, a war dance performance… oh, and—”

She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper:

“In the hunting demonstration later, my brother will be in it. He’s the strongest warrior in our whole tribe…”

The two children quickly hit it off.

Neither Talam nor Mo Lan interrupted them.

The festival officially began when the afternoon sun was at its warmest.

There were no lengthy speeches. Talam simply walked to the center of the grounds, raised a horn cup brimming with thunder fruit wine, and shouted something in the Tatari language.

Instantly, every single Tatari — man, woman, young, and old — raised whatever cup or bowl they held and answered in unison.

The sound was like thunder, echoing through the valley.

Then the first event began: the hunting demonstration.

Ten of the most elite Tatari hunters rode into the arena on their Flash Thunder Wolf companions.

Each wolf wore specially made saddle gear, and the hunters carried longbows in hand with short knives at their hips. Their face paint looked fierce and commanding in the sunlight.

At the far end of the grounds, several young men wheeled out a massive “Iron-Horned Bull” model made of wood and leather.

At Talam’s command, the demonstration began.

Ten Flash Thunder Wolves burst forward simultaneously! Their speed was incredible — they were nearly silver-blue afterimages.

The hunters on their backs drew and nocked arrows while galloping at breakneck speed, their movements astonishingly steady.

The whistle of arrows splitting the air mingled with the dust kicked up by Flash Thunder Wolf paws, accompanied by the fervent cheers of the watching clanspeople.

Sylvia watched without even remembering to blink.

She saw the hunters lean sideways on the wolves’ backs, dip forward and backward, even stand briefly — and watched arrows strike the “Iron-Horned Bull’s” vital points with pinpoint precision.

Finally, when the ten hunters fanned out to surround their “prey” and let out a victorious howl in unison, the entire crowd erupted in deafening cheers.

Sylvia clapped along with all her might, her small hands turning red from the effort.

“That was amazing…” she whispered to her mother. “The way they work together with the Flash Thunder Wolves… their coordination is incredible!”